Degree of Guilt
The Christopher Paget Mystery Series
Richard North Patterson
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN: 0679420649
Published: December 1992
Synopsis: A shocking death. A claim of attempted rape. A tale of sexual pathology.
Christopher Paget is a trial lawyer with a famous past: as a young
investigator in Washington, he unearthed a scandal that brought ruin to
a President -- and an abrupt end to Paget's affair with Mary Carelli.
Now, fifteen years later, they are estranged. Carelli is a well-known
television journalist based in New York; Paget lives quietly in San
Francisco, raising their teenage son and preserving what privacy he
can. Until a charge of murder changes everything.
The victim is America's most eminent novelist, Mark Ransom. The accused
is Mary Carelli. Her defense is attempted rape. The man she chooses to
defend her is Christopher Paget. Carelli does not deny that she killed
Ransom, but a fateful question remains to be answered: Was it
self-defense or was it murder? In preparation for a trial, Paget sets
out to establish that Mark Ransom was the twisted man Carelli claims he
was. With the help of an associate, Teresa Peralta, Paget uncovers
compelling evidence that presents a complex and disturbing picture of
Ransom as a sexual predator.
But this evidence may not be admissible in court. And there are other
unsettling surprises: a secret in Carelli's past that provides her with
a powerful motive for murder; facts that suggest she has been lying; a
woman prosecutor who firmly believes that Carelli is using the issue of
rape to conceal murder; and an enigmatic judge who may very well have
an agenda of her own.
With the odds against Carelli's acquittal quickly rising, Christopher
Paget is faced with a risky legal decision that leads to an explosive
convergence of public trial and private conflict - a decision that
threatens not only Mary Carelli's future, but his own, and their son's,
as well.
Degree of Guilt
Mike Robe, Director
Daphne Zuniga: Teresa 'Terri' Peralta
David James Elliott: Christopher 'Chris' Paget
Patricia Kalember: Judge Caroline Masters
Adam LaVorgna: Carlo Paget
Mae Whitman: Elena Argos
Vincent Ventresca: Richie Argos
Tricia O'Neil: Rosa
Nigel Bennett: Victor Salinas
Ron Lea: Mackinlay Brooks
Sharon Lawrence: Mary Carelli
Original Release Date: 1995
DVD Release Date: 7/22/2003
Source: Lions Gate
Format: DVD Pan & Scan
Aspect Ratio: Pre-1954 Standard (1.33.1)
Presentation: Pan & Scan
Sound: Dolby Digital Surround
Features: Full screen version; English closed captioning; Scene selections
Language: English
SubTitles: English
Time: 3 Hours
