All language subtitles for Law And Order s24e13 In God We Trust.eng

- 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 wanna thank you all
for coming out today

to support Alternative Justice
in New York, an organization

working hard to find novel ways
to reduce crime

and strengthen our communities.

Before I introduce
Suzanne Forrester,

the dynamo attorney behind
this visionary nonprofit,

I want to acknowledge
Suzanne's latest report,

which shows a rise
in prison deaths.

Incarceration shouldn't be
a de facto death sentence,

and putting felons in prison
can't be the endpoint

of our justice system.

And now, without further ado,
Suzanne Forrester.

[applause]

- Thank you, everybody.

Good afternoon.

- Eli here is so committed
to his latest pro bono case,

he's forgotten what it is
to actually bill a client.

- I'm not gonna let some
charter elementary school

in New York City post
the Ten Commandments.

First Louisiana,
now Spanish Harlem?

It stops here.

- Thou shalt not question
Eli's passion for this case.

- Religion has no place
in a state-funded building.

- I agree.

I just don't like
angering zealots.

- Oh, I can handle zealots.

Speaking of,
I've got a 2:00 meeting.

[ominous music]

* *

- Who's the vic?

- Eli Freeman, age 26,
lives alone.

Landlord says he's been
renting for two years.

Apparently, he's a lawyer.

- Okay. Who found him?

- I did.

A work colleague called in a
wellness check a few hours ago.

- Cause of death?
- Blunt force trauma.

Looks like he got
his forehead bashed into

this marble kitchen counter.
- Ooh. We got a time?

- Given temp and rigidity,
I'd peg

between 7:00 and 11:00 p.m.
last night.

- Well, he obviously
put up a fight,

so why don't you
bag his hands, huh?

I'm seeing a phone
and a wallet,

so likely not a robbery.

- No music on, no food out.

Doesn't look like
he was entertaining.

He is wearing
a nice suit though.

- All dressed up
and no place to go.

[dramatic music]

* *

- Does he have any family
that we can notify?

His landlord didn't have
any emergency contacts listed.

- No. Eli said he was orphaned.

Put himself through
Queens Community College,

tutored his way through
Fordham Law.

I took him under my wing here.

Within a year, he was
the firm's MVP associate.

- And when's the last time
you saw him?

- He left here around
6:00 yesterday.

- Any idea where he was headed?
- No.

I was on a client call
when he ducked out.

Eli was very private.

I really don't know much
about him other than

where he went to law school.

- All right, thanks.

- Fordham Law confirms
the vic's photo and name.

He has a law degree.

Queens Community College
has no record

of Eli Freeman
ever attending class.

- If you're gonna lie
about where you went to school,

Queens Community College
is kind of an odd choice.

Go big, right? Go Ivy League.

- He could have legit
went there

and changed his name.

- Well, okay,
I'll follow up with Fordham

and see if I can track down
his application.

- Wow, this kid was
a workhorse though.

I mean, I found a bunch of
social media pics of him,

and he's clerking
at the law library,

late night study sessions,

winning the moot court
competition.

I mean, as far as I can tell,

this kid cut loose one time

at something called
the Barrister's Ball

and took a girl
named Angie Marliss,

who is now a sustainable
lingerie designer.

What is that, like bras
made from plastic bottles?

- [chuckles]
You know, if I'm not mistaken,

the vic got a text from
an Angie

the night of the murder.
Yeah, here it is.

She said, "I'm really getting
tired of this nonsense."

- I'd go find Angie.

DNA analysis from the hairs
found on Eli's jacket are back.

They're from a woman.

- So you were dating Eli?

How long were you two involved?

- On and off, couple years.

- How well
did you know his past?

- He said he was on his own,
had lost his family.

- Did he ever use any aliases
or a different name?

- What? No.

- When was the last time
you saw Eli?

- Four, five months ago?

And then in August,
he called things off.

He said he was gonna mail me
some of my stuff back,

and he never did.
- How about that?

You didn't speak to him
since August.

Yet two nights ago,
the night he was murdered,

you hate text him?

- He kept blowing me off.

And then the other night,

my friend saw him having dinner
at Union Cafe with some woman.

