Law & Order (1990) s25e14 Episode Script
Remedies
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.
I told you, this has to stop.
Please, just leave me alone.
Emily,
everyone's waiting to toast you.
[SIGHS]
You okay?
Gotta keep the bad
energy far away, right?
[BREATHES DEEPLY] Okay.
[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
Emily!
[CHEERING]
Great work, Emily!
You're brilliant!
I wanna thank you all
for coming tonight,
my fellow free thinkers,
- my passionate positivists.
- Yes!
Tomorrow we get to share
so many of the ideas
we've discovered together.
We get to help even more people
embrace holistic wellness.
Here's to long, healthy lives ahead.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
All right, what have we got?
Female, mid-30s,
gunshot to the back of the head.
Name is Emily Starr.
Close range, huh?
MLI said there was some
stippling on the scalp
from the powder burns.
Time of death?
Body temp indicates
between 10:00 and midnight.
Any witnesses?
A clerk at the bodega around
the corner remembers hearing
a loud noise around
10:45 and seeing someone
rush from the scaffolding in a
puffy tan coat with a tote bag.
- Man? Woman?
- He couldn't say.
Perp had a hood and scarf on.
Guessing because of the
scaffolding, no cameras?
Nothing functioning around here.
Thanks.
What have we got?
Right. Wallet, phone.
That's a pretty nice purse.
Emily Starr.
"Your Amazing Life."
Just got cut short.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
How long had you been working for her?
Three years.
Emily was a wellness influencer?
TikTok and all that?
It started that way.
About ten years ago, she
beat stomach cancer
naturally.
She started a vlog
about it, that caught on,
and pretty soon, she was recommending
homeopathic remedies for
sleep issues, skin problems.
A few years ago she
opened the center here
because so many of her followers
wanted to work with her in person.
Does Emily have any family
that we should be notifying?
No her mom split when she was young,
and her dad died of lung cancer.
That's what got her started
on her health journey.
Emily was killed on 10th and 27th.
You know what she was doing there?
She was walking home
from her book party here.
- Did she leave alone?
- Yeah.
Were there any problems at the party?
Any arguments?
No.
It was a great night. [SIGHS]
But she did get a call
that kind of rattled her.
- Do you know who from?
- No.
She stepped away to take
it and looked worried.
[PHONE RINGING]
The ME says the slug pulled from the vic
was from a .22 caliber.
The grate sweeps have
not found a murder weapon,
so where are we at with
this menacing conversation?
According to Emily Starr's cell records,
between 7:00 and 9:00 p.m.,
she got seven calls
from the same number.
And?
The number traces to
Skylar Gibson.
Oh, she's another health influencer.
And judging by her social media posts
#backstabber, #snake
she's not a fan of Emily Starr.
She also texted Emily an
hour before she was killed.
"Watch your back, bitch."
That doesn't sound healthy.
Emily and I used to be friends,
roommates for a couple years.
We planned to write a
wellness book together.
And what, she went off on her own?
[SIGHS]
She wrote her book
without even telling me.
Then last week I got my
hands on an early copy,
saw my recipes, my pose sequence.
And that ticked you off?
The wellness market is a $2
trillion industry, detectives.
We all want a piece.
This was a serious business dispute.
"Watch your back, bitch"?
- That doesn't sound very businessy.
- Mm-mm.
You got an alibi for last night?
I was leading an online breath class
the whole thing was recorded.
I never stepped foot outside
this building until 11:00 p.m.
Look, I'm sorry she's dead, truly.
Okay.
But can you think of anyone
who might want to kill her?
[SIGHS]
Well, her ex, Zane, loved her too much.
Trolled her after the breakup.
Dude had anger issues.
[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]
And I'm betting he didn't like
that Emily wrote about him.
In her new book?
Chapter 13, "Cleansing
Yourself of an Evil Ex."
♪
Hi, Zane.
We're just gonna play a little
show and tell, all right?
I'm gonna show you a video,
you're gonna tell me what
the hell you're doing.
Sit down.
That's you at Emily's
book party two nights ago,
trying to get in, while that
nice gentleman with the iPad
is telling you to take a hike.
- That piss you off?
- No!
I-I just wanted five
minutes of her time.
I wanted to make amends.
Make amends for trolling
her online for a year?
Look, I'm a better man now, okay?
I I'm getting married next month,
and I credit Emily for motivating
me to get my act together.
Why the sudden need
to unburden yourself?
I mean, do you really
think she would have
wanted you at her big night?
I heard her on the radio this week.
She was reading from her book.
It's a bit about me,
and I sounded awful.
So I went to apologize,
and then they wouldn't
let me in, so I left.
Where'd you go?
Just a bar I know. It's
a mile north of the event.
Hey, Zane's alibi holds.
Got surveillance from outside the bar.
He leaves six minutes
after the shot was fired.
Okay.
Is that a city bus coming up 10th Ave
from the direction of the shooting?
It is, which means that it passed
by the area of the
shooting just minutes prior.
Did you pull the dash cam?
Mm-hmm, and look what it found
a few blocks north of the shooting.
You run facial rec?
No luck. The face isn't visible enough.
But the figure does
match the description
we got from the witness,
minus the tote bag.
So the shooter must
have ditched the tote bag
between the shooting and here.
Do you have a map of the area?
Yeah.
Okay, see right there?
That passageway that the
shooter's coming out of,
that's a dead end.
So the shooter ducked in and ducked out.
Call the SRGs.
I'm sure there's a couple
of dumpsters in that alley.
[GUNSHOT]
The gun was still in the tote bag,
so it wasn't contaminated
with any trash.
- Any prints?
- Nothing on the weapon.
But when we test-fired it, we
found something interesting.
See those grooves?
Yeah. Any match in NIBIN?
Primer pin markings on this casing
are an exact match to a bullet
pulled from a convenience store
armed robbery six years ago.
What happened to that gun?
According to the file,
it was never recovered.
But they did get the shooter.
Got a conviction based on video.
Who was the shooter?
Eric Domingo,
from South Ozone Park.
Some narcotics priors.
Any idea where he is now?
Looks like he was up at Mid-State
but was released a month ago.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
♪
[POUNDING ON DOOR]
NYPD!
Domingo, open up!
NYPD!
Whoa, whoa, whoa, officers!
Stand back! Stand back!
- I
- You stand back!
There's nothing in the house, I swear.
All right, check the back room.
Make sure it's clear.
You're not gonna find anything.
We're not interested in your dope.
We wanna talk about Emily Starr.
I don't know what you're talking about.
That surprises me, 'cause she was killed
by the gun you used in an
armed robbery a few years ago.
And we also have a bullet from it
that pierced the skull
of a 34-year-old woman.
[EXHALES]
Holy
So you wanna tell us where
you were two nights ago,
around 10:45?
You mean Thursday night?
Yeah.
That was my recovery meeting.
Yeah, yeah, at St. Mary of Ascension.
Talk to Father Romano.
There were ten of us.
He had us praying,
praying to stay clean.
It was from 9:00 to 11:00.
So how did your gun end
up as a murder weapon
while you're talking to God?
♪
Hey, look,
my girl pawned it while I was in.
She needed the cash.
Clayton Boyce?
You're law enforcement?
That is correct.
We're here about a gun
a New York City pawn shop
resold you a few months ago.
Sounds like an illegal firearm
and an illegal transaction,
which I would not partake in.
