Law & Order Special Victims Unit s06e14 Episode Script
Game
In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous.
In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit.
These are their stories.
Took longer than I thought.
Yeah, I had a little problem I had to straighten out.
I'm on Broome and Wooster.
You got anything close? All right.
But hurry up, 'cause I'm absolutely freezing.
Hello? Melody? Melody? What do we got? Female, late 20s, no ID, no purse, and not a whole lot of clothes.
Night desk said she was run over? This is the first hit-and-run rape I've ever seen.
Car drives up onto the sidewalk.
She's standing right here when she gets hit.
Impact smashes her right knee, knocks her down.
She falls off to the side.
She left a trail of blood.
Some of the spots have been smeared.
Looks like she tried to crawl.
He only lets her get this far.
Perp came after her? Car skids to a stop, perp gets out, rips off her clothes, and takes her purse.
Wow.
He rape her here or somewhere else? I don't know.
This is where he beat her to death.
And no one to hear her cry for help.
Who called it in? Latifah took the call.
Came from a payphone uptown, quarter after midnight.
Okay, here's what I got.
Police Dispatch.
What is your emergency? There's been an accident.
Corner of Broome and Wooster.
Pedestrian struck.
Where are you calling from, sir? I think she's hurt.
Send a bus.
And that's it.
Payphone's at 97 & Lexington.
Thanks, doll.
"Pedestrian struck.
Send a bus.
" Sounds like cop talk.
How does a cop on the Upper East Side know about an accident downtown? Unless he's the one who ran her over.
That's our Jane Doe.
Rape exam found fluids.
M.
E.
Is running the DNA.
Anything off the campus? No.
That area's pretty isolated at night.
She was hit below the knee, so we figure it was a sports car.
Any forensics? Black paint fragments.
Lab's analyzing.
So, here is our crime scene, and here's the payphone where the 911 call was made.
Now the 27 is the closest precinct, but they had no mobile or foot patrols anywhere near that phone.
CSU's dusting for prints.
Maybe our guy was off-duty.
I'll check with personnel for a list of cops with black sports cars.
Body is covered with deep bruises and puncture wounds.
I mean, he beats the crap out of her, and then stabs her with something like a screwdriver.
Either he was on PCP or this is personal.
Stabler.
You want to go public yet? If nothing pans out, we may have to.
When does your homicide course start? Ah.
Two hours ago.
Get going.
Fin, you run this with Elliot.
Captain? Crime lab's got something on the payphone.
Hundreds of prints all over the phone box.
Normally takes days to check, but our caller made the job easier.
The handset's been wiped clean.
Fits our theory the guy's a cop.
He tried to get rid of the evidence.
Yeah, except he screwed up.
He cleaned the phone, but he left a perfect index print on the disconnect button, which gave us a 10-point match to a member of the NYPD.
Tony Nasreddin.
NYPD.
Temporarily assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Her guy knows what happened last night, but Lieutenant Moore's hiding him behind some national security crap.
My guy doesn't know anything.
He made the 911 call.
He broke cover and every rule in the book to make that call.
The Feds find out, and they'll have his detail.
You said he broke cover.
You were doing surveillance.
I can't say.
But he saw what happened.
He didn't see anything.
So he must've heard something.
Believe me, I'm sorry about your victim, but I've gotta look at the big picture.
Take a look at ours.
That woman was run over, raped, beaten.
Please, just let us talk to Nasreddin.
He's all we've got.
All right, I'll help you.
But this cannot go public or be used at trial.
Agreed? Agreed.
We're running surveillance on a crooked Filipino businessman who wires funds to charities in the Far East who are known to support terrorist groups.
Tony Nasreddin, Lori Anglin.
Detectives Stabler and Tutuola.
What's this Filipino guy got to do with our case? We've tapped all his phones, caught him having a conversation with one of his employees.
Hey, where've you been? Took longer than I thought.
I had a little problem I had to straighten out.
I'm on Broome and Wooster.
You got anything close? Client in Chelsea.
Want the address? All right.
But hurry up, 'cause I'm absolutely freezing.
She's a hooker.
Our perp must've taken her cell phone, too.
Melody? It's 37421st Street.
Hello? Melody? Melody? That's a pretty name.
Like music.
Who's this? Where is she? She can't come to the phone right now.
Now she wants to play with us.
That's it.
I knew something had gone bad.
I had to call it in.
Whoa, her pimp's cold.
Hears one of his girls get taken out and doesn't do squat.
We want his name and a copy of that tape.
His name's Eddie Shah.
Hold on.
I am busy.
Come back later.
What are you doing? We want to talk to you about one of your girls.
I don't have girls.
Import, export only.
You're running a prostitution service.
No.
Companionship only.
My ladies are very intelligent, very respectable.
This lady's dead.
Who is she? Never seen her before.
Okay.
What do you say I call Vice, IRS and Immigration, they come down here and beat up on your ass? Okay, okay, I'll tell you.
She is Melody Quinn.
She was Melody Quinn.
She working last night? Escort only, no sexual services.
We need her client list.
That's confidential.
Okay, you know, fine.
You're gonna rot in jail until you remember.
Okay! She have a boyfriend? No.
She was studying.
Wanted to be a broker in Wall Street.
Here.
8:30 pm.
First client was Mr.
Prasad.
Mr.
Prasad! Were you screwing this woman last night? She visited my apartment.
Well, we need you to provide a DNA sample.
As long as you don't tell my wife.
She was out of town last night, and I gave into temptation just once.
Really? The agency says you were one of Melody's regulars.
You got a car? I don't have to answer that.
I hired Melody for a dinner date.
We didn't have sex.
You know, I didn't break the law, and you can't prove that I did.
She's dead.
You were the last man with her so your DNA's gonna be all over her.
It might even prove you murdered her.
Okay, okay, we had sex.
But she was alive when she left, I swear.
Hmm.
What kind of car do you drive? Lincoln Navigator.
None of Melody's clients had access to a black sports car.
The fact that she's a hooker explains the fluids in the rape kit.
You think she wasn't raped? Hard to prove either way.
Cast the net wider, all her johns.
Her parents are coming in from Detroit to ID the body, talk to them too.
What about the JTTF tape? TARU's still working on it.
Oh, Kathy dropped him off about five minutes ago, said she couldn't wait.
Yeah, Dickie's staying with me for a few nights.
Say, kiddo.
Stop looking at that stuff.
Is that woman dead? Yes, she is.
How'd she die? Hit by a car.
An accident? No.
The car drove up on the sidewalk.
Did they take her money? Yeah, they did.
Let's get something to eat.
I bet they beat her up, too.
Why would you say that? It's just like the game, isn't it? What game? NtenCity.
Cap, Fin, have you ever heard of a game called NtenCity? I'm driving along, okay? I see a woman, so I run her over.
Where did you learn this? Everyone plays it.
I get out of the car.
Hey, baby, where you going? Now, to get her money, I have to knock her out.
Make sure she can't fight back.
Where do you think you're going, bitch? Got her.
Now, I got to get the purse.
I said, stay down.
Yeah, give me that.
Got me some more cheddar.
Look, my money supply just went up.
They got the idea from the game.
Remember the voice on the tape? "She can't come to the phone right now.
She wants to play with us.
" Somebody's playing for real.
A lot of psychologists think there's a correlation between violent crimes and media violence, especially games.
Do you believe that? I can think of a dozen murders in which computer games were alleged to have influenced the killers.
Columbine's the obvious example.
Do you have any suspects? No, we checked out family, friends, and clients.
Everybody has alibis.
So she could've been a random target.
