Law & Order (1990) s07e16 Episode Script

Turnaround

In the criminal justice system the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups, the police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.
These are their stories.
Come on, Mike.
I got to stuff the turkey and put it in the oven.
There's time.
Oh, no, they're gonna be here at noon.
All 17 of them.
Count your blessings.
Your in-laws live 3,000 miles away.
That's right, Buster.
And if any of them cross the Mississippi, I'm out of here.
Mommy, Mommy! Chasen chopped up Baboo, and now he's gonna hurt Paddington! No, no, no, Janey, honey, he's just pretending.
No, he's not.
Look! Oh, God.
Chasen, stop this minute! Give me that.
Where did you get this? I found it outside.
Oh, my God.
Where did that come from? He says he found it.
Is that blood on the handle? Oh, my God, Chasen.
Well, he looks okay.
I don't see any cuts.
Maybe this isn't his blood.
Little kid out on the Island found it.
His parents turned it over to the Suffolk police.
And here it is.
So what is it? It's a barong.
Used by the Moro tribe in the Philippines.
I guess they have a local chapter.
Thing looks old.
It's almost 100 years old.
I found blood on the grip and at the blade joint.
A-blood negative, same as your headless lady, Heidi Ellison.
Yeah, but a lot of people besides her have that blood type.
See these nicks on the true edge? I matched them to marks found on the victim's cervical vertebrae, radii and tibiae.
This is your murder weapon, fellows.
All the way from the South Pacific.
Saved her a trip to Bora-Bora.
Chasen, sweetheart, just tell them where you found it.
You know, everybody's real proud of you for finding the sword.
Hey, Chasen, check this out.
My lieutenant's gonna make you a special deputy detective.
That means a personal tour through the squad room, okay? But first you got to tell us where you found the sword.
It was in the field behind my school.
Yeah? How did you find it? We were building a snow fort.
So it was under the snow? Uh-huh.
Do you remember what day that was? I think it was about two weeks ago, before school.
And do you remember anything else that happened that day? Miss Angeli took us to the Museum of Natural History to learn about whales.
The machete came from Heidi Ellison's den.
Her assistant remembers it hanging on a wall.
I'm waiting for you to tell me it came with a set of Grant's fingerprints.
Sorry.
- And there's another problem.
The motel in New Paltz has him checking in at a quarter to midnight.
We're not sure that gives him enough time to dump this thing in Islip.
Well, maybe he ditched it some other day.
The boy could be wrong about finding it the next morning.
No, the school confirmed the class trip was the day after Ellison was killed.
And the weather bureau said it snowed that night, which fits in with the kid's story that the knife was covered with snow.
If Grant wasn't in Islip, maybe Eddie Newman was.
Wasn't he in LA? He was with his cell phone, which could be anywhere.
LAPD says it could take a week to get his phone records.
Well, before we start apologizing to Mr.
Grant, retrace his timeline and nail it down.
LT, could you sign this? "This certificate identifies the holder "as a special deputy detective of the New York City Police Department.
" Special deputy detective? I made it up on my computer for the kid.
Just sign it.
Whatever you say, Sheriff.
This is cute.
This is very cute.
Okay, I give him 15 minutes to argue and bury the machete in her head.
Yeah, fine.
But now comes the tricky part.
It says here the Westies diced and bagged Ruby Stein in the ladies' room of a bar in under an hour.
Yeah, that's three guys working together.
Now, I remember one mutt up in the Bronx cut his mother-in-law up into eight pieces while his wife was out getting the groceries.
Grant's pretty muscled up.
A couple of good whacks to the head, hands and the feet.
What, about five minutes? Okay, so 15 more to clean up, and another 10 to get everything down to the car.
Say he got into it with her right after she called the doorman.
By a quarter past 8:00, he's ready to go.
Yeah, so am I with a couple of Bromos.
Here's your change.
Thank you.
Okay, he dumps the head in the alley.
That's two minutes.
Now, the torso's a bigger handful, plus he actually has to get the car to the river.
Twenty minutes.
That puts him heading to Islip at about a quarter to 9:00.
Islip to New Paltz is about 120 miles.
That's two hours minimum, if he's gonna get there before midnight.
Meaning he has to get out of Islip by 9:30, which gives him 45 minutes to get there from here.
Fifty miles on the LIE on a weeknight? That's pushing it.
Yeah, if you drive like an old lady.
December 5th on the LIE? East or westbound? Eastbound to Islip.
Okay.
Give me a couple.
So what'd you do with Lisa? You show her the sights? Showed her the precinct.
The girl flies in all the way from California Well, jumping in the sack with her is not gonna save my marriage, Lennie.
Well, neither is your on-and-off separation.
