All language subtitles for Law.and.Order.True.Crime.S01E08.WEBRip.x264-RARBG

.

[dramatic music]

*

- Have you come to a decision?

- We went over
all the evidence,

but we just couldn't
reach a consensus.

- We're at a complete deadlock.

- Then I have no choice
but to declare a mistrial.

- The public
is losing faith in us.

I'm taking you off the case.

David will handle the retrial.

- Leslie,
I can't do another trial.

My daughter has changed
so much in the last four years,

and I feel like
I've missed it all.

- I have three calls tonight.

- Right. I'll connect you.

- Thanks, Norma.

- Your Honor,
our motion to exclude testimony

about the Menendez family
history is before you.

- Your motion is granted.

- You can't do that.

My defense is built
on imminent fear.

- We're adjourned.

*

- Mmm.
[mimicking eating]

[gasp]

[slurping]
Good boy.

Mommy loves you so much.

Boy, the grosser it looks,
the more he loves it.

- Man after my own heart.

- Tonight, a call that...

- Oh wait, turn that up.

- May turn Menendez
into a convicted murderer.

Martha Shelton
of Falls Church, Virginia

has been Lyle Menendez's
phone pal for the last year.

Shelton recorded those calls,

and what she claims
is on those tapes

could send Lyle Menendez
to the death chamber.

- Lyle told me that we had
half the jury snowed,

and now we just have
to snow the other half.

- Oh, I don't believe this.

- He called his brother,
Erik, a weakling,

who only shot up a bookcase.

- Do you know this woman?
- I know of her.

She raised money
for Lyle's defense.

- By the authorities.

The jury never
would've come back hung.

Lyle, I hope you
get what you deserve.

- I never said any of that.

Maybe I said we showed
half the jury, but that's all.

- This woman says
she has tapes.

- Lyle, if there is any chance
that you told her something

that could hurt you or Erik,
you must tell us now.

- She's just mad because
I didn't send money

for her to come visit me.

[door clicks]

- Martha Shelton?

I'm Steven Calos from
the city prosecutor's office.

These gentlemen are from
Los Angeles and they have

a search warrant for some tape
recordings of Lyle Menendez.

- They found three tapes
in the storage bin.

My source says they contain
calls between Martha and Lyle,

and with you.

- Oh, that sneaky little mouse.

- Well,
that little mouse has a record.

She served time at
the Virginia State Penitentiary

for check fraud.

- Mr. Conn refuses to supply us

any discovery
about Ms. Shelton.

Not even a transcript
of the tapes they seized.

- He's even being cute
about whether he plans

to call Ms. Shelton
as a witness.

Mr. Conn, cards on the table.

Is she going
to be a witness or not?

- Ms. Abramson, you will
address your comments to me.

Mr. Conn,
is the prosecution planning

on calling Ms. Shelton
as a witness?

- At this point,
no, Your Honor,

but this is an ongoing
investigation.

- See? Right there.
He's being cute.

If he admits he plans
on calling this fraud artist

as a witness, he needs to let
us hear what's on those tapes.

- Your Honor, there's law,

and then there's
Ms. Abramson's rhetoric.

Council for the defense
labels everyone a witness.

- Your Honor, perhaps you
should review the tapes

and tell us what's on them.

- Mr. Conn, I order you to turn
over the tapes for my review.

We're adjourned.

[indistinct chatter]

- The tapes are a bust.

There's nothing relevant
on them, just gossip.

Nothing about snowing
half the jury.

Martha's been blowing smoke.

- Maybe she's
holding out on us.

You're getting back on a plane
with an arrest warrant.

That'll smart her up.

- The police arrested me
for obstructing their case.

They wanted me to pull
something out of the air

that'll help them--well, I'm
sorry, I don't have anything.

The thing about
"snow the jury"--

Lyle was just joking around.

You know, when Lyle's
not murdering people,

he's a pretty likeable guy.

- So ends her 15 minutes.

- Well, there's plenty more
where she came from.

Lyle and Erik have dozens
of pen pals and phone pals.