- You mind telling us
where you were

two nights ago between the
hours of 7:00 and 11:00 p.m.?

- I was hosting a private
bachelorette viewing

right here for
20 liquored-up women

from Greenwich trying on
everything in the studio.

- Our vic didn't use
any dating apps,

and we couldn't find
any digital trace

about any new girlfriend.

We did find some calls
to a burner phone,

and we've got some techs
going through those right now.

- What did the restaurant say?

- Confirmed a reservation
for two at 6:30 p.m.

They sent us video
of the front door.

He entered alone.

Hour later, at 7:30 p.m.,

he leaves
with a mystery brunette,

and she's got a file folder
that reads "Pathway Forward."

[suspenseful music]

- You mean that halfway house
in Hell's Kitchen?

- The one and only.
- Whoa, hey, guys!

Harold from Pathway Forward

says that the woman that
I described is named Martha

and that she volunteers
there once a week.

- Got an address?
- No.

But he said that she's a member
of the Baylor Church community,

which is upstate near Hudson.

- You gentlemen got
a full tank of gas?

.

[church bell ringing]

- They broke with
the Mennonite Church

about 100 years ago,

consider themselves
a utopian sect.

- I'm Pastor John.
This is my son, Jacob.

Can we help you?
- Afternoon, gentlemen.

We're detectives with the
New York Police Department.

We're looking for this woman.

- That's Martha.

- Martha Fairchild
is our schoolteacher

and my son's fianc�e.

Why is she with Elijah Penner?

- His name is Elijah Penner?

- Yes, he grew up here.

- Abandoned our church
years ago.

- His parents live
a few doors down.

[suspenseful music]

- Thanks.

- All right. Thank you.

- Murder?

I can't believe it.

[somber music]

I told him it was
dangerous out there.

He-he never should have left.

But there was
no talking to him.

He wanted something different,
something more.

- Please sit.

Uh...

when he was, um, about 17,

he turned defiant,
hated our sheltered ways.

See, we don't use phones,
email, or the Internet.

- Because they're...
- Evil? No.

There are only
a couple hundred of us,

but we value being present
for each other.

A gadget that weakens
our community bonds?

No, thank you.

- But Eli?

- He was a curious,
passionate boy.

When the time came,
he refused his baptism,

so the church
asked Eli to leave.

We hadn't spoken to him since.

We were forbidden.

- I'm very sorry.

We believe that your son
was with another member

of the church on the night
that he died.

Martha Fairchild.
Do you have any idea why?

- Martha told us
she ran into him last year

in the city
for her volunteer work,

said he'd changed his name,

but she wouldn't
have seen him again.

Communication with those
who leave the church,

it's not done.

And Martha is practically
the pastor's daughter-in-law.

If she saw him, it must have
been something very urgent.

- Where can we find Martha?

- You saw Eli a few nights ago?

- I help to rehabilitate men
released from prison

living at Pathway Forward.

When I bumped into Eli,
he told me

he'd gone to law school,
so I asked him

if he could help me
with some paperwork

for one of my parolees.

He was helping me ever since.

- You guys had dinner
Thursday, right?

- To talk about the case.

Then Eli walked me back
to Pathway Forward.

- What time was that?
- It had to have been 7:45.

I had to turn in the
parole termination petition

and talk to the case manager.

And Eli went home
to prepare for a work meeting

the next morning.

By 8:00,
I raced to catch the bus.

I always meet my fianc�
at a set time.

- We'll look into that.

In the meantime, if you can
think of anything else.

- I wouldn't be able
to call you, Detective.

We're not allowed
to use phones here.

- I don't know.

No Internet thing
sounds kind of nice.

No texts, no emails,
no social media.

- Yeah.

- I mean,
my kids would run away

and never speak to me again,
but-

- [chuckles]
Yeah, I get it.

The simple life thing
seems pretty appealing

for about a minute...

Maybe two minutes.

- Hey.

Pathway Forward
finally got us that video.

Let's see if Martha's story
checks out.

There she is with Eli.

She goes inside,

and he goes down the street.

- That guy sitting
on the stoop,

it looks like he makes sure
she was inside.

And then he-
- Chases our vic.

