The Streets of San Francisco (1972) s02e01 Episode Script

A Wrongful Death

Central 4 to headquarters.
We have an audible alarm.
Possible 459 at The Cannery.
We're going in.
Tell them to hurry up, Spence.
Hold it! Attention, all units, 406 at The Cannery, Leavenworth Street.
- Central 4 has been shot.
- Respond.
Eighty-one to The Cannery.
Inspectors 81 to headquarters.
This is Stone.
I'm at The Cannery, Leavenworth entrance.
Four-oh-eight, got an officer here losing blood fast.
Get that wagon in gear.
Hold it! Police! Right there! Steve.
You all right? - Dead? - Yeah.
He had a gun, Mike.
Where is it? I don't know, but I saw it.
He had one.
Okay.
They get younger every day, don't they? This one's not.
Spencer Davies.
Come here.
Stay with him.
We're gonna call another ambulance.
- Mike, he had a gun.
- Come on.
Never mind, Come on.
He had a gun.
Find it.
- How about a cup of coffee? - I don't think so, Mike.
Come on, now, you got me at a weak moment.
My treat.
- No, thanks.
- You sure? Yeah.
You want me to do that? Thanks, Mike.
I can finish it up.
That the other kid? Yeah, we nailed him a couple of blocks away.
Said he was taking a short cut through The Cannery, heard the shooting and ran.
Well, it's the truth.
I didn't do anything.
Okay, okay, son.
Why don't you just tell us exactly what it is you heard.
I heard shots.
Gunshots.
- Where were you coming from? - The movies.
- Alone? - No, I was with a buddy.
Well, where is this buddy now? We heard the shots, we broke up.
What does this friend of yours look like? I don't have to tell you.
I don't have to tell anything.
You're not gonna pin it on him either.
We're not trying to pin anything on anybody, son.
We just wanna know what happened.
Now, a couple of police officers have been hurt.
Now, nobody's trying to blame your friend for anything.
We just have to know his name.
Spence.
Spence Davies.
I said, "Listen, if I'm out, then the umpire" Excuse me, I'm looking for Al Davies.
Yes, he's behind the bar.
- Thank you.
- Wait, you said you played pro.
Yeah, I played pro.
Well, let's put it like this.
I had a cup of coffee in the pros.
Twenty-two games in the bullpen for the Brownies.
The-- The who? The St.
Louis Browns, 1949.
Forget it, it's before your time.
And don't ask me about any earned run averages, because when you hear the way I lie about it, you'll wonder why I wasn't playing for the Yankees.
Yes, sir.
- You're Al Davies? - That's right.
What can I do for you? My name is Stone.
What, are you coming to check the wallpaper? It's kosher.
I had it renewed last May.
I wish it were just about a license, Mr.
Davies, but it's not.
Could I have a glass of water, please? Yeah, sure.
It's about your son, Mr.
Davies.
- Which one? - Spencer.
Spence? Come on, don't tell me he's in any kind of trouble.
What happened? - There's been a shooting, Mr.
Davies.
- A what? - There was a shooting, and-- - Is he hurt? Your son is dead.
Hi, I'm Keller.
Homicide.
I was one of the guys that rolled in your 406.
You get him? I thought maybe you could give us a description.
It was dark.
I didn't see much.
Yeah.
I did see one of them.
He was tall, 6'2", 6'3".
Blond.
Thin.
Beanpole.
Wait a minute, how many were there? Two.
Only saw two.
Look, we got a couple of guys.
One's about, 5'9".
He's got long hair, sandy blond.
He's about 150 pounds.
He's a young kid, he's about 15.
I didn't see him.
Well, the other one is The other one's a little thinner and he's shorter.
He's got black hair and he's about 15 too.
No.
- You sure? - Couldn't have been.
But they were running when we were pulling up.
Different guys.
Not the way these two handled themselves.
The gun.
Taking on Anders.
Couldn't have been 15.
More like 20.
- And tough.
- Inspector, please.
