All language subtitles for Law & Order (1990) - S05E10 - House Counsel (1080p AMZN WEB-DL x265 ImE)-10.eng

NARRATOR:
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.

Where did you find that trey,
in your Christmas stocking?

If I'm not mistaken, I hit
four tonight out of seven.

Would've been perfect if you'd have
kept your hands out of my face.

Hey, I didn't hear
any whistles blowing.

Yeah, well, the ref's too busy
watching girls' volleyball now.

You wanna get a pizza?

Oh, two overtimes?
My wife's gonna kill me.

I better let her know
I'm alive, huh?

Next week.
Yeah.

Dear? Hi.

Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, I know, I know.

Well, what do you feel like?

(GUN FIRING) Pizza's good.

What? Nothing. No.

Hey, look, I'll take a
taxicab home, okay?

Yeah. Bye.

MAN: Someone has been shot.
Call 911.

That's right, Dave Lempert.
I-E-M-P-E-R-T, I think.

(SIRENS WAILING) Are you sure
you didn't see anything?

No, I was inside, like I told the other guy.
We played some ball, I called my wife.

We played full-court
every week the last year.

Yeah? Did you know
his next of kin?

No, we never really talked about anything.
All I know is he lived by himself.

A numbers cruncher
for the Park Department.

I can't believe this.
He asked me to get a pizza.

Look, this is my card.

If you do remember anything
else, give me a buzz, okay?

Thank you.
And take it easy.

(WOMAN CHATTERING
ON POLICE RADIO)

Wallet's gone.

Three .22 shell casings next to the
body and three holes in the chest.

There's a time-tested method
of assuring eternal silence.

Detectives.

Deidre's got something for you.

There was this black car that
was double-parked over there.

Client of yours?
A Lincoln? Yeah, I wish.

I knocked on the tinted window,
and the jerk behind the wheel,

I mean, he wouldn't even
give me a roll down.

Obviously he didn't know
what he was missing.

Yeah, well, you got that right.

A couple of minutes later,
I'm crossing the street,

trying to close on a deal,
and I hear these three shots,

and I see some guy
jumping into the back seat.

Did you see his face?
No, I saw him from behind.

He was built regular, like a
thousand other guys I know,

but I got part of the plate.

It's New York, MPV 1.

Hey, good work, Deidre.

You know, I wouldn't be surprised
if you got a call from the Mayor.

Yeah, well, he's paying
like everybody else.

Get her a cup of coffee
or something.

Another statistic to add to the pile. I
don't know why anybody still lives here.

Hey, where else can you get
mugged by a guy in a $40,000 car?

I don't know,
three pops to the chest?

You want to grab a guy's wallet,
one would've done the job.

Maybe our guy got antsy.
Or maybe it wasn't random.

The hooker said the car
was parked outside the gym.

Maybe they waited for Lempert.

Nailed your vehicle.

Four-door black Town Car.
New York, 9PV 143.

Only Lincoln even close.
Registered to?

Dr. Harry Fine,
967 Park Avenue.

You're a little late,
Detectives.

My husband died about six
months ago of a heart attack

on the 16th hole.

Well, there's still a car
registered in your husband's name.

Well, I'm sorry. The DMV wasn't
one of my bigger priorities.

What's this all about, anyway?

Well, your car has been identified as
the getaway vehicle in a homicide.

Oh, there must be a mistake.

Harry was the only one
that ever drove that car.

Your husband died six months ago,
and no one's used that car since?

No.

I don't like to go out of town.

It's always easier
to hail a cab.

Listen, we park the car
in the garage in the basement.

Have a look if you like.

Mrs. Fine told us
she never drives it.

Well, the only time
she ever comes by

is the first of the month
to drop off the check.

This baby hasn't moved an
inch since the husband died.

The Harry Fine
Memorial Town Car.

Hey, check it out.

Looks like somebody helped
themselves to a fake ID.

That plate was there yesterday
when I washed it. I would've seen.

I'm gonna call CSU and have
them dust it for prints.

You got a phone here?
Yeah, telephone's over there.

Now, are these all monthlies?

Most. The rest are first come
and first serve.

Okay. You got receipts on them?
Tickets.

Yesterday maybe 20, 30.
They're in the office.

What'd you guys do? Simoniz the Lincoln
before you called us down here?

So, you're saying
you got nothing, right?

Exterior's clean
as a baby's bottom.

But your parking stubs,
on the other hand,

you got a Arnold Black, 65.

Twenty-seven
unpaid parking tickets.

Doesn't sound like
much of a shooter.

Behind door number two,
John Joseph Furini.

Last 10 years, up three times
on aggravated assault.