- Yeah, and then they get
into it on the street.

Run his face.

[keyboard clacking]

[suspenseful music]

- Marcus Wright,
did 17 in Fishkill

for bludgeoning his girlfriend.
- All right.

Call his parole officer
and find out where he is.

- Yeah.

* *

Hey.

We're looking for
Marcus Wright.

- Over there.

- Stay put.

* *

- Marcus Wright,
got a few questions for you.

- You don't need that
to talk, do you?

- Hey, I'm-
I'm a new man, officers.

How can I help you?

- Eli is dead?

You think I killed him?

Because I'm an ex-con?

- That and we got video of you
arguing with the guy

right before he died.

- He and Martha
were helping me,

which is more than I could say
for anyone in your system.

All you guys did was lock me up
and leave me to fester.

- You killed your girl, Marcus.
- Yeah, I did.

I was a different man
back then.

Martha's church group
believes in me.

I mean, that young lady
has been my lifeline.

She gives me purpose.

She even helped me
get this lawyer.

Why-why would I hurt him?
- Great question.

But you did chase the lawyer,
and it did get heated,

and that doesn't seem like
gratitude to me, my friend.

- I was worked up. All right?

He filed a petition
without asking me

for early termination
of my parole supervision.

The problem is,
my petition could

still be denied because
the system is such a mess.

I just wanted an explanation.
- So you what?

- So I peeled off
on 59th and 9th

on my way to
my evening custodial job.

I called Martha.
- At Pathway Forward?

- No, her cell phone.

But I couldn't reach her.
- Wait, hold on.

Stop, stop, stop.

You're telling me
Martha has a cell phone?

- Yeah, I mean,
her church group

has something against it,

but a few months back,
she'd come to me

and asked me
if I could get her one.

She said that it was important,
so I got her a burner.

* *

.

- Wright's evening supervisor
confirmed his alibi.

He worked the 8:00
to midnight shift,

so not our guy.

- The store that Wright
bought Martha's burner phone at

gave me the EIN
and confirmed the number.

Remember all those
untraceable phone calls

to the vic's phone log?

- Martha?

- All hours and late hours.

- That's a lot of talk
about parolee petitions.

[suspenseful music]

* *

Martha.

You lied to us.

- Yeah, you left out the part
about the burner phone

you used to call Eli,
didn't you?

And on our way here,
we stopped by

the county hospital,
checked the records room.

Your blood type's AB negative.
- Yeah.

And guess what blood type
matches the hairs

found on Eli's clothing

the night of the murder
and in the kitchen?

AB negative.
- I'm not feeling well.

- Did you go to Eli's house
that night instead of the bus?

Is that what happened?
- I'm engaged to Jake.

I don't spend time
with other men.

Please, people will hear you.

- Martha,
if you do not come clean,

there will be consequences.
Do you understand that?

- I don't like
the questions you're asking.

I'd like you to go now.
- It doesn't work that way.

- [breathing heavily]

- Martha, stop.

[tense music]

* *

We need an ambulance at the
Baylor Church immediately.

Good news is that
the paramedics said

that Martha is gonna be fine.

Bad news-
well, at least for her-

we pulled her prints
off of the soda can,

and they are all over
the apartment.

I'm talking bathroom,
nightstand, headboard.

- Okay, so maybe it started
with Eli doing legal work,

and then they got close,
and then they got too close,

and then Martha lost
her good girl senses,

but ultimately fears
the wrath of God,

so she goes to Eli's
apartment to end it.

- And then he threatens
to tell the church.

- I got the video back from
the bus stop near the church.

Looks like Martha's alibi
holds up.

There she is getting off
the 8:00 p.m. bus.

- All right,
back to square one.

- Wait a minute. Hold on now.

Didn't Martha say
that her fianc�

picks her up at the bus stop?

- Yeah.
- Well, keep looking.

I mean, who's she looking for?

She's looking up and down,
left and right, for somebody.

And then she walks off alone.

- Hmm.

Maybe Jake found out
about the affair,

went into the city on his own?

[suspenseful music]

- Bring them both in.

* *

I was raised to obey the rules.

