Law & Order: Los Angeles (2010) s01e19 Episode Script
Carthay Circle
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.
(POP SONG PLAYING ON CAR RADIO) Hey, Kim.
Raccoon's been at it again.
Been like that since this morning.
Sorry.
I'll tell Derrick.
We'll clean it up.
You know, you've really got to keep the lids on tight.
Got it.
Thanks.
(LAWNMOWER WHIRRING) Got to be kidding me.
(CHATTERING ON TV) Derrick.
Kim! Oh, jeez.
Neighbor ID'd the victim as Kim Lee.
She lives here with her boyfriend Derrick Joyner.
Said she got home just after 5:00.
Where's Mr.
Joyner right now? Nobody's seen him.
Multiple stab wounds.
Courtesy of the French chef's knife.
Looks like she got clocked over the head.
"Derrick Joyner, "Project Manager, Corrigan Strategy Group.
" Receipt for his Audi dated today.
So he was here.
And now he's not.
So much for domestic bliss.
Hey, it's Jaruszalski.
I need a BOLO out on a Derrick Joyner, male, African American.
(CELL PHONE RINGING) Registered owner of an Audi A6.
Plate number He lives Dad.
Hold on.
Hello.
Is this Mr.
Lee? Mr.
Lee, this is Detective Rex Winters of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Sir, I need to speak to you in person about your daughter Kim.
No, sir.
We can talk about that in person when we see you.
Derrick did this to our daughter? You know this? No, sir, we don't.
Right now we just need to talk to him.
Do you know where he might go, his friends, family? We don't know his friends.
He's from Chicago.
My sister started dating him last year.
Derrick is a very bad man.
Why do you say he's bad, Mrs.
Lee? He kill my daughter.
(SOBBING) Miss, can we speak to you for a moment? Did Kim talk to you about Derrick? Kim was very happy.
Derrick was lovely to her, around me at least.
But your parents have a problem with him because he's black.
My parents are very traditional.
And Kim was not.
She wanted to make her own way.
She was a graphic designer.
She did the logo for the clinic.
See? She was so talented.
One more thing.
We found car keys in your sister's purse, but there's no car registered under her name.
She leased it through Dad's practice.
Okay, we're gonna need to get the plate number.
Derrick's car's in the shop.
We think he might have taken your sister's.
I'll get it for you.
I had a slow morning, so I took a twirl around the lot checking the plates and there it was.
Nice work, Whitman.
I got a parking lot ticket.
It came in at 6:14 last night.
What are the odds Derrick dumped the car outside of Union Station just to mess with us? Feelin' lucky? Derrick Joyner paid cash for a one-way ticket to San Diego on the Pacific Surfliner last night.
Train left at 6:30 p.
m.
With Joyner on board.
The conductor punched his ticket the train left the station.
He had to show ID to buy the ticket and ID to get on the train.
You got alerts on his plastic? And we got a trace on his cell phone.
I checked Joyner's phone records.
The only calls to the San Diego area are to a branch office of his employer, Corrigan Strategy.
Maybe Joyner found someone there to help him.
Mom.
It's time.
I'll be right there.
Lunch and then a tour of the shooting range, again.
I love "take your kid to work" week.
He's not sold on the cop gig.
Wants to be a professional snowboarder.
Being a cop is safer.
I keep saying! Talk to Joyner's boss.
REX: Anybody on this phone list Derrick's close to? Not that I know for sure, but the work can be fairly intense.
My company helps get political initiatives on the state ballot.
Oh.
What initiative was Joyner working on? He was project manager on Prop 128.
Oh, the California Marriage Protection Act, the Prop 8 reboot.
I'm up on current events.
Derrick was working out of the Crenshaw field office.
I mean, that's where he was yesterday.
He set up phone banks, coordinated the people gathering signatures statewide.
So, a lot of traveling, and I noticed a lot of ladies on this list.
Derrick have a rep? In the four years he worked for me, sure.
I heard things.
Why not? He's a handsome guy, single.
Anybody he might reach out to for assistance or money? He's got family back in Chicago.
And he has a company credit card.
Should I cancel it? No.
No.
These hired guns kill me.
One year they help pass a prop to save the whales, the next year they help ban gay marriage.
Where's the consistency? What's inconsistent? It's not like they're keeping whales from getting married.
Say they get Prop 128 on the ballot.
How are you gonna vote? Uh-uh.
Religion, politics, and my dad's drinking, three things we never discussed in my family.
Oh, come on! Hey, we got him.
Garden Grove police arrested someone this morning using Joyner's card, a black male.
REX: Okay, Mr.
P-Dawg.
How'd you come by using a credit card belonging to Derrick Joyner? There was a dumpster on Euclid.
Wallet was in there.
Cards were inside.
Now, why y'all making a big deal outta this? Y'all know prison too crowded to be wastin' space on me for charging on stolen plastic.
The math changes when the card belongs to a murder suspect.
Murder? You ever see this man? I never seen that brother, and I don't know nothin' about a murder.
The dumpster, it was behind a Yum-Yum Donuts, okay? I was lookin' to see if they threw out any jellies.
You said you found the whole wallet.
What was in it? Everything.
Family photos.
Driver's license.
Like, everything.
Even cash.
Say he got off the train at Fullerton or Anaheim.
Still doesn't make any sense why he'd get rid of his whole wallet.
Certainly not the cash.
This man-on-the-run thing isn't tracking.
SID processed Kim's car.
No blood.
But check this out.
The debris on the floor of the driver's side, a mixture of dirt, rodent excrement, and fiberglass insulation.
Last summer we had a family of possums living under the house.
I had to go into the crawlspace Let me guess-dirt, rat turds, and insulation.
(GROANS) Derrick Joyner.
All this time.
The only part of him on the run was his wallet.
Joyner was beaten, then strangled.
SID found his blood in the kitchen.
It was overlaid with his girlfriend's blood.
Meaning he was killed first.
She probably walked in on him.
Well, the perp killed her, stashed Joyner's body, then staged the fugitive routine to make it look like a domestic.
Joyner was still in his business suit.
The killer must have been waiting for him when he got home.
So Joyner was the target.
Who and why? His boss suggested he's a ladies' man.
Maybe a jealous husband or boyfriend? We found a taxi receipt in Joyner's pocket, His car was in the shop.
He took a cab home.
If somebody was waiting for him, maybe the cab driver saw something.
MILOS: Right here.
Here in my book.
It was a radio call to pick up a Mr.
Joyner at an office on Crenshaw.
That's him.
Uh, I dropped him off on Moore, and then I waited until my next radio call.
How long was that? A few minutes.
Then the sprinklers went off on the curb.
I had my windows down.
I had to mop off the seats.
Did you see anyone talk to Joyner or go up to his house? Uh, yeah, sure.
There was a black guy parked a few cars behind.
He went up to the house.
I didn't see him go in.
REX: Can you describe him? A black guy.
If I knew I was supposed to remember him, I would have had a better look.
Anyway, I had to roll to my next call.
Okay, thanks.
We may need to talk to you again.
Joyner left work early.
If the killer was waiting for him, maybe someone tipped him off.
Someone at Joyner's work.
I called the cab for Derrick.
He said he wanted to work from home.
Anyone else know he was leaving early? Everybody knew.
With Derrick leaving, I had to reschedule three meetings.
