Law & Order (1990) s15e03 Episode Script
The Brotherhood
NARRATOR: 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.
Where the hell is the car? I called like 20 minutes ago.
Would you please relax? The contractions are just starting.
You're making me nervous.
Maybe I can hail a cab on the corner.
(sums) JIMMY: Oh, my God.
Get the phone.
Call 911! Jimmy, take it easy.
My God, my water hasn't even broken yet.
No, I'm serious, Janet.
Call 911 now! Male, white, mid-30s.
No wallet on him.
But we did find this in his pocket.
Oh, voucher it and get it to the lab.
Anybody see anything? Just the couple who found the vic.
Where are they? She was in labor, so I took down their info and let 'em go.
You're a soft touch, Jordy.
(LAUG HS) What do we have? Single gunshot to the back of the head.
Close range.
No exit wound.
Check out the gang tatts on his arms.
FONTANA: Yeah, and those are standard-issue prison shoes.
He's built pretty solid, too.
There's a lot of recreation time upstate.
Thank you.
BRODY: Anytime.
Iwonder when he got out.
And I bet you a dollar that that baggie is crystal meth.
Caucasian convicts drug of choice as soon as they get out.
He had a hell of a day.
Scored some crank and then got clipped.
I love a public service homicide, don't you? Soot stippling, muscle stamping.
This is a direct contact wound.
The slug I fished out of his brain looks like a 9mm.
Any signs he put up a struggle? He couldn't put up much.
His blood alcohol was .
16.
He'd also had a recent skull fracture.
Probably within the last six months.
Must have had his ass kicked when he was in the joint.
You got a time of death? (SIGHS) Well, signs point to between 8:00 and 11:00 last night.
Based on his stomach contents, his last meal was pizza.
Pepperoni.
Well, there's two things every con wants the minute they get out.
The second one is a pizza.
(CHUCKLES) Really? What's the first? The ViC'S prints came back.
Billy Trammell, 32.
He was at Sing Sing.
He did six and a half of a four-to-six for armed robbery.
Six and a half? Uh-huh.
Bad behavior.
Plus a little extra time for assaulting another inmate.
He still owed the state two.
When was he released? Yesterday morning.
First train to Grand Central.
And 12 hours later he's dead.
We know he spent his lunch money on a couple of slices and maybe some crystal meth.
All right, firm upthetimeline and see if he bothered to check in with his P.
O.
PAROLE OFFICER: Trammell showed up about noon.
We did the interview.
He aced the urine test.
Gave me the standard song and dance about going straight and getting a job.
But you weren't buying that? Trammell wasn't exactly a model prisoner.
He served more of his time in the hole than out of it.
Plus he's hardcore Brotherhood.
Half the dudes that come out belong to a gang.
Brotherhood's more than a gang, it's avirus.
Inside the prisons and out.
I gotta tell you, those guys give me the heebie-jeebies.
Last one threatened to kill me if I violated him.
Did you? Oh, yeah.
But I thought about it twice before I did.
Since then, I don't walk down the hall to the men's room without my Glock.
Where was Trammell gonna live when he came out? With his sister, temporarily.
East Village.
I checked it out before his release.
Yeah.
Avenue C.
That's two blocks from where he was killed.
It sure is.
Thanks a lot.
I knew he was coming, but he never showed up.
Did you talk to him yesterday? No.
He must have told somebody he was gonna be here.
I got a call in the middle of the afternoon from some guy.
Wanted to know what time Billy'd be home.
Like I'd know.
Do you know who that might be? Could have been the same guy that stopped by here a few weeks ago looking for him.
Frank something.
Said he was a friend.
What'd Frank look like? Ex-con.
Bald.
A little What-do-you-call-it, under his lip? A soul patch? Whatever.
Big.
Scary-looking.
Tattoos? Oh, yeah.
Like some kind of circus freak.
All over his neck, his fingers.
One of his ear lobes was messed up, like somebody ripped his earring out.
Here we go.
All of Trammell's priors.
Let's see if he had any associates.
Hey, look, there's a Frank Sweeny.
I'm gonna look for an arrest photo.
Well, hello, Van Gogh.
What was he arrested for? Armed robbery in Queens in '97.
D.
A.
declined to prosecute.
Queens? Utopia Parkway? Yeah, that's right.
Convenience store stickup.
That's the same robbery that Trammell was arrested for.
Sweeny was outside at the wheel when a radio car pulls up.
He bails and he leaves Trammell holding the bag.
New when Sweetâ) gets arrested, he claims that he didn't know Trammell was sticking up the store.
Trammell gave him up? Apparently not.
So Sweeny skated on a robbery charge.
And Trammell has six long years to think about it.
Sweeny must've been wetting his knickers, knowing that Trammell was gonna get paroled.
Sweeny did a stretch himself for possession.
Got out a month ago.
I say we find Mr.
Sweeny and have a little chat with him.
How come you guys are up my ass? I'm just a working stiff now.
You're a paroled felon on a short leash.
What were you the night before last, Frank? I was moving boxes to awarehouse till midnight.
I've got three dudes who'll vouch for me, too.
Well, we're gonna need their names.
Yeah? How about it was Eeney, Meeney, Miney, and Moe.
Hey! Don't be a smart guy.
You know how easy it is to get violated and sent back to the Graybar Hotel? Do you? Yeah.
So your boy, Billy Trammell, your old stickup partner.
Yeah, he's upstate.
Uh-uh.
Just got out.
Well, I ain't seen him.
Well you missed your big chance, Frankie boy.
He's dead.
So what are you saying? lwhacked him? You left him that night in the Utopia Parkway convenience store holding nothing but his Johnson bar.
We figured you bumped him before he could get to you.
Trammell's sister said you came by her house a few weeks ago.
Look, I was just trying to find him.
See if I could help him out.
You know, get him adjusted.
The guy did me a solid on that Queens deal.
lowed him.
I think you still do.
Look, Billy came by my crib a couple of nights ago.
Oh, you hooked him up with some crank? No, man.
Nothing like that.
Went out, we had a few beers.
You know, talked about old times.
I told him I saw his old lady with some new guy.
How'd he take that? He was pissed.
Said he wanted to go find the bitch and, you know, straighten her out.
ED: She got a name? Yeah.
Michelle.
Do you have any idea where we can find Michelle? Yeah.
He said she works somewhere in the East Village.
And? Nothing.
I guess a restaurant or something.
Billy said, you know, if he didn't get laid at least he'd get a free meal out of the deal.
Can I go back to work? Well, the Medical Examiner did say that Trammell's last meal was a large pepperoni.
Yeah.
So Michelle obviously worked at a pizzeria in the East Village.
How many of those could there be? Thirty, 40, so.
We hear that Billy wasn't too happy with you.
I never told him I was seeing other guys while he was away.
Were you afraid of him? Yeah, actually.
He shows up here the other night.
Tried to explain to him about Vince and me.
He just kept screaming at me.
Calling me a whore.
Finally, my boss threatened to call the cops, and he spilt.
Does Billy know your new boyfriend? Yeah.
Billy and Vince used to go down the shore together in the summertime.
That's where I met them.
Does your boyfriend know Billy came by to see you? Yeah.
Said he was gonna talk to Billy and tell him to leave me alone.
Vince takes really good care of me.
He sounds like a real prince.
Where can we find him? He's not in any trouble, is he? He's got a stack of transmissions to work on and he just skips out.
That's a hell of a work ethic.
ED: How long ago did Vince leave? Half hour, 45 minutes.
Any idea where he went? If I did, I wouldn't be changing this gasket myself.
Hey, he got a locker or something back there? There's a hook on the wall in the back.
A beat-up leather vest.
Today's Racing Form.
He's got a couple of entries circled.
Belmont's over an hour away.
Yeah.
But there's an OTB a couple of blocks from here.
(ANNOUNCER CHATTERING ON TV) Four-to-five and she runs out of the money.
Never play the chalk, brother.
I know.
I know.
It's just not my day.
You have no idea.
When was the last time you saw Billy Trammell? I don't know.
Six, seven years ago maybe.
Just before he went up.
ED: So you didn't go see him the other night.
No.
This guy disrespects your girlfriend and you didn't take care of the situation.
Look, man, I ain't stupid.
Billy's been in Gladiator School the last six years.
I don't want any part of him.
Even if that means Michelle kicks your ass to the curb? She wouldn't do that.
She don't want nothing to do with him neither.
