The Trials of Cate McCall

The Trials of Cate McCall is a 2013 American drama film directed and written by Karen Moncrieff and stars Kate Beckinsale, Nick Nolte and Clancy Brown in pivotal roles.

Plot
Cate McCall (Kate Beckinsale) is a lawyer, an alcoholic in recovery and on probation, and estranged from her family. In order to regain custody of her young daughter and be reinstated to the bar, she accepts the pro bono appeal of a woman, Lacey, who has been convicted of murder. Aided by her assistant, Cate pulls out all stops to prove Lacey's innocence, as well as work on her own alcohol and work addictions. Cate becomes obsessed with the case, neglecting arranged time with her daughter while she successfully gets Lacey's conviction overturned. Cate begins drinking again after learning Lacey is guilty, which makes her mistreat her kid even more. In the middle of a trial, Cate goes back to her previous position at a prestigious law firm and purposely ruins the case for her own client. Cate then takes multiple illegal actions to put Lacey back in prison. Cate gives evidence to the prosecutor who can convict Lacey, then conspires with the prosecutor; the two of them agree to keep it a secret so that she won't be disbarred, which would deny him the ability to use the evidence that he should not have. Cate does not recuse herself from Lacey's trial – though she does blackmail the original judge, who previously ruled in Lacey's favour, to recuse himself. The prosecutor, exercising prosecutorial misconduct, does not recuse himself from the case either. Cate's overt acts of fraud, conspiracy, blackmail and misconduct enable her to get Lacey re-convicted. Cate's reward for her illegal actions is to be granted shared custody of her daughter.

Cast

 * Kate Beckinsale as Cate McCall
 * Nick Nolte as Bridges
 * Clancy Brown as Randall Brinkerhoff
 * David Lyons as Josh
 * Ava Kolker as Augie
 * Mark Pellegrino as Detective Robert Welch
 * James Cromwell as Justice Jamison Sumpter
 * Isaiah Washington as Wilson George
 * Brad Greenquist as Dr. Ennis
 * Anna Anissimova as Lacey
 * Jim Klock as Bailiff Powell
 * Jay Thomas as Loncraine. This was Thomas's final film appearance before his death in 2017.

Production
The filming of The Trials of Cate McCall began on May 16, 2012, in Los Angeles.

Distribution
The 2012 production was not released in the United States until 2014. In June 2012 Sierra/Affinity acquired the international distribution rights to the film.

Box office
The Trials of Cate McCall performed poorly, showing total box office revenue, from foreign markets, of less than $250,000.