Twice for resisting arrest, once
for voluntary manslaughter.

So, what? Nothing stuck?

Seems to run in the family.

What, you got his whole
genealogy in there?

As a matter of fact, I do. Furini's a
soldier in the Dosso crime family.

Oh, wonderful. One of Vinny's
many little nephews.

(MACHINERY BEEPING)

I've been breaking my back
lugging ice

for my old man's business
since high school.

Finally, I treat myself
to a company car.

Business must be good,
you getting a Lincoln.

Well, a Caddy
was a couple of bucks less,

but you can't beat the Town
Car for sophistication.

You're a regular David Niven.

I'm supposed to know this guy?

How about David Lempert?
You know him?

You know, I never was too
good at Trivial Pursuit.

David Lempert
got killed last night

by somebody who jumped into a
black Town Car just like yours.

All of a sudden I got the
only Lincoln in New York?

Come on, let's cut the crap, huh, Johnny? The guy's dead.
Your car was at the scene.

Oh, you can prove that?

All right, then riddle me this,

what's a downtown guy
like yourself

doing in an East 78th Street parking
garage in the middle of the afternoon?

Mrs. Sanet on 79th Street?
She's having a bar mitzvah.

I drive in
to supervise the job.

Ain't no spots on the street,
so I pull into some lot.

What, you don't believe me?
Here, I'll give you her number.

Call her up.

Where'd you park this boat?
It's right over there.

Same plate as the front.

Well, Furini goes through the
trouble to switch the plates,

he's not gonna forget
to switch them back.

He didn't look like
an M.l.T. grad to me.

Hey, Mike, we don't have
a search warrant.

I'm just wondering if it's worth
our time to even get one.

You know what bothers me?

What would a mope like Furini

have against some bean counter
like Lempert in the first place?

Dave was a lifer.

Started here right out of grad
school before we got computers.

What exactly did he do?

Well, he worked on budgets, financial
projections, stuff like that.

Was he any good at it?

Detective, this is a city job.

You get the same cost-of-living
increase if you're good or bad.

Dave was competent.

Did he ever mention
a guy named John Furini?

Is he in accounting?
I doubt it.

So, tell me, what skeletons
did Dave have in his closet?

Actually, that's what we're here to ask you.
Did he gamble? Drink?

Nothing I know about.

Girlfriend?
No, his daughter Emily.

She's away
at some fancy school.

We didn't even know he was married.
He wasn't.

His wife divorced him
about three years ago.

Whoever did it
must be disappointed.

Excuse me?
Picked the wrong guy to mug.

David never carried
more than $10 in his wallet.

Hell, he never had
more than $10.

Well, you never get rich working for the city.
Believe me, I know.

Did he fall behind
in his payments?

He did his best.

That's very
understanding of you.

Look, we were married
for 21 years.

It was great for one, good for
two, maybe C+ for the rest.

A lot of fighting?

Wait a minute. Do you think...
No, I'm not thinking anything,

but I gotta ask.
I wish we fought.

At least then he might have
shown some passion.

David went to work.
He came home.

The only two things
he got excited about

were his weekly basketball
and our daughter Emily.

Every nickel he made
went into her education.

State college
wasn't good enough.

Private school. Wow, that's gotta
be about 20 grand per, huh?

If you don't plan
on eating anything.

Did he have any
outside sources of income?

Like I said,
every penny went to Em.

If he had anything else, she
wouldn't be driving an '83 Buick.

All her classmates drive BMWs.

Your husband...
My ex-husband.

Ex-husband. Did he ever
mention a John Furini?

But then again, we hadn't
talked in over a year.

Since Emily's
19th birthday party.

So, what's it all about,
Lennie?

Would you bust your butt
to buy your kid a Bimmer?

Nothing wrong with wanting
the best for your daughter.

Right.

I like those pair of
Converses you bought Julia.

Well, they're the best, right?

All I know is,
no German cars for my kid.

Your kid? What, Rollerblades?

We're talking Vette, baby.

Listen, Lempert needs
a few extra bucks.

You think
maybe Furini was his banker?

Yeah, at 50% interest.

Let's go see how Lempert lived.

Well, he certainly wasn't
stealing from the mob.

He's got 230 bucks
in his checking account.

Yeah, you work for the city for 20 years.
Makes you think.

Whoa, three gray suits.
A wild and crazy guy.

LOGAN: I don't think he spent money
on personal grooming, either.

Look at this.

He must have 20 bottles of shampoo
from the Arcady Hotel downtown.

So? I got a bathrobe
from Grossinger's.

A guy who steals shampoo?

He's gonna spend money on a hotel
that's a subway ride away?