That's so funny.
That's exactly what the
pawn shop guy said to me
right before I threatened to
have the ATF shut him down.
I got rights.
I don't have to speak to you.
Oh, we got rights too.
We got rights to get a
warrant for all your records,
every transaction.
I mean, if you sold one single
keychain without sales tax,
the state has the right to
revoke your business license.
And that's after we exercise our right
to get your FFL yanked.
Listen, that .22 revolver
was used in a murder.
If you help us find out who bought it,
we may just get too busy
chasing down our suspect
We get very focused.
And we just don't have any time
to look into your bookkeeping.
At the gun shows,
people show up with cash
looking for something under the table.
Some sellers unload stuff out back.
You got a place and
date for this gun show
where this .22, which
you know nothing about,
disappeared?
Falling Rock Gun Show, ten days ago.
There's no list of gun show attendants,
but we managed to get parking lot video.
We ran 122 plates.
Any matches to anyone on
Emily Starr's contact list?
Nothing. But three were
rental cars, so we looked
at video of those drivers.
Two show their faces in broad daylight.
But this one, the one with
the hat down, scarf up
Trying to hide.
That car was rented to a Roger Massey
from Darien, Connecticut
52, married, works
for Capstone Insurance.
Why don't you run the
rental plates through the MTA
and see if that car was
anywhere near Manhattan
- the night of the murder?
- Mm-hmm.
And, uh, does this guy
have any link to Emily?
He's not on her client or follower list.
Looks like he came in over
the Triborough at 8:18 p.m.
Went back over the bridge at 11:52 p.m.
That's an hour after the murder.
Let's call in a warrant.
[TENSE MUSIC]
[KNOCK AT DOOR]
What in the hell is going on here?
We have a warrant to search
your premises. Step aside, sir.
- Thank you.
- Search for what? Why?
Mr. Massey, your rental car
was in Pennsylvania last week
at a gun show where we
believe you purchased a weapon
used in a recent murder.
Murder? Pennsylvania?
Well, that's not possible.
My wife was only using
the rental for errands
while hers was in the shop.
Someone else must have used it.
Carol, come down!
They're here about the rental car.
Rental car?
Hey, we found this in the garage trash,
bagged a few times.
We sprayed luminol. It's
got blood spatter on it.
Blood?
What in the hell is going on here?
Mrs. Massey, is that your jacket?
Roger, say nothing.
- What?
- Just say nothing.
All right, let's go.
We're taking them both in.
- He he did nothing wrong.
- That's okay. Come on.
We're gonna let the DA make that call.
You have the right to remain
silent, do you understand?
Anything you say can and
will be used against you.
- Do you understand?
- Roger, it's okay.
Say nothing.
Nothing.
Neither the wife nor
the husband is talking?
No, not a peep, and they
both have lawyers on the way.
But I did call the insurance
company where Roger works,
and they say he was in the office
on the day of the gun show.
Also, there was only one
person in the surveillance video
of the rental car,
who matches her build.
All the evidence points to the
wife being a single shooter,
wearing the jacket that was
found at the Massey house
with the victim's blood.
I mean, Carol's DNA is all over it.
Why does a suburban wife
execute a 30-something influencer?
We pulled the phone records.
It seems like Roger called
her twice, five months ago.
And then she stopped
answering his calls.
What about her?
She have any contact with the victim?
She reached out a few times
in the weeks before the murder,
but the calls always went to voicemail.
So maybe the husband had
an affair with Emily Starr,
and the wife got jealous?
Motive is iffy here.
But we can prove that she
bought the gun the week before,
and then she shot the victim
in the back of the head?
I think any grand jury
in town will say yes.
So
cut the husband loose,
charge the wife with murder two.
So what's the connection
between Carol Massey and Emily Starr?
'Cause other than some
unanswered phone calls,
I don't see that she sent
any emails to the victim.
No, no, but here's a flurry of emails
with someone named Lauren Hope
in the month before the murder.
Subject, uh, "Why won't you listen,"
and "Stop ignoring me."
Email address is at Hudson University.
Hmm.
Well, according to her social media,
Lauren Hope, age 20,
used to live in Darien, Connecticut,
before she went to Hudson.
Oh, used to be tagged in
her photos as Lauren Massey.
She's the couple's daughter?
Is there a Lauren Hope
in Emily's records?
Lauren Hope.
Oh, just last year she spent
14 grand on Starr's workshop.
Three-day cleanse.
That is a lot of money for green juice.
She also paid weekly rent
to stay at Starr's center
last winter, over the holidays.
Guessing Mom didn't like that.
This email to her daughter says,
"Emily Starr only wants your money,"
and "the woman is dangerous."
So, rebellious kid changes name,
blows through thousands
on fringe wellness regimen?
Mom kills to shut it down?
It's not perfect, but it's
the beginning of a narrative.
An illegally purchased handgun
a week before the murder,
the victim's blood on
the defendant's jacket,
emails detailing Carol Massey's anger
at her daughter's spending
at Emily Starr's center
the state has a
preponderance of evidence
linking Carol Massey to
this horrific crime
which ended the life
of an innocent young woman.
Everything Mr. Price
said, absolutely true.
The evidence against my
client is crystal clear.
What's not clear?
Why Carol Massey had to
commit this horrific crime.
Well, I'll tell you
because Emily Starr is not,
as Mr. Price would have you
believe, an innocent woman.
She was instead a
deadly, imminent threat
to the defendant's
daughter, Lauren Massey.
20-year-old Lauren nearly died
under Emily Starr's so-called care
and would have died
had Carol Massey not acted.
My client only killed Emily Starr
to save her daughter's life.
This was an incontrovertible
defense of others.
Objection.
Your Honor, this is unfair surprise.
Chambers.
Emily Starr was unarmed
when she was shot.
We're not saying she was
a threat to Carol Massey.
She was an imminent threat to Lauren.
Who was nowhere near the crime scene.
Your Honor, Lauren Massey
has not responded to us,
but we can confirm that she was 3 miles
- from the shooting that night.
- Is this true?
It's irrelevant to our defense.
Your Honor, Lauren Massey suffers from
acute lymphocytic leukemia.
She won't respond to Mr. Price
'cause she was in the hospital,
finally receiving proper medical care.
Uh, Your Honor, Section
35.15, New York State Code,
mandates that defense of
others can only be invoked
to stop the use of unlawful
physical force against someone.
Physical harm was a component.
Emily Starr made Lauren Massey forsake
lifesaving medical treatment.
But her advice wasn't unlawful,
and the defendant was too far
from her daughter at the time
of the shooting to possibly meet
the reasonable belief standard
that her daughter's death was imminent.
Your Honor, we will present science
to show her death was imminent.
Due to Emily Starr's reckless remedies,
Lauren Massey was on the brink of death
until her mother intervened.
I'll allow.
The defense is totally meritless,
but we need to be ready
for whatever accusations
they throw at the victim.
So what did Emily Starr
actually say about cancer?
[SIGHS]
"Juicing cleanses the body
of toxins and fights disease,"
and "Rebalancing the body's
pH level can kill cancer."
pH level. That is a nice touch.
So Emily Starr peddled
in unproven remedies,
and a teenager ended
up dangerously sick.
Yeah, but Emily didn't use
physical force against Lauren.
It doesn't meet the legal
standard of the defense.
