Law & Order (1990) s18e16 Episode Script

Strike

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.
(PEOPLE YELLING) I'll call you after my shift.
I might have to go to a strategy meeting.
You sound like you enjoy all this.
Just trying to make the best of it.
Hey, I'll see you later, okay, kiddo? All right, ladies.
Let's make some noise.
Come on! One day longer, one day stronger! One day longer, one day stronger! Hey, you're crossing a picket line.
You know what that makes you? Huh? (CROWD CHANTING) One day longer, one day stronger! One day longer, one day stronger! Two weeks ago, I loved his enthusiasm.
Today, I want to shoot him.
If you need a lawyer, don't call me.
I'm on strike.
(CAR HORN HONKING) They call this the Teamster Crawl.
Frank, we talked about blocking traffic.
Well, you think we're going to get a fair contract singing Kumbaya? You're right.
Listen, administrators started using the delivery gate in back.
We need somebody to go over there to hold down the fort.
Now you're talking.
Picketer versus car.
Guess who won? His union brothers say it's Frank Dresner.
He's a paralegal.
Anybody see it happen? Nah.
He was working this gate alone.
It's City Legal Aid on strike.
We're lawyers, not coal miners, it's not supposed to be like this.
Was there anyone that gave you guys grief? There was this guy in a black Beemer, flipped us off every time he drove by.
Frank got into it with him a couple times.
I have his picture on my phone.
Find me that picture.
Don't leave.
What do you have? Skid marks here.
Hey, what's up with that security camera right there? Oh, those Legal Aid bozos probably screwed with it.
Bunch of jerks.
LUPO: This is why I don't like strikes.
Safer to stay on the job.
BERNARD: Here we go.
Ooh! Looks like someone skipped their anger management class.
What's he doing? Great.
Nice to have the victim pooch the investigation of his own murder.
I'm a process server.
I'm on the clock non-stop.
And these lazy bums Anyway, I just bumped him.
I had no intent to hit him.
Why.
he Saying I did? He's not saying much of anything.
I told you, I barely tapped him.
Yup? This is what he looked like 10 minutes after you tapped him.
I didn't do that! Hey! This front tire's brand new.
What happened to the old one? I drove over some nails yesterday, going into the courthouse.
The tire's in the trunk.
I'll show you.
Okay, I make out three in the tread and one in the sidewall.
The guards told me some of the picketers put down a bunch of nails yesterday.
See? You believe that crap? We still have to impound your car, Mr.
Matthews.
But how am I going to do my job? Get a bike, and don't hit anybody.
If Mr.
Dresner had been hit by a Beemer, he would've gone over the hood and through the windshield.
He ran into something bigger.
Judging from the height of the bruises on his thighs, it was probably an SUV or pick-up.
What is this crud in his wounds? Automotive grease and sand.
Sand? What kind of sand? Sand sand.
I'll find out.
I learned in the Middle East there are more than Mmm.
(CELL PHONE RINGING) Dresner's wife is here.
(SNIFFLING) He was so into this strike, organizing, calling people on the phone.
Yeah, everybody said he was fired up.
Well, Frank didn't want to go on strike but the City wants to cut healthcare, and the cost of living adjustment? It's just not right.
You'll get no argument here.
Did you talk to him this morning while he was picketing? Yeah, he called me.
He said he was having a good day.
He even sent me a picture he took of himself.
Can we see? Frank worked hard to become a paralegal.
It was a big step up for him.
Here.
LUPO: "I'm a one-man picket line, baby!" Turns out these skid marks are yaw marks, left when the vehicle swerved after impact.
Well, I don't see any other marks.
It doesn't look like the driver braked at all.
You print out that picture of Dresner? Yeah, what's up? The sand in his wounds? It's cleaned hard-quartz angular sand.
Golf course.
Right, the lab says it's the kind of sand they use for golf courses.
Angular sand, so it grips the ball when it lands in the trap.
Bunker, it's called a bunker.
So the vehicle that hit Dresner may have spent some time on a golf course.
Like a groundskeeper's truck? Yeah, something like that.
Sticking out of the back.
Those could be shovels, rakes, gardening tools.
BERNARD: Can't make out the license plate.
Check the security cameras in the area.
Okay.
LUPO: Picketing's pretty rough on these lawyers.