(PHONE RINGING)

Sure, I remember him. Stayed with us a
little over three months last summer.

Yeah? Well, no offense, but this doesn't
exactly look like a vacation spot.

No offense taken.

And he wasn't on a vacation, Detective.
He was a guest of the state. Jury duty.

This is where
they sequestered him?

Twelve people. Three
months, three meals a day.

Great for business, and the
press didn't hurt, either.

Press, huh? Must've been
some big shot on trial.

They don't get much bigger.
Vincent Dosso, the godfather.

They tried him for knocking
off that labor guy, O'Malley.

Small world.

Lempert sits on Dosso's trial.

One of Dosso's henchmen is at the scene.
That's not just a coincidence.

The jury hung, Mike. There was no retrial.
Why would they wanna kill him?

I'm thinking
Lempert hung the jury.

The guy worked
at a city computer all day.

He's not the usual
target for a mob hit.

I still haven't heard a reason
for making him dead.

Lempert was bought off.
Maybe he wanted more.

Or maybe his existence
gave Dosso agita.

I say we talk to those
other jurors.

What are you gonna do, look up
"anonymous juror" in the yellow pages?

They weren't anonymous
to everybody.

Are you nuts? They'd can
me before breakfast.

The trial's been over for six months.
Who's it gonna hurt?

Judge Berman's got rules.

Hey, so does my Lieutenant.

That doesn't stop me from
taking a three-hour lunch break

every now and then.

(SIGHING) Come on, Gibbons.

We're all working stiffs. We're
all on the same side here.

I'll deny everything.
So will we.

One name, okay?

No TV, radio,
newspapers or magazines.

Wow, three months is a long time.
It must have been hell.

Tell me about it.

No phone calls unless a court
officer stood next to me.

We couldn't even leave
our rooms for ice.

Convicted felons
get more privileges.

Do you remember a Dave Lempert?

Remember him?

We would have been out of there
in a week if it wasn't for him.

Are you saying
he was the only holdout?

Eleven people tell me the sky is
blue, I start to believe them.

I tell you what.

"Reasonable doubt" are two words
I never wanna hear again.

You ever get the feeling his mind had
already been made up in advance?

If you're asking was he
bought off, I don't see how.

Court officers were
all over us like flies on...

I get your point.
My opinion?

Lempert was just
a pain in the ass.

Any time you get a defendant
up on a murder charge,

juror safety and/or potential
tampering become a major concern.

Well, was the danger more than
hypothetical in Dosso's case?

Well, we assumed this guy
was capable of anything,

so we cranked up
security to the max.

Had the guys on OT, the works.

We even brought in the FBI's
food taster on a consult.

Maybe your ship wasn't as
airtight as you thought.

I've been doing this 12 years, Detective.
I haven't lost a juror yet.

That you know about.

Let me ask you this. Did
anybody contact David Lempert?

Let's see. No visitors, no medical
requests, no special foods.

LOGAN: What about phone calls?

Every outgoing phone call
is monitored by one of my men.

Looks like he dialed a daughter
in Pennsylvania once a week.

BRISCOE:
What about incoming calls?

Lempert had three.
All from his wife, Priscilla.

Be back.

Now, didn't she say she hadn't
spoken to him in over a year?

Maybe she got
her dates mixed up.

You remember the last time
you spoke to your ex, Lennie?

July 17th, 1994, 2:35 p.m.

I gotta be honest with you,
Mrs. Lempert.

Nothing bothers me
more than being lied to.

I didn't lie.
I never called David.

Oh, so, now it's the court
officer's logbook that lied?

Three separate times?

If you're not honest with us,
Mrs. Lempert, we can't help you.

Please, Detective, I'm not naive.
You're not here to help me.

But we can arrest you
for obstructing justice.

Go ahead.

Think about it, Mrs. Lempert.

Every time you go out
to buy groceries,

every time you go down
to the corner to get a paper,

how safe are you gonna feel?

And you're going to protect me?
LOGAN: They killed your ex.

They know you know it.

Do you really think they're going
to send you a sympathy card

and forget about it?

And then they're gonna come after
anybody you might have told.

Like your daughter.

After the divorce,

money grew tight.

David was having trouble making
Emily's college payments.

We were talking about transferring
her from Swarthmore to SUNY.

And that was a big deal?
To David it was.

And then somebody came along
to solve all your problems.

He never told me his name.

I never asked.

He showed up here one night
when David was at the jury.

He knew everything about us.

And you didn't get
just a little bit suspicious?

I was scared.

All I had to do
was call David at the hotel

and then leave the apartment
while they spoke.

After the trial, David
paid Swarthmore in full.