It may not matter to the jury.
Defense is gonna have
a field day presenting
Emily's homeopathic nonsense.
They will go for jury nullification
and force us to defend
her pH juice cleanses.
Nolan, just so you know,
I don't think homeopathy is nonsense,
and I'm gonna bet there
are a few jury members
who are just like me.
I actually followed Emily Starr.
You can't just dismiss an entire field.
As it pertains to this case,
the defense will paint Emily Starr
as a deadly snake oil saleswoman,
and they will argue that
the stakes for Lauren Massey,
who is battling a serious
leukemia, were life and death.
It's not gonna be hard for the defense
to garner sympathy for
the mom of a cancer victim.
Okay.
So we remind the jury
that this is about free speech,
that it's about guarding care options
they may very well want.
We defend Emily's integrity
and we make damn sure
she's sympathetic as well.
Healing others was her life's calling.
She wanted people to
know they had choices
outside of the establishment.
How did she help you?
I was an addict.
Opioids.
She walked me through detox,
gave me natural remedies for the pain,
sat with me through the worst of it.
Did Emily ever prevent you getting
a second opinion from a real doctor?
No, but I've honestly been so healthy
it hasn't even crossed my mind.
I owe everything to her guidance.
Nothing further.
How much did Emily's guidance cost?
I can't say exactly.
Ballpark. Last year,
how much did she make?
I mean, you had access to
her business statements.
- It was around 700,000.
- Wow.
But her company earnings allowed her
to grow her platform, reach more people.
How much money did Emily
make off Lauren Massey,
the defendant's daughter?
I'm not sure.
Your Honor, I'm handing over
what has been marked exhibit A,
Lauren Massey's payment records
to Starr Serenity Center.
Would you read aloud the total amount?
$23,204.
23,000.
Was that for high-tech
machines, CT scans,
MRIs, cutting-edge medicine?
She offered a full
homeopathic regimen of juice,
herbal teas, enemas, exercise
Were you aware that
doctors, people with actual
medical degrees who study cancer,
had given Lauren an 85% to
100% long-term survival rate
if she underwent chemo and radiation?
But that if her cancer went untreated
by those tested therapies,
they estimated
that she had only a year to live?
I don't think
Your Honor, Mr. Sirianni's questions
are outside the scope of
the witness's testimony.
Withdrawn.
[TENSE MUSIC]
But
just so I can completely wrap
my head around the finances,
true or false:
Emily Starr asked Lauren Massey
to pay her $23,000
to be killed slowly within a year?
- Objection.
- Withdrawn.
Nothing further.
♪
Get this "Influencer's followers
sing her holistic praises."
Emily Starr's subscribers
list is growing.
Her followers are making
TikTok testimonials.
After the defense
painted her as a crook?
Guess all press is good press.
Not according to the oncology community.
They're up in arms about all this
anti-science wellness stuff.
They have officially
denounced Emily, her center,
and 18,000 other TikTok influencers
whose cancer cures have
no basis in science.
18,000? That's a lot.
Yeah, it is.
And that could be useful.
And when did you learn
that Lauren had decided
on Emily Starr's so-called therapy?
Lauren missed a follow-up
with her oncologist,
so I called her.
She said big business
had caused her cancer.
She didn't want big pharma
to profit off her treatment.
She told us she was changing her name
to reflect this new outlook
Lauren Hope.
And, uh, she didn't want my
dangerous and doom-filled advice.
I was so confused.
And then eventually we
found a credit card bill
for Starr Serenity Center and
figured out who Emily Starr was.
And what was the status
of Lauren's cancer
during this time?
We didn't know.
But last June, we got a
phone call from an ambulance.
Lauren had collapsed in a store.
At the hospital we got her an MRI,
and the cancer, it was
all over her insides.
It was just eating her away.
And we thought this would
snap her back to her senses,
but Emily told her it was
a natural cleansing stage,
that what she needed
was rest at the center.
My husband and I had
four different oncologists
look at Lauren's scans,
and they all said the same thing
that she would be dead within months.
Did you give this information to Lauren?
We couldn't.
Emily told her to
avoid upsetting contact.
I couldn't find her at her dorm.
I didn't know if she was
at the center or on a trip.
All I knew was that she
was gonna die very soon.
Nothing further.
Mrs. Massey, um,
I
I can only imagine how stressful it is
to have a sick child,
and I applaud your efforts
to get her the best treatment.
Thank you.
She had chemo
and radiation, correct?
At the start, yes.
So your daughter was well-versed
in the care options available,
and yet she chose something else.
No, she was led to believe
that this juice option
could be as effective
as radiation and chemo.
And then Emily told
her that she was better.
That that's not a
choice, that's a con.
[TENSE MUSIC]
You admit freely to
shooting Emily Starr?
I do.
Right, because of the dangerous advice
she gave your daughter?
Yes.
Did you know, Mrs. Massey,
that just last year,
over 18,000 wellness advisors
recommended alternatives
to chemo and radiation?
Would you kill them all?
Those thousands didn't shut my daughter
away from her parents.
Is that what this is about?
Anger that Emily Starr
assumed your role?
[SCOFFS]
No.
Is that why you could
think of no other remedy
but to shoot her?
I just went there to scare her,
to beg her to leave Lauren alone.
With a loaded gun that you had driven
across state lines to purchase?
Lauren needed treatment.
She needed a doctor.
Emily walked away.
Her spell over my daughter,
it needed to be broken.
My baby was gonna die. I
wasn't gonna let that happen.
So, yes, I I shot her.
♪
[SIGHS]
Nothing further.
Let's adjourn for the day.
The jury knows the mom
legally overstepped.
I'm just not sure they care.
She was very sympathetic.
What, you're assuming the jury
can't keep their emotions out of this?
No, I'm assuming they think
the mother was suffering
some sort of extreme emotional distress
when she was confronted
with how dangerously
her daughter's cancer had spread.
The girl was on the precipice of death.
Okay, Nolan, don't go soft on me.
Okay? Not now.
Look, I I'm truly sorry for
what that woman went through,
but no way did she lose her cool.
[PHONE BUZZES]
[SIGHS] Well,
get ready to contend with
another sympathetic witness.
Lauren Massey's out of the hospital.
Lauren, thank you for coming today.
I know it took a lot to get here.
It did.
But I'm just grateful to be alive,
and I owe it to my mother.
Lauren, the jury has heard
about Emily Starr's regimen,
and there's been some
speculation as to how and why
you came to follow her advice.
Could you tell us in your own words?
I hated being a girl with a disease.
Emily made it seem like
there was an easy way to get better.
The things the oncologist had told me
didn't seem real.
Emily preyed upon that,
then made sure hers was
the only voice I heard.
Told me my cancer was gone.
Do you understand how crazy that is?
Did you show them the scans
of what was going on inside me,
the scans she prevented me from seeing?
Thank God for my mother,
or I wouldn't be here.
Thank you, Lauren.
Nothing further.
Lauren
I know you have been through a lot
and clearly
love your mother very much.
I do.
And you express dismay
that Emily had lied to you,
so I wanna give you
a chance to be honest.
You were 19 when you
decided to stop chemo
and follow Emily's
health recommendations?
Yes.
Of legal age to make medical
decisions for yourself?
Yes.
Did Emily ever tell you
she had medical training?
No.