They're spending most of their time snacking and taking pictures of each other.
(SCOFFS) I'm getting you don't like unions much.
What's not to like? You got union dues, strikes, corrupt union bosses.
The alternative's a lot worse.
I don't know about that.
Let's take this crumb for instance, right? Let's say that's you.
And this soda can? That's management.
Say you got a beef.
What happens? But if you put all us crumbs together, we got something.
(CHUCKLES) Union didn't do squat for my partner when he got jammed up.
Ex-partner.
Right there.
Yeah, I see it.
(TYPING) Suffolk County Parks Golf.
Hmm, could be one of mine.
Huh, they all look alike.
Are all your trucks here? A couple are out in the field, some are at the county garage for maintenance.
So what kind of accident was this guy involved in? He hit a parked car, so he's going to have some front end damage on his truck.
I didn't see any damage on any of my trucks.
Any of your groundskeepers take the trucks home at night? It depends, if they have to pick up supplies in the morning on the way in.
Mind if we look around? Free country.
Thanks.
Just so you know that in golf they're called greensmen, not groundskeepers.
All right.
Thank you, Tiger Woods.
Be right back.
(EXCLAIMS) Sure is hot out here today, huh, fellows? How you fellows doing? My, my, my, look at these antiques.
May I? You guys ever play a round, after hours? We sneak one in every now and then.
I bet you're real good, huh? Come on.
Don't be modest, man.
What's your handicap? My swing? (LAUGHING) I guess I should have saw that one coming.
Hey, thanks, guys.
Let's get back to the house.
I got something I wanna show you.
Ted Sanderson, he did nine years for killing his wife, until DNA evidence cleared him last year.
The D.
A.
said he bashed her head in.
He said he came home and found her that way.
Turns out, DNA under her fingernails didn't match his.
Sanderson was tried in the same courthouse where Dresner was killed.
Did Dresner have anything to do with the trial? LUPO: No.
But Sanderson does drive a white Suffolk County truck.
Hmm.
Okay, take a closer look at him.
But But go easy.
I don't want this looking like harassment over his exoneration.
Mr.
Sanderson.
Yeah? It's okay, we just wanna take a look at your truck.
Why mine? Well, we're looking at all the trucks, Mr.
Sanderson.
Should I stay here or do you want me to step back? No, there's fine.
We know all about the bad break.
What happened? Looks like somebody tried to hammer out a dent.
I don't know.
It was like that when they gave me the truck.
And the undercarriage.
It's been steam-cleaned.
The boss likes us to keep them clean.
This is the best job I've had since I got out.
I don't wanna screw this up.
I hear that.
Day before yesterday, where were you around Heading to work.
They said you showed up at 9:45.
I got a late start.
You weren't downtown in the city, were you, around the courthouse? No.
I never wanna go near that place again.
You have a nail in your tire.
It didn't puncture, it's just stuck in the tread.
See, the thing about this nail is it's the exact kind of nail that the picketers tossed on the street around the courthouse.
Well, what do you have to say to that, Mr.
Sanderson? Yeah,okay.
You mean Tuesday, right? Mmm.
I took a wrong turn off the Gowanus and ended up on the bridge into the city.
I got mixed up.
Let's do this.
We have a nice, big map back at the precinct.
Why don't we all go take a look at it? Yeah, I'll call atow truck for its pick-up.
Hey, it's Bernard.
We need a tow.
Suffolk County truck.
Maybe they didn't cover this in IAB, but you should have left that nail in the tire where you found it.
Who said I found it there? This is from the Beemer.
And it makes one handy lie detector.
Coming off the Brooklyn Bridge, that first left would've put you on to Park Row, not Centre Street.
See? I was just trying to get on the bridge.
(sums) Can I go home now? You don't wanna help us anymore? I didn't say that.
I just I don't like being in here.
People usually don't.
I spent nine years of my life in a room like this for something I didn't do.
BERNARD: Matter of opinion.
I didn't kill my wife.
The DNA proved it.
I loved my wife.
Wasn't your wife having an affair? Julie ended it.
We were reconciling.
You lost nine years of your life for awrongful conviction.
If it were me, I'd look for payback.
Isn't that why you went to the courthouse? I didn't mean to go there.
That's right, you got lost, driving around with your rakes and your shovels, and the .
38 we found in your toolbox.