That's an awful lot of rage to take out on someone you don't know.
Unless the computer game contributed to the rage.
You got any pointers to help us find our player? Your average gamer is probably male, anywhere from Thanks, doc.
And if he's an NtenCity junkie, he might want to brag about what he's done.
Who makes this crap? Yeah, I designed NtenCity.
What's up? Someone went out and imitated it.
Not again.
We got lawsuits coming out of our asses.
Every month some moron blames us for some crime some other moron committed.
You don't seem too concerned.
Our games are cartoons.
They're fun.
If a couple of idiots take them too far, that's not our problem.
Well, it is now.
This woman was run down two nights ago and beaten to death.
Just like in the game.
Jeez.
Lighten up, will you? That sequence was an Easter egg.
A what? That's a hidden treat players can access for extra fun.
You're not as old as you look.
Come here.
So, you're playing the game, okay? And you see something anomalous.
Maybe a glow on the wall, a doorway.
You go through and you get something extra.
A weapon, money, maybe another cool sequence.
Who knows about the Easter eggs? Everybody.
You go online, the fan sites will tell you where the Easter eggs are hidden.
On these fan sites, anybody talking about a woman being attacked? We're about to launch NtenCity 2.
I don't have time to go trolling on fan sites.
I do.
Move over.
That was Stabler.
You stay and play.
All right.
Cause of death was a subdural hematoma, but she suffered before she died.
There were 42 points of impact on her chest, back, arms and head.
Guy's fists must be chopped meat.
I doubt it.
These bruises were caused by a man's shoe, kicking and stomping.
Probably a size nine.
What about the puncture wounds? They were a puzzle.
I had to cut the wounds out so I could dissect them.
This is your weapon.
Not my normal work gear, but it's the annual M.
E.
's dinner tonight.
Stiletto heels? A woman stomped Melody? Was there another woman's voice on that task force tape? She can't come to the phone right now.
Now she wants to play with us.
That's a guy's voice.
But if I filter the background noise and EQ the vocal spectrum, we get this.
Now, she wants to play with us.
Dig her jacket.
"Dig her jacket.
" That's a female's voice.
And they killed her for her clothes? No, they were playing a game.
Munch has got something.
All right.
Thanks.
Some geek wrote a new scene in the game you can download off the net.
It first appeared late last night.
Here it is.
Okay.
Same old, same old.
You run her over, get out, kick her a couple times, and then Hey, baby.
How do you feel? Watch this.
Here's the new scene.
He tears her blouse off.
Cool, huh? The detail about ripping her clothes off was never released.
Son of a bitch knew exactly what happened.
So, which one of your guys made this? It can only be one person.
A programmer named Stu Davis.
Well, why only him? Well, Stu used to work here.
And I had to fire him because he snuck copulating bunny rabbits into a children's game we make, but we kept him on as a tester.
So he knows how to modify the game.
Oh, yeah.
Where does Stu live? Sorry, don't know any murdered women.
Somebody dropped a little sequence about her into NtenCity.
Wasn't me.
Well, we hear you're the only guy that could do it.
Well, you heard wrong.
Stuart Davis, this is a warrant to search your apartment and computers.
Ow! Damn! Out of my way.
You know, if you guys just tell me what you're looking for, I'll help.
Yeah, help erase it.
Here's something, e - mail sent yesterday morning.
Hey, you know what? That's my private stuff, all right? You're not supposed to Shut up! "Spielmeister.
"Want to make NtenCity real intense? "Check out the Ledger, page seven.
" Will you look at this? And it's turned right to page seven.
"Mystery woman killed in hit and run.
" Listen to this.
"Cops held back, chick was half-naked.
How about a game update.
"LMAO.
" LMAO? Shorthand.
"Laughing my ass off.
" Oh, that's funny.
Who sent you the e-mail? I have no idea, okay? I get requests from goofballs every day.
You always do what goofballs ask? If they pay well enough, yeah.
Got an e-mail address? Just a screen name.
Lewddude.
Can you track it? Larry Tauber! Police! Nobody's here.
Here's a picture of Lewddude.
All right.
Get that out there.
El, maybe the guy couldn't stop playing.
Yeah, or partying.
A woman's purse.
It's Melody Quinn's driver's license.
Genius really knows how to cover his tracks.
He didn't go too far.
Genius forgot his car keys.
Little black sports car.
Registered to Larry Tauber.
Blood and skin.
All tested.
O'Halloran.
SVU there? Yeah, they're here.
Tell them we got their guy.
Spring and 10.
They found your guy, ten blocks away.
Heard the call go out.
It's your guy.
ID was in his pocket.
Looks like he was run over, then beaten to death.
Larry Tauber.
Someone's playing the game again.
Cause of death was massive head trauma and multiple fractures, but Larry Tauber wasn't murdered.
Suicide? He sustained one blow to the head from a sharp metal object.
CSU found blood and brain matter on the edge of the dumpster.
Remember that scaffolding? He must've jumped off of it and hit the dumpster.
Any evidence he was pushed? Not from the trajectory of the fall, and there were no defensive wounds or torn clothes.
But his blood alcohol level was four times the legal limit.
Killed himself out of drunken remorse.
What he did to that girl, I'm not shedding any tears.
DNA proves his car ran her down, but I don't think he killed her.
His feet are size eleven.
The shoes that kicked Melody to death were size nine.
Okay, so he goes ten blocks to kill himself? What's wrong with his own roof? I can't answer that, but I can tell you what he was doing before he jumped.
See the glitter on his pants? Known in the trade as booty dust.
Larry had himself one last lap dance before he took the plunge.
Well, the only strip clubs around that alley are by the West Side Highway.
Yeah, I know.
Can you believe it? Police.
Ladies, can we get a minute? Is that all you need, honey? Either one of you recognize him? Yeah.
I do.
He was here last night.
Remember the sad dude? He was literally crying in his beer.
His friend tried to cheer him up with a couple bottles of Dom.
His friend? Good-looking kid.
Too young to be at the club, but guess his ID was okay.
You got security cameras? Yeah, but they're like the plumbing, don't work.
Did you hear anything these guys were talking about? Not really.
Younger one even paid for me to give Sad Eyes a lap dance, but it was like raising the dead, if you know what I mean.
Okay, we're going to need you ladies to come down to the precinct and talk to a sketch artist.
How many people do you put at the crime scene? Maybe three.
Unidentified male, unidentified female and Larry Tauber.
Now, we got two possibilities.
Either Tauber made the kids take part Why do you say they're kids? Voices sounded young, 18, 19.
Tauber's nearly 30.
So he led them into the crime, and then killed himself out of guilt.
Or he's the patsy.
The kids used him.
His apartment, his computer, his car, maybe used him to buy drugs, alcohol.
Can you prove any of that? Look, Tauber left Melody's purse in plain sight.
He didn't even bother to fix his car? It's like he wanted to get caught.
But he's dead, so he can't tell us.
But the car can.
Crime lab ran tests on it.
The driver's side door gives off a weird metallic creak that's audible on the task force tape.
They tracked each set of footsteps.
They're 95º/º certain that the guy that got out the driver's door is the same one that picked up Melody's phone and talked on the tape.
His voice wasn't Tauber's.
They're also pretty sure that only two people got out of that car, and the second one was wearing high heels.
So Tauber just stayed in his car.
And did nothing while a helpless woman was brutally murdered? I'm sorry, but "95º/º certain" and "pretty sure" don't add up to "beyond a reasonable doubt.
" Look, if these kids were using Tauber, somebody must've seen them together.