We need a list of everyone you called.
Of course.
Everyone here is praying that you find who did this.
Do you know of anyone who maybe isn't praying so hard? I can't imagine anyone here who would do such a thing.
While you wait, maybe you'd like to sign the petition to get this on the ballot.
We'll think about it.
Oh, I'm sorry, I Only rescheduled two meetings.
One had already been canceled at the last minute.
Last minute? Why was that? The person running the meeting, Roland Davison, had a family emergency.
Mr.
Davison worked with Mr.
Joyner? Yes.
Roland's co-sponsor of Prop 128.
His father is Reverend Davison.
Prop 128 is the Reverend's baby.
The church is behind 128.
We pray for gay people.
But marriage is marriage.
Right.
It's odd, isn't it, Mr.
Davison and Mr.
Joyner both being out of the office unexpectedly? I guess so.
They get along? Mr.
Davison seems like a true believer in Prop 128 while Mr.
Joyner was just a hired gun.
Politics is hard-nosed.
Everybody yells sometimes.
Who was doing the yelling that day? When I heard that Derrick was wanted for murder, I didn't believe it.
And then when he was found, it was incomprehensible.
You work closely with Mr.
Joyner? Well, for the last year.
We got Prop 128 on the ballot.
We gathered nearly The county recorders have them.
The names are being certified.
The first big step, and Derrick won't be here to see it done.
You saw him the day he died.
At the Crenshaw office.
I'm sure you heard that we bumped heads that morning.
We did hear that.
Well, as a secular person, Derrick would sometimes suggest strategies that wouldn't reflect well on my father's church.
But, uh, we smoothed things out.
How smoothly did the rest of the day go? Oh, I, uh, I had a little emergency at home.
My three-year-old had a fever.
How about between Um We're asking everybody.
No, that's all right.
Um I was fighting my way to Bellflower for a fundraising dinner at the Promise Women's Shelter.
I got there around 7:00.
In time to hear my father give the blessing.
What time did you leave? getting up in age.
He likes to get to bed early now.
Is there something you'd like to add, Mr.
Davison? I probably should have told you this before, but Derrick came to me for counseling.
That's part of my ministry.
Derrick had issues with monogamy.
He loved his girlfriend Kim, but God help him, he had an eye for the ladies, including married ones.
I guess his ministry includes sticking it to dead men.
His alibi for the time of the murders is pretty thin.
But even if he got off the train in Fullerton, it's not exactly a hop and a skip back to Bellflower in rush hour.
I wouldn't count him out just yet.
Look at this.
Looks like Roland's car was hit by a sprinkler.
Same as the cab that dropped Derrick off.
Let's kick the tires on Roland's alibi, see how it holds up.
Roland and Reverend Davison were both here for dinner.
What time did the Reverend give the blessing? Just after 7:30.
He was waiting for Roland to get here, but Roland called and told him to go ahead.
He was stuck in traffic.
What time did Roland show up? Uh, closer to How'd he seem when he got here? Fine.
I have some calls to make.
Miss, we understand Mr.
Davison and his church support your center, but They are the only reason we exist.
They bring in more money than all your Westside liberals.
The Davisons aren't just passing through.
They're lifers.
Excuse me.
Who designed your poster? Roland Davison got some high-end design firm to do it for us for free.
Roland knows how to get things done.
Now, I really have to make these calls.
The signature.
Same as the pamphlet in the dental clinic.
Kim Lee.
MIN: Kim told me she did some work for a charity.
She'd take on anything.
She didn't care about the money.
REX: Did she know Roland Davison? She met him through Derrick.
He's the one that got her to do this.
REX: And there was nothing else to their relationship other than that.
What do you mean? We found phone calls to her from Roland.
Four of them the two days before she was killed, including a 20-minute call.
You're misunderstanding.
Kim and I went to Roland Davison's church a couple of times for gospel mass, that's all.
I'm sure they were just talking about church and faith.
You're sure about Kim and Roland.
There was nothing else goin' on.
I knew my sister.
The only thing she shared with Roland was religion.
Most people wear a cross as a fashion statement.
Kim wore hers as a sign of devotion.
We saw.
She was wearing it when we found her.
She was? I thought you said she was killed right when she came home.
That's what we think.
Why? She went to the Korean spa that afternoon.
She never took her jewelry there.
She was afraid it'd get stolen.
Where'd she keep it when she wasn't wearing it? A box on top of her dresser.
A heart-shaped box.
My parents gave it to her when she was 14.
(SINGING HYMN) Sorry to interrupt.
Really.
The choir sounds great.
Well, how can I help you? You mentioned counseling Derrick.
Any of those sessions occur at his home? No.
We would meet at his office.
So you've never been to his home.
That's right.
That's funny.
'Cause your fingerprints have.
You left a set on a jewelry box.
Put your hands behind your back.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Wait a minute.
What do you think you're doing with my son? I'm arresting him for murder.
Two murders.
REX: Let's go.
Cheer up.
Maybe they'll sing Gather At The River for you.
Roland is a good husband, a good father, and a good son.
Your son murdered two people, Reverend.
You don't have the evidence to back that up.
My church is a pillar of the black community, and Roland is my pillar.
Don't pick a fight with me, Jerry.
Not in an election year.
There's only one way your people vote, Bill.
It's not Republican.
They can always stay home.
If they stay home, they can't vote for 128.
You've put a lot of time and a lot of money into that one.
People say you can't have your cake and eat it too.
People are wrong.
The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice.
Neither is letting your son walk.
Your dog is showing a lot of teeth quoting Dr.
King to me.
Life is long, Bill.
And it's a small town.
That was totally unnecessary.
You enjoyed it.
The arrogance of the man.
Using his pulpit to oppress a minority.
EVELYN: You just don't get it.
Gay marriage is a huge issue in black churches.
And a great way to get people to open their checkbooks.
That's a cheap shot.
The Reverend's right about two things.
Your case is thin.
You have no motive.
We're working on it.
What's the second thing the Reverend's right about? He has 20,000 parishioners.
When he speaks, they vote.
On the basis of the presence of the defendant's fingerprints in the victim's bedroom, of his prior statements that he had never visited the victim's home, the people have established probable cause to proceed to trial.
Your Honor, this so-called evidence can be explained away simply.
Well, we look forward to his explanation.
So do I.
Go ahead, Mr.
Miller.
The defense would like to stipulate that Mr.
Davison was having an affair with the victim, Kim Lee.
My client met her at her home a week before she was murdered.
That's how his fingerprints got on the jewelry box.
Besides the fact that we don't believe there was an affair, except perhaps in Mr.
Davison's mind, his proposed stipulation does not mitigate the other evidence.
Alibi inconsistencies hardly constitute conclusive evidence.
I'm inclined to agree, Mr.
Morales.
The fingerprint is your case, and he's got an explanation for it.
Your Honor, since Mr.
Miller chose to ambush us with his stipulation instead of giving the proper notice, the People would like to withdraw the charges under 1382 and reserve the right to re-file later.
So granted, Mr.
Morales.
The charges are withdrawn, and the defendant is released from custody.
He tanned your hide.
There are a dozen ways to attack our case.
Partial fingerprints, his alibi.
Why destroy Roland's reputation by publicly admitting an affair? Because it's true? Well, even so, there were better ways to tan our hide, ones that don't provide us with motive.