My parents were very strict,
and I remember how hard it was

to always have to be
the good girl...

Resist things you wanted.

When did you fall
in love with Eli?

- I mean, her fingerprints
are all over that apartment.

- All over.

- Which kind of makes it seem
like maybe she did it.

- That's ridiculous.
- Is it?

Maybe you can help us out

because we're trying
to figure out exactly

why her fingerprints would be
all over his apartment.

Unless...

- Yeah,
I can think of one thing.

- Affair.

- That's exactly
what I was thinking.

- This guy ditches your church.

He steals your girl.
- Stop.

- Your childhood friend was
living this wildly free life.

He took a huge risk,
started over in New York City.

I'm sure he swept you
off your feet.

- I prayed.

- For what?

- To not be in love,
to not feel so...

so happy, so alive with him,
but it wouldn't stop.

- And Jake found out about it.

- It's actually starting
to look like you got motive.

- In the first degree.

- So Jake realized
you were seeing Eli?

- No, I was careful.

- Because what you did, Martha,
would make a man jealous.

- Jake's not like that.

- Even pastors' sons are human.

He wasn't there when you
got off the bus on Thursday,

was he?

- So where were you
Thursday night, Jake?

- Home.
- Really?

'Cause you didn't pick up
Martha from the bus.

- We saw the video.
- Yeah.

So, you know, the bus stop
has surveillance cameras.

And we watched that,
and it proves

that you were a no-show,
so tell us what's going on.

- I think he found out
about you and Eli,

and he went into the city.
- No.

[sobs softly]

- I was late.

I picked her up a ways
down the road.

- Okay.

- [sighs]

[sighs]

* *

- She's a good kid that
set a bad thing in motion.

And she's covering
for Jake out of guilt.

I don't know if we're gonna be
able to make her cave.

- These two are so sheltered,
they don't even realize

the magic of two-way glass.

[door clicks]

- Are you okay?

- Um, I'm so sorry
about all of this.

We messed up.

I apologize,
but these things happen.

We know that you two
weren't involved,

and you'll be free to go
in a moment,

so just sit tight.

Oh, um, you know
Marcus Wright, correct?

- Yes, I've been helping him.
Why?

- Unfortunately,
he followed Eli home

on Thursday and killed him.
- Marcus?

That's not possible.
He's reformed.

- Evidence is evidence.

We're launching a manhunt
as I speak.

I just-I hope
he doesn't resist because,

you know, things get messy
when they resist.

- We can't let them
arrest Marcus.

- Martha, Martha, sit. Sit.

Hey, we'll find
some way to help him.

Let's pray for guidance.

- But you know
he didn't do this.

- Martha.
- You weren't at the bus stop.

Jacob, how could you?
- I found your phone.

You betrayed me,
defied our church.

And so, yes, I went to see him.

I told him to leave you alone.

But Eli said that
you two were in love...

- No, no.

- And that you were gonna
leave me and leave the church.

I told him
that wasn't possible,

but he said that
you'd been scared,

but you'd finally decided
and made preparations,

and I, uh...

* *

[sighs]
I lost my mind.

I raised my hand against him.

- [crying]

[door clicks]

- Jacob Albrecht, on your feet.
- What are you doing?

- Get up.

- Whoa, whoa, whoa.

- You're under arrest
for the murder of Eli Freeman.

- Was it true?
Were you in love with him?

- [exhales sharply]
No, it-

- Come on. Move.

- [sobs]

.

- Calling docket
ending in 1638,

People v. Jacob Albrecht.

Charge is murder
in the second degree.

- How does the defendant plead?
- Not guilty, Your Honor.

- Your thoughts on bail,
Ms. Maroun?

- The people seek remand.

The defendant bashed in
the skull of a man

having an affair
with his fianc�e.

The defendant lives
outside of New York City,

but went to great lengths
to track the victim down,

then kill him.

Police have
a recorded admission.

They also found boots
in his home

that had glass fragments
from the crime scene

stuck to the soles.

- Your Honor, my client lives
in a small,

conservative,
religious community upstate.

He has no access
to computers or telephones

to make travel arrangements.

He is the furthest thing
from a flight risk.

- Bail is set at 500,000.

