Law & Order: Los Angeles (2010) s01e11 Episode Script
East Pasadena
NARRATOR: In the city of Los Angeles 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.
(CAR HONKING) (TIRES SCREECHING) You in the blue car, open the doors and step out of the vehicle.
Stone-cold dead.
The driver ditched.
Made it out of the structure before we had time to lock it down.
Anybody put eyes on him before that? Officer that clocked him running a light got a quick visual.
Male, white, black hair, age 20 to 30.
Car's registered to an Amanda Russell.
RICARDO: Looks like a match.
Blunt force to the head.
Strangulation bruises on the neck.
There's no blood on the seat or in the car.
She was probably killed somewhere else and being moved to a dump site.
TJ She's a Marine.
Winters used to say the streets of heaven are guarded by the Marines.
Well, she'll be in good company.
(SIGHING) Hell of a fight in here.
Hmm.
Looks like we got a boyfriend.
What do you think? Male, white, black hair, age 20 to 30? That's Dave Harlin.
Amanda met him on leave last summer.
When she got back from Afghanistan for good a few months ago, he moved in with her.
Any idea where we can find him? BURT: No.
He's a welder.
He fancies himself as some kind of artist.
Did Amanda ever mention problems with Dave? She thought he was a very suspicious person.
He got suspicious when she worked late.
Where did she work? East Pasadena.
The Marines got her a part-time job as a bookkeeper for the city.
She didn't like it much.
It was a long commute and it didn't pay well.
And that caused problems with Dave? Yes.
Amanda thought he was following her at night.
You know, when she was in Afghanistan, the Marines had her in a village.
She was running a construction site.
Dodging IEDs and snipers.
(SOBBING) And when she returned home, we were just so relieved because now she was safe.
Poor girl went from one war zone to another.
Coroner have a time of death? Between 10:00 p.
m.
and 2:00 a.
m.
last night.
Asphyxiation by manual strangulation.
Dave has at least one friend.
A fellow artist.
Now, if we enhance the signature on the painting, maybe the Art Theft Detail can help us locate the artist.
ARTURO: The art cops knew me? I can't even get a gallery to return my calls.
Your two graffiti busts put you on our radar.
So, about your friend Dave.
I haven't seen him.
Not since his girl got back from Afghanistan.
She was murdered yesterday.
Wow.
Ironic, right? RICARDO: Welding tools.
Oh.
Dave left those there a while ago.
Still warm.
Ironic, right? Dave? Dave, don't do it.
Don't do it.
(SOBBING) Why not? I did a terrible thing.
We're not high enough here, Dave.
The fall won't kill you.
You'll break your legs, break your back.
Spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair, peeing into a bag.
(DAVE SOBBING) I loved her so much.
I loved her so much.
I loved her so much.
Amanda and me had an argument.
She said that I was having somebody following her.
I told her that was crazy.
She got in my face about it and she called me a liar.
I didn't want to have another fight because last time the cops came.
So I left.
Where did you go? To Arturo's studio.
He had some tequila.
I was doing shots.
I got hammered.
Then what happened? I got in Arturo's car.
Around 2:00.
Um He was driving me home.
After that, it all gets fuzzy.
The next thing I remember, I woke up on the couch in the living room.
Are you saying that you blacked out? I guess so.
What did you do after you woke up? I went into the bedroom and Amanda was on the bed.
Her head was all bloody.
She wasn't moving.
I killed her.
What do you mean, you killed her? I mean, I must have done it when I came home, when I was drunk.
We must have had a fight.
So why did you move Amanda? Why didn't you just leave her on the bed? I thought I could, like, take her to the hospital or something.
Or I just didn't know what to do.
I kept saying he should turn himself in.
But I'm not his life coach.
I got my own thing to worry about.
Did he tell you what happened after he came home? He said he may have hit Amanda over the head, but he didn't remember.
I mean, he was so wasted, I had to help him to the door.
He couldn't even find his own house keys.
You helped him into the house? Pain in the ass.
It was pitch black on the porch.
I couldn't get the key into the lock.
The light next to the door wasn't on? No.
I finally figured out the bulb was unscrewed.
So I screwed it back in and got the door open.
Did you see Amanda? No.
Her bedroom door was closed.
Maybe I should have let Dave sleep it off at my place, but this guy, he snores like a 747.
"I don't remember.
" That's what my kid says when I bust him.
Well, there might be something to it this time.
This guy fought hand-to-hand with a trained Marine.
There's not a mark on him.
And there's the unscrewed porch light.
It's consistent with a break-in.
We had SID examine Amanda's front door, and there were pick marks on the lock.
Amanda thought somebody was following her, right? I didn't take it seriously.
I thought she was just being paranoid.
Did Amanda have bad blood with anyone? Old boyfriends? Marine buddies? No, her old boyfriend's fat and happy with three kids.
I met her Marine brothers, too.
They're all good guys.
What about her job in East Pasadena? Any problems there? (SIGHS) She couldn't wait to get out of her contract.
Said they had a weird way of doing things around there.
Give us an example.
Well, like, she asked me if welders and plumbers need a special license from East Pasadena to work there.
I told her you just need a license from the state.
A special license from East Pasadena? Yeah.
She said I'd have to pay the city a fine if I worked there without one.
I'd never heard of that.
I hired Amanda through the Marines' T.
A.
P.
program.
She was whip smart.
Very motivated.
A real inspiration to the whole office.
Please give our condolences to her family.
We'll do that.
Can we see her desk? Oh, sure.
This way.
What were her duties here? Bookkeeping.
Data entry.
Filing.
She was happy in her work? I think so.
We talked about moving her to full time.
She was thrilled.
We heard she was involved with trade licenses for plumbers, welders.
Doesn't sound right.
Licenses to work in the city.
She must have confused them with building permits.
Confused, Mr.
Wheeler? You just told us how whip smart she was.
I didn't say she was perfect.
This is her desk.
We put all of her personal items in the box for her family.
Drawer's empty.
It's all in the box.
What, no notepads, files? There's only what's in the box.
What's that smell, bleach? Our custodian must have cleaned the desk.
Well, do you think you could find out if there was anything else besides what's in the box? I'll ask.
They didn't just wipe the hard drive.
They took out the whole damn thing.
She was thrilled to be promoted in a job she couldn't wait to quit.
We don't service East Pasadena anymore.
Your truck says "Serving Altadena, East Pasadena and Sierra Madre.
" I know what it says, but I stay out of East Pasadena.
That's an interesting business strategy.
You care to explain? I can't talk about it.
Does it have to do with licenses for trades people? I don't want anymore trouble, okay? I already tangled with their cops.
I signed a legal paper and it's done.
What legal paper? Can we see it? Civil compromise.
That's what they called it.
And they wouldn't let me leave until I signed it.
A civil compromise issued by the Superior Court of the Southeast.
North Judicial District.
There is no such court.
It's a cover-up for a shakedown.
Amanda was suspicious of those licenses.
It could be what got her killed.
First, we need to confirm it's a scam.
