Law & Order (1990) s15e11 Episode Script
Fixed
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.
CROSSING GUARD: Come on, let's shake a leg, there's the bell.
Good morning, sunshine, you feeling better today? Yeah.
Good.
Come on.
It's a beautiful day, let's make it a good one.
All right, young man, come on, now.
Have a good day.
How are you? I can't complain.
How's the family? Lianajust got early acceptance to Cornell.
You must be so proud.
How is your daughter? Ten years old, acting like Lil' Kim.
Mothers of daughters have more gray hairs than mothers of sons.
Tell me about it.
All you can do is pray.
(TIRES SCREECHING) (CRASHING) Oh, my word! That didn't sound good.
Oh, no.
(GIRL SCREAMING) Call 911.
Now! FONTANA: What you got? Hit and run.
ED: So Why'd you call us? I'm not sure it was an accident.
Jacob Lowenstein.
Lowenstein? The wife beater? COP: The one who killed his little kid.
I saw his coming out photo a month ago.
I thought, you know, what's this guy doing around a school? You did the right thing calling us.
Witnesses? Yeah.
A big black car, maybe an SUV, travelling at a high rate of speed, hit him as he jay walked across the street, and kept going.
That's about it.
I'll keep looking.
What about Lowenstein? Tore off his leg.
I thought he wouldn't make it to the O.
R.
Let us know what you come up with, all right? No skid marks, no indication the driver tried not to hit him.
FONTANA: Talk about your public service homicides.
ED: If he dies.
Well, it is rush hour.
Guy's out a month, someone runs him down.
Lowenstein's parole got plenty of press.
That man beat his wife until she didn't look human and then he did the same thing to his five-year-old daughter and left her to die.
And for that he winds up doing 15 years.
You know, Donald Cragen worked the original case.
We'll reach out to him.
We thought maybe we'd start with Lowenstein's PO first and then maybe his ex.
All right.
GRADY: Served the required two-thirds of his sentence.
Model prisoner.
They had to let him out.
System sucks.
You gotta give him some hope, I suppose.
That's what they say.
Without the carrot, these guys would be impossible to control.
And you know, they're not all as bad as Lowenstein.
Well, that's the point.
Someone like Lowenstein short circuits the system.
So what were the rules of his release? A curfew, 9:00 to 7:00, drug counseling random drug testing, anger management classes, a 12-step program.
Hey, it's all part of a package these days.
You gotta try somethin'.
Anything else? Well, no contact with minors, of course.
No contact with his kid.
Kid? Yeah, there was a son.
Must have been two, three, at the time.
He's living on Long Island somewhere.
Lowenstein was supposed to be staying in a halfway house? For the first six months.
ED: You got an address? They, uh They call me.
You lost track of him? What am I supposed to do, call the National Guard to find the guy? Do you know how many cases I got? Do you have a more high profile parolee than Lowenstein? Why didn't you violate him? Well, I'm going to, aren't I, as soon as I can get to the paperwork.
Something tells me that your workload is gonna get a lot lighter.
Whoa.
Take it easy, man.
Lowenstein was a coked-up, crazy creep.
He used Carla as a punching bag for years.
Bruises, broken bones.
By the time we got there, herjaw was so swollen she couldn't talk.
What about the little girl? She was black, blue and burned.
When I'm havin' a bad night, this is the one that comes back and haunts me.
His PO said he had a son? Ezra.
Two years old.
Malnourished, neglected.
Spent most of his time tied to the radiator, like a dog.
The parole officer also said that he's living on Long Island.
I'll get you a name and address.
He was doing well, last I heard.
A happy ending, considering.
Speaking of happy endings, how's Lowenstein? He's still on the critical list.
I hope he lingers a long time in excruciating pain.
Have you talked to his ex yet, Carla? ED: We're still looking for her.
Her shrink might be able to help you.
He resurrected her.
Brought her back from the dead.
Literally.
Someone like Lowenstein is a user, a predator.
He can smell weakness vulnerability, and exploit it.
Like a hyena stalking awounded animal.
Is that what happened with Carla? Did he sniff her out? Let's just say, such a woman, damaged, vulnerable, lonely, under the sway of such a man, would do anything to win and keep his approval no matter how depraved, no matter what the damage to herself or her children.
Would such a woman still be under his sway? Recovery is possible.
I've seen it myself.
Is it ever possible that the prey animal attacked the predator first before he could find her? A prey animal doesn't attack a predator unless it's cornered.
I mean, if he came to her door, maybe she might use a knife or a gun to defend herself.
But follow him, stalk him, attack him preemptively with a car? No.
I wouldn't think so.
You sound pretty passionate about this, Doctor.
Maybe we be asking you about your alibi? I'm a lifelong New Yorker, Detective.
I don't have a license, and I don't drive.
Look, Doctor, we need to talk to Carla, if only to eliminate her as a suspect.
I'll tell you what.
I'll call her.
If she's willing to talk to you.
She works in a nursery school.
We thought we'd take a ride out there, see if she's got an alibi.
Her shrink says that we can cross her off the list and move on.
I'll do it.
It had nothing to do with what happened to Jacob.
VAN BUREN: So, when he got paroled? I panicked.
I walked away from my job, my apartment.
I was afraid he would find me.
Why would he come looking for you? Because he still blames me.
Can you believe it? He never admitted what he did.
Everything that ever happened to him is someone else's fault.
Where were you that morning? I was here.
Drop-off starts at 7:30.
If I was still angry enough to want to kill him, it would mean I was still tied to him emotionally.
And I can't afford that.
Even after what he did to you and your children? You know what I want in life? Not to think about him.
Not remember him.
Not talk about him.
Not hear his name.
That's all.
I don't believe she'd ever go near that man again, not even behind the wheel of a tank.
How is Lowenstein? Still critical.
But we may be able to talk to him tomorrow.
And we did get a location on his son.
Yeah, Patchogue.
Well, this time of day, you're better off taking the tunnel.
PLAYER: Set! (WHISTLE BLOWS) Ez! Brian! Two more plays and we're done.
Come here, will you? These two gentlemen want to talk to you.
Thanks, Coach.
How you doing, Ezra? I'm Detective Green, this is my partner, Detective Fontana.
Hi, Ezra.
Do you know why we're here? I think so.
I've been reading the papers.
Is he gonna die? He might.
It don't look good.
Okay.
Have you heard from him since he's been out of prison? It's okay if you have.
He called a couple of times.
Have you seen him? Hey, Ezra.
Dad.
What's going on? New York City Police Department, sir.
What's this about? Jacob Lowenstein.
We werejust asking Ezra if he'd seen him recently.
I can answer that.
No, he hasn't.
Uh, actually, I have.
Once.
He took the train out.
I met him at the station for a few minutes.
Don't be mad.
I was curious.
I'm not mad.
ED: What'd you talk about? He denied everything.
Said it was all lies, he never hurt anyone, especially my birth mother, my sister and me.
Anything else? He asked me for money.
I told you he didn't care about you.
It was like talking to a creepy stranger.
NATE: That's exactly what he is, Ezra, a creepy stranger.
I know.
I'm sorry.
Excuse me, sir, but where were you the day that Lowenstein got hit? On the Long Island Rail Road, on my way into my office in Midtown.
Where were you that morning, Ezra? School.
You can check with my homeroom teacher.
ED: Do you have a car? Yeah.
We're gonna need to take a look at both of your cars.
Go ahead.
We have nothing to hide.
FONTANA: When do you think we'll be able to talk to him? Well, maybe tomorrow.
He's in and out of lucidity.
The morphine.
He have any visitors? Uh, his lawyer and his fiancée.
His fiancée? That's what she said.
You remember her name? She's down the hall, in the lounge.
