Law & Order (1990) s25e07 Episode Script
Guardian
1
In the criminal justice system,
the people are represented
by two separate,
yet equally important groups:
the police, who investigate crime,
and the district attorneys,
who prosecute the offenders.
These are their stories.
Yes, I'd rather be here ♪
Than any place I know ♪
It's gonna take the sergeant ♪
For him to make me go ♪
Going to the riv ♪
Hey, man. [SIGHS]
[GRUNTS]
I got you, I got you, I got you.
Take a seat. You all right?
- Leave that.
- It's all right, man.
I got you.
Look, brothers got to look
after each other, right?
- Appreciate you, young blood.
- Yeah.
Hey, matter of fact
stay blessed, unc.
- All right, now, young blood.
- Yes, sir.
Going to the river ♪
There's a reason why ♪
Thank you, young man.
- Yes, sir.
[PEOPLE SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
Hey! Stop!
You leave him!
[METAL CLANKING]
Help!
[INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER]
- This is your first homicide?
- Technically.
- What does that mean?
- Been working Narcotics.
Seen a lot of dead bodies,
but my job was to find
the dope, not the killer.
So that's a yes?
Detective.
Officer Herring. Detective Theo Walker.
- What do we got?
- Vic is a Black male.
MLS says cause of death is
blunt force trauma to the head.
Scaffolding is going to make
the video canvass fun.
Yeah, we have
two street cams in this area,
and scaffolding is blocking both.
What I wouldn't give
to be wrong just once.
Right.
You were the first on the scene?
Yeah, I was driving my beat.
A local flagged me down,
said he witnessed a murder,
and vic was DOA when I arrived.
- Found his wallet on him.
- Got an ID inside?
Negative. But plenty of cash.
Thought that went out of style.
He's got a watch,
expensive jewelry on him, too.
So we probably are not looking
at a robbery.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
My God.
He was just a kid.
Welcome to Homicide
officially.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
- So you reported the murder?
- That's right.
Damn shame.
Seemed like a good kid.
You want to tell us what happened?
Some jerk knocked over my cup.
This young brother helped me out,
dropped a C-note like it was nothing,
then just went on his merry way.
Really made an impression, huh?
No lie, but the next thing I know,
the boy's arguing with somebody
on the corner,
raised his hands, started backing away.
Couldn't see the other person.
They had their back to me.
But whoever it was grabbed a pipe,
hit that boy,
kept on swinging.
I yelled.
That must have spooked 'em,
'cause they took off.
I checked the boy. He wasn't breathing.
So I went and found police.
Can you describe the killer?
If I'm keeping it a buck
I didn't get a great look.
Could you tell if it was
a man or a woman?
It could have been
an average dude or a tall lady.
What about their hair color?
Couldn't tell.
They had a black ball cap on.
It had a gold letter on the back.
I think it was a P.
Any luck turning up the murder weapon?
Unis are still canvassing,
but so far, no luck.
We did have some luck, though,
with our vic's fingerprints.
We were able to ID him.
He was in the system.
- He had priors?
- Nope, ward of the state.
His name is Omari Kemp, 15 years old.
His mother died in childbirth.
Lived with his father in the
projects near the crime scene
until three years ago when
his dad died in a car accident.
Kid ended up in foster care.
Okay, so what's a foster kid
from the projects
doing walking around
with expensive jewelry
- and a grand in cash?
- It's not what you think.
- I did some googling.
- Oh, he's thorough.
- You paying attention?
- All right, check it out.
Kid was a major baller.
Had every scout in the country
calling him the next Kevin Durant.
He was already cashing in
on those NIL dollars.
At 15?
I read about a seventh grader
who just signed a six-figure deal.
According to ACS, a family adopted Kemp
soon after he went into foster care
James and Katherine Pickett.
They live on the Upper East Side.
The question is,
what was he doing back
in his old neighborhood?
Okay, see what you can find
out from the adoptive family.
Oh, and one more thing
you're not undercover anymore.
We're a little more formal around here.
Anyone got a tie for Detective Walker?
You're in the 2-7 now.
Mm-hmm.
[DRAWER THUDS]
I honestly have no idea what
Omari would have been
doing back in that neighborhood.
I can't believe this is happening.
You know if he stayed in touch
with any friends or acquaintances
from when he used to live there?
I'm not sure.
His whole life was basketball.
He he didn't really have time
for socializing.
How did you come to adopt Omari?
I don't see a lot of people like you
adopting kids like him.
You mean because he's Black?
And on the older side.
Hey.
Yeah, I'm just trying
to, uh, understand.
Tyler and Omari
were on the same AAU team,
and after his
father died, we tried
to do what was right,
what was best for him.
We were happy to help.
He was a wonderful young man.
He was so talented.
He was going to play in the NBA,
maybe be one of the greats
and make lots of money.
I read somewhere he already
had a few big sponsorship deals.
Oh, more than a few.
I used to help him with business stuff,
help negotiate his deals.
Had he had any fights,
any altercations with anyone recently?
No, he was a great kid.
Everyone loved him.
Tyler?
Omari and I had an argument
this morning.
It
- it was no big deal.
- What was the argument about?
He wasn't working hard.
And I felt like his game was suffering.
I sat him down, had a "come to Jesus."
He didn't want to hear it,
and he took off.
- What time was this?
- Around 11:30.
I just thought he needed
to blow off some steam,
so I let him go.
- And you stayed here?
- Mm-hmm.
I was working the door
when Omari stormed out.
He'd normally stop and chat.
You know, we'd talk hoops,
but, uh
he wasn't in the mood.
He seemed upset.
Did anyone follow him outside?
You mean one of the Picketts?
No, sir.
You said you and Omari would chat.
[CHUCKLES]
I used to play a little ball
myself back in the day.
I never had the height,
but, uh, I was trouble
behind the three-point line.
So y'all would talk shop.
I even followed his team,
saw him play a couple times.
He could really shoot it from deep, huh?
And was a dog on D.
See, now, that's what set him apart.
You know if he had any kind
of problems with anybody?
No
not really.
♪
What is it?
♪
The other day
he got into an argument right
here outside the building,
got a little heated too.
You know who it was with?
Yeah.
His coach.
All right, Coach, let's try this again.
Why don't you tell us what
you two were arguing about?
It's fine. Just tell them.
I was helping Omari pick a college.
I was pushing for one in particular,
but someone told him
that I was taking a kickback
from the school
in exchange for
influencing his decision.
So he was going to expose the fact
that you were taking bribes.
Finder's fees and signing
bonuses are perfectly legal.
Still not a very good look, is it?
Please. I've sent 50 players
to elite college programs.
12 of them have gone on to the NBA.
Families beg me
to turn their sons into superstars.
- Why shouldn't I get a taste?
- Because they're kids.
You're their coach, right?
So your job is to coach them
to put their needs ahead of yours.
That's real cute, Detective.
But that's not how this works.
Well, you know what else is cute?
Doing 20 to life for murder.
And you still haven't told us anything
that would eliminate you as a suspect.
So where were you earlier today
around noon, huh?
Meeting with a potential sponsor.
I can give you his info.
You can check it out.
We will.
Great. If there's nothing else
You really just going to walk out, huh?
One of your players was murdered, man.
- Doesn't that bother you?
- Of course it bothers me.
But you didn't ask for help.
No, you came at me hot and accused me
of murdering him, for God's sake.
Hey, we're just chasing
the evidence, man.
You're the one who made it contentious.
