[Jim's been arrested - again] What do you think, I'm an information bureau? I mean, once a month, I'm locked up in a room with you, with a tape running. It's putting a strain on our friendship.
All S1
S1 E15Unfinished Business
So I'd like to know who the cops were on the case.
Now just wait a minute.
Five'll getcha ten Lieutenant Hall was on the desk.
There's one thing I'm not gonna do is hang this on the police department!
Then why was he sniffing around this thing, huh? Go on Dennis, check it out.
I don't have to! It wasn't Lieutenant Hall!
Just 'cause he's a cop, he can't get jacked up over a half a million dollars?
Shut up Jim!
I don't go by Angel anymore...
Just who are you? The Archduke of Guacamole?
Now, who would want to kill me?
You want the list alphabetically or in order of importance?
Hey he's a really breath of stale air, isn't he?
DMDominic Marcone Goon
He's a winner. What are you Mr. Rockford?
I'll let you know.
DMDominic Marcon
You're holding out on me Jim, and I don't like that. We're trusting each other. And when I trust a guy, I expect him to be true with me. And if he doesn't, he's gonna end up in the flower business...as a soil additive!
Ranch’o Angelo! Sort of takes your breath away, doesn’t it?
It’s a DUMP! What a DUMP!
I don’t know, once you get in the Orange Groves and riding stables it won’t look too bad.
Do you think it’s funny?
No Angel, I don’t think it’s funny. As a matter of fact it scares me to death. I think it’s about time we take this to the cops.
Dad, who turned you onto this scheme?
Harry Schreau down at the Gear Tavern. He's the one always buying drinks for the house!
Dad, isn't Harry also the one who lost five hundred bucks on an astrology chain letter?
GOGerald A. O'Malley
[on the phone] Hello?
[Using a southern drawl] Mr. Gerald A. O'Malley?
GOGerald A. O'Malley
Yeah?
Yeah, this is Roger Martel, sir. Kern County civil defense.
GOGerald A. O'Malley
Yes sir! What can I do for you?
Government agencies have informed us that the Che Guevera unit of the ALF is planning to detonate eight jerry-rigged nuclear devices in Bakersfield, unless some federal prisoners are released by daybreak this morning.
GOGerald A. O'Malley
Now, wait a minute. What's the yield, man? What's the yield? Am I in the kill radius?
We are not sure what the yield is, but you're correct in your assumption. You are in the kill radius.
GOGerald A. O'Malley
Well, you're very calm about it! I've written you people letter after letter about this kind of thing, and you've ignored it! Now - now you're, you're certain that she's going to blow?
Just in case, sir, my advice would be to proceed immediately, and I repeat, immediately, to your bomb shelter. We've already had some leaks on this, and as your neighbors may come seeking protection from you, and no doubt they would be armed and desperate...
GOGerald A. O'Malley
Oh, shut up! I've got 1 million things to do here!
[O'Malley slams down phone]
When we agreed, you know, that we were gonna be partners, we were talking about a few hundred dollars, maybe a few thousand if we got lucky. But it's an awful lot of money, it just isn't right.
Of course it's right, Sonny. It couldn't be righter. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have anything.
Ooh watch them, they're stale.
No no, these are croutons, Dad. They're not stale.
This is Jim Rockford. At the tone leave your name and message, I'll get back to you.
CCaller
[beeep] Doctor Salter's office. This is the third time you've cancelled. Now you have to have that root canal. A sore foot has nothing to do with your mouth!
[about the Fifth Amendment] It doesn't apply!
What do you mean, it doesn't apply? It's in the Constitution!
It doesn't apply in this case, Jim. I told you the judge wouldn't buy your privileged argument! He read the questions the grand jury asked you, and he read your answers, and he said you waived your rights.
You want to know what I think?
I know what you think and I agree with you, only there's nothing I can do about it.
I don't even know Frank Sorvino, I don't even know what they're trying to prove, whether I kidnapped him or snuck him out of the country? The federal prosecutor is playing Clarence Darrow like he's got a whip and a chair!
Gary Bevins, he's bucking for the Attorney General.
And he'll probably make it too. It's his show all the way, no attorney for the defense, you gotta go take a hike to find a judge, it's just Bevins and his merry band of men!
Now look, Jim...
Oh yeah, yeah, and the jury foreman? He has a gavel! Now since when do they give gavels to jury foremen?
They don't, only it's not unusual for the average citizen to sort of get caught up in the role and...
And then ask for one.
No, I think they buy their own.
Oh, come on. Beth, how soon can you get me out of here?
