All language subtitles for The FBI s02e18 A Question of Guilt

Me, Lieutenant?

You. Get in.

Well, what's the problem?

You haven't got any reason to bust me.

Get in.

Why? I'm clean.

Sure you are.

That's why you're wearing long sleeves
when it's a hundred degrees in the

Look, Lieutenant.

Now, who's feeding you this stuff?
Where's it coming from?

What stuff?

I'm off it.

I kicked it.

You kicked it?

Absolutely.

I'm telling you the truth.

I learned my lesson.

All right, show me your arm.

I don't know where it's coming from. I'm
supposed to meet a couple of guys

tonight. What guys? Who?

I don't know.

They're going to phone.

Look at me.

As soon as they contact you, you call
me, understand?

I don't want to have to go looking for
you, Joe.

McKinney. Spooner.

Well?

I'll call. I'll call.

Hey, Joey.

Hiya, man.

What's the matter? Your feet hurt?

Taxi's too expensive? You got a ride
with the fuzz now?

Hey.

Hey, hey.

Didn't your mother ever tell you to
cover your mouth when you cough, junkie?

Huh?

What'd you tell Harris?

Did you tell him about us?

That's why he gave you a pass?

You make a deal?

I didn't tell him nothing.

Nothing?

Hey, picky boy, you hear that?

Lieutenant Harris gives this junkie a
pass for nothing.

Must be Christmas.

No, McKinney, it's too hot for
Christmas.

Maybe it's be kind to Junkie Week.

Please, I told him I was sick.

Hey, there's blood on my tie.

Ten bucks for a good tie. Look at this
mess.

He's dead.

You're kidding.

What do you want, a coroner's report?

Now what?

He... He was with Harith.

It's, uh, too bad. Harris killed him.

Okay.

The FBI.

A Quinn Martin Warner Brothers
production.

Starring Ephraim Zimbalist Jr.

Also starring Philip Abbott.

Stephen Brooks.

With guest stars Andrew Duggan.

Larry Gates.

Tonight's episode, A Question of Guilt.

Within 24 hours after the body of
narcotic addict Joseph Spooner was

Detective Lieutenant Frank Harris had
been positively identified by

as the last person to see Spooner alive.

A charge of police brutality was
immediately brought against Harris by

man's mother.

Harris was summoned before the Bureau of
Personnel.

If proven, the charge would be changed
to murder.

The department record will show that
Detective Lieutenant Harris, assigned to

the narcotics detail, appeared at
Central Headquarters Bureau of Personnel

July and was apprised of an allegation
filed against him and of his rights as

officer and a citizen.

Lieutenant Harris, it has been alleged
that on 12 July you inflicted severe

physical injuries on the person of
Joseph Spooner, injuries which

led to his death.

Certificate of examining physician at
County Morgue is attached.

Departmental OA report is attached.

A departmental board of inquiry will be
convened at 1 p .m. on 16 July to

determine the validity of that
allegation.

You have the right to be represented by
counsel, to subpoena witnesses in your

defense, and to question witnesses who
appear against you.

As of this date, you are suspended from
duty pending the verdict of the trial

board. Do you have any questions?

No, sir.

Do you have departmental identification
and badge number 1321?

Yes, sir.

Will you surrender them to me?

Oh, Art, come in.

You seen that?

Yeah. Where do you suppose that Barrett
is after?

Why don't you ask him?

He's right outside with Spooner's
mother.

They just flew in.

She filed a complaint with the local
SAC, and then they headed for my office

find out what Washington was going to do
about it.

Well, I told them I wanted them to meet
the man who'd be in charge of the

investigation.

Mrs. Spooner.

I'd like you to meet Inspector Lewis
Erskine.

This is Mrs. Olive Spooner. How do you
do?

And Mr.

Barrett.

Mr. Barrett, won't you sit down?

Go ahead. It's all right.

She's never been this far away from home
before. She's a little leery of

strangers.

Especially when they carry a badge, you
know.

Mrs. Spooner, I understand it was you
who brought a complaint against

Harris.

Yes.

Can you tell us why you think he beat
your son? I mean, did anyone see it?

He picked him up and took him to this
alley and hit

him. Yes, but did anyone see it?

He was a bad boy.

But why did they have to hurt him?

I don't see why they had to hurt him.

Could a secretary find some place for
her to lie down?

Yes, sir.

We'll get you a glass of water.

Come right this way, please.

Would you find a place for Mrs. Spooner
to lie down, please?

Thank you.

Amazing thing, love, isn't it?

Joe Spooner was an addict, a thief, a
cheat, a liar.

And she loved him.

He was alive.