Look, I want to help.
The only thing I know
is that about a month ago,
he told me there was something
at his school.
Said there was an incident,
some kind of harassment,
but he wouldn't give me the details.
[LOCKER DOOR SQUEAKS]
His locker was vandalized last month.
Yeah, the words "go home" were
spray-painted across the door.
- Because he was Black?
- Or just not white.
Sounds crazy, but these days
[SCOFFS] Things ain't getting better.
- That's for sure.
- Did you catch who did it?
I mean, you must have
security cameras here, yeah?
No, sir. Nah, administration
won't cough up the dough.
Not in the budget.
- Makes things real hard too.
- What do you mean?
Well, a few weeks ago,
caught a kid selling dope,
searched his backpack.
The punk's accusing me of assault.
I'm the one under investigation.
So I put up a few cameras
in the hallways,
out of my own pocket,
just to cover my ass.
Those cameras weren't up
when Kemp's locker was defaced?
No. I had to figure out who
did it the old-fashioned way.
Here, let me show you.
I ended up finding the spray can
in another student's locker.
Who was the student? [KEYS CLACK]
This kid right here.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
I-I don't know why I did it.
I-I guess I was just
I-I liked Omari, okay?
We were tight, but but, lately
Lately what? You were getting jealous?
Don't answer that, Tyler.
My son had nothing to do
with Omari's murder, full stop.
Well, we'd like to believe you,
but we're going to need some proof.
Tyler, you don't have to say
I didn't I didn't do anything, Dad.
Look, I was shooting hoops
at the Equinox on 92nd Street
when Omari got killed.
You can check.
Hey. [KNOCKS]
Tyler Pickett's alibi checks out.
That's good.
I wasn't looking forward
to arresting a 15-year-old.
Might not be out of the woods on that.
I was able to pull some texts from
Omari's cloud that he had deleted.
Looks like he was dating
a girl named Tamara Wise.
Did the Picketts mention a girlfriend?
Nope, and based on these texts,
that was no accident.
Check out the last few messages.
- Whoa.
- Mm-hmm.
She's mad.
- Honeymoon was over, huh?
- Mm-hmm.
All right, go see what
the girlfriend has to say.
Known him my whole life, and
we kept in touch when he moved,
and then we started,
you know, hanging out.
We saw your texts, Ms. Wise.
We know that the two of you
were fighting.
I'm not usually jealous.
I was nervous because Omari
was getting so much attention.
When a guy gets to the league,
everybody knows what happens
to the high-school sweetheart.
They get left behind in the cold.
Is that why you two fought?
You felt left behind?
It was hard not to.
It was right in my face
Instagram pics of him partying
with grown-ass hos.
So, yeah, I lost it.
But we made up.
He swore he wasn't cheating,
and it may sound stupid,
but I believed him.
He was a good guy. He really was.
Where were you yesterday around noon?
At rehearsal.
We were supposed to get out around noon.
I was going to meet up
with Omari, but it ran late.
Those Instagram pics you mentioned,
did someone else post them?
We checked Omari's account.
All his posts were about basketball.
He didn't post on his real page.
Coach Brown and Mr. Pickett
were on him 24-7.
Drove him crazy.
They wanted to protect
his brand, keep him focused.
So he had a finsta?
Yeah.
All right.
Were you able to verify
Tamara Wise's alibi?
Checks out.
But she gave us Kemp's finsta account.
Got the photos she mentioned.
Nice place. Looks expensive.
How do you think Kemp got in the door?
Well, it looks like he was rolling
with a pretty fancy crew,
not exactly the law-abiding type.
Is that who I think it is?
Mr. Hip-Hop, Creston Reeves,
aka Hollow Point.
Well, as far as I understand it,
more gangster than rapper,
at least used to be.
I guess the question is,
what the hell was he doing
- with Kemp?
- Not sure, but check it out.
Hollow Point sent Kemp a message
the day before the murder.
"You know how I am with money.
I don't play."
At the very least, it seems
Hollow Point was a man of his word.
Mm-hmm.
All gas, no brakes
can't slow me down ♪
Big moves, big sound,
yeah, we run this town ♪
Hands up, lights out,
yeah, we shut it down ♪
All gas, no brakes,
you can't slow me down ♪
Go, yeah, run it up ♪
- Hey, the VIP's closed.
- Not for us, my friend.
- NYPD.
- And maybe you ain't hear me.
- I just
- Maybe you didn't hear me.
- Hey, Creston Reeves.
- Oh, I'm invisible now?
I don't got time for this, bro.
I ain't your damn bro.
Yo, that's bold as hell,
you using my government name like that.
We need to ask you some questions.
Busy right now, but
we can talk tomorrow, chief.
You heard the man. It's time to go.
Hey, look, why don't you
back off before I arrest you
- for obstruction, all right?
- Don't touch me.
- Hey, hey, hey.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Everybody, calm down.
Better take your hand off that gun, bro.
You got one more time
with that "bro" crap.
Hey, this is my partner right here.
If you pull your gun out one inch,
I got to take you out just how it is.
So what I'm saying is,
you're in control now.
So do the right thing and take
your hand off that damn gun.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
[CHUCKLES] Let me guess.
I'm coming with you.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
So, anyway, thanks for turning
the temperature down back there.
Just tried to show the man
a little respect is all.
What do you mean?
Well, dude like that spends
his whole damn life
fighting to be seen as strong, hard.
And if I'm being honest, you acted like
- he didn't matter.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa.
I acted like a cop, all right?
A cop trying to talk
to a murder suspect.
So, yeah, in that moment,
he didn't matter.
Exactly.
But it all worked out, right?
Why y'all obsessed with me?
I ain't done nothin' wrong,
so why y'all holdin' me up in here?
Omari Kemp.
Good kid. Hell of a baller.
Real shame what happened to him.
What does that have to do
with my client?
"You know how I am with money.
I don't play."
You sent that message to him.
24 hours later, he was beaten to death.
Now, that's a false
correlation right there.
Y'all can't pin this on me.
Did Kemp get in over his head?
What was it drugs, gambling?
Come on, man, we know you
got your hands in all of it.
- Don't respond to that.
- I got to say
it's almost impressive
how you manage to stay involved
in all this low-level gangster crap.
That gang life is in the rearview.
I'm chasing mogul status now.
Where were you on the
afternoon Kemp was killed?
I hosted a brand-launch event
for my new vodka.
I ain't kill Omari Kemp.
And yet you threatened him
shortly before the murder over money.
I wasn't trying to collect from Kemp.
I was trying to give it to him.
Look, I got a sports-management
company now.
Jay-Z can't be
the only name in the game.
Signing Kemp
would have shook up the world.
Boy took some convincing, though,
so I was recruiting him, hard.
Hell, I even had a Nike deal
lined up for him.
Told him all he had to do
was drop the dead weight.
According to Hollow Point,
Kemp was going to drop
Jim Pickett as his agent.
Cutting him out of tens of
millions of potential earnings.
And according to Point,
Kemp planned to break
the news to Pickett
on the day he was murdered.
So the smart money says that that
is what they were actually
arguing about that afternoon,
which means that Pickett lied to us.
And he had motive.
And he has an alibi,
corroborated by his doorman.
Just because the doorman didn't see him
follow Omari out the door doesn't mean
he couldn't have gone out another exit.
- Exactly.
- Okay.
Go find something that proves that.
Mm-hmm.
Oh, but first, let me grab my tie.
Hey.
- How's it going?