We got engaged about a year ago, when it started to look like Jake's parole would come through.
"Jake.
" Can we talk to you out here? He gave me this ring when he got out.
He spent every dime he had in the world on it.
He loves me so much.
Sheryl.
Do you know why he was in prison? I was, like, in grammar school when that happened.
If it happened.
So, you're not worried about any of this? About what? Okay, listen, we're gonna give you a card.
If you need anything.
What would I need? How did you two meet? Oh, I read an article about him, and then I wrote him a letter.
And he wrote back.
Sol looked him up on the Corrections Department website.
They even had a map and instructions.
Must have made visiting day a snap.
Yeah, well, we just wanna put this all behind us, you know, get married, get on with our lives.
Jake's so good with my kids.
(STAMMERS) You have kids? Yeah, a boy and a girl.
They've been so happy since he moved in with us.
Wait a second.
This guy is living with you? Since he left the halfway house.
What the hell is the matter with you? If you want to screw up your own life, be our guest, it's a free country, but to bring this guy into your house with your kids? Yeah, he would never ever hurt them.
Does his parole officer know about this arrangement? Jacob said he approved it, and so did Dr.
Draper.
Said it was his first step in his return to normalcy.
Who's Dr.
Draper? Joyce Draper, the therapist he worked with in prison.
She really helped him deal with his anger.
About him being incarcerated and all.
Oh, he was angry about that, huh? Oh, yeah.
But he was getting through it.
He was doing really well, too.
And then this happened.
(SIGHS) I feel so guilty.
I mean, we lived right around the corner from where he got hit.
But why would you feel guilty? The accident? It happened right after he dropped Emily off at school.
Joyce'll be right out.
She's just finishing up with a patient.
We understand your wife does some work up at the penitentiary.
Couple of days a week.
The rest of the time, she sees her regular patients here.
She ever talk about the patients she treats? You mean like Jacob Lowenstein? FONTANA: For instance.
We have a rule in the house.
I don't talk about calculus proofs, she doesn't make pillow talk about prisoners.
You said it wasn't your choice? If I had my druthers, she'd do something else.
JOYCE: Ron? In here, honey.
My wife, Joyce Draper.
Hi.
Detective G reen, Detective Fontana.
Hi.
Well, I'll leave you to it.
I imagine you're here about Jacob Lowenstein.
Yes.
Dr.
Draper, what can you tell us about him? I'm not a doctor, I'm a social worker.
Sorry.
Lowenstein was one of a number of inmates who volunteered to have intensive therapy.
An experimental program.
Individual and group.
Did he want to change his life? Did he want to straighten himself out? What? Because it'd look good on his parole application.
I'm not a babe in the woods.
I don't kid myself about their motives.
But that doesn't mean it didn't do him some good, anyway.
Well, did it do him any good? I think it did, yes.
Definitely.
FONTANA: After he got out, did you have any further contact with him? My contact with an inmate ends when he's released.
And then what happens? He goes cold turkey? He receives counseling as a part of his parole.
Just not from me.
He didn't call, try to get in touch with you? He did call once, from the halfway house.
Told me how hard it was to be out, all eyes on him all the time.
FONTANA: He didn't want to see you? I wasn't about to violate the rules.
And that was it? You never heard from him again? I didn't give him what he wanted, so he gave up.
Uh, did you know about his fiancée, Sheryl? Yes.
Met her once, after a therapy session.
Yeah.
She's got children, two little kids.
He's living with them.
He's supposed to be at the halfway house.
His parole officer lost track of him.
That's not a good situation.
Well, if he lives, he's going back to jail for violating his parole.
We talked to Carla's psychiatrist, Dr.
Clayburg.
Yes, he's well-respected.
Yeah.
He says that guys like Lowenstein were incurable.
There is that school of thought.
Do you subscribe to that school of thought? If I did, I couldn't continue to do the work that I do.
The son, Ezra? His car is clean.
(CELL PHONE RINGING) What about his father's SUV? That's clean, too.
Hello? His alibi is solid.
He was in his office.
He had meetings the whole morning.
Okay, okay, thanks.
It was the hospital.
Lowenstein? Mmm-hmm.
He wants to talk to us.
It wasn't an accident? Somebody did this deliberately? What the hell? Why would somebody wanna hurt me? FONTANA: You're kidding, right? ED: Witnesses say they heard a car accelerating before and after it hit you.
All those years in that godforsaken place.
I paid my dues.
Some people would say you haven't even begun.
Forget about everything you think you know.
I loved those kids, every minute I was with them.
Yeah,youloved those kids to death, didn't you? That was all the media's fault.
The whole thing from start to finish, blown out of proportion.
You think they were hard on you? They took her side all the way.
Carla's.
And then when they let me out, they completely made me a target, with the cameras and the news coverage.
Look what it got me.
What do you remember about that morning? I dropped Emily off at school.
And then I was walking to the corner to get a paper.
Next thing I know, I wake up here, and I'm missing my leg.
My leg, for God's sake.
Did you see the car that hit you, sir? I don't remember anything after I dropped her off.
You ain't giving us that much to work with.
I'm giving you what I got.
So, you find the scumbag who ran me over? We're looking.
Not looking too hard, are you? I can't believe I was safer inside.
FONTANA: How did you manage that? To stay safe on the inside? Guys like you, child killers, molesters I never killed anybody.
They get taken apart in the joint.
I got a law degree, and I did legal work for the other inmates.
Managed to get himself a correspondence school J.
D.
inside.
ED: Kept him in one piece.
Kept him busy, too.
He had 'em lining up around the cell block.
Writs, appeals for new trials, for parole hearings.
Well, he couldn't have won any.
Of course not, they're all guilty.
It doesn't stop them from trying.
Well, was there anyone in particular who was bent out of shape over losing an appeal? This one inmate, Lowenstein tried a couple of times to get him a hearing for a new trial.
He didn't take it at all well when he got turned down.
Blamed it on his lawyer.
Don't they all? Can we talk to him? He got released, couple of months ago.
I watched his back, he was supposed to get me out.
But he screwed up your appeal.
Twice.
Till I got me a real lawyer.
The Cockroach didn't have a clue what he was doing.
"Cockroach"? That was his nickname inside the joint 'cause he gave everybody the creeps.
Made your skin crawl.
Okay.
You got an alibi for the morning he got hit by that car? You're lookin' at it.
Anyone else on the inside have a beef with Lowenstein? Yeah, take your pick.
Nobody liked him.
He was a whiner, a teacher's pet.
The therapist? Her experimental cognitive whatever.
You're talking about Draper? Lowenstein was her pet project.
ED: You were in her group, too? Yeah.
Wanna know the best part about therapy? Her ass.
Thanks.
Joyce Draper drives a 2002 Ford Explorer SUV.
Fits what the crime lab said.
What if Lowenstein was her pet project, and what if, for some reason, she decided that this was never gonna work, he was never gonna change.
Like Dr.
Clayburg said.
Right.
Remember what he said? He said that a woman like Carla would not have the moxie to kill Lowenstein preemptively.
But Joyce Draper would.
Brother would she? With plenty of moxie left over.
We need to look into her car.
Hello? Hospital? Lowenstein just took a turn for the worse.
Well, I hope he doesn't settle out before we get a chance to talk to him about his favorite shrink.
Okay, we'll be right there.
Thanks.
Pulmonary embolism.
I guarantee you, she's the only person in this world that will ever shed a tear over this guy.
We took a look at Joyce Draper's car.
Without a warrant? She offered it up.
Just had it washed and detailed, didn't expect us to find anything.
Did you? Yeah.
A hairline crack in the front grille and trace DNA on the bumper.
Can we match it? It's a little bit degraded, but the M.
E.
says it's definitely Lowenstein's.