Well, as soon as the pole dancers are done, canvass Tauber's neighbors.
Try this first.
Day after the murder, Tauber received 12 calls from a cell phone belonging to one Louise Karnaki, Larry's a loser.
I don't hang with him anymore.
Then why call him so often? Don't know.
To see how he's doing.
Not too good.
He's dead.
Oh, my God.
Poor Larry.
Where were you three nights ago? At home.
Can you prove it? Why should she? Hi, Louise.
I'm Elliot.
Nice boots.
Very sharp.
They're mine.
How'd you get them? Something called a search warrant.
What is this? Turn on the lights.
Let me do my magic trick.
Now, Louise, this is a Luma-Lite.
What it does is show up blood and skin fragments, like, for example, if there just happened to be some on your boot here Oh, will you look at that? I don't know what that is.
It's blood.
There's some on the toe, also.
Now, what we're going to do is compare the DNA on this boot to that woman's DNA.
And when they match, which they will, we'll be charging you with murder.
You've got to help me.
I want to talk to the A.
D.
A.
Mr.
Delroy.
If my client cooperates, what are you offering? Nothing.
She's a murderer.
Now, if she tells us what happened, I might ask the judge to take it into account during sentencing.
Did you attack that woman? Yes.
Who else was there with you? Larry Tauber.
And who else? Nobody.
Not even him? Give us a name.
Please, don't tell him I told you.
Name.
Garrett Perle.
Police! It's open! Hey, guys, what's going on? Police.
Stand up.
Sure.
Just a sec.
Bastard's deleting files.
Temper.
Garrett Perle, you're under arrest for murder.
Get that computer.
Be my guest.
There's nothing on it.
Anyway, whom am I meant to have murdered? Melody Quinn.
Doesn't ring a bell.
Well, you have the right to remain silent.
If you give up that right Stop! He's got a degaussing loop.
What the hell is that? Powerful magnetic strips.
We just wiped his hard drive.
This is Melody Quinn.
Remember her now? I'm sorry, but I don't.
First you ran her down, then you kicked her.
Awful.
That's a Marine tattoo, isn't it? You ever killed anyone? You have, I can tell.
You, too.
Were you a gangbanger before you became a cop? I've often wondered what it'd be like to kill someone.
So how was it? I've murdered people in games.
Hundreds of them.
I've blown their heads off, eviscerated them, I've even used a little kitty cat as a silencer.
But it's not real, you know? You don't get the The kick, the juice.
But you guys, you know, you You know.
And you don't? You don't.
Hmm? Because you're gutless.
You couldn't even face her, could you? You had to use a car to knock down a woman? And even then you couldn't face her.
You had to sneak up behind her as she was crawling away, and then you kicked her? You're nothing but a scared little punk.
You want to know what it's like to kill someone, huh? See, you got to stare them right in the eye so you can smell their fear.
Leave me alone, okay? Stop it.
We don't even need this little freak.
We've got our witness.
She's lying.
How do you know that? It was Larry Tauber.
Doesn't sound like Tauber.
Melody? That's a pretty name.
Like music.
Who's this? Where is she? She can't come to the phone right now.
Now, she wants to play with us.
Where did you get that? That's enough for a positive voice ID.
You're done, Garrett.
But it's Larry's fault! He made me do it! Out you go, gentlemen.
I'd like to speak to my client alone.
With Louise's eyewitness testimony, Gates will try and cut a deal.
So what are you going to do? I may offer Louise man one to make sure she gives us this creep.
Oliver.
How will you be earning your fee this time? Easily.
Not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
You got to be kidding me.
Garrett Perle was in thrall with an older man, Larry Tauber, who plied him with alcohol, got him to play violent video games for hours on end, and then took him on a joyride and made him play the game for real.
So Garrett admits he killed Melody.
No.
He admits that he had no idea what he was doing, whether it was wrong or right, fantasy or reality.
See you at the arraignment.
Gates thinks this defense will fly? Computer game violence is a hot issue.
If Gates can deflect blame onto the game makers, his job's half done.
So make a deal with Louise Karnaki.
Don't get your hopes up.
Her family just fired her public defender, got a lawyer from Henshall and Langan.
How can they afford that? They can't, but Garrett's family can.
They'll pin the crime on the game and the dead man, Larry Tauber.
Cap, it's the lab for you.
What about the surveillance tape? What surveillance tape? Joint Terrorism Task Force was running a covert op on Melody's boss.
They caught the start of the murder on audio tape.
Including Garrett and Louise's voices, and they sure weren't confusing fantasy with reality.
I need to hear that task force tape.
We got it on condition we wouldn't use it at trial.
You agreed to that? I didn't have a choice.
Well, neither do I if it's my only evidence of Garrett's state of mind.
So, where is it? Somebody from the US Attorneys' office removed it from the lab 20 minutes ago.
You can't have it.
As soon as that tape appears in discovery, the defense will want to know context, provenance, everything.
It won't affect any ongoing operation.
I can't risk surveillance of a vital target in a war against terror becoming front page news.
But that's more important than letting two psychopaths walk free? Frankly, yes.
If this tape's your only evidence, you should ask the NYPD to get off their asses and find you some more.
I met your vital target.
This guy's no terrorist, he's a sleazy joke.
I need the tape, Raul.
I said you can't have the tape because there is no tape.
We've got no tape and no deal with Louise.
I'm going to be fighting this with my arms tied behind my back.
Forensics prove Garrett and Louise kicked a woman to death.
They can't wiggle out of that.
Gates is running a psych defense.
He's going to blame everything on the game and Larry Tauber and the only way to beat it is to prove they knew what they were doing.
One way to beat a psych defense is with a psych offense.
Let me find out if Garrett and Louise are innocent pawns or cold-blooded liars.
How many hours a day do you play games? Five or six.
What's the longest that you've ever played? You get tired? I never noticed.
Do you stop to eat or drink? Don't feel the need.
How do you feel after you're finished playing? Like I'm king of the world.
Then what do you do? Play again, what else? Larry mind you hanging around so much? Mind? We were the best thing that ever happened to him.
Larry liked to watch her beat up women.
In the game or on the street? Wherever.
It turned him on.
It was the nearest he got to screwing her.
Louise got off on it too.
Garrett made me tease him.
You didn't like that? I wasn't interested in Larry.
You and Garrett have sex? Yes.
He's crazy about me.
Yeah, but the game is better.
Better than sex.
And the rush is more intense.
You see, I control the world, pull everyone's strings.
In the game, of course.
When else do you feel the rush? Driving fast.
How fast? BQE at 2:00 in the morning.
And that's pretty dangerous.
That's why it's a rush.
What about the other drivers? They get out of the way.
What if they can't? Oops.
He's a manipulative little prick.
He took Larry Tauber to that club, he got him drunk and manipulated him right off that roof.
I wouldn't put it past him.
Garrett's an adrenaline junkie and a narcissist.
He knows right from wrong.
He just doesn't give a damn.
And Louise? She's in love with him.
She'll do whatever he wants.
You think these computer games influenced his behavior? Kids like Garrett are so numb that they need constant stimulation.
Computer games fill that void.
If they're susceptible to violence, then this could exacerbate that, but I don't believe a game ever made anyone commit murder.
So Garrett's psych defense is a crock? Yes.
His mind is clear as a bell.
Thought I'd find you in here, Casey.
Motion to submit Garrett for a neuropsych examination.
Garrett has volunteered to undergo a PET scan while he plays the computer game, NtenCity.
An experiment with a single subject is meaningless.
We'll repeat an experiment conducted by doctors in London that showed that game play flooded the brain with dopamine.