And you understood that your doctor
had recommended chemo and radiation?
Yes.
[TENSE MUSIC]
Did Emily Starr
ever lock you in a room?
No, but she restrained me
psychologically.
Told me to cut ties
with anyone negative
my parents, my doctor.
She said their fearmongering
would make my cancer worse.
And you believed her?
♪
When you're sick,
you want it to go away so badly.
Any liar can own you.
My actual doctor, he's
not allowed to lie.
You all won't let him.
He had to tell me the
treatment was going to be awful.
Why was Emily allowed to say anything?
It almost cost me my life.
I'm only better now because
I finally saw the MRIs.
I saw proof that my cancer had
gotten worse under Emily's care.
In all of this,
my mother was the only person
willing to fight for me,
to save me.
Please,
don't punish her.
[SNIFFLES]
♪
Nothing further.
♪
Tough witness.
Push too hard and it backfires.
I can tell the jury feels really sorry
for the daughter and the mom.
[SIGHS] And frankly, Sam, I'm
I'm feeling it myself.
It doesn't justify murder.
A TikTok star convincing
a teenager with cancer
to forgo life-saving
treatment, that is bad enough.
But preventing the girl from receiving
critical medical information
from an actual oncologist
after she collapsed?
All she did was tell
Lauren to stay off email.
And to avoid speaking with her parents.
That's not free speech,
Sam. That's coercion.
Emily Starr assumed a duty of care
when Lauren was at her
center, and she violated it.
So what, now you're saying
that the mother was reasonable
in believing that this was the only way
to save her daughter's life?
Reasonable? No.
Understandable?
Nolan, what happened to
"the law is your compass"?
[SIGHS]
My mother died of breast cancer.
I'm so sorry. I
The treatments, they were pretty brutal.
She'd always been high-octane.
She was a lawyer.
She was a damn good one.
She hated being so drained.
And then she started reading
about homeopathic treatments.
Eventually, she fell for the hope pitch,
stopped chemo for a few months.
She got her hair back.
She got some energy back.
But that cost her
a year of her life.
When you are that sick,
you are vulnerable.
Yeah.
But we need to get justice for Emily.
Yes.
But man one and 15 years
is not a terrible outcome.
I'm not sure it's the just
or appropriate outcome.
Well, you wanna risk
losing this whole thing
to jury nullification?
I'll set up a meeting.
Man one is a good offer, Carol.
But it's an admission of guilt.
You killed an unarmed woman.
I saved my daughter's life.
And I stand by the fact that
Emily Starr's actions were deadly.
Mrs. Massey, I am sympathetic
to the horrible
situation that you faced.
That's why we're here with
an offer, a very fair offer.
If you decline,
the charge goes back to murder two,
which carries a minimum
sentence of 15 years to life.
Think about Lauren.
Your daughter needs you.
I am thinking about Lauren,
and all the other Laurens out there.
Emily Starr's business is booming.
This is dangerous.
People need to know the truth.
Seems like a pretty emphatic no.
Come on.
[SIGHS]
The verdict is a toss-up at best.
I feel sorry for her,
but I don't want anyone
to walk for a crime like this.
If the jury is leaning
into sympathy and emotion,
let's play the game.
Meaning?
Emily had battled cancer herself, right?
She went through the
same fear, same struggle.
You wanna call a rebuttal witness?
Someone to remind the
jury that Emily had
legitimate personal reasons
for her unusual recommendations,
that it wasn't about greed.
It was about choices
that worked for her.
In her book, Emily writes
about her cancer support group
back in Pennsylvania.
I'll find them.
I heard about the court case.
I've just been too
busy to follow it all.
Oh.
I appreciate you taking
the time to meet with me.
We're trying to paint
a full picture of Emily.
It would be really
useful to hear about her
back when she joined your support group.
Well, Emily, um
bundle of energy and positivity.
[CHUCKLES] It was really
inspiring at first.
You know, a lot of us
were battling depression,
struggling with our families.
I had just lost my consulting job
because I'd taken so much
time off for treatments.
Couldn't stay on my feet.
[BREATHES DEEPLY]
Emily got me feeling hopeful again.
You said it was, uh, inspiring at first.
Did something change?
It's just
we'd all jumped in,
drinking her teas and juices
but also doing our treatments.
We felt a little better, but Emily
she had adenocarcinoma.
Stomach cancer.
It's brutal.
But she never had any weight loss,
no abdominal pain,
never even got tired.
I mean, Emily Starr
never did any wrong by me,
but don't you think that's strange?
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
Nope.
No evidence of any tumor tissue,
and not a single microscopic trace
of a cancerous cell in her body.
And the stomach?
Was in excellent shape.
You get a chance to talk
to her diagnosing doctor?
No hospital within 200
miles of Emily's hometown,
where she says she was
diagnosed with cancer,
has a record of ever
admitting her for anything.
Well, then I'm gonna say
she didn't beat cancer.
She never had it.
♪
- Thank you.
- Thanks.
♪
Emily's whole foundational
story was a lie?
Jury is gonna loathe her,
and quite possibly let the mom walk.
Wait, why does the jury need to know?
This doesn't meet the Brady standard.
Sam, we've been in court
defending Emily's right
to share her theory of self-healing.
But it isn't exculpatory,
and it sure as hell
doesn't give the mom the
right to gun her down.
No, of course it doesn't.
But it does show that
Carol Massey's mistrust
was warranted, that
she was right to think
that she was full of crap.
And that, in my opinion,
is favorable to the defense,
and quite frankly, the
jury should know this.
And so should her
followers sitting in court.
Nolan, like you always say,
our job is to follow the law.
And in my opinion, this information
is irrelevant to Carol Massey's defense.
It has nothing to do with
her daughter's imminent death.
So you think we should just sit on it?
Yes.
[TENSE MUSIC]
We have to.
♪
♪
One thing is clear
Carol Massey killed Emily Starr.
And despite her extensive
efforts to get away with it,
she was caught.
Once caught, she couldn't
contest the evidence,
so she told you
she had to do it because Emily Starr
was about to kill her daughter.
This young wellness influencer's
unconventional ideas were,
according to Carol Massey,
tantamount to homicide.
Fortunately for you,
she's made your job easy
because the law is crystal clear
about what it considers a
legitimate defense of others.
The harm averted must be unlawful
and imminent.
In this case, neither standard was met.
The defense called no expert to testify
that Lauren was gonna die
that night, or even that week.
More important,
Emily broke no laws
in advising Lauren.
In fact, for seven years
as an active influencer,
not a single civil or criminal
charge was brought against her.
You wanna know what unlawful
physical force looks like?
It's this.
[TENSE MUSIC]
That is the person who needed
protecting that night
a young woman walking
home from her own party
when a gun was put to her head.
And none of us could
offer her that protection,
but we can
offer her justice.
It's okay to empathize and
to sympathize with Carol Massey.
I do.
But you cannot let her
get away with murder.
♪
Members of the jury, have
you reached a verdict?
We have, Your Honor.
On the count of murder
in the second degree,
we find the defendant
guilty.
Members of the jury, we
thank you for your service.
We are adjourned.
- [GAVEL BANGS]
- Mom!
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
[SOMBER MUSIC]
♪
Mr. Price,
we wanted to thank you
for getting Emily justice.
♪
As a great prosecutor once told me,
a good person killing a bad person
is still murder.