I never asked where he got it.

Is that the mystery man?

All we've got is Jury Tampering
in the Second Degree.

A misdemeanor.

You'd think bribing a juror would carry a
little bit more than a slap on the wrist.

Well, you're assuming somebody up in
Albany actually thinks for a living.

Poor sap. He gets himself killed for
just trying to keep his kid in school.

He took money to throw a case.
He's no saint, Lennie.

Hey, he was being squeezed from all sides.
He thought he'd found a way out.

Well, maybe as part
of his sentence,

Furini will finish paying
the girl's tuition.

Pick him up.
What, on a misdemeanor?

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't
know you were too busy.

Look,
Furini's not going anywhere.

We take Lempert's wife's statement
to a judge, we could get a wiretap.

Maybe we could get him
on the murder.

Shortest distance
between two points?

Talk to OCCB.

They've been bugging Dosso's social
club ever since the mistrial.

MAN 1: You got the shirt?
MAN 2: Yeah, I got the shirt.

You sure you got the shirt?
Yeah, I got the shirt.

You got the bullets
for the shirt?

Not exactly brain surgeons.

Well, they're smart enough
to know you're eavesdropping.

You got anything with Furini?

Yeah, I taped this yesterday.

LOGAN: Yes, the Dandy Don.

Shows up every morning
at 8:00.

He and Furini have been
very tight since the trial.

You got any conversations between
them about a guy named Lempert?

We've got bugs
and phone taps on Dosso,

Furini and everybody else
they eat pasta with.

These are the ones
we transcribed already.

They're labeled by who was in
the room or who made the call.

And these are tapes
we haven't even gotten to yet.

Well, my boss will give you
a 49 for the dupes, okay?

DOSSO: Furini's a moron. We've
been picking his pocket since '85,

and the son of a bitch is dumb
enough to thank us for it.

Sounds like my family.

We're wasting our time. These
guys know OCCB's listening in.

They're not gonna
say anything useful.

Well, if the bad guys didn't
screw up every once in a while,

the jails would be empty.

Listen to this, from a phone
call between Dosso and Furini

the day after Lempert
was popped.

Furini, "Mr. Parks
is all taken care of, Vin."

"Bada-bing,
bada-bang, bada-boom."

Dosso, "Good job, John."

Mr. Parks? Well, Lempert worked
for the Parks Department.

It's gotta be, right?

Find the tape.
Pick them both up.

We're here to see
Vincent Dosso.

Mr. Dosso isn't taking
any visitors tonight.

He'll make an exception for us.

Vincent Dosso, John Furini,

you're under arrest for the
murder of David Lempert.

You have the right
to remain silent.

Anything you do say can and will be
used against you in a court of law.

You have the right
to an attorney.

If you cannot afford one,
one will be provided for you.

You have the right
to make one...

You know, Jack, we would have been
more comfortable in my office.

We would have been
more comfortable in Aruba.

But I'm sure neither one of us
could afford the time.

Looks more like you couldn't
afford the airfare.

I work for the government, Paul.
No one would have ever known.

See? That's why he graduated
number eight in the class.

But like they say, the A students
end up working for the C students.

Or in this case,
being humiliated by them.

We have your client
and Mr. Furini on tape.

Let me guess.
It's another A student?

Yeah, but you don't have to be
Law Review to add one and one.

FURINI: Mr. Parks
is all taken care of, Vin.

Bada-bing,
bada-bang, bada-boom.

DOSSO: Good job, John.

I think the meaning is obvious.

Sure, it is. They were
watching Miss America reruns.

Not to be condescending,
Jack, but you gotta know

your case is gonna go
the way of all flesh.

Why, because you're the lead
counsel for the defense?

Because that tape will never
be heard in the courtroom.

Motion to suppress.

I believe Mr. Murphy has a similar
motion on Mr. Furini's behalf.

See you in chambers.

Oh, I almost forgot.
Anna sends her love.

You're friends with him?

Great point guard. We beat the
med school three years running.

Did he pay off the ref?

He's the defense counsel,
Claire, not the defendant.

I just wanna make sure we're
all on the same page here.

This is America, right?

We do still have a constitution and
at least four amendments thereto?

The conversation in question was obtained
by OCCB through a valid warrant.

Yes, but valid against whom?

The warrant Mr. McCoy refers to was
for a tap on Mr. Furini's telephone.

Its specific intent was to
implicate Mr. Furini in a crime.

And if I'm not mistaken,
that's exactly what it's done.

Mr. Murphy will address
that shortly, Your Honor.

At the moment,
my concern is with Mr. Dosso.

Takes two to have
a telephone conversation.