Any one of them could
blow up in our face.

I don't want
any more surprises.

- I don't remember
everyone I talk to.

Mostly it was one call

to thank them for thinking
of me and Erik.

- And the ones
you talk to regularly?

- Norma Novelli
has their numbers.

She's my switchboard.

I call her and she places
the long distance calls.

There's only one person
I'm serious with.

Anna.

- Who is Anna?

- Anna Eriksson.

We're engaged.
It's a secret.

We're gonna get married
no matter what happens.

- Well, congratulations.

- I warned Lyle about Martha.

She's just common trash,

looking for a little glitter
in her tawdry life.

- You ever listen in
on his calls?

- No.

Wouldn't be a trustworthy
person if I did.

But sometimes the girls call me
to put them in touch with Lyle.

I screen out
the troublesome ones.

- Keeper of the gate.
Thank you.

- I've two things in my life--

my newsletter
for the inmates and Lyle.

We talk every day.

I'm the only person that's
not family who visits him.

You find out who your friends
are when you're in jail.

- You can say that again.

Well,
I see some overseas calls here.

- Yeah, Sweden.

That's a girl
he talks to a lot--Anna.

She sometimes visits
family in Stockholm.

- Right.
Anna Eriksson, his fiancée.

- His fiancée?

- Yeah.

- Oh, right.
Yeah.

She's a model.
Very pretty.

[dishes clanking]

Just, uh...

see about getting you some,
uh, cookies.

- Anyone ever tell you
you have a big mouth?

- Ms. Novelli befriended
Lyle Menendez four years ago.

For the last two
and a half years,

she's recorded
her calls with him.

These tapes contain
explosive new information

about the guilt
of Lyle and Erik Menendez,

statements we feel the jury

in the upcoming trial
should listen to.

Let me give you
a small example

of what's on these tapes.

This is from a tape recorded
during the first trial.

Lyle says to Ms. Novelli...

"Norma,
buy me a yellow sweater.

Ever see a violent man
wearing a yellow sweater?"

- What other gems
might be on those tapes?

- I don't know.
It's three years.

I didn't know
she was taping me.

She has always
been in my corner.

- Did you ever give her
a reason to think

that you might have
a romantic interest in her?

- No, why?

- I let it slip that
you were engaged to Anna.

- Oh, God.
- I'm sorry.

- Is this bad?

*

.

- What do you mean, nothing?

How can there be nothing
on two and half years of tapes?

- It's just Lyle mouthing off.

There's no evidence relating
to the murders or the motive.

Tapes are useless.
- [sighs]

Maybe not.

Abramson doesn't know
what's on those tapes.

Maybe we can bluff her.

- Into doing what?

- Into keeping
Lyle off the stand.

Think about it.

Didn't Novelli say she wanted

to publish
those tapes as a book?

- If she could find
a publisher, why?

- Thanks to Court TV,
they're celebrities.

Well, it makes them targets
for all these lonely women.

- Poor little boys preyed upon
by rapacious women.

- Their abuse
derailed their development.

They don't have a baseline

for making good judgments
about people.

- They did pick you
to be their lawyer,

so their judgment
can't be that bad.

- Well,
let's not count our chickens.

- Good evening.

More Menendez mania today
as Dove Books announced

it will publish
the explosive transcripts

of Norma Novelli's
phone conversations

with Lyle Menendez.

The book promises
sensational revelations

about the Menendez murders.

In other news...

- Everybody's cashing in.
Gotta love this country.

- Well, I gotta wonder

just how explosive
those transcripts are.

Your buddies in publishing,

can they find out
about this book deal?

- Specifically what?

- How much Dove
paid Norma Novelli?

- The book was Lyle's idea.

To show the other side of him.

I asked him permission
to tape our calls.

He said yes, but he didn't
want his lawyers to find out.

I understood why when I heard
some of the things he said.

I found them very distressing.

- Thank you, Ms. Novelli.

- So, you and Lyle were gonna
write this book together.