We were thinking of a sting.
Come on, old man.
Pick up the pace.
Who you calling old? I can still kick your punk ass all day long.
Morning, Officer.
It's okay to park here? I need to see your contracting license.
Oh, the number's right there on the side of the truck.
Not your state license.
Your license to work in East Pasadena.
I didn't know we needed one.
We've never worked in East Pasadena before.
East Pasadena business code requires all tradesmen to be licensed to work within city limits.
Can I see some I.
D? Well, what if we just get in the truck and leave? Too late for that.
The wrecker's on the way.
I'm impounding your vehicle until you pay the fine.
Impounding? Hey, why don't we just take care of this right now? Put that away, sir.
You pay the citation at East Pasadena City Hall.
You have 30 days.
I promise.
I don't ever come back to East Pasadena.
Just give me back my mangoes.
You get your merchandise back after you pay the fine and buy a license.
But my mangoes are going to go bad.
Would you like me to call the police, sir? The station's right across the street.
Okay, okay.
I'll get the money.
Don't throw away my mangoes.
Next in line.
That's $300 for the fine, $125 for the towing.
Cash or check? Four hundred and twenty-five bucks? How many trucks does your painting business have? What difference does it make? You need a license for each truck.
Five hundred dollars each.
RICARDO: That's a nice racket.
We'd like to see the law that says you can do that, Mrs.
Foreman.
We'll mail it to you.
And you need to sign a civil compromise before we can release your vehicle.
If they're shaking down every tradesperson who sets foot in East Pasadena, we're talking serious money.
Serious as murder.
Mrs.
Foreman.
LAPD.
You're under arrest.
Oh, my God.
Hands behind your back.
What Mike! What's going on? Sir, stand back, please.
What are you doing to my wife? Please stand back.
She's under arrest.
She'll be at the LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division.
Look, she didn't do anything.
That's where she'll be, sir.
SUSAN: Mike! This isn't right.
She didn't do anything.
Extortion? My heavens, I never stole money from anybody.
CONNIE: We looked at the East Pasadena city charter.
We didn't see anything about license requirements or code violations.
I don't know anything about that.
I just do what they tell me.
Who tells you? My boss, the city controller, Mr.
Wheeler.
Don Wheeler.
Also Amanda Russell's boss.
Did you ever have any contact with Amanda? I think I spoke to her only once, a few weeks ago.
When Don's regular girl was out.
She was processing code enforcement fines.
Like the ones we paid? Yes.
Don's girl usually does them.
Miss Russell asked me what they were for and why there were so many.
She got very testy.
So, I called Don and told him.
And what did he have to say about that? He said not to worry.
That he'd have a talk with her.
That was the end of it.
I don't make a dime on those code citations.
But I got stats to keep up.
Stats? You mean quotas? I mean stats.
Like singles, doubles.
What's a single? A single is, like, citing a Mexican for selling fruit at a stop light without a license.
Impounding a vehicle, like with you guys, that was a triple.
What's a homerun, knocking over an old lady for her bingo money? Not funny.
I don't keep up my stats, I get laid off.
Who makes up the rules to this game? Our boss, Lieutenant Petracelli.
Told us what codes to enforce, what the fines were.
I just follow my orders.
These two are just the bag men.
Wheeler and this Lieutenant Petracelli must be running the scam.
And using the East Pasadena city treasury to launder the take.
I'll call Dekker, start issuing subpoenas.
Miss Rubirosa, they're probably already shredding papers and wiping the hard drives.
I'd take them down now.
Let's warrant up.
We have an arrest warrant for Controller Wheeler.
We were told he was in there.
Sorry, there's a City Council meeting going on right now.
Can't go in there until they're done.
(DOOR OPENING) Hurry! Hurry! He has a gun.
There's a man in there with a gun.
He told all the women to get out.
RICARDO: How many people in there now? The mayor, the councilmen.
Maybe 10? Yeah.
Call for back up.
This door's locked.
Is there another way in? There's a door from the left side hallway, and there's a fire exit at the front of the room, far right corner.
I'll take the side door.
You take the fire exit.
Officer Cortina at the Council room post.
I need back up immediately.
I'm at the fire exit.
MAN: Damn you! Damn you, you I can get inside the room.
I'm at the side door.
It's not locked.
No, you hold.
I'm going in.
MAN: You think it doesn't matter, nobody else has a family? Who the hell do you think you are? You're a bunch of crooks! Don't do this.
Please.
Male, white, with a.
45.
Twenty feet from your door.
It's the husband of the woman we arrested.
You enter, distract him.
I'll take him.
Check.
You.
Wheeler.
Susan told you about that girl.
And now, you got Susan involved in a murder.
No.
No, Mike.
The boyfriend killed that girl.
He was drunk.
RICARDO: TJ, where are you? Listen to Don.
That girl was strangled in her bed by her boyfriend.
You're the biggest thug in this whole damn place.
RICARDO: Come on.
You're going to be the first to go.
TJ, now.
No! Mike! MAN: Oh, my God.
Let's get the civilians out of here.
Mayor first.
COP: Lieutenant Petracelli, there's another man down.
It's Don Wheeler, Lieutenant.
I guess you won't be needing that arrest warrant anymore.
Detective Jaruszalski came through the side door.
He distracted the suspect, and this allowed me to fire off three rounds.
Was the bystander, Mr.
Wheeler, in the line of fire? Not in my line of fire.
I had a clear shot at the suspect.
You doing okay? Yeah.
We're going to need your weapon.
What's your take on the bystander? OIS DETECTIVE: It could be a round from the gunman.
Could be a ricochet, but we'll let you know.
Or it could be convenient collateral damage.
Everything squared away? Yeah.
Before Susan's husband was shot, he had a lot to say about the City Council.
The mayor especially.
I'm a very lucky man.
Very lucky.
Mike Foreman just went crazy.
What did he say before he was shot? (SIGHS) He was upset about his wife.
He wasn't coherent.
Did it have to do with her arrest? Honestly? I was just staring at the gun in his hand and thinking about my kids.
Did he say anything directly to you? Me? No.
Nothing about you being a thug? No.
Mike Foreman used to work for the city.
He was fired for cause.
He was angry then.
He stayed angry.
Mike wasn't fired.
He quit.
Why would the mayor lie? (SCOFFS) We realize you may be afraid.
But these people are making your husband out to be some kind of crazy person.
He wasn't like that.
He was decent.
He worked 22 years for the Parks Department.
He quit because he didn't like how everything changed.
Changed how? It started after Velman became mayor.
They told Mike he had to hire the mayor's friends.
But the worst was the money they stole from the children.
How did they do that? The state told the city they had to fix the playgrounds.
Mike found out that the construction company gave half the money to Velman.
He told me they used cheap materials in the new playgrounds.
A kickback.
Did your husband tell anyone about this? He went to the City Council.
They told him he had to keep his mouth shut or they'd fire him and take away his pension.
And they said they'd do the same to me.
So Mike quit.