What's that supposed to prove? That dopamine intoxication caused by addictive game playing changed Garrett's brain, and therefore he wasn't responsible for his actions.
Are you worried about objectivity, Casey? Because Dr.
Huang is welcome to conduct the test.
The computer relays the game into these 3D goggles so that Mr.
Perle can play the game while he's in the scanner.
Cool.
Can I get a pair of these? His head's immobilized so that head movement doesn't distort the scan.
We'll inject him with Carbon-11-Raclopride to tag the dopamine receptors, and then we'll draw blood throughout the scan to measure how game play affects the dopamine release in his brain.
You can start.
Garrett plays these games up to 40 hours a week.
It's amazing he found the time to commit murder.
Let me know when you have the results.
Where do you think you're going, bitch? I said stay down, bitch! Come on.
Give me that.
Got me some more cheddar.
No question.
Garrett's dopamine level increased while he played the game.
What effect did that have on him? He felt high, euphoric, as if he'd just taken a small dose of speed.
So the PET scan does prove game play made Garrett Perle less able to control his actions? On the contrary, almost any enjoyable activity would show the same increase in dopamine.
Driving a fast car, playing sports, even playing chess.
Thank you, doctor.
Isn't the release of dopamine what makes a drug like cocaine so addictive? Partly.
And heroin so addictive? Dopamine contributes to addictive behavior, but And doesn't the PET scan show that computer games are just as addictive? As addictive as heroin or cocaine? No.
But they are addictive.
Do you believe that violent video games are dangerous? Not in themselves, no.
Oh, but didn't Dr.
David Grossman compare violent games to military battlefield simulators where they train real soldiers to kill? It's much more complicated than that.
Why? A violent video game teaches its players to kill automatically.
Yes or no? Yes.
Thank you.
But there's an enormous difference between the cartoon violence of video games and violence in real life.
Do you think that Garrett and Louise would have gone out joyriding that night if they hadn't have played the game? There are other factors Did the game give them the idea to get in the car? Yes, but Did the game give them the idea to run over Melody Quinn and beat her to death? Yes or no? Yes, but having an idea is not Thank you, Dr.
Huang.
Nothing further.
Do you regret what you've done? Yes.
I'll never forgive myself.
Do you want to take a break, Mr.
Perle? No.
I can manage, thank you.
You've testified that you and Louise ran over Melody Quinn because you thought you were still playing a game.
Yes.
Nothing seemed real.
So, even when Melody was screaming and crying for mercy, you thought it was part of the game? They scream in the game, too.
Well, you kicked her to death.
You expect the jury to believe that you didn't know a real woman was bleeding and dying under your feet? I swear to you, I didn't.
How could you not know? Because I didn't know where I was.
The streets we were driving down were streets from the game.
The people were characters from the game.
I saw this woman on the sidewalk, and she had a short skirt.
Larry said, "Get her.
Get the hooker.
" It was like I was still in his apartment, and he was breathing down my neck, shouting at me, "Go on, hit her! Hit her! Do it! "She's getting away, she's still moving, stomp on her, do it, do it!" Mr.
Perle! Mr.
Perle, control yourself.
So you always do whatever Larry says? I wish I was brave enough to stand up to him, but I wasn't.
I'm sorry.
Do you want to continue with this witness, Ms.
Novak? I do, Your Honor.
It's late.
You can resume tomorrow.
This court is adjourned.
I hope you've got something.
I'm getting killed here.
We got a connection between Garrett and Tauber's death on Tauber's computer.
TARU found a big chunk of encrypted code on his hard drive, sent to him two hours before he killed himself.
Who sent it? Same creep that added the naked victim sequence to the game, Stu Davis.
We're holding him in the crime lab.
Now, Stu, you sent Larry Tauber a self-deleting e-mail.
We found it on his computer.
He opened it, he read it once, and, poof, it disappeared.
But only as far as his hard drive.
So you're going to tell us what it says.
Listen, right, I've got nothing to do with this! Yeah, you do, because the guy you sent the e-mail to is now dead.
Eventually, he'll break the encryption, and when he does, I will arrest you for conspiracy to murder.
Stu, start decrypting.
Start! God, he said it was just a joke.
This is ridiculous, man.
I'm a programmer, not a killer.
I swear to God.
I never knew anyone was going to get hurt.
You killed her, Larry.
You kicked that poor woman to death.
Cops are coming for you, Larry.
You can run, Larry Tauber, but you can't hide! Lights, please.
So, whose face is that on the screen? Larry Tauber's.
People's Exhibit 11.
A check for $1,000 made out to Stuart Davis.
And whose signature is that? Mine.
You paid Mr.
Davis $1,000 to send that e-mail to Larry Tauber.
Why? I don't know.
You don't know? No.
Larry got that e-mail two hours before he killed himself.
Did you want to push him over the edge? No.
Oh, then why would you send it, huh? Did the game make you do that, too? No.
Then why? It was a joke.
First you say kicking a woman to death is a game, and now this is a joke? Do you think this is funny? You're confusing me.
Well, you weren't confused.
You knew exactly what you were doing.
You were afraid Larry was going to turn you in to the police.
So you preyed on him until he killed himself.
Larry Tauber, murderer, LMAO.
What's that mean, LMAO? Why don't you tell us? Laughing my ass off.
What? I'm sorry.
I can't hear you.
Laughing my ass off! Larry's dead, Melody's dead, and you're laughing your ass off.
Yeah, you bet I am.
Because you are a joke.
This whole damn thing is a joke.
Nothing further.
"Video game violence has a horrifying potential to promote acts of violence "against real victims and desensitize children to the real thing.
" Well, that's what the American Medical Association had to say in their testimony to Congress.
Now, does the games industry care? Listen to them describe their latest hit.
"You can still beat up the hookers and steal their money.
"You can run over cops, and shoot and kill the ambulance drivers "as they come in to pick up the dead.
" Now, you take that attitude, and that product, and you put it in the hands of a young man who has a history of addictive and risk-taking behavior, and you are going to create a tragedy.
And that is what happened here.
The game, NtenCity, transported two teenagers to a fantasy land.
It made them high.
It fed them a vile idea, and then it taught them how to execute it.
They were not in control of their actions, and therefore they're not guilty.
Did Garrett and Louise get the idea from a game? Yes.
But we get ideas all the time, from books, from TV, from friends, from life, from everywhere.
We don't act on them.
We know that the idea doesn't justify the deed.
Don't let Mr.
Gates blind you to the facts.
Real people ran over a real person, and then they beat her to death.
Melody Quinn felt real pain.
She bled real blood, and she died a horrible and lonely death.
It was not a game.
Now, did Melody's killers know what they were doing? Well, their taunting of Larry Tauber, the one member of their trio with the humanity to feel regret, proves that they did.
Garrett Perle said it himself.
"It was a joke.
" Well, you know what? Murder is no joke.
So don't let them use a game as an excuse for their cruel and callous actions.
As to the defendant, Garrett Perle, in the charge of murder in the second degree, how do you find? We find the defendant guilty.
As for the defendant, Louise Karnaki, on the charge of murder in the second degree, how do you find? We find the defendant guilty.
Defendants are remanded until sentencing.
This court is adjourned.
Oh, shut up.
Bang, bang, you're dead.
Get him out of here.
Game's over.
You won.
We won the case today.
Two guilty verdicts.
That's good.
What're you playing? Hockey.
Got him.
What a hit.
You have to play that all the time? Why not? I like it.
Yeah, I know, but maybe we could play something together, you know? Like what? I don't know Cards? Scrabble? Or maybe we can just talk.