- Uh
good, you know, mostly.
Still feeling each other
out a bit, but good.
- Why?
- Nothing.
Something I got to know?
No, just checking in.
All set.
You might want to tie it.
Mr. Pickett.
Need to ask you a few more questions.
No. I already told you,
my son had nothing to do with it.
We're not here about your son.
[SCOFFS] What, you're back on me now?
It's unbelievable.
I already told you,
I was here all afternoon.
But you weren't.
That's the parking garage
under your building.
And that's you leaving 15 minutes
after Omari that afternoon.
You followed him, just not on foot.
And you didn't return for another hour.
Yeah, we know that you lied
about why you two argued that day.
Omari was going to cut you out,
wasn't he?
Mm, how dare he,
after all you've done for him?
Yeah, I was upset,
and I went for a drive to clear my head.
I didn't tell you because
I knew how that would sound.
Jim, just stop talking.
I have nothing more to say.
You got to come with us.
[TENSE MUSIC]
[DOOR CLICKS]
[DOOR CLICKS]
We've been going at him
for over an hour.
He's sticking to his story.
Guy knows his life is on the line.
He looks good for it, Lou.
Yeah, unfortunately, looks
aren't admissible in court.
We don't have enough to charge him.
Wife's still in the lobby.
She seems a little jittery.
Yeah, that's the vibe I was getting too.
Take a run at her, see what you get.
[DOOR CLICKS]
Here
this might help calm your nerves.
[DOOR CLOSES]
My husband didn't have anything to do
with what happened to Omari.
- We both know that's not true.
- No, I'm telling you.
Then why did you tell him
to stop speaking back there?
Hmm?
- Listen, Mrs. Pickett
- Kate
we've got your husband cold for murder.
We're here to talk about you.
Am I a suspect now?
Well, you've been covering for him.
The DA's going to want to go
for criminal facilitation,
obstruction of justice.
You could be looking at as much
as seven to, what,
- ten years?
- Mm-hmm.
Oh, and it gets worse
if they think you were
in on it from the beginning.
♪
At that point, you might
as well have done it yourself
from the court's perspective.
But I didn't
♪
I loved Omari, I swear.
You know one thing I've learned
is good people make mistakes.
The best thing you can do now
is come clean.
Then we can figure out a way
how to put this all behind us.
♪
Hey
think about your son
Tyler.
What happens to him
if you both go to prison?
♪
[INHALES DEEPLY]
♪
Jim loved Omari
but he put so much pressure on him
and on himself.
It was too much.
And they'd been arguing.
♪
When I came home that night
♪
Jim was a wreck.
He was crying and yelling.
He told you what he did, didn't he?
♪
Which makes you involved.
♪
He was just trying to talk
some sense into him,
but Omari he wouldn't budge.
And Jim
snapped.
[CRYING] He didn't even realize
what he was doing. [SNIFFLES]
He didn't mean to kill Omari.
♪
He just lashed out.
♪
James Pickett, stand and place
your hands behind your back.
What's going on? [HANDCUFFS CLICKING]
You're under arrest
for the murder of Omari Kemp.
On the charge of murder
in the second degree,
how does the defendant plead?
Not guilty, Your Honor.
Ms. Maroun, I'll hear you on bail.
People ask for remand, Your Honor.
The defendant murdered Omari Kemp,
a 15-year-old boy
who was his adopted child,
by beating him to death
with a metal pipe during an argument.
He's not only a flight risk
but a danger to others,
including his biological teenage son,
who still lives in his home.
Your Honor, on top of motive,
we have cell-phone data
that puts the defendant
near the crime scene.
We have recovered clothing
with the victim's blood on it
and an eyewitness.
The evidence against him
is overwhelming.
We don't dispute that.
The evidence is overwhelming
because Jim Pickett is, indeed,
the person who killed Mr. Kemp.
But it wasn't murder, Your Honor.
It was self-defense.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Well, the defense
is now claiming that Omari Kemp
had a history of going
into violent fits of rage,
and during their argument,
he threatened to kill Pickett
and rushed at him.
So he picked up a pipe and
swung it to protect himself.
So they're arguing that
Pickett had a reasonable
fear for his life?
The old "scary Black man" defense.
That it doesn't even make sense.
Omari had no motive
to want Pickett dead.
Oh, according to them, Pickett
told Omari that, as his legal guardian,
he had to give his consent
for him to enter into
any contractual arrangements,
which meant that he could block him
from signing with Hollow Point's agency.
They're claiming that
sent Omari over the edge,
and he went on the attack.
Is there any chance
they're telling the truth?
No. Pickett's wife admitted
that he confessed to her
that he lost his temper
and lashed out at Omari.
Marital privilege means
we can't compel her to testify.
The jury will never get
to hear about that.
So they changed their story
and made Omari the aggressor.
The question is, can we
prove that they're lying?
Yes, we have an eyewitness
who saw Omari holding his hands up
and backing away from his assailant.
And there may be a way
to introduce the confession
despite the marital privilege.
At first, Pickett told us he stayed
in the apartment that afternoon.
Then when we found video
of him leaving in his car,
he claimed he just went for a ride.
So he lied.
Repeatedly, and not just
about where he was that day.
He also lied to us
about what he and the victim
were arguing about.
Detective,
during the multiple interviews
you conducted with the defendant,
did he ever once mention anything
- about self-defense?
- No.
What about the defendant's
wife, Katherine Pickett?
Did you have a chance to question her?
Sidebar, Your Honor.
I'll see counselors in my chambers.
[TENSE MUSIC]
The prosecution is trying
to circumvent marital privilege
by sneaking in testimony
that they know is inadmissible.
What is it that you're
fishing for here, Mr. Price?
Kate Pickett told Detective Walker
that her husband
confessed to killing Kemp
in a moment of anger, not self-defense.
That sounds like hearsay.
She told detectives this
in the course of admitting
that she helped him cover up
what he did after the fact.
She was confessing to a crime,
which makes it a statement
against penal interest
an exception to the hearsay rule.
That's a stretch 8 miles long.
The penal interest only applies
to her potential crimes,
which were, as he said, after the fact.
Nothing my client
may or may not have said to her
about anything that occurred
prior to that is relevant.
Of course it's relevant.
The two are inextricably tied.
Even if you wanted to go that far,
anything she relayed to the detective
still falls under marital privilege.
Under what theory?
If a lawyer inadvertently
disclosed sensitive information
from a client to opposing counsel,
it's still inadmissible.
The privilege here belongs to my client,
and he clearly intended
the communication with his wife
to be confidential.
♪
I'm sorry, but I'm siding
with the defense.
There's to be no mention
of this so-called confession.
Thank you, Judge.
♪
I couldn't make out
everything they were saying,
but I did hear the kid say
"I'm sorry" a couple of times.
Did you hear him threaten
to kill the defendant?
No, sir.
The kid was trying to back away,
but the man wouldn't let him.
Then I saw the man walk over
and pick up a pipe.
The kid started backing up,
put his hands up, like
pleading with him, you know.
And then what happened?
The man ran at him,
hit him in the head with the pipe
hard.
It was
I'd never seen
someone get killed before.
And you're sure
it wasn't the other way around,
that, uh, Omari Kemp wasn't the one
- running at the defendant?
- I'm absolutely positive.
Thank you. Nothing further.
Mr. Banks
you're 65.
Do you wear glasses?
No.
My health insurance
doesn't have a vision plan.