He said it would be hard to prove because the money was paid to the city treasury.
You ask Ava Ruiz.
She knows.
She's the city treasurer.
Yeah, I got held up once at my real job.
But, uh, I wasn't half as scared as I was the other day.
I mean, Mike Foreman looked like he was going to kill someone.
You said your real job? The big box store down the street.
I'm senior cashier.
City treasurer is my part-time job.
I wanted to ask you about the playground project two years ago.
Yes.
We had good feedback on that.
Yeah, the construction company made a payment to the city treasury.
$500,000.
Do you know what that payment was for? For the construction permit.
It was 40% of the entire budget for their job.
Is that unusual? Uh, I don't know anything about construction.
It is unusual.
It looks like a kickback.
I'm sorry.
I have to run some errands before my break ends.
Do you have any idea where the money went? To the city treasury.
To pay to run the city.
It was nice talking to you.
We'll talk again, Ms.
Ruiz.
Nice car.
A gift from your husband? I'm divorced.
It was my gift to me.
No offense, but on a cashier's salary? No, sweetie, on my city treasurer's salary.
I make 240,000 a year.
The City Council make as much.
The mayor makes four times that.
The City Council voted on it.
It's all legal.
I tried to get the minutes of the council meetings.
They said they'd mail them to me.
Don't hold your breath.
I can't see why the treasurer would lie about the numbers.
These people voted themselves huge salaries.
It's not a city government.
It's a crime syndicate.
Using their own cops as enforcers.
The OIS team report came in.
Mike Foreman was killed by the three shots fired by Detective Morales.
Don Wheeler was killed by a round fired by Lieutenant Petracelli.
And what does Petracelli say? Wheeler got in his line of fire.
He's either a liar or he's the worst shot west of the Mississippi.
He shot Wheeler intentionally.
To shut him up.
Wheeler was involved in Amanda's murder.
Before the shooting, the mayor and Wheeler both said that Amanda was found strangled in her bed.
That was not in the papers.
Only the killer and his accomplices would have known that.
The killer, Petracelli.
Do we know where he was the night of the murder? He was off duty.
But at 1:55 a.
m.
, he made a call from his cell phone.
The relay towers put him traveling away from Amanda's home.
The call was to the main number of the East Pasadena City Hall.
So we need the exact extension that phone call went to.
JONAH: Hey, Ric? You should know, if it wasn't for you and your partner, a lot more lives would have been lost in the council chamber.
Everybody's proud of you.
Even Hardin.
Thanks, Joe.
DYLAN: I just need the date, time and incoming number.
Then I can track the call from the main number to a specific extension.
It's right here on the warrant.
Is it true the mayor's making almost a million a year from the city? That's what we're told.
Why? How much do you make? Twelve eighty-five an hour plus benefits.
I do more work in a day than that fat ass does all year.
I got it.
1:55 a.
m.
That call went to extension 33.
That's the City Council room.
Was there a Council meeting that late? No.
But I remember them being in there late.
Uh, Don Wheeler, Mayor Velman, the deputy mayor, and Councilman Jalanek.
They were probably waiting for Petracelli to call and tell them that their Amanda Russell problem was solved.
No, their problems were just beginning.
(PEOPLE CLAMORING) MAN: Eat this, Velman! (GRUNTS) Look at this.
You had to drag me out here? Yeah, well, enjoy the tomato, Mr.
Mayor.
It's the last fresh fruit you're going to see for a while.
Mike Foreman pointed his gun at Velman and Wheeler and accused them both of being involved in Amanda's murder.
Wheeler said she was killed by her boyfriend, and Velman said she was strangled in her bed.
Who else was in the room when they made these statements? The other councilmen.
All of whom have refused to cooperate.
Where was TJ during this? TJ? In the hallway.
I was waiting for him to come through the side door.
Bottom line is, you're our only viable witness.
We have the lock-picking tools found in Petracelli's car.
But these statements are the guts of our murder case.
The defense will go after them.
Yeah, I know all their tricks, Joe.
Then they'll go after you.
Anything we need to worry about? Well, I saw the police department shrink.
That's standard OIS protocol.
No red flags? I mentioned that I shot a suspect in the line of duty was still a patrolman.
They'll paint you as a cowboy.
Old school LAPD.
No, I can handle whatever they throw at me.
It's on.
(SIGHS) Any statement made by Mr.
Wheeler or Mayor Velman is hearsay, and should be precluded.
The statements are admissible under the excited utterance exception to the hearsay rule.
They were being threatened by a madman with a gun.
They would have said the moon was made out of cheese if it would have saved their lives.
Because they were under immediate threat, it is unlikely that they would have uttered premeditated lies.
Let the jury decide their probative value.
I agree.
I'm not going to preclude Detective Morales' testimony about the statements.
In that case, Your Honor, we move for disclosure of Detective Morales' psychiatric evaluation following his shooting of Mike Foreman.
That report's privileged.
The point of the evaluation is to help officers cope with the stress of a line of duty shooting.
They should be able to speak freely to a therapist without the fear of a defense attorney looking over their shoulder.
Mr.
Byron, as I see it, the report is subject to doctor-patient privilege.
You're not getting it.
Unless the patient consents.
If Mr.
Dekker and the LAPD truly have nothing to hide here, they'll prevail on Morales to release the report.
If they truly have nothing to hide.
JUDGE BENASKl: Mr.
Byron, address your comments to me.
To make it perfectly clear, lacking Detective Morales's consent, the report is out.
I'll see you all at trial.
That's one motion you're going to wish you had lost.
I'm not asking him.
It would set a bad precedent for every cop in the city.
BURT: They're saying this case is a joke.
That Detective Morales is some psycho.
It's just a lawyer spinning facts.
It's not just a lawyer.
It's the news, on the radio.
They're all saying the police are hiding something.
Mr.
and Mrs.
Russell, you shouldn't be worrying about all of this.
BURT: Look, Amanda served her country.
She risked her life while these scumbag politicians lined their pockets.
I assure you.
The District Attorney is doing what he needs to do to get justice for your daughter.
I know this is difficult.
But all this noise, you're just going to have to shut it out.
The department's catching a lot of flak over this psychiatric report.
The Police Commission's asking questions, and I don't know what to say to them.
They're pushing for a fitness review.
Chief, didn't the psychiatrist say that Detective Morales was fit for duty? That might not satisfy them.
Detective, is there anything in this report we should be concerned about? Anything detrimental to the case? Absolutely not.
Well, then stop the speculation.
Give them the report.
Can anybody here guarantee that once I sign the consent form, my report won't be all over the internet? Well, then, I'm sorry.
I'm not signing.
Detective, regardless of what happens to the case, there will always be a question mark over your name.
(SIGHS) He's stubborn.
Whoever talked me into taking him back? That would be me.
Everything okay? A-1-A.
So, the big powwow about your shrink report? The jungle drums were beating.
Chief wants me to waive confidentiality.
And? What, did you tell the shrink you were a late bed wetter? No.
Not about me.
Take a walk with me.