The expert speaks.
Hey, I know what doesn't work.
Believe me, if your wife wanted a doormat, she'd go to Sears.
Put a clock on it, Rey, so the two of you can get on with your lives.
All right, fellows, you want to come around here? Okay, this is what we got.
We got a 15-minute delay at the Cross Island Parkway junction.
A car ran out of gas in the second lane.
Then a 10-minute delay just before Interchange 42.
You like living in the suburbs? Last thing.
The Islip off-ramp's been closed for repairs the last three weeks.
Detour adds another 20 minutes.
Okay, thanks.
All right.
Take it easy.
Yeah, appreciate it.
Well, unless Grant grew wings and flew, there's no way he'd make it in 45 minutes.
Okay, so one of his pals buries the knife, and he goes up to New Paltz.
Yeah, pretty dumb to involve somebody else.
Hey, they don't take steroids to build brains.
Well, whoever dropped the knife, he wasn't invisible.
Someone might've seen him.
Tuesday.
Right, the Bulls.
Rodman had blue hair.
Got ejected during the second quarter.
Let me ask you something.
Did you notice any unusual activity in the field over there? I was watching the game.
It was a slow night.
That's what everybody says.
You have any interesting customers? Locals.
Except for a city cab.
Stopped for directions during the fourth quarter.
What was he doing all the way out here? He was dropping a fare off from Manhattan a couple of blocks from here.
What, was he lost? I'm sure he knows his way around Calcutta.
He was yammering about his fare catching a plane.
Isn't MacArthur Airport just down the road? Yeah.
A half mile.
And he dropped his fare here? Was I speaking Martian? Yeah.
A couple of blocks from here.
Yeah.
I guess our guy figured they wouldn't let him take his barong on the plane.
The last commercial flight leaves at 8:45, non-stop to Albany.
Then what? You roll up the runways? The noise abatement regs kick in.
We're allowed two cargo flights an hour till 1:00 a.
m.
Then we shut down, unless there's an emergency.
What about the small planes we saw parked outside? There's no limit on private flights.
You check everything that goes out? Every plane has to file a flight plan before it's cleared for takeoff.
Even the little ones.
You need a degree in aeronautics just to read these.
You mind? You want everything after 9:30, right? Okay, this is the plane's registration number.
This tells you the type of plane.
This is the number of people on board, crew plus passengers.
And this is the destination.
YUL? Montreal-Dorval Airport.
Everybody knows that, Rey.
You can look it up in this.
And if we want to know the names of the passengers? Private flights don't file manifests with us.
You have to talk to the owners.
We went to San Francisco to meet with Caltone.
They're going public next month, and we're handling the offering.
Your flight plan said you had six other passengers on board.
All of them employees? I had a couple of friends with me.
We played a round at Pebble Beach.
We're gonna need their names, all right? Well, I'd like to get their okay first.
The other nine people we talked to were very cooperative.
Of course, they weren't hiding anything.
Who exactly are you looking for? Anyone who might've known Heidi Ellison.
The movie executive? Well, if you're looking for people who knew her, try the G-IV that cut in front of us.
G-IV? Gulfstream IV.
Steven Berger's plane.
He has an estate in Southampton.
He's not on the list.
You sure it was his plane? The control tower doesn't kiss just anybody's ass.
We were second in line for takeoff when Berger got bumped to the front of the class.
According to the flight plan, Berger's plane was supposed to leave for LA at 9:00.
Except it left at 10:15.
They say why it was late? Well, maybe the cappuccino machine got busted.
That was Berger's lawyer.
The great man just got back from the Gobi Desert, where he was scouting locations for a movie.
And tonight he's going to Morocco.
You tell his lawyer he's not going anywhere until he talks to us? Uh-huh.
He has a meeting with Julia Roberts at 2:00, Brad Pitt at 3:00, but he canceled his 4:00 with some writer to meet with us at his lawyer's.
I represent Mr.
Berger's legal interests, along with Mr.
Mittleman and Miss Schulter.
Messrs.
Sands and Palnick are his agents, and Ms.
Canton handles his relations with the media.
Mr.
Berger is deeply saddened by Heidi Ellison's tragic death.
He considered her a friend and a colleague, and a woman of great talent.
Mr.
Berger, was she a close friend? They had a pragmatic relationship, which in their business is considered a friendship.
Mr.
Berger is eager to help in any way that he can to bring the guilty parties to justice.
Well, we appreciate that.
We just have a few simple questions for him.
Before we get to that, Mr.
Berger doesn't want news of this meeting leaking to the media.
Well, we hadn't planned on telling anybody.
Of course.
But if it is going to be leaked, Mr.
Berger would like Liz Smith to get first crack at it.