And if you intend
to offer that conversation

as evidence against the party
of the second part,

his name should have been
included in the warrant.

That's absurd.

Let's pretend I have a warrant to
search your apartment for drugs.

I legally enter, only to
discover that Pablo Escobar

is about to sell you
a pound of cocaine.

You're saying I can't arrest him?
Of course not.

Because Mr. Escobar didn't have an
expectation of privacy in my apartment.

Exactly, and Mr. Dosso
didn't have an expectation

of anything
in Mr. Furini's telephone.

But he did in the telephone
used to call Mr. Furini.

The OCCB had a separate warrant
for Mr. Dosso's telephone.

KOPELL: His office phone.

My client placed the call in question
from a pay phone in Miami Beach.

He certainly had expectation
of privacy therein.

Your Honor, to admit this
evidence against my client

would sound the death knell for any
and all Fourth Amendment protection.

(LAUGHS)

That's very eloquent,
Mr. Kopell.

You can't possibly...
I wear the robes, Mr. McCoy.

I can do anything I like.

I like to keep the state out of
our bedrooms and our churches

and our telephones.

Your Honor, the warrant in this
case was issued specifically

to gather evidence relating to the
murder of a Mr. John O'Malley.

It's a totally unrelated crime.

The conversation at issue is far
beyond the scope of this warrant.

JACK: This is plain view,
Your Honor.

Harris v. U. S.

But, Judge... Mr. Murphy,
I may be open-minded,

but I'm not vacant.

Now, the tape is admissible
against Mr. Furini,

and it's inadmissible
against Mr. Dosso.

Still flinching when you get
near the boards, huh, Jack?

I've still got my outside shot.

How many times do I have to tell you,
you cannot win without an inside game.

I'll send my messenger
for the notice of dismissal.

Expectation of privacy.

He earned his $600 an hour.

He made a good argument
in front of the right judge.

This certainly isn't the work
of a C student.

Paul only got C's

because he spent more time around
a courtroom than a classroom.

Poverty Law Group,

Abused Women
Advocacy Coalition.

He's come a long way.

It's about the battle,
Claire, not the prize.

He blindsided a half-witted judge on
behalf of the head of a mob family.

You're acting like it was
some kind of noble cause.

It's part of the game.

Excuse me? Last I looked,
it was about justice.

That's merely a by-product.

Boy Scouts seek it,

effective prosecutors do their
best to avoid thinking about it.

And what do they think about?
Winning, period.

I'm sorry, I don't put in 15 hours a
day just so I can flex my muscles.

Well, you better start, Claire,

or you'll wind up talking
to yourself in elevators.

Now, Adam, we've got
the wiretap on Furini,

his fingerprints at the garage,
and an ID by Lempert's wife.

If we're lucky, he won't want to spend
the rest of his life in prison.

He gives us Dosso.
Man one with a recommendation.

(GATE BUZZING)

FURINI:
You're wasting your time.

JACK: You're not being loyal.
You're being stupid.

Look around.

This is as good
as it's gonna get.

Do you actually think Dosso
would return the loyalty?

JACK: Think about it,
Mr. Furini.

Dosso had one of the best
lawyers in the city,

and you had
Oliver Wendell Blockhead here.

Hey.

Dosso and Kopell
gave us a bone,

and it's you, sir.

MURPHY: That's enough.
We're done talking.

Fine, no more talking.
Let's just listen.

DOSSO: Furini's a moron. We've
been picking his pocket since '85,

and the son of a bitch is dumb
enough to thank us for it.

I ain't gonna testify
against Vin.

Maybe you could help us
without taking the stand.

I wouldn't advise that, John.
You.

What have you got?
It depends what you give.

John, if anybody finds out...
We're both dead.

Above the club, there's an apartment.
2G, I think.

Some old bag lives there.
Dosso uses it when she's out.

That should be enough for an
electronic surveillance warrant.

John's name
doesn't appear anywhere.

Congratulations, Mr. Furini.

You've just become
an anonymous informant.

What'd I miss?

A couple of bottles of Chianti
and the old lady's itinerary.

And another fabulous lunch,
I see.

Oh, we still have some fried rice left.
Thanks, anyway.

Hey, Logan,
you might want to hear this.

DOSSO: Hey, what can I tell you?
Pauly's the best.

You want a dismissal,
get yourself a Jew.

MAN: What about Lempert's wife?
She knows what I did to hubby.

He stays dead, she's no problem.
Send her some flowers or something.

Somebody cancel the
subscription to Sporting News.

(BOTH LAUGHING)

Hey, Vinny, you got that thing at 5:00.
Your car's downstairs.

Sounds good to me.