Come on, Vince, she's just telling you what you want to hear.
(SIGHING) Billy was in Sing Sing a couple of years.
Michelle goes to visit him.
He asks her to smuggle in some Did she do it? Hell no! Are you crazy? After that, he and she were through.
Oh, but I bet she didn't tell Billy that.
The only problem with this little fairy tale is this.
You told Michelle that you were going to go straighten Billy out that night.
Lay the law down to him.
Yeah, yeah, I was talking trash because I don't want to look like a punk.
But believe me, I lit a candle I don't run into the guy.
Well, your prayers were answered, pal.
He's dead.
Really? Yeah, really.
So where were you on Monday night? I was playing poker at Foxwoods all night.
That would be one way not to run into Billy boy.
Three dollar table.
I never miss a Monday night.
I saw the surveillance tapes.
The dude played non-stop from Only dropped $100.
Well, he's in the clear.
Did we get the LUDs yet from the sister's phone? Yeah.
The call she got for Trammell the day he was supposed to show up came from Sing Sing.
From an inmate? We don't know that yet.
I have a call in to the prison.
Riley said that Trammell asked his ex-girlfriend to mule dope for him when she came to visit.
You think this is about drugs? Well, it's the biggest business in the joint, and the Brotherhood's a major player.
Well, if you leave now, you could beat rush hour traffic.
SNYDER: A gram of heroin that goes for 60 on the street, sells in here for 1,000.
That's an awful lot of license plates.
They do it all through the outside, through family members and money orders.
Billy Trammell dealing drugs? We think so.
Small time.
He had a run-in with one of the Latin King dealers earlier this year.
Got his skull cracked.
Who was the Latin King? Feo Ruiz.
We prosecuted him for assault.
What was he in here for? Six-to-12 for possession with intent to distribute.
Do you think this could've been a drug beef between Ruiz and Trammell? Could've been.
Could've been one guy looked at the other guy cross-eyed.
You still open for business, Feo? Did the Latin Kings have a beef with Billy Trammell? Nothing in particular.
Was it about drugs? (SCOFFS) So why did you throw down with him? He sat in my seat, and I wanted it back.
One of his Nazi homeboysjumped in.
We just tussled a little.
Nothing heavy.
You cracked the dude's dome on a cell bar.
It wasn't me cuz.
, They charged you.
They had to charge somebody, right? They couldn't charge a screw.
Wait, hold up.
Are you saying that the corrections officer cracked his skull? Worley.
Hated Trammell.
Cats and dogs, those two.
Bloods and Crips.
(SPEAKING SPANISH) Come on, Feo.
You bust Trammell's skull and you're trying to lay it off on a corrections officer? You think I'm trying to run a game on you? Talk to Marsden.
Who's he? The otherpendejo who jumped me.
Why would we believe him any more than we believe you? Marsden's the boss Nazi in here.
He's got no reason to lie for a boricua from the Bronx like me.
You want me to stay? No, we got it, we're good.
Thanks.
Right outside.
Have a seat, Mr.
Marsden.
I don't talk to 5-0.
Hey, on the gate! How'd your boy, Billy Trammell, get his head busted in? Screw says Feo did it.
Feo says a corrections officer did it and that you'd vouch for him.
Yeah? Why would I do that? Maybe we can do something for you.
Yeah? Like what? I've got five life sentences running wild.
Well, everybody wants something Mr.
Marsden.
Another carton of cigarettes from the commissary, a few extra minutes on visiting day, make sure you get your mail on time.
There's always something.
Billy was tough.
There's no way Feo puts him in a hospital.
So the guard did it.
Yo, on the gate! (DOOR BUZZING) John Worley.
One of my best men.
Yeah.
Ruiz says that Worley fractured Trammell's skull with his baton.
Have you ever known a con to tell the truth, huh? Well, he said that there was some bad blood between the officer and Trammell.
Look, John Worley is old school, he's by the book.
He is fair, he's consistent, he doesn't play favorites.
Sounds like a yes to me.
Well, Marsden more or less confirmed his story.
Marsden.
I'll tell you a story.
Two years ago Marsden had one of my officers attacked.
Had? You mean, another inmate did it? On the outside.
The officer was in his own driveway, getting out of his car, and some neo-Nazi jumped him, took out his eye with a screwdriver.
Do you understand what I'm saying? Some of these younger officers are intimidated by these Brotherhood thugs.
But not John Worley.
Not John.
He won't back down to these thugs.
Don't you think that it's odd that with a cast of characters like these we're nosing around a career corrections officer with an impeccable record? ED: I'm just saying, if there's something between Worley and Trammell, we ought to look at it.
Check this out.
Three months ago, Worley's son, Sean, got popped in Rockland County for possession.
How old is his son? Seventeen.
Half an ounce of crank in the car.
Don't tell me he's doing time.
Case is still pending.
All right.
Guess it's time to meet the Worleys.
When I heard Trammell got killed, I opened a bottle of champagne I'd been saving for my anniversary.
Yeah, we know he wasn't one of your favorite cons.
He was a bottom-feeder.
I never wrote him up, he didn't have it coming.
Feo Ruiz and Kyle Marsden claimed that you busted Trammell's head.
And you believe them? A couple of convicts? I didn't say that.
Everything okay, Dad? Yeah, it's fine.
Just something for work.
This is Sean? He's got nothing to do with this.
Yeah, well, we need to know where you were on Monday night.
He was home with me.
Why? ED: All night? Yes, all evening.
All of us.
I went out for beers after work, first.
Remember, honey? With another officer.
What time was that? About 8:00.
Takes me an hour to get home.
He was home by 10:00.
We're gonna need the name of your drinking buddy.
John and I left work, got to Disarro's a little before 8:00.
How long did you stay? A couple of hours, give or take.
You sound pretty vague about it.
Why you looking to lay this on a dedicated corrections officer? Uh, we're not looking to lay this on anybody.
You know what those bastards did? They flaked John's son.
Are you saying that the drugs that the police found in Sean's car were planted? I've known this kid forever.
He's like my godson.
He's a straight-A student.
So, were you two together that night or not? I'm going home.
We subpoenaed Worley's EZ-Pass records.
Somebody drove the family car into the city that night.
Does the timeline fit? Mmm-hmm.
Coming and going.
He hit the Henry Hudson Bridge Maybe his wife or kid used the car.
They both said that they were home all night, remember? So, someone's lying.
Or someone else used his car.
Maybe his buddy, Palmer.
Maybe.
But, devil's advocate.
We know that there's history between Worley and Trammell, right? And Worley believes that the Brotherhood set up his son on a drug bust.
So, after work, Worley gets some drinks with a pal Leaves as soon as his alibi's established, which gives him enough time to drive into the city and wait until Trammell shows up at his sister's house.
He sees Trammell on the street, three sheets to the wind, follows him, shoots him.
Steals his wallet to make it look like a robbery.
Wait a minute, hold on for a second, will you? There's a lot of conjecture, isn't there? I mean, shouldn't we wait for something a little more solid? You saying that just because he's a C.
O.
? I am ready to give a fellow law enforcement officer, the same benefit of the doubt that we would give any other suspect under the same circumstances.
We have no gun, no forensics.
Yeah, but we've got a pretty good motive.
The DEP did a sewer search near the scene, came up with a gun.
A nine that disappeared a couple of months ago from a Department of Corrections training center.
Ballistics run it yet? Yeah, and they matched it to the slug that killed Trammell.
And one of the prints on the gun is Worley's.
Does Worleytrain at this Corrections Center? He's an instructor there.
Well, it stands to reason that his prints would be on the gun.
It's still circumstantial.
Yeah, but it's enough for probable cause.
Look, I know you'd rather not.
It's fine, Lieutenant.
We'll go pick him up.
(SIREN WAILS) You armed? In my bas- Thanks for not doing this in front of my house.
You're welcome.
John Worley, you're under arrest for the murder of William Trammell.
CLERK: "Docket number âPeople v.
John Patrick Worley.
"Charge is murder in the second degree.
" How do you plead, Mr.
Worley? Not guilty, Your Honor.
Ms.
Southerlyn? The defendant stalked the victim, and then executed him with a single gunshot to the back of his head.
Your Honor, my client has a wife and two kids in Rockland County.
He has served as a corrections officer for the better part of 20 years.
OfficerWorley has no criminal record and no history of violence.
Except against the victim.
A rival gang member was convicted of that assault, Your Honor.