Maybe the only reason to offer up with the affair is because the murder was about something else entirely.
Top three motives for murder, love, money, revenge.
They fessed up to love.
That leaves money and revenge.
According to the news, over 80 million bucks is being spent to get Prop 128 on the ballot.
A lot of that's being funneled through church groups like Roland Davison's.
And we checked his financials.
So have state auditors.
He lives well enough off his church salary.
What about Joyner? Maybe he and Davison were embezzling together.
No record of that in his bank accounts.
Maybe he's a spender.
Vacation home, fancy car.
You might have just said the magic word, Price, car.
The one place we haven't looked.
Oh, that's right.
It's in the shop.
Check this out.
It's a signature sheet for Prop 128 from the Culver City area.
Names, addresses, about a dozen highlighted.
What do you think? Nothing.
Except it was hidden in the car of a guy who was beaten to death and stuffed in a crawlspace.
Af Afternoon, ma'am.
LAPD.
Oh.
Look at this.
Looking for Trevor Watkins.
He gave this house as his address.
No.
No Trevor here.
How long have you lived here? I moved in with my second husband, uh, You're sure about Trevor Watkins.
Sure as sure.
Eleven phony names? Well, that does happen.
People sign all kinds of crazy names on petitions.
No, these weren't crazy names, and they're real addresses.
That's interesting.
How do you verify the signatures? We check them against the voter registration rolls.
We don't actually go out and ring doorbells.
We have.
Do you mind? Just the highlighted ones.
"Trevor Watkins.
" There he is on the voter rolls.
Domicile at Not according to the people who actually live there.
Well, that is interesting.
All 11 names were on the voter roles.
It's not just the petitions that were messed with.
Somebody got into the voter registration databank.
Joyner's company's collected over 500,000 signatures for Prop 128.
We could be talking tens of thousands of phony signatures.
How much are these signatures worth? Well, Joyner's employer Corrigan Strategy charges Prop 128 sponsors $5 for every signature they collect.
Real signatures are harder to collect than phony ones.
Corrigan saves on labor, time.
Corrigan's got a nice little scam going.
REX: Not so little.
They've been involved in over 20 ballot initiatives in the last eight years.
Maybe Joyner was in on it.
Roland found out they were ripping off his church Get a search warrant for Corrigan's office and one for Prop 128's headquarters.
I gotta give Jerry a heads-up.
This is gonna give his favorite reverend a coronary.
(CROWD CHEERING) Thank you.
As a result of the tragic events of the past few weeks, I initiated an internal audit of signatures collected under the supervision of Derrick Joyner.
To my great dismay, the auditors found massive fraud.
Now, this fraud What the hell is all this? That's Corrigan.
by one man, Derrick Joyner.
The fraudulent signatures have been withdrawn, and we will begin again to gather more signatures to ensure that Prop 128 gets to where it belongs on the ballot! (CROWD CHEERING) My friends, the work will go on.
Nobody said that the righteous road is an easy one.
I see that Deputy District Attorney Morales has come here today to help us clean up this mess.
Clear a path for him now so that he and his good people can begin their important work.
(CROWD CHEERING) He owns your hide now.
The auditors have just scratched the surface of the signatures Corrigan gathered for Prop 128.
But of the ones they've examined so far, about 30% belong to registered voters who don't exist.
We think as many as are on those petitions.
(SIGHS) It doesn't stop there.
Some of the signatures have turned up on other ballot initiatives Corrigan's been involved with the last few years.
How many initiatives? Seven.
Four are now California law.
Two you actually campaigned for.
Those laws could be invalidated, and the state can be plunged into constitutional crisis.
I'm just worried about the little picture, prosecuting these two murders.
We think the fraud is the reason that Roland Davison killed Joyner and his girlfriend.
Corrigan's obviously involved.
He's the one who was profiting.
We're still sorting it out.
Do that.
I have to talk to the Attorney General.
Let's take another run at Davison.
Mr.
Corrigan's fraud goes back years, hundreds of thousands of phony signatures.
We believe this is what Derrick Joyner discovered and what made him a threat to Mr.
Corrigan and to your Prop 128 initiative.
And none of this proves that my client did anything.
It's enough to scare Mr.
Corrigan.
And we guarantee you, he will throw your client under the bus in a nanosecond.
One way or the other, your client will be tried for these murders.
Whether he faces the death penalty's up to him.
If you wanna live, time to step up.
We want Corrigan.
We're ready to deal for him.
He pleads guilty to two murders, concurrent.
Then you get Corrigan.
He actually said that with a straight face.
The terms are we drop the death penalty, he takes 30 to life.
That's the only deal you'll get, Mr.
Davison.
(BREATHING HARD) I didn't know anything about any phony signatures until Corrigan called me.
He said Joyner had found some irregularities and he threatened to report them.
Corrigan said that my father would be ruined.
Your father knew about the fraud? No.
My father staked his whole reputation on Prop 128.
Any scandal would sink him, the church, all he worked for And Corrigan said that it was left up to me to stop Joyner.
I went to his house and everything went sideways.
You killed him? (SIGHS) I lost my temper.
Then Kim walked in and I panicked.
I knocked her out.
She was unconscious and bleeding.
I didn't know what to do.
I called Corrigan.
He was 10 minutes away.
He came over.
And we, we were We were trying to decide what to do, and before I knew it he picked up a knife and he stuck it in Kim.
He killed her.
(SOBS) One lie after another from beginning to end.
Roland Davison wouldn't know the truth if it kicked him in the head.
We have enough evidence to corroborate his statement starting with the fraud.
It was all Joyner and Davison.
My client had nothing to do with it.
Joyner only worked for your client a short time.
When the jury hears this fraud's been going on for years, it's game over.
You're assuming a lot, Mr.
Morales.
Why? You know something I don't? Off-limits? When did this happen? Corrigan reached out to someone in Sacramento.
You can't spend eight years in the ballot initiative business without earning some political pull.
Well, let me get this straight.
Apart from Prop 128, I cannot present evidence that Corrigan used phony signatures on other ballot initiatives? That's right.
The investigation of those initiatives has been taken over by the Attorney General's office.
Oh, you mean buried.
I mean avoiding the Tsunami of constitutional challenges to the way the state chooses the laws we live by.
Oh.
Just that.
You know what this really means, Jerry? You and the Attorney General have just handed Corrigan a defense on a silver platter.
You're overreacting, Ricardo.
You watch.
ROLAND: Derrick kept saying he had to report it.
He said that Corrigan had been at it for years Objection.
Move to strike.
Sustained.
Mr.
Davison, limit your testimony to Prop 128.
What else happened at the house? Derrick tried to throw me out.
I grabbed him.
I had my hands around his neck.
I killed him.
Then Kim came home.
I slammed her against the wall, knocked her out.
I was scared.
All I could think about was my father, protecting my father.
I got Derrick's phone.
I called Ben Corrigan.
He came over.
RICARDO: And what did you and Mr.
Corrigan do? Corrigan said we couldn't leave a witness.
I didn't know what he meant.
And all of a sudden, he grabbed a knife and he stabbed Kim through the heart.
She was dead before I could stop him.
What did you do then? Corrigan told me to hide Derrick's body under the house then drive Kim's car to Union Station and take the San Diego train to make it look like Derrick was on the run.