That's just for protection.
I had to watch my back every day I was in prison.
That's why I need that.
Yeah, but you know what I think? I think you went to that courthouse to shoot the place up.
No! I do, and I think Dresner recognized your face from the TV or the newspapers, or he recognized that look in your eye and he tried to stop you and you ran him over.
You didn't mean to, but you did.
No! I didn't kill anybody.
I was innocent and you guys put me in jail and now you're trying to do it again! I'm not talking to you anymore! Just leave me alone! Hmm.
Looks like Dresner prevented a bloodbath at the courthouse.
Well, let's not hand out any medals just yet.
Book Sanderson on the gun charge, and get a search warrant for his house.
And talk to the people who tried him 10 years ago.
See if they've received any threats.
BERNARD: Nine years ago, Judge, you gave him the maximum sentence.
Yes.
And now the Governor is considering a full pardon on my recommendation.
Maybe Sanderson was angry at somebody else, the prosecutor or the lab that messed up the original DNA test? The prosecutor passed away three years ago, and for the record, the scientific evidence admitted in my court was the best available given the technology at the time.
So, maybe, they did get it right the first time.
The new test conclusively found a genetic marker for cystic fibrosis in the sample under Mrs.
Sanderson's fingernails.
Neither Mr.
Sanderson nor his late wife had the disease.
Where's Mr.
Sanderson now? He's awaiting arraignment.
We found a pistol in his toolbox.
With Legal Aid on strike, arraignments are running days behind schedule.
That doesn't seem fair to Mr.
Sanderson.
After nine years, he can probably handle a few more days in Central Booking.
Detective, I don't like your attitude.
It leads me to believe there's harassment going on here.
I'm recommending that Mr.
Sanderson is released ROR immediately.
No weapons, no extra ammo, no screeds avenging the injustices he suffered.
Doesn't look he was planning to go Columbine in the courthouse.
All right.
Thanks, Cormack.
Sanderson's not out for revenge because he knows his conviction was righteous.
You got a real special place in your heart for this guy.
You know, Bernard, sometimes, the system doesn't work.
Right.
Sometimes people get away with murder.
Can I go in? Yeah, sure.
We're done.
Maybe his target was outside the courthouse, after all.
LILA: I never heard Frank talk about him.
And Frank liked to brag.
If he knew somebody in the news, like this Sanderson guy, he'd have said so.
Okay if we check Frank's address book? Help yourself.
It's in that pile.
Out with the old, huh? I'm not one to mope.
Was everything okay between you and Frank? He liked things done his way.
Frank have asthma? No.
The doctors weren't sure what he had.
But he had problems with his breathing? It was too bad.
He used to swim and scuba dive a lot.
He had to cut back.
BERNARD: He have any other problems? His digestion.
All started about a year ago.
He was supposed to get more tests done next month.
Pulmonary and intestinal problems often indicate cystic fibrosis.
Dresner could've had a form of the disease that doesn't manifest until adulthood.
At the Sanderson's trial, there was evidence that Julie Sanderson was a regular at their pool at the local Y.
Guess who else was a member there? Frank Dresner.
Mmm-hmm.
Sanderson said his wife had an affair.
Maybe it was with Dresner.
We need to compare Dresner's DNA to the DNA under Mrs.
Sanderson's fingernails.
I'll get the tissue samples ready.
Positive match.
It's Dresner's DNA.
Sanderson's wife must've scratched him when she was struggling with him.
If Sanderson thought Dresner killed his wife, why didn't he just call the police? Why kill him? Unless he only suspected Dresner of having been his wife's lover.
Either way, we now have motive.
I'll prepare the arrest warrant.
I better tell the Governor to hold off.
Wouldn't look right to arrest a man hejust pardoned.
SANDERSON: I can't believe this.
It's happening all over again.
I can't believe it.
Believe it, my brother.
But I'm innocent.
I'm innocent! I'm innocent! They heard you the first time, Ted.
“Docket 33850, People v.
Sanderson, Murder 'm the Second Degree.
“ Mr.
Sanderson, do you have a lawyer? No sir, Legal Aid handled my appeal, and I can't afford a regular lawyer.
Sorry, Judge.
I'll send him back in the pens.
The Court Officers are telling me they're stacked up 10 deep back there.
This has gotta stop.
Ms.