The conversation I had with the shrink covered a lot of bases.
Anything to do with me, I can handle, but one of the bases was you.
I'm listening.
We explored why you balked coming through the doors in the Council room.
(SIGHS) It went through my head that you'd just lost a partner to violence.
You think I don't have your back.
You've become like an uncle to Rex's kids.
Maybe more than that now.
Casey's leaned on you to help her through this.
You've been there for them.
I commend you for it.
It's what you had to do.
But it occurred to me that they were on your mind that day, outside the Council room.
And that maybe you didn't want to put them through that again.
Anyway, it's all here, buried in a bunch of psycho-babble.
I'm not signing anything unless you're okay with it.
I didn't see anything here that wasn't true.
Sign the damn waiver.
This isn't going to help matters.
Never mind the material about your partner.
The things you say about your line of duty shooting 20 years ago? That's going to be a problem.
I can handle the cross examination.
I'm glad you're so confident.
But if your credibility takes a hit You will fix it in your summation.
Yeah.
Thanks.
Not to put pressure on you, Joe.
I just wish you had talked to me before signing that consent.
I talked to who I had to.
(SIGHS) RICARDO: Don Wheeler told Mr.
Foreman, "No, Mike, the boyfriend killed that girl.
He was drunk.
" When Mr.
Foreman pointed his gun at Mr.
Velman, Mr.
Velman said, "Listen to Don.
"The girl was strangled in her bed by her boyfriend.
" And what happened then? My partner came through the side door, creating a diversion, which allowed me to shoot and kill Mr.
Foreman.
Following the shooting, what did you make of Mr.
Wheeler and Mr.
Velman's statements? That they had information on the manner of death, the strangulation of the victim in her own bed, which could only have been known by the killer.
Well, what facts did you uncover to explain how they came to this information? A cell phone record showed that, soon after the murder, when he was a mile away from the victim's house, Mr.
Petracelli made a call to the Council room of East Pasadena City Hall.
As a detective, what conclusion did you draw from these facts? That Mr.
Petracelli had murdered Amanda Russell and was calling his accomplices to give them a full report.
Thank you.
No more questions.
BYRON: Beside my clients, who else was in the Council room when Mr.
Velman and Mr.
Wheeler allegedly made these statements? Besides your clients? Uh, Mr.
Wheeler Who's now dead.
Mike Foreman.
Also dead.
And four other city councilmen.
None of whom, I point out, have corroborated your testimony.
What about your partner? He wasn't in the room.
He couldn't hear.
Of course.
So all the possible witnesses to these alleged statements are either dead, silent or deaf.
All except you.
I have no reason to lie.
Well, we'll see about that.
You didn't mention these alleged statements to the psychiatrist who evaluated you after you shot Mike Foreman, did you? I was there to discuss my state of mind, not a murder case.
But you did talk about another line of duty shooting 20 years ago.
Yes.
I shot and killed a drug dealer.
A 17-year-old crack dealer who got the drop on your partner? You saved your partner's life.
You were a hero.
If you say so.
In fact, according to the psychiatrist, that shooting was a big factor in your promotion to detective.
I don't know that for a fact, but I suspected it.
How did you feel about that? You read the psych report.
You know I had mixed feelings about it.
You told the psychiatrist that you still felt guilt about it.
Even shame that your success was built on the shoulders of a dead man.
Well, I wouldn't be human if I didn't feel guilt about killing a man.
Like Mike Foreman.
Even though it saved many lives, you feel some guilt about killing him? Yes.
You told the psychiatrist, "Mike Foreman was just a poor sap who cracked "because he couldn't protect his family "from the corruption around him.
"In fact, if we hadn't arrested his wife, "I doubt he would have ended up in City Hall waving a gun.
" Your words, Detective? Yes.
Not only do you feel guilt about shooting him, you feel responsible for pushing him over the edge in the first place.
That's a lot of baggage to carry.
Isn't that what the psychiatrist said? Words to that effect, yes.
Didn't the psychiatrist warn you that your guilt might manifest itself in inappropriate behavior, like drinking? Yes, he said that.
Sudden rages? Sleeplessness? Yes, all that.
What about creating false and self-serving memories to make yourself feel better about what happened? He mentioned that, didn't he? Okay, I know where you're going with this.
Isn't it possible that, in trying to ease your guilt over this shooting, to give Mike Foreman's death some meaning, you created a memory where he provoked Mr.
Velman and Mr.
Wheeler into making incriminating statements? No.
Statements that would allow you to crack the case and punish the bad guys? Objection.
Asked and answered.
And allow you to sleep better at night, knowing that you didn't shoot this poor sap in vain? Isn't that possible? Your Honor, there is an objection waiting for your ruling.
Your Honor, I'd like to change my answer.
JUDGE BENASKl: Then the objection is overruled.
Go ahead, Detective.
In his report, the psychiatrist said I was fit to return to duty.
One of his reasons was that I did not resort to the behaviors you mentioned.
Detective But beyond that, as a police officer and a former prosecutor, committing perjury would violate every single oath I have ever taken, and would make me feel worse than you could even imagine.
The idea that I would make myself feel better about a justifiable shooting by lying is absurd.
Oh, and the short answer to your question? Yes, it's possible that I created a false memory.
But no.
I did not.
BYRON: There's lying.
And then there's convincing yourself that a false memory is so real that you stop recognizing it as a lie.
You heard Detective Morales.
He admitted that it's possible that the alleged statements are pure invention.
Possible that the evidence at the heart of the prosecution's murder case is a complete fabrication of his guilt-ridden mind.
When a witness says that about his own testimony, you pay attention.
You pay attention because that is reasonable doubt.
Amanda Russell represented the best of America.
She served with honor under harsh conditions.
But when she came home, she found herself surrounded by the worst of America.
These men, corrupt civil servants who gorged themselves on the public trough.
Who, like cancer, feasted on the nation Amanda risked her life defending.
And when this good soldier, this good Marine, began to unravel their corruption, they sent this man, Petracelli, to kill her.
Now they seek to destroy another good soldier.
Someone who, like thousands of his fellow officers, risks his life every day, to protect and serve this community.
Who even put his own life on the line for these defendants.
They now seek to destroy it by turning his own brutal honesty against him.
We ask our police officers to protect us.
To sacrifice for us.
To kill in our name.
And the grim truth is, the truth that we don't like to admit, is that every killing, no matter how justified, takes its toll on that officer.
And what Detective Morales spoke of when he confided in a police psychiatrist, his guilt and his shame, were only the emotional manifestations of a good conscience.
But that's what these men want you to hold against him.
His conscience.
Because in their corrupt world, a conscience is a sign of weakness.
A conscience is something that you turn off while you rob your fellow citizens and you kill good young soldiers.
On the count of murder, how do you find? We find Stanley Petracelli guilty.
On the count of conspiracy to commit murder, how do you find? We find each of the defendants guilty.
RICARDO: Lieutenant? The death penalty for Petracelli.
Twenty-five to life for the rest of the gang.
Good.