Her number's at the top of the page.
What's this? It's a suggested press release.
Of course, feel free to put it in your own vernacular.
Mr.
Berger, your plane left MacArthur Airport an hour and a quarter late.
Could you tell us why? Mr.
Berger was waiting for a passenger.
And who was the passenger? Eddie Newman.
Berger's a hell of a ventriloquist.
His mouth never moved the whole time we were there.
The story is, Newman called him around 8:30 to hitch a ride to the West Coast.
They're friends? They shared architects.
I don't know what that means out there.
What else did Berger say? He took a pill and fell asleep right after takeoff.
Who else was on the plane? Well, Berger's personal assistant dittoed everything her boss said.
There was also his executive producer and the guy who does the merchandising on his movies.
We haven't talked to them.
Say the word, we'll get a search warrant for Newman's car and his apartment.
We leave one "T" uncrossed on that warrant application, and Neal Gorton will shove it down our throats.
Hey, Newman lied about his alibi.
He was in the same area the murder weapon was found.
What are we missing? A motive.
Find somebody who'll say he hated her guts.
Well, Newman palled around with Steven Berger.
People are afraid to talk.
What about Evan Grant? Heidi Ellison must've told him something about her ex-husband.
Ask him.
But don't let him know we're considering another suspect.
If we're wrong about Newman, I don't want to give Grant an alternate theory of the crime.
I'm not going to dazzle you with a lot of bull, Miss Ross.
Evan and I are realistic about our chances with a jury.
You put a serious offer on the table, we'll give it a good, hard look.
I'm not here to negotiate a plea.
What happened to your other lawyer? Money's all gone.
My friends in LA stopped returning my calls.
He's the only one I can afford.
He tells me I should take a deal.
Miss Ross, I'm innocent.
So why are we having this meeting? Your client might help himself by answering a few questions about Eddie Newman.
Why? Is he a suspect, too? Mr.
Grant, your cooperation will mean something down the line.
On the last day you were with Heidi, did she talk about Newman? Yeah, he called her on her cell phone when she was at the gym.
What did they talk about? I didn't hear.
She took her phone into her private dressing room.
She didn't say anything when she got back, but I could tell she was upset.
Was she often upset after talking with her husband? Yeah, sometimes.
From what she told me, he was a piece of work.
What specifically did she tell you? Well, she said that all the time they were married, he wanted to control her.
Movie directors are like that.
They bang their leading ladies for the control.
Was he ever violent with her? She said that when they were married, she had him arrested for assault.
He got nuts because he thought she was cheating on him.
When was this? She said last year, right after New Year's.
What's the problem? We don't have a record Newman was ever arrested.
She never filed a complaint, so I never arrested him.
Then why did you voucher his personal belongings? Your sergeant found a voucher in the precinct's file for Newman's gold watch, two rings and his wallet.
You just took him in, you put him in the holding cell, and then you let him go? Did his watch find its way onto your wrist? I resent that.
I resent being lied to.
You tell me what happened, Detective Miller, or I am walking this over to IAB.
Look, I showed a little compassion.
Newman and Ellison went a couple of rounds in their living room.
She had a bloody nose and a cut on her lip.
She wanted him arrested, I took him in.
Why didn't he stay arrested? Because he was very contrite.
Very ashamed.
So while he was in the tank, I talked to his wife.
You convinced her to drop her complaint.
She came to that on her own.
Without her as a witness, there's no case, and you know it, so I let Newman go.
What did you get out of it? A couple of autographs? He appreciated my mediation work.
It didn't take.
We think he might have killed her.
I knew it.
I tried to tell Briscoe and Curtis I liked him for that murder.
What do you have on that creep? Barely enough for a search warrant.
Son of a bitch.
Newman's car will be at the impound in a half hour.
Anything here? Not yet.
Newman hasn't been around for two weeks, but the maid comes by every other day to change the flowers and restock the fridge with fresh mango juice.
Oh.
The ego wall.
We got an Oscar nomination for Best Editing, a couple of honorable mentions from film festivals in Europe.
I guess it works as foreplay.
Well, if those don't, these might.
Here.
I counted 14 pill bottles here.
There's 20 more in the bathroom.
Not to mention this.
Uppers, downers, anxiety pills, sleeping pills, painkillers, codeine, morphine Demerol.
Prescribed by Dr.
Daniel Duval.
Newman's shrink.
Amphetamines, also from Duval.
You could jumpstart the '60s with what's in here.
The guy who detailed his car did a great job.
You find his number, let me know.
As soon as we book him for destroying evidence, he's all yours.
I said great, not perfect.
I found a dozen strands of beige silk caught on the gas pedal.
From clothing? Possible.
They were stained with A-negative blood.