This victim had hundreds of enemies and was a ranking member of the Brotherhood, one of the nation's most vicious prison gangs.
Save it for the TV cameras, Mr.
Fallon.
Your Honor, the Brotherhood will have a contract on my client's head ten minutes after he's in a cell.
Your Honor, please don't put me in the system.
The defendant is free to request protective custody, Your Honor.
Protective custody is a joke to these people.
I'm sympathetic.
What can we do on bail, Ms.
Southerlyn? For an accused murderer? FALLON: For a law enforcement officer with an impeccable record.
I have a house I can put up.
I'll set bail at $100,000.
(sums) (BANGS GAVEL) Were there any other suspects besides Worley? I'm sure Sing Sing's full of people who hated Trammell, but none of them had access to the murder weapon.
Which was stolen from the Department of Corrections Training Center.
You can't prove Worley did that.
His prints were on the gun.
He's an instructor.
His prints were probably on most of the weapons.
I'm worried Fallon's gonna nitpick this to death.
Then let's offer him man one and the minimum.
That doesn't sit well with me, either.
A feud that started in Sing Sing, then ends with a cold-blooded execution.
That's murder, not manslaughter.
He's a sympathetic defendant, Jack.
The inmate was a member of the Brotherhood.
That's a pack of racist psychopaths.
They may have framed Worley's son.
If it's true, it proves my point.
There's a pattern of escalating animosity between these two men.
This is about revenge, Serena.
I'll find out more about the drug bust.
SERENA: The arresting officer said they got a tip that Sean was dealing drugs from his car in the New City Mall parking lot.
And who do you think phoned in that tip? The Brotherhood planted those drugs in Sean's car.
I'm sure of it.
But the phone tip came from a woman.
These guys all have women on the outside.
They smuggle drugs, collect money.
How hard would it be for one of them to make a phone call to the State Patrol? So, if Sean was framed, do you think Trammell was behind it? Yeah.
But Marsden must've signed off on it first.
I mean Going after an officer? That's big.
How did it get so bad between Trammell and Worley? Trammell started it.
Gassed him his first week in.
Gassed him? They throw their feces and urine through the bars.
In your face, if they can.
Nice.
So what did Worley do? Wrote him up, sent him to the hole.
What else can he do? You can't take that stuff lying down, they'll walk all over you.
And it escalated from there? Trammell threatened to kill him, Ms.
Southerlyn.
He threatened John's whole family.
There were phone calls, anonymous letters, pictures of the kids in the mail, taken at school.
The Brotherhood? You bet.
Then the drug thing with Sean.
John was scared to death.
I mean, if they could get to his family like that, that easily JACK: IfWorley was really afraid of them, why didn't he go to his superiors or the police? What good would it do? These people are beyond anyone's control, Jack.
You can't punish them, you can't threaten them, they're not afraid to go to prison.
In many ways, they actually prefer it.
Supposedly, Trammell couldn't go afterWorley (SIGHS) without Kyle Marsden's approval? That's correct.
Find out if he had it.
HOW? You ask Kyle Marsden.
(LAUGHS) What's he gonna do? Tell us? No.
But we should at least take a look at him.
Find out if he's as scary as everyone says he is.
I'm Jack McCoy.
This is A.
D.
A.
Southerlyn.
Hi, honey.
Let's get right to the point, Mr.
Marsden.
I want to know if the Brotherhood had a contract out on John Worley.
(LAUGHS) Hey, I've got to thank you.
I really appreciate the trip to the city.
I made a lot of new friends down here.
I want an answer to the question, Mr.
Marsden.
Shouldn't my lawyer be here? You're not a suspect in the death of Billy Trammell.
This isn't a custodial interrogation.
It's not custodial? You're free to return to Sing Sing at any time.
Should I call the guard? So what's in it for me? Nothing.
Let's put it this way, if there was a kite out on Worley, it's been rescinded.
Why is that, Mr.
Marsden? Because the only thing sweeter than a dead C.
O.
is one on my side of the bars.
That's a gift that just keeps on giving.
Call Worley's lawyer.
I want a sit-down as soon as possible.
What are we gonna say? We're gonna offer him a plea.
Why the change of heart? You convinced me.
You and Marsden.
So, the gravity of my client's situation is finally sinking in with you people.
He still made a bad choice, Mr.
Fallon.
An imperfect one, in a far from perfect world.
Now, what are you going to do about it? Man one.
That's a minimum of five years.
I'm sure we can make an arrangement so your client serves his time in the Federal system.
You don't get it.
The Brotherhood is everywhere.
Especially in the Federal system.
So tell me, Mr.
Fallon, what's your Plan B? If he's convicted at trial, he serves at least 15-to-life.
I have an idea.
You know, the way I look at it, my client has performed a service for the citizens of this city.
I'd choose my words very carefully, M r.
Fallon.
My client's out on bail.
There's no rush to try this.
A year down the road, I file a speedy trial motion and the judge dismisses the case.
I invited you down here because I sympathized with your client's situation.
And I'm trying to save a man's life.
The answer is no, Mr.
Fallon.
I don't understand.
Why won't you accept man one? I believe we can do better.
I'll be asserting justification at my client's trial.
Preemptive self-defense? FALLON: What would you do? Wait for these monsters to rape and murder your family? (DOOR OPENING) FALLON: These threats were credible, Your Honor.
Letters, photos, phone calls A member of the Brotherhood even approached the Worleys' 11-year-old daughter at school.
Allegedly.
The law's clear, a person may use deadly force only if he reasonably believes the other person is about to do the same.
While I do find these alleged incidents you described disturbing, Mr.
Fallon, I agree with Mr.
McCoy, the threat has to be imminent.
Well, the issue here is whether my client believed it was imminent.
This is analogous to battered-spouse syndrome, YourHonoL Battered-spouse syndrome? Mr.
Fallon! There's a clear pattern of violence and intimidation here.
John Worley lived his life in constant fear of what Billy Trammell and his associates could and would do to him and his family.
Billy Trammell was incarcerated.
John Worley was free.
To find a new job, to move his family, to seek the assistance of the courts and the police if he felt threatened.
John Worley felt like he could not get help from the authorities, and that he could not get away from Billy Trammell and the Brotherhood, inside the prison or out.
He felt the Brotherhood would find him, hunt him down, no matter where he went.
Your client's subjective belief about the danger is one thing, Mr.
Fallon.
But the law also requires that that belief be objectively reasonable under the circumstances.
I have 109 incident reports from the New York State Department of Corrections, which document violence perpetrated by the Brotherhood in the last five years.
And these are only the ones that were reported.
The tip of the iceberg.
JACK: No one denies the Brotherhood is dangerous.
The issue is whether the defendant was allowed to make an anticipatory strike against one of their members.
And hundreds of years of jurisprudence say no.
A hundred years ago there was no Brotherhood.
How long are you supposed to stand on the tracks with a freight train coming at you? Mr.
Fallon's argument is a convincing one, Mr.
McCoy.
This is how the law evolves.
The defendant's belief may well have been objectively reasonable under the circumstances.
It's pushing the envelope, but I'm going to let the issue go to the jury.
Officer Worley wrote up Billy Trammell for prison infractions And the next highest total Trammell received from any other corrections officer was what? Ten.
How do you account for the discrepancy? Trammell was a hardcore criminal who flouted the rules.
John Worley did his job.
How would you characterize their interaction? It was hostile.
JACK: Would you go so far as to call it a feud? You might.
And yet, none of Officer Worley's disciplinary write-ups mention any threats by Trammell directed at Worley or his family, do they? No.
Is it unusual for an inmate to threaten a guard's life? Not at all.
Part of the job? Sure.
And what is the procedure to be followed when a corrections officer receives such a threat? Well, the C.
O.
's are supposed to report the threat immediately to my office so it can be documented and assessed.
Violence against corrections officers is on the rise in the last 10 years, isn't that correct, Superintendent Cooper? Yes, it is.
Corrections officers jumped and beaten.
Well, they're not allowed to have guns inside the facilities, for obvious reasons, but assaults are frequent.
How many corrections officers in the New York State system have been assaulted by Brotherhood members this year alone? I know of three C.
O.
's who've been stabbed.
And last year we had a fatality.
The Brotherhood member who killed that guard is on death row right now.
FALLON: A dangerous job.
Most of us are proud of what we do.
Including John Worley? Very much so.
We got into a fight, me and Trammell, and then Marsden jumped in and started stomping me.
