“Okay,” I said. “There are a couple other things we need to cover. Let’s talk about whether you testify.”

“That’s not a question. That’s a given. I want to clear my name. The jury will want me to say I did not do this.”

“I knew you were going to say that and I appreciate the fervor I see in your denials. But your testimony has to be more than that. It has to offer an explanation and that’s where we can get into trouble.”

“I don’t care.”

“Did you kill your wife and her lover?”

“No!”

“Then why did you go out there to the house?”

“I was suspicious. If she was there with somebody, I was going to confront her and throw him out on his ass.”

“You expect this jury to believe that a man who runs abillion-dollar movie studio took the afternoon off to drive out to Malibu to spy on his wife?”

“No, I’m no spy. I had suspicions and went out there to see for myself.”

“And to confront her with a gun?”

Elliot opened his mouth to speak but then hesitated and didn’t respond.

“You see, Walter?” I said. “You get up there and you open yourself up to anything — most of it not good.”

He shook his head.

“I don’t care. It’s a given. Guilty guys don’t testify. Everybody knows it. I’m testifying that I did not do this.”

He poked a finger at me with each syllable of the last sentence. I still liked his forcefulness. He was believable. Maybe he could survive on the stand.

“Well, ultimately it is your decision,” I said. “We’ll get you prepared to testify but we won’t make the decision until we get into the defense phase of the trial and we see where we stand.”

“It’s decided now. I’m testifying.”

His face began to turn a deep shade of crimson. I had to tread lightly here. I didn’t want him to testify but it was unethical for me to forbid it. It was a client decision, and if he ever claimed I took it away from him or refused to let him testify, I would have the bar swarming me like angry bees.

“Look, Walter,” I said. “You’re a powerful man. You run a studio and make movies and put millions of dollars on the line every day. I understand all of that. You are used to making decisions with nobody questioning them. But when we go into trial, I’m the boss. And while it will be you who makes this decision, I need to know that you are listening to me and considering my counsel. There’s no use going further if you don’t.”

He rubbed his hand roughly across his face. This was hard for him.

“Okay. I understand. We make a final decision on this later.”