What about her alibi? Home alone, no way to verify.
What about a motive? Not so far.
But we found out she quit herjob at the penitentiary a week after he got paroled.
That's interesting.
So she bluffed on the car.
Well, let's ask her to come in and talk to us voluntarily.
She can hardly say no to that now.
I took a mental health morning, stayed home catching up on back issues of The New Yorker.
You make any calls, have any visitors? No, sorry.
Nobody to vouch for me but myself.
Where was your husband? He had an early lecture to give.
The police examined your car.
I told them they could.
And found a crack in the front grille.
I rear-ended somebody ages ago.
It didn't seem worth getting fixed just to jack up my insurance.
Mmm-hmm.
Crack in the front grille and Jacob Lowenstein's DNA.
Jacob Lowenstein's DNA? That's not possible.
Maybe you thought you'd washed it away? I really don't know how it could have gotten there.
Are you sure? Look, Joyce, we know why you did it.
You knew he shouldn't be out on the street.
You probably did the city a real service.
Hell, I wish I could throw you a parade.
But you also knew he was in violation of his parole.
If you'd picked up the phone and called, he would have been sent back to prison.
Now, I know the D.
A.
would consider a lesser charge.
Vehicular manslaughter, maybe.
A couple of years in a minimum security facility, and you're paroled.
You can go on with your life.
Pick up where you left off.
We can work with you, Joyce.
You hear what I'm saying? All you have to do is tell us what happened.
I didn't do it.
The DNA cannot be explained away.
Please, don't take your chances at trial.
This here is your best shot.
Come on.
Tell me what happened.
I can't continue this conversation.
Not without a lawyer.
She was on the brink.
Just couldn't bring herself to give it up.
If she did, it'd be the end of her career.
Well, maybe that's what we should be looking at.
Her career? Well, her work at the prison with Lowenstein.
He had to volunteer for her treatment program.
Maybe those sessions were taped.
If they were, we might get a better idea of what was going on between the two of them.
So do social workers have privilege, like shrinks? Well, it might not matter.
If he was a prisoner in an experimental program, he probably had to sign a waiver.
I was Joyce's supervisor on the study.
I understand that she resigned suddenly.
The recidivism of certain kinds of offenders, sex offenders, sociopaths, it's inevitable.
It's death and taxes.
And so is the eventual burn-out of the people who try to help them.
That's what happened, she burned out? I've been Joyce's mentor since graduate school.
Her work is her life.
Her marriage, personal life, everything else takes a back seat.
It's a shame.
She had eight years in on this study, less than two to go.
What specifically made her quit? She hit a wall.
With Lowenstein? The study has a built-in component, so each researcher gets their own therapist.
I was Joyce's.
It's a firewall of sorts.
So, their personal feelings about the inmates don't start to color the research.
How often did you see her? It was supposed to be once a week.
But toward the end, Joyce upped it to three times a week.
Do you know why? Lowenstein was about to be released.
Her stress level was through the roof.
She was concerned about what he'd do? Take a look at the tape and judge for yourself.
Oh, don't worry, I've always been a good daddy.
He practically dared Draper to stop him.
She must have tracked him from the halfway house to Sheryl's.
If she was keeping tabs on the kids, maybe she called the school.
This lady called the office, said she was Emily's aunt.
Wanted to know how she was feeling.
What did you tell her? At first I didn't tell her anything.
The nurse's office is not supposed to.
But she was so nice and so persistent, and she said she was trying to reach Emily's mother.
It's okay, I don't blame you.
You're not going to get into trouble.
I told her she was a real trooper, which she is.
Writing and drawing, even with the cast on.
We checked the phone records.
Draper placed the call from her office at the penitentiary two days before she ran Lowenstein down.
When does the little girl break her wrist? A week after Lowenstein moved in with them, she fell off her bike.
Draper thought Lowenstein was to blame.
It's a fair assumption.
And a strong motive.
Have the police pick her up.
Mrs.
Draper.
Detectives? You're under arrest for the murder of Jacob Lowenstein.
Please don't handcuff me.
We'll read you your rights in the car.
Come on.
If you're gonna let 'em out, you'd better keep up with 'em.
We allowed him to go right back into the same situation, putting young children in harm's way.
It's the limitations of the system.
Too many people on parole, not enough parole officers.
Well, what's the alternative? Keeping guys like Lowenstein imprisoned indefinitely? I wish.
Look, I understand that everything is a trade-off.
I mean, obviously, the D.
A.
didn't have a slam-dunk murder case.
Getting Lowenstein to plead to manslaughter was the best that they could do.
That's what keeps D.
A.
's up at night.
You go for the max, you could lose.
If you don't, the monster gets back on the street.
They played the cards they were dealt, just as we do.
And what Draper did was clearly wrong, any way you look at it.
We can't countenance vigilantism.
But realistically Realistically? I know and you know, and Joyce Draper knows better than any of us, that the Lowensteins of the world don't change.
But the law doesn't know.
Maybe the Chinese have the best idea.
Summary execution.
A bullet to the brain.
And the family pays for the bullet.
You're not serious? No.
Therapists who do this sort of work long enough, end up in the same dark place.
JACK: Which is? They come to realize they themselves have been suffering from narcissistic wishful thinking.
Did Joyce Draper think that she could cure Jacob Lowenstein? Objection.
Dr.
Peters can't testify to what Joyce Draper thought Sustained.
You were her supervisor and therapist? Yes.
For how long? Eight years, six months.
Until she resigned.
Yes.
Was her work at the prison complete? No, no.
The study still had 18 months to run.
Would you describe Joyce Draper as dependable, conscientious? More than that.
She was driven.
She was thoroughly committed to her work.
JACK: Did she offer an explanation about her sudden decision to resign? In the beginning she'd thought she was making some progress with Lowenstein, then she came to realize he'd been conning her.
Using her.
Those were her words.
How close in time was her resignation to Lowenstein's release? Within aweek of his parole.
And that was the source of her frustration? In large part.
Certainly there were other factors.
Such as? I'd say that the stresses of her work life had a ripple effect on other areas of her life as well.
JACK: At home? PETERS: This sort of work is bound to cause strains in a marriage.
Can you say more about the stress she was under at work? You might say she had a crisis of faith.
You see, it's not so much the particular technique here that makes the difference, it's the therapeutic relationship.
Between Joyce Draper and Jacob Lowenstein? This kind of offender tests the basic principle that everyone is redeemable.
Therapists have to work through their own repulsion.
Was Joyce Draper repulsed by Jacob Lowenstein? PETERS: Certainly.
And Joyce held herself to some very high standards.
She couldn't stand to fail.
JACK: And she failed with Jacob Lowenstein? PETERS: Absolutely.
Anyone would.
He was beyond the pale.
Did you know that from the beginning of the study? Oh, yes.
But you let her go ahead with it anyway? I thought she'd be a better therapist for it in the long run.
Why? Joyce is very talented, maybe too talented.
She thought she could get through to anyone.
GOIDELL: And this experience would humble her? In away she needed to encounter someone like Lowenstein.
We learn so much more from our failures than from our successes.
And you set her up to fail.
I think his testimony may have cut both ways.
It helped paint the portrait, a woman under stress who snapped when she saw Lowenstein drop that little girl off at school with her arm in a cast.
Someone the jury may very well empathize with.
It's a strong circumstantial case.
They're still gonna latch on to why a woman like Draper, a professional woman, did something so drastic, so out of character.
It gives the jury cover.
She couldn't have done it, despite all the evidence to the contrary.
So what about the videotape from their last session? Talk about a two-edged sword.
It gives you such a visceral sense of how dangerous Lowenstein was.
It also shows her motive.
You saw her reaction.
What he was saying to her stopped her cold.