That consent form.
What if I'd told you not to sign it? I never considered that option.
These are their stories.
(CAR HONKING) (TIRES SCREECHING) You in the blue car, open the doors and step out of the vehicle.
Stone-cold dead.
The driver ditched.
Made it out of the structure before we had time to lock it down.
Anybody put eyes on him before that? Officer that clocked him running a light got a quick visual.
Male, white, black hair, age 20 to 30.
Car's registered to an Amanda Russell.
RICARDO: Looks like a match.
Blunt force to the head.
Strangulation bruises on the neck.
There's no blood on the seat or in the car.
She was probably killed somewhere else and being moved to a dump site.
TJ She's a Marine.
Winters used to say the streets of heaven are guarded by the Marines.
Well, she'll be in good company.
(SIGHING) Hell of a fight in here.
Hmm.
Looks like we got a boyfriend.
What do you think? Male, white, black hair, age 20 to 30? That's Dave Harlin.
Amanda met him on leave last summer.
When she got back from Afghanistan for good a few months ago, he moved in with her.
Any idea where we can find him? BURT: No.
He's a welder.
He fancies himself as some kind of artist.
Did Amanda ever mention problems with Dave? She thought he was a very suspicious person.
He got suspicious when she worked late.
Where did she work? East Pasadena.
The Marines got her a part-time job as a bookkeeper for the city.
She didn't like it much.
It was a long commute and it didn't pay well.
And that caused problems with Dave? Yes.
Amanda thought he was following her at night.
You know, when she was in Afghanistan, the Marines had her in a village.
She was running a construction site.
Dodging IEDs and snipers.
(SOBBING) And when she returned home, we were just so relieved because now she was safe.
Poor girl went from one war zone to another.
Coroner have a time of death? Between 10:00 p.
m.
and 2:00 a.
m.
last night.
Asphyxiation by manual strangulation.
Dave has at least one friend.
A fellow artist.
Now, if we enhance the signature on the painting, maybe the Art Theft Detail can help us locate the artist.
ARTURO: The art cops knew me? I can't even get a gallery to return my calls.
Your two graffiti busts put you on our radar.
So, about your friend Dave.
I haven't seen him.
Not since his girl got back from Afghanistan.
She was murdered yesterday.
Wow.
Ironic, right? RICARDO: Welding tools.
Oh.
Dave left those there a while ago.
Still warm.
Ironic, right? Dave? Dave, don't do it.
Don't do it.
(SOBBING) Why not? I did a terrible thing.
We're not high enough here, Dave.
The fall won't kill you.
You'll break your legs, break your back.
Spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair, peeing into a bag.
(DAVE SOBBING) I loved her so much.
I loved her so much.
I loved her so much.
Amanda and me had an argument.
She said that I was having somebody following her.
I told her that was crazy.
She got in my face about it and she called me a liar.
I didn't want to have another fight because last time the cops came.
So I left.
Where did you go? To Arturo's studio.
He had some tequila.
I was doing shots.
I got hammered.
Then what happened? I got in Arturo's car.
Around 2:00.
Um He was driving me home.
After that, it all gets fuzzy.
The next thing I remember, I woke up on the couch in the living room.
Are you saying that you blacked out? I guess so.
What did you do after you woke up? I went into the bedroom and Amanda was on the bed.
Her head was all bloody.
She wasn't moving.
I killed her.
What do you mean, you killed her? I mean, I must have done it when I came home, when I was drunk.
We must have had a fight.
So why did you move Amanda? Why didn't you just leave her on the bed? I thought I could, like, take her to the hospital or something.
Or I just didn't know what to do.
I kept saying he should turn himself in.
But I'm not his life coach.
I got my own thing to worry about.
Did he tell you what happened after he came home? He said he may have hit Amanda over the head, but he didn't remember.
I mean, he was so wasted, I had to help him to the door.
He couldn't even find his own house keys.
You helped him into the house? Pain in the ass.
It was pitch black on the porch.
I couldn't get the key into the lock.
The light next to the door wasn't on? No.
I finally figured out the bulb was unscrewed.
So I screwed it back in and got the door open.
Did you see Amanda? No.
Her bedroom door was closed.
Maybe I should have let Dave sleep it off at my place, but this guy, he snores like a 747.
"I don't remember.
" That's what my kid says when I bust him.
Well, there might be something to it this time.
This guy fought hand-to-hand with a trained Marine.
There's not a mark on him.
And there's the unscrewed porch light.
It's consistent with a break-in.
We had SID examine Amanda's front door, and there were pick marks on the lock.
Amanda thought somebody was following her, right? I didn't take it seriously.
I thought she was just being paranoid.
Did Amanda have bad blood with anyone? Old boyfriends? Marine buddies? No, her old boyfriend's fat and happy with three kids.
I met her Marine brothers, too.
They're all good guys.
What about her job in East Pasadena? Any problems there? (SIGHS) She couldn't wait to get out of her contract.
Said they had a weird way of doing things around there.
Give us an example.
Well, like, she asked me if welders and plumbers need a special license from East Pasadena to work there.
I told her you just need a license from the state.
A special license from East Pasadena? Yeah.
She said I'd have to pay the city a fine if I worked there without one.
I'd never heard of that.
I hired Amanda through the Marines' T.
A.
P.
program.
She was whip smart.
Very motivated.
A real inspiration to the whole office.
Please give our condolences to her family.
We'll do that.
Can we see her desk? Oh, sure.
This way.
What were her duties here? Bookkeeping.
Data entry.
Filing.
She was happy in her work? I think so.
We talked about moving her to full time.
She was thrilled.
We heard she was involved with trade licenses for plumbers, welders.
Doesn't sound right.
Licenses to work in the city.
She must have confused them with building permits.
Confused, Mr.
Wheeler? You just told us how whip smart she was.
I didn't say she was perfect.
This is her desk.
We put all of her personal items in the box for her family.
Drawer's empty.
It's all in the box.
What, no notepads, files? There's only what's in the box.
What's that smell, bleach? Our custodian must have cleaned the desk.
Well, do you think you could find out if there was anything else besides what's in the box? I'll ask.
They didn't just wipe the hard drive.
They took out the whole damn thing.
She was thrilled to be promoted in a job she couldn't wait to quit.
We don't service East Pasadena anymore.
Your truck says "Serving Altadena, East Pasadena and Sierra Madre.
" I know what it says, but I stay out of East Pasadena.
That's an interesting business strategy.
You care to explain? I can't talk about it.
Does it have to do with licenses for trades people? I don't want anymore trouble, okay? I already tangled with their cops.
I signed a legal paper and it's done.
What legal paper? Can we see it? Civil compromise.
That's what they called it.
And they wouldn't let me leave until I signed it.
A civil compromise issued by the Superior Court of the Southeast.
North Judicial District.
There is no such court.
It's a cover-up for a shakedown.
Amanda was suspicious of those licenses.
It could be what got her killed.
First, we need to confirm it's a scam.
We were thinking of a sting.
Come on, old man.