Rubirosa, since Legal Aid is still on strike, would you be so kind as to step across the aisle? You want me to represent Mr.
Sanderson? For his arraignment, if you would.
Judge, I'm not sure that's permissible.
If Mr.
Sanderson doesn't object.
Mr.
Sanderson, it's this or I have to send you back to the holding cells.
I don't wanna go back.
You have yourself a client, Counselor.
Let's get a plea.
(WHISPERING) Not guilty, Your Honor.
People on bail? Defendant has weak community ties.
Your Honor, 10 years ago, Mr.
Sanderson appeared every day at a trial for a crime he was later exonerated of.
If he didn't run then, he's not gonna run now.
Good.
Bail set at 100,000.
I want you to know from the start, I didn't do it.
It's just like 10 years ago.
It looked bad, but Mr.
Sanderson, I'm not your lawyer.
I only stood up for you to get you processed, that's all.
But I thought An attorney will be assigned to you.
Just hang tight.
JACK: A hundred thousand for Murder Two? I'm impressed.
The judge was in a hurry.
Sore loser.
Count yourself lucky she didn't file a motion to dismiss.
I'm not that cocky.
Actually, our case against Sanderson's in pretty good shape.
Yep.
Motive, damage to his truck, and a security tape of his truck at the scene.
I thought you said you couldn't identify his truck from the tape.
CONNIE: Well, we have his own admission that he was at the courthouse that morning.
Sanderson filed some sort of motion.
It involves you.
You're my lawyer, Ms.
Rubirosa.
No, I'm not.
Address yourselves to me.
Your Honor, there's a case, People v.
Richardson.
Yes.
Richardson says that a defense attorney can't resign without the client's consent.
But that doesn't apply here because Ms.
Rubirosa isn't his attorney.
She was.
So, legally, she still is, unless I fire her.
Right, Judge? Your Honor, I was appointed as Mr.
Sanderson's counsel only for the purposes of his arraignment, to satisfy due process.
Well, I'm thinking of due process, now.
Thanks to the strike, the Appellate Division calculates a six-week wait time for assigned counsel.
Your Honor, Ms.
Rubirosa has been the riding A.
D.
A.
on this case since its inception.
Assigning her to the defense now gives the defendant an unfair advantage.
Why? ls Ms.
Rubirosa privy to information that she otherwise wouldn't have access to as a defense attorney? Your Honor, as a matter of fact, we do have Your Honor, in truth, no.
Everything I know about this case would be discoverable to any defense attorney.
Fine.
Mr.
Sanderson, your motion is granted.
Ms.
Rubirosa will remain as your attorney.
(GAVEL POUNDS) Thanks, I just I don't want you perjuring yourself on my account.
I hope you won't live to regret this, Mr.
Sanderson.
I know you think I killed Dresner.
When I was on trial for Julie's murder, my lawyer didn't believe me either.
But he was wrong, everybody was, and they're all wrong now.
You don't have to convince me of anything, Mr.
Sanderson.
Just don't lie to me.
Okay.
But please call me Ted.
I need some information from you.
What do you know about Frank Dresner? Lying includes withholding information.
(sums) I know he had an affair with Julie.
How long had you known? Julie never told me who she had her affair with.
It ate at me the whole time I was in prison.
Then when I got out, I found some of her old papers.
I figured out it was Dresner.
What else did you find out about him? Where he lived, his job.
He had a family.
Did you know he had cystic fibrosis? No.
The skin under your wife's fingernails? The police matched it to Dresner.
He killed her? If you didn't know, why did you go to the courthouse? I was following Dresner.
I needed to see the man Julie was with.
I can't tell you why, I just did.
But I didn't kill him.
It's going to be very hard to convince a jury of that, considering you admitted to being at the courthouse the morning he was killed.
But I wasn't there then.
What I told the police, I was confused, they said they found a nail in my tire.
Mr.
Sanderson.
Listen to me, please.
Yes, I followed Dresner, but not that morning.
It was three days before.
I got mixed up.
The fact is, you made that statement.
It's a problem.
Then there's the repairs to your truck.
But I can explain that.
I hit a dog.
In Staten Island, I stopped at a bar after work, I had a few drinks, then on the way home, I hit this dog on Manor Road, on the turn just before Richmond Road.