If the defense is going forjury nullification The imminent threat to the little girl, a sudden, impulsive act.
The tape supports premeditation.
She started thinking about killing him then, not when she saw him on the street with Emily.
That was just what made her pull the trigger.
She'd already loaded the gun.
It's a huge gamble.
It's your choice.
JACOB: (ON TV) I can't wait to really get back to society.
Done with the halfway house, with some guy telling me what I can and cannot do.
JOYCE: You still have almost seven years of parole to comply with.
Oh, sure, I'll show up for the obligatory urine tests, and tell my PO exactly where I am at all times.
Hey, Dr.
Draper, don't worry about it.
You know me, right? I always follow the rules.
JOYCE: Good.
JACOB: I'm not coming back here.
No, sir, no way.
You know what I'm really looking forward to? No, Jacob, what? Spending time with Sheryl.
That's natural.
I'm thinking of moving in with her.
After you're done with the halfway house? Oh, sure, of course, absolutely.
After that.
Don't you think it'd be good for you to have your own place for a while? Nah, I never liked living alone.
I always I felt! needed a family, you know? A little girl.
Like my Didi.
You think that's wise? Besides the terms of your parole, clearly I know, I know.
No unsupervised contact with minors.
Sheryl will supervise.
Sheryl has children? I didn't realize that.
Oh, yeah, she has Emily, a cute little first grader.
This is Emily.
Isn't she cute? Oh, what a face.
And this is her little brother, Spence.
(CHUCKLING) Oh, don't worry, I've always been a good daddy.
(LAUGHING) You're still here.
I'm writing my closing statement.
You're going to take it all the way to the jury.
No reason not to.
That tape was pretty damning.
That's your call, but a part of me wouldn't mind seeing this whole thing go away.
Me, too.
You know, this office has cut a deal with the likes of Jacob Lowenstein.
We could do the same thing with Joyce Draper.
I'd be happy to if she'd allocute to what she did.
She won't? I spoke to her lawyer, dangled the possibility.
She won't accept any sort of guilty plea.
I guess she's determined to see this thing through, too.
Apparently so.
He's putting her on the stand.
(LAUGHS) Tread lightly.
You know, this case reminds me of something a wise old country lawyer once said.
He said, "You know, the first question that you ask in any murder case, "'Did the deceased deserve to die?"' JOYCE: I left abruptly, but burnout isn't exactly rare in my line of work.
GOIDELL: Did your resignation have anything to do with Jacob Lowenstein's release? No.
Lowenstein's release wasn't the reason you resigned? No, it wasn't.
Did you hate Jacob Lowenstein? No.
Can you describe your feelings for him? I found him fascinating.
Fascinating? Highly intelligent, in some ways.
Amoral.
Without conscience or scruple.
I wanted to know what made him tick.
GOIDELL: Repulsive? JOYCE: Oh, certainly.
And did you think that you could help him? I wanted to try.
Did you have any success? I think, through our work together, he may have gained some insight into the sources of his behavior, which is the first step to controlling it.
And was he able to do that? I don't know.
Were you concerned about that? I was.
In fact you called Emily's school pretending to be her aunt.
They told me she had a broken wrist, she'd fallen off her bike.
Were you concerned? Of course, but I didn't have any proof Jacob was to blame.
And if you did? I would have reported it to the authorities.
But you knew that he was living with Sheryl and her children.
Yes.
I tried to reach his parole officer several times.
Did you take your car and run him down? No, I didn't.
So how do you explain his DNA on the bumper of your car? I can't.
I don't know how it got there.
I keep my car in a garage.
Any number of people have access to the key.
Objection.
Foundation.
Sustained.
GOIDELL: No more questions, Your Honor.
We all saw the tape.
And during that session, didn't he as much as tell you he was going to harm those children? I thought he was being provocative.
Provocative? It's not uncommon for patients to want to end the therapeutic relationship with a fight.
As a way to get over their separation anxiety.
But you called the school anyway to check on Emily.
Checking with the school seemed unobtrusive and wise.
Why didn't you call her mother? I didn't think she'd tell me the truth.
When you were told that Emily had a wrist fracture, did you call her mother then? To tell her that you thought Lowenstein might be to blame? I didn't want to jump in too soon.
When would it have been a good time to intervene? When she was in a coma? Objection.
The truth is, you weren't really concerned about that little girl.
I was planning to check on her every week.
If Emily had other injuries, then I'd contact her mother.
Tell her to make Lowenstein move out, or I'd report her to Social Services.
I was trying to reach a parole officer.
You could have gone the police, had them look into it.
Lowenstein was in violation of his parole.
He would have been removed from that household.
I was debating when to do that.
You were waiting for the right moment to kill him.
Objection.
JUDGE: Sustained.
Didn't you stalk Jacob Lowenstein, follow him from his halfway house? Stake out his fiancée's house? No.
Follow him when he brought Emily to school? I didn't do that.
I didn't even know where they lived.
You knew which school Emily attended.
All you had to do was follow her home.
She'd lead you directly to Lowenstein.
Isn't that the simple truth? I didn't do that.
I didn't.
You never intended to call the police, did you? There are several things to remember about this case.
Lots of people hated Jacob Lowenstein.
And with good reason.
He was a danger.
To the community, to our children.
Other people had access to Joyce Draper's car.
There's reasonable doubt here, ladies and gentlemen.
And that reasonable doubt is only strengthened when you consider who Joyce Draper is.
A professional woman.
Someone who has devoted her entire life to helping other people.
There are people who belong in prison, like Jacob Lowenstein, and there are people who don't.
Joyce Draper does not belong in prison.
It's frustrating, as a prosecutor, when you're sure someone's a murderer but the only thing you can convict him of is tax evasion or assault.
It's frustrating.
But it's fundamental.
You can't punish a crime that you can't prove.
That's where the penal code meets the Declaration of Independence.
What do you do as a cop if you're sure there's a bad man on your beat but you don't have a made case against him? You don't frame him, you can't harass him, you make the case.
You definitely don't shoot him.
So, what should you do as a citizen if you're sure a monstrous predator has been released from prison because they couldn't hold him anymore under the law? Write your own law? Run him down in the street? You make sure that the state enforces its rules.
You get him for violating parole.
The day he moves in with Sheryl, you have the cops at the door.
You make sure they watch him.
And if they don't, if the system messes up, if he hurts someone, like Lowenstein could've hurt Sheryl's little girl, you sound the general alarm, you call the police and the papers.
You go on TV.
You make a scandal.
Not a plan to commit murder.
Joyce Draper is talented and brilliant.
She might be the smartest person in this room.
She's a sympathetic defendant, and Jacob Lowenstein was a repulsive victim.
It doesn't matter.
Joyce Draper murdered Jacob Lowenstein, deliberately, with malice a forethought.
And there's no reasonable doubt about that whatsoever.
She didn't even really try to explain his blood on her car because she's betting on you to let her get away with it.
Citizens, no matter what their role, if it's a doctor, or a police officer, a prosecutor, or a juror, may not take the law into their own hands.
Joyce Draper belongs in jail, long enough to make it plain that we as a society will not tolerate citizens choosing who lives and who dies.
And it's up to you to put her there.
Is this a record-breaker? No, but it is pretty fast.
Thejury didn't have much choice, after her story unraveled and you countered Goidell's wink-wink nudge-nudge to the jury.
We'll see.
All rise.
Have you reached a verdict? We have, Your Honor.
How say you? On the charge of murder in the second degree, we find the defendant not guilty.
They knew she was guilty but didn't want to hold her accountable.
Goidell gave them a door to walk through and they took it.
They don't think the system works for guys like Lowenstein any more than we do.
So what's the answer? Nobody has one.
I think that's exactly why Joyce Draper's on her way home tonight.