It's Heidi's blood type, and there were three blood specks of the same type found on the lining of the trunk.
I doubt Gorton could give us any grief over probable cause.
Good.
Swear out an arrest warrant.
Newman's still in LA, finishing his movie.
Fax them the warrant.
Tell Briscoe and Curtis to pack their bags.
Welcome back.
Yeah, we're just here for take-out.
You guys have him in custody, right? Not quite.
He checked himself into the Judith Harvey Center.
He's in rehab? Let's go in and pull him out.
It's not that simple.
There's a medical angle.
Hey, I know the word rehab's like a religion out here, but he can't just check himself into a drug treatment center and yell "sanctuary.
" I've got two units parked outside the clinic.
Newman's not going anywhere.
Hey, Rey, way to go.
I don't know anything about this.
Over here.
Detective Curtis? No, he's Curtis.
I just hold his hat.
Detective Curtis, Miss Lundquist arranged a car to take you to your hotel.
She said she reserved your usual rooms.
Well, that's real nice, but we're leaving tonight.
I'm happy to take you wherever you're going.
Well, we're on official business here.
No, thanks.
No problem.
Miss Lundquist asked me to give you this.
It's her numbers where she can be reached.
She asked that you give her a call whenever you're done.
Great, we should've brought party hats.
Jerry, these are the New York detectives.
Lennie Briscoe, Rey Curtis.
Jerry Weiss, Deputy District Attorney for LA county.
You know Mr.
Gorton and Dr.
Duval.
This is Alan Sherick.
He's local counsel for Mr.
Newman.
Well, drinks are on me as soon as Mr.
Newman's in our custody.
Mr.
Newman is in the second day of a drug treatment program.
I've proposed, and Mr.
Weiss has tentatively agreed, that he complete the program and then surrender himself to the police.
You agreed? I agreed to consider it.
Well, he better be cured by 8:00, 'cause that's when the plane leaves.
It's a 10-day program.
Hey, we're not gonna get into a slow-speed chase with the guy.
Mr.
Weiss, unless you look forward to running into some problems when you're looking for somebody on our turf, you'd better execute that arrest warrant today.
This is abusive.
I'm calling Garcetti.
This man is sick.
It'll set back his recovery by months.
He can recover at Rikers.
Eddie.
Eddie.
Eddie, these detectives are here to take you back to New York.
Don't worry, everything is gonna be fine.
They're arresting you, Eddie.
Just don't say a word.
Be with you the whole way.
Can he stand up? Sure.
Stand up.
Want to do the honors? Give us some room, please.
Edward Newman, you're under arrest for the murder of Heidi Ellison.
Dan It's gonna be all right.
I won't let them hurt you.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you do say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
This matter's on for the arraignment of Edward Newman.
A warrant for his arrest and extradition having been received from the sovereign state of New York and lodged with this court.
Mr.
Newman is filing notice of a writ of habeas corpus.
You're contesting the extradition? Yes, Your Honor.
On the grounds that the arrest warrant issued by the State of New York is defective.
Defective how, Your Honor? Your Honor, I respectfully suggest this isn't the forum to litigate this matter.
I agree, Mr.
Sherick.
I'm setting this down for a hearing on the defendant's petition, five days from now.
So ordered.
More developments following the arrest yesterday of Hollywood director Eddie Newman for the murder of his ex-wife, studio boss Heidi Ellison.
In a highly unusual turn, Newman's lawyers contested extradition from California.
This means Heidi Ellison's latest accused killer stays beyond the reach of New York justice for at least another five days.
What the devil is Gorton up to? Trying to lure you out to sunny California to see you in a bathing suit? It's a better reason than his writ of habeas corpus.
Maybe I should read it again, but I didn't see grounds to challenge the extradition.
Yeah, well, maybe our extradition papers were written with the wrong ink.
There's nothing wrong with them.
Gorton's attacking the arrest warrant.
On what basis I don't know.
Get on a plane and find out.
I want this bi-coastal nonsense over.
Drag Newman back here by his heels if you have to.
Gorton hooked up with Alan Sherick.
Very connected.
Plays skins with all the right judges, and he lets them win.
Is there any actual law supporting their writ? Could be a stall.
Could be your warrant's no good.
Miss Ross, you ever thought about television work? I beg your pardon? I'm an on-air commentator for Justice TV.
Part time.
If you have an 8-by-10, I could get it to my producer.
I've got a snapshot with my daughter at the zoo.
That's cute.
Do you have a card? This is the break I'm looking for.
There's nothing frivolous about our petition.
There are grave issues involved here.
I spent six hours on the plane staring at that arrest warrant.
I didn't see anything wrong with it.
Maybe all that free champagne blurred your vision.