[LIGHT LAUGHTER]
You were a full block away
from the incident when it occurred.
More like half a block.
And it was daytime,
and my eyesight is fine.
When police first spoke to you,
you said you couldn't tell
if the person arguing with Mr. Kemp
was a man or a woman.
His back was to me.
So you were far away,
you couldn't make out basic shapes,
and yet we're supposed to believe
that you could perfectly see
the choreography that went down
between these two people?
The kid was facing me,
and I could see what direction
he was moving in
backwards with his hands up.
Mr. Banks, what were you doing
right before this all went down?
I was just sitting on the stoop.
You were panhandling.
That's what you do, isn't it? I mean
you hang out on that stoop,
and you beg for money.
I provide entertainment.
If people see fit to throw me
a little cheddar in exchange,
I'm grateful for it.
Did Omari Kemp give you money?
Yes.
$100.
[CHUCKLES] Oh.
Uh, did that make you feel appreciative
towards him, protective?
Is that why you're lying to make it seem
like he was the victim,
when you know he was
the one attacking my client?
No.
Or is it just that he was
someone from your community?
My community?
As I understand it, the boy didn't live
anywhere near my neighborhood.
Or are you talking about
the fact he's Black?
I'm talking about the fact
that you're inclined to take
his side over my client's.
No. [EXHALES SHARPLY]
I wouldn't
You wouldn't what, lie under oath?
That's right.
[SIGHS] Mr. Banks
you have two prior felony convictions.
In both trials, you testified,
swearing to your innocence,
and in both cases,
you were found guilty.
I was telling the truth.
Well, not according
to the law, you weren't.
No further questions for this witness.
The defense pulled out
every racist trope they could
to discredit our eyewitness.
They they brought up
his prior convictions.
They called him a panhandler.
They referred to him and the victim
as coming from the same community.
Not surprising,
given their entire defense
is playing on the notion it's reasonable
to be terrified of any Black man.
Mm, it doesn't even matter
that Omari was only 15.
Yeah, he was young, but
he was also 6'2", 210 pounds,
an athlete in peak physical shape.
But we wouldn't be nearly as worried
about a jury acquitting a man
who bludgeoned a 15-year-old
white kid to death.
It's the presumption of violence
they're capitalizing on.
That's right, and they know
people tend to view Black youth
as more dangerous
than their white peers.
And you need to counteract that.
You said Kemp had no history
of violence, right?
No, by all accounts, he's a Boy Scout.
Run with that.
Humanize him for the jury.
Let's find a character witness
who can make them understand
he wasn't the caricature of
a foster kid from the projects
the defense is making him out to be.
Omari was what my mother
would call blessed,
and I'm not talking about
his skills on the court
or the fact that he was so handsome.
He was kind,
blessed with the kind of heart
that cared about everyone.
And did you ever know him
to lose his temper or act violently?
No.
He had a gentle soul.
A couple months before he died,
we were at my cousin's house,
and some boy stepped to him,
started saying awful things
about his dad being dead.
I thought Omari
might rip the kid's head off,
but he just shook his head
and walked away.
Later on, he told me that
he didn't believe in violence,
that it didn't solve anything.
And how long had you known Omari?
Since we were born, basically.
We grew up in the same building.
Thank you. No further questions.
Ms. Wise
You loved Omari, didn't you?
Yes.
You'd do anything to protect his memory.
Are you saying I'm lying?
No, but just because you
never saw him lose his temper
doesn't mean it never happened.
And you weren't there the day
he attacked Mr. Pickett.
- Objection.
- Sustained.
Nothing further.
The prosecution rests, Your Honor.
The witness is excused.
Mr. Rems, you may call
your first witness.
The defense calls
James Pickett to the stand.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
I haven't been able to sleep
through the night since it happened.
♪
My heart is broken.
I loved Omari.
I know he wasn't
actually my son, but I
I still thought of him that way.
If this was self-defense,
why not say so from the beginning?
Why why did you run
and then later lie to the police?
I was horrified
embarrassed, you know, scared.
It all just happened so fast. It
If I could go back
and undo everything, I just
I would. But I swear to you, I
he was going to kill me.
Why do you say that?
Because he'd attacked me before.
When?
Uh, two weeks before he died,
we got in this argument, uh
'cause his grades had been slipping.
And what happened?
I just I told him
he had to step it up.
Getting Cs wasn't acceptable, but
I mean, he just lost it.
We were in the hallway
outside the classroom.
He just he threw me up
against the locker by my neck.
He was choking me, and he was just
just so much bigger than me
and stronger.
I almost lost consciousness.
♪
Eventually, I was able to
get him to let me go, but the
the fury in his eyes
that's what was in my head when
he said he was going
to kill me that day.
♪
I just I knew what he was capable of.
Look, I'm not a perfect man
but I am not a murderer.
♪
He's lying about that fight, man.
You can hear it in his voice.
Well, he's just reminding the jury
that Omari was bigger
and stronger than him.
Just another violent Black man,
and we know how juries respond to that.
Well, I haven't had a chance
to cross-examine him yet.
But it'll be helpful to know for sure
- that Pickett was lying, right?
- What are you talking about?
So the security guard
at Omari's school told me
he put in some cameras.
Pickett doesn't know that.
So let's hang this racist son of a bitch
with his own rope.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
- Appreciate you doing this.
- Yeah, no problem.
- Check it out.
- Mm-hmm.
[PEOPLE SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY]
- [METAL SLAMMING]
- Shut up!
Damn. That boy was strong.
[SHOUTING CONTINUES, METAL CLANKING]
♪
- Detectives.
- Nolan.
Hey, any luck?
- Luck with what?
- Nothing.
I was trying to help him out.
Unfortunately, no dice.
I thought you said the
hallway was covered by cameras.
Yeah, some of them are,
but not the ones we needed.
But I did speak with a bunch of
schoolteachers and employees.
No one heard or saw
any type of argument.
Okay, thanks.
Mr. Pickett, this incident
where you allege
Omari attacked you before,
were there any witnesses?
No, we were in the hallway alone.
How convenient.
Did you tell anyone else about this?
No, I was worried if I did,
it would impact his career momentum.
So
so you just so happen
to be the only person
he was ever violent toward?
And it just so happens
to have occurred in private?
And you just so happen to have never
brought it up until now?
- I'm telling the truth.
- If you say so.
I swear he attacked me.
On that day when we argued,
he was going to kill me.
But you never said that out loud
- until right now, correct?
- Yes, but I was
I was so upset, I just
I wasn't thinking straight.
No, no, you mean you weren't
thinking strategically.
You hadn't consulted a lawyer yet.
You hadn't figured out
how to pretend that
Objection. He's badgering the witness.
Sustained.
♪
Nothing further.
♪
Madame Foreperson,
has the jury reached a verdict?
We have, Your Honor.
In the charge of murder
in the second degree,
we find the defendant
James Pickett
guilty.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
thank you for your service.
Court is adjourned. [GAVEL BANGS]
[SIGHS]
♪
[COINS RATTLING, NUMBER PAD BEEPING]
[CANDY CLATTERS]
Hey.
So I heard Pickett got convicted.
Yep, justice served.
I don't disagree.
But I did speak to the security
guard at the school.
He told me about the video
the one that you said didn't exist.
The guy is guilty.
We both know it.
I did what I thought would be best.
Didn't break any laws.
No, I know. I know.
And I get why you did it, Theo.
But, listen, I don't do
the lone wolf thing.
♪
So either we do this thing together,
or you got to find a different partner.