These are their stories.
CROSSING GUARD: Come on, let's shake a leg, there's the bell.
Good morning, sunshine, you feeling better today? Yeah.
Good.
Come on.
It's a beautiful day, let's make it a good one.
All right, young man, come on, now.
Have a good day.
How are you? I can't complain.
How's the family? Lianajust got early acceptance to Cornell.
You must be so proud.
How is your daughter? Ten years old, acting like Lil' Kim.
Mothers of daughters have more gray hairs than mothers of sons.
Tell me about it.
All you can do is pray.
(TIRES SCREECHING) (CRASHING) Oh, my word! That didn't sound good.
Oh, no.
(GIRL SCREAMING) Call 911.
Now! FONTANA: What you got? Hit and run.
ED: So Why'd you call us? I'm not sure it was an accident.
Jacob Lowenstein.
Lowenstein? The wife beater? COP: The one who killed his little kid.
I saw his coming out photo a month ago.
I thought, you know, what's this guy doing around a school? You did the right thing calling us.
Witnesses? Yeah.
A big black car, maybe an SUV, travelling at a high rate of speed, hit him as he jay walked across the street, and kept going.
That's about it.
I'll keep looking.
What about Lowenstein? Tore off his leg.
I thought he wouldn't make it to the O.
R.
Let us know what you come up with, all right? No skid marks, no indication the driver tried not to hit him.
FONTANA: Talk about your public service homicides.
ED: If he dies.
Well, it is rush hour.
Guy's out a month, someone runs him down.
Lowenstein's parole got plenty of press.
That man beat his wife until she didn't look human and then he did the same thing to his five-year-old daughter and left her to die.
And for that he winds up doing 15 years.
You know, Donald Cragen worked the original case.
We'll reach out to him.
We thought maybe we'd start with Lowenstein's PO first and then maybe his ex.
All right.
GRADY: Served the required two-thirds of his sentence.
Model prisoner.
They had to let him out.
System sucks.
You gotta give him some hope, I suppose.
That's what they say.
Without the carrot, these guys would be impossible to control.
And you know, they're not all as bad as Lowenstein.
Well, that's the point.
Someone like Lowenstein short circuits the system.
So what were the rules of his release? A curfew, 9:00 to 7:00, drug counseling random drug testing, anger management classes, a 12-step program.
Hey, it's all part of a package these days.
You gotta try somethin'.
Anything else? Well, no contact with minors, of course.
No contact with his kid.
Kid? Yeah, there was a son.
Must have been two, three, at the time.
He's living on Long Island somewhere.
Lowenstein was supposed to be staying in a halfway house? For the first six months.
ED: You got an address? They, uh They call me.
You lost track of him? What am I supposed to do, call the National Guard to find the guy? Do you know how many cases I got? Do you have a more high profile parolee than Lowenstein? Why didn't you violate him? Well, I'm going to, aren't I, as soon as I can get to the paperwork.
Something tells me that your workload is gonna get a lot lighter.
Whoa.
Take it easy, man.
Lowenstein was a coked-up, crazy creep.
He used Carla as a punching bag for years.
Bruises, broken bones.
By the time we got there, herjaw was so swollen she couldn't talk.
What about the little girl? She was black, blue and burned.
When I'm havin' a bad night, this is the one that comes back and haunts me.
His PO said he had a son? Ezra.
Two years old.
Malnourished, neglected.
Spent most of his time tied to the radiator, like a dog.
The parole officer also said that he's living on Long Island.
I'll get you a name and address.
He was doing well, last I heard.
A happy ending, considering.
Speaking of happy endings, how's Lowenstein? He's still on the critical list.
I hope he lingers a long time in excruciating pain.
Have you talked to his ex yet, Carla? ED: We're still looking for her.
Her shrink might be able to help you.
He resurrected her.
Brought her back from the dead.
Literally.
Someone like Lowenstein is a user, a predator.
He can smell weakness vulnerability, and exploit it.
Like a hyena stalking awounded animal.
Is that what happened with Carla? Did he sniff her out? Let's just say, such a woman, damaged, vulnerable, lonely, under the sway of such a man, would do anything to win and keep his approval no matter how depraved, no matter what the damage to herself or her children.
Would such a woman still be under his sway? Recovery is possible.
I've seen it myself.
Is it ever possible that the prey animal attacked the predator first before he could find her? A prey animal doesn't attack a predator unless it's cornered.
I mean, if he came to her door, maybe she might use a knife or a gun to defend herself.
But follow him, stalk him, attack him preemptively with a car? No.
I wouldn't think so.
You sound pretty passionate about this, Doctor.
Maybe we be asking you about your alibi? I'm a lifelong New Yorker, Detective.
I don't have a license, and I don't drive.
Look, Doctor, we need to talk to Carla, if only to eliminate her as a suspect.
I'll tell you what.
I'll call her.
If she's willing to talk to you.
She works in a nursery school.
We thought we'd take a ride out there, see if she's got an alibi.
Her shrink says that we can cross her off the list and move on.
I'll do it.
It had nothing to do with what happened to Jacob.
VAN BUREN: So, when he got paroled? I panicked.
I walked away from my job, my apartment.
I was afraid he would find me.
Why would he come looking for you? Because he still blames me.
Can you believe it? He never admitted what he did.
Everything that ever happened to him is someone else's fault.
Where were you that morning? I was here.
Drop-off starts at 7:30.
If I was still angry enough to want to kill him, it would mean I was still tied to him emotionally.
And I can't afford that.
Even after what he did to you and your children? You know what I want in life? Not to think about him.
Not remember him.
Not talk about him.
Not hear his name.
That's all.
I don't believe she'd ever go near that man again, not even behind the wheel of a tank.
How is Lowenstein? Still critical.
But we may be able to talk to him tomorrow.
And we did get a location on his son.
Yeah, Patchogue.
Well, this time of day, you're better off taking the tunnel.
PLAYER: Set! (WHISTLE BLOWS) Ez! Brian! Two more plays and we're done.
Come here, will you? These two gentlemen want to talk to you.
Thanks, Coach.
How you doing, Ezra? I'm Detective Green, this is my partner, Detective Fontana.
Hi, Ezra.
Do you know why we're here? I think so.
I've been reading the papers.
Is he gonna die? He might.
It don't look good.
Okay.
Have you heard from him since he's been out of prison? It's okay if you have.
He called a couple of times.
Have you seen him? Hey, Ezra.
Dad.
What's going on? New York City Police Department, sir.
What's this about? Jacob Lowenstein.
We werejust asking Ezra if he'd seen him recently.
I can answer that.
No, he hasn't.
Uh, actually, I have.
Once.
He took the train out.
I met him at the station for a few minutes.
Don't be mad.
I was curious.
I'm not mad.
ED: What'd you talk about? He denied everything.
Said it was all lies, he never hurt anyone, especially my birth mother, my sister and me.
Anything else? He asked me for money.
I told you he didn't care about you.
It was like talking to a creepy stranger.
NATE: That's exactly what he is, Ezra, a creepy stranger.
I know.
I'm sorry.
Excuse me, sir, but where were you the day that Lowenstein got hit? On the Long Island Rail Road, on my way into my office in Midtown.
Where were you that morning, Ezra? School.
You can check with my homeroom teacher.
ED: Do you have a car? Yeah.
We're gonna need to take a look at both of your cars.
Go ahead.
We have nothing to hide.
FONTANA: When do you think we'll be able to talk to him? Well, maybe tomorrow.
He's in and out of lucidity.
The morphine.
He have any visitors? Uh, his lawyer and his fiancée.
His fiancée? That's what she said.
You remember her name? She's down the hall, in the lounge.
We got engaged about a year ago, when it started to look like Jake's parole would come through.