We sat in coach.
Coach, Jamie? That's really sad.
This case is a loser, Neal.
That's what's sad.
Otherwise you wouldn't be wasting our time here.
I don't find lack of probable cause insignificant.
The probable cause is spelled out in the arrest warrant.
If you weren't having such a fabulous time in first class, you might have noticed.
The place to argue about probable cause, Mr.
Gorton, is 3,000 miles east.
The California courts don't have the authority to attack the underlying facts of the case.
We found a judge who's happy to disagree with you.
How many golf strokes did that cost you, Alan? I'm going to ignore that and refer you to Michigan v.
Doran and Gerstein v.
Pugh.
The Supreme Court reversed Doran.
Once the governor of the demanding state signs the extradition papers, they're valid on their face.
The asylum state can't challenge them.
And under Gerstein, California doesn't have to grant extradition until a neutral court determines probable cause.
That's not what Gerstein says.
It says whatever Judge Van Ness interprets it to say.
One of your judges is hijacking my case.
Doesn't your office have anything to say about that? We can help you file an appeal in Sacramento, but that's about it.
You're not in Kansas anymore, McCoy.
I don't get the problem.
We've tossed out his alibi, and we've got her blood in his car.
Well, maybe this judge thinks "smoking gun" is a famous Indian chief.
This judge is an idiot.
He took the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution and tossed it into the Santa Monica Bay.
Maybe you should take up golf.
If it'll help, I'll send for my clubs.
Does anybody want to grab a bite? Not me.
I'm booked for dinner.
Quick, turn up the sound.
We're going to prove that the arrest warrant for my client is produced from evidence planted in his car.
Planted by who, Mr.
Gorton? We'll get into that in the hearing.
Excuse me.
Mr.
Gorton Mr.
Gorton Now, Wendy, Jess, of course we'll be contacting the New York County District Attorney's What a load of bull.
Who had access to the car? I'll call and see if we can get on the red-eye.
It did not look this big in the photo.
You take this out by yourself? It's not set up for single-handing.
Right now, it's perfect for two.
You like boats? Well, I've been on the ferry with my girls.
Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty.
Uh-huh.
Hmm.
I bet your daughters are sweethearts.
Most of the time.
So, Rey, you ever think about changing jobs? Every Monday morning.
Why? I talked to the head of security at the studio.
He says they're looking for someone with your experience.
To do what? Background checks.
Special investigations.
I don't know what you make now, but you would easily triple your salary.
Sounds great, Lisa, but I can't leave the kids.
I wouldn't expect you to.
LA is a great place to live if you're an orange, but you'd work out of New York.
You would travel to movie locations all over the world.
I don't know.
No strings attached.
Your plane is not for a couple of hours.
I know, but I should probably head back to the hotel.
Don't you want to sleep with me? Yes, I do.
But It's just sex.
It doesn't have to go anywhere.
I wish it were that easy.
I do.
Thanks for your offer.
Your job offer.
So when are you gonna give Giuliani your two weeks' notice? I ain't going anywhere.
Yeah, right.
Why give up all this for a six-figure income and free travel to exotic countries? Come on, come on, lay off.
Hey, Rey, I like working with you.
You got to be nuts to turn down that job.
Think of what you could do for your kids with that money.
Okay, black Mercedes, 500 SL.
Edward Newman, owner.
Brought in on Thursday morning.
Wasn't looked at till Friday afternoon.
Anybody go near it before then? Yeah, it's the only car we have here.
I'd never take my eye off it.
How the hell would I know? Yeah, well besides your regulars, who was in that garage between Thursday and Friday? What was Detective Miller doing here? Looks like he had a car in here in connection with a robbery.
This is a photocopy.
What happened to the original? My supervisor took it.
Said somebody subpoenaed it.
That robbery case wasn't even yours, Miller.
You had no business being in that garage.
I can go any damn place on city property I want to.
Listen, we find your prints on Newman's car, you'll be going to Rikers.
I got a subpoena and I got a ticket to LA.
Hey, hey! That's where I'm going.
Hey, Miller, if you've got something on your chest you want to get rid of, now's the time to do it! I didn't plant nothing.
Now, if you guys excuse me, I got to go buy some suntan lotion.
They subpoenaed Miller, someone from the forensic garage, and Dr.
Dietrich Parks, a fiber expert from San Francisco.
Miller's prints weren't on the car.
No one saw him near the car.
It's all innuendo.
Neal never wings it.
He's putting our evidence on trial here, on TV, for the benefit of potential jurors back home.
He can say things here he wouldn't be allowed to say in a New York courtroom.
That's right.
Let's look at his evidence.
The sign-in sheet from the garage, blood and DNA studies, studies on silk fabric.