Before I left, (VOICE BREAKING) I saw that Kim didn't have the cross on that she always did.
I found it in her room and I put it on her neck.
I took the train to Fullerton.
I threw away Derrick's wallet, and I met my father at a charity dinner.
(CLEARS THROAT) The call on Derrick's phone.
For all anyone knows, it could have been Derrick who made the call to discuss business with his boss.
Isn't that right? No.
I called Corrigan.
So you say.
You hoped one day to take over your father's church, correct? I did once.
But the church you would inherit had fallen on hard times, attendance was down, donations were down? That's right.
Fair to say the reason for the campaign for Prop was to rally the troops, fill the coffers? Not for my father.
He thought it was the right thing to do.
But for you, it was about the money, wasn't it? The power and the prestige of the church, that was your birthright.
No.
It was about obeying my father.
The more signatures you got on those petitions, the stronger the church would be, the stronger you would be.
That didn't matter.
Didn't it? Isn't that why you made a deal with Derrick Joyner? He delivered to you tens of thousands of bogus signatures paid for with hundreds of thousands of donated dollars.
I didn't make a deal.
Isn't it reasonable to assume that's what you argued about? Money? That is not why You think it more reasonable to take the word of a confessed murderer? I'm not I'm not lying.
You've lied before in court.
You told a judge you were having an affair with Derrick Joyner's girlfriend.
I'm sorry I lied about that.
Kim was a good person.
That may be the one true thing you've said today, Mr.
Davison.
EVELYN: You'll only testify about the specifics of your contract with Corrigan, fees, payments, that kind of thing.
What about Corrigan's lawyer? He won't play by your rules.
We'll object if he gets off-topic.
Otherwise, just tell the truth.
(SIGHS) Your parents must be very proud of you.
I wouldn't be here without their help.
Are they churchgoing folks? Yes.
Every Sunday.
Hmm.
What about you? I try my best.
You have a busy life.
It's all right.
I have but the one son and he made a plea bargain to save his life.
What if it turns out that, uh, he's lying? The deal would be off.
He'd be tried for murder and face the death penalty.
I see.
Well Good night, Miss Price.
Yes.
That's the contract I signed with Corrigan.
And what fee did you agree on? Oh, there were different fees, but it, it boiled down to $4.
65 for every valid signature he delivered.
Thank you.
Your witness.
Reverend, did your son ever tell you there was a problem with the signatures Mr.
Corrigan was gathering? No.
Did he ever tell you, "We should keep an eye on Mr.
Corrigan," or, "Maybe we shouldn't pay Mr.
Corrigan"? No.
No more questions.
You may step down.
Your Honor, Judge, (STAMMERS) I'd like to change my answers.
I have not told the whole truth.
Go on, Reverend.
A month before my son committed his crimes, I noticed an error in a petition.
There was an address that I knew.
Just six blocks from the church.
I knew the lady that lived there.
Lucy Merryweather.
She lived there her whole life.
But that wasn't the name on the petition.
I noticed other mistakes.
I told Roland.
He said he'd look into it.
And what happened? A few days later, he He told me that He'd straightened everything out with Derrick Joyner.
That it was just, uh, a clerical error.
Just a clerical error.
In other words, your son and Derrick Joyner cooked up a lie to cover their fraud.
Your Honor MOONEY: Withdrawn.
Withdrawn.
Thank you.
RICARDO: Your Honor, we're gonna need time to prepare for a redirect.
Very well.
We will adjourn until Monday morning.
No.
It's not true.
Why would he say that? He sunk you.
He told the jury you knew about the fraud weeks before you said you did.
But I didn't.
I didn't find out until later from Corrigan.
He made it sound like you and Joyner had been conspiring all along.
He played right into Corrigan's defense.
Why would he do that? Choose Corrigan over you? You tell us.
Is it possible he was in on the fraud with Corrigan from the beginning? No.
My father didn't need to phony up signatures.
Donations had been flooding in.
He said it was like a great faucet had been turned on.
All summer, money had been flowing into the church.
My father didn't need to cheat.
A great faucet.
REVEREND DAVISON: I should have said something earlier, but I did what any father would do.
I was just trying to protect my only son.
Your son testified that he only found out about the fraud two days before the murders, when Mr.
Corrigan told him.
But you testified that he knew at least a month before that.
You understand what that means, don't you? Yes.
My son lied.
The night before you testified, you asked Miss Price what would happen to your son if he lied.
You remember what she said to you? Yes.
That Roland's deal would be off.
He'd face the death penalty for murder.
RICARDO: The death penalty.
Because of your testimony the other day.
I had to tell the truth.
"Do the right thing.
" That's what you stand for.
It's what your church stands for.
I hope so.
And your church does a lot of the right things.
Like the Promise Women's Shelter.
The Lighthouse Nursery.
Yes.
Those are all of our projects.
And these projects enjoy a great deal of financial support from the community.
Uh, this donation, for example, from last summer.
$20,000 for the Promise Women's Shelter from Antoinette Dunnet.
Well, people are generous, even in hard times.
Would it surprise you to learn that Antoinette Dunnet is one of the phony names from Mr.
Corrigan's petitions? Yes, it would.
Well, how about this donation? $5,000 for the Lighthouse Nursery from Hazel McBride.
Another phony name off Mr.
Corrigan's petitions.
Well, if you say so, Mr.
Morales.
In fact, our auditors found over a thousand donations to your projects using Mr.
Corrigan's phony names totaling $1 million.
Coincidentally, the same amount that Mr.
Corrigan is accused of defrauding from the Prop 128 campaign.
Are you asking me a question? (LAUGHS) You found out a while ago that Corrigan was tricking up the petitions.
No, I did not.
But instead of reporting him and possibly sabotaging your Prop 128 campaign, you squeezed him up for a $1 million donation to your charities.
Isn't that right? No, it isn't.
And now, he's squeezing you, so you made up this story about your son and Derrick Joyner.
Isn't that right? That was a question, Reverend.
You have a very cynical view of how things are done in my church.
I'm cynical? You marched for civil rights in the '60s, did you not? Yes.
With Dr.
King.
You faced police dogs, fire hoses, beatings.
Yes.
All for the cause of human dignity.
And here in Los Angeles, you helped heal the wounds after the Watts riots, after the Rodney King riots.
You even marched with Cesar Chavez all in the cause of basic human dignity.
Yes.
But now you puff up your church.
You fill your donation plates with a campaign that would deny a whole class of people their civil rights, their basic human dignity.
And you think I'm cynical? Mr.
Morales.
Withdrawn, Judge.
Withdrawn.
Reverend, let me ask you one more question.
Do you consider yourself and your church so indispensable that you would sacrifice your own son to save it, to save your own skin? Judge Judge, I misspoke the other day.
I'm not sure anymore when or even if I spoke to my son about the mistakes on the petitions.
I'm not sure if he said anything to me about Derrick Joyner.
At my age, events become confused.
I'm sorry for wasting the jury's time.
JUDGE STAYNOR: The record will so reflect your amended testimony.
Anything more, Mr.
Morales? No, Your Honor.
I'm done.
We, the jury, find the defendant, Ben Corrigan, guilty of one count of murder in the first degree.
JUDGE STAYNOR: Thank you for your verdict.
The court will reconvene tomorrow to consider sentence.