Okay.
Talk.
In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit.
These are their stories.
Took longer than I thought.
Yeah, I had a little problem I had to straighten out.
I'm on Broome and Wooster.
You got anything close? All right.
But hurry up, 'cause I'm absolutely freezing.
Hello? Melody? Melody? What do we got? Female, late 20s, no ID, no purse, and not a whole lot of clothes.
Night desk said she was run over? This is the first hit-and-run rape I've ever seen.
Car drives up onto the sidewalk.
She's standing right here when she gets hit.
Impact smashes her right knee, knocks her down.
She falls off to the side.
She left a trail of blood.
Some of the spots have been smeared.
Looks like she tried to crawl.
He only lets her get this far.
Perp came after her? Car skids to a stop, perp gets out, rips off her clothes, and takes her purse.
Wow.
He rape her here or somewhere else? I don't know.
This is where he beat her to death.
And no one to hear her cry for help.
Who called it in? Latifah took the call.
Came from a payphone uptown, quarter after midnight.
Okay, here's what I got.
Police Dispatch.
What is your emergency? There's been an accident.
Corner of Broome and Wooster.
Pedestrian struck.
Where are you calling from, sir? I think she's hurt.
Send a bus.
And that's it.
Payphone's at 97 & Lexington.
Thanks, doll.
"Pedestrian struck.
Send a bus.
" Sounds like cop talk.
How does a cop on the Upper East Side know about an accident downtown? Unless he's the one who ran her over.
That's our Jane Doe.
Rape exam found fluids.
M.
E.
Is running the DNA.
Anything off the campus? No.
That area's pretty isolated at night.
She was hit below the knee, so we figure it was a sports car.
Any forensics? Black paint fragments.
Lab's analyzing.
So, here is our crime scene, and here's the payphone where the 911 call was made.
Now the 27 is the closest precinct, but they had no mobile or foot patrols anywhere near that phone.
CSU's dusting for prints.
Maybe our guy was off-duty.
I'll check with personnel for a list of cops with black sports cars.
Body is covered with deep bruises and puncture wounds.
I mean, he beats the crap out of her, and then stabs her with something like a screwdriver.
Either he was on PCP or this is personal.
Stabler.
You want to go public yet? If nothing pans out, we may have to.
When does your homicide course start? Ah.
Two hours ago.
Get going.
Fin, you run this with Elliot.
Captain? Crime lab's got something on the payphone.
Hundreds of prints all over the phone box.
Normally takes days to check, but our caller made the job easier.
The handset's been wiped clean.
Fits our theory the guy's a cop.
He tried to get rid of the evidence.
Yeah, except he screwed up.
He cleaned the phone, but he left a perfect index print on the disconnect button, which gave us a 10-point match to a member of the NYPD.
Tony Nasreddin.
NYPD.
Temporarily assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Her guy knows what happened last night, but Lieutenant Moore's hiding him behind some national security crap.
My guy doesn't know anything.
He made the 911 call.
He broke cover and every rule in the book to make that call.
The Feds find out, and they'll have his detail.
You said he broke cover.
You were doing surveillance.
I can't say.
But he saw what happened.
He didn't see anything.
So he must've heard something.
Believe me, I'm sorry about your victim, but I've gotta look at the big picture.
Take a look at ours.
That woman was run over, raped, beaten.
Please, just let us talk to Nasreddin.
He's all we've got.
All right, I'll help you.
But this cannot go public or be used at trial.
Agreed? Agreed.
We're running surveillance on a crooked Filipino businessman who wires funds to charities in the Far East who are known to support terrorist groups.
Tony Nasreddin, Lori Anglin.
Detectives Stabler and Tutuola.
What's this Filipino guy got to do with our case? We've tapped all his phones, caught him having a conversation with one of his employees.
Hey, where've you been? Took longer than I thought.
I had a little problem I had to straighten out.
I'm on Broome and Wooster.
You got anything close? Client in Chelsea.
Want the address? All right.
But hurry up, 'cause I'm absolutely freezing.
She's a hooker.
Our perp must've taken her cell phone, too.
Melody? It's 37421st Street.
Hello? Melody? Melody? That's a pretty name.
Like music.
Who's this? Where is she? She can't come to the phone right now.
Now she wants to play with us.
That's it.
I knew something had gone bad.
I had to call it in.
Whoa, her pimp's cold.
Hears one of his girls get taken out and doesn't do squat.
We want his name and a copy of that tape.
His name's Eddie Shah.
Hold on.
I am busy.
Come back later.
What are you doing? We want to talk to you about one of your girls.
I don't have girls.
Import, export only.
You're running a prostitution service.
No.
Companionship only.
My ladies are very intelligent, very respectable.
This lady's dead.
Who is she? Never seen her before.
Okay.
What do you say I call Vice, IRS and Immigration, they come down here and beat up on your ass? Okay, okay, I'll tell you.
She is Melody Quinn.
She was Melody Quinn.
She working last night? Escort only, no sexual services.
We need her client list.
That's confidential.
Okay, you know, fine.
You're gonna rot in jail until you remember.
Okay! She have a boyfriend? No.
She was studying.
Wanted to be a broker in Wall Street.
Here.
8:30 pm.
First client was Mr.
Prasad.
Mr.
Prasad! Were you screwing this woman last night? She visited my apartment.
Well, we need you to provide a DNA sample.
As long as you don't tell my wife.
She was out of town last night, and I gave into temptation just once.
Really? The agency says you were one of Melody's regulars.
You got a car? I don't have to answer that.
I hired Melody for a dinner date.
We didn't have sex.
You know, I didn't break the law, and you can't prove that I did.
She's dead.
You were the last man with her so your DNA's gonna be all over her.
It might even prove you murdered her.
Okay, okay, we had sex.
But she was alive when she left, I swear.
Hmm.
What kind of car do you drive? Lincoln Navigator.
None of Melody's clients had access to a black sports car.
The fact that she's a hooker explains the fluids in the rape kit.
You think she wasn't raped? Hard to prove either way.
Cast the net wider, all her johns.
Her parents are coming in from Detroit to ID the body, talk to them too.
What about the JTTF tape? TARU's still working on it.
Oh, Kathy dropped him off about five minutes ago, said she couldn't wait.
Yeah, Dickie's staying with me for a few nights.
Say, kiddo.
Stop looking at that stuff.
Is that woman dead? Yes, she is.
How'd she die? Hit by a car.
An accident? No.
The car drove up on the sidewalk.
Did they take her money? Yeah, they did.
Let's get something to eat.
I bet they beat her up, too.
Why would you say that? It's just like the game, isn't it? What game? NtenCity.
Cap, Fin, have you ever heard of a game called NtenCity? I'm driving along, okay? I see a woman, so I run her over.
Where did you learn this? Everyone plays it.
I get out of the car.
Hey, baby, where you going? Now, to get her money, I have to knock her out.
Make sure she can't fight back.
Where do you think you're going, bitch? Got her.
Now, I got to get the purse.
I said, stay down.
Yeah, give me that.
Got me some more cheddar.
Look, my money supply just went up.
They got the idea from the game.
Remember the voice on the tape? "She can't come to the phone right now.
She wants to play with us.
" Somebody's playing for real.
A lot of psychologists think there's a correlation between violent crimes and media violence, especially games.
Do you believe that? I can think of a dozen murders in which computer games were alleged to have influenced the killers.
Columbine's the obvious example.
Do you have any suspects? No, we checked out family, friends, and clients.
Everybody has alibis.
So she could've been a random target.
That's an awful lot of rage to take out on someone you don't know.