Pick up the pace.
Who you calling old? I can still kick your punk ass all day long.
Morning, Officer.
It's okay to park here? I need to see your contracting license.
Oh, the number's right there on the side of the truck.
Not your state license.
Your license to work in East Pasadena.
I didn't know we needed one.
We've never worked in East Pasadena before.
East Pasadena business code requires all tradesmen to be licensed to work within city limits.
Can I see some I.
D? Well, what if we just get in the truck and leave? Too late for that.
The wrecker's on the way.
I'm impounding your vehicle until you pay the fine.
Impounding? Hey, why don't we just take care of this right now? Put that away, sir.
You pay the citation at East Pasadena City Hall.
You have 30 days.
I promise.
I don't ever come back to East Pasadena.
Just give me back my mangoes.
You get your merchandise back after you pay the fine and buy a license.
But my mangoes are going to go bad.
Would you like me to call the police, sir? The station's right across the street.
Okay, okay.
I'll get the money.
Don't throw away my mangoes.
Next in line.
That's $300 for the fine, $125 for the towing.
Cash or check? Four hundred and twenty-five bucks? How many trucks does your painting business have? What difference does it make? You need a license for each truck.
Five hundred dollars each.
RICARDO: That's a nice racket.
We'd like to see the law that says you can do that, Mrs.
Foreman.
We'll mail it to you.
And you need to sign a civil compromise before we can release your vehicle.
If they're shaking down every tradesperson who sets foot in East Pasadena, we're talking serious money.
Serious as murder.
Mrs.
Foreman.
LAPD.
You're under arrest.
Oh, my God.
Hands behind your back.
What Mike! What's going on? Sir, stand back, please.
What are you doing to my wife? Please stand back.
She's under arrest.
She'll be at the LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division.
Look, she didn't do anything.
That's where she'll be, sir.
SUSAN: Mike! This isn't right.
She didn't do anything.
Extortion? My heavens, I never stole money from anybody.
CONNIE: We looked at the East Pasadena city charter.
We didn't see anything about license requirements or code violations.
I don't know anything about that.
I just do what they tell me.
Who tells you? My boss, the city controller, Mr.
Wheeler.
Don Wheeler.
Also Amanda Russell's boss.
Did you ever have any contact with Amanda? I think I spoke to her only once, a few weeks ago.
When Don's regular girl was out.
She was processing code enforcement fines.
Like the ones we paid? Yes.
Don's girl usually does them.
Miss Russell asked me what they were for and why there were so many.
She got very testy.
So, I called Don and told him.
And what did he have to say about that? He said not to worry.
That he'd have a talk with her.
That was the end of it.
I don't make a dime on those code citations.
But I got stats to keep up.
Stats? You mean quotas? I mean stats.
Like singles, doubles.
What's a single? A single is, like, citing a Mexican for selling fruit at a stop light without a license.
Impounding a vehicle, like with you guys, that was a triple.
What's a homerun, knocking over an old lady for her bingo money? Not funny.
I don't keep up my stats, I get laid off.
Who makes up the rules to this game? Our boss, Lieutenant Petracelli.
Told us what codes to enforce, what the fines were.
I just follow my orders.
These two are just the bag men.
Wheeler and this Lieutenant Petracelli must be running the scam.
And using the East Pasadena city treasury to launder the take.
I'll call Dekker, start issuing subpoenas.
Miss Rubirosa, they're probably already shredding papers and wiping the hard drives.
I'd take them down now.
Let's warrant up.
We have an arrest warrant for Controller Wheeler.
We were told he was in there.
Sorry, there's a City Council meeting going on right now.
Can't go in there until they're done.
(DOOR OPENING) Hurry! Hurry! He has a gun.
There's a man in there with a gun.
He told all the women to get out.
RICARDO: How many people in there now? The mayor, the councilmen.
Maybe 10? Yeah.
Call for back up.
This door's locked.
Is there another way in? There's a door from the left side hallway, and there's a fire exit at the front of the room, far right corner.
I'll take the side door.
You take the fire exit.
Officer Cortina at the Council room post.
I need back up immediately.
I'm at the fire exit.
MAN: Damn you! Damn you, you I can get inside the room.
I'm at the side door.
It's not locked.
No, you hold.
I'm going in.
MAN: You think it doesn't matter, nobody else has a family? Who the hell do you think you are? You're a bunch of crooks! Don't do this.
Please.
Male, white, with a.
45.
Twenty feet from your door.
It's the husband of the woman we arrested.
You enter, distract him.
I'll take him.
Check.
You.
Wheeler.
Susan told you about that girl.
And now, you got Susan involved in a murder.
No.
No, Mike.
The boyfriend killed that girl.
He was drunk.
RICARDO: TJ, where are you? Listen to Don.
That girl was strangled in her bed by her boyfriend.
You're the biggest thug in this whole damn place.
RICARDO: Come on.
You're going to be the first to go.
TJ, now.
No! Mike! MAN: Oh, my God.
Let's get the civilians out of here.
Mayor first.
COP: Lieutenant Petracelli, there's another man down.
It's Don Wheeler, Lieutenant.
I guess you won't be needing that arrest warrant anymore.
Detective Jaruszalski came through the side door.
He distracted the suspect, and this allowed me to fire off three rounds.
Was the bystander, Mr.
Wheeler, in the line of fire? Not in my line of fire.
I had a clear shot at the suspect.
You doing okay? Yeah.
We're going to need your weapon.
What's your take on the bystander? OIS DETECTIVE: It could be a round from the gunman.
Could be a ricochet, but we'll let you know.
Or it could be convenient collateral damage.
Everything squared away? Yeah.
Before Susan's husband was shot, he had a lot to say about the City Council.
The mayor especially.
I'm a very lucky man.
Very lucky.
Mike Foreman just went crazy.
What did he say before he was shot? (SIGHS) He was upset about his wife.
He wasn't coherent.
Did it have to do with her arrest? Honestly? I was just staring at the gun in his hand and thinking about my kids.
Did he say anything directly to you? Me? No.
Nothing about you being a thug? No.
Mike Foreman used to work for the city.
He was fired for cause.
He was angry then.
He stayed angry.
Mike wasn't fired.
He quit.
Why would the mayor lie? (SCOFFS) We realize you may be afraid.
But these people are making your husband out to be some kind of crazy person.
He wasn't like that.
He was decent.
He worked 22 years for the Parks Department.
He quit because he didn't like how everything changed.
Changed how? It started after Velman became mayor.
They told Mike he had to hire the mayor's friends.
But the worst was the money they stole from the children.
How did they do that? The state told the city they had to fix the playgrounds.
Mike found out that the construction company gave half the money to Velman.
He told me they used cheap materials in the new playgrounds.
A kickback.
Did your husband tell anyone about this? He went to the City Council.
They told him he had to keep his mouth shut or they'd fire him and take away his pension.
And they said they'd do the same to me.
So Mike quit.
He said it would be hard to prove because the money was paid to the city treasury.
You ask Ava Ruiz.