(GAVEL BANGS)
These are their stories.
(POP SONG PLAYING ON CAR RADIO) Hey, Kim.
Raccoon's been at it again.
Been like that since this morning.
Sorry.
I'll tell Derrick.
We'll clean it up.
You know, you've really got to keep the lids on tight.
Got it.
Thanks.
(LAWNMOWER WHIRRING) Got to be kidding me.
(CHATTERING ON TV) Derrick.
Kim! Oh, jeez.
Neighbor ID'd the victim as Kim Lee.
She lives here with her boyfriend Derrick Joyner.
Said she got home just after 5:00.
Where's Mr.
Joyner right now? Nobody's seen him.
Multiple stab wounds.
Courtesy of the French chef's knife.
Looks like she got clocked over the head.
"Derrick Joyner, "Project Manager, Corrigan Strategy Group.
" Receipt for his Audi dated today.
So he was here.
And now he's not.
So much for domestic bliss.
Hey, it's Jaruszalski.
I need a BOLO out on a Derrick Joyner, male, African American.
(CELL PHONE RINGING) Registered owner of an Audi A6.
Plate number He lives Dad.
Hold on.
Hello.
Is this Mr.
Lee? Mr.
Lee, this is Detective Rex Winters of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Sir, I need to speak to you in person about your daughter Kim.
No, sir.
We can talk about that in person when we see you.
Derrick did this to our daughter? You know this? No, sir, we don't.
Right now we just need to talk to him.
Do you know where he might go, his friends, family? We don't know his friends.
He's from Chicago.
My sister started dating him last year.
Derrick is a very bad man.
Why do you say he's bad, Mrs.
Lee? He kill my daughter.
(SOBBING) Miss, can we speak to you for a moment? Did Kim talk to you about Derrick? Kim was very happy.
Derrick was lovely to her, around me at least.
But your parents have a problem with him because he's black.
My parents are very traditional.
And Kim was not.
She wanted to make her own way.
She was a graphic designer.
She did the logo for the clinic.
See? She was so talented.
One more thing.
We found car keys in your sister's purse, but there's no car registered under her name.
She leased it through Dad's practice.
Okay, we're gonna need to get the plate number.
Derrick's car's in the shop.
We think he might have taken your sister's.
I'll get it for you.
I had a slow morning, so I took a twirl around the lot checking the plates and there it was.
Nice work, Whitman.
I got a parking lot ticket.
It came in at 6:14 last night.
What are the odds Derrick dumped the car outside of Union Station just to mess with us? Feelin' lucky? Derrick Joyner paid cash for a one-way ticket to San Diego on the Pacific Surfliner last night.
Train left at 6:30 p.
m.
With Joyner on board.
The conductor punched his ticket the train left the station.
He had to show ID to buy the ticket and ID to get on the train.
You got alerts on his plastic? And we got a trace on his cell phone.
I checked Joyner's phone records.
The only calls to the San Diego area are to a branch office of his employer, Corrigan Strategy.
Maybe Joyner found someone there to help him.
Mom.
It's time.
I'll be right there.
Lunch and then a tour of the shooting range, again.
I love "take your kid to work" week.
He's not sold on the cop gig.
Wants to be a professional snowboarder.
Being a cop is safer.
I keep saying! Talk to Joyner's boss.
REX: Anybody on this phone list Derrick's close to? Not that I know for sure, but the work can be fairly intense.
My company helps get political initiatives on the state ballot.
Oh.
What initiative was Joyner working on? He was project manager on Prop 128.
Oh, the California Marriage Protection Act, the Prop 8 reboot.
I'm up on current events.
Derrick was working out of the Crenshaw field office.
I mean, that's where he was yesterday.
He set up phone banks, coordinated the people gathering signatures statewide.
So, a lot of traveling, and I noticed a lot of ladies on this list.
Derrick have a rep? In the four years he worked for me, sure.
I heard things.
Why not? He's a handsome guy, single.
Anybody he might reach out to for assistance or money? He's got family back in Chicago.
And he has a company credit card.
Should I cancel it? No.
No.
These hired guns kill me.
One year they help pass a prop to save the whales, the next year they help ban gay marriage.
Where's the consistency? What's inconsistent? It's not like they're keeping whales from getting married.
Say they get Prop 128 on the ballot.
How are you gonna vote? Uh-uh.
Religion, politics, and my dad's drinking, three things we never discussed in my family.
Oh, come on! Hey, we got him.
Garden Grove police arrested someone this morning using Joyner's card, a black male.
REX: Okay, Mr.
P-Dawg.
How'd you come by using a credit card belonging to Derrick Joyner? There was a dumpster on Euclid.
Wallet was in there.
Cards were inside.
Now, why y'all making a big deal outta this? Y'all know prison too crowded to be wastin' space on me for charging on stolen plastic.
The math changes when the card belongs to a murder suspect.
Murder? You ever see this man? I never seen that brother, and I don't know nothin' about a murder.
The dumpster, it was behind a Yum-Yum Donuts, okay? I was lookin' to see if they threw out any jellies.
You said you found the whole wallet.
What was in it? Everything.
Family photos.
Driver's license.
Like, everything.
Even cash.
Say he got off the train at Fullerton or Anaheim.
Still doesn't make any sense why he'd get rid of his whole wallet.
Certainly not the cash.
This man-on-the-run thing isn't tracking.
SID processed Kim's car.
No blood.
But check this out.
The debris on the floor of the driver's side, a mixture of dirt, rodent excrement, and fiberglass insulation.
Last summer we had a family of possums living under the house.
I had to go into the crawlspace Let me guess-dirt, rat turds, and insulation.
(GROANS) Derrick Joyner.
All this time.
The only part of him on the run was his wallet.
Joyner was beaten, then strangled.
SID found his blood in the kitchen.
It was overlaid with his girlfriend's blood.
Meaning he was killed first.
She probably walked in on him.
Well, the perp killed her, stashed Joyner's body, then staged the fugitive routine to make it look like a domestic.
Joyner was still in his business suit.
The killer must have been waiting for him when he got home.
So Joyner was the target.
Who and why? His boss suggested he's a ladies' man.
Maybe a jealous husband or boyfriend? We found a taxi receipt in Joyner's pocket, His car was in the shop.
He took a cab home.
If somebody was waiting for him, maybe the cab driver saw something.
MILOS: Right here.
Here in my book.
It was a radio call to pick up a Mr.
Joyner at an office on Crenshaw.
That's him.
Uh, I dropped him off on Moore, and then I waited until my next radio call.
How long was that? A few minutes.
Then the sprinklers went off on the curb.
I had my windows down.
I had to mop off the seats.
Did you see anyone talk to Joyner or go up to his house? Uh, yeah, sure.
There was a black guy parked a few cars behind.
He went up to the house.
I didn't see him go in.
REX: Can you describe him? A black guy.
If I knew I was supposed to remember him, I would have had a better look.
Anyway, I had to roll to my next call.
Okay, thanks.
We may need to talk to you again.
Joyner left work early.
If the killer was waiting for him, maybe someone tipped him off.
Someone at Joyner's work.
I called the cab for Derrick.
He said he wanted to work from home.
Anyone else know he was leaving early? Everybody knew.
With Derrick leaving, I had to reschedule three meetings.
We need a list of everyone you called.