Unless the computer game contributed to the rage.
You got any pointers to help us find our player? Your average gamer is probably male, anywhere from Thanks, doc.
And if he's an NtenCity junkie, he might want to brag about what he's done.
Who makes this crap? Yeah, I designed NtenCity.
What's up? Someone went out and imitated it.
Not again.
We got lawsuits coming out of our asses.
Every month some moron blames us for some crime some other moron committed.
You don't seem too concerned.
Our games are cartoons.
They're fun.
If a couple of idiots take them too far, that's not our problem.
Well, it is now.
This woman was run down two nights ago and beaten to death.
Just like in the game.
Jeez.
Lighten up, will you? That sequence was an Easter egg.
A what? That's a hidden treat players can access for extra fun.
You're not as old as you look.
Come here.
So, you're playing the game, okay? And you see something anomalous.
Maybe a glow on the wall, a doorway.
You go through and you get something extra.
A weapon, money, maybe another cool sequence.
Who knows about the Easter eggs? Everybody.
You go online, the fan sites will tell you where the Easter eggs are hidden.
On these fan sites, anybody talking about a woman being attacked? We're about to launch NtenCity 2.
I don't have time to go trolling on fan sites.
I do.
Move over.
That was Stabler.
You stay and play.
All right.
Cause of death was a subdural hematoma, but she suffered before she died.
There were 42 points of impact on her chest, back, arms and head.
Guy's fists must be chopped meat.
I doubt it.
These bruises were caused by a man's shoe, kicking and stomping.
Probably a size nine.
What about the puncture wounds? They were a puzzle.
I had to cut the wounds out so I could dissect them.
This is your weapon.
Not my normal work gear, but it's the annual M.
E.
's dinner tonight.
Stiletto heels? A woman stomped Melody? Was there another woman's voice on that task force tape? She can't come to the phone right now.
Now she wants to play with us.
That's a guy's voice.
But if I filter the background noise and EQ the vocal spectrum, we get this.
Now, she wants to play with us.
Dig her jacket.
"Dig her jacket.
" That's a female's voice.
And they killed her for her clothes? No, they were playing a game.
Munch has got something.
All right.
Thanks.
Some geek wrote a new scene in the game you can download off the net.
It first appeared late last night.
Here it is.
Okay.
Same old, same old.
You run her over, get out, kick her a couple times, and then Hey, baby.
How do you feel? Watch this.
Here's the new scene.
He tears her blouse off.
Cool, huh? The detail about ripping her clothes off was never released.
Son of a bitch knew exactly what happened.
So, which one of your guys made this? It can only be one person.
A programmer named Stu Davis.
Well, why only him? Well, Stu used to work here.
And I had to fire him because he snuck copulating bunny rabbits into a children's game we make, but we kept him on as a tester.
So he knows how to modify the game.
Oh, yeah.
Where does Stu live? Sorry, don't know any murdered women.
Somebody dropped a little sequence about her into NtenCity.
Wasn't me.
Well, we hear you're the only guy that could do it.
Well, you heard wrong.
Stuart Davis, this is a warrant to search your apartment and computers.
Ow! Damn! Out of my way.
You know, if you guys just tell me what you're looking for, I'll help.
Yeah, help erase it.
Here's something, e - mail sent yesterday morning.
Hey, you know what? That's my private stuff, all right? You're not supposed to Shut up! "Spielmeister.
"Want to make NtenCity real intense? "Check out the Ledger, page seven.
" Will you look at this? And it's turned right to page seven.
"Mystery woman killed in hit and run.
" Listen to this.
"Cops held back, chick was half-naked.
How about a game update.
"LMAO.
" LMAO? Shorthand.
"Laughing my ass off.
" Oh, that's funny.
Who sent you the e-mail? I have no idea, okay? I get requests from goofballs every day.
You always do what goofballs ask? If they pay well enough, yeah.
Got an e-mail address? Just a screen name.
Lewddude.
Can you track it? Larry Tauber! Police! Nobody's here.
Here's a picture of Lewddude.
All right.
Get that out there.
El, maybe the guy couldn't stop playing.
Yeah, or partying.
A woman's purse.
It's Melody Quinn's driver's license.
Genius really knows how to cover his tracks.
He didn't go too far.
Genius forgot his car keys.
Little black sports car.
Registered to Larry Tauber.
Blood and skin.
All tested.
O'Halloran.
SVU there? Yeah, they're here.
Tell them we got their guy.
Spring and 10.
They found your guy, ten blocks away.
Heard the call go out.
It's your guy.
ID was in his pocket.
Looks like he was run over, then beaten to death.
Larry Tauber.
Someone's playing the game again.
Cause of death was massive head trauma and multiple fractures, but Larry Tauber wasn't murdered.
Suicide? He sustained one blow to the head from a sharp metal object.
CSU found blood and brain matter on the edge of the dumpster.
Remember that scaffolding? He must've jumped off of it and hit the dumpster.
Any evidence he was pushed? Not from the trajectory of the fall, and there were no defensive wounds or torn clothes.
But his blood alcohol level was four times the legal limit.
Killed himself out of drunken remorse.
What he did to that girl, I'm not shedding any tears.
DNA proves his car ran her down, but I don't think he killed her.
His feet are size eleven.
The shoes that kicked Melody to death were size nine.
Okay, so he goes ten blocks to kill himself? What's wrong with his own roof? I can't answer that, but I can tell you what he was doing before he jumped.
See the glitter on his pants? Known in the trade as booty dust.
Larry had himself one last lap dance before he took the plunge.
Well, the only strip clubs around that alley are by the West Side Highway.
Yeah, I know.
Can you believe it? Police.
Ladies, can we get a minute? Is that all you need, honey? Either one of you recognize him? Yeah.
I do.
He was here last night.
Remember the sad dude? He was literally crying in his beer.
His friend tried to cheer him up with a couple bottles of Dom.
His friend? Good-looking kid.
Too young to be at the club, but guess his ID was okay.
You got security cameras? Yeah, but they're like the plumbing, don't work.
Did you hear anything these guys were talking about? Not really.
Younger one even paid for me to give Sad Eyes a lap dance, but it was like raising the dead, if you know what I mean.
Okay, we're going to need you ladies to come down to the precinct and talk to a sketch artist.
How many people do you put at the crime scene? Maybe three.
Unidentified male, unidentified female and Larry Tauber.
Now, we got two possibilities.
Either Tauber made the kids take part Why do you say they're kids? Voices sounded young, 18, 19.
Tauber's nearly 30.
So he led them into the crime, and then killed himself out of guilt.
Or he's the patsy.
The kids used him.
His apartment, his computer, his car, maybe used him to buy drugs, alcohol.
Can you prove any of that? Look, Tauber left Melody's purse in plain sight.
He didn't even bother to fix his car? It's like he wanted to get caught.
But he's dead, so he can't tell us.
But the car can.
Crime lab ran tests on it.
The driver's side door gives off a weird metallic creak that's audible on the task force tape.
They tracked each set of footsteps.
They're 95º/º certain that the guy that got out the driver's door is the same one that picked up Melody's phone and talked on the tape.
His voice wasn't Tauber's.
They're also pretty sure that only two people got out of that car, and the second one was wearing high heels.
So Tauber just stayed in his car.
And did nothing while a helpless woman was brutally murdered? I'm sorry, but "95º/º certain" and "pretty sure" don't add up to "beyond a reasonable doubt.
" Look, if these kids were using Tauber, somebody must've seen them together.
Well, as soon as the pole dancers are done, canvass Tauber's neighbors.