[gavel bangs]

- Ms. Maroun,
we're Eli's parents.

Is it true Jacob confessed?

You're sure?

- Well, we have it on video.

- I can't believe that he-

we don't hurt other people.
That's not who we are.

- We lost Eli years ago,
but at least we knew

he was living the life
that he wanted.

We never thought
that he would-

- How dare Jacob.
- Amelia.

- How dare he?
- Amelia, calm down.

- And to think I saw him
that night,

Jacob at the brush pile,
burning something.

- What time?
- Late.

I was asleep, but smelled smoke
and looked out.

- What was he burning?

- It looked like fabric,
clothing,

maybe a scarf, a jacket.

It was strange, but I had
no reason to think that-

did those things have
my son's blood on them?

- It's okay.
You-you didn't know.

You didn't know.

But you can tell the jury
what you saw.

You can hold Jacob accountable.

[tense music]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

We will do everything we can
to get justice for your son.

- Ms. Maroun, motion to
suppress the confession.

* *

- The defendant is a minister?

- An ordained minister
in the Baylor Church.

Yet police recorded
his protected

and privileged conversation
with his parishioner.

- This conversation took place
in a police interrogation room,

and the defendant was speaking
to her as her boyfriend.

- The conversation began with
a parishioner seeking counsel.

My client, her minister,
guided her in prayer,

at which point,
the conversation,

every side of it,
every word of it,

was off-limits to police.

In Mockaitas
versus Harcleroad-

- Now, that is a federal case.

It has no bearing
on this matter.

- Whether it does or doesn't,
I'm excluding the admission.

I don't want to impede
free communications

between those
seeking religious counsel.

End of story.

- Can we win
without the confession?

- [sighs]
It's not a slam dunk.

We're going after
a minister with a few pieces

of suggestive forensic evidence
to tie him to the crime scene.

- Do we have fingerprints?
- Nope. It was cold.

He was probably wearing gloves.

- Can we put him
near the victim's home

at the time of the murder?

- We're trying,
but like I said,

it was a cold night.

Everyone was wrapped up
in hats and scarves,

so we don't have
any obvious video of him

near the victim's building.

We do have trace evidence
on the defendant's shoes

that matches the glass shards

that were found
at the crime scene.

- And we also have records
of Martha's

late night calls to the victim.

Plus, police found her phone
in Jacob's house,

so we certainly have motive.

And a video
from the bus stop will prove

that the defendant
wasn't there to pick up Martha

on the night of the murder.

- Right,
and the victim's mother

will testify that she saw
the defendant

burning clothing
later that night.

- So our case is good,
not great?

We sure we wanna stick
with murder two?

- Well, Jacob Albrecht
killed an innocent man,

I mean, someone who gave up
everything to be free,

to live the life
that he wanted.

- I agree.
This is murder, Nick.

- Well,
the judge may have ruled

that the recording of the
confession is inadmissible,

but since Martha's
the parishioner,

she can still speak
to what Jacob told her.

Let's persuade her to testify.

Put the screws to her
if necessary.

- No, I don't want to do that.

- Well, he killed the man
that you loved, Martha.

- That's not true.
- What part?

- I love Jake, always have.

- Now, that may be true,
but he killed Eli.

Not only that, he admitted
to you that he killed Eli.

We need you to tell
the jury what he told you.

- I can't send the man
I love to prison.

He's all I have.
This community is all I have.

- It might be
all you have right now,

but it seems to me that
you wanted something else.

- If I testify
against my fianc�,

the pastor's son,
to get justice for a man

who turned his back
on this whole church,

I'd be shunned. And then what?

I can't drive.

I don't know
how to use a computer.

How do I support myself?
What happens to me?

- I know this is difficult,
but you know,

we can subpoena you.

We can force you
to take the stand.

- No, you all tricked me once
at the police station,

but I won't let that
happen again.

You won't get me to utter
another word on this matter.

- Mrs. Penner,
thank you for coming today.

Where do you live?

- The Baylor Church compound.

- Do you know the defendant,
Jacob Albrecht?

- Yes.

- Can you tell the court
the night of December 5th,

in the hours after your son
was killed, here in the city,

did you observe the defendant
at the church compound?