Of course.
Everyone here is praying that you find who did this.
Do you know of anyone who maybe isn't praying so hard? I can't imagine anyone here who would do such a thing.
While you wait, maybe you'd like to sign the petition to get this on the ballot.
We'll think about it.
Oh, I'm sorry, I Only rescheduled two meetings.
One had already been canceled at the last minute.
Last minute? Why was that? The person running the meeting, Roland Davison, had a family emergency.
Mr.
Davison worked with Mr.
Joyner? Yes.
Roland's co-sponsor of Prop 128.
His father is Reverend Davison.
Prop 128 is the Reverend's baby.
The church is behind 128.
We pray for gay people.
But marriage is marriage.
Right.
It's odd, isn't it, Mr.
Davison and Mr.
Joyner both being out of the office unexpectedly? I guess so.
They get along? Mr.
Davison seems like a true believer in Prop 128 while Mr.
Joyner was just a hired gun.
Politics is hard-nosed.
Everybody yells sometimes.
Who was doing the yelling that day? When I heard that Derrick was wanted for murder, I didn't believe it.
And then when he was found, it was incomprehensible.
You work closely with Mr.
Joyner? Well, for the last year.
We got Prop 128 on the ballot.
We gathered nearly The county recorders have them.
The names are being certified.
The first big step, and Derrick won't be here to see it done.
You saw him the day he died.
At the Crenshaw office.
I'm sure you heard that we bumped heads that morning.
We did hear that.
Well, as a secular person, Derrick would sometimes suggest strategies that wouldn't reflect well on my father's church.
But, uh, we smoothed things out.
How smoothly did the rest of the day go? Oh, I, uh, I had a little emergency at home.
My three-year-old had a fever.
How about between Um We're asking everybody.
No, that's all right.
Um I was fighting my way to Bellflower for a fundraising dinner at the Promise Women's Shelter.
I got there around 7:00.
In time to hear my father give the blessing.
What time did you leave? getting up in age.
He likes to get to bed early now.
Is there something you'd like to add, Mr.
Davison? I probably should have told you this before, but Derrick came to me for counseling.
That's part of my ministry.
Derrick had issues with monogamy.
He loved his girlfriend Kim, but God help him, he had an eye for the ladies, including married ones.
I guess his ministry includes sticking it to dead men.
His alibi for the time of the murders is pretty thin.
But even if he got off the train in Fullerton, it's not exactly a hop and a skip back to Bellflower in rush hour.
I wouldn't count him out just yet.
Look at this.
Looks like Roland's car was hit by a sprinkler.
Same as the cab that dropped Derrick off.
Let's kick the tires on Roland's alibi, see how it holds up.
Roland and Reverend Davison were both here for dinner.
What time did the Reverend give the blessing? Just after 7:30.
He was waiting for Roland to get here, but Roland called and told him to go ahead.
He was stuck in traffic.
What time did Roland show up? Uh, closer to How'd he seem when he got here? Fine.
I have some calls to make.
Miss, we understand Mr.
Davison and his church support your center, but They are the only reason we exist.
They bring in more money than all your Westside liberals.
The Davisons aren't just passing through.
They're lifers.
Excuse me.
Who designed your poster? Roland Davison got some high-end design firm to do it for us for free.
Roland knows how to get things done.
Now, I really have to make these calls.
The signature.
Same as the pamphlet in the dental clinic.
Kim Lee.
MIN: Kim told me she did some work for a charity.
She'd take on anything.
She didn't care about the money.
REX: Did she know Roland Davison? She met him through Derrick.
He's the one that got her to do this.
REX: And there was nothing else to their relationship other than that.
What do you mean? We found phone calls to her from Roland.
Four of them the two days before she was killed, including a 20-minute call.
You're misunderstanding.
Kim and I went to Roland Davison's church a couple of times for gospel mass, that's all.
I'm sure they were just talking about church and faith.
You're sure about Kim and Roland.
There was nothing else goin' on.
I knew my sister.
The only thing she shared with Roland was religion.
Most people wear a cross as a fashion statement.
Kim wore hers as a sign of devotion.
We saw.
She was wearing it when we found her.
She was? I thought you said she was killed right when she came home.
That's what we think.
Why? She went to the Korean spa that afternoon.
She never took her jewelry there.
She was afraid it'd get stolen.
Where'd she keep it when she wasn't wearing it? A box on top of her dresser.
A heart-shaped box.
My parents gave it to her when she was 14.
(SINGING HYMN) Sorry to interrupt.
Really.
The choir sounds great.
Well, how can I help you? You mentioned counseling Derrick.
Any of those sessions occur at his home? No.
We would meet at his office.
So you've never been to his home.
That's right.
That's funny.
'Cause your fingerprints have.
You left a set on a jewelry box.
Put your hands behind your back.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Wait a minute.
What do you think you're doing with my son? I'm arresting him for murder.
Two murders.
REX: Let's go.
Cheer up.
Maybe they'll sing Gather At The River for you.
Roland is a good husband, a good father, and a good son.
Your son murdered two people, Reverend.
You don't have the evidence to back that up.
My church is a pillar of the black community, and Roland is my pillar.
Don't pick a fight with me, Jerry.
Not in an election year.
There's only one way your people vote, Bill.
It's not Republican.
They can always stay home.
If they stay home, they can't vote for 128.
You've put a lot of time and a lot of money into that one.
People say you can't have your cake and eat it too.
People are wrong.
The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice.
Neither is letting your son walk.
Your dog is showing a lot of teeth quoting Dr.
King to me.
Life is long, Bill.
And it's a small town.
That was totally unnecessary.
You enjoyed it.
The arrogance of the man.
Using his pulpit to oppress a minority.
EVELYN: You just don't get it.
Gay marriage is a huge issue in black churches.
And a great way to get people to open their checkbooks.
That's a cheap shot.
The Reverend's right about two things.
Your case is thin.
You have no motive.
We're working on it.
What's the second thing the Reverend's right about? He has 20,000 parishioners.
When he speaks, they vote.
On the basis of the presence of the defendant's fingerprints in the victim's bedroom, of his prior statements that he had never visited the victim's home, the people have established probable cause to proceed to trial.
Your Honor, this so-called evidence can be explained away simply.
Well, we look forward to his explanation.
So do I.
Go ahead, Mr.
Miller.
The defense would like to stipulate that Mr.
Davison was having an affair with the victim, Kim Lee.
My client met her at her home a week before she was murdered.
That's how his fingerprints got on the jewelry box.
Besides the fact that we don't believe there was an affair, except perhaps in Mr.
Davison's mind, his proposed stipulation does not mitigate the other evidence.
Alibi inconsistencies hardly constitute conclusive evidence.
I'm inclined to agree, Mr.
Morales.
The fingerprint is your case, and he's got an explanation for it.
Your Honor, since Mr.
Miller chose to ambush us with his stipulation instead of giving the proper notice, the People would like to withdraw the charges under 1382 and reserve the right to re-file later.
So granted, Mr.
Morales.
The charges are withdrawn, and the defendant is released from custody.
He tanned your hide.
There are a dozen ways to attack our case.
Partial fingerprints, his alibi.
Why destroy Roland's reputation by publicly admitting an affair? Because it's true? Well, even so, there were better ways to tan our hide, ones that don't provide us with motive.