What did Officer Worley do? He broke it up.
HOW? Cracked Trammell over the head a couple of times.
Put him in the hospital.
Did he strike you or Mr.
Marsden? No, no, just Trammell.
Why do you think he struck Trammell and not you or Mr.
Marsden? He hated Trammell, and Trammell hated him.
JACK: How often do you get into fights with Brotherhood members? It happens all the time.
You're not afraid of them? I'm not afraid of anyone.
They afraid of me.
Did it appear to you that Officer Worley was afraid of Mr.
Trammel? No, he never showed fear.
Not like some of the screws.
You were convicted of fracturing Mr.
Trammel's skull.
It's my word against a guard.
And you yourself are a member of a gang, the Latin Kings.
Yeah.
King for life.
You treat C.
O.
's with respect? They give it, they get it.
That's why you've been written up over 50 times by a dozen different officers? My client ever write you up? (CHUCKLING) Yeah.
yeah.
How many times? I don't know.
A dozen maybe.
It's like I say, he was a real hardass.
So this testimony of yours today could be considered payback, couldn't it? Objection! ANDERLEE: Sustained! Counsel, in my chambers.
This was addressed to me.
IfWorley gets off, your dead.
Court officer said it was left in the gallery by a woman.
You should have the police take custody of the note.
They've already been called.
And what are we going to do about the trial? We're adjourned for today.
I'll meet with counsel tomorrow at 9:30.
Your life just changed forever.
I know.
You could recuse yourself, declare a mistrial.
It is manifest necessity.
You know I'm not going to do that, Arthur.
All defendants would have to do is threaten judges until they get the one they want.
It's bad enough in the jails and prisons.
If we give away the entire criminal justice system, what's the point? You're right.
I'm sure you've been the recipient of a threat at some time in your career.
Once or twice.
Did it stop you? Did you ever ask another prosecutor to take over a case? Just because I'm hard-headed doesn't mean you have to be.
You know it's not about that.
Well, the defense is not going to be very happy.
Oh, crocodile tears.
They know better than anybody I'll bend over backwards to be fair.
You have to recuse yourself, Judge.
I intend to call you as a witness.
Excuse me? My whole case is based on how dangerous the Brotherhood is.
You've been threatened.
That's relevant.
The note left in the courtroom can't be definitively attributed to the Brotherhood.
Save your breath, Mr.
McCoy.
The note is off-limits at this trial, Mr.
Fallon.
Well, then I intend to call Kyle Marsden as awitness.
He has nothing to do with this case.
What's your offer of proof, Mr.
Fallon? Billy Trammell threatened the lives of my client and his family.
The only person who could authorize him to do that was his gang boss.
Marsden's testimony is not only irrelevant, it's prejudicial.
The man is a walking billboard for hate and intimidation.
I need to paint the enormity of the Brotherhood's reach in order to show that my client's fear wasjustified.
I'm entitled to make the best case for my client, Your Honor.
Marsden poses a serious security risk.
I understand your concern, Mr.
McCoy.
But the potential prejudice is far outweighed by Mr.
Worley's right to call witnesses in support of his case.
I've been incarcerated since '91.
I'm serving five consecutive life sentences.
FALLON: One for kidnapping, four for murder.
Yeah, something like that.
Are you a member of an organization called the Brotherhood? MARSDEN: That's right.
What sort of organization is it? It's a support group, for the Caucasian inmates.
(SCOFFS) It's a prison gang.
Responsible for over 100 reported acts of violence in Sing Sing over the past two years.
Not to mention many murders, and countless other crimes in prisons nationwide.
Yeah, I wouldn't know about any of that.
Are you acquainted with a man named Billy Trammell? Yes, sir.
Isn't it a fact, Mr.
Marsden, that you authorized Mr.
Trammell to murder my client? Your Honor, would you instruct Mr.
Marsden to answer the question? Your answer, Mr.
Marsden.
What are you gonna do, Judge? Hold me in contempt? Consider it done.
Ooh, are you sure you want to do that? Are you threatening me, Mr.
Marsden? Why would I want to threaten you, Judge? You wouldn't if you know what's good for you.
FALLON: No further questions, YourHonoL My job was to supervise convicted, violent felons.
Most of the time I was outnumbered 40-to-one.
I didn't even get to carry a gun.
And the inmates? Are they armed? Sharpened pieces of glass, filed-down spoons, metal spikes.
You ought to see the shiv museum at Sing Sing sometime.
They'll fashion a weapon out of anything that'll hold a point.
Atoothbrush.
There's been testimony that you were hard on the inmates.
I enforced the rules.
My job was about control.
You lose control of the bad guys, you can get hurt.
Was Billy Trammell one of those guys? Billy Trammell had been bragging that he was going to get me for a couple of years.
I didn't take him seriously at first, until he was going to be paroled.
And then he told me it would be just that much easier to forget about me and do my family instead.
"Do" meaning kill? And worse.
And when I found a photograph that had been taken of my wife and kids slipped under my door Then, my son Sean was arrested, framed by Trammell and his buddies in the Brotherhood.
What happened to Sean as a result of this arrest? He's being prosecuted now.
Rockland County.
What transpired the last time you saw Trammell in prison? They were taking him down for release, he passed by me, and he said, "Tell Dina I'll be seeing her very soon.
" And then he licked his lips.
Dina? My wife.
Got home that night, my daughter, Carrie, my 11-year-old, she told me that some big guy with long hair and tattoos, had approached her at her school, called her by her name, and told her to tell her father that Uncle Billy would be coming to visit her very soon.
What did you do the day Billy Trammell was released? I moved my family into a motel.
Why? I was afraid for their lives.
And then I gave my son Sean my .
38, just in case, and I went looking for Trammell.
Did you kill him, John? Yes, I did.
Before he could get to my wife and kids.
You thought you were justified in taking matters into your own hands? Yes.
Was Billy Trammell that imminent a threat? He was.
You stole the murder weapon two months before Trammell was released.
Isn't that right? I was preparing myself.
On a street, Trammell was a danger to me and my family, Really? When you put the gun to the back of Billy Trammell's head, at that moment, were you in any danger from him? No.
Not at that precise moment.
I was in control of the situation.
Your family was in a motel when you shot Billy Trammell.
Were they in any danger from him at that point? The only step that guaranteed the safety of my family was to kill him.
There was no other choice.
No other choice? Had you reported Billy Trammell's threats to the authorities, they would have constituted violation of his parole.
You could've put him back into prison, Officer Worley.
You didn't.
You chose to kill him instead.
John Worley put his life on the line every day to protect us from society's worst.
He and his family were targeted by a hyper-violent prison gang with a well-earned reputation for intimidation, depravity, and murder.
We'd all like to believe that our system of law will protect us.
But if you knew ahead of time that Charles Manson and his cohorts were coming after you and your family, wouldn't you all do something about it? John Worley did exactly what he had to do.
For hundreds of years, our concept of self-defense has been rooted in the idea that the threat defended against must be imminent.
The knife drawn, the hammer raised, the gun cocked.
Deadly force only in response to the imminent threat of deadly force.
It's a bright line, and there's a reason we don't cross it.
We cannot ascertain motive after the fact.
We can't know what was in Billy Trammell's mind.
We can't know if the Brotherhood's threats were real.
And we can't ask him now, because he's dead.
John Worley killed him.
Before Trammell and these allegations could be investigated.
These threats were not imminent.
John Worley says he had no choice but to kill Billy Trammell.
We know that's not true.
He had options.
He didn't choose them.
His motive was not fear.
It was revenge.
Revenge for what he thought Trammell did to him, his son, his daughter.
And putting Trammell back into prison wasn't going to be enough to satisfy his hunger for retribution.
Only murdering him was.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I understand you're unable to reach a verdict.
Is that correct? That's right, Your Honor.
Are you certain you've made your best faith efforts to do so? I believe we have, Your Honor.
We're unable to come to any consensus.
Given the length of your deliberations and your best faith efforts, I have no choice but to declare a hung jury.
(GASPING) Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, thank you for your service.
Clear the courtroom, please.
Clear the courtroom.
Well, we shouldn't be shocked.
Thejuryjust put themselves in Worley's shoes.
What are your thoughts on re-filing? I'm not sure we'd do any better.
How's Judge Anderlee holding up, Arthur? Keeping a stiff upper lip, and two veteran New York City detectives on their toes.
We just got a call from the Rockland County Police Department.