Pick him up
as soon as he hits the street.

(HORNS HONKING)

Sorry to ruin your plans.

Oh, don't you guys
ever get tired?

Of that face? Never.

Vincent Dosso, you're under arrest
for the murder of David Lempert.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You have the right
to remain silent.

Anything you say
can and will be used...

"Docket Number 545362."

"People v. Vincent Dosso."

"Charge is Murder
in the Second Degree."

How do you plead?

Not guilty, Your Honor.
JUDGE WELCH: Miss Kincaid?

Because of the nature
of the charges

and Mr. Dosso's connection to organized...
KOPELL: Plumbing.

Mr. Dosso is a small
businessman, Your Honor.

And I had a leaky faucet that I'm
still paying off two years later.

Bail is set at $500,000.

Second bite at a bad apple's
just as sour.

There are no constitutional
violations this time.

Maybe not,

but I'm sure you've heard
of attorney-client privilege.

See you in chambers.

MAN: We sent her
for a week to Atlantic City.

DOSSO: You make sure she's flush. KOPELL:
All taken care of, Vin. I did it myself.

That last voice, it's mine.

Because you say it is?

No, because Dr. Peter Frank
of M.l.T. says it is,

as he swears to in this affidavit, signed
following electronic voice analysis.

And as Mr. Dosso
is my longstanding client,

this entire conversation is privileged,
and therefore inadmissible.

The first voice
on that tape wasn't yours.

Privilege is broken
when a third party is present.

Unless the third party
is also a client.

The voice Ms. Kincaid refers
to is that of Al Gennaro,

who I have successfully represented
several times over the years.

The discussion of a criminal enterprise
is not privileged, Your Honor.

That's correct, if it's an
on-going or future enterprise.

Unfortunately, it appears the
defendant was discussing past crimes.

I'm going to have to
exclude the tape.

Make a motion, Mr. Kopell.

As there is no other evidence
against my client?

No?

I move for a dismissal.

I object, Your Honor.

So do I, but I have no choice.

Your friend plays the game
by a different set of rules.

He and I are not playing the
same game anymore, Claire.

Wait a minute, is that the sound
of an ego being deflated?

First day of law school.

"What's the cornerstone
of the adversarial process?"

I don't need
the Socratic attitude.

Just answer the question,
Claire.

Two independent counsel, arguing
points of fact and points of law

before an impartial judge and jury.
Right.

The operative word being
"independent."

Paul crossed the line.

He listened to Dosso brag
about his exploits.

He didn't do anything illegal.

You heard the tape.

Paul paid the old lady to leave town
so they could use her apartment.

So what?
There's no crime there, Jack.

He facilitated the operation
of a criminal enterprise.

Well, he does that every time
he steps into court for Dosso.

Referring to Lempert,
Dosso says,

"And somebody cancel the
subscription to Sporting News."

How do you suppose Dosso knew
Lempert's reading habits?

Maybe they had
cappuccino together.

A bribed juror? No way.

Dosso wouldn't have gotten
within a mile of him.

There were 12 people
on that jury, Claire.

If Dosso had picked one who happened
to have a sudden bout of honesty,

there would have been another
count on the indictment.

No, I suspect Dosso knew
exactly what he was doing

when he approached Lempert.

Lempert was desperate for the money.
He lived alone.

The juror questionnaires.

How much money do you make?
How much do you owe?

How many dependents
do you have?

What's your biggest
single expense?

Kopell framed questions

that would make it easier to pick the
juror most likely to take a bribe.

Even if you're right, the
questionnaires were anonymous.

Not to the county clerks,
they weren't.

I worked for Judge Berman
for eight years.

Nobody ever accused me
of any wrongdoing.

JACK: Well, we're accusing you, Mark.
Yeah? Well, I didn't do nothing.

You worked for the State. You took money.
That's receiving a bribe.

All those years in a courtroom,

you have to know
it's better to talk to us now.

We're on the same side, right?
Why are you doing this to me?

You wanna know why?

Because I bust my butt
to bring down scum like Dosso,

then some whore in a uniform
sandbags me for a couple of bucks.

If you took over $10,000,
it's a C felony.

That's three years in Attica.

He only gave me $5,000.

Who did, Mark?

Some gumba.
Said he worked for Dosso.

Twenty-five years ago,

Paul stayed up till 3:00
the night before an exam

to teach me the Rule
Against Perpetuities.

Smart has nothing
to do with honest.

What are you gonna do?

How does burning
at the stake sound?

Well, even if we could implicate Kopell,
it's only Bribery Three, an E felony.

No. It's an A felony.

Paul picked David Lempert's
name out of the pile.