♪
In the criminal justice system,
the people are represented
by two separate,
yet equally important groups:
the police, who investigate crime,
and the district attorneys,
who prosecute the offenders.
These are their stories.
Yes, I'd rather be here ♪
Than any place I know ♪
It's gonna take the sergeant ♪
For him to make me go ♪
Going to the riv ♪
Hey, man. [SIGHS]
[GRUNTS]
I got you, I got you, I got you.
Take a seat. You all right?
- Leave that.
- It's all right, man.
I got you.
Look, brothers got to look
after each other, right?
- Appreciate you, young blood.
- Yeah.
Hey, matter of fact
stay blessed, unc.
- All right, now, young blood.
- Yes, sir.
Going to the river ♪
There's a reason why ♪
Thank you, young man.
- Yes, sir.
[PEOPLE SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
Hey! Stop!
You leave him!
[METAL CLANKING]
Help!
[INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER]
- This is your first homicide?
- Technically.
- What does that mean?
- Been working Narcotics.
Seen a lot of dead bodies,
but my job was to find
the dope, not the killer.
So that's a yes?
Detective.
Officer Herring. Detective Theo Walker.
- What do we got?
- Vic is a Black male.
MLS says cause of death is
blunt force trauma to the head.
Scaffolding is going to make
the video canvass fun.
Yeah, we have
two street cams in this area,
and scaffolding is blocking both.
What I wouldn't give
to be wrong just once.
Right.
You were the first on the scene?
Yeah, I was driving my beat.
A local flagged me down,
said he witnessed a murder,
and vic was DOA when I arrived.
- Found his wallet on him.
- Got an ID inside?
Negative. But plenty of cash.
Thought that went out of style.
He's got a watch,
expensive jewelry on him, too.
So we probably are not looking
at a robbery.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
My God.
He was just a kid.
Welcome to Homicide
officially.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
- So you reported the murder?
- That's right.
Damn shame.
Seemed like a good kid.
You want to tell us what happened?
Some jerk knocked over my cup.
This young brother helped me out,
dropped a C-note like it was nothing,
then just went on his merry way.
Really made an impression, huh?
No lie, but the next thing I know,
the boy's arguing with somebody
on the corner,
raised his hands, started backing away.
Couldn't see the other person.
They had their back to me.
But whoever it was grabbed a pipe,
hit that boy,
kept on swinging.
I yelled.
That must have spooked 'em,
'cause they took off.
I checked the boy. He wasn't breathing.
So I went and found police.
Can you describe the killer?
If I'm keeping it a buck
I didn't get a great look.
Could you tell if it was
a man or a woman?
It could have been
an average dude or a tall lady.
What about their hair color?
Couldn't tell.
They had a black ball cap on.
It had a gold letter on the back.
I think it was a P.
Any luck turning up the murder weapon?
Unis are still canvassing,
but so far, no luck.
We did have some luck, though,
with our vic's fingerprints.
We were able to ID him.
He was in the system.
- He had priors?
- Nope, ward of the state.
His name is Omari Kemp, 15 years old.
His mother died in childbirth.
Lived with his father in the
projects near the crime scene
until three years ago when
his dad died in a car accident.
Kid ended up in foster care.
Okay, so what's a foster kid
from the projects
doing walking around
with expensive jewelry
- and a grand in cash?
- It's not what you think.
- I did some googling.
- Oh, he's thorough.
- You paying attention?
- All right, check it out.
Kid was a major baller.
Had every scout in the country
calling him the next Kevin Durant.
He was already cashing in
on those NIL dollars.
At 15?
I read about a seventh grader
who just signed a six-figure deal.
According to ACS, a family adopted Kemp
soon after he went into foster care
James and Katherine Pickett.
They live on the Upper East Side.
The question is,
what was he doing back
in his old neighborhood?
Okay, see what you can find
out from the adoptive family.
Oh, and one more thing
you're not undercover anymore.
We're a little more formal around here.
Anyone got a tie for Detective Walker?
You're in the 2-7 now.
Mm-hmm.
[DRAWER THUDS]
I honestly have no idea what
Omari would have been
doing back in that neighborhood.
I can't believe this is happening.
You know if he stayed in touch
with any friends or acquaintances
from when he used to live there?
I'm not sure.
His whole life was basketball.
He he didn't really have time
for socializing.
How did you come to adopt Omari?
I don't see a lot of people like you
adopting kids like him.
You mean because he's Black?
And on the older side.
Hey.
Yeah, I'm just trying
to, uh, understand.
Tyler and Omari
were on the same AAU team,
and after his
father died, we tried
to do what was right,
what was best for him.
We were happy to help.
He was a wonderful young man.
He was so talented.
He was going to play in the NBA,
maybe be one of the greats
and make lots of money.
I read somewhere he already
had a few big sponsorship deals.
Oh, more than a few.
I used to help him with business stuff,
help negotiate his deals.
Had he had any fights,
any altercations with anyone recently?
No, he was a great kid.
Everyone loved him.
Tyler?
Omari and I had an argument
this morning.
It
- it was no big deal.
- What was the argument about?
He wasn't working hard.
And I felt like his game was suffering.
I sat him down, had a "come to Jesus."
He didn't want to hear it,
and he took off.
- What time was this?
- Around 11:30.
I just thought he needed
to blow off some steam,
so I let him go.
- And you stayed here?
- Mm-hmm.
I was working the door
when Omari stormed out.
He'd normally stop and chat.
You know, we'd talk hoops,
but, uh
he wasn't in the mood.
He seemed upset.
Did anyone follow him outside?
You mean one of the Picketts?
No, sir.
You said you and Omari would chat.
[CHUCKLES]
I used to play a little ball
myself back in the day.
I never had the height,
but, uh, I was trouble
behind the three-point line.
So y'all would talk shop.
I even followed his team,
saw him play a couple times.
He could really shoot it from deep, huh?
And was a dog on D.
See, now, that's what set him apart.
You know if he had any kind
of problems with anybody?
No
not really.
♪
What is it?
♪
The other day
he got into an argument right
here outside the building,
got a little heated too.
You know who it was with?
Yeah.
His coach.
All right, Coach, let's try this again.
Why don't you tell us what
you two were arguing about?
It's fine. Just tell them.
I was helping Omari pick a college.
I was pushing for one in particular,
but someone told him
that I was taking a kickback
from the school
in exchange for
influencing his decision.
So he was going to expose the fact
that you were taking bribes.
Finder's fees and signing
bonuses are perfectly legal.
Still not a very good look, is it?
Please. I've sent 50 players
to elite college programs.
12 of them have gone on to the NBA.
Families beg me
to turn their sons into superstars.
- Why shouldn't I get a taste?
- Because they're kids.
You're their coach, right?
So your job is to coach them
to put their needs ahead of yours.
That's real cute, Detective.
But that's not how this works.
Well, you know what else is cute?
Doing 20 to life for murder.
And you still haven't told us anything
that would eliminate you as a suspect.
So where were you earlier today
around noon, huh?
Meeting with a potential sponsor.
I can give you his info.
You can check it out.
We will.
Great. If there's nothing else
You really just going to walk out, huh?
One of your players was murdered, man.
- Doesn't that bother you?
- Of course it bothers me.
But you didn't ask for help.
No, you came at me hot and accused me
of murdering him, for God's sake.
Hey, we're just chasing
the evidence, man.
You're the one who made it contentious.
Look, I want to help.