I think you'd better let Mr.
Berger rest now.
Yeah.
Okay.
Thank you.
The body is that of a Caucasian male weighing approximately 170 pounds.
Measuring 70 and three-quarters inches.
The head is bald.
Sides are shaved.
Eyes are brown.
There's a small scar on the right ear.
The nose and the mouth are essentially unremarkable, the exception of cavities in the upper right incisor and the lower right molar.
We can go now.
Pop, let's go.
Mr.
Davies.
Who did it? Who killed my son? I told you, an officer.
Your son had a gun.
My son had a gun? This boy? Mister, you don't know my son.
Your officer had the gun.
And I want him.
He's gonna pay.
Come on.
Send in Steve Keller.
Rudy.
I read your report, Steve.
Tell me, what about the gun? Haven't found it yet.
- You're sure there was one? - Yes, Rudy.
There was a gun.
You better read this.
"Wrongful death"? Civil suit.
Five hundred thousand dollars? And I'm afraid that's just for openers, Steve.
I don't have to tell you that this is one of the most sensitive situations that we can get into.
What will you do? Nail me to a desk? I'm not sitting in a room doing paper work while some-- I wish it were just that, Steve.
I'm afraid it's going to be more.
There'll be an inquest to determine whether or not there's sufficient grounds to try you for manslaughter.
Manslaughter? Rudy, the kid had a gun.
He already shot an officer and he fired at me.
Well, then we'll do our damnedest to prove it, Steve.
But until we do or until we know if the DA's office is gonna bring charges, I'm gonna have to ask for your gun.
And your badge.
What are you doing? Early Christmas shopping? - You know what I'm doing.
- Now wait a minute.
I know what you're supposed to be doing.
Now, sitting it out means sitting it out.
Michael, it is all hanging out.
A little thing called my life.
Now, I gotta find that gun.
Oh, no.
No, no, we've gotta find that gun, buddy boy.
The rest of us.
Not you.
Now, I talked to Olsen.
The Police Officers Association is trying to get Pete Flynn to represent you.
Remember him? - Yeah, but that-- - He knows the law inside and out.
- What does the association--? - I told you, you're not in this alone.
We could've all been in the same boat.
That's the lousy part of this job.
It's happened before and it'll happen again.
- That's a great thought to live with.
- Now look.
Come here.
Now that moment in your life when you first decided, maybe a cop, why not? While you were shaving, some gal at the movies, cutting a class in college, trying to decide what to do with your future.
Now, I don't know, but somewhere in that moment, it must have crossed your mind that what happened last night might just happen to you, right? - I guess, yeah.
- Don't guess.
I know.
It's the same with all of us.
But I don't know.
Nobody's found that gun.
Beginning to have a few doubts myself.
Now you listen to me.
You looked me in the eyes last night and you said there was a gun.
Then there was.
And we're going to find it.
I'm sorry about Spence.
Yeah.
- Where's Al? - He's getting dressed.
Hello, Lainie.
Al? Are you really going to court with this? It was murder, Lainie.
It wasn't any accident.
- I don't know about that, Dad.
- You don't know about what? Well, I mean, how are you gonna handle it? - You gotta get a lawyer.
- I got a lawyer.
Yeah, but they cost a lot of dough.
And the cops, you know how they stick together.
I don't think you can really fight them.
What's the matter with you? Is it--? If I don't fight them, everything they're saying about your brother is true.
Is that what you want? Is that the kind of an epitaph you want for your own brother? The best kid that ever-- Jack, I'm gonna fight them.
With everything I got left.
Now, Jack, he didn't mean it.
I gotta go, Lainie.
I'm late for work.
Hello? Yes.
No, just a minute please.
Al? Yeah.
Funeral home.
Yeah.
Well-- Yeah, that's fine.
Yeah, that's fine.
They wanna know if a blue tie was all right.
How do I know if a blue tie is all right? Blue.
Isn't that something, what you remember sometimes? I remember a little blue tricycle.
And Spence.