And now he's dead.

And that's all that matters to her.

And I hope, Mr. Erskine, that's all that
matters to this Bureau, too.

What else could matter to it, Mr.
Barrett?

Well, now, I'm not sure.

The status quo?

Were you a friend of his?

He didn't have any friends.

I went to Mrs. Spooner with my
sympathies.

She wanted to know how Harris could be
stopped from killing somebody else's

I told her to file civil rights
violation charges with the FBI. I said

would see to it that Harris was
punished.

What if he's innocent?

He isn't.

Mr. Barrett, exactly what power of
insight qualifies you to act as judge,

prosecutor, and all the witnesses in
this particular case?

I've studied Harris, Mr. Erskine, and I
think he's sick.

I haven't found out what turned him into
a psychotic yet, but I will.

Now, if you've seen Harris's record, you
know that he's had four complaints of

brutality lodged against him.

All of them were investigated, and all
of them were dismissed by the

No foundation whatsoever.

All right. Those were minor.

But this time, a man has been murdered.

And Lieutenant Harris, with a fair to
poor record, was the last person to have

been seen with Spooner before Spooner
was found dead.

Now, if the law is going to turn its
back on that neighborhood again, then

people will give up hope. It's happening
all over the country, Inspector.

There's no reason it can't happen there.

Now, is one sick sadist worth all that
trouble? I think that has to be the

question, don't you?

No, I don't.

We're charged with determining whether
or not a federal law has been violated.

The question is, did Lieutenant Harris
beat Spooner to death?

And that is the only question.

You all do...

St. Joey the schnook.

How'd this benefit get started, anyway?

Hate?

Hey, Shaw.

Haven't you got ears?

That's love they're talking about.

It's hate for the lieutenant.

They're out to build a martyr.

They want to bury Harris, not Spooner.

He ought to be buried.

Next time the law won't lean so hard on
the poor citizen, right?

Who says the law leaned this time?

Eyewitnesses. And they didn't see it.
They seen Spooner get in a car with

Harris. That's all.

You're a hard man to convince.

Well, think about it.

Say you're Harris.

Are you going to pick up a junkie where
a hundred people can see it?

Take him to a public alley in broad
daylight and kill him?

I might.

You might.

Not Harris.

When some of these people calm down,
they're going to realize it.

I wonder if the old guy could have a
point.

I wonder if we ought to go someplace
warm like Mexico.

You move too fast, people notice.

People are going to start saying, why
did he do it?

You know why he did it?

Because he found out that Joey Spooner
started his sister on her first stick of

pot.

You didn't know that, huh?

I just don't have a sister.

Yeah, he has.

He did.

She was a junkie?

Yeah.

I heard she died in New York, 1945.

Forty -five.

Spooner couldn't have been more than
ten, eleven years old.

I mean, he couldn't have, uh... Genius,
would you quit it?

Who knows who started her?

Maybe Joey, huh?

Come on.

First we make a couple of calls.

Then we take a vacation.

Slow and easy.

Hey, it's good to see you. What's back
there?

SAC Blanchett, Jim Rhodes. How do you
do? Are we able to reach Harris?

Yes, and he's agreed to an interview.

I told him you'd be at his house within
the hour. Good.

I'd like to see pictures of the body.

They're at the office.

What was the medical report?

He was high.

How much money was he carrying?

Not a penny.

No wallet, rings, watch, nothing.

That wouldn't be unusual for an addict.

No, he'd sell everything for a fix.

Did he own a watch?

Yes, he did, and apparently he was
wearing it the day he was killed.

The coroner reported a mark of an
expansion band on his left wrist.

We checked the pawn shops he usually
dealt with, but no watch of any kind

up that day.

You know, we may have a simple case of
robbery on our hands.

Or we may have a detective lieutenant
smart enough to make it look like a

case of robbery.

No corroborating witness yet for Harris'
story, huh?

Several people saw Spooner get into the
car with Harris, but no one saw him get

out. Or if they did, they're not going
to help Harris by saying so.

He's not exactly the most popular man in
the world, is he?

That's part of the problem. Harris
himself.

He's not going to win any prizes for
attack, but he's not down there to make

people love him. He's down there to get
the pushers.

What's his record?

Eighty percent conviction on his
arrests.

The syndicate moved out of the
neighborhood because Harris is more

them than the area's worth.

The small fry still drift in, but Harris
cuts him down as soon as he finds him.

He's filled up a lot of cells.

Heaven help him if he's ever sent up
himself.

A lot of boys up there waiting to say
hello.

What's the problem?

Don't tell me. I think I already know.

I checked it out, and Harris never had a
sister, right?