Is that right?
- Yes.

Lyle said when we do our book,

I'd like to go on tour with it.

- Oh, that's nice.

So, you and Lyle have some
kind of a written contract?

- No, not in writing.
It was a verbal agreement.

- So, you have it on tape?

- No.

- Hours and hours
and hours of recordings,

and Lyle never said
he agreed to be taped?

- No, I-I don't think so.

- We've heard Mr. Conn
refer to your recordings

as explosive, and you've
called them distressing.

How much is Dove Books
paying you

to publish this explosive,
distressing book?

- $12,500.

- That's it?

Well, now that's distressing.

No more questions.

- You may step down,
Ms. Novelli.

- Your Honor,
Ms. Novelli's recordings

are a clear violation
of California law

requiring the consent
of both parties being taped.

- I don't agree.

As an inmate in
a correctional institute,

Mr. Menendez had
no expectation of privacy

in his communications.

I'm going to admit
the tapes into evidence.

- Without knowing
what's on them?

I am willing to bet
that Dove Books

would've paid a whole lot more
than a measly 12,000 bucks

if those tapes contained
any explosive evidence

relating to the murders.

- Mr. Conn?

- Your Honor, we're not
finished with our review,

but there is plenty of material

to impugn
Lyle Menendez's credibility.

- Well, if the tapes
are to be admitted,

it should just be
to rebut Lyle's testimony.

- Mr. Conn?

Very well, then.

The tapes can only be
admitted as rebuttal evidence

in the event that Mr. Menendez
testifies at trial.

[indistinct chatter]

- Good going.

- I don't know, I'm not
actually sure we won anything.

[devices beeping]

- Not guilty.
- Not guilty!

- No way.

He got away with it!

- Not guilty.
- Not guilty.

- Oh, my God.

- That's unbelievable.

- O.J.
- What?

I can't believe this.

- Is this for real?
- Yes.

- The bluff worked.

If Abramson puts Lyle on
the stand, she runs the risk

of having those tapes
blow up in her smug face.

- This is a disaster.

McMartin, Rodney King,
and now O. J.?

This office is
a laughing stock.

We need a win, David.

- Well, some of that's
up to Weisberg.

- The O.J. verdict
is a direct answer

to the Rodney King acquittals,

the case Weisberg fumbled.

[ominous music]

- Don't they have to tell us
what's on Norma's tapes?

- Only if they
use them in trial.

And they don't have to decide
until after you testify.

- I don't know, I...

Testifying about
all that stuff--

about my dad and mom--it was
hard enough the first time.

- Frankly, it's risky
to put you on the stand.

You make any mistake,
no matter how small,

they're gonna
drag out those tapes.

Even your comment
about the yellow sweater

could be enough to turn
the jury against you.

- So, you don't think
he should testify?

- [sigh]
No, no, I don't.

- So, the jury won't hear
from Lyle about the abuse?

- So, it'll be up to you,
Erik, to tell the story.

And I know you can do it.

- I can do it.

- Good.
I will be right there with you.

- I hope he's up to it.

- I just hope it's enough.

We got the family's testimony,

the testimony about
the psychological abuse--

- Quit reminding us how much
Weisberg has screwed us.

- It's not about to end.

Did you see this op-ed
about the O. J. verdict?

It draws a straight line
right back to Rodney King

and Weisberg.

Dollars to donuts,

Garcetti's behind it.

[ominous music]

*

- Everyone.

This is Anna, Lyle's fiancée.

- I'm so happy to meet you all.

Lyle's told me
how much you mean to him.

- You're just as pretty
as Lyle said you were.

- Thank you.

- All rise.

- Be seated.

Good morning.

*

Bring in the jury.

- Here we go.

*

- We thought our parents were
gonna come out and kill us.

So, we went down the hallway...

Uh, we opened the doors.

They were standing and...
[sighs]

And we shot them.

- Mr. Menendez,
after all the abuse

that you described
over these last weeks,

do you feel you were justified
in killing your parents?

- [sigh]
I was not.