Remember how he was a regular southpaw? That kid was a left-hander from the time he was born, practically.
Well, once, for his birthday-- It was his third one.
- I got him this blue trike, see.
And all the other kids had a red one.
I got him a blue one.
Bright blue.
And And he got on it, see, and he started to pedal.
Well, stupid thing started to go backwards.
I said to his mother, "Marie, I think our son is left-footed too.
" And Marie, sick as she was-- She knew she was dying even then.
- Well, she started to laugh, see.
And she started to laugh.
And then I started laughing.
And we laughed.
Oh, my God.
Stupid blue trike.
It's junk.
It's junk now, probably.
Just broken.
Rusty.
It's just gone.
Hey.
Thanks.
Say, you fellows know a Spence Davies? - You fuzz, man? - Yeah, that's right.
- How about the ball? - How about a nice quiet talk? - Just give us the ball, man, okay? - Oh, now, I don't wanna hassle you.
- Your name Saunders? - That's right.
I thought so.
All-city about two years ago, right? Yeah, man, look, you're holding up the game, you know? Yeah, I know.
I'm sorry about that.
But you see, there's an officer in the hospital with a bullet in him.
There's another one in intensive care, just barely holding on, and I'm just trying to find out what happened.
Yeah, well, the way we hear it, there's a kid that's dead who didn't do nothing.
- Maybe.
- Maybe? The funeral's tomorrow, man.
- How about that ball, okay? - Look.
I want the truth like anybody else.
I need a name.
You came to the wrong place, charlie.
Cool it.
Look, we don't know nothing.
We don't want no trouble.
You know names.
Now, he was about your height, your age.
Blond.
What's he done? He may be the guy who started the shooting.
Yeah, well, maybes don't cut it here.
All we know is one thing for sure.
And that's one of your boys ended the shooting.
Some coffee, Mr.
Davies? No, thank you.
- Pete? Mr.
Mendoza? - No, thank you.
Steve.
Jerry.
- Sorry, I'm late.
- No problem, Steve.
Inspector Keller, this is Mr.
Mendoza, - who represents Mr.
Davies.
- Mr.
Mendoza.
Inspector.
Mr.
Davies asked to be here today.
- Mr.
Davies.
- And you know Pete Flynn, of course.
- Yes.
- Steve.
Sit down, Steve.
I think you understand what a deposition is.
Just the taking of a statement by both sides prior to the hearing.
All right, I think we can begin.
Mr.
Mendoza? Just give us your version, inspector.
Using your own words.
I was cruising the north sector with my partner.
Lieutenant Michael Stone.
That's right.
It was about 11:30 in the evening.
We picked up a 406.
An alert that an officer had been shot.
Four-oh-six? That's right.
It's a code number.
It means an officer needs assistance.
And it came from The Cannery over on Leavenworth, and we were in the vicinity, so we rolled on it.
Anyway, when we approached the area, we saw two males running from the scene of the crime.
Crime? What crime? Well, there had been a burglary.
That's why Berger and Anders were there and they got jumped and Berger got shot.
And you knew all that at that time? Just from one code? No.
All you really knew was that an officer called in asking for assistance.
Yes.
And that he'd been shot.
Thank you, inspector.
You may continue.
- Jack? - Yeah? Jack.
- I've got to talk to you.
- I gotta get this done, Lainie.
Jack, we've got to talk.
What about? What happened with Spence? You know what happened.
He got shot.
What was he doing there? You know that too.
He was coming home from the movies with Billy Garner.
Jack, it's me.
You've trusted me before.
He was coming home from the movies and that cop saw him running and shot him.
That's what happened.
You didn't want your father to press charges before.
Now, why not? You heard.
Yeah, I heard.
I heard excuses.
Now I wanna hear the truth.
Leave it alone, will you, Lainie? Spence is dead and that cop shot him and that's the truth.
You saw a gun.
- Yes.
- But not a face.
No, not clearly.
Look, Mr.
Mendoza, I know what you're trying to do.