♪
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
[WOLF HOWLS]
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.
I told you, this has to stop.
Please, just leave me alone.
Emily,
everyone's waiting to toast you.
[SIGHS]
You okay?
Gotta keep the bad
energy far away, right?
[BREATHES DEEPLY] Okay.
[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
Emily!
[CHEERING]
Great work, Emily!
You're brilliant!
I wanna thank you all
for coming tonight,
my fellow free thinkers,
- my passionate positivists.
- Yes!
Tomorrow we get to share
so many of the ideas
we've discovered together.
We get to help even more people
embrace holistic wellness.
Here's to long, healthy lives ahead.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
All right, what have we got?
Female, mid-30s,
gunshot to the back of the head.
Name is Emily Starr.
Close range, huh?
MLI said there was some
stippling on the scalp
from the powder burns.
Time of death?
Body temp indicates
between 10:00 and midnight.
Any witnesses?
A clerk at the bodega around
the corner remembers hearing
a loud noise around
10:45 and seeing someone
rush from the scaffolding in a
puffy tan coat with a tote bag.
- Man? Woman?
- He couldn't say.
Perp had a hood and scarf on.
Guessing because of the
scaffolding, no cameras?
Nothing functioning around here.
Thanks.
What have we got?
Right. Wallet, phone.
That's a pretty nice purse.
Emily Starr.
"Your Amazing Life."
Just got cut short.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
How long had you been working for her?
Three years.
Emily was a wellness influencer?
TikTok and all that?
It started that way.
About ten years ago, she
beat stomach cancer
naturally.
She started a vlog
about it, that caught on,
and pretty soon, she was recommending
homeopathic remedies for
sleep issues, skin problems.
A few years ago she
opened the center here
because so many of her followers
wanted to work with her in person.
Does Emily have any family
that we should be notifying?
No her mom split when she was young,
and her dad died of lung cancer.
That's what got her started
on her health journey.
Emily was killed on 10th and 27th.
You know what she was doing there?
She was walking home
from her book party here.
- Did she leave alone?
- Yeah.
Were there any problems at the party?
Any arguments?
No.
It was a great night. [SIGHS]
But she did get a call
that kind of rattled her.
- Do you know who from?
- No.
She stepped away to take
it and looked worried.
[PHONE RINGING]
The ME says the slug pulled from the vic
was from a .22 caliber.
The grate sweeps have
not found a murder weapon,
so where are we at with
this menacing conversation?
According to Emily Starr's cell records,
between 7:00 and 9:00 p.m.,
she got seven calls
from the same number.
And?
The number traces to
Skylar Gibson.
Oh, she's another health influencer.
And judging by her social media posts
#backstabber, #snake
she's not a fan of Emily Starr.
She also texted Emily an
hour before she was killed.
"Watch your back, bitch."
That doesn't sound healthy.
Emily and I used to be friends,
roommates for a couple years.
We planned to write a
wellness book together.
And what, she went off on her own?
[SIGHS]
She wrote her book
without even telling me.
Then last week I got my
hands on an early copy,
saw my recipes, my pose sequence.
And that ticked you off?
The wellness market is a $2
trillion industry, detectives.
We all want a piece.
This was a serious business dispute.
"Watch your back, bitch"?
- That doesn't sound very businessy.
- Mm-mm.
You got an alibi for last night?
I was leading an online breath class
the whole thing was recorded.
I never stepped foot outside
this building until 11:00 p.m.
Look, I'm sorry she's dead, truly.
Okay.
But can you think of anyone
who might want to kill her?
[SIGHS]
Well, her ex, Zane, loved her too much.
Trolled her after the breakup.
Dude had anger issues.
[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]
And I'm betting he didn't like
that Emily wrote about him.
In her new book?
Chapter 13, "Cleansing
Yourself of an Evil Ex."
♪
Hi, Zane.
We're just gonna play a little
show and tell, all right?
I'm gonna show you a video,
you're gonna tell me what
the hell you're doing.
Sit down.
That's you at Emily's
book party two nights ago,
trying to get in, while that
nice gentleman with the iPad
is telling you to take a hike.
- That piss you off?
- No!
I-I just wanted five
minutes of her time.
I wanted to make amends.
Make amends for trolling
her online for a year?
Look, I'm a better man now, okay?
I I'm getting married next month,
and I credit Emily for motivating
me to get my act together.
Why the sudden need
to unburden yourself?
I mean, do you really
think she would have
wanted you at her big night?
I heard her on the radio this week.
She was reading from her book.
It's a bit about me,
and I sounded awful.
So I went to apologize,
and then they wouldn't
let me in, so I left.
Where'd you go?
Just a bar I know. It's
a mile north of the event.
Hey, Zane's alibi holds.
Got surveillance from outside the bar.
He leaves six minutes
after the shot was fired.
Okay.
Is that a city bus coming up 10th Ave
from the direction of the shooting?
It is, which means that it passed
by the area of the
shooting just minutes prior.
Did you pull the dash cam?
Mm-hmm, and look what it found
a few blocks north of the shooting.
You run facial rec?
No luck. The face isn't visible enough.
But the figure does
match the description
we got from the witness,
minus the tote bag.
So the shooter must
have ditched the tote bag
between the shooting and here.
Do you have a map of the area?
Yeah.
Okay, see right there?
That passageway that the
shooter's coming out of,
that's a dead end.
So the shooter ducked in and ducked out.
Call the SRGs.
I'm sure there's a couple
of dumpsters in that alley.
[GUNSHOT]
The gun was still in the tote bag,
so it wasn't contaminated
with any trash.
- Any prints?
- Nothing on the weapon.
But when we test-fired it, we
found something interesting.
See those grooves?
Yeah. Any match in NIBIN?
Primer pin markings on this casing
are an exact match to a bullet
pulled from a convenience store
armed robbery six years ago.
What happened to that gun?
According to the file,
it was never recovered.
But they did get the shooter.
Got a conviction based on video.
Who was the shooter?
Eric Domingo,
from South Ozone Park.
Some narcotics priors.
Any idea where he is now?
Looks like he was up at Mid-State
but was released a month ago.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
♪
[POUNDING ON DOOR]
NYPD!
Domingo, open up!
NYPD!
Whoa, whoa, whoa, officers!
Stand back! Stand back!
- I
- You stand back!
There's nothing in the house, I swear.
All right, check the back room.
Make sure it's clear.
You're not gonna find anything.
We're not interested in your dope.
We wanna talk about Emily Starr.
I don't know what you're talking about.
That surprises me, 'cause she was killed
by the gun you used in an
armed robbery a few years ago.
And we also have a bullet from it
that pierced the skull
of a 34-year-old woman.
[EXHALES]
Holy
So you wanna tell us where
you were two nights ago,
around 10:45?
You mean Thursday night?
Yeah.
That was my recovery meeting.
Yeah, yeah, at St. Mary of Ascension.
Talk to Father Romano.
There were ten of us.
He had us praying,
praying to stay clean.
It was from 9:00 to 11:00.
So how did your gun end
up as a murder weapon
while you're talking to God?
♪
Hey, look,
my girl pawned it while I was in.
She needed the cash.
Clayton Boyce?
You're law enforcement?
That is correct.
We're here about a gun
a New York City pawn shop
resold you a few months ago.
Sounds like an illegal firearm
and an illegal transaction,
which I would not partake in.