Something happen to Worley? His wife.
She's missing.
These are their stories.
Where the hell is the car? I called like 20 minutes ago.
Would you please relax? The contractions are just starting.
You're making me nervous.
Maybe I can hail a cab on the corner.
(sums) JIMMY: Oh, my God.
Get the phone.
Call 911! Jimmy, take it easy.
My God, my water hasn't even broken yet.
No, I'm serious, Janet.
Call 911 now! Male, white, mid-30s.
No wallet on him.
But we did find this in his pocket.
Oh, voucher it and get it to the lab.
Anybody see anything? Just the couple who found the vic.
Where are they? She was in labor, so I took down their info and let 'em go.
You're a soft touch, Jordy.
(LAUG HS) What do we have? Single gunshot to the back of the head.
Close range.
No exit wound.
Check out the gang tatts on his arms.
FONTANA: Yeah, and those are standard-issue prison shoes.
He's built pretty solid, too.
There's a lot of recreation time upstate.
Thank you.
BRODY: Anytime.
Iwonder when he got out.
And I bet you a dollar that that baggie is crystal meth.
Caucasian convicts drug of choice as soon as they get out.
He had a hell of a day.
Scored some crank and then got clipped.
I love a public service homicide, don't you? Soot stippling, muscle stamping.
This is a direct contact wound.
The slug I fished out of his brain looks like a 9mm.
Any signs he put up a struggle? He couldn't put up much.
His blood alcohol was .
16.
He'd also had a recent skull fracture.
Probably within the last six months.
Must have had his ass kicked when he was in the joint.
You got a time of death? (SIGHS) Well, signs point to between 8:00 and 11:00 last night.
Based on his stomach contents, his last meal was pizza.
Pepperoni.
Well, there's two things every con wants the minute they get out.
The second one is a pizza.
(CHUCKLES) Really? What's the first? The ViC'S prints came back.
Billy Trammell, 32.
He was at Sing Sing.
He did six and a half of a four-to-six for armed robbery.
Six and a half? Uh-huh.
Bad behavior.
Plus a little extra time for assaulting another inmate.
He still owed the state two.
When was he released? Yesterday morning.
First train to Grand Central.
And 12 hours later he's dead.
We know he spent his lunch money on a couple of slices and maybe some crystal meth.
All right, firm upthetimeline and see if he bothered to check in with his P.
O.
PAROLE OFFICER: Trammell showed up about noon.
We did the interview.
He aced the urine test.
Gave me the standard song and dance about going straight and getting a job.
But you weren't buying that? Trammell wasn't exactly a model prisoner.
He served more of his time in the hole than out of it.
Plus he's hardcore Brotherhood.
Half the dudes that come out belong to a gang.
Brotherhood's more than a gang, it's avirus.
Inside the prisons and out.
I gotta tell you, those guys give me the heebie-jeebies.
Last one threatened to kill me if I violated him.
Did you? Oh, yeah.
But I thought about it twice before I did.
Since then, I don't walk down the hall to the men's room without my Glock.
Where was Trammell gonna live when he came out? With his sister, temporarily.
East Village.
I checked it out before his release.
Yeah.
Avenue C.
That's two blocks from where he was killed.
It sure is.
Thanks a lot.
I knew he was coming, but he never showed up.
Did you talk to him yesterday? No.
He must have told somebody he was gonna be here.
I got a call in the middle of the afternoon from some guy.
Wanted to know what time Billy'd be home.
Like I'd know.
Do you know who that might be? Could have been the same guy that stopped by here a few weeks ago looking for him.
Frank something.
Said he was a friend.
What'd Frank look like? Ex-con.
Bald.
A little What-do-you-call-it, under his lip? A soul patch? Whatever.
Big.
Scary-looking.
Tattoos? Oh, yeah.
Like some kind of circus freak.
All over his neck, his fingers.
One of his ear lobes was messed up, like somebody ripped his earring out.
Here we go.
All of Trammell's priors.
Let's see if he had any associates.
Hey, look, there's a Frank Sweeny.
I'm gonna look for an arrest photo.
Well, hello, Van Gogh.
What was he arrested for? Armed robbery in Queens in '97.
D.
A.
declined to prosecute.
Queens? Utopia Parkway? Yeah, that's right.
Convenience store stickup.
That's the same robbery that Trammell was arrested for.
Sweeny was outside at the wheel when a radio car pulls up.
He bails and he leaves Trammell holding the bag.
New when Sweetâ) gets arrested, he claims that he didn't know Trammell was sticking up the store.
Trammell gave him up? Apparently not.
So Sweeny skated on a robbery charge.
And Trammell has six long years to think about it.
Sweeny must've been wetting his knickers, knowing that Trammell was gonna get paroled.
Sweeny did a stretch himself for possession.
Got out a month ago.
I say we find Mr.
Sweeny and have a little chat with him.
How come you guys are up my ass? I'm just a working stiff now.
You're a paroled felon on a short leash.
What were you the night before last, Frank? I was moving boxes to awarehouse till midnight.
I've got three dudes who'll vouch for me, too.
Well, we're gonna need their names.
Yeah? How about it was Eeney, Meeney, Miney, and Moe.
Hey! Don't be a smart guy.
You know how easy it is to get violated and sent back to the Graybar Hotel? Do you? Yeah.
So your boy, Billy Trammell, your old stickup partner.
Yeah, he's upstate.
Uh-uh.
Just got out.
Well, I ain't seen him.
Well you missed your big chance, Frankie boy.
He's dead.
So what are you saying? lwhacked him? You left him that night in the Utopia Parkway convenience store holding nothing but his Johnson bar.
We figured you bumped him before he could get to you.
Trammell's sister said you came by her house a few weeks ago.
Look, I was just trying to find him.
See if I could help him out.
You know, get him adjusted.
The guy did me a solid on that Queens deal.
lowed him.
I think you still do.
Look, Billy came by my crib a couple of nights ago.
Oh, you hooked him up with some crank? No, man.
Nothing like that.
Went out, we had a few beers.
You know, talked about old times.
I told him I saw his old lady with some new guy.
How'd he take that? He was pissed.
Said he wanted to go find the bitch and, you know, straighten her out.
ED: She got a name? Yeah.
Michelle.
Do you have any idea where we can find Michelle? Yeah.
He said she works somewhere in the East Village.
And? Nothing.
I guess a restaurant or something.
Billy said, you know, if he didn't get laid at least he'd get a free meal out of the deal.
Can I go back to work? Well, the Medical Examiner did say that Trammell's last meal was a large pepperoni.
Yeah.
So Michelle obviously worked at a pizzeria in the East Village.
How many of those could there be? Thirty, 40, so.
We hear that Billy wasn't too happy with you.
I never told him I was seeing other guys while he was away.
Were you afraid of him? Yeah, actually.
He shows up here the other night.
Tried to explain to him about Vince and me.
He just kept screaming at me.
Calling me a whore.
Finally, my boss threatened to call the cops, and he spilt.
Does Billy know your new boyfriend? Yeah.
Billy and Vince used to go down the shore together in the summertime.
That's where I met them.
Does your boyfriend know Billy came by to see you? Yeah.
Said he was gonna talk to Billy and tell him to leave me alone.
Vince takes really good care of me.
He sounds like a real prince.
Where can we find him? He's not in any trouble, is he? He's got a stack of transmissions to work on and he just skips out.
That's a hell of a work ethic.
ED: How long ago did Vince leave? Half hour, 45 minutes.
Any idea where he went? If I did, I wouldn't be changing this gasket myself.
Hey, he got a locker or something back there? There's a hook on the wall in the back.
A beat-up leather vest.
Today's Racing Form.
He's got a couple of entries circled.
Belmont's over an hour away.
Yeah.
But there's an OTB a couple of blocks from here.
(ANNOUNCER CHATTERING ON TV) Four-to-five and she runs out of the money.
Never play the chalk, brother.
I know.
I know.
It's just not my day.
You have no idea.
When was the last time you saw Billy Trammell? I don't know.
Six, seven years ago maybe.
Just before he went up.
ED: So you didn't go see him the other night.
No.
This guy disrespects your girlfriend and you didn't take care of the situation.
Look, man, I ain't stupid.
Billy's been in Gladiator School the last six years.
I don't want any part of him.
Even if that means Michelle kicks your ass to the curb? She wouldn't do that.
She don't want nothing to do with him neither.
Come on, Vince, she's just telling you what you want to hear.
