Punishment

Creator: Greg Lookerse
Genre: Drama
Age rating: 17 and older
After a man is found dead in a shocking manner D.A. Caleb Cole finally has what he needs to punish career criminal Charles Casimir. But, does all the evidence point to Charles and how are the two men connected?
Project collaboration: By Permission
Full synopsis
Synopsis: Adam Addison is a wealthy man who frames Charles Casimir - a career criminal - for his death. Addison drives into the forest at night and commits suicide in an elaborately constructed plan.

District Attorney Caleb Cole has fought to bring Casimir to justice for over a decade and has never once succeeded. The day after a failure to convict Casimir Cole is handed the case of the supposed murder of Addison. Cole is suspicious of the evidence because he knows Casimir's ways and does not see a clear motive. Cole must find the connection between the two men in order to feel confident that he can defeat all of the corruption and bribes that Casimir will use if taken to court.

As Cole digs he finds that Addison's real name is Alex Hevel and that Casimir's first court case was for the suspected murder of Alise Hevel, Alex's sister. With this information Cole constructs an argument that Addison knew something that would convict Casimir of Alise's murder.

In a state of celebration the day before the initial hearing Cole finds security footage of Addison purchasing the knife that he killed himself with and having possession of the gun that he was shot with. Cole struggles with the fact that he is so close to punishing Casimir but it would be unjust.

After an argument with his assistant Abe, Cole destroys the security footage and plummets himself into a godlike megalomania. As he is hurrying to the courthouse the next day he runs a red light and gets hit by a truck. He stumbles from the vehicle and into the courtroom only to briefly see Casimir being taken away by officers.

When he awakes in the hospital Abe gives him the news that Casimir plead guilty although they both know he was innocent. It seems Casimir was tired of lying and punished himself while Cole's punishment is just beginning.

Latest Work

  • Script 1 - Greg's Original Draft
    04/21/12
    Creative Notes:
    This is my first try at this script. The story was inspired by Walter Reiters Mystery Sonatas. In particular The Presentation of the Infant Jesus at the Temple. I encourage you to listen to it as you start to read. I imagine the film as a bit of a noire but with the harshness of man an nature that is found in films like The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
    PDF