That's so funny.
That's exactly what the
pawn shop guy said to me
right before I threatened to
have the ATF shut him down.
I got rights.
I don't have to speak to you.
Oh, we got rights too.
We got rights to get a
warrant for all your records,
every transaction.
I mean, if you sold one single
keychain without sales tax,
the state has the right to
revoke your business license.
And that's after we exercise our right
to get your FFL yanked.
Listen, that .22 revolver
was used in a murder.
If you help us find out who bought it,
we may just get too busy
chasing down our suspect
We get very focused.
And we just don't have any time
to look into your bookkeeping.
At the gun shows,
people show up with cash
looking for something under the table.
Some sellers unload stuff out back.
You got a place and
date for this gun show
where this .22, which
you know nothing about,
disappeared?
Falling Rock Gun Show, ten days ago.
There's no list of gun show attendants,
but we managed to get parking lot video.
We ran 122 plates.
Any matches to anyone on
Emily Starr's contact list?
Nothing. But three were
rental cars, so we looked
at video of those drivers.
Two show their faces in broad daylight.
But this one, the one with
the hat down, scarf up
Trying to hide.
That car was rented to a Roger Massey
from Darien, Connecticut
52, married, works
for Capstone Insurance.
Why don't you run the
rental plates through the MTA
and see if that car was
anywhere near Manhattan
- the night of the murder?
- Mm-hmm.
And, uh, does this guy
have any link to Emily?
He's not on her client or follower list.
Looks like he came in over
the Triborough at 8:18 p.m.
Went back over the bridge at 11:52 p.m.
That's an hour after the murder.
Let's call in a warrant.
[TENSE MUSIC]
[KNOCK AT DOOR]
What in the hell is going on here?
We have a warrant to search
your premises. Step aside, sir.
- Thank you.
- Search for what? Why?
Mr. Massey, your rental car
was in Pennsylvania last week
at a gun show where we
believe you purchased a weapon
used in a recent murder.
Murder? Pennsylvania?
Well, that's not possible.
My wife was only using
the rental for errands
while hers was in the shop.
Someone else must have used it.
Carol, come down!
They're here about the rental car.
Rental car?
Hey, we found this in the garage trash,
bagged a few times.
We sprayed luminol. It's
got blood spatter on it.
Blood?
What in the hell is going on here?
Mrs. Massey, is that your jacket?
Roger, say nothing.
- What?
- Just say nothing.
All right, let's go.
We're taking them both in.
- He he did nothing wrong.
- That's okay. Come on.
We're gonna let the DA make that call.
You have the right to remain
silent, do you understand?
Anything you say can and
will be used against you.
- Do you understand?
- Roger, it's okay.
Say nothing.
Nothing.
Neither the wife nor
the husband is talking?
No, not a peep, and they
both have lawyers on the way.
But I did call the insurance
company where Roger works,
and they say he was in the office
on the day of the gun show.
Also, there was only one
person in the surveillance video
of the rental car,
who matches her build.
All the evidence points to the
wife being a single shooter,
wearing the jacket that was
found at the Massey house
with the victim's blood.
I mean, Carol's DNA is all over it.
Why does a suburban wife
execute a 30-something influencer?
We pulled the phone records.
It seems like Roger called
her twice, five months ago.
And then she stopped
answering his calls.
What about her?
She have any contact with the victim?
She reached out a few times
in the weeks before the murder,
but the calls always went to voicemail.
So maybe the husband had
an affair with Emily Starr,
and the wife got jealous?
Motive is iffy here.
But we can prove that she
bought the gun the week before,
and then she shot the victim
in the back of the head?
I think any grand jury
in town will say yes.
So
cut the husband loose,
charge the wife with murder two.
So what's the connection
between Carol Massey and Emily Starr?
'Cause other than some
unanswered phone calls,
I don't see that she sent
any emails to the victim.
No, no, but here's a flurry of emails
with someone named Lauren Hope
in the month before the murder.
Subject, uh, "Why won't you listen,"
and "Stop ignoring me."
Email address is at Hudson University.
Hmm.
Well, according to her social media,
Lauren Hope, age 20,
used to live in Darien, Connecticut,
before she went to Hudson.
Oh, used to be tagged in
her photos as Lauren Massey.
She's the couple's daughter?
Is there a Lauren Hope
in Emily's records?
Lauren Hope.
Oh, just last year she spent
14 grand on Starr's workshop.
Three-day cleanse.
That is a lot of money for green juice.
She also paid weekly rent
to stay at Starr's center
last winter, over the holidays.
Guessing Mom didn't like that.
This email to her daughter says,
"Emily Starr only wants your money,"
and "the woman is dangerous."
So, rebellious kid changes name,
blows through thousands
on fringe wellness regimen?
Mom kills to shut it down?
It's not perfect, but it's
the beginning of a narrative.
An illegally purchased handgun
a week before the murder,
the victim's blood on
the defendant's jacket,
emails detailing Carol Massey's anger
at her daughter's spending
at Emily Starr's center
the state has a
preponderance of evidence
linking Carol Massey to
this horrific crime
which ended the life
of an innocent young woman.
Everything Mr. Price
said, absolutely true.
The evidence against my
client is crystal clear.
What's not clear?
Why Carol Massey had to
commit this horrific crime.
Well, I'll tell you
because Emily Starr is not,
as Mr. Price would have you
believe, an innocent woman.
She was instead a
deadly, imminent threat
to the defendant's
daughter, Lauren Massey.
20-year-old Lauren nearly died
under Emily Starr's so-called care
and would have died
had Carol Massey not acted.
My client only killed Emily Starr
to save her daughter's life.
This was an incontrovertible
defense of others.
Objection.
Your Honor, this is unfair surprise.
Chambers.
Emily Starr was unarmed
when she was shot.
We're not saying she was
a threat to Carol Massey.
She was an imminent threat to Lauren.
Who was nowhere near the crime scene.
Your Honor, Lauren Massey
has not responded to us,
but we can confirm that she was 3 miles
- from the shooting that night.
- Is this true?
It's irrelevant to our defense.
Your Honor, Lauren Massey suffers from
acute lymphocytic leukemia.
She won't respond to Mr. Price
'cause she was in the hospital,
finally receiving proper medical care.
Uh, Your Honor, Section
35.15, New York State Code,
mandates that defense of
others can only be invoked
to stop the use of unlawful
physical force against someone.
Physical harm was a component.
Emily Starr made Lauren Massey forsake
lifesaving medical treatment.
But her advice wasn't unlawful,
and the defendant was too far
from her daughter at the time
of the shooting to possibly meet
the reasonable belief standard
that her daughter's death was imminent.
Your Honor, we will present science
to show her death was imminent.
Due to Emily Starr's reckless remedies,
Lauren Massey was on the brink of death
until her mother intervened.
I'll allow.
The defense is totally meritless,
but we need to be ready
for whatever accusations
they throw at the victim.
So what did Emily Starr
actually say about cancer?
[SIGHS]
"Juicing cleanses the body
of toxins and fights disease,"
and "Rebalancing the body's
pH level can kill cancer."
pH level. That is a nice touch.
So Emily Starr peddled
in unproven remedies,
and a teenager ended
up dangerously sick.
Yeah, but Emily didn't use
physical force against Lauren.
It doesn't meet the legal
standard of the defense.
It may not matter to the jury.