Did you report it? (SCOFFS) Report what? That I was drinking and driving in the company truck? I like my job, Ms.
Rubirosa.
All right, Mr.
Sanderson.
Ted.
I'm gonna get to work on this.
Thank you.
I know you're gonna do all you can for me.
(KEYS JANGLING) (DOOR BUZZING) (WHISPERING) A dog.
The police pretended to find a nail from the crime scene in the tire of his truck.
On that basis, Mr.
Sanderson's statement should be suppressed.
People v.
Cordova, in pursuit of a confession, the police can tell a suspect they have his prints, his blood or any evidence whether it's true or not.
Ms.
Rubirosa knows this, she's made the same argument herself many times.
Detective Bernard didn't just tell my client he found a nail in the tire, he actually planted one there.
It was a prop, a part of the deception.
That's not what Detective Bernard's report says.
In fact, there's no mention of a nail at all.
The police are not required to say how the statement was obtained other than it was voluntary.
I'll go further, Your Honor, there is nothing in the record, that prevents Detective Bernard from submitting that nail as evidence against my client.
If Ms.
Rubirosa is actually implying the police would use the nail as evidence that her client was at the crime scene, that is outrageous.
The conduct is outrageous.
It was tantamount with planting evidence.
It's the kind of egregious conduct that shocks the conscience and demands punitive action, in this case, the suppression of Mr.
Sanderson's statement.
Your Honor Enough, I'm convinced.
Sanderson's statement is out.
You pretty much accused me of planting evidence.
Hey, don't sweat it, Bernard.
She's just doing herjob which, these days, includes defending murderers.
You're gonna have to work with those guys again.
I'll talk to 'em.
And don't for a minute, imagine winning that motion gutted my case.
Yeah, I know it didn't but this will.
Animal control recovered a dead dog off a road in Staten Island, a dog that Sanderson ran over.
That's how he damaged his truck.
Doesn't change the underlying facts, Connie.
You know he killed Dresner.
Well, as Jack always says, I only know what I can prove in court.
You're sure this is absolutely everything? All the video from every camera from three days before that guy was run over, right? Down the street, is there still that bank across from the park? Uh-huh.
Ms.
Rubirosa? I'm Mr.
Caldwell, the branch manager.
I understand you wanna see tapes from our security cameras? Yes, just from your outside camera for this date and time.
And you're some kind of lawyer? I'm from the District Attorney's office.
Let me show you my badge.
You know, not that I'd ever admit it to her, but she eviscerated my case.
It's to be expected.
Connie was trained by the best.
(CHUCKLES) Well, if she ever decides to switch sides permanently, we're in big trouble.
You know, this is odd.
There's an item in Connie's discovery index, evidence she gathered two days before she got the subpoena for it.
Neat trick.
Ms.
Rubirosa obtained a security tape from a bank.
It's the sole copy and we demand access to it.
The tape is protected by attorney-client pflvflege.
Even if it was, the fact it was obtained without a proper subpoena renders the issue moot.
How did you get this tape, Ms.
Rubirosa? You wanna tell him or should I? I identified myself to the bank manager as an Assistant District Attorney.
But you were functioning as a defense counsel at the time, weren't you? Yes, Your Honor.
According to this affidavit, once Ms.
Rubirosa flashed her badge, the branch manager believed she was working for the District Attorney and felt obligated to fulfill her request.
Her egregious conduct so shocks the conscience as to negate any claim of privilege.
Your Honor, the tape was obtained as a result of a privileged conversation with my client.
Sanction me if you have to, but don't penalize my client.
I don't like your deception any more than I liked the police's.
The tape will be turned over to Mr.
Cutter.
Seems the paddle spanks both ways.
You'll have the tape this afternoon.
This is three days before Dresner was run over, looking down the block from the bank to the courthouse.
There are the picketers.
There's Sanderson's truck.
This is what Rubirosa didn't want us to see.
Sanderson stalking Dresner.
Can you zoom in on Dresner, fast forward, see what he does? CUTTER: Okay, regular speed.
Dresner using his inhaler.
Sanderson saw it.
Maybe he figured out Dresner had cystic fibrosis.
And that Dresner killed his wife.
No wonder Connie tried to bury this.
Well, she didn't try hard enough.
We're back in business.
Vehicular Homicide, eight and a third to 25 years.