Steve, just answer the questions.
Mr.
Mendoza? All right, go ahead, Steve.
And when I told them to halt, he moved again, turned around, and like I said, he fired at me before.
So I figured-- He fired at you before.
My son never held a gun in his life.
You're the one with the gun.
Here.
While you were winning all your medals for marksmanship, my son was winning these for sportsmanship.
For something clean and good.
Here, you take them.
- Mr.
Davies, please.
- No, I want him to have them.
I want him to always remember the kind of a kid he killed with that gun that he lives with.
A boy that was good enough to win all of these.
Here, take them.
Mr.
Davies, any more outbursts out of you and you leave.
I think I know how he feels, Jerry.
That's the biggest lie of all.
Nobody can know how I feel, but least of all the man that murdered my son.
I think, lieutenant, I better let you take a look at a couple of yearbooks that go back quite a ways.
Well, he must've played ball here.
If he didn't, the coaches missed a good bet.
The way he could move, the way he took those walls.
From what you said, he knew the grounds pretty well too.
I'm sure he went through that gym before.
Sports are in the back.
- Anything? - Nope.
How about him? Jimmy Quayle.
Real good ball player, but a real pack of trouble too.
No, no.
This guy was taller.
Blond.
Had almost white hair.
Wait a minute.
Maybe we're not going back far enough.
We had a kid here who only played for us a year.
One of the finest-looking sophomores we had in a long time.
Here you go.
Lonny Carter.
That's him.
Lonny Carter.
- You got a file on him? - I'll give you what we had.
Played ball only one year, huh? - That's right.
- How come? - Dropped out.
- Anybody know why? Our number one crippler today, lieutenant.
Drugs.
You're police.
Mrs.
Carter? Lonny's not home.
- Where can I find him? - What's he done now? I'd like to ask him a couple of questions.
I tried with that boy.
My husband and me, we tried and he's clean.
He promised us.
He's got a job and he's clean.
A job? Where is the job, Mrs.
Carter? He works in the afternoon.
He starts at 4:00.
He'll be there.
And if he's not, I wanna know because I told him, "You lose a job, you lose a home.
" Where, Mrs.
Carter? He works at the museum near the wharf.
Ripley's.
Police.
Get these people out of here.
Say, has that got a back door? Come on, stop this car.
Get out of here.
Now, you freeze.
It's him.
Carter, I read you the rights, you know the rules.
Now, you don't have to say anything, but if you want to, let's start with names.
Okay, sure.
But you gotta know, I didn't shoot nobody.
- I didn't have no gun.
- Somebody did.
- Yeah.
- Who? - Jack.
- Jack who? Jack Davies.
- Hey.
- What? How do I get to Parkhurst and Clay from here? Well, go down three blocks-- So I got 30 bucks.
You got more than that, man.
All those cameras.
All right, 50.
But that's it because we had to stash the rest of the stuff.
Sorry about your brother, man.
Hey, did you hear about Lonny? - What about him? - He just got busted.
Sweet dreams.
- Sorry you had to wait.
- Not at all.
Thank you.
I hope that's not too strong.
Mr.
Davies, we've got to talk.
I got nothing to talk about with you.
Any more talk comes from my lawyer.
Then I'll talk and you listen.
We picked up one of the kids.
Name is Lonny Carter.
- Do you know him? - No.
He knows your son, Jack.
Listen, Stone.
Get out of here or so help me, cop or no cop, I'm gonna hand you your head.
I've got a statement.
You got a statement.
How you got it is something else again, isn't it? Would you, Miss Russo? I lost my glasses chasing the kid who gave us that.
- Elaine.
- We have to hear it sometime, Al.
"There was me and Jack Davies.
We always work together.
" His words, not mine.
"Jack always brought a gun.
The first time I saw it, I said, 'Hey, man, we don't want any blood.
Just bread for stuff.
' But Jack, he's more hooked than me.
He shoots the hard stuff.
And those cats don't listen.