- Were you in fear
when you killed them?

- Yes.

- Why did you kill them?

- Because I thought
they were gonna kill me.

*

- Why, then, don't you think

you were justified
in killing them?

- Because...

Because they were my parents.

There were no guns
in that room.

And I realize that now,

that it was a horrible mistake.

*

[soft weeping]

- Your Honor,
we object the defense's use

of imperfect self-defense.
It does not apply in this case.

- I was wondering
the same thing.

- Your Honor, this is the
same case as the first trial,

when you allowed
imperfect self-defense.

Now, that the case
is going to the jury,

is not the time
to reconsider.

- I wanna talk about the
requirement that the defendant

must believe that lethal
threat to him is imminent.

- Yes, that's the requirement.

Precipitate the use
of deadly force.

- Well, it's not for
the defendant to decide

what imminent means.

- Your Honor,
imperfect self-defense allows

for the defendant's
unreasonable belief

that the lethal
threat is imminent.

- I don't think
there's substantial evidence

of imminent danger
to justify instructing the jury

on imperfect self-defense.

- You--
[stammers]

Your Honor, we have built
our entire case on this.

The jury has heard us
build up to this

for the last four months.

- What the defendant said

does not constitute
imminent danger.

- So, the court is saying that
the belief that at any second,

people could
come out of a room,

guns blazing, and shoot you

is not fear of imminent danger?

Is that what
the court is saying?

- For the application
of imperfect self-defense,

that is not imminent danger.

Now, let's move on.

- No, Your Honor, we can't--

- Ms. Abramson, I do not wanna
hear more from you on this.

Moving on.

*

Okay, I will prepare
the final instructions

and read them
to the jury accordingly.

[dramatic music]

*

- We, the jury,
find Joseph Lyle Menendez

guilty of murder
in the first degree

of Jose Menendez
and Mary Louise Menendez,

in violation of section 187A

of the penal code
of the state of California.

We, the jury,
find Erik Galen Menendez

guilty of murder
in the first degree

of Jose Menendez
and Mary Louise Menendez,

in violation of section 187A

of the penal code
of the state of California.

- Thank you.

The jury can return
to the jury room.

Court will recess.
We will reconvene in one hour

to discuss the scheduling
of the penalty phase.

*

- Good job.

- This is not over,
not by a long shot.

Okay?
We can still fight.

*

- Well, now their lives
really are in imminent danger.

*

.

- They transferred
us to a more secure unit.

They put us on suicide watch.

- And we have
to wear leg chains now.

- Yeah,
it's a whole new ball game

now that you've been convicted.

- I am sorry.
I have let you both down.

- Don't say that.
We know you didn't.

- We just wanna know
what's gonna happen to us.

One way or the other,
it's okay with us.

But we've been waiting six
years and we just wanna know.

- Well, don't give up.

Your family's finally gonna
get a chance to tell the jury

what kind of young men you are,
what your childhood was like.

Everything that Weisberg
kept out of the trial

can now be said
in the penalty phase.

People who love you are
gonna fight for your lives,

but you have to fight too.

[gentle music]

[buzzing]

- [weeping]

[gasping,
whimpering]

- Mama?

- [gasping]

- Ma.

- [gasping]
- Mama?

- The sky opened up, Marta.

- It's just a bad dream, Mama.

[speaking Spanish]

- God was calling for us.

I saw Jose. Kitty.

I saw Christ himself.

- Did you see everything, Mama?

- Yeah.

- And did you ask God
for forgiveness?

For making Jose
the man that he was?

[ominous music]

*

Go back to sleep, Mama.

*

My son is flying in tonight.

He's ready to testify.

- My daughters
have been waiting months

to speak to the jury.

- Well,
now they'll have the chance.

Marta, there's some points
in your testimony

I need to clarify.

Let's go into my office.
- Okay.

- Joan, is there something else
you wanna tell me?

- My father was a violent man.

Our home was chaos,

and Kitty was just a child.

She was molested

by someone in the family.

- Oh, God.