That's the offer, and only because he's already banked nine years for a crime he didn't do.
The tape doesn't prove anything.
It proves your client saw Dresner use an inhaler.
He had reason to suspect he had cystic fibrosis and killed his wife.
Even if he could read the label on the inhaler, the tape doesn't prove that he knew Dresner's medical condition, andiflhearyou suggest as much to the jury, I will move for a mistrial faster than you could say "Johnnie Cochran.
" I don't have to suggest anything.
The jury can infer it from the tape.
You can't bully us.
Ted Can you give us a minute? (DOOR BUZZING) So when were you gonna tell me? I knew from the minute I saw that tape that you lied to me.
No, no, no.
Please, don't go.
I can't take a plea.
I can't go back to jail.
I can't defend you if you keep lying to me.
Okay.
Okay.
After my appeal, when they said Julie's killer had cystic fibrosis, I read all I could about the disease.
When I saw Dresner using an inhaler, I knew it had to be him.
I couldn't stop thinking, he stole Julie from me.
He stole nine years from my life, he ruined everything.
When I saw him, behind the courthouse by himself, so cocky and arrogant, I couldn't take it.
I just I just smashed him.
And your story about the dog? I found a dead dog near the golf course.
I took it to Staten Island.
I didn't kill a dog, I'm not that kind of person, Ms.
Rubirosa.
I won't make it if I go back to prison.
No deal.
You're being unrealistic.
The system owes him a defense, Mike.
I'm making sure this time, he gets one.
How is it working for the dark side, Connie? JACK: Is that how you see it? Us versus them? Ms.
Rubirosa is conducting herself within the bounds of the canon of ethics, and zealously representing her client to the best of her abilities.
That's what she's expected to do.
Whether that client is a criminal defendant or the People of the State of New York.
And if I hear anymore crap from any of you, you'll all be working Traffic Court for the next five years.
BERNARD: Detective Lupo and I assisted the Photographic Unit in taking pictures from where Mr.
Sanderson's truck was parked so we could recreate Mr.
Sanderson's point-of-view.
CUTTER: And what, if anything, did you observe? BERNARD: Well, from Sanderson's poi nt-of-view, we had an unobstructed view of the pedestrians in front of the courthouse.
And with the naked eye, I could clearly identify the objects in their hands.
What kind of objects? Well, as the pictures indicate, a set of keys, a cell phone, an inhaler.
And what, if any, conclusion did you draw? I concluded that if someone was sitting in a vehicle at that location, they would have seen the victim, Mr.
Dresner, and recognized an inhaler when he put it up to his mouth to use it.
Thank you.
Your witness.
Detective Bernard, what kind of lenses were used to take those photos? Objection.
Detective Bernard is not an expert on photographic equipment.
He just testified that he assisted the Photographic Unit.
I can certainly ask him what he knows about the making of these photos.
Overruled.
Answer her question.
I don't know what kind of lenses.
Do you know what a telephoto lens is? Yes.
It's a lens that makes far-away objects appear closer, isn't that right? Yes.
Did the Photographic Unit use a telephoto lens when they took that photo? No.
You just testified you didn't know what kind of lenses were used to take those photos.
So which is it? Do you or do you not know? I don't know.
Then it is possible that a telephoto lens was used to make the object in that person's hand more easily identifiable, isn't that right? They wouldn't do that.
Even if you asked them to, when you were assisting them? I wouldn't ask.
I don't tamper with evidence.
No? Didn't you plant evidence on my client's truck, a nail from the crime scene? That wasn't evidence.
What was it then, atrick? Objection.
Overruled.
Answer her, Detective.
Sure, it was a trick.
You use tricks when it suits you, don't you, Detective? BERNARD: That's not true.
Maybe it suited you to fabricate these photographs to mislead the jury.
Let's forget about the photos and look at the videotape.
Sanderson saw Dresner use the inhaler.
He knew he had the disease! Your Honor, I move for a mistrial.
In my chambers.
Detective Bernard voiced his opinion about what my client knew.
It's tantamount to calling him guilty, and coming from a police officer, it's both damning and improper and it violates the basic rules of evidence.
CUTTER: Your Honor, she posed a question, she's bound by Detective Bernard's response.
I asked him if he fabricated evidence and he spouted off his opinion about my client's guilt.