- Yes.
- Around what time?

- It was dark, past sunset.

- And what specifically
was he doing?

- Nothing specific
that I recall.

- Did you see him
burning anything?

[tense music]

* *

No.

* *

- [sighs]
Didn't-

didn't you tell
the district attorney's office

that you witnessed
the defendant burning items

that appeared to be clothing?

- Objection, argumentative.
- I'll allow.

Answer the question,
Mrs. Penner.

- I can't.

I won't.

I will not sit in judgment.

And neither should you.

* *

I will not participate
in this trial,

nor will anyone else
from our church.

And that is the whole truth,
so help me God.

* *

.

- So the victim's mother
was planning to help us?

She was on board?

- Yes, she volunteered
to tell the court

what she saw that night.

- And we went over it
all in prep-

I mean, not even
a hint of doubt.

- Which means
someone got to her.

Someone changed her mind.
Makes sense, I suppose.

These people are-
they live by their own rules,

their own customs.
They're circling the wagons.

They don't want
outsiders to sit

in judgment of their people.

And crazy as it sounds,
she's trying to protect Jacob,

regardless of the fact
that he killed her own son.

- That's not
circling the wagons.

That's obstruction of justice.

[knocking]
- Suzanne, hey. Sorry.

I'm running a few minutes
late for our lunch.

Nolan, Sam,
this is Suzanne Forrester,

head of Alternative Justice
in New York.

We're just wrapping up.

- Well, maybe they could stick
around for a few minutes.

I know you're trying to put
Jacob Albrecht behind bars,

but I have a better idea.

The Baylor Church
would like to initiate

a restorative justice circle.

- What exactly
are you talking about?

- No trial, no verdict.

This is a space for
collective conversation,

overseen by your office,
to focus on healing.

- Whose healing?

- Well, the victim's family
have no desire

to see Jacob go to jail.
- Estranged family.

- You want a trial?

You won't get a single member
from the community to testify.

Hell, 50 people from the church

just marched into Rikers
with cash and property deeds

to bail out Jacob.

This community
protects its own.

- Sounds more like
witness tampering.

- You can issue subpoenas
all day long.

Our threats don't hold
any weight with these people.

- If I may.

For over 100 years,
our church has forged

a separate way of life.

We trust our own way
to guide us

through this difficult time.

- This murder occurred
100 miles from your church

in my jurisdiction.

- Jacob is repentant,
and he's prepared to work

in our community
as part of that penance,

restoring homes,
assisting the infirm,

compensating
the victim's parents.

- Well, he is your son.
- We all have our roles.

And Jacob, Jacob is
our resident carpenter.

Losing him impacts all of us.

Why send him to prison
when he can still

do so much for our society?

- So what's actually
on the table?

- He'll plead to
criminally negligent homicide.

Probation, no jail time.

- While you're at it,
why not throw him a parade?

- He is a good young man
who lost his way

for five horrible minutes.

He has asked
for our forgiveness

and God's.

- That's all well and good,

but you don't get
to forgive the perpetrator

and give him a free pass.
That's not how this works.

This meeting is over.

- You're making a mistake.

God isn't just window dressing
for your courtrooms.

He is the court.

- We never talked about

restorative justice
for homicide,

and if you wanna bring
a test case

to let someone walk on murder,
it's not gonna be this.

- This was a way
for your office to save face,

Nick, not a ploy.

And given the evidence
at this point,

he's probably
gonna walk anyway.

- What you have to do
is get me a conviction.

- [sighs]
We're grasping at straws here.

The video from the bus stop
will show that Jacob

wasn't there to pick her up.

It's not gonna show
he was in Eli's apartment

committing murder.

The defense is gonna poke holes

in the trace evidence
on his boots.

[chuckles]

I'm not even sure we can
credibly establish motive.

- And the burner calls and
fingerprints in his apartment?

Defense is gonna chalk it up
to their work

on parole petitioners.

- We need something stronger
to at least show

that Jacob had a reason
to kill Eli Freeman.

- Wait, Nolan?

I'm looking at
the victim's call records.

It looks like a week
before the murder,

he called Hedgebrook Health.