I don't think I ought to try.
Try? Hey, even murder's bailable!
So is civil contempt, if I can convince the judge you got grounds for appeal.
Then convince him!
It's not that simple, Jim! You can go out one day and come back the next, you can't take this thing all the way to the Supreme Court!
You mean I'm going to be eating cream chip beef on toast till they decide to let me out of here?
Not exactly, you stay in jail until you agree to testify.
Well, I'm not going to testify! Bevins is a one-man lynch mob!
Or until the expiration of the current grand jury term.
When is that?
About nine months.
Nine months? Oh, that's a pretty stiff sentence!
That's why they made it civil contempt. If they'd made it criminal contempt, and asked for a sentence of more than six months, you'd have had a right to a trial by jury.
Nine months...
But, when the new grand jury is impaneled, if you're called again and you refuse to testify, again...
Then it's back to the old slammer.
Until their term expires, eighteen months. Then...
And then they impanel another jury and the whole thing starts all over again. I haven't been charged with anything, I haven't been convicted of anything, you know, with a deal like that, do you realize how long I could be in here?
Theoretically? The rest of your life.
Yeah.
[Beth got Jim released on a technicality, that his name had been miswritten]
Neither one of us knew it was gonna be a kangaroo court.
Yeah, I don't understand it! You told them the truth!
Yeah, and they didn't buy it. Hey look, I'm out, right?
Temporarily. They're gonna hit you with another subpoena, Jim.
Well, let them. This time I go in knowing the ground rules. I give them my name and I take the Fifth Amendment all the way.
That's what I'd do. Well, they think you're guilty anyway.
Look, I can use the Fifth Amendment, can I? I mean, they haven't repealed the law or anything?
No, sure, you can take it, and they'll dismiss you, it will just be postponing the inevitable. Gary Bevins will apply to the Department of Justice for a grant of immunity, then you'll be recalled and you'll have to testify, or be held in contempt of court, again. This time they're gonna get your name right, my love.
BBevins
Now, then, Mr. Rockford, what was the nature of your relationship with Frank Sorvino?
I refuse to answer on the grounds that it might tend to incriminate me.
BBevins
Of all the constitutional amendments, that seems to be your favorite. Isn't that correct, Mr. Rockford?
I refuse to answer on the grounds that it might tend to incriminate me.
BBevins
Not the First, not the Sixteenth, but the Fifth. It seems to be a universaI favorite among felons.
FForeman
Mr. Bevins, we're all interested in the truth, but is it necessary to badger Mr. Rockford?
BBevins
I'm sorry, Mr. Foreman, but this witness has steadfastly sought to withhold evidence that is vital to this inquiry.
Mr. Foreman...
BBevins
However, rather than burden the grand jury with another appeaI to Mr. Rockford's sense of civic duty and responsibility, Mr. Foreman, I will, instead, ask that the witness be excused, and file an appeal with the Department of Justice for a grant of immunity. When such grant is forthcoming, this witness will be recalled.
Mr. Foreman, may I make a statement?
FForeman
To what purpose, Mr. Rockford?
To clarify a situation that could use some clarification.
FForeman
All right, Mr. Rockford, a brief statement.
There's an old saying, you never buy a pig in a poke. Well, I bought one when I walked into this courtroom the other day. I thought I was walking into a court of law, not an inquisition.
BBevins
Mr. Foreman, I protest.
No, Mr. Bevins, I protest. I'm a citizen of the United States. And, as a citizen, I'm guaranteed certain rights under the constitution. When I try to avail myself of those rights, I'm jailed, I'm threatened, I'm subjected to the worst kind of intimidation...
BBevins
Mr. Foreman, this witness is trying to impugn the character and reputation...
What character?
FForeman
Mr. Rockford, I must warn you that you can be held in contempt for such statements.
BBevins
The character of decent citizens who have been impaneled for the purpose...
I'm not indicting the grand jury, I'm indicting Mr. Bevins. For misusing and manipulating...
FForeman
(bangs gavel) Mr. Rockford, I warn you.
I told you the truth, and you called me a liar. You paraded my prison record before these jurors, and ignored the fact that I was pardoned. Well, Mr. Bevins, you have less respect for the law than any of the men I ever did time with.
BBevins
Mr. Foreman!
I haven't done a damned thing. I have been subjected to harassment, character assassination, and your presence. Let me tell you, Mr. Bevins, you go ahead and get your grant of immunity, and you stick it in your ear!
These quotes come from Wikiquote's The Rockford Files pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.