Maybe the only reason to offer up with the affair is because the murder was about something else entirely.
Top three motives for murder, love, money, revenge.
They fessed up to love.
That leaves money and revenge.
According to the news, over 80 million bucks is being spent to get Prop 128 on the ballot.
A lot of that's being funneled through church groups like Roland Davison's.
And we checked his financials.
So have state auditors.
He lives well enough off his church salary.
What about Joyner? Maybe he and Davison were embezzling together.
No record of that in his bank accounts.
Maybe he's a spender.
Vacation home, fancy car.
You might have just said the magic word, Price, car.
The one place we haven't looked.
Oh, that's right.
It's in the shop.
Check this out.
It's a signature sheet for Prop 128 from the Culver City area.
Names, addresses, about a dozen highlighted.
What do you think? Nothing.
Except it was hidden in the car of a guy who was beaten to death and stuffed in a crawlspace.
Af Afternoon, ma'am.
LAPD.
Oh.
Look at this.
Looking for Trevor Watkins.
He gave this house as his address.
No.
No Trevor here.
How long have you lived here? I moved in with my second husband, uh, You're sure about Trevor Watkins.
Sure as sure.
Eleven phony names? Well, that does happen.
People sign all kinds of crazy names on petitions.
No, these weren't crazy names, and they're real addresses.
That's interesting.
How do you verify the signatures? We check them against the voter registration rolls.
We don't actually go out and ring doorbells.
We have.
Do you mind? Just the highlighted ones.
"Trevor Watkins.
" There he is on the voter rolls.
Domicile at Not according to the people who actually live there.
Well, that is interesting.
All 11 names were on the voter roles.
It's not just the petitions that were messed with.
Somebody got into the voter registration databank.
Joyner's company's collected over 500,000 signatures for Prop 128.
We could be talking tens of thousands of phony signatures.
How much are these signatures worth? Well, Joyner's employer Corrigan Strategy charges Prop 128 sponsors $5 for every signature they collect.
Real signatures are harder to collect than phony ones.
Corrigan saves on labor, time.
Corrigan's got a nice little scam going.
REX: Not so little.
They've been involved in over 20 ballot initiatives in the last eight years.
Maybe Joyner was in on it.
Roland found out they were ripping off his church Get a search warrant for Corrigan's office and one for Prop 128's headquarters.
I gotta give Jerry a heads-up.
This is gonna give his favorite reverend a coronary.
(CROWD CHEERING) Thank you.
As a result of the tragic events of the past few weeks, I initiated an internal audit of signatures collected under the supervision of Derrick Joyner.
To my great dismay, the auditors found massive fraud.
Now, this fraud What the hell is all this? That's Corrigan.
by one man, Derrick Joyner.
The fraudulent signatures have been withdrawn, and we will begin again to gather more signatures to ensure that Prop 128 gets to where it belongs on the ballot! (CROWD CHEERING) My friends, the work will go on.
Nobody said that the righteous road is an easy one.
I see that Deputy District Attorney Morales has come here today to help us clean up this mess.
Clear a path for him now so that he and his good people can begin their important work.
(CROWD CHEERING) He owns your hide now.
The auditors have just scratched the surface of the signatures Corrigan gathered for Prop 128.
But of the ones they've examined so far, about 30% belong to registered voters who don't exist.
We think as many as are on those petitions.
(SIGHS) It doesn't stop there.
Some of the signatures have turned up on other ballot initiatives Corrigan's been involved with the last few years.
How many initiatives? Seven.
Four are now California law.
Two you actually campaigned for.
Those laws could be invalidated, and the state can be plunged into constitutional crisis.
I'm just worried about the little picture, prosecuting these two murders.
We think the fraud is the reason that Roland Davison killed Joyner and his girlfriend.
Corrigan's obviously involved.
He's the one who was profiting.
We're still sorting it out.
Do that.
I have to talk to the Attorney General.
Let's take another run at Davison.
Mr.
Corrigan's fraud goes back years, hundreds of thousands of phony signatures.
We believe this is what Derrick Joyner discovered and what made him a threat to Mr.
Corrigan and to your Prop 128 initiative.
And none of this proves that my client did anything.
It's enough to scare Mr.
Corrigan.
And we guarantee you, he will throw your client under the bus in a nanosecond.
One way or the other, your client will be tried for these murders.
Whether he faces the death penalty's up to him.
If you wanna live, time to step up.
We want Corrigan.
We're ready to deal for him.
He pleads guilty to two murders, concurrent.
Then you get Corrigan.
He actually said that with a straight face.
The terms are we drop the death penalty, he takes 30 to life.
That's the only deal you'll get, Mr.
Davison.
(BREATHING HARD) I didn't know anything about any phony signatures until Corrigan called me.
He said Joyner had found some irregularities and he threatened to report them.
Corrigan said that my father would be ruined.
Your father knew about the fraud? No.
My father staked his whole reputation on Prop 128.
Any scandal would sink him, the church, all he worked for And Corrigan said that it was left up to me to stop Joyner.
I went to his house and everything went sideways.
You killed him? (SIGHS) I lost my temper.
Then Kim walked in and I panicked.
I knocked her out.
She was unconscious and bleeding.
I didn't know what to do.
I called Corrigan.
He was 10 minutes away.
He came over.
And we, we were We were trying to decide what to do, and before I knew it he picked up a knife and he stuck it in Kim.
He killed her.
(SOBS) One lie after another from beginning to end.
Roland Davison wouldn't know the truth if it kicked him in the head.
We have enough evidence to corroborate his statement starting with the fraud.
It was all Joyner and Davison.
My client had nothing to do with it.
Joyner only worked for your client a short time.
When the jury hears this fraud's been going on for years, it's game over.
You're assuming a lot, Mr.
Morales.
Why? You know something I don't? Off-limits? When did this happen? Corrigan reached out to someone in Sacramento.
You can't spend eight years in the ballot initiative business without earning some political pull.
Well, let me get this straight.
Apart from Prop 128, I cannot present evidence that Corrigan used phony signatures on other ballot initiatives? That's right.
The investigation of those initiatives has been taken over by the Attorney General's office.
Oh, you mean buried.
I mean avoiding the Tsunami of constitutional challenges to the way the state chooses the laws we live by.
Oh.
Just that.
You know what this really means, Jerry? You and the Attorney General have just handed Corrigan a defense on a silver platter.
You're overreacting, Ricardo.
You watch.
ROLAND: Derrick kept saying he had to report it.
He said that Corrigan had been at it for years Objection.
Move to strike.
Sustained.
Mr.
Davison, limit your testimony to Prop 128.
What else happened at the house? Derrick tried to throw me out.
I grabbed him.
I had my hands around his neck.
I killed him.
Then Kim came home.
I slammed her against the wall, knocked her out.
I was scared.
All I could think about was my father, protecting my father.
I got Derrick's phone.
I called Ben Corrigan.
He came over.
RICARDO: And what did you and Mr.
Corrigan do? Corrigan said we couldn't leave a witness.
I didn't know what he meant.
And all of a sudden, he grabbed a knife and he stabbed Kim through the heart.
She was dead before I could stop him.
What did you do then? Corrigan told me to hide Derrick's body under the house then drive Kim's car to Union Station and take the San Diego train to make it look like Derrick was on the run.