That's one good thing about California.
Reciprocal discovery.
What do you make of this? A woman's beige silk blouse.
Please state your name and occupation.
Dr.
Dietrich Parks, professor of forensic science at UC Berkeley.
For the record, I renew my objection to this hearing.
This court has no jurisdiction over a crime committed in the State of New York.
As long as Mr.
Newman is in my district, I'm going to see he's protected under the Fourth Amendment against any unwarranted restraints on his liberty.
With all due respect, there has already been a finding of probable cause to arrest him.
This court certainly has jurisdiction to inquire into the basis of that finding.
Your Honor, that's precisely Thank you, Mr.
Sherick.
Mr.
McCoy, sit down.
Proceed, Mr.
Gorton.
Thank you, Your Honor.
Dr.
Parks, you examined the fiber evidence found in Mr.
Newman's car.
What can you tell us about it? The fibers were single-ply silk colored with a beige vegetable-based dye, and weaved in a jacquard pattern.
They were stained with Type-A negative blood.
Dr.
Parks.
Do you recognize this? Well, yes, I examined it two days ago.
It's a woman's blouse, single-ply silk colored with a beige vegetable-based dye, and weaved in a jacquard pattern.
It's also stained with A-negative blood.
The same as the fibers found in Mr.
Newman's car? Yes.
They match perfectly.
There's a tag attached to the sleeve.
Please read what it says.
"New York City Police Department.
Evidence Clerk's Office, 16th Precinct.
"Recovered from the person of Heidi Ellison.
" It's dated January 12, one year ago.
It's an evidence voucher.
Please read the signature on the tag.
"Detective Stu Miller.
" Thank you.
No more questions.
Dr.
Parks, can you state with absolute certainty that the fibers in Mr.
Newman's car came from that blouse and that blouse only? No, not absolutely.
They might have come from a similar blouse that Heidi Ellison could have been wearing the night she was murdered four weeks ago.
Isn't that right? I suppose so, but Thank you.
Ms.
Ellison wanted to press charges.
I took the blouse because it was evidence of the assault.
She bled on it after he hit her.
To your knowledge, was Mr.
Newman ever prosecuted for this assault? No.
Ms.
Ellison dropped the complaint.
Because at Mr.
Newman's request, you talked her out of pressing charges.
Isn't that true? I had a conversation with her.
I didn't talk her out of anything.
Isn't it true that Mr.
Newman promised you a job as a technical advisor on one of his movies? He might have mentioned something.
Isn't it true that Mr.
Newman promised to help you write a screenplay based on your experiences as a police officer? Maybe.
I don't remember.
But Mr.
Newman never delivered on any of his promises.
Isn't that right? I don't know.
And when you learned that he was a suspect in his ex-wife's murder, you took fibers from that blouse which you placed in the evidence room one year earlier, and you planted those fibers in his car.
Isn't that right? That's not true.
I did not plant evidence.
Thank you, Detective.
Detective Miller, are you aware that Ms.
Ellison's blood was found in the trunk of Mr.
Newman's car? Yes.
Did you plant that blood? No.
Did you have anything to do with Mr.
Newman's lying to the police about his whereabouts on the night Ms.
Ellison was killed? No.
Did you have anything to do with his being in the area where the murder weapon was discovered? No.
Thank you.
I admit I smacked her.
I had never done that before.
I felt sick to my stomach.
I apologized right away, but she was angry.
She wanted me arrested.
After Detective Miller brought you to the precinct, did you ask him to talk to your wife? Yes.
He said he knew exactly what to say to her.
And did you promise Detective Miller employment in return for his help? I told him I would spitball story ideas with him.
In the industry, that's a euphemism.
It means "get lost.
" But Detective Miller didn't, did he? No.
He called my home, he called my office, he even called Heidi.
Finally, I told him if he didn't stop bothering us, I'd call his commanding officer.
I never heard from him again.
Thank you.
Had Detective Miller been to your home before the time you punched out your wife? Yes.
But I didn't punch her out.
How did you break her nose? I didn't break her nose.
It was bleeding.
Her lip was swollen.
Objection, Your Honor.
Relevance.
Sustained.
Mr.
McCoy, get back on track.
Yes, Your Honor.
Mr.
Newman, isn't it true that Detective Miller was a regular visitor at your house because you routinely assaulted your wife? We had arguments.
I never assaulted her.
You mean, you were never actually charged as a wife beater.
Did you ask Detective Miller to talk to your wife on those occasions, too? Objection.
Withdrawn.
No more questions.
You can step down, Mr.
Newman.
I guess Neal's not the only one who knows how to play to the cameras.