(SIGHING) Billy was in Sing Sing a couple of years.
Michelle goes to visit him.
He asks her to smuggle in some Did she do it? Hell no! Are you crazy? After that, he and she were through.
Oh, but I bet she didn't tell Billy that.
The only problem with this little fairy tale is this.
You told Michelle that you were going to go straighten Billy out that night.
Lay the law down to him.
Yeah, yeah, I was talking trash because I don't want to look like a punk.
But believe me, I lit a candle I don't run into the guy.
Well, your prayers were answered, pal.
He's dead.
Really? Yeah, really.
So where were you on Monday night? I was playing poker at Foxwoods all night.
That would be one way not to run into Billy boy.
Three dollar table.
I never miss a Monday night.
I saw the surveillance tapes.
The dude played non-stop from Only dropped $100.
Well, he's in the clear.
Did we get the LUDs yet from the sister's phone? Yeah.
The call she got for Trammell the day he was supposed to show up came from Sing Sing.
From an inmate? We don't know that yet.
I have a call in to the prison.
Riley said that Trammell asked his ex-girlfriend to mule dope for him when she came to visit.
You think this is about drugs? Well, it's the biggest business in the joint, and the Brotherhood's a major player.
Well, if you leave now, you could beat rush hour traffic.
SNYDER: A gram of heroin that goes for 60 on the street, sells in here for 1,000.
That's an awful lot of license plates.
They do it all through the outside, through family members and money orders.
Billy Trammell dealing drugs? We think so.
Small time.
He had a run-in with one of the Latin King dealers earlier this year.
Got his skull cracked.
Who was the Latin King? Feo Ruiz.
We prosecuted him for assault.
What was he in here for? Six-to-12 for possession with intent to distribute.
Do you think this could've been a drug beef between Ruiz and Trammell? Could've been.
Could've been one guy looked at the other guy cross-eyed.
You still open for business, Feo? Did the Latin Kings have a beef with Billy Trammell? Nothing in particular.
Was it about drugs? (SCOFFS) So why did you throw down with him? He sat in my seat, and I wanted it back.
One of his Nazi homeboysjumped in.
We just tussled a little.
Nothing heavy.
You cracked the dude's dome on a cell bar.
It wasn't me cuz.
, They charged you.
They had to charge somebody, right? They couldn't charge a screw.
Wait, hold up.
Are you saying that the corrections officer cracked his skull? Worley.
Hated Trammell.
Cats and dogs, those two.
Bloods and Crips.
(SPEAKING SPANISH) Come on, Feo.
You bust Trammell's skull and you're trying to lay it off on a corrections officer? You think I'm trying to run a game on you? Talk to Marsden.
Who's he? The otherpendejo who jumped me.
Why would we believe him any more than we believe you? Marsden's the boss Nazi in here.
He's got no reason to lie for a boricua from the Bronx like me.
You want me to stay? No, we got it, we're good.
Thanks.
Right outside.
Have a seat, Mr.
Marsden.
I don't talk to 5-0.
Hey, on the gate! How'd your boy, Billy Trammell, get his head busted in? Screw says Feo did it.
Feo says a corrections officer did it and that you'd vouch for him.
Yeah? Why would I do that? Maybe we can do something for you.
Yeah? Like what? I've got five life sentences running wild.
Well, everybody wants something Mr.
Marsden.
Another carton of cigarettes from the commissary, a few extra minutes on visiting day, make sure you get your mail on time.
There's always something.
Billy was tough.
There's no way Feo puts him in a hospital.
So the guard did it.
Yo, on the gate! (DOOR BUZZING) John Worley.
One of my best men.
Yeah.
Ruiz says that Worley fractured Trammell's skull with his baton.
Have you ever known a con to tell the truth, huh? Well, he said that there was some bad blood between the officer and Trammell.
Look, John Worley is old school, he's by the book.
He is fair, he's consistent, he doesn't play favorites.
Sounds like a yes to me.
Well, Marsden more or less confirmed his story.
Marsden.
I'll tell you a story.
Two years ago Marsden had one of my officers attacked.
Had? You mean, another inmate did it? On the outside.
The officer was in his own driveway, getting out of his car, and some neo-Nazi jumped him, took out his eye with a screwdriver.
Do you understand what I'm saying? Some of these younger officers are intimidated by these Brotherhood thugs.
But not John Worley.
Not John.
He won't back down to these thugs.
Don't you think that it's odd that with a cast of characters like these we're nosing around a career corrections officer with an impeccable record? ED: I'm just saying, if there's something between Worley and Trammell, we ought to look at it.
Check this out.
Three months ago, Worley's son, Sean, got popped in Rockland County for possession.
How old is his son? Seventeen.
Half an ounce of crank in the car.
Don't tell me he's doing time.
Case is still pending.
All right.
Guess it's time to meet the Worleys.
When I heard Trammell got killed, I opened a bottle of champagne I'd been saving for my anniversary.
Yeah, we know he wasn't one of your favorite cons.
He was a bottom-feeder.
I never wrote him up, he didn't have it coming.
Feo Ruiz and Kyle Marsden claimed that you busted Trammell's head.
And you believe them? A couple of convicts? I didn't say that.
Everything okay, Dad? Yeah, it's fine.
Just something for work.
This is Sean? He's got nothing to do with this.
Yeah, well, we need to know where you were on Monday night.
He was home with me.
Why? ED: All night? Yes, all evening.
All of us.
I went out for beers after work, first.
Remember, honey? With another officer.
What time was that? About 8:00.
Takes me an hour to get home.
He was home by 10:00.
We're gonna need the name of your drinking buddy.
John and I left work, got to Disarro's a little before 8:00.
How long did you stay? A couple of hours, give or take.
You sound pretty vague about it.
Why you looking to lay this on a dedicated corrections officer? Uh, we're not looking to lay this on anybody.
You know what those bastards did? They flaked John's son.
Are you saying that the drugs that the police found in Sean's car were planted? I've known this kid forever.
He's like my godson.
He's a straight-A student.
So, were you two together that night or not? I'm going home.
We subpoenaed Worley's EZ-Pass records.
Somebody drove the family car into the city that night.
Does the timeline fit? Mmm-hmm.
Coming and going.
He hit the Henry Hudson Bridge Maybe his wife or kid used the car.
They both said that they were home all night, remember? So, someone's lying.
Or someone else used his car.
Maybe his buddy, Palmer.
Maybe.
But, devil's advocate.
We know that there's history between Worley and Trammell, right? And Worley believes that the Brotherhood set up his son on a drug bust.
So, after work, Worley gets some drinks with a pal Leaves as soon as his alibi's established, which gives him enough time to drive into the city and wait until Trammell shows up at his sister's house.
He sees Trammell on the street, three sheets to the wind, follows him, shoots him.
Steals his wallet to make it look like a robbery.
Wait a minute, hold on for a second, will you? There's a lot of conjecture, isn't there? I mean, shouldn't we wait for something a little more solid? You saying that just because he's a C.
O.
? I am ready to give a fellow law enforcement officer, the same benefit of the doubt that we would give any other suspect under the same circumstances.
We have no gun, no forensics.
Yeah, but we've got a pretty good motive.
The DEP did a sewer search near the scene, came up with a gun.
A nine that disappeared a couple of months ago from a Department of Corrections training center.
Ballistics run it yet? Yeah, and they matched it to the slug that killed Trammell.
And one of the prints on the gun is Worley's.
Does Worleytrain at this Corrections Center? He's an instructor there.
Well, it stands to reason that his prints would be on the gun.
It's still circumstantial.
Yeah, but it's enough for probable cause.
Look, I know you'd rather not.
It's fine, Lieutenant.
We'll go pick him up.
(SIREN WAILS) You armed? In my bas- Thanks for not doing this in front of my house.
You're welcome.
John Worley, you're under arrest for the murder of William Trammell.
CLERK: "Docket number âPeople v.
John Patrick Worley.
"Charge is murder in the second degree.
" How do you plead, Mr.
Worley? Not guilty, Your Honor.
Ms.
Southerlyn? The defendant stalked the victim, and then executed him with a single gunshot to the back of his head.
Your Honor, my client has a wife and two kids in Rockland County.
He has served as a corrections officer for the better part of 20 years.
OfficerWorley has no criminal record and no history of violence.
Except against the victim.
A rival gang member was convicted of that assault, Your Honor.
