There is no question that the Arab terrorist portrayed by Robert Davi is guilty of killing five US citizens in Barcelona. Even his lawyers have zero respect for the rabidly sociopathic Davi. But Jewish defence attorney Ron Leibman is obsessed with the concept of Due Process, and has vowed that Davi will receive a scrupulously fair trial when the terrorist is extradited to America. The defence mounted by Leibman confounds and aggravates government prosecutor Sam Waterston--but he, like Leibman, remains a man of judiciary integrity.
Acting
Leibman's obsessive integrity vs. Davi's snarling menace.
Writing
Refuses easy answers about who deserves fairness.
Director
Jeff Bleckner
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made for CBS in 1988, this aired during the Pan Am 103 era when 'terrorist trial' meant something viscerally raw to American audiences. The casting of Davi—then typecast as ethnic villains—was deliberately uncomfortable.
Ron Leibman researched real ACLU attorneys who defended unpopular clients; his wire-rim glasses and nervous energy were borrowed from a specific civil rights lawyer who wished to remain anonymous.
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