Before I left, (VOICE BREAKING) I saw that Kim didn't have the cross on that she always did.
I found it in her room and I put it on her neck.
I took the train to Fullerton.
I threw away Derrick's wallet, and I met my father at a charity dinner.
(CLEARS THROAT) The call on Derrick's phone.
For all anyone knows, it could have been Derrick who made the call to discuss business with his boss.
Isn't that right? No.
I called Corrigan.
So you say.
You hoped one day to take over your father's church, correct? I did once.
But the church you would inherit had fallen on hard times, attendance was down, donations were down? That's right.
Fair to say the reason for the campaign for Prop was to rally the troops, fill the coffers? Not for my father.
He thought it was the right thing to do.
But for you, it was about the money, wasn't it? The power and the prestige of the church, that was your birthright.
No.
It was about obeying my father.
The more signatures you got on those petitions, the stronger the church would be, the stronger you would be.
That didn't matter.
Didn't it? Isn't that why you made a deal with Derrick Joyner? He delivered to you tens of thousands of bogus signatures paid for with hundreds of thousands of donated dollars.
I didn't make a deal.
Isn't it reasonable to assume that's what you argued about? Money? That is not why You think it more reasonable to take the word of a confessed murderer? I'm not I'm not lying.
You've lied before in court.
You told a judge you were having an affair with Derrick Joyner's girlfriend.
I'm sorry I lied about that.
Kim was a good person.
That may be the one true thing you've said today, Mr.
Davison.
EVELYN: You'll only testify about the specifics of your contract with Corrigan, fees, payments, that kind of thing.
What about Corrigan's lawyer? He won't play by your rules.
We'll object if he gets off-topic.
Otherwise, just tell the truth.
(SIGHS) Your parents must be very proud of you.
I wouldn't be here without their help.
Are they churchgoing folks? Yes.
Every Sunday.
Hmm.
What about you? I try my best.
You have a busy life.
It's all right.
I have but the one son and he made a plea bargain to save his life.
What if it turns out that, uh, he's lying? The deal would be off.
He'd be tried for murder and face the death penalty.
I see.
Well Good night, Miss Price.
Yes.
That's the contract I signed with Corrigan.
And what fee did you agree on? Oh, there were different fees, but it, it boiled down to $4.
65 for every valid signature he delivered.
Thank you.
Your witness.
Reverend, did your son ever tell you there was a problem with the signatures Mr.
Corrigan was gathering? No.
Did he ever tell you, "We should keep an eye on Mr.
Corrigan," or, "Maybe we shouldn't pay Mr.
Corrigan"? No.
No more questions.
You may step down.
Your Honor, Judge, (STAMMERS) I'd like to change my answers.
I have not told the whole truth.
Go on, Reverend.
A month before my son committed his crimes, I noticed an error in a petition.
There was an address that I knew.
Just six blocks from the church.
I knew the lady that lived there.
Lucy Merryweather.
She lived there her whole life.
But that wasn't the name on the petition.
I noticed other mistakes.
I told Roland.
He said he'd look into it.
And what happened? A few days later, he He told me that He'd straightened everything out with Derrick Joyner.
That it was just, uh, a clerical error.
Just a clerical error.
In other words, your son and Derrick Joyner cooked up a lie to cover their fraud.
Your Honor MOONEY: Withdrawn.
Withdrawn.
Thank you.
RICARDO: Your Honor, we're gonna need time to prepare for a redirect.
Very well.
We will adjourn until Monday morning.
No.
It's not true.
Why would he say that? He sunk you.
He told the jury you knew about the fraud weeks before you said you did.
But I didn't.
I didn't find out until later from Corrigan.
He made it sound like you and Joyner had been conspiring all along.
He played right into Corrigan's defense.
Why would he do that? Choose Corrigan over you? You tell us.
Is it possible he was in on the fraud with Corrigan from the beginning? No.
My father didn't need to phony up signatures.
Donations had been flooding in.
He said it was like a great faucet had been turned on.
All summer, money had been flowing into the church.
My father didn't need to cheat.
A great faucet.
REVEREND DAVISON: I should have said something earlier, but I did what any father would do.
I was just trying to protect my only son.
Your son testified that he only found out about the fraud two days before the murders, when Mr.
Corrigan told him.
But you testified that he knew at least a month before that.
You understand what that means, don't you? Yes.
My son lied.
The night before you testified, you asked Miss Price what would happen to your son if he lied.
You remember what she said to you? Yes.
That Roland's deal would be off.
He'd face the death penalty for murder.
RICARDO: The death penalty.
Because of your testimony the other day.
I had to tell the truth.
"Do the right thing.
" That's what you stand for.
It's what your church stands for.
I hope so.
And your church does a lot of the right things.
Like the Promise Women's Shelter.
The Lighthouse Nursery.
Yes.
Those are all of our projects.
And these projects enjoy a great deal of financial support from the community.
Uh, this donation, for example, from last summer.
$20,000 for the Promise Women's Shelter from Antoinette Dunnet.
Well, people are generous, even in hard times.
Would it surprise you to learn that Antoinette Dunnet is one of the phony names from Mr.
Corrigan's petitions? Yes, it would.
Well, how about this donation? $5,000 for the Lighthouse Nursery from Hazel McBride.
Another phony name off Mr.
Corrigan's petitions.
Well, if you say so, Mr.
Morales.
In fact, our auditors found over a thousand donations to your projects using Mr.
Corrigan's phony names totaling $1 million.
Coincidentally, the same amount that Mr.
Corrigan is accused of defrauding from the Prop 128 campaign.
Are you asking me a question? (LAUGHS) You found out a while ago that Corrigan was tricking up the petitions.
No, I did not.
But instead of reporting him and possibly sabotaging your Prop 128 campaign, you squeezed him up for a $1 million donation to your charities.
Isn't that right? No, it isn't.
And now, he's squeezing you, so you made up this story about your son and Derrick Joyner.
Isn't that right? That was a question, Reverend.
You have a very cynical view of how things are done in my church.
I'm cynical? You marched for civil rights in the '60s, did you not? Yes.
With Dr.
King.
You faced police dogs, fire hoses, beatings.
Yes.
All for the cause of human dignity.
And here in Los Angeles, you helped heal the wounds after the Watts riots, after the Rodney King riots.
You even marched with Cesar Chavez all in the cause of basic human dignity.
Yes.
But now you puff up your church.
You fill your donation plates with a campaign that would deny a whole class of people their civil rights, their basic human dignity.
And you think I'm cynical? Mr.
Morales.
Withdrawn, Judge.
Withdrawn.
Reverend, let me ask you one more question.
Do you consider yourself and your church so indispensable that you would sacrifice your own son to save it, to save your own skin? Judge Judge, I misspoke the other day.
I'm not sure anymore when or even if I spoke to my son about the mistakes on the petitions.
I'm not sure if he said anything to me about Derrick Joyner.
At my age, events become confused.
I'm sorry for wasting the jury's time.
JUDGE STAYNOR: The record will so reflect your amended testimony.
Anything more, Mr.
Morales? No, Your Honor.
I'm done.
We, the jury, find the defendant, Ben Corrigan, guilty of one count of murder in the first degree.
JUDGE STAYNOR: Thank you for your verdict.
The court will reconvene tomorrow to consider sentence.
(GAVEL BANGS)