This victim had hundreds of enemies and was a ranking member of the Brotherhood, one of the nation's most vicious prison gangs.
Save it for the TV cameras, Mr.
Fallon.
Your Honor, the Brotherhood will have a contract on my client's head ten minutes after he's in a cell.
Your Honor, please don't put me in the system.
The defendant is free to request protective custody, Your Honor.
Protective custody is a joke to these people.
I'm sympathetic.
What can we do on bail, Ms.
Southerlyn? For an accused murderer? FALLON: For a law enforcement officer with an impeccable record.
I have a house I can put up.
I'll set bail at $100,000.
(sums) (BANGS GAVEL) Were there any other suspects besides Worley? I'm sure Sing Sing's full of people who hated Trammell, but none of them had access to the murder weapon.
Which was stolen from the Department of Corrections Training Center.
You can't prove Worley did that.
His prints were on the gun.
He's an instructor.
His prints were probably on most of the weapons.
I'm worried Fallon's gonna nitpick this to death.
Then let's offer him man one and the minimum.
That doesn't sit well with me, either.
A feud that started in Sing Sing, then ends with a cold-blooded execution.
That's murder, not manslaughter.
He's a sympathetic defendant, Jack.
The inmate was a member of the Brotherhood.
That's a pack of racist psychopaths.
They may have framed Worley's son.
If it's true, it proves my point.
There's a pattern of escalating animosity between these two men.
This is about revenge, Serena.
I'll find out more about the drug bust.
SERENA: The arresting officer said they got a tip that Sean was dealing drugs from his car in the New City Mall parking lot.
And who do you think phoned in that tip? The Brotherhood planted those drugs in Sean's car.
I'm sure of it.
But the phone tip came from a woman.
These guys all have women on the outside.
They smuggle drugs, collect money.
How hard would it be for one of them to make a phone call to the State Patrol? So, if Sean was framed, do you think Trammell was behind it? Yeah.
But Marsden must've signed off on it first.
I mean Going after an officer? That's big.
How did it get so bad between Trammell and Worley? Trammell started it.
Gassed him his first week in.
Gassed him? They throw their feces and urine through the bars.
In your face, if they can.
Nice.
So what did Worley do? Wrote him up, sent him to the hole.
What else can he do? You can't take that stuff lying down, they'll walk all over you.
And it escalated from there? Trammell threatened to kill him, Ms.
Southerlyn.
He threatened John's whole family.
There were phone calls, anonymous letters, pictures of the kids in the mail, taken at school.
The Brotherhood? You bet.
Then the drug thing with Sean.
John was scared to death.
I mean, if they could get to his family like that, that easily JACK: IfWorley was really afraid of them, why didn't he go to his superiors or the police? What good would it do? These people are beyond anyone's control, Jack.
You can't punish them, you can't threaten them, they're not afraid to go to prison.
In many ways, they actually prefer it.
Supposedly, Trammell couldn't go afterWorley (SIGHS) without Kyle Marsden's approval? That's correct.
Find out if he had it.
HOW? You ask Kyle Marsden.
(LAUGHS) What's he gonna do? Tell us? No.
But we should at least take a look at him.
Find out if he's as scary as everyone says he is.
I'm Jack McCoy.
This is A.
D.
A.
Southerlyn.
Hi, honey.
Let's get right to the point, Mr.
Marsden.
I want to know if the Brotherhood had a contract out on John Worley.
(LAUGHS) Hey, I've got to thank you.
I really appreciate the trip to the city.
I made a lot of new friends down here.
I want an answer to the question, Mr.
Marsden.
Shouldn't my lawyer be here? You're not a suspect in the death of Billy Trammell.
This isn't a custodial interrogation.
It's not custodial? You're free to return to Sing Sing at any time.
Should I call the guard? So what's in it for me? Nothing.
Let's put it this way, if there was a kite out on Worley, it's been rescinded.
Why is that, Mr.
Marsden? Because the only thing sweeter than a dead C.
O.
is one on my side of the bars.
That's a gift that just keeps on giving.
Call Worley's lawyer.
I want a sit-down as soon as possible.
What are we gonna say? We're gonna offer him a plea.
Why the change of heart? You convinced me.
You and Marsden.
So, the gravity of my client's situation is finally sinking in with you people.
He still made a bad choice, Mr.
Fallon.
An imperfect one, in a far from perfect world.
Now, what are you going to do about it? Man one.
That's a minimum of five years.
I'm sure we can make an arrangement so your client serves his time in the Federal system.
You don't get it.
The Brotherhood is everywhere.
Especially in the Federal system.
So tell me, Mr.
Fallon, what's your Plan B? If he's convicted at trial, he serves at least 15-to-life.
I have an idea.
You know, the way I look at it, my client has performed a service for the citizens of this city.
I'd choose my words very carefully, M r.
Fallon.
My client's out on bail.
There's no rush to try this.
A year down the road, I file a speedy trial motion and the judge dismisses the case.
I invited you down here because I sympathized with your client's situation.
And I'm trying to save a man's life.
The answer is no, Mr.
Fallon.
I don't understand.
Why won't you accept man one? I believe we can do better.
I'll be asserting justification at my client's trial.
Preemptive self-defense? FALLON: What would you do? Wait for these monsters to rape and murder your family? (DOOR OPENING) FALLON: These threats were credible, Your Honor.
Letters, photos, phone calls A member of the Brotherhood even approached the Worleys' 11-year-old daughter at school.
Allegedly.
The law's clear, a person may use deadly force only if he reasonably believes the other person is about to do the same.
While I do find these alleged incidents you described disturbing, Mr.
Fallon, I agree with Mr.
McCoy, the threat has to be imminent.
Well, the issue here is whether my client believed it was imminent.
This is analogous to battered-spouse syndrome, YourHonoL Battered-spouse syndrome? Mr.
Fallon! There's a clear pattern of violence and intimidation here.
John Worley lived his life in constant fear of what Billy Trammell and his associates could and would do to him and his family.
Billy Trammell was incarcerated.
John Worley was free.
To find a new job, to move his family, to seek the assistance of the courts and the police if he felt threatened.
John Worley felt like he could not get help from the authorities, and that he could not get away from Billy Trammell and the Brotherhood, inside the prison or out.
He felt the Brotherhood would find him, hunt him down, no matter where he went.
Your client's subjective belief about the danger is one thing, Mr.
Fallon.
But the law also requires that that belief be objectively reasonable under the circumstances.
I have 109 incident reports from the New York State Department of Corrections, which document violence perpetrated by the Brotherhood in the last five years.
And these are only the ones that were reported.
The tip of the iceberg.
JACK: No one denies the Brotherhood is dangerous.
The issue is whether the defendant was allowed to make an anticipatory strike against one of their members.
And hundreds of years of jurisprudence say no.
A hundred years ago there was no Brotherhood.
How long are you supposed to stand on the tracks with a freight train coming at you? Mr.
Fallon's argument is a convincing one, Mr.
McCoy.
This is how the law evolves.
The defendant's belief may well have been objectively reasonable under the circumstances.
It's pushing the envelope, but I'm going to let the issue go to the jury.
Officer Worley wrote up Billy Trammell for prison infractions And the next highest total Trammell received from any other corrections officer was what? Ten.
How do you account for the discrepancy? Trammell was a hardcore criminal who flouted the rules.
John Worley did his job.
How would you characterize their interaction? It was hostile.
JACK: Would you go so far as to call it a feud? You might.
And yet, none of Officer Worley's disciplinary write-ups mention any threats by Trammell directed at Worley or his family, do they? No.
Is it unusual for an inmate to threaten a guard's life? Not at all.
Part of the job? Sure.
And what is the procedure to be followed when a corrections officer receives such a threat? Well, the C.
O.
's are supposed to report the threat immediately to my office so it can be documented and assessed.
Violence against corrections officers is on the rise in the last 10 years, isn't that correct, Superintendent Cooper? Yes, it is.
Corrections officers jumped and beaten.
Well, they're not allowed to have guns inside the facilities, for obvious reasons, but assaults are frequent.
How many corrections officers in the New York State system have been assaulted by Brotherhood members this year alone? I know of three C.
O.
's who've been stabbed.
And last year we had a fatality.
The Brotherhood member who killed that guard is on death row right now.
FALLON: A dangerous job.
Most of us are proud of what we do.
Including John Worley? Very much so.
We got into a fight, me and Trammell, and then Marsden jumped in and started stomping me.
What did Officer Worley do? He broke it up.