The only thing I know
is that about a month ago,
he told me there was something
at his school.
Said there was an incident,
some kind of harassment,
but he wouldn't give me the details.
[LOCKER DOOR SQUEAKS]
His locker was vandalized last month.
Yeah, the words "go home" were
spray-painted across the door.
- Because he was Black?
- Or just not white.
Sounds crazy, but these days
[SCOFFS] Things ain't getting better.
- That's for sure.
- Did you catch who did it?
I mean, you must have
security cameras here, yeah?
No, sir. Nah, administration
won't cough up the dough.
Not in the budget.
- Makes things real hard too.
- What do you mean?
Well, a few weeks ago,
caught a kid selling dope,
searched his backpack.
The punk's accusing me of assault.
I'm the one under investigation.
So I put up a few cameras
in the hallways,
out of my own pocket,
just to cover my ass.
Those cameras weren't up
when Kemp's locker was defaced?
No. I had to figure out who
did it the old-fashioned way.
Here, let me show you.
I ended up finding the spray can
in another student's locker.
Who was the student? [KEYS CLACK]
This kid right here.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
I-I don't know why I did it.
I-I guess I was just
I-I liked Omari, okay?
We were tight, but but, lately
Lately what? You were getting jealous?
Don't answer that, Tyler.
My son had nothing to do
with Omari's murder, full stop.
Well, we'd like to believe you,
but we're going to need some proof.
Tyler, you don't have to say
I didn't I didn't do anything, Dad.
Look, I was shooting hoops
at the Equinox on 92nd Street
when Omari got killed.
You can check.
Hey. [KNOCKS]
Tyler Pickett's alibi checks out.
That's good.
I wasn't looking forward
to arresting a 15-year-old.
Might not be out of the woods on that.
I was able to pull some texts from
Omari's cloud that he had deleted.
Looks like he was dating
a girl named Tamara Wise.
Did the Picketts mention a girlfriend?
Nope, and based on these texts,
that was no accident.
Check out the last few messages.
- Whoa.
- Mm-hmm.
She's mad.
- Honeymoon was over, huh?
- Mm-hmm.
All right, go see what
the girlfriend has to say.
Known him my whole life, and
we kept in touch when he moved,
and then we started,
you know, hanging out.
We saw your texts, Ms. Wise.
We know that the two of you
were fighting.
I'm not usually jealous.
I was nervous because Omari
was getting so much attention.
When a guy gets to the league,
everybody knows what happens
to the high-school sweetheart.
They get left behind in the cold.
Is that why you two fought?
You felt left behind?
It was hard not to.
It was right in my face
Instagram pics of him partying
with grown-ass hos.
So, yeah, I lost it.
But we made up.
He swore he wasn't cheating,
and it may sound stupid,
but I believed him.
He was a good guy. He really was.
Where were you yesterday around noon?
At rehearsal.
We were supposed to get out around noon.
I was going to meet up
with Omari, but it ran late.
Those Instagram pics you mentioned,
did someone else post them?
We checked Omari's account.
All his posts were about basketball.
He didn't post on his real page.
Coach Brown and Mr. Pickett
were on him 24-7.
Drove him crazy.
They wanted to protect
his brand, keep him focused.
So he had a finsta?
Yeah.
All right.
Were you able to verify
Tamara Wise's alibi?
Checks out.
But she gave us Kemp's finsta account.
Got the photos she mentioned.
Nice place. Looks expensive.
How do you think Kemp got in the door?
Well, it looks like he was rolling
with a pretty fancy crew,
not exactly the law-abiding type.
Is that who I think it is?
Mr. Hip-Hop, Creston Reeves,
aka Hollow Point.
Well, as far as I understand it,
more gangster than rapper,
at least used to be.
I guess the question is,
what the hell was he doing
- with Kemp?
- Not sure, but check it out.
Hollow Point sent Kemp a message
the day before the murder.
"You know how I am with money.
I don't play."
At the very least, it seems
Hollow Point was a man of his word.
Mm-hmm.
All gas, no brakes
can't slow me down ♪
Big moves, big sound,
yeah, we run this town ♪
Hands up, lights out,
yeah, we shut it down ♪
All gas, no brakes,
you can't slow me down ♪
Go, yeah, run it up ♪
- Hey, the VIP's closed.
- Not for us, my friend.
- NYPD.
- And maybe you ain't hear me.
- I just
- Maybe you didn't hear me.
- Hey, Creston Reeves.
- Oh, I'm invisible now?
I don't got time for this, bro.
I ain't your damn bro.
Yo, that's bold as hell,
you using my government name like that.
We need to ask you some questions.
Busy right now, but
we can talk tomorrow, chief.
You heard the man. It's time to go.
Hey, look, why don't you
back off before I arrest you
- for obstruction, all right?
- Don't touch me.
- Hey, hey, hey.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Everybody, calm down.
Better take your hand off that gun, bro.
You got one more time
with that "bro" crap.
Hey, this is my partner right here.
If you pull your gun out one inch,
I got to take you out just how it is.
So what I'm saying is,
you're in control now.
So do the right thing and take
your hand off that damn gun.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
[CHUCKLES] Let me guess.
I'm coming with you.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
So, anyway, thanks for turning
the temperature down back there.
Just tried to show the man
a little respect is all.
What do you mean?
Well, dude like that spends
his whole damn life
fighting to be seen as strong, hard.
And if I'm being honest, you acted like
- he didn't matter.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa.
I acted like a cop, all right?
A cop trying to talk
to a murder suspect.
So, yeah, in that moment,
he didn't matter.
Exactly.
But it all worked out, right?
Why y'all obsessed with me?
I ain't done nothin' wrong,
so why y'all holdin' me up in here?
Omari Kemp.
Good kid. Hell of a baller.
Real shame what happened to him.
What does that have to do
with my client?
"You know how I am with money.
I don't play."
You sent that message to him.
24 hours later, he was beaten to death.
Now, that's a false
correlation right there.
Y'all can't pin this on me.
Did Kemp get in over his head?
What was it drugs, gambling?
Come on, man, we know you
got your hands in all of it.
- Don't respond to that.
- I got to say
it's almost impressive
how you manage to stay involved
in all this low-level gangster crap.
That gang life is in the rearview.
I'm chasing mogul status now.
Where were you on the
afternoon Kemp was killed?
I hosted a brand-launch event
for my new vodka.
I ain't kill Omari Kemp.
And yet you threatened him
shortly before the murder over money.
I wasn't trying to collect from Kemp.
I was trying to give it to him.
Look, I got a sports-management
company now.
Jay-Z can't be
the only name in the game.
Signing Kemp
would have shook up the world.
Boy took some convincing, though,
so I was recruiting him, hard.
Hell, I even had a Nike deal
lined up for him.
Told him all he had to do
was drop the dead weight.
According to Hollow Point,
Kemp was going to drop
Jim Pickett as his agent.
Cutting him out of tens of
millions of potential earnings.
And according to Point,
Kemp planned to break
the news to Pickett
on the day he was murdered.
So the smart money says that that
is what they were actually
arguing about that afternoon,
which means that Pickett lied to us.
And he had motive.
And he has an alibi,
corroborated by his doorman.
Just because the doorman didn't see him
follow Omari out the door doesn't mean
he couldn't have gone out another exit.
- Exactly.
- Okay.
Go find something that proves that.
Mm-hmm.
Oh, but first, let me grab my tie.
Hey.
- How's it going?
- Uh
good, you know, mostly.