- It changed Kitty,

and I don't think I ever
saw her truly happy again.

*

- Took only two verses
of "Yellow Submarine"

to get him back to sleep.

How's your opening coming?

- No,
I can't stop thinking about

what Kitty's sister told me.

Kitty's own abuse explains

why she would allow
her sons to be abused,

even why she
abused them herself.

- To quote Philip Larkin,

man hands on misery to man...

Until somebody
breaks the cycle.

- One way or the other.

It is an extraordinary task

that our law
puts in your hands.

I don't have
any idea what it's like

to make a decision
to take another person's life.

I haven't a clue.

Even though
I'm a murder lawyer,

this is, in fact, only
the second time in my career

that I've ever actually
had a penalty phase.

So, I'm not particularly
expert at even arguing it.

People have said,
just speak from your heart.

Uh, frankly, my heart
is too full of Erik Menendez.

I've been his lawyer
for six years.

I care about him.
I make no bones about it.

And if I try to speak
from my heart,

frankly, I don't think
I will talk very effectively.

So now, our task is to show you

that this is not a case
where the interests of society

or of your own conscience

would be served
by imposing a death verdict.

These things are
not decided by computers--

- Let's get on to the opening.

- Your Honor,
may I please speak?

- No, we've had enough
references to matters

outside the purpose
of the opening statement.

- Yes, Your Honor, I am simply
trying to explain to the jury--

- Either you'll make
your opening statement

in conformity
with my direction,

or you won't make a statement.

[tense music]

*

- Erik and Lyle
were adorable boys.

We used to hug them
and play with them.

And Kitty would say to me,

you're so lucky to have girls.

I'm stuck with these two boys.

She would say that
right in front of them.

She was very
negative towards them.

- Was your brother
also very negative

in how he talked to his sons?

- Jose laughed
at Erik all the time

because he wasn't
as strong as Lyle.

He would call him weak,
idiot, crybaby

in front of everybody.

Erik was only eight.
He would start crying.

- Did you notice a change
in Erik's personality

at this time?

- When he came
to stay at my house

in my son Andy's room,

he would lock the door
at every opportunity.

He told my son, Andy, you
don't know how lucky you are

to have locks on your doors.

- It was a family gathering.

Lyle was five.
He was running around.

Jose just grabbed
him by the arm.

He said something to Lyle
that I couldn't hear.

- Did you see Lyle's reaction?

- He wetted himself.
He looked very pale.

He didn't say a word.

Jose marched him
to his room.

I didn't like that at all,
so I followed them.

When I entered the bedroom,

Jose was punching Lyle
in the upper abdomen.

Lyle was gasping for air.

- Was the punch
with an open hand?

- No, ma'am.

Fist closed.

*

- When I first saw Erik,

he had a whole
cluster of symptoms.

He felt the abuse
was his fault.

He felt worthless
and stupid and

maybe if he was killed,

somebody would say
something nice about him.

- But he's not that way now,
is he?

- No.

He's had a lot of treatment.

A lot of support
from his extended family,

his friends, and I think
he's been re-parented by you.

- What does re-parenting mean?

- Erik never had
the kind of parenting that,

praise God,
most of us have had.

Then in comes somebody
who really cares about him,

who sees him almost every day.

Erik took that nurturing
and got stronger,

less out of control.

- What is your opinion
about his potential

for doing positive things?

- I think the prospect
is excellent.

He's interested in reaching out
to the child abuse community,

to tell other victims
to ask for help

instead of taking
the path of destruction.

- Are you saying, Doctor,

that Erik alleged that his
mother threatened to kill him?

- It was more statements like,

you are the cause
of all the problems.

I wish you were never born.

- Ah.

Let me direct you to page 35

of the notes you made
during Erik's treatment.

Can you tell us what the first
line at the top there says?

- It says,

"I couldn't stand
being around my mother."

"Thought I didn't love her."

- My copy of your notes
doesn't say "thought."

It just says,
"Didn't love her."

- That's interesting.