No, he had a sister.

Has a sister.

He told me she was dead.

She had a 50 -buck -a -day habit.

Kicked it in 45, private sanitary.

Harris said that it killed her.

But Bond talked to a guy who was up
there.

He said the girl was released.

She changed her name, got married.

She lives in Buffalo.

Well, well, our lieutenant lied.

It doesn't matter why.

It matters that he did.

I think we better do something about it,
don't you?

Barrett. Ah, yes, Barrett. I figured
he'd be involved in this business up to

neck. So he flew all the way to
Washington to talk to you, huh?

Why is he so interested in this case,
Lieutenant? Do you have any idea?

He's a crusader.

I'm his crusade.

All right, let's get back to the
beginning.

What did you question Joe Spooner about?

We've been running into some high -grade
pot lately, new stuff. That means

heroin's here, or on its way.

I wanted to find out who the
distributors were. I figured Spooner

He said a couple of the boys were going
to contact him later that evening.

Promised to phone me.

And you let him out on Costello Avenue
near Taft? That's right.

What do you think happened to him,
Lieutenant?

I think somebody saw him with me. I
think he was killed to keep him quiet.

I notice you transferred to the
narcotics detail as soon as you were

and that you've been there ever since.

Why are you so interested in this
particular division?

My sister was an addict.

It's my sister B, Beatrice.

Send the record if you want spellings,
dates.

I don't talk about it, but the
department knows.

Where is she now?

She's dead.

I'm sorry.

It was 20 years ago. It's all over with.

Well, there's no connection between
Spooner and her.

No connection.

Was he wearing a watch the last time you
saw him?

Yes, gold expansion band calendar watch.

I was hoping you'd have found that by
now.

Not yet.

Find the watch, you might find the
murderer.

Take it, querido, please.

Come on, I bought it for you.

Look, Chula, what's the matter with you?
Crazy or something?

I told you a thousand times I don't want
it.

Hey, it's an engagement present.

There's no engagement.

I don't like this place.

I'm going home.

No.

I'm going home.

I leave tomorrow.

There's nothing in San Juan.

Quit hanging on to me like some dumb
piece of flypaper, huh?

Okay.

Okay.

I think I'll be in Puerto Rico when I
look at the watch.

minute you're saying spooner was trying
to blackmail harris i'm telling you that

joey found out that harris's sister
lived in buffalo he warned harris to

leaning on him or he'd tell her husband
that she was a junkie harris went crazy

and killed him who is this check it out
yourself mrs beatrice

jensen 432 lincoln buffalo new york

Yes. I'd like the number of a family
named Jensen, 432 Lincoln Street,

Buffalo, New York.

Of course, I tried to contact Harris
before we printed the story.

He hung up on me when I told him who I
was. So you printed it. Inspector, we're

not dealing with a baker or a priest or
a shoe salesman here. We're dealing with

a policeman.

And I happen to believe that any man who
has the legal right to carry a gun, the

legal right to stop a citizen and
question him had better be above

Harris never denied his sister was an
addict. It's a matter of public record.

was taken into account by his superiors
when he was assigned to this detail.

He lied, Inspector. That is a fact.

His sister's not dead. She's living.

He lied, and his lie laid him open to
blackmail.

Now, do you think that's an act of a
responsible policeman?

The way to measure responsibility, Mr.
Harris, is to measure the way a man

reacts to a crisis.

And you don't know how Harris reacted.
You don't even know if there was a

crisis. That's what we're trying to find
out.

Inspector, responsibility is...
Responsibility means a great deal to

doesn't it?

You bet your life it does. And you call
this responsible?

Every other newspaper man in this town
is doing his best to be fair, to keep

everyone calm.

A policeman has no... A policeman's job
is to keep the peace, Mr. Barrett.

And he risks his neck doing it.

And if he oversteps his bounds, he's
punished for it. Far more severely than

you'd ever be under the circumstances.

Can you imagine what would happen to a
policeman who publicly sanctioned a

Well, that's what you're doing.

Have you any idea what's going on in
Spooner's neighborhood?

We get the police calls.

You've got a press card.

How would you like to see it for
yourself?

And remember, Barrett, this isn't a riot
yet.

Any more than a flame is a forest fire.

Still controllable.

It'll simmer like this all night.

Is that a Paris?

Nope.

His car is gone and they burned a
swastika in his lawn.

It would have been a lot easier if I
knew where he was.

Frank?

Hello, sweetheart.

I saw the light in the kitchen, so I...

Come in.

I didn't scare you, did I?

Oh, no.

Well, yes.

As a matter of fact, I didn't know who
it was at first.