She knows.
She's the city treasurer.
Yeah, I got held up once at my real job.
But, uh, I wasn't half as scared as I was the other day.
I mean, Mike Foreman looked like he was going to kill someone.
You said your real job? The big box store down the street.
I'm senior cashier.
City treasurer is my part-time job.
I wanted to ask you about the playground project two years ago.
Yes.
We had good feedback on that.
Yeah, the construction company made a payment to the city treasury.
$500,000.
Do you know what that payment was for? For the construction permit.
It was 40% of the entire budget for their job.
Is that unusual? Uh, I don't know anything about construction.
It is unusual.
It looks like a kickback.
I'm sorry.
I have to run some errands before my break ends.
Do you have any idea where the money went? To the city treasury.
To pay to run the city.
It was nice talking to you.
We'll talk again, Ms.
Ruiz.
Nice car.
A gift from your husband? I'm divorced.
It was my gift to me.
No offense, but on a cashier's salary? No, sweetie, on my city treasurer's salary.
I make 240,000 a year.
The City Council make as much.
The mayor makes four times that.
The City Council voted on it.
It's all legal.
I tried to get the minutes of the council meetings.
They said they'd mail them to me.
Don't hold your breath.
I can't see why the treasurer would lie about the numbers.
These people voted themselves huge salaries.
It's not a city government.
It's a crime syndicate.
Using their own cops as enforcers.
The OIS team report came in.
Mike Foreman was killed by the three shots fired by Detective Morales.
Don Wheeler was killed by a round fired by Lieutenant Petracelli.
And what does Petracelli say? Wheeler got in his line of fire.
He's either a liar or he's the worst shot west of the Mississippi.
He shot Wheeler intentionally.
To shut him up.
Wheeler was involved in Amanda's murder.
Before the shooting, the mayor and Wheeler both said that Amanda was found strangled in her bed.
That was not in the papers.
Only the killer and his accomplices would have known that.
The killer, Petracelli.
Do we know where he was the night of the murder? He was off duty.
But at 1:55 a.
m.
, he made a call from his cell phone.
The relay towers put him traveling away from Amanda's home.
The call was to the main number of the East Pasadena City Hall.
So we need the exact extension that phone call went to.
JONAH: Hey, Ric? You should know, if it wasn't for you and your partner, a lot more lives would have been lost in the council chamber.
Everybody's proud of you.
Even Hardin.
Thanks, Joe.
DYLAN: I just need the date, time and incoming number.
Then I can track the call from the main number to a specific extension.
It's right here on the warrant.
Is it true the mayor's making almost a million a year from the city? That's what we're told.
Why? How much do you make? Twelve eighty-five an hour plus benefits.
I do more work in a day than that fat ass does all year.
I got it.
1:55 a.
m.
That call went to extension 33.
That's the City Council room.
Was there a Council meeting that late? No.
But I remember them being in there late.
Uh, Don Wheeler, Mayor Velman, the deputy mayor, and Councilman Jalanek.
They were probably waiting for Petracelli to call and tell them that their Amanda Russell problem was solved.
No, their problems were just beginning.
(PEOPLE CLAMORING) MAN: Eat this, Velman! (GRUNTS) Look at this.
You had to drag me out here? Yeah, well, enjoy the tomato, Mr.
Mayor.
It's the last fresh fruit you're going to see for a while.
Mike Foreman pointed his gun at Velman and Wheeler and accused them both of being involved in Amanda's murder.
Wheeler said she was killed by her boyfriend, and Velman said she was strangled in her bed.
Who else was in the room when they made these statements? The other councilmen.
All of whom have refused to cooperate.
Where was TJ during this? TJ? In the hallway.
I was waiting for him to come through the side door.
Bottom line is, you're our only viable witness.
We have the lock-picking tools found in Petracelli's car.
But these statements are the guts of our murder case.
The defense will go after them.
Yeah, I know all their tricks, Joe.
Then they'll go after you.
Anything we need to worry about? Well, I saw the police department shrink.
That's standard OIS protocol.
No red flags? I mentioned that I shot a suspect in the line of duty was still a patrolman.
They'll paint you as a cowboy.
Old school LAPD.
No, I can handle whatever they throw at me.
It's on.
(SIGHS) Any statement made by Mr.
Wheeler or Mayor Velman is hearsay, and should be precluded.
The statements are admissible under the excited utterance exception to the hearsay rule.
They were being threatened by a madman with a gun.
They would have said the moon was made out of cheese if it would have saved their lives.
Because they were under immediate threat, it is unlikely that they would have uttered premeditated lies.
Let the jury decide their probative value.
I agree.
I'm not going to preclude Detective Morales' testimony about the statements.
In that case, Your Honor, we move for disclosure of Detective Morales' psychiatric evaluation following his shooting of Mike Foreman.
That report's privileged.
The point of the evaluation is to help officers cope with the stress of a line of duty shooting.
They should be able to speak freely to a therapist without the fear of a defense attorney looking over their shoulder.
Mr.
Byron, as I see it, the report is subject to doctor-patient privilege.
You're not getting it.
Unless the patient consents.
If Mr.
Dekker and the LAPD truly have nothing to hide here, they'll prevail on Morales to release the report.
If they truly have nothing to hide.
JUDGE BENASKl: Mr.
Byron, address your comments to me.
To make it perfectly clear, lacking Detective Morales's consent, the report is out.
I'll see you all at trial.
That's one motion you're going to wish you had lost.
I'm not asking him.
It would set a bad precedent for every cop in the city.
BURT: They're saying this case is a joke.
That Detective Morales is some psycho.
It's just a lawyer spinning facts.
It's not just a lawyer.
It's the news, on the radio.
They're all saying the police are hiding something.
Mr.
and Mrs.
Russell, you shouldn't be worrying about all of this.
BURT: Look, Amanda served her country.
She risked her life while these scumbag politicians lined their pockets.
I assure you.
The District Attorney is doing what he needs to do to get justice for your daughter.
I know this is difficult.
But all this noise, you're just going to have to shut it out.
The department's catching a lot of flak over this psychiatric report.
The Police Commission's asking questions, and I don't know what to say to them.
They're pushing for a fitness review.
Chief, didn't the psychiatrist say that Detective Morales was fit for duty? That might not satisfy them.
Detective, is there anything in this report we should be concerned about? Anything detrimental to the case? Absolutely not.
Well, then stop the speculation.
Give them the report.
Can anybody here guarantee that once I sign the consent form, my report won't be all over the internet? Well, then, I'm sorry.
I'm not signing.
Detective, regardless of what happens to the case, there will always be a question mark over your name.
(SIGHS) He's stubborn.
Whoever talked me into taking him back? That would be me.
Everything okay? A-1-A.
So, the big powwow about your shrink report? The jungle drums were beating.
Chief wants me to waive confidentiality.
And? What, did you tell the shrink you were a late bed wetter? No.
Not about me.
Take a walk with me.
The conversation I had with the shrink covered a lot of bases.