It says "thought"
here in my notes,

but not on your copy,

so it's obviously
something I wrote

when I reviewed my notes.

I made maybe two dozen changes.

- Ah.

Doctor, when did you add the
word "thought" to your copy?

- I was going over my notes
with Ms. Abramson,

preparing to testify--

- You were modifying the notes
of your original interview

of Erik with Ms. Abramson?

- Well, at her request to
clarify and eliminate material

that was prejudicial.

- Objection,
the witness misstates.

The material
had already been ruled

inadmissible by the court.

- Overruled.

- This line of questioning
is irrelevant--

- Overruled, Ms. Abramson.

- Your Honor, I ask the court
to inquire Ms. Abramson

why she tampered
with Dr. Vicary's notes--

- Objection.

- And improperly withheld
evidence from the prosecution.

- Deputy, take the jury out.

- I object to Mr. Conn's
characterizations.

We didn't withhold anything.

The prosecution
has the original notes.

- Ms. Abramson,
I want information from you

about the history of
these notes from Dr. Vicary.

[tense music]

- Your Honor, I am prepared
to answer your questions

about Dr. Vicary's
notes in chambers

without the prosecution
present.

I am not interested
in giving Mr. Conn

information he would not
otherwise be entitled to.

- That is not a response.

- Open court is not
the appropriate forum

for this inquiry.

- These matters will
be dealt with in open court.

I want your response now.

*

- What does he want me to do?
Please the fifth?

I didn't do anything wrong.

- It doesn't matter
what you say.

He's gonna burn you
with the jury.

- Ms. Abramson.

- Again, I will answer
your questions about

Dr. Vicary's notes in chambers.

- You persist on defying me?

Let's bring the jury back in.

- Your Honor,
the last thing the jury heard

was Mr. Conn
accusing Ms. Abramson

of tampering with evidence.

We ask that you
instruct the jury

that there was no misconduct
on Ms. Abramson's part.

- I can't give that--

- The jury's not to infer
that she did anything improper.

- I can't give that instruction

because Ms. Abramson refuses
to answer my questions.

- You're putting the defendants
at an unfair disadvantage

by allowing this cloud
to hang over Ms. Abramson.

- I am ready to bring
the jury back in.

- No, Your Honor, one moment.

Please.

Okay, Weisberg's leaving
us no choice.

He's treating you
like crap the entire trial.

He's made sure that
you're damaged goods

in the eyes of the jury.

- I will save you
the trouble of asking.

You want me to step down.

*

- [sighs]

For Erik and Lyle's sake.

- I know.

*

- Your Honor,

since the court will not
instruct the jury as requested,

the defense council has
no choice but to ask you to

remove Ms. Abramson
from the trial.

- Motion denied.

- But Your Honor--
- I said denied.

Ms. Abramson
is not going anywhere.

- [whispering]
What the hell is he doing?

- You know, it's not enough
to torpedo your credibility.

He wants you to stay in front
of the jury to humiliate you.

- I don't give
a damn about that.

There's only
one thing that matters.

Can I still be an effective
advocate for my client?

And if we really believe that
I've been tainted by this BS,

then there's really only
one thing we can do--

Barry, you've gotta deliver the
closing to the jury for Erik.

*

- Approach, Your Honor?

*

The court has left us no choice

but to keep Ms. Abramson from
further addressing the jury.

I will be delivering
the closing argument

on behalf of Erik Menendez.

- Your choice, Mr. Levin.

We'll bring the jury back in.

Counselors,
you can return to your seats.

*

Back to your seat,
Ms. Abramson.

*

.

- Just came home for change.

I have to go right back to
the office to work with Barry.

Is Aidan asleep?

- Yes.

I know that look, Les.

Something happened?

- Yes, Weisberg
succeeded in shutting me up

for a nothing technicality.
He shut me up.

- What do you mean,
shut you up?

- He made it impossible for me

to give my closing
statement to the jury.

It's what I do best.

Oh, God damn it.

It's what I do best.