No way I could make him listen.
" What are you trying to do to me? You're trying to tell me both of my sons are rotten? - You expect me to believe that? - Not both of your sons, Mr.
Davies.
Then what? "I didn't know Spence and the other kids were even going to be there that night.
We always worked alone.
Before.
But this was a bigger job, chancier.
And Jack had them stay outside as lookouts.
I don't know why they came, really.
They weren't users.
" We picked up the Garner boy again.
He confirmed this.
And I spoke to Jack's boss at the pier.
He said Jack left early last night.
Complained of a sore throat.
Didn't want to stay out in that late-night breeze coming off the water.
If I remember correctly, he told you that he had worked late.
That's why he didn't know where Spencer was.
Don't you remember that, Mr.
Davies? Do you know where Jack is now? Well, if you happen to hear from him, I'd appreciate hearing from you.
He could still have that gun.
A lot of people have been hurt already.
I'll be downtown.
My sons.
- Al! - Thieves, that's what I had.
Al, don't.
Spence was a good kid.
You know that.
Don't do this to yourself.
Al, couldn't you see what was happening with Jack? Couldn't you see that he was sick? Did you know? Yes.
And you didn't tell me? Well, I wanted to.
I must have tried a hundred times, but you wouldn't let me.
I wanted to take your hand and push you to him and say, "Look.
Look at him.
" I wanted you to see.
But how could I? I'm not his mother.
And I'm not even your wife.
I'm sorry, Elaine.
I'm sorry.
It should've never been your problem.
Al? Al? - Steve.
- Yeah.
- Where have you been? - Been walking.
We tried to find you.
Mike nailed your blond phantom.
- When? - About an hour ago.
- Do you have the gun? - Not yet, but the guy says there was one.
Where's Mike now? Over with the kid's old man.
He said he'd call in if-- - Hello? - Is Lieutenant Stone there, please? No, he's not.
Can I take a message? Yes.
Tell him Elaine Russo is calling.
That Jack Davies is at the pier and his father has gone after him.
Please, it's very important.
Jack! Where are you? Use it on me.
That's what you wanna do, isn't it? I don't know what I wanna do.
Why? Why Spence? Why? Why your own brother? Don't.
Why? Davies! - That's enough.
It's over.
It's over.
- It's not over.
It's not over until I know why Spence was there.
Why did he have that gun? He didn't have the gun.
I had it.
I shot, then I fell.
Spence was there.
He saw me drop the gun.
He knew that they might trace it back to me, so he went back and picked it up.
And after he got shot, he fell and I grabbed it again.
And you ran.
You left your brother there to die? He was dead already.
Why was he there? Why? He was trying to help me.
He knew I was hooked.
He knew I couldn't go to you for help.
He saw me when I needed help.
He saw what you never saw.
When Mom died, you needed somebody to love.
Only it couldn't be me.
I couldn't do what Spence could do.
I couldn't make ball clubs, I couldn't-- I couldn't do what counted with you.
All you could think of was Spence.
- Here comes a - Johnny Bench.
He'll blast it out of the park.
- Don't pitch to him.
- I'll be right back.
- Hi, Mr.
Davies.
- Hello, Steve.
- Hi, Elaine.
- Hello, Steve.
Get you something? No, no, I just-- I came by to see how Jack was.
Thanks.
Well, Lainie and I went out and saw him for about an hour today.
It looks like that methadone thing might do some good.
Good.
Good, I'm glad.
Now I'm not kidding myself, mind you.
He's gotta put in the time, I know that.
I just thank God that guy he hit pulled through.
He won't have that on his conscience for the rest of his life.
Well, he's got the right man in his corner too.
I hope so.
I think that's half the battle, right? Right.
Take care.
Bye, Steve.
Foul into the stands.
And again, made a good catch over there.
But it's - How's he doing? - All right? - Winds up.
- He's all right.
Fast ball and there she goes.
Hey, we're gonna be doing okay too, buddy boy.
McCovey just packed one.

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