How can I cross-examine an opinion? I agree, Ms.
Rubirosa, but I'm not inclined to grant a mistrial.
I'll strike Detective Bernard's testimony and instruct the jury to disregard it.
It's not enough.
The tape is tainted by Detective Bernard's opinion that it proves my client's guilt.
YourHonon a jury instruction will suffice.
Every time the jury sees that tape, they'll take it to mean exactly what he told them it meant.
It must be excluded.
You make a very compelling argument, Ms.
Rubirosa.
I'll render my decision when court reconvenes tomorrow.
If he throws out the tape, what does that mean? It means Mr.
Cutter won't have much of a case left.
He's pragmatic.
He'll wanna cut his losses.
You mean a plea bargain.
I'd still go back to prison? Mr.
Cutter's also reasonable.
The nine years that you've lost will mean something.
Don't get your hopes up, but he might agree to probation.
Probation.
(sums) It just doesn't seem possible.
I could get away from here, go sit on a beach.
Yeah, a beach would be nice.
I know this place, off Belize, Turneffe Island.
They got this amazing fan coral.
(sums) You said you'd fight for me.
You kept your word.
Thank you.
(DOOR BUZZING) Dive buddies.
You gave Mike a good whooping today.
You had the benefit of Detective Bernard's inexpefience as an expert witness.
I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt your train of thought.
Anyway, good luck tomorrow.
Jack, what do you do if you know something, a terrible thing that you don't wanna know, because there's nothing that you can do about it, you can't even talk about it.
Because this terrible thing, it's protected by attorney-client privilege? One question, when this case is over, the governor will sign Sanderson's pardon for his wife's murder.
Is that a problem for you? I think that was an answer.
I don't know what to do.
Connie, every lawyer goes to his or her grave with the most horrible secrets.
It comes with the job.
What do I do? Follow the law.
Upon review, I've concluded that, although this was a very close issue, on balance, suppression of the tape is unwarranted.
Your motion's denied, Ms.
Rubirosa.
And we'll reconvene this afternoon.
CUTTER: Thank you, Your Honor.
Even with the tape back in, your cross-examination of Detective Bernard really hurt my case with the jury.
My offer's back on the table.
Vehicular Homicide, eight and a third to 25 years.
I'll talk to my client.
Talk fast.
The offer's only good till this afternoon.
I told you not to get your hopes up.
What do we do now? We fight it, we go back to trial, right? Or we take the D.
A.
's plea offer.
Eight more years in prison? Counting the nine you served, 17 years isn't bad for two murders.
Two murders? I have a theory.
Your wife had an affair, but not with Dresner, with somebody else.
You thought she might leave you.
You got angry.
So you called your old buddy, Frank.
What? What are you talking about? Your old diving buddy, Frank.
Frank you met in a diving class.
He killed your wife for you.
But in one of life's little ironies, you were convicted on faulty evidence.
Once that conviction was overturned, you got in touch with Frank.
You're wrong.
You found out he was about to get tested for cystic fibrosis, a genetic test that might t bring him to the attention of the police who were still looking for an unknown murder suspect with a special disease.
Ms.
Rubirosa, it's not true.
If Frank got caught, you would go back to prison.
So you killed him.
Like I said, it's a theory, one that will remain between you and me, protected by the attorney-cl ient pflvflege.
But you believe it? That's why you want me to take a deal and go back to jail? I gave you my opinion.
It's a good deal.
And if I don't take it? Then we will go back to trial.
And you tank the case.
You're gonna sell me out because you think that I know how you people work.
You don't know anything about the way I work.
I am your lawyer, now same as then, and I will defend you to the fullest extent of the law.
I will argue your case to the jury without reservation.
That is what I'm sworn to do.
Now, you can take this plea or you can take your chances with the jury.
You know how that can go.
It's up to you.
Sanderson took the plea.
It couldn't have been easy for him to choose to go back to prison.
I'm sure Connie told him that a plea was his best option.
Kudos to her for winning his trust.
I recommended to Sanderson he take the deal.
If you hadn't known this terrible thing about Sanderson, would your recommendation have been any different? I'd like to think not.
I'd like to think, either way, I'd zealously represented his interests.
I know you did.
I gotta go.
I'm taking Detective Bernard for a beer.
Good.
Oh, look.
And not a moment too soon.

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