Well, Conn's argument--
his only argument--

is gonna be that Erik and Lyle
lied about everything.

So,
you just have to show the jury

that that argument
is ludicrous.

- Now,
to tell you the truth, Les,

I mean, I haven't given
a closing in a while,

let alone a capital case.

I mean, this should be you.

- It is what it is.

Weisberg didn't silence me.

He silenced Erik and Lyle,

just like their parents
silenced them.

You know, it wouldn't hurt

to remind the jury that
you're a marine and a cop,

so you don't come off
like some bleeding heart.

- Ugh...
[sniffs]

Ugh!
[coughing]

- What's the matter?
Are you all right?

- Oh, it's just a--
it's a nosebleed.

It's nothing, I--
I get them from time to time.

- Well, at our age,
nosebleeds aren't nothing.

- [weak laugh]

- Barry, are those bruises?

- Ugh.
- What did you do?

- No, it's--it's a new thing.

I bruise really easily.

I-I got them all over.

- Well, have you seen a doctor?

- Yeah, they don't know
what's going on.

I'll get some tests done
when this is over.

[sniffs]

I get a little tired sometimes,
but I'll be okay tomorrow.

- Well, yeah,
I mean, I know you will.

You will do great.

Jury's gonna love
a handsome devil like you.

- Yeah.

[both chuckling]

[tense music]

*

- Erik lied.
Plain and simple.

And so did his brother.

So did Marta Cano
and the other relatives.

These two healthy,
young men were not abused

and there is no good reason
for these murders.

If you carefully balance each
of the aggravating factors

against the country club
abuse defense

that these defendants
presented?

No.

It's like weighing
bricks and feathers.

*

Here's the bricks over here.

*

The horror of this crime.

Tilt the scales this way

against the feathers over here

of too much tennis
and not enough hugs.

Erik and Lyle Menendez
deserve the death penalty.

You won't be giving them
anything they didn't earn.

*

- Mr. Conn would like you
to conclude that Erik and Lyle

are cold-blooded killers,

whose just reward
is the death penalty.

They showed no mercy,

so they're entitled
to no mercy.

The victims are dead,
so they need to die.

[scoffs]

That's revenge.

In a court of law,

you don't impose the
death sentence for revenge.

[soft cough]

Excuse me.

[coughing]

I was in military combat
in Vietnam,

and I was a police officer
with the LAPD.

In war and on the street
and in a court room,

there exists a code of conduct
for the humane treatment

of our fellow man.

You can't shoot someone
who's surrendering.

You cannot walk out
onto the battlefield

and shoot the wounded enemy.

And a police officer
doesn't shoot the pursuit.

In the decision
that you must make,

you can be firm
but compassionate.

You can be strong and merciful.

These are not weaknesses.

Mm-mm.

These are strengths.

Now, the decision you make

is irreversible.

If you vote for
the death penalty,

Erik and Lyle will be executed.

It's done.

I beg you.

Please, please
spare these young men.

It's a decision you will
never, ever regret.

Thank you very much.

*

.

- You know,
if they end up on death row,

it'll be the same old,
same old.

Everyone I've ever met on
the row was molested as a kid.

What are you
gonna do after this?

- Retire.
Be with my family.

- You know, you should put
yourself up for the judgeship.

You'd get a lot of support.

- That is never gonna happen,
Barry.

- Why's that?

- I had a client
12 years ago--

a junkie who sold a dime
bag to an undercover--

I tried to plead him out,
but the DA wanted hard time.

So, my guy goes to prison,

except he's a diabetic,

and when he doesn't get
his medication in prison,

he died.

So, I wrote a letter
to the DA congratulating him

for being the first DA
to get the death penalty

for the sale of
a dime bag of heroin.

Ever since, the DA's office
has blocked my nomination

for judgeship every time
my name's comes up.

- [softly]
Yeah.

- Well, they're right.
I shouldn't be a judge.

I would have to be impartial.

I don't wanna be impartial.

The world is filled with people
walking around being impartial

while disaster is striking.

I don't wanna be one of them.