It's the first step in the
conspiracy to commit murder.

You don't think Kopell actually knew
they were going to kill Lempert.

We wanna get Dosso, right?
Paul can give him to us.

Mrs. Kopell?
Yes?

Is your husband in?

We have people here.
This will only take a minute.

Can't this wait?
No, it can't.

Paul Kopell, you're under arrest for
conspiracy to murder David Lempert.

Drink up. You have the
right to remain silent.

Anything you say can and will be
used against you in a court of law.

Do you understand that?

You have the right
to an attorney.

If you cannot afford one, one will
be provided to you free of charge.

You son of a bitch.
Now, now, calm down.

You could have called, Jack.
You have my number.

I'm sorry.
It fell out of my Rolodex.

The police, Jack?
In our home, terrorizing us?

Yes. I wanted him to be scared.
He should be scared.

Well, it isn't working.

Although you did get to the women and
children, if that makes you happy.

Happy? That's right,
I'm thrilled to discover

that my friend of 25 years
is a felon.

Oh, give me a break!

Let's assume
Dosso bribed the clerk.

What does that have to do with me?
No, you give me a break, Paul.

We both know
you're smarter than that.

This is really getting your
juices going, isn't it, Jack?

Anna, if you can't let me proceed
here, you better step outside.

You know us.
You know our children.

You can put an end
to this right now, Paul.

Give me Dosso.

And get killed?
Anna, stop it!

Look, Jack, you can't
even carry my briefcase.

You never could.
I'll tell you what.

Tomorrow I'm gonna
get this crap dismissed,

and the next day I'm gonna hit
you with a civil suit so big

your great-grandchildren
will be answering motions.

Even if this nonsense about
jury questionnaires is true,

the state still cannot produce
any evidence whatsoever

that implicates me
in any way to the murder.

Basic conspiracy theory,
Your Honor.

The left hand doesn't have to know
what the right hand is doing,

so long as they share
a common criminal purpose.

The purpose in this case being to
rig the trial of Vincent Dosso

and destroy the evidence thereof,
I.e., murdering David Lempert.

Only there is no proof that Mr. Dosso
is connected in any way to said murder.

We have him
confessing to it on tape.

A tape which Judge Gance
declared inadmissible

because of
attorney-client privilege.

Your Honor, if you would read the order
labeled Exhibit Three to my brief?

I read it, Mr. Kopell.

Judge Gance's decision
seems clear, Mr. McCoy.

Nobody's trying to violate
privilege, Your Honor.

The state's position is

that due to Mr. Kopell's total immersion
in Vincent Dosso's criminal activities,

he stopped being an attorney and
became a de facto participant thereof.

That is ridiculous.

It's also very creative.

Mr. McCoy's
creativity notwithstanding,

it's well settled that the
privilege belongs to the client.

Mr. Dosso believed he was conversing
in the presence of his attorney.

That's all that matters. That's
correct as far as Mr. Dosso.

The privilege is intended
to promote free dialogue

between the client
and his legal representative.

It goes both ways.

Not if you weren't functioning as a
legal representative, it doesn't.

Same time,
same place next week,

I'll listen to evidence relating
to Mr. Kopell's true relationship

to Mr. Dosso's business.

(GAVEL BANGS)

So, what do we do,
look at Kopell's time sheets?

I doubt he listed, "Six
hours, criminal activities."

I don't need your sarcasm
right now, Claire.

(SIGHING)

Look, Jack, this whole thing
is getting out of hand.

Do you wanna put Dosso in prison?
Of course, I do.

Well, I'm fresh out of ideas.

This is the only way
I can see of doing it.

Déjà vu, no?
We've been through this.

No way I testify against Dosso.

I'm not asking you to,
Mr. Furini.

I wanna know about his lawyer.
You're kidding, right?

Are you sure
you don't want a lawyer?

Lawyers.

You cut my sentence.

Seven years.
Five.

Fine.

Like I said, you get
nothing from me on Dosso.

And another thing,

I get immunity for anything I might
say of a self-incriminating nature.

FURINI:
Kopell was always there.

He was in the room whenever
we talked about anything.

JACK: What kind of thing
did you talk about?

Things. You know, business.

What kind of business, sir?

Our deal stands, right?

A lot of times I talked about
how I was gonna pop someone.

Could you please
be more specific?

Like that mick,
the labor guy, O'Malley.

Mr. Kopell was in the room when you
decided to kill John O'Malley?

That's right. And Lloyd
Lipman and Tomaso Bucci.

Please limit your responses to the case
of the deceased juror, David Lempert.

Yeah, I offed him, too. That's
why I'm presently in the can.