Based on the fiber evidence, and on Detective Miller's history with my client, it is a reasonable inference that the fibers were placed in the car by Detective Miller.
Even if we grant that allegation, there's still plenty of evidence to sustain probable cause.
It's all suspect.
If Detective Miller can plant fibers in the front seat of the car, what's to prevent him or anyone else from planting blood in the trunk? His client fabricated an alibi.
Which, of itself, doesn't even come close to being probable cause for arrest.
He's right, Mr.
McCoy.
You toss out the evidence in the car, you don't have much of a case left.
Speak up, Your Honor.
There are some people in the Bronx who didn't hear you.
What did you say? You're usurping the authority of the citizens of the State of New York.
It's for them to decide the facts of this case, not you.
You just watch me.
I find your arrest warrant unsupported by the evidence.
The defendant's petition is granted.
The extradition request is denied, and you, Mr.
McCoy, are fined $2,000 for contempt.
And we don't take out-of-state checks.
Have my office wire you the money as soon as we get back to the hotel.
I don't think Van Ness has ever been talked to like that.
Someone ought to yank his leash.
I'll ask my boss to call the Chief Administrative Judge.
Their kids go to the same pre-school.
That's our problem.
No friends.
We ought to start cruising the bars.
Miller screwed us.
An overzealous moron wanted to make sure Newman got nailed.
I hate leaving empty-handed.
Well, Moondoggie, what do you want to do? Rent a beach house and wait for the appeal? Or we can come up with some probable cause that Van Ness can't dismiss.
The police searched Newman's homes and offices on both coasts.
What about Berger's private jet? Newman was dumping evidence all the way to the airport.
Maybe he left some on the plane.
Mr.
Berger's very secretive about his travels.
You're a New York lawyer? New York District Attorney's Office.
You're a long way from home.
Don't I know it.
Mr.
Berger's office told me his plane was being leased out while he wasn't using it.
They told me to talk to you.
I'll have to remember to thank him.
You know all these people? Yeah, close personal friends.
They have my headshot up in their office.
You want to give me yours, I'll put it up there.
I don't have one.
Everybody tells me I should.
People around here use them instead of business cards.
Berger's plane is due back here from Aspen this afternoon, but tomorrow morning Berger's taking it to Tokyo and then to Europe for a month.
It's been around the world half a dozen times since then.
People have been in and out of it, it's been vacuumed, cleaned.
There's no reason to expect there's any evidence left.
I don't sense the spirit of cooperation here.
I am not in a rush to tear apart Steven Berger's private jet on a whim.
What's he going to do, name the monster in his next movie after you? This is a company town, Miss Ross.
Berger bitches to my boss, I spend the next two years in misdemeanor court.
My boss bitches to your boss, you won't be much better off.
I need to bullet-proof my ass.
Just find me a good reason to take it to a judge.
Who else was on the plane with Newman and Berger? There's not much I can tell you about the flight.
I spent most of the time on the phone, lining up financing for Steven's next film.
Seems you and Newman were the only ones awake.
Everyone else said they took sleeping pills.
I hope you're not including the pilot.
When you weren't on the phone, did you talk to Mr.
Newman? He saw I was busy.
I said hello.
Did you notice anything about his appearance or his behavior? No, I didn't.
Mr.
Cooper, you weren't flying aboard the Queen Mary.
The man was sitting not more than ten feet away from you for six hours.
I think you should direct your questions to my attorney.
Why do you need to hide behind an attorney? I heard how you people operate in New York.
You indict them all and let the jury sort them out.
Did Neal Gorton tell you that? Mr.
Gorton stopped by, yes.
He threw around terms like "accessory after the fact," "criminal facilitation.
" How about "hindering prosecution? " Did he mention that one? Because you're giving a textbook example of it.
We're not interested in prosecuting anyone but Eddie Newman.
Now, do you want to hear our questions again? Mr.
Newman was very jumpy.
He was pacing around the cabin a lot.
I asked him what was bothering him.
He said it was just the pressure of making a movie.
Did he bring anything on the plane with him? A couple of small carry-ons.
I noticed that he took one of them with him every time he went to the head.
How often was that? He was in there for a long time.
Once, twice, then he'd come out.
His eyes were red.
I thought he'd been crying.
There's a weather front moving in along the Aleutians.
If we don't leave within a half hour, we'll have to reroute.
Tell Mr.
Berger we're sorry, but the District Attorney himself signed off on this warrant.
We can't release the plane until we complete the search.
They Luminol'd the toilet, sink and the drain pipes.
They think they found something.
Blood? They won't know till they take the sink and the pipes back to the lab.
Looks like Mr.
Berger's not getting his plane back today.
I'll break the news to him.
I collected samples from the joint surrounding the sink drain and from the cleanout.