Try this first.
Day after the murder, Tauber received 12 calls from a cell phone belonging to one Louise Karnaki, Larry's a loser.
I don't hang with him anymore.
Then why call him so often? Don't know.
To see how he's doing.
Not too good.
He's dead.
Oh, my God.
Poor Larry.
Where were you three nights ago? At home.
Can you prove it? Why should she? Hi, Louise.
I'm Elliot.
Nice boots.
Very sharp.
They're mine.
How'd you get them? Something called a search warrant.
What is this? Turn on the lights.
Let me do my magic trick.
Now, Louise, this is a Luma-Lite.
What it does is show up blood and skin fragments, like, for example, if there just happened to be some on your boot here Oh, will you look at that? I don't know what that is.
It's blood.
There's some on the toe, also.
Now, what we're going to do is compare the DNA on this boot to that woman's DNA.
And when they match, which they will, we'll be charging you with murder.
You've got to help me.
I want to talk to the A.
D.
A.
Mr.
Delroy.
If my client cooperates, what are you offering? Nothing.
She's a murderer.
Now, if she tells us what happened, I might ask the judge to take it into account during sentencing.
Did you attack that woman? Yes.
Who else was there with you? Larry Tauber.
And who else? Nobody.
Not even him? Give us a name.
Please, don't tell him I told you.
Name.
Garrett Perle.
Police! It's open! Hey, guys, what's going on? Police.
Stand up.
Sure.
Just a sec.
Bastard's deleting files.
Temper.
Garrett Perle, you're under arrest for murder.
Get that computer.
Be my guest.
There's nothing on it.
Anyway, whom am I meant to have murdered? Melody Quinn.
Doesn't ring a bell.
Well, you have the right to remain silent.
If you give up that right Stop! He's got a degaussing loop.
What the hell is that? Powerful magnetic strips.
We just wiped his hard drive.
This is Melody Quinn.
Remember her now? I'm sorry, but I don't.
First you ran her down, then you kicked her.
Awful.
That's a Marine tattoo, isn't it? You ever killed anyone? You have, I can tell.
You, too.
Were you a gangbanger before you became a cop? I've often wondered what it'd be like to kill someone.
So how was it? I've murdered people in games.
Hundreds of them.
I've blown their heads off, eviscerated them, I've even used a little kitty cat as a silencer.
But it's not real, you know? You don't get the The kick, the juice.
But you guys, you know, you You know.
And you don't? You don't.
Hmm? Because you're gutless.
You couldn't even face her, could you? You had to use a car to knock down a woman? And even then you couldn't face her.
You had to sneak up behind her as she was crawling away, and then you kicked her? You're nothing but a scared little punk.
You want to know what it's like to kill someone, huh? See, you got to stare them right in the eye so you can smell their fear.
Leave me alone, okay? Stop it.
We don't even need this little freak.
We've got our witness.
She's lying.
How do you know that? It was Larry Tauber.
Doesn't sound like Tauber.
Melody? That's a pretty name.
Like music.
Who's this? Where is she? She can't come to the phone right now.
Now, she wants to play with us.
Where did you get that? That's enough for a positive voice ID.
You're done, Garrett.
But it's Larry's fault! He made me do it! Out you go, gentlemen.
I'd like to speak to my client alone.
With Louise's eyewitness testimony, Gates will try and cut a deal.
So what are you going to do? I may offer Louise man one to make sure she gives us this creep.
Oliver.
How will you be earning your fee this time? Easily.
Not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
You got to be kidding me.
Garrett Perle was in thrall with an older man, Larry Tauber, who plied him with alcohol, got him to play violent video games for hours on end, and then took him on a joyride and made him play the game for real.
So Garrett admits he killed Melody.
No.
He admits that he had no idea what he was doing, whether it was wrong or right, fantasy or reality.
See you at the arraignment.
Gates thinks this defense will fly? Computer game violence is a hot issue.
If Gates can deflect blame onto the game makers, his job's half done.
So make a deal with Louise Karnaki.
Don't get your hopes up.
Her family just fired her public defender, got a lawyer from Henshall and Langan.
How can they afford that? They can't, but Garrett's family can.
They'll pin the crime on the game and the dead man, Larry Tauber.
Cap, it's the lab for you.
What about the surveillance tape? What surveillance tape? Joint Terrorism Task Force was running a covert op on Melody's boss.
They caught the start of the murder on audio tape.
Including Garrett and Louise's voices, and they sure weren't confusing fantasy with reality.
I need to hear that task force tape.
We got it on condition we wouldn't use it at trial.
You agreed to that? I didn't have a choice.
Well, neither do I if it's my only evidence of Garrett's state of mind.
So, where is it? Somebody from the US Attorneys' office removed it from the lab 20 minutes ago.
You can't have it.
As soon as that tape appears in discovery, the defense will want to know context, provenance, everything.
It won't affect any ongoing operation.
I can't risk surveillance of a vital target in a war against terror becoming front page news.
But that's more important than letting two psychopaths walk free? Frankly, yes.
If this tape's your only evidence, you should ask the NYPD to get off their asses and find you some more.
I met your vital target.
This guy's no terrorist, he's a sleazy joke.
I need the tape, Raul.
I said you can't have the tape because there is no tape.
We've got no tape and no deal with Louise.
I'm going to be fighting this with my arms tied behind my back.
Forensics prove Garrett and Louise kicked a woman to death.
They can't wiggle out of that.
Gates is running a psych defense.
He's going to blame everything on the game and Larry Tauber and the only way to beat it is to prove they knew what they were doing.
One way to beat a psych defense is with a psych offense.
Let me find out if Garrett and Louise are innocent pawns or cold-blooded liars.
How many hours a day do you play games? Five or six.
What's the longest that you've ever played? You get tired? I never noticed.
Do you stop to eat or drink? Don't feel the need.
How do you feel after you're finished playing? Like I'm king of the world.
Then what do you do? Play again, what else? Larry mind you hanging around so much? Mind? We were the best thing that ever happened to him.
Larry liked to watch her beat up women.
In the game or on the street? Wherever.
It turned him on.
It was the nearest he got to screwing her.
Louise got off on it too.
Garrett made me tease him.
You didn't like that? I wasn't interested in Larry.
You and Garrett have sex? Yes.
He's crazy about me.
Yeah, but the game is better.
Better than sex.
And the rush is more intense.
You see, I control the world, pull everyone's strings.
In the game, of course.
When else do you feel the rush? Driving fast.
How fast? BQE at 2:00 in the morning.
And that's pretty dangerous.
That's why it's a rush.
What about the other drivers? They get out of the way.
What if they can't? Oops.
He's a manipulative little prick.
He took Larry Tauber to that club, he got him drunk and manipulated him right off that roof.
I wouldn't put it past him.
Garrett's an adrenaline junkie and a narcissist.
He knows right from wrong.
He just doesn't give a damn.
And Louise? She's in love with him.
She'll do whatever he wants.
You think these computer games influenced his behavior? Kids like Garrett are so numb that they need constant stimulation.
Computer games fill that void.
If they're susceptible to violence, then this could exacerbate that, but I don't believe a game ever made anyone commit murder.
So Garrett's psych defense is a crock? Yes.
His mind is clear as a bell.
Thought I'd find you in here, Casey.
Motion to submit Garrett for a neuropsych examination.
Garrett has volunteered to undergo a PET scan while he plays the computer game, NtenCity.
An experiment with a single subject is meaningless.
We'll repeat an experiment conducted by doctors in London that showed that game play flooded the brain with dopamine.