"Jake.
" Can we talk to you out here? He gave me this ring when he got out.
He spent every dime he had in the world on it.
He loves me so much.
Sheryl.
Do you know why he was in prison? I was, like, in grammar school when that happened.
If it happened.
So, you're not worried about any of this? About what? Okay, listen, we're gonna give you a card.
If you need anything.
What would I need? How did you two meet? Oh, I read an article about him, and then I wrote him a letter.
And he wrote back.
Sol looked him up on the Corrections Department website.
They even had a map and instructions.
Must have made visiting day a snap.
Yeah, well, we just wanna put this all behind us, you know, get married, get on with our lives.
Jake's so good with my kids.
(STAMMERS) You have kids? Yeah, a boy and a girl.
They've been so happy since he moved in with us.
Wait a second.
This guy is living with you? Since he left the halfway house.
What the hell is the matter with you? If you want to screw up your own life, be our guest, it's a free country, but to bring this guy into your house with your kids? Yeah, he would never ever hurt them.
Does his parole officer know about this arrangement? Jacob said he approved it, and so did Dr.
Draper.
Said it was his first step in his return to normalcy.
Who's Dr.
Draper? Joyce Draper, the therapist he worked with in prison.
She really helped him deal with his anger.
About him being incarcerated and all.
Oh, he was angry about that, huh? Oh, yeah.
But he was getting through it.
He was doing really well, too.
And then this happened.
(SIGHS) I feel so guilty.
I mean, we lived right around the corner from where he got hit.
But why would you feel guilty? The accident? It happened right after he dropped Emily off at school.
Joyce'll be right out.
She's just finishing up with a patient.
We understand your wife does some work up at the penitentiary.
Couple of days a week.
The rest of the time, she sees her regular patients here.
She ever talk about the patients she treats? You mean like Jacob Lowenstein? FONTANA: For instance.
We have a rule in the house.
I don't talk about calculus proofs, she doesn't make pillow talk about prisoners.
You said it wasn't your choice? If I had my druthers, she'd do something else.
JOYCE: Ron? In here, honey.
My wife, Joyce Draper.
Hi.
Detective G reen, Detective Fontana.
Hi.
Well, I'll leave you to it.
I imagine you're here about Jacob Lowenstein.
Yes.
Dr.
Draper, what can you tell us about him? I'm not a doctor, I'm a social worker.
Sorry.
Lowenstein was one of a number of inmates who volunteered to have intensive therapy.
An experimental program.
Individual and group.
Did he want to change his life? Did he want to straighten himself out? What? Because it'd look good on his parole application.
I'm not a babe in the woods.
I don't kid myself about their motives.
But that doesn't mean it didn't do him some good, anyway.
Well, did it do him any good? I think it did, yes.
Definitely.
FONTANA: After he got out, did you have any further contact with him? My contact with an inmate ends when he's released.
And then what happens? He goes cold turkey? He receives counseling as a part of his parole.
Just not from me.
He didn't call, try to get in touch with you? He did call once, from the halfway house.
Told me how hard it was to be out, all eyes on him all the time.
FONTANA: He didn't want to see you? I wasn't about to violate the rules.
And that was it? You never heard from him again? I didn't give him what he wanted, so he gave up.
Uh, did you know about his fiancée, Sheryl? Yes.
Met her once, after a therapy session.
Yeah.
She's got children, two little kids.
He's living with them.
He's supposed to be at the halfway house.
His parole officer lost track of him.
That's not a good situation.
Well, if he lives, he's going back to jail for violating his parole.
We talked to Carla's psychiatrist, Dr.
Clayburg.
Yes, he's well-respected.
Yeah.
He says that guys like Lowenstein were incurable.
There is that school of thought.
Do you subscribe to that school of thought? If I did, I couldn't continue to do the work that I do.
The son, Ezra? His car is clean.
(CELL PHONE RINGING) What about his father's SUV? That's clean, too.
Hello? His alibi is solid.
He was in his office.
He had meetings the whole morning.
Okay, okay, thanks.
It was the hospital.
Lowenstein? Mmm-hmm.
He wants to talk to us.
It wasn't an accident? Somebody did this deliberately? What the hell? Why would somebody wanna hurt me? FONTANA: You're kidding, right? ED: Witnesses say they heard a car accelerating before and after it hit you.
All those years in that godforsaken place.
I paid my dues.
Some people would say you haven't even begun.
Forget about everything you think you know.
I loved those kids, every minute I was with them.
Yeah,youloved those kids to death, didn't you? That was all the media's fault.
The whole thing from start to finish, blown out of proportion.
You think they were hard on you? They took her side all the way.
Carla's.
And then when they let me out, they completely made me a target, with the cameras and the news coverage.
Look what it got me.
What do you remember about that morning? I dropped Emily off at school.
And then I was walking to the corner to get a paper.
Next thing I know, I wake up here, and I'm missing my leg.
My leg, for God's sake.
Did you see the car that hit you, sir? I don't remember anything after I dropped her off.
You ain't giving us that much to work with.
I'm giving you what I got.
So, you find the scumbag who ran me over? We're looking.
Not looking too hard, are you? I can't believe I was safer inside.
FONTANA: How did you manage that? To stay safe on the inside? Guys like you, child killers, molesters I never killed anybody.
They get taken apart in the joint.
I got a law degree, and I did legal work for the other inmates.
Managed to get himself a correspondence school J.
D.
inside.
ED: Kept him in one piece.
Kept him busy, too.
He had 'em lining up around the cell block.
Writs, appeals for new trials, for parole hearings.
Well, he couldn't have won any.
Of course not, they're all guilty.
It doesn't stop them from trying.
Well, was there anyone in particular who was bent out of shape over losing an appeal? This one inmate, Lowenstein tried a couple of times to get him a hearing for a new trial.
He didn't take it at all well when he got turned down.
Blamed it on his lawyer.
Don't they all? Can we talk to him? He got released, couple of months ago.
I watched his back, he was supposed to get me out.
But he screwed up your appeal.
Twice.
Till I got me a real lawyer.
The Cockroach didn't have a clue what he was doing.
"Cockroach"? That was his nickname inside the joint 'cause he gave everybody the creeps.
Made your skin crawl.
Okay.
You got an alibi for the morning he got hit by that car? You're lookin' at it.
Anyone else on the inside have a beef with Lowenstein? Yeah, take your pick.
Nobody liked him.
He was a whiner, a teacher's pet.
The therapist? Her experimental cognitive whatever.
You're talking about Draper? Lowenstein was her pet project.
ED: You were in her group, too? Yeah.
Wanna know the best part about therapy? Her ass.
Thanks.
Joyce Draper drives a 2002 Ford Explorer SUV.
Fits what the crime lab said.
What if Lowenstein was her pet project, and what if, for some reason, she decided that this was never gonna work, he was never gonna change.
Like Dr.
Clayburg said.
Right.
Remember what he said? He said that a woman like Carla would not have the moxie to kill Lowenstein preemptively.
But Joyce Draper would.
Brother would she? With plenty of moxie left over.
We need to look into her car.
Hello? Hospital? Lowenstein just took a turn for the worse.
Well, I hope he doesn't settle out before we get a chance to talk to him about his favorite shrink.
Okay, we'll be right there.
Thanks.
Pulmonary embolism.
I guarantee you, she's the only person in this world that will ever shed a tear over this guy.
We took a look at Joyce Draper's car.
Without a warrant? She offered it up.
Just had it washed and detailed, didn't expect us to find anything.
Did you? Yeah.
A hairline crack in the front grille and trace DNA on the bumper.
Can we match it? It's a little bit degraded, but the M.
E.
says it's definitely Lowenstein's.