That's a women's clinic.

[suspenseful music]

- Well, what was the date?

Let's see if he made
a payment for an appointment.

[sighs]
Hold on.

The same date he made the call,
there's a receipt

from a drugstore for...

* *

Prenatal vitamins.

* *

So we may finally have some
leverage with Martha Fairchild.

She is pregnant.

- The victim's baby?

- His Internet search history
suggests he thought

he was gonna become a father.

- This shows motive.
This is good news.

- [chuckles]
May I sit?

- Of course.
What's on your mind?

- Um...
[sighs]

To win this, we're gonna
have to play hardball

with a woman the victim loved.

We're gonna have to blow up
the life of a woman

who was carrying his baby.

We're already defying
the wishes of his parents,

so...
[sighs]

I'm starting to ask myself,

is manslaughter
such a horrible option?

- I thought you were all
about accountability, Nolan.

Are you going soft?

- I got a letter a month ago
from the mother

of a college kid that
I put away for seven years.

He had gotten into a bar fight,
punched a guy

who hit his head
on the floor and died.

- Those cases are tough.

- And the kid got stabbed
in prison.

He was trying
to break up a fight.

[pensive music]

Sometimes I wonder what
the right thing really is.

I mean, we just-
we just move on.

We get a conviction.
We jump into the next case.

But these defendants,
they're shuffled off

in handcuffs.

They're led into
a tiny concrete cell.

And I-I wonder, like,

what is going to happen
to Jacob

if we go through with this

and Martha.

* *

- The system's flawed.

But there are rules that
allow us to do our job fairly,

to operate with integrity
within a system

that is meant to dispense
equal justice to all.

- Do you really believe that?

- Most days.

- What about now?

What about with Eli Freeman?

Because if justice

is about outcomes,

who is to say whether
their version will be

any better or worse than ours?

- It is tempting to go there.

But he left that community,
became a lawyer.

He chose to practice
in our system,

in our church.

Let's honor that.

* *

- We'll talk to Martha.

* *

- Martha, we know you're
pregnant with Eli's baby.

It must be wonderful, scary.

- Jake and I got married.

He's gonna raise the baby
as his own, keep my secret.

- Well, we can keep
your secret, too,

if you finally tell the court
what Jacob did.

- And lose my husband?

Rob this child of
its last hope for a father?

No.

I know what prison
does to a man.

I won't send him there.

- We can subpoena you, Martha.

We can force you to testify.

- But you can't force me
to tell the truth.

- No, we can't.

But we can present evidence
in court

of the doctor's appointment
Eli made for you

and the prenatal vitamins
he bought.

Your family and friends
will learn the truth.

They will know that you are
pregnant with Eli's baby.

- What is wrong
with you people?

- I'm sorry.
- Go to hell!

[door slams]

- Martha told me
what you're doing.

I can't believe-
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Why are we here?
- We wanna talk about a plea.

- But you have to promise
to leave Martha alone.

They can't know
it's Eli's baby.

She's a good woman.

She didn't mean to sleep
with that man to get pregnant,

and I didn't plan to kill him.

- Sit down
and keep your mouth shut.

What my client means to say
is he's willing

to plead guilty to murder two.

- You realize that comes
with mandatory prison time?

- I'll do whatever it takes
to protect Martha.

She needs the church.

And that baby is gonna need
the church too.

[soft suspenseful music]

* *

[gavel bangs]

- Mr. Price,
I understand you've reached

an agreement on a plea.

- Yes, Your Honor.

The defendant has agreed
to plead guilty

to murder in the second degree.

The People recommend
a prison term of 15 years.

- Mr. Albrecht,
do you understand

the terms of this deal?

- I do, Your Honor.

I'm deeply ashamed...

* *

Of my actions.

I ask forgiveness

of all who were harmed
by my sin.

- Are you ready to take a plea?

- Yes.

Be strong, Martha, for me.

[handcuffs clicking]

For our child.

We're still gonna have
a great life together,

I promise you.

- I love you.

* *

- These people
definitely walk the walk.

- They sure do,
for better or worse.

* *

[dramatic music]

* *

[wolf howls]

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