Defense is gonna have
a field day presenting
Emily's homeopathic nonsense.
They will go for jury nullification
and force us to defend
her pH juice cleanses.
Nolan, just so you know,
I don't think homeopathy is nonsense,
and I'm gonna bet there
are a few jury members
who are just like me.
I actually followed Emily Starr.
You can't just dismiss an entire field.
As it pertains to this case,
the defense will paint Emily Starr
as a deadly snake oil saleswoman,
and they will argue that
the stakes for Lauren Massey,
who is battling a serious
leukemia, were life and death.
It's not gonna be hard for the defense
to garner sympathy for
the mom of a cancer victim.
Okay.
So we remind the jury
that this is about free speech,
that it's about guarding care options
they may very well want.
We defend Emily's integrity
and we make damn sure
she's sympathetic as well.
Healing others was her life's calling.
She wanted people to
know they had choices
outside of the establishment.
How did she help you?
I was an addict.
Opioids.
She walked me through detox,
gave me natural remedies for the pain,
sat with me through the worst of it.
Did Emily ever prevent you getting
a second opinion from a real doctor?
No, but I've honestly been so healthy
it hasn't even crossed my mind.
I owe everything to her guidance.
Nothing further.
How much did Emily's guidance cost?
I can't say exactly.
Ballpark. Last year,
how much did she make?
I mean, you had access to
her business statements.
- It was around 700,000.
- Wow.
But her company earnings allowed her
to grow her platform, reach more people.
How much money did Emily
make off Lauren Massey,
the defendant's daughter?
I'm not sure.
Your Honor, I'm handing over
what has been marked exhibit A,
Lauren Massey's payment records
to Starr Serenity Center.
Would you read aloud the total amount?
$23,204.
23,000.
Was that for high-tech
machines, CT scans,
MRIs, cutting-edge medicine?
She offered a full
homeopathic regimen of juice,
herbal teas, enemas, exercise
Were you aware that
doctors, people with actual
medical degrees who study cancer,
had given Lauren an 85% to
100% long-term survival rate
if she underwent chemo and radiation?
But that if her cancer went untreated
by those tested therapies,
they estimated
that she had only a year to live?
I don't think
Your Honor, Mr. Sirianni's questions
are outside the scope of
the witness's testimony.
Withdrawn.
[TENSE MUSIC]
But
just so I can completely wrap
my head around the finances,
true or false:
Emily Starr asked Lauren Massey
to pay her $23,000
to be killed slowly within a year?
- Objection.
- Withdrawn.
Nothing further.
♪
Get this "Influencer's followers
sing her holistic praises."
Emily Starr's subscribers
list is growing.
Her followers are making
TikTok testimonials.
After the defense
painted her as a crook?
Guess all press is good press.
Not according to the oncology community.
They're up in arms about all this
anti-science wellness stuff.
They have officially
denounced Emily, her center,
and 18,000 other TikTok influencers
whose cancer cures have
no basis in science.
18,000? That's a lot.
Yeah, it is.
And that could be useful.
And when did you learn
that Lauren had decided
on Emily Starr's so-called therapy?
Lauren missed a follow-up
with her oncologist,
so I called her.
She said big business
had caused her cancer.
She didn't want big pharma
to profit off her treatment.
She told us she was changing her name
to reflect this new outlook
Lauren Hope.
And, uh, she didn't want my
dangerous and doom-filled advice.
I was so confused.
And then eventually we
found a credit card bill
for Starr Serenity Center and
figured out who Emily Starr was.
And what was the status
of Lauren's cancer
during this time?
We didn't know.
But last June, we got a
phone call from an ambulance.
Lauren had collapsed in a store.
At the hospital we got her an MRI,
and the cancer, it was
all over her insides.
It was just eating her away.
And we thought this would
snap her back to her senses,
but Emily told her it was
a natural cleansing stage,
that what she needed
was rest at the center.
My husband and I had
four different oncologists
look at Lauren's scans,
and they all said the same thing
that she would be dead within months.
Did you give this information to Lauren?
We couldn't.
Emily told her to
avoid upsetting contact.
I couldn't find her at her dorm.
I didn't know if she was
at the center or on a trip.
All I knew was that she
was gonna die very soon.
Nothing further.
Mrs. Massey, um,
I
I can only imagine how stressful it is
to have a sick child,
and I applaud your efforts
to get her the best treatment.
Thank you.
She had chemo
and radiation, correct?
At the start, yes.
So your daughter was well-versed
in the care options available,
and yet she chose something else.
No, she was led to believe
that this juice option
could be as effective
as radiation and chemo.
And then Emily told
her that she was better.
That that's not a
choice, that's a con.
[TENSE MUSIC]
You admit freely to
shooting Emily Starr?
I do.
Right, because of the dangerous advice
she gave your daughter?
Yes.
Did you know, Mrs. Massey,
that just last year,
over 18,000 wellness advisors
recommended alternatives
to chemo and radiation?
Would you kill them all?
Those thousands didn't shut my daughter
away from her parents.
Is that what this is about?
Anger that Emily Starr
assumed your role?
[SCOFFS]
No.
Is that why you could
think of no other remedy
but to shoot her?
I just went there to scare her,
to beg her to leave Lauren alone.
With a loaded gun that you had driven
across state lines to purchase?
Lauren needed treatment.
She needed a doctor.
Emily walked away.
Her spell over my daughter,
it needed to be broken.
My baby was gonna die. I
wasn't gonna let that happen.
So, yes, I I shot her.
♪
[SIGHS]
Nothing further.
Let's adjourn for the day.
The jury knows the mom
legally overstepped.
I'm just not sure they care.
She was very sympathetic.
What, you're assuming the jury
can't keep their emotions out of this?
No, I'm assuming they think
the mother was suffering
some sort of extreme emotional distress
when she was confronted
with how dangerously
her daughter's cancer had spread.
The girl was on the precipice of death.
Okay, Nolan, don't go soft on me.
Okay? Not now.
Look, I I'm truly sorry for
what that woman went through,
but no way did she lose her cool.
[PHONE BUZZES]
[SIGHS] Well,
get ready to contend with
another sympathetic witness.
Lauren Massey's out of the hospital.
Lauren, thank you for coming today.
I know it took a lot to get here.
It did.
But I'm just grateful to be alive,
and I owe it to my mother.
Lauren, the jury has heard
about Emily Starr's regimen,
and there's been some
speculation as to how and why
you came to follow her advice.
Could you tell us in your own words?
I hated being a girl with a disease.
Emily made it seem like
there was an easy way to get better.
The things the oncologist had told me
didn't seem real.
Emily preyed upon that,
then made sure hers was
the only voice I heard.
Told me my cancer was gone.
Do you understand how crazy that is?
Did you show them the scans
of what was going on inside me,
the scans she prevented me from seeing?
Thank God for my mother,
or I wouldn't be here.
Thank you, Lauren.
Nothing further.
Lauren
I know you have been through a lot
and clearly
love your mother very much.
I do.
And you express dismay
that Emily had lied to you,
so I wanna give you
a chance to be honest.
You were 19 when you
decided to stop chemo
and follow Emily's
health recommendations?
Yes.
Of legal age to make medical
decisions for yourself?
Yes.
Did Emily ever tell you
she had medical training?
No.
And you understood that your doctor
had recommended chemo and radiation?