And Mr. Kopell was in the room with you
when you decided to kill Mr. Lempert?

He was eating a cannoli.

Was anyone else in the room,
Mr. Furini?

Nice try, Counselor.
I don't recall.

Your Honor, this is ridiculous.

The man cut a deal
with the state.

He's obviously going to say
whatever they want to hear.

And look at his track record. Can
you really rely on his credibility?

It's your own credibility I'd
start worrying about, Mr. Kopell.

The witness has established
to my satisfaction

that you functioned in something
more than a legal capacity.

As such, the material in
question is not privileged.

My clerk will inform you
as to commencement of trial.

What is this,
Bernie's Bargain Basement?

Today's special, cop to four
murders, get only five years.

When I gave Furini immunity,
I had no idea.

No idea, because the blood was
rushing downstream from your head

and is settling somewhere
south of the border.

I'm trying to get Dosso, Adam.

You're no closer than you
were three months ago.

Paul will cut a deal.

And what if he doesn't?

If Paul knew I was here...

He doesn't actually intend
to go through with the trial?

You've known him for 25 years.
What do you think?

I think he's smart enough to realize...
Get off it, Jack.

What makes him such a good lawyer
isn't his brains or his talent.

It's that he refuses
to be intimidated by anyone.

You know
he'd never kill someone.

Furini implicated him.

Paul only listened to them,
for God's sake.

He helped them
to bribe a juror.

You can't prove that.

(SCOFFS)

Why am I wasting my breath?

I've been watching the two of you arm
wrestle for a quarter of a century.

This isn't personal, Anna.
Oh, no?

Think about it.

Would you have pushed this hard if
wasn't Paul at the other table?

Would you really have gone that extra mile
to beat some Joe Schmo defense attorney?

All right, maybe
Paul wanted to win too much.

But don't you see? You're
doing the same damn thing.

Win at all costs.
And you know what?

We're all gonna lose.

I told you, Jack,
I'm not gonna roll on Dosso.

He's a murderer He's my client.
I don't judge him.

You don't have to climb
into bed with him, either.

That's where you're wrong.

I gotta think like he thinks, do as he does.
I gotta become him.

It's the only way
I can go into a courtroom

and fight for him
with any passion at all.

It's what makes
this system work, Jack.

A criminal defense lawyer
who says to his client,

"I'll meet you,
but only during office hours.

"I'll talk with you, but I won't
have Christmas dinner at your house.

"I'll defend you,

"but I won't go to your grandson's
christening," is not doing his job.

He's giving
the prosecution an edge.

That's your only agenda?

The best interest of the client?
Hell, no.

I hang out with Dosso because I love it.
It elevates me.

I climbed Macho Mountain,
Jack, and it feels damn good.

Is it really worth
throwing your life away?

You're assuming you're going to
win this trial, Ms. Kincaid?

I'm offering you
a way out, Paul.

Maybe you should listen to him.
Don't you see?

He called this meeting.
It means his case is weak.

This isn't a game of chicken. Oh,
yes, it is, and you just blinked.

I'll see you at trial.

The People of the State
of New York v. Paul Kopell.

Twenty million people
versus one man.

Think of the enormity of it.

The full extent of the government's
resources and manpower against me.

And what heinous crime did I commit?
I defended my client.

Yes, I constantly hear
the snide remarks

about the shark getting his
client off on a technicality.

But hidden in those remarks is a
sigh of relief, a silent thank you.

You may hate me, but you
sleep better because of me.

You see, when a defense lawyer
steps into a courtroom

and does everything in his power to
poke holes in the prosecutor's case

and still fails,

the chance that an innocent
man will be convicted is nil.

We have an adversarial system.

I'm the adversary,

but you cannot punish me
for it. Thank you.

Defense attorneys
distort the facts.

They twist evidence.

They will not only go to
the mat for their clients,

they will take that mat and toss it
out the window as far as they can.

They are not bound
by the truth.

They are bound to obfuscate it if it
serves to get their clients acquitted.

And they should be commended for it,
and it is what makes the system work.

But when Paul Kopell picked David
Lempert's name off of a jury list,

he was no longer functioning
as an attorney.

He was part
of a criminal conspiracy.

He didn't fire the shots
into David Lempert's chest.

He fired them
into our justice system.

And he should go to prison.

JUDGE BONELLI: On the sole
count of the indictment,

Conspiracy to Commit Murder in the
Second Degree, how do you find?

We find the defendant,
Paul Kopell, guilty.

(GAVEL BANGS)

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

(ELEVATOR BELL DINGS) That sounded
like it was more than a game.

You better take
the next elevator.

I wouldn't be
very good company.