- I'm glad I'm not
in that jury room.

Not that I'm against
the death penalty,

but all that mitigation.

- Really? You buy that?

I mean, the mental abuse,
sure, but the sex abuse?

- I know, but those pictures.

I mean, you know what you'd do

if you found someone
with pictures like those.

You'd arrest them.

- Yeah, those pictures.

[ominous music]

It can't be right
to kill your parents.

It just can't.

There had to be another way.

*

- Will the defendants rise?

- We, the jury, having found
Erik Galen Menendez

and Joseph Lyle Menendez,
guilty of first-degree murder

with special circumstances,

fix the penalty
at life in prison

without parole.

[indistinct chatter]

- Ladies and gentlemen
of the jury,

thank you for your service.

Court is adjourned.

*

- We will file for a new trial.
We'll appeal.

This is not the end
of the road.

- No, it's okay, Leslie.

Now we know what's ahead.

And we're okay with it.

- It's better than
it was before at home.

It really is better.

*

- All I am asking for
is a call from you

to delay their transport back
to prison for 15 minutes.

- Why?

- So Lyle can marry his fiancée

with Erik as his best man.

- You're joking.

- No, I have a judge lined up
to perform the service.

We can use
an empty court room--

- Out of the question.

Your clients aren't going
anywhere except prison.

- Judge Weisberg,
is your heart so full of malice

towards these boys
that there isn't room

for even this small kindness?

- Are you accusing me of bias?

Get out.

Get out of my chambers.

[tense music]

*

- Many of us felt
that if we had heard

about the family history
during the trial,

we never would've convicted
them of first-degree murder.

- Mr. Conn,
can we get a comment?

- Judge Weisberg
showed remarkable patience.

This is a victory for justice.
Thank you.

- Judge Brown agreed
to meet us at my office, okay?

We will get you married, Anna.
- Thank you.

- I'll be back.

Leslie.

I wanted to thank you
on behalf of the family

for everything
that you have done.

- Oh, thank you.

I, uh, don't feel I did enough.

I wanted to ask you, Marta.

You were the only one
who never doubted

the boys about the sex abuse.

Why is that?

- You can never tell anybody
what I'm about to tell you.

Not as long
as my mother is alive.

[tense music]

When Jose was five,

my father would
go on long trips

and my mother was very lonely.

She would take Jose
into her bed

and make him do things to her.

Sexual things.

That's why I never doubted that
Jose did the same to his sons.

It's a sickness
that my mother gave to him.

*

- I, Lyle Menendez,

take you,
Anna, to be my wife,

to have and to hold,
for better or worse,

for richer or poorer,
in sickness and health,

until death do us part.

- I, Anna Eriksson,

take you,
Lyle, to be my husband,

to have and to hold,
for better or worse,

for richer or poorer,
in sickness and in health,

till death do us part.

- Anna, you made
such incredible sacrifices.

I adore you.

- I now pronounce you
man and wife.

You may kiss each other
in your mind's eye.

*

- Lyle, sweetie,
how are you feeling?

- It's the best day
of my life.

- I'll see you
in the next place.

Erik, did you hear everything?

- Yes, Aunt Terry.

I'm so glad you're there.

Lyle...

Adios, Lyle.

- Bye, little brother.

[phone clicks]

Thank you.

I'll see you guys.

[phone clicks]

*

[reporters all
speaking at once]

- Really, guys?
Outside my house?

- Just a couple of questions,
Leslie.

How do you feel now
that the trial is over?

- It'll never be over for me,

'cause I will never sever
ties with Erik and Lyle

or their family.

The legal part is over,
but the human part continues.

- Is it true
you'll be retiring?

- Might be.

- What are you going to do?

- Spend some time
with my husband

and my lovely little boy.

Maybe open a toy store.

Okay, that's it.
Bye-bye.

- A toy store?
- Leslie!

[reporters all
speaking at once]

*

- Is there anything else
you can tell us?

- Come on, guys,
it's family time.

What part of farewell
don't you understand?

*

*