What about her alibi? Home alone, no way to verify.
What about a motive? Not so far.
But we found out she quit herjob at the penitentiary a week after he got paroled.
That's interesting.
So she bluffed on the car.
Well, let's ask her to come in and talk to us voluntarily.
She can hardly say no to that now.
I took a mental health morning, stayed home catching up on back issues of The New Yorker.
You make any calls, have any visitors? No, sorry.
Nobody to vouch for me but myself.
Where was your husband? He had an early lecture to give.
The police examined your car.
I told them they could.
And found a crack in the front grille.
I rear-ended somebody ages ago.
It didn't seem worth getting fixed just to jack up my insurance.
Mmm-hmm.
Crack in the front grille and Jacob Lowenstein's DNA.
Jacob Lowenstein's DNA? That's not possible.
Maybe you thought you'd washed it away? I really don't know how it could have gotten there.
Are you sure? Look, Joyce, we know why you did it.
You knew he shouldn't be out on the street.
You probably did the city a real service.
Hell, I wish I could throw you a parade.
But you also knew he was in violation of his parole.
If you'd picked up the phone and called, he would have been sent back to prison.
Now, I know the D.
A.
would consider a lesser charge.
Vehicular manslaughter, maybe.
A couple of years in a minimum security facility, and you're paroled.
You can go on with your life.
Pick up where you left off.
We can work with you, Joyce.
You hear what I'm saying? All you have to do is tell us what happened.
I didn't do it.
The DNA cannot be explained away.
Please, don't take your chances at trial.
This here is your best shot.
Come on.
Tell me what happened.
I can't continue this conversation.
Not without a lawyer.
She was on the brink.
Just couldn't bring herself to give it up.
If she did, it'd be the end of her career.
Well, maybe that's what we should be looking at.
Her career? Well, her work at the prison with Lowenstein.
He had to volunteer for her treatment program.
Maybe those sessions were taped.
If they were, we might get a better idea of what was going on between the two of them.
So do social workers have privilege, like shrinks? Well, it might not matter.
If he was a prisoner in an experimental program, he probably had to sign a waiver.
I was Joyce's supervisor on the study.
I understand that she resigned suddenly.
The recidivism of certain kinds of offenders, sex offenders, sociopaths, it's inevitable.
It's death and taxes.
And so is the eventual burn-out of the people who try to help them.
That's what happened, she burned out? I've been Joyce's mentor since graduate school.
Her work is her life.
Her marriage, personal life, everything else takes a back seat.
It's a shame.
She had eight years in on this study, less than two to go.
What specifically made her quit? She hit a wall.
With Lowenstein? The study has a built-in component, so each researcher gets their own therapist.
I was Joyce's.
It's a firewall of sorts.
So, their personal feelings about the inmates don't start to color the research.
How often did you see her? It was supposed to be once a week.
But toward the end, Joyce upped it to three times a week.
Do you know why? Lowenstein was about to be released.
Her stress level was through the roof.
She was concerned about what he'd do? Take a look at the tape and judge for yourself.
Oh, don't worry, I've always been a good daddy.
He practically dared Draper to stop him.
She must have tracked him from the halfway house to Sheryl's.
If she was keeping tabs on the kids, maybe she called the school.
This lady called the office, said she was Emily's aunt.
Wanted to know how she was feeling.
What did you tell her? At first I didn't tell her anything.
The nurse's office is not supposed to.
But she was so nice and so persistent, and she said she was trying to reach Emily's mother.
It's okay, I don't blame you.
You're not going to get into trouble.
I told her she was a real trooper, which she is.
Writing and drawing, even with the cast on.
We checked the phone records.
Draper placed the call from her office at the penitentiary two days before she ran Lowenstein down.
When does the little girl break her wrist? A week after Lowenstein moved in with them, she fell off her bike.
Draper thought Lowenstein was to blame.
It's a fair assumption.
And a strong motive.
Have the police pick her up.
Mrs.
Draper.
Detectives? You're under arrest for the murder of Jacob Lowenstein.
Please don't handcuff me.
We'll read you your rights in the car.
Come on.
If you're gonna let 'em out, you'd better keep up with 'em.
We allowed him to go right back into the same situation, putting young children in harm's way.
It's the limitations of the system.
Too many people on parole, not enough parole officers.
Well, what's the alternative? Keeping guys like Lowenstein imprisoned indefinitely? I wish.
Look, I understand that everything is a trade-off.
I mean, obviously, the D.
A.
didn't have a slam-dunk murder case.
Getting Lowenstein to plead to manslaughter was the best that they could do.
That's what keeps D.
A.
's up at night.
You go for the max, you could lose.
If you don't, the monster gets back on the street.
They played the cards they were dealt, just as we do.
And what Draper did was clearly wrong, any way you look at it.
We can't countenance vigilantism.
But realistically Realistically? I know and you know, and Joyce Draper knows better than any of us, that the Lowensteins of the world don't change.
But the law doesn't know.
Maybe the Chinese have the best idea.
Summary execution.
A bullet to the brain.
And the family pays for the bullet.
You're not serious? No.
Therapists who do this sort of work long enough, end up in the same dark place.
JACK: Which is? They come to realize they themselves have been suffering from narcissistic wishful thinking.
Did Joyce Draper think that she could cure Jacob Lowenstein? Objection.
Dr.
Peters can't testify to what Joyce Draper thought Sustained.
You were her supervisor and therapist? Yes.
For how long? Eight years, six months.
Until she resigned.
Yes.
Was her work at the prison complete? No, no.
The study still had 18 months to run.
Would you describe Joyce Draper as dependable, conscientious? More than that.
She was driven.
She was thoroughly committed to her work.
JACK: Did she offer an explanation about her sudden decision to resign? In the beginning she'd thought she was making some progress with Lowenstein, then she came to realize he'd been conning her.
Using her.
Those were her words.
How close in time was her resignation to Lowenstein's release? Within aweek of his parole.
And that was the source of her frustration? In large part.
Certainly there were other factors.
Such as? I'd say that the stresses of her work life had a ripple effect on other areas of her life as well.
JACK: At home? PETERS: This sort of work is bound to cause strains in a marriage.
Can you say more about the stress she was under at work? You might say she had a crisis of faith.
You see, it's not so much the particular technique here that makes the difference, it's the therapeutic relationship.
Between Joyce Draper and Jacob Lowenstein? This kind of offender tests the basic principle that everyone is redeemable.
Therapists have to work through their own repulsion.
Was Joyce Draper repulsed by Jacob Lowenstein? PETERS: Certainly.
And Joyce held herself to some very high standards.
She couldn't stand to fail.
JACK: And she failed with Jacob Lowenstein? PETERS: Absolutely.
Anyone would.
He was beyond the pale.
Did you know that from the beginning of the study? Oh, yes.
But you let her go ahead with it anyway? I thought she'd be a better therapist for it in the long run.
Why? Joyce is very talented, maybe too talented.
She thought she could get through to anyone.
GOIDELL: And this experience would humble her? In away she needed to encounter someone like Lowenstein.
We learn so much more from our failures than from our successes.
And you set her up to fail.
I think his testimony may have cut both ways.
It helped paint the portrait, a woman under stress who snapped when she saw Lowenstein drop that little girl off at school with her arm in a cast.
Someone the jury may very well empathize with.
It's a strong circumstantial case.
They're still gonna latch on to why a woman like Draper, a professional woman, did something so drastic, so out of character.
It gives the jury cover.
She couldn't have done it, despite all the evidence to the contrary.
So what about the videotape from their last session? Talk about a two-edged sword.
It gives you such a visceral sense of how dangerous Lowenstein was.
It also shows her motive.
You saw her reaction.
What he was saying to her stopped her cold.