HOW? Cracked Trammell over the head a couple of times.
Put him in the hospital.
Did he strike you or Mr.
Marsden? No, no, just Trammell.
Why do you think he struck Trammell and not you or Mr.
Marsden? He hated Trammell, and Trammell hated him.
JACK: How often do you get into fights with Brotherhood members? It happens all the time.
You're not afraid of them? I'm not afraid of anyone.
They afraid of me.
Did it appear to you that Officer Worley was afraid of Mr.
Trammel? No, he never showed fear.
Not like some of the screws.
You were convicted of fracturing Mr.
Trammel's skull.
It's my word against a guard.
And you yourself are a member of a gang, the Latin Kings.
Yeah.
King for life.
You treat C.
O.
's with respect? They give it, they get it.
That's why you've been written up over 50 times by a dozen different officers? My client ever write you up? (CHUCKLING) Yeah.
yeah.
How many times? I don't know.
A dozen maybe.
It's like I say, he was a real hardass.
So this testimony of yours today could be considered payback, couldn't it? Objection! ANDERLEE: Sustained! Counsel, in my chambers.
This was addressed to me.
IfWorley gets off, your dead.
Court officer said it was left in the gallery by a woman.
You should have the police take custody of the note.
They've already been called.
And what are we going to do about the trial? We're adjourned for today.
I'll meet with counsel tomorrow at 9:30.
Your life just changed forever.
I know.
You could recuse yourself, declare a mistrial.
It is manifest necessity.
You know I'm not going to do that, Arthur.
All defendants would have to do is threaten judges until they get the one they want.
It's bad enough in the jails and prisons.
If we give away the entire criminal justice system, what's the point? You're right.
I'm sure you've been the recipient of a threat at some time in your career.
Once or twice.
Did it stop you? Did you ever ask another prosecutor to take over a case? Just because I'm hard-headed doesn't mean you have to be.
You know it's not about that.
Well, the defense is not going to be very happy.
Oh, crocodile tears.
They know better than anybody I'll bend over backwards to be fair.
You have to recuse yourself, Judge.
I intend to call you as a witness.
Excuse me? My whole case is based on how dangerous the Brotherhood is.
You've been threatened.
That's relevant.
The note left in the courtroom can't be definitively attributed to the Brotherhood.
Save your breath, Mr.
McCoy.
The note is off-limits at this trial, Mr.
Fallon.
Well, then I intend to call Kyle Marsden as awitness.
He has nothing to do with this case.
What's your offer of proof, Mr.
Fallon? Billy Trammell threatened the lives of my client and his family.
The only person who could authorize him to do that was his gang boss.
Marsden's testimony is not only irrelevant, it's prejudicial.
The man is a walking billboard for hate and intimidation.
I need to paint the enormity of the Brotherhood's reach in order to show that my client's fear wasjustified.
I'm entitled to make the best case for my client, Your Honor.
Marsden poses a serious security risk.
I understand your concern, Mr.
McCoy.
But the potential prejudice is far outweighed by Mr.
Worley's right to call witnesses in support of his case.
I've been incarcerated since '91.
I'm serving five consecutive life sentences.
FALLON: One for kidnapping, four for murder.
Yeah, something like that.
Are you a member of an organization called the Brotherhood? MARSDEN: That's right.
What sort of organization is it? It's a support group, for the Caucasian inmates.
(SCOFFS) It's a prison gang.
Responsible for over 100 reported acts of violence in Sing Sing over the past two years.
Not to mention many murders, and countless other crimes in prisons nationwide.
Yeah, I wouldn't know about any of that.
Are you acquainted with a man named Billy Trammell? Yes, sir.
Isn't it a fact, Mr.
Marsden, that you authorized Mr.
Trammell to murder my client? Your Honor, would you instruct Mr.
Marsden to answer the question? Your answer, Mr.
Marsden.
What are you gonna do, Judge? Hold me in contempt? Consider it done.
Ooh, are you sure you want to do that? Are you threatening me, Mr.
Marsden? Why would I want to threaten you, Judge? You wouldn't if you know what's good for you.
FALLON: No further questions, YourHonoL My job was to supervise convicted, violent felons.
Most of the time I was outnumbered 40-to-one.
I didn't even get to carry a gun.
And the inmates? Are they armed? Sharpened pieces of glass, filed-down spoons, metal spikes.
You ought to see the shiv museum at Sing Sing sometime.
They'll fashion a weapon out of anything that'll hold a point.
Atoothbrush.
There's been testimony that you were hard on the inmates.
I enforced the rules.
My job was about control.
You lose control of the bad guys, you can get hurt.
Was Billy Trammell one of those guys? Billy Trammell had been bragging that he was going to get me for a couple of years.
I didn't take him seriously at first, until he was going to be paroled.
And then he told me it would be just that much easier to forget about me and do my family instead.
"Do" meaning kill? And worse.
And when I found a photograph that had been taken of my wife and kids slipped under my door Then, my son Sean was arrested, framed by Trammell and his buddies in the Brotherhood.
What happened to Sean as a result of this arrest? He's being prosecuted now.
Rockland County.
What transpired the last time you saw Trammell in prison? They were taking him down for release, he passed by me, and he said, "Tell Dina I'll be seeing her very soon.
" And then he licked his lips.
Dina? My wife.
Got home that night, my daughter, Carrie, my 11-year-old, she told me that some big guy with long hair and tattoos, had approached her at her school, called her by her name, and told her to tell her father that Uncle Billy would be coming to visit her very soon.
What did you do the day Billy Trammell was released? I moved my family into a motel.
Why? I was afraid for their lives.
And then I gave my son Sean my .
38, just in case, and I went looking for Trammell.
Did you kill him, John? Yes, I did.
Before he could get to my wife and kids.
You thought you were justified in taking matters into your own hands? Yes.
Was Billy Trammell that imminent a threat? He was.
You stole the murder weapon two months before Trammell was released.
Isn't that right? I was preparing myself.
On a street, Trammell was a danger to me and my family, Really? When you put the gun to the back of Billy Trammell's head, at that moment, were you in any danger from him? No.
Not at that precise moment.
I was in control of the situation.
Your family was in a motel when you shot Billy Trammell.
Were they in any danger from him at that point? The only step that guaranteed the safety of my family was to kill him.
There was no other choice.
No other choice? Had you reported Billy Trammell's threats to the authorities, they would have constituted violation of his parole.
You could've put him back into prison, Officer Worley.
You didn't.
You chose to kill him instead.
John Worley put his life on the line every day to protect us from society's worst.
He and his family were targeted by a hyper-violent prison gang with a well-earned reputation for intimidation, depravity, and murder.
We'd all like to believe that our system of law will protect us.
But if you knew ahead of time that Charles Manson and his cohorts were coming after you and your family, wouldn't you all do something about it? John Worley did exactly what he had to do.
For hundreds of years, our concept of self-defense has been rooted in the idea that the threat defended against must be imminent.
The knife drawn, the hammer raised, the gun cocked.
Deadly force only in response to the imminent threat of deadly force.
It's a bright line, and there's a reason we don't cross it.
We cannot ascertain motive after the fact.
We can't know what was in Billy Trammell's mind.
We can't know if the Brotherhood's threats were real.
And we can't ask him now, because he's dead.
John Worley killed him.
Before Trammell and these allegations could be investigated.
These threats were not imminent.
John Worley says he had no choice but to kill Billy Trammell.
We know that's not true.
He had options.
He didn't choose them.
His motive was not fear.
It was revenge.
Revenge for what he thought Trammell did to him, his son, his daughter.
And putting Trammell back into prison wasn't going to be enough to satisfy his hunger for retribution.
Only murdering him was.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I understand you're unable to reach a verdict.
Is that correct? That's right, Your Honor.
Are you certain you've made your best faith efforts to do so? I believe we have, Your Honor.
We're unable to come to any consensus.
Given the length of your deliberations and your best faith efforts, I have no choice but to declare a hung jury.
(GASPING) Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, thank you for your service.
Clear the courtroom, please.
Clear the courtroom.
Well, we shouldn't be shocked.
Thejuryjust put themselves in Worley's shoes.
What are your thoughts on re-filing? I'm not sure we'd do any better.
How's Judge Anderlee holding up, Arthur? Keeping a stiff upper lip, and two veteran New York City detectives on their toes.
We just got a call from the Rockland County Police Department.
Something happen to Worley? His wife.
She's missing.