Anything to do with me, I can handle, but one of the bases was you.
I'm listening.
We explored why you balked coming through the doors in the Council room.
(SIGHS) It went through my head that you'd just lost a partner to violence.
You think I don't have your back.
You've become like an uncle to Rex's kids.
Maybe more than that now.
Casey's leaned on you to help her through this.
You've been there for them.
I commend you for it.
It's what you had to do.
But it occurred to me that they were on your mind that day, outside the Council room.
And that maybe you didn't want to put them through that again.
Anyway, it's all here, buried in a bunch of psycho-babble.
I'm not signing anything unless you're okay with it.
I didn't see anything here that wasn't true.
Sign the damn waiver.
This isn't going to help matters.
Never mind the material about your partner.
The things you say about your line of duty shooting 20 years ago? That's going to be a problem.
I can handle the cross examination.
I'm glad you're so confident.
But if your credibility takes a hit You will fix it in your summation.
Yeah.
Thanks.
Not to put pressure on you, Joe.
I just wish you had talked to me before signing that consent.
I talked to who I had to.
(SIGHS) RICARDO: Don Wheeler told Mr.
Foreman, "No, Mike, the boyfriend killed that girl.
He was drunk.
" When Mr.
Foreman pointed his gun at Mr.
Velman, Mr.
Velman said, "Listen to Don.
"The girl was strangled in her bed by her boyfriend.
" And what happened then? My partner came through the side door, creating a diversion, which allowed me to shoot and kill Mr.
Foreman.
Following the shooting, what did you make of Mr.
Wheeler and Mr.
Velman's statements? That they had information on the manner of death, the strangulation of the victim in her own bed, which could only have been known by the killer.
Well, what facts did you uncover to explain how they came to this information? A cell phone record showed that, soon after the murder, when he was a mile away from the victim's house, Mr.
Petracelli made a call to the Council room of East Pasadena City Hall.
As a detective, what conclusion did you draw from these facts? That Mr.
Petracelli had murdered Amanda Russell and was calling his accomplices to give them a full report.
Thank you.
No more questions.
BYRON: Beside my clients, who else was in the Council room when Mr.
Velman and Mr.
Wheeler allegedly made these statements? Besides your clients? Uh, Mr.
Wheeler Who's now dead.
Mike Foreman.
Also dead.
And four other city councilmen.
None of whom, I point out, have corroborated your testimony.
What about your partner? He wasn't in the room.
He couldn't hear.
Of course.
So all the possible witnesses to these alleged statements are either dead, silent or deaf.
All except you.
I have no reason to lie.
Well, we'll see about that.
You didn't mention these alleged statements to the psychiatrist who evaluated you after you shot Mike Foreman, did you? I was there to discuss my state of mind, not a murder case.
But you did talk about another line of duty shooting 20 years ago.
Yes.
I shot and killed a drug dealer.
A 17-year-old crack dealer who got the drop on your partner? You saved your partner's life.
You were a hero.
If you say so.
In fact, according to the psychiatrist, that shooting was a big factor in your promotion to detective.
I don't know that for a fact, but I suspected it.
How did you feel about that? You read the psych report.
You know I had mixed feelings about it.
You told the psychiatrist that you still felt guilt about it.
Even shame that your success was built on the shoulders of a dead man.
Well, I wouldn't be human if I didn't feel guilt about killing a man.
Like Mike Foreman.
Even though it saved many lives, you feel some guilt about killing him? Yes.
You told the psychiatrist, "Mike Foreman was just a poor sap who cracked "because he couldn't protect his family "from the corruption around him.
"In fact, if we hadn't arrested his wife, "I doubt he would have ended up in City Hall waving a gun.
" Your words, Detective? Yes.
Not only do you feel guilt about shooting him, you feel responsible for pushing him over the edge in the first place.
That's a lot of baggage to carry.
Isn't that what the psychiatrist said? Words to that effect, yes.
Didn't the psychiatrist warn you that your guilt might manifest itself in inappropriate behavior, like drinking? Yes, he said that.
Sudden rages? Sleeplessness? Yes, all that.
What about creating false and self-serving memories to make yourself feel better about what happened? He mentioned that, didn't he? Okay, I know where you're going with this.
Isn't it possible that, in trying to ease your guilt over this shooting, to give Mike Foreman's death some meaning, you created a memory where he provoked Mr.
Velman and Mr.
Wheeler into making incriminating statements? No.
Statements that would allow you to crack the case and punish the bad guys? Objection.
Asked and answered.
And allow you to sleep better at night, knowing that you didn't shoot this poor sap in vain? Isn't that possible? Your Honor, there is an objection waiting for your ruling.
Your Honor, I'd like to change my answer.
JUDGE BENASKl: Then the objection is overruled.
Go ahead, Detective.
In his report, the psychiatrist said I was fit to return to duty.
One of his reasons was that I did not resort to the behaviors you mentioned.
Detective But beyond that, as a police officer and a former prosecutor, committing perjury would violate every single oath I have ever taken, and would make me feel worse than you could even imagine.
The idea that I would make myself feel better about a justifiable shooting by lying is absurd.
Oh, and the short answer to your question? Yes, it's possible that I created a false memory.
But no.
I did not.
BYRON: There's lying.
And then there's convincing yourself that a false memory is so real that you stop recognizing it as a lie.
You heard Detective Morales.
He admitted that it's possible that the alleged statements are pure invention.
Possible that the evidence at the heart of the prosecution's murder case is a complete fabrication of his guilt-ridden mind.
When a witness says that about his own testimony, you pay attention.
You pay attention because that is reasonable doubt.
Amanda Russell represented the best of America.
She served with honor under harsh conditions.
But when she came home, she found herself surrounded by the worst of America.
These men, corrupt civil servants who gorged themselves on the public trough.
Who, like cancer, feasted on the nation Amanda risked her life defending.
And when this good soldier, this good Marine, began to unravel their corruption, they sent this man, Petracelli, to kill her.
Now they seek to destroy another good soldier.
Someone who, like thousands of his fellow officers, risks his life every day, to protect and serve this community.
Who even put his own life on the line for these defendants.
They now seek to destroy it by turning his own brutal honesty against him.
We ask our police officers to protect us.
To sacrifice for us.
To kill in our name.
And the grim truth is, the truth that we don't like to admit, is that every killing, no matter how justified, takes its toll on that officer.
And what Detective Morales spoke of when he confided in a police psychiatrist, his guilt and his shame, were only the emotional manifestations of a good conscience.
But that's what these men want you to hold against him.
His conscience.
Because in their corrupt world, a conscience is a sign of weakness.
A conscience is something that you turn off while you rob your fellow citizens and you kill good young soldiers.
On the count of murder, how do you find? We find Stanley Petracelli guilty.
On the count of conspiracy to commit murder, how do you find? We find each of the defendants guilty.
RICARDO: Lieutenant? The death penalty for Petracelli.
Twenty-five to life for the rest of the gang.
Good.
That consent form.
What if I'd told you not to sign it? I never considered that option.