What's that supposed to prove? That dopamine intoxication caused by addictive game playing changed Garrett's brain, and therefore he wasn't responsible for his actions.
Are you worried about objectivity, Casey? Because Dr.
Huang is welcome to conduct the test.
The computer relays the game into these 3D goggles so that Mr.
Perle can play the game while he's in the scanner.
Cool.
Can I get a pair of these? His head's immobilized so that head movement doesn't distort the scan.
We'll inject him with Carbon-11-Raclopride to tag the dopamine receptors, and then we'll draw blood throughout the scan to measure how game play affects the dopamine release in his brain.
You can start.
Garrett plays these games up to 40 hours a week.
It's amazing he found the time to commit murder.
Let me know when you have the results.
Where do you think you're going, bitch? I said stay down, bitch! Come on.
Give me that.
Got me some more cheddar.
No question.
Garrett's dopamine level increased while he played the game.
What effect did that have on him? He felt high, euphoric, as if he'd just taken a small dose of speed.
So the PET scan does prove game play made Garrett Perle less able to control his actions? On the contrary, almost any enjoyable activity would show the same increase in dopamine.
Driving a fast car, playing sports, even playing chess.
Thank you, doctor.
Isn't the release of dopamine what makes a drug like cocaine so addictive? Partly.
And heroin so addictive? Dopamine contributes to addictive behavior, but And doesn't the PET scan show that computer games are just as addictive? As addictive as heroin or cocaine? No.
But they are addictive.
Do you believe that violent video games are dangerous? Not in themselves, no.
Oh, but didn't Dr.
David Grossman compare violent games to military battlefield simulators where they train real soldiers to kill? It's much more complicated than that.
Why? A violent video game teaches its players to kill automatically.
Yes or no? Yes.
Thank you.
But there's an enormous difference between the cartoon violence of video games and violence in real life.
Do you think that Garrett and Louise would have gone out joyriding that night if they hadn't have played the game? There are other factors Did the game give them the idea to get in the car? Yes, but Did the game give them the idea to run over Melody Quinn and beat her to death? Yes or no? Yes, but having an idea is not Thank you, Dr.
Huang.
Nothing further.
Do you regret what you've done? Yes.
I'll never forgive myself.
Do you want to take a break, Mr.
Perle? No.
I can manage, thank you.
You've testified that you and Louise ran over Melody Quinn because you thought you were still playing a game.
Yes.
Nothing seemed real.
So, even when Melody was screaming and crying for mercy, you thought it was part of the game? They scream in the game, too.
Well, you kicked her to death.
You expect the jury to believe that you didn't know a real woman was bleeding and dying under your feet? I swear to you, I didn't.
How could you not know? Because I didn't know where I was.
The streets we were driving down were streets from the game.
The people were characters from the game.
I saw this woman on the sidewalk, and she had a short skirt.
Larry said, "Get her.
Get the hooker.
" It was like I was still in his apartment, and he was breathing down my neck, shouting at me, "Go on, hit her! Hit her! Do it! "She's getting away, she's still moving, stomp on her, do it, do it!" Mr.
Perle! Mr.
Perle, control yourself.
So you always do whatever Larry says? I wish I was brave enough to stand up to him, but I wasn't.
I'm sorry.
Do you want to continue with this witness, Ms.
Novak? I do, Your Honor.
It's late.
You can resume tomorrow.
This court is adjourned.
I hope you've got something.
I'm getting killed here.
We got a connection between Garrett and Tauber's death on Tauber's computer.
TARU found a big chunk of encrypted code on his hard drive, sent to him two hours before he killed himself.
Who sent it? Same creep that added the naked victim sequence to the game, Stu Davis.
We're holding him in the crime lab.
Now, Stu, you sent Larry Tauber a self-deleting e-mail.
We found it on his computer.
He opened it, he read it once, and, poof, it disappeared.
But only as far as his hard drive.
So you're going to tell us what it says.
Listen, right, I've got nothing to do with this! Yeah, you do, because the guy you sent the e-mail to is now dead.
Eventually, he'll break the encryption, and when he does, I will arrest you for conspiracy to murder.
Stu, start decrypting.
Start! God, he said it was just a joke.
This is ridiculous, man.
I'm a programmer, not a killer.
I swear to God.
I never knew anyone was going to get hurt.
You killed her, Larry.
You kicked that poor woman to death.
Cops are coming for you, Larry.
You can run, Larry Tauber, but you can't hide! Lights, please.
So, whose face is that on the screen? Larry Tauber's.
People's Exhibit 11.
A check for $1,000 made out to Stuart Davis.
And whose signature is that? Mine.
You paid Mr.
Davis $1,000 to send that e-mail to Larry Tauber.
Why? I don't know.
You don't know? No.
Larry got that e-mail two hours before he killed himself.
Did you want to push him over the edge? No.
Oh, then why would you send it, huh? Did the game make you do that, too? No.
Then why? It was a joke.
First you say kicking a woman to death is a game, and now this is a joke? Do you think this is funny? You're confusing me.
Well, you weren't confused.
You knew exactly what you were doing.
You were afraid Larry was going to turn you in to the police.
So you preyed on him until he killed himself.
Larry Tauber, murderer, LMAO.
What's that mean, LMAO? Why don't you tell us? Laughing my ass off.
What? I'm sorry.
I can't hear you.
Laughing my ass off! Larry's dead, Melody's dead, and you're laughing your ass off.
Yeah, you bet I am.
Because you are a joke.
This whole damn thing is a joke.
Nothing further.
"Video game violence has a horrifying potential to promote acts of violence "against real victims and desensitize children to the real thing.
" Well, that's what the American Medical Association had to say in their testimony to Congress.
Now, does the games industry care? Listen to them describe their latest hit.
"You can still beat up the hookers and steal their money.
"You can run over cops, and shoot and kill the ambulance drivers "as they come in to pick up the dead.
" Now, you take that attitude, and that product, and you put it in the hands of a young man who has a history of addictive and risk-taking behavior, and you are going to create a tragedy.
And that is what happened here.
The game, NtenCity, transported two teenagers to a fantasy land.
It made them high.
It fed them a vile idea, and then it taught them how to execute it.
They were not in control of their actions, and therefore they're not guilty.
Did Garrett and Louise get the idea from a game? Yes.
But we get ideas all the time, from books, from TV, from friends, from life, from everywhere.
We don't act on them.
We know that the idea doesn't justify the deed.
Don't let Mr.
Gates blind you to the facts.
Real people ran over a real person, and then they beat her to death.
Melody Quinn felt real pain.
She bled real blood, and she died a horrible and lonely death.
It was not a game.
Now, did Melody's killers know what they were doing? Well, their taunting of Larry Tauber, the one member of their trio with the humanity to feel regret, proves that they did.
Garrett Perle said it himself.
"It was a joke.
" Well, you know what? Murder is no joke.
So don't let them use a game as an excuse for their cruel and callous actions.
As to the defendant, Garrett Perle, in the charge of murder in the second degree, how do you find? We find the defendant guilty.
As for the defendant, Louise Karnaki, on the charge of murder in the second degree, how do you find? We find the defendant guilty.
Defendants are remanded until sentencing.
This court is adjourned.
Oh, shut up.
Bang, bang, you're dead.
Get him out of here.
Game's over.
You won.
We won the case today.
Two guilty verdicts.
That's good.
What're you playing? Hockey.
Got him.
What a hit.
You have to play that all the time? Why not? I like it.
Yeah, I know, but maybe we could play something together, you know? Like what? I don't know Cards? Scrabble? Or maybe we can just talk.
Okay.
Talk.