Still feeling each other
out a bit, but good.
- Why?
- Nothing.
Something I got to know?
No, just checking in.
All set.
You might want to tie it.
Mr. Pickett.
Need to ask you a few more questions.
No. I already told you,
my son had nothing to do with it.
We're not here about your son.
[SCOFFS] What, you're back on me now?
It's unbelievable.
I already told you,
I was here all afternoon.
But you weren't.
That's the parking garage
under your building.
And that's you leaving 15 minutes
after Omari that afternoon.
You followed him, just not on foot.
And you didn't return for another hour.
Yeah, we know that you lied
about why you two argued that day.
Omari was going to cut you out,
wasn't he?
Mm, how dare he,
after all you've done for him?
Yeah, I was upset,
and I went for a drive to clear my head.
I didn't tell you because
I knew how that would sound.
Jim, just stop talking.
I have nothing more to say.
You got to come with us.
[TENSE MUSIC]
[DOOR CLICKS]
[DOOR CLICKS]
We've been going at him
for over an hour.
He's sticking to his story.
Guy knows his life is on the line.
He looks good for it, Lou.
Yeah, unfortunately, looks
aren't admissible in court.
We don't have enough to charge him.
Wife's still in the lobby.
She seems a little jittery.
Yeah, that's the vibe I was getting too.
Take a run at her, see what you get.
[DOOR CLICKS]
Here
this might help calm your nerves.
[DOOR CLOSES]
My husband didn't have anything to do
with what happened to Omari.
- We both know that's not true.
- No, I'm telling you.
Then why did you tell him
to stop speaking back there?
Hmm?
- Listen, Mrs. Pickett
- Kate
we've got your husband cold for murder.
We're here to talk about you.
Am I a suspect now?
Well, you've been covering for him.
The DA's going to want to go
for criminal facilitation,
obstruction of justice.
You could be looking at as much
as seven to, what,
- ten years?
- Mm-hmm.
Oh, and it gets worse
if they think you were
in on it from the beginning.
♪
At that point, you might
as well have done it yourself
from the court's perspective.
But I didn't
♪
I loved Omari, I swear.
You know one thing I've learned
is good people make mistakes.
The best thing you can do now
is come clean.
Then we can figure out a way
how to put this all behind us.
♪
Hey
think about your son
Tyler.
What happens to him
if you both go to prison?
♪
[INHALES DEEPLY]
♪
Jim loved Omari
but he put so much pressure on him
and on himself.
It was too much.
And they'd been arguing.
♪
When I came home that night
♪
Jim was a wreck.
He was crying and yelling.
He told you what he did, didn't he?
♪
Which makes you involved.
♪
He was just trying to talk
some sense into him,
but Omari he wouldn't budge.
And Jim
snapped.
[CRYING] He didn't even realize
what he was doing. [SNIFFLES]
He didn't mean to kill Omari.
♪
He just lashed out.
♪
James Pickett, stand and place
your hands behind your back.
What's going on? [HANDCUFFS CLICKING]
You're under arrest
for the murder of Omari Kemp.
On the charge of murder
in the second degree,
how does the defendant plead?
Not guilty, Your Honor.
Ms. Maroun, I'll hear you on bail.
People ask for remand, Your Honor.
The defendant murdered Omari Kemp,
a 15-year-old boy
who was his adopted child,
by beating him to death
with a metal pipe during an argument.
He's not only a flight risk
but a danger to others,
including his biological teenage son,
who still lives in his home.
Your Honor, on top of motive,
we have cell-phone data
that puts the defendant
near the crime scene.
We have recovered clothing
with the victim's blood on it
and an eyewitness.
The evidence against him
is overwhelming.
We don't dispute that.
The evidence is overwhelming
because Jim Pickett is, indeed,
the person who killed Mr. Kemp.
But it wasn't murder, Your Honor.
It was self-defense.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Well, the defense
is now claiming that Omari Kemp
had a history of going
into violent fits of rage,
and during their argument,
he threatened to kill Pickett
and rushed at him.
So he picked up a pipe and
swung it to protect himself.
So they're arguing that
Pickett had a reasonable
fear for his life?
The old "scary Black man" defense.
That it doesn't even make sense.
Omari had no motive
to want Pickett dead.
Oh, according to them, Pickett
told Omari that, as his legal guardian,
he had to give his consent
for him to enter into
any contractual arrangements,
which meant that he could block him
from signing with Hollow Point's agency.
They're claiming that
sent Omari over the edge,
and he went on the attack.
Is there any chance
they're telling the truth?
No. Pickett's wife admitted
that he confessed to her
that he lost his temper
and lashed out at Omari.
Marital privilege means
we can't compel her to testify.
The jury will never get
to hear about that.
So they changed their story
and made Omari the aggressor.
The question is, can we
prove that they're lying?
Yes, we have an eyewitness
who saw Omari holding his hands up
and backing away from his assailant.
And there may be a way
to introduce the confession
despite the marital privilege.
At first, Pickett told us he stayed
in the apartment that afternoon.
Then when we found video
of him leaving in his car,
he claimed he just went for a ride.
So he lied.
Repeatedly, and not just
about where he was that day.
He also lied to us
about what he and the victim
were arguing about.
Detective,
during the multiple interviews
you conducted with the defendant,
did he ever once mention anything
- about self-defense?
- No.
What about the defendant's
wife, Katherine Pickett?
Did you have a chance to question her?
Sidebar, Your Honor.
I'll see counselors in my chambers.
[TENSE MUSIC]
The prosecution is trying
to circumvent marital privilege
by sneaking in testimony
that they know is inadmissible.
What is it that you're
fishing for here, Mr. Price?
Kate Pickett told Detective Walker
that her husband
confessed to killing Kemp
in a moment of anger, not self-defense.
That sounds like hearsay.
She told detectives this
in the course of admitting
that she helped him cover up
what he did after the fact.
She was confessing to a crime,
which makes it a statement
against penal interest
an exception to the hearsay rule.
That's a stretch 8 miles long.
The penal interest only applies
to her potential crimes,
which were, as he said, after the fact.
Nothing my client
may or may not have said to her
about anything that occurred
prior to that is relevant.
Of course it's relevant.
The two are inextricably tied.
Even if you wanted to go that far,
anything she relayed to the detective
still falls under marital privilege.
Under what theory?
If a lawyer inadvertently
disclosed sensitive information
from a client to opposing counsel,
it's still inadmissible.
The privilege here belongs to my client,
and he clearly intended
the communication with his wife
to be confidential.
♪
I'm sorry, but I'm siding
with the defense.
There's to be no mention
of this so-called confession.
Thank you, Judge.
♪
I couldn't make out
everything they were saying,
but I did hear the kid say
"I'm sorry" a couple of times.
Did you hear him threaten
to kill the defendant?
No, sir.
The kid was trying to back away,
but the man wouldn't let him.
Then I saw the man walk over
and pick up a pipe.
The kid started backing up,
put his hands up, like
pleading with him, you know.
And then what happened?
The man ran at him,
hit him in the head with the pipe
hard.
It was
I'd never seen
someone get killed before.
And you're sure
it wasn't the other way around,
that, uh, Omari Kemp wasn't the one
- running at the defendant?
- I'm absolutely positive.
Thank you. Nothing further.
Mr. Banks
you're 65.
Do you wear glasses?
No.
My health insurance
doesn't have a vision plan.
[LIGHT LAUGHTER]
You were a full block away
from the incident when it occurred.
