Question: Build a movie plot around this: Who visits Aaron at the county jail? Vail
Answer:
Martin Vail (Richard Gere) is a prominent, cynical defense attorney in Chicago who loves the public spotlight and does everything he can to get his high-paying clients off crimes they commit on legal technicalties. One day, Vail sees a news report about the arrest of Aaron Stampler (Edward Norton), a young, stuttering, simpleton altar boy accused of murdering the beloved and hightly respected Archbishop Rushman (Stanley Anderson) of the Catholic Church in Chicago. As a result, Vail jumps at the chance to represent the young man pro-bono.At first, the spotlight-loving Vail is interested primarily in the publicity that the case will bring, yet during his meetings at the county jail with Aaron, Vail comes to believe that his client is truly innocent, much to the chagrin of the prosecutor (and Vail's former lover), Janet Venable (Laura Linney).As the murder trial begins, Vail discovers that powerful civic leaders, including the corrupt District Attorney John Shaughnessy (John Mahoney) as well as the mayor and even the regional governor, have lost millions of dollars in real estate investments due to a decision by the Archbishop not to develop on certain church lands. The Archbishop received numerous death threats as a result. Vail also learns through the grapevine that the archbishop had been sexually abusing altar boys, including Stampler.Introducing this evidence, while it would make Stampler more sympathetic to the jury, would also give his client a motive for murder, something the prosecution otherwise has lacked.The trial does not proceed well for the defense, as there is considerable evidence against Stampler since he was found running from the crime scene of the Archbishop's apartment with blood splattered all over his clothes, and he claims not to remember anything about the murder. However, public opinion holds Stampler almost certainly guilty and there are denials by the public about the Archbishop's true nature of being a pedophile.After Vail sneaks into the Archbishop's apartment to look for more...