21 years.

Is that right?

Come. Come and have some dinner.

No, I've had my dinner. Let me get you
some coffee. Hey, that would be great.

Good. How have you been, Dee? Oh,
wonderful.

I'm married. Two kids.

Yeah.

Paul just took him to the movies.

I saw him go. I've been sitting in the
car.

Oh, cream or sugar?

No, no, just... Frank, how'd you ever
find me?

Oh, it isn't that I didn't want you to.

Oh, you just don't know how often I've
thought of looking you up, calling you.

Well, I've always known where you were.

You weren't so hard to trace.

But I figured if you wanted to start
all, well, you know,

new name, new everything, you had a
right to.

Frankie, it wasn't you I wanted to get
away from.

It was everything else.

Oh, Frank, it's so good to see you.

Listen, how long can you stay?

I mean, we've got all the room in the
world here.

Bea, you got a phone call from a man by
the name of Tom Barrett, a newspaper

man.

Well, there was a call, yeah, but I
wasn't home. My little girl took it.

She thought it was about a newspaper
subscription.

She said he asked her a lot of
questions, but she couldn't remember

were.

Well, this man, Barrett, is a columnist.

And he's printed a story saying that...
that you are alive, that your name is

Jensen, that you were an addict.

He's after me.

He thinks the story will help prove that
I killed a man to protect my sister's

right of privacy.

Frankie. Oh, no.

No, he's wrong.

I didn't do it.

Be what will Paul say.

Well, he'll say...

Honey, I wish you had told me, but it's
all right.

Don't worry about it. I understand.

I'm glad you finally can have a chance
to meet him.

He's a nice guy.

I love him.

I trust him.

What about the kids?

Well, there might be a little more
trouble there.

Well, just tippy -toe up to it.

Try not to shock him.

Boy, you really killed me.

What? I thought by now you'd be yelling
and screaming.

You're a big girl now, aren't you?

About time.

You better be getting back.

But you just got here. It's a long
drive.

Listen.

Everything's going to be all right,
Frank.

And look at the good part of it.

We got back together.

Don't you worry.

Don't worry.

You remember that slogan? They had you
embroidered at the sanitarium. God helps

him who helps himself.

Because it's a pure enough fact, nobody
else was going to do it for you.

Thank you.

Frankie, come back.

I gotta wash this out.

I'm cold.

Come on.

Give me a break. Look.

It's a beaut. You know what a thing like
this is worth?

Let me see.

Solid gold.

Look at the band.

It's almost new.

What do you give me?

What do you want?

Fifty?

It's worth five.

Gold -plated.

Listen, the KBL clerk says I'm short ten
dollars of an airplane ticket.

Give me ten dollars.

I gotta get out of here.

Where are you going?

Home.

Dollars!

I'll need your name, address.

Page, can you let me have a magnifying
glass and an envelope?

Yeah.

I tried to stall him, but he was gone
before I could turn around.

You never seen this boy before, Mr.
Schultz?

No, no.

Oh, he had an accent.

Mexican, Puerto Rican.

Black hair?

Yeah.

What color spoon is here?

Brown.

Okay, thank you very much.

The only KBO flight this evening was an
all -coach jet to Puerto Rico. It took

off ten minutes ago.

All right, alert the SAC San Juan.

Give them a description of the boy and
tell them we'll try to have a name for

him by the time the plane lands.

Yes, sir.

I'll take this to the lab as soon as
possible.

Thanks for your cooperation, Mr. Shaw.

Who needs thanks?

It's a matter of common sense.

If Harris is being railroaded, I want to
help him.

Is he a friend of yours?

Personal friend?

No.

But how long do you think a man in my
business would last without officers

Harris around?

Now, I don't believe he laid a hand on
Spooner. Oh, he's tough.

Yeah, but he's fair.

If he's innocent, I hope you can prove
it.

I hope he gets back on the street soon.

I got a long way to walk home tonight.

Thank you.

Quieter. What are they waiting for?

The funeral.

Funeral.

Emotion.

Speeches. The newspaper articles.

We're cooling it, Blanchard, until the
board of inquiry meets.

Good. I still think they'll find him
guilty, recommend prosecution.

But we'll play the story down as long as
we can.

Unless he kills somebody else in the
meantime.

Well, he hasn't called in yet. I don't
know whether he'll be down this morning

or not. All right, if I wait?

Well, uh... I'll wait if you don't mind.

Suit yourself, buddy.

All right, keep on it. I don't know how
much time we've got left.

San Juan Field Office.

That old boy will admit that his name's
Daniel Garza.