If the defense is going forjury nullification The imminent threat to the little girl, a sudden, impulsive act.
The tape supports premeditation.
She started thinking about killing him then, not when she saw him on the street with Emily.
That was just what made her pull the trigger.
She'd already loaded the gun.
It's a huge gamble.
It's your choice.
JACOB: (ON TV) I can't wait to really get back to society.
Done with the halfway house, with some guy telling me what I can and cannot do.
JOYCE: You still have almost seven years of parole to comply with.
Oh, sure, I'll show up for the obligatory urine tests, and tell my PO exactly where I am at all times.
Hey, Dr.
Draper, don't worry about it.
You know me, right? I always follow the rules.
JOYCE: Good.
JACOB: I'm not coming back here.
No, sir, no way.
You know what I'm really looking forward to? No, Jacob, what? Spending time with Sheryl.
That's natural.
I'm thinking of moving in with her.
After you're done with the halfway house? Oh, sure, of course, absolutely.
After that.
Don't you think it'd be good for you to have your own place for a while? Nah, I never liked living alone.
I always I felt! needed a family, you know? A little girl.
Like my Didi.
You think that's wise? Besides the terms of your parole, clearly I know, I know.
No unsupervised contact with minors.
Sheryl will supervise.
Sheryl has children? I didn't realize that.
Oh, yeah, she has Emily, a cute little first grader.
This is Emily.
Isn't she cute? Oh, what a face.
And this is her little brother, Spence.
(CHUCKLING) Oh, don't worry, I've always been a good daddy.
(LAUGHING) You're still here.
I'm writing my closing statement.
You're going to take it all the way to the jury.
No reason not to.
That tape was pretty damning.
That's your call, but a part of me wouldn't mind seeing this whole thing go away.
Me, too.
You know, this office has cut a deal with the likes of Jacob Lowenstein.
We could do the same thing with Joyce Draper.
I'd be happy to if she'd allocute to what she did.
She won't? I spoke to her lawyer, dangled the possibility.
She won't accept any sort of guilty plea.
I guess she's determined to see this thing through, too.
Apparently so.
He's putting her on the stand.
(LAUGHS) Tread lightly.
You know, this case reminds me of something a wise old country lawyer once said.
He said, "You know, the first question that you ask in any murder case, "'Did the deceased deserve to die?"' JOYCE: I left abruptly, but burnout isn't exactly rare in my line of work.
GOIDELL: Did your resignation have anything to do with Jacob Lowenstein's release? No.
Lowenstein's release wasn't the reason you resigned? No, it wasn't.
Did you hate Jacob Lowenstein? No.
Can you describe your feelings for him? I found him fascinating.
Fascinating? Highly intelligent, in some ways.
Amoral.
Without conscience or scruple.
I wanted to know what made him tick.
GOIDELL: Repulsive? JOYCE: Oh, certainly.
And did you think that you could help him? I wanted to try.
Did you have any success? I think, through our work together, he may have gained some insight into the sources of his behavior, which is the first step to controlling it.
And was he able to do that? I don't know.
Were you concerned about that? I was.
In fact you called Emily's school pretending to be her aunt.
They told me she had a broken wrist, she'd fallen off her bike.
Were you concerned? Of course, but I didn't have any proof Jacob was to blame.
And if you did? I would have reported it to the authorities.
But you knew that he was living with Sheryl and her children.
Yes.
I tried to reach his parole officer several times.
Did you take your car and run him down? No, I didn't.
So how do you explain his DNA on the bumper of your car? I can't.
I don't know how it got there.
I keep my car in a garage.
Any number of people have access to the key.
Objection.
Foundation.
Sustained.
GOIDELL: No more questions, Your Honor.
We all saw the tape.
And during that session, didn't he as much as tell you he was going to harm those children? I thought he was being provocative.
Provocative? It's not uncommon for patients to want to end the therapeutic relationship with a fight.
As a way to get over their separation anxiety.
But you called the school anyway to check on Emily.
Checking with the school seemed unobtrusive and wise.
Why didn't you call her mother? I didn't think she'd tell me the truth.
When you were told that Emily had a wrist fracture, did you call her mother then? To tell her that you thought Lowenstein might be to blame? I didn't want to jump in too soon.
When would it have been a good time to intervene? When she was in a coma? Objection.
The truth is, you weren't really concerned about that little girl.
I was planning to check on her every week.
If Emily had other injuries, then I'd contact her mother.
Tell her to make Lowenstein move out, or I'd report her to Social Services.
I was trying to reach a parole officer.
You could have gone the police, had them look into it.
Lowenstein was in violation of his parole.
He would have been removed from that household.
I was debating when to do that.
You were waiting for the right moment to kill him.
Objection.
JUDGE: Sustained.
Didn't you stalk Jacob Lowenstein, follow him from his halfway house? Stake out his fiancée's house? No.
Follow him when he brought Emily to school? I didn't do that.
I didn't even know where they lived.
You knew which school Emily attended.
All you had to do was follow her home.
She'd lead you directly to Lowenstein.
Isn't that the simple truth? I didn't do that.
I didn't.
You never intended to call the police, did you? There are several things to remember about this case.
Lots of people hated Jacob Lowenstein.
And with good reason.
He was a danger.
To the community, to our children.
Other people had access to Joyce Draper's car.
There's reasonable doubt here, ladies and gentlemen.
And that reasonable doubt is only strengthened when you consider who Joyce Draper is.
A professional woman.
Someone who has devoted her entire life to helping other people.
There are people who belong in prison, like Jacob Lowenstein, and there are people who don't.
Joyce Draper does not belong in prison.
It's frustrating, as a prosecutor, when you're sure someone's a murderer but the only thing you can convict him of is tax evasion or assault.
It's frustrating.
But it's fundamental.
You can't punish a crime that you can't prove.
That's where the penal code meets the Declaration of Independence.
What do you do as a cop if you're sure there's a bad man on your beat but you don't have a made case against him? You don't frame him, you can't harass him, you make the case.
You definitely don't shoot him.
So, what should you do as a citizen if you're sure a monstrous predator has been released from prison because they couldn't hold him anymore under the law? Write your own law? Run him down in the street? You make sure that the state enforces its rules.
You get him for violating parole.
The day he moves in with Sheryl, you have the cops at the door.
You make sure they watch him.
And if they don't, if the system messes up, if he hurts someone, like Lowenstein could've hurt Sheryl's little girl, you sound the general alarm, you call the police and the papers.
You go on TV.
You make a scandal.
Not a plan to commit murder.
Joyce Draper is talented and brilliant.
She might be the smartest person in this room.
She's a sympathetic defendant, and Jacob Lowenstein was a repulsive victim.
It doesn't matter.
Joyce Draper murdered Jacob Lowenstein, deliberately, with malice a forethought.
And there's no reasonable doubt about that whatsoever.
She didn't even really try to explain his blood on her car because she's betting on you to let her get away with it.
Citizens, no matter what their role, if it's a doctor, or a police officer, a prosecutor, or a juror, may not take the law into their own hands.
Joyce Draper belongs in jail, long enough to make it plain that we as a society will not tolerate citizens choosing who lives and who dies.
And it's up to you to put her there.
Is this a record-breaker? No, but it is pretty fast.
Thejury didn't have much choice, after her story unraveled and you countered Goidell's wink-wink nudge-nudge to the jury.
We'll see.
All rise.
Have you reached a verdict? We have, Your Honor.
How say you? On the charge of murder in the second degree, we find the defendant not guilty.
They knew she was guilty but didn't want to hold her accountable.
Goidell gave them a door to walk through and they took it.
They don't think the system works for guys like Lowenstein any more than we do.
So what's the answer? Nobody has one.
I think that's exactly why Joyce Draper's on her way home tonight.