More like half a block.
And it was daytime,
and my eyesight is fine.
When police first spoke to you,
you said you couldn't tell
if the person arguing with Mr. Kemp
was a man or a woman.
His back was to me.
So you were far away,
you couldn't make out basic shapes,
and yet we're supposed to believe
that you could perfectly see
the choreography that went down
between these two people?
The kid was facing me,
and I could see what direction
he was moving in
backwards with his hands up.
Mr. Banks, what were you doing
right before this all went down?
I was just sitting on the stoop.
You were panhandling.
That's what you do, isn't it? I mean
you hang out on that stoop,
and you beg for money.
I provide entertainment.
If people see fit to throw me
a little cheddar in exchange,
I'm grateful for it.
Did Omari Kemp give you money?
Yes.
$100.
[CHUCKLES] Oh.
Uh, did that make you feel appreciative
towards him, protective?
Is that why you're lying to make it seem
like he was the victim,
when you know he was
the one attacking my client?
No.
Or is it just that he was
someone from your community?
My community?
As I understand it, the boy didn't live
anywhere near my neighborhood.
Or are you talking about
the fact he's Black?
I'm talking about the fact
that you're inclined to take
his side over my client's.
No. [EXHALES SHARPLY]
I wouldn't
You wouldn't what, lie under oath?
That's right.
[SIGHS] Mr. Banks
you have two prior felony convictions.
In both trials, you testified,
swearing to your innocence,
and in both cases,
you were found guilty.
I was telling the truth.
Well, not according
to the law, you weren't.
No further questions for this witness.
The defense pulled out
every racist trope they could
to discredit our eyewitness.
They they brought up
his prior convictions.
They called him a panhandler.
They referred to him and the victim
as coming from the same community.
Not surprising,
given their entire defense
is playing on the notion it's reasonable
to be terrified of any Black man.
Mm, it doesn't even matter
that Omari was only 15.
Yeah, he was young, but
he was also 6'2", 210 pounds,
an athlete in peak physical shape.
But we wouldn't be nearly as worried
about a jury acquitting a man
who bludgeoned a 15-year-old
white kid to death.
It's the presumption of violence
they're capitalizing on.
That's right, and they know
people tend to view Black youth
as more dangerous
than their white peers.
And you need to counteract that.
You said Kemp had no history
of violence, right?
No, by all accounts, he's a Boy Scout.
Run with that.
Humanize him for the jury.
Let's find a character witness
who can make them understand
he wasn't the caricature of
a foster kid from the projects
the defense is making him out to be.
Omari was what my mother
would call blessed,
and I'm not talking about
his skills on the court
or the fact that he was so handsome.
He was kind,
blessed with the kind of heart
that cared about everyone.
And did you ever know him
to lose his temper or act violently?
No.
He had a gentle soul.
A couple months before he died,
we were at my cousin's house,
and some boy stepped to him,
started saying awful things
about his dad being dead.
I thought Omari
might rip the kid's head off,
but he just shook his head
and walked away.
Later on, he told me that
he didn't believe in violence,
that it didn't solve anything.
And how long had you known Omari?
Since we were born, basically.
We grew up in the same building.
Thank you. No further questions.
Ms. Wise
You loved Omari, didn't you?
Yes.
You'd do anything to protect his memory.
Are you saying I'm lying?
No, but just because you
never saw him lose his temper
doesn't mean it never happened.
And you weren't there the day
he attacked Mr. Pickett.
- Objection.
- Sustained.
Nothing further.
The prosecution rests, Your Honor.
The witness is excused.
Mr. Rems, you may call
your first witness.
The defense calls
James Pickett to the stand.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
I haven't been able to sleep
through the night since it happened.
♪
My heart is broken.
I loved Omari.
I know he wasn't
actually my son, but I
I still thought of him that way.
If this was self-defense,
why not say so from the beginning?
Why why did you run
and then later lie to the police?
I was horrified
embarrassed, you know, scared.
It all just happened so fast. It
If I could go back
and undo everything, I just
I would. But I swear to you, I
he was going to kill me.
Why do you say that?
Because he'd attacked me before.
When?
Uh, two weeks before he died,
we got in this argument, uh
'cause his grades had been slipping.
And what happened?
I just I told him
he had to step it up.
Getting Cs wasn't acceptable, but
I mean, he just lost it.
We were in the hallway
outside the classroom.
He just he threw me up
against the locker by my neck.
He was choking me, and he was just
just so much bigger than me
and stronger.
I almost lost consciousness.
♪
Eventually, I was able to
get him to let me go, but the
the fury in his eyes
that's what was in my head when
he said he was going
to kill me that day.
♪
I just I knew what he was capable of.
Look, I'm not a perfect man
but I am not a murderer.
♪
He's lying about that fight, man.
You can hear it in his voice.
Well, he's just reminding the jury
that Omari was bigger
and stronger than him.
Just another violent Black man,
and we know how juries respond to that.
Well, I haven't had a chance
to cross-examine him yet.
But it'll be helpful to know for sure
- that Pickett was lying, right?
- What are you talking about?
So the security guard
at Omari's school told me
he put in some cameras.
Pickett doesn't know that.
So let's hang this racist son of a bitch
with his own rope.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
- Appreciate you doing this.
- Yeah, no problem.
- Check it out.
- Mm-hmm.
[PEOPLE SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY]
- [METAL SLAMMING]
- Shut up!
Damn. That boy was strong.
[SHOUTING CONTINUES, METAL CLANKING]
♪
- Detectives.
- Nolan.
Hey, any luck?
- Luck with what?
- Nothing.
I was trying to help him out.
Unfortunately, no dice.
I thought you said the
hallway was covered by cameras.
Yeah, some of them are,
but not the ones we needed.
But I did speak with a bunch of
schoolteachers and employees.
No one heard or saw
any type of argument.
Okay, thanks.
Mr. Pickett, this incident
where you allege
Omari attacked you before,
were there any witnesses?
No, we were in the hallway alone.
How convenient.
Did you tell anyone else about this?
No, I was worried if I did,
it would impact his career momentum.
So
so you just so happen
to be the only person
he was ever violent toward?
And it just so happens
to have occurred in private?
And you just so happen to have never
brought it up until now?
- I'm telling the truth.
- If you say so.
I swear he attacked me.
On that day when we argued,
he was going to kill me.
But you never said that out loud
- until right now, correct?
- Yes, but I was
I was so upset, I just
I wasn't thinking straight.
No, no, you mean you weren't
thinking strategically.
You hadn't consulted a lawyer yet.
You hadn't figured out
how to pretend that
Objection. He's badgering the witness.
Sustained.
♪
Nothing further.
♪
Madame Foreperson,
has the jury reached a verdict?
We have, Your Honor.
In the charge of murder
in the second degree,
we find the defendant
James Pickett
guilty.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
thank you for your service.
Court is adjourned. [GAVEL BANGS]
[SIGHS]
♪
[COINS RATTLING, NUMBER PAD BEEPING]
[CANDY CLATTERS]
Hey.
So I heard Pickett got convicted.
Yep, justice served.
I don't disagree.
But I did speak to the security
guard at the school.
He told me about the video
the one that you said didn't exist.
The guy is guilty.
We both know it.
I did what I thought would be best.
Didn't break any laws.
No, I know. I know.
And I get why you did it, Theo.
But, listen, I don't do
the lone wolf thing.
♪
So either we do this thing together,
or you got to find a different partner.
♪