He never owned a watch. He never pawned
a watch. He wouldn't know what to do

with a watch if he had one.

Oh, he's in a panic.

Probably won't say anything now that we
confronted him to show him. What do you

hear from downtown?

So far, it's quiet. The police don't
expect anything until after dark. Then

could go either way.

By the way, I talked to Garza's
landlady. She said he hasn't worked in

months. A gal named Estella Lopez paid
his rent.

Apparently, she was the only friend he
had. He spent most of his time brooding

about how he could get back to San Juan.

a thief, Officer Eskin.

Hello, this is Arthur.

The lab has a report for you.

Yes, Art.

The hair was from a brunette Caucasian.

Got any help?

Hold on a minute.

Do you have a description on the Lopez
girl?

A Caucasian 19 brunette.

Well, thank you very much. It could
help. I'll get back to you.

What's her address?

It's a hamburger joint on 4th, Joe's
Cafe.

Daniel who?

Garza.

Garza.

I don't know him.

His landlady knows you, Miss Lopez.

She told us you paid his rent regularly
while he was in this country.

No. He's in serious trouble.

He pawned a stolen watch.

He didn't happen to tell you where he
got it, did he?

I don't know any Danny Garza.

Miss Lopez, did you ever see the watch?
Did you ever wear it? No.

Never wore it?

No.

o 'clock Tuesday morning?

Right here.

Right here?

Yes.

Was the cook here?

Yes.

Ask him to verify.

Now, wait a minute.

Oh,

I remember. Tuesday?

It was my day off.

And where were you at 11 in the morning?

Well, I'm afraid you'll have to come
down to the office with us, Miss Lopez.

You can phone a lawyer and ask him to
meet you there.

I didn't kill him.

I took the watch, but he was already
dead.

They beat him.

I was hiding. I was afraid that they'd
kill me, too.

Who beat him?

Well, these two that come in here
sometimes.

What are their names?

Like Rick and McKinney.

Well, they live up on Davis Street.

This girl I know, she said they left
this morning.

She'd know where they are.

Hey, slow down, will you?

I don't want to get picked up with all
that dream stuff in the back.

We're clear now. Let's keep it that way.

A report just came in, Mr. Barrett, that
might interest you.

Yeah? We've got an eyewitness to the
Spooner killing.

She's named two narcotics pushers.

The suspects are being sought in
Pennsylvania now under the Fleeing Felon

Which way are you headed?

Back to the office.

Can you drop me by the paper?

Yeah, hop in.

Passengers answering suspect's
description.

Reported on Pennsylvania 103, six miles
southwest of Landville.

Unit A to Chase Central. Establish
roadblocks on 103, two miles north of

Torrance.

Also on side roads 7 and 40, north and
east of Carverton.

Well, Lieutenant Harris.

I've been wondering if anything happened
to you, Barrett. I've been waiting

quite a while to see you.

I've been out covering a story.

The riots?

The potential riots?

Yeah.

What do you want?

Why did you print that story about my
sister?

I printed the fact that your sister is
living.

I thought the further fact that you lied
and that may have laid you open to

blackmail. It seemed possible to me that
you could have killed Spooner in a fit

of rage.

Do you have any idea what this is going
to do to my sister, her family, her

husband, her kids?

I don't know. Do you care?

I cared more about Joe Spooner's civil
rights.

I

cared

about his civil rights, too. That's why
I never have touched him.

No matter what the provocation.

Barrett, I'll tell you the truth.

It's been in the back of my mind I've
often wondered what would happen if I

mad enough at Joe Spooner or Tom
Barrett.

Well, it doesn't matter much, one way or
the other, what you think about me.

I know myself now.

That's all that's really important.

McKinney?

What do we do, stop?

There's no reason they should be looking
for us.

I suppose somebody tipped them off about
the heroin.

Go.

Crowd them off.

your guns and come out with your hands
up.

Hello? Barrett, Inspector Erskine.

Oh, yes, Inspector.

Did Blanchard get in touch with you?

Yes, he said you'd found some new
suspects.

We've captured them. I thought you'd
like to know.

That's good news. Thank you.

Lieutenant Harris will be notified as
soon as possible.

He's right here.

In your office?

Yes, we've been having quite a talk
about, well, responsibility and crisis.

Well, in that case, maybe you'd like to
tell him yourself.

Yes, sir. I'd be glad to.

I'd be very glad to.

Thank you again.

With the apprehension of the killers of
Joseph Spooner, the charges against

Lieutenant Harris were dismissed and the
rioting in his precinct stopped.

Victor Hild and Lloyd McKinney were
tried and found guilty and were

life imprisonment.