Yes.
[TENSE MUSIC]
Did Emily Starr
ever lock you in a room?
No, but she restrained me
psychologically.
Told me to cut ties
with anyone negative
my parents, my doctor.
She said their fearmongering
would make my cancer worse.
And you believed her?
♪
When you're sick,
you want it to go away so badly.
Any liar can own you.
My actual doctor, he's
not allowed to lie.
You all won't let him.
He had to tell me the
treatment was going to be awful.
Why was Emily allowed to say anything?
It almost cost me my life.
I'm only better now because
I finally saw the MRIs.
I saw proof that my cancer had
gotten worse under Emily's care.
In all of this,
my mother was the only person
willing to fight for me,
to save me.
Please,
don't punish her.
[SNIFFLES]
♪
Nothing further.
♪
Tough witness.
Push too hard and it backfires.
I can tell the jury feels really sorry
for the daughter and the mom.
[SIGHS] And frankly, Sam, I'm
I'm feeling it myself.
It doesn't justify murder.
A TikTok star convincing
a teenager with cancer
to forgo life-saving
treatment, that is bad enough.
But preventing the girl from receiving
critical medical information
from an actual oncologist
after she collapsed?
All she did was tell
Lauren to stay off email.
And to avoid speaking with her parents.
That's not free speech,
Sam. That's coercion.
Emily Starr assumed a duty of care
when Lauren was at her
center, and she violated it.
So what, now you're saying
that the mother was reasonable
in believing that this was the only way
to save her daughter's life?
Reasonable? No.
Understandable?
Nolan, what happened to
"the law is your compass"?
[SIGHS]
My mother died of breast cancer.
I'm so sorry. I
The treatments, they were pretty brutal.
She'd always been high-octane.
She was a lawyer.
She was a damn good one.
She hated being so drained.
And then she started reading
about homeopathic treatments.
Eventually, she fell for the hope pitch,
stopped chemo for a few months.
She got her hair back.
She got some energy back.
But that cost her
a year of her life.
When you are that sick,
you are vulnerable.
Yeah.
But we need to get justice for Emily.
Yes.
But man one and 15 years
is not a terrible outcome.
I'm not sure it's the just
or appropriate outcome.
Well, you wanna risk
losing this whole thing
to jury nullification?
I'll set up a meeting.
Man one is a good offer, Carol.
But it's an admission of guilt.
You killed an unarmed woman.
I saved my daughter's life.
And I stand by the fact that
Emily Starr's actions were deadly.
Mrs. Massey, I am sympathetic
to the horrible
situation that you faced.
That's why we're here with
an offer, a very fair offer.
If you decline,
the charge goes back to murder two,
which carries a minimum
sentence of 15 years to life.
Think about Lauren.
Your daughter needs you.
I am thinking about Lauren,
and all the other Laurens out there.
Emily Starr's business is booming.
This is dangerous.
People need to know the truth.
Seems like a pretty emphatic no.
Come on.
[SIGHS]
The verdict is a toss-up at best.
I feel sorry for her,
but I don't want anyone
to walk for a crime like this.
If the jury is leaning
into sympathy and emotion,
let's play the game.
Meaning?
Emily had battled cancer herself, right?
She went through the
same fear, same struggle.
You wanna call a rebuttal witness?
Someone to remind the
jury that Emily had
legitimate personal reasons
for her unusual recommendations,
that it wasn't about greed.
It was about choices
that worked for her.
In her book, Emily writes
about her cancer support group
back in Pennsylvania.
I'll find them.
I heard about the court case.
I've just been too
busy to follow it all.
Oh.
I appreciate you taking
the time to meet with me.
We're trying to paint
a full picture of Emily.
It would be really
useful to hear about her
back when she joined your support group.
Well, Emily, um
bundle of energy and positivity.
[CHUCKLES] It was really
inspiring at first.
You know, a lot of us
were battling depression,
struggling with our families.
I had just lost my consulting job
because I'd taken so much
time off for treatments.
Couldn't stay on my feet.
[BREATHES DEEPLY]
Emily got me feeling hopeful again.
You said it was, uh, inspiring at first.
Did something change?
It's just
we'd all jumped in,
drinking her teas and juices
but also doing our treatments.
We felt a little better, but Emily
she had adenocarcinoma.
Stomach cancer.
It's brutal.
But she never had any weight loss,
no abdominal pain,
never even got tired.
I mean, Emily Starr
never did any wrong by me,
but don't you think that's strange?
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
Nope.
No evidence of any tumor tissue,
and not a single microscopic trace
of a cancerous cell in her body.
And the stomach?
Was in excellent shape.
You get a chance to talk
to her diagnosing doctor?
No hospital within 200
miles of Emily's hometown,
where she says she was
diagnosed with cancer,
has a record of ever
admitting her for anything.
Well, then I'm gonna say
she didn't beat cancer.
She never had it.
♪
- Thank you.
- Thanks.
♪
Emily's whole foundational
story was a lie?
Jury is gonna loathe her,
and quite possibly let the mom walk.
Wait, why does the jury need to know?
This doesn't meet the Brady standard.
Sam, we've been in court
defending Emily's right
to share her theory of self-healing.
But it isn't exculpatory,
and it sure as hell
doesn't give the mom the
right to gun her down.
No, of course it doesn't.
But it does show that
Carol Massey's mistrust
was warranted, that
she was right to think
that she was full of crap.
And that, in my opinion,
is favorable to the defense,
and quite frankly, the
jury should know this.
And so should her
followers sitting in court.
Nolan, like you always say,
our job is to follow the law.
And in my opinion, this information
is irrelevant to Carol Massey's defense.
It has nothing to do with
her daughter's imminent death.
So you think we should just sit on it?
Yes.
[TENSE MUSIC]
We have to.
♪
♪
One thing is clear
Carol Massey killed Emily Starr.
And despite her extensive
efforts to get away with it,
she was caught.
Once caught, she couldn't
contest the evidence,
so she told you
she had to do it because Emily Starr
was about to kill her daughter.
This young wellness influencer's
unconventional ideas were,
according to Carol Massey,
tantamount to homicide.
Fortunately for you,
she's made your job easy
because the law is crystal clear
about what it considers a
legitimate defense of others.
The harm averted must be unlawful
and imminent.
In this case, neither standard was met.
The defense called no expert to testify
that Lauren was gonna die
that night, or even that week.
More important,
Emily broke no laws
in advising Lauren.
In fact, for seven years
as an active influencer,
not a single civil or criminal
charge was brought against her.
You wanna know what unlawful
physical force looks like?
It's this.
[TENSE MUSIC]
That is the person who needed
protecting that night
a young woman walking
home from her own party
when a gun was put to her head.
And none of us could
offer her that protection,
but we can
offer her justice.
It's okay to empathize and
to sympathize with Carol Massey.
I do.
But you cannot let her
get away with murder.
♪
Members of the jury, have
you reached a verdict?
We have, Your Honor.
On the count of murder
in the second degree,
we find the defendant
guilty.
Members of the jury, we
thank you for your service.
We are adjourned.
- [GAVEL BANGS]
- Mom!
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
[SOMBER MUSIC]
♪
Mr. Price,
we wanted to thank you
for getting Emily justice.
♪
As a great prosecutor once told me,
a good person killing a bad person
is still murder.
♪
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
[WOLF HOWLS]