I analyzed the samples, identified them as blood type A-negative, the same as the victim Ellison.
Mr.
Hayashi, to your knowledge, was the holding tank of the chemical toilet searched? Yes.
It was removed and then brought back to the laboratory.
Inside, I found a woman's signet ring snagged on a piece of metal flashing.
Please describe the ring.
It's a size five-and-a-half platinum ring, with three emerald baguettes forming the letter "H" in a diamond chip setting.
Your Honor, I'm showing what was previously marked as People's Five.
Mr.
Hayashi, is this the ring? Yes.
People's Six, Your Honor.
Mr.
Hayashi, this is a photo of Heidi Ellison taken March 10 of this year.
Do you see that ring in this photo? Yes.
It's on the ring finger of Ms.
Ellison's right hand.
Thank you.
No more questions.
Mr.
Gorton? No questions, Your Honor.
Mr.
Hayashi, you're excused.
Your Honor, I submit there now exists sufficient probable cause to support an arrest warrant.
I respectfully request you grant the governor's warrant for extradition.
I order the governor's warrant for extradition be executed forthwith.
JUDGE VAN Court's adjourned.
Goodbye, Mr.
McCoy.
Don't gloat, Jamie.
It's only the first round.
What are you hoping for? Man one? Extreme emotional disturbance? That's what I'd do.
I know what you'd do.
You'd put Jack McCoy's lights out.
You wouldn't take a plea.
Newman is a pill-popping egomaniac.
He's not going to give a jury the warm fuzzies.
I'm gonna let you in on a little secret.
He's innocent.
Like all our other clients? You mean they weren't innocent? I'm shocked.
What's this? A polygraph given yesterday.
He passed with flying colors.
After how many dry runs? On the very first try.
I wish you were working on my side of the aisle on this one.
We were good together.
In court.
Everywhere else, we stunk.
Oh, how quickly they forget.
All right, there, too.
So, how about our Katie? She learned to write her name yesterday.
When did you talk to her? I called her on the way over here.
I told her we were having lunch.
She said to say hi.
She's looking forward to seeing you tonight.
I'll be on the red-eye.
Well, it's lucky for you she gets along so well with the nanny.
The judge denied Newman's bail and sent him to Rikers.
He can start an acting workshop.
I talked to the IAB about Detective Miller.
He's suspended.
We're coordinating a joint investigation.
Good.
Bury him.
He made us look like a bunch of fools.
It can't hurt us at trial.
If we don't use the blood evidence from the car, the defense can't beat us over the head with Miller.
I've been getting calls about Mr.
Grant.
You didn't forget him, did you? I filed a notice of dismissal this morning.
I want him out of jail by the 6:00 news.
I haven't been home yet.
I'll take care of it.
The District Attorney has concluded the weight of credible evidence against the defendant will not sustain the charges and withdraws without prejudice all pending criminal charges arising out of the events described in the indictment.
Thank you, Miss Ross.
Mr.
Grant, the charges against you have been withdrawn.
Your bail is exonerated, and you are free to go.
We're adjourned.
No, no! He killed my daughter.
You can't do this.
Order.
You can't do this.
Officer, please remove him from my courtroom.
This is wrong.
He's a murderer! Order.
That animal butchered my girl! Order! He's the one who did it, not Eddie Newman.
Eddie Newman passed a lie detector test, and the D.
A.
Knows it.
I have the results right here.
The District Attorney has let loose a monster upon this city.
Evan Grant killed Heidi Ellison, and he'll kill again.
Miss Ross, is it true you had the polygraph results? Lie detector tests are inadmissible in court for good reason.
They're unreliable.
Our evidence points to Mr.
Newman's guilt.
Miss Ross.
Miss Ross.
Katie, honey, Mommy's home.
Hi, Isabel.
Is Katie upstairs? No, she's with Mr.
Gorton.
What? He was here just after I told him you wouldn't be home until later.
He just took her? She said she wanted to be with her Daddy.
I'm sorry.
I didn't know what to do.
It's all right, Isabel.
You didn't do anything wrong.
He says he'll drop her off in the morning, and he'll see you in court.
You seen this? Maybe we should've released him on a Saturday morning.
Oh, that's very funny.
We're being excoriated.
Where have you been? I took my daughter to school.
Well, isn't that nice? Are you planning any other family activities? It's hitting the fan.
Oh, that? I heard Neal Gorton's firm paid their airfare and hotel bills.
And he leaked the lie detector test.
He's playing to the jury pool, Adam.
Then so should we.
I want you to kick the living daylights out of Neal Gorton.
You can dig up Thomas Dewey to help you.
You're gonna win this case.
Whatever you have to do, I want a conviction.

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