The Court of Last Resort

[John Smith has saved his pennies to buy a transcript of his trial so he can appeal his murder conviction]

Warden Avery:
There isn't going to be an appeal, John. The laws of this state say you must appeal within three months of your conviction. You're twenty-two years too late.

Warden Avery:
Will you talk to him, Sam?

Sam Larsen:
Warden, what could I say to him now?

Warden Avery:
His only chance lies in a reinvestigation of the facts of his case. Your group is set up to do the job. I wish you'd try.

Sam Larsen:
Do you have any real indication that he might be innocent?

Warden Avery:
Nooo, but would a man spend twenty-two years saving pennies for his transcript if he were guilty?

Webster:
All this happened a long time ago. It was just one afternoon with no special significance for you... how can you claim to remember it so clearly?

Carl Halsted:
Well, it wasn't just any old afternoon. It was a very special day in my life - my birthday. I was twenty-two years old and down and out. Maybe you don't know what that feels like.

Webster:
No, I don't.

Carl Halsted:
Well, I hadn't had a job in months. I was dead broke. Every time I stood up I got dizzy from weakness. I'd give my right arm for a good meal and I met this Smith in a hobo jungle. He bought a can of beans and loaf of bread and shared it with me - half and half.

Carl Halsted:
You wonder how I can remember him. I wonder how I could ever forget him.

[last lines]

John Smith:
I can't take this, Carl... five hundred dollars.

Carl Halsted:
Sure you can! It's just a loan. You can send it to me anytime.

John Smith:
I could give you an IOU.

Carl Halsted:
Oh, who needs it. We're friends aren't we?