Original subtitles

In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate

equally important groups. The police who investigate crime, and the district

attorneys who prosecute the offenders.

These are their stories.

Hey, guys. How about taking the night off?

No night's off for me, honey.

See you at Soup Kitchen tomorrow?

Yeah, yeah. Go away, padre. You're bad for business.

See you at Father Jeff's. Come on, Midnight House, drop on by me.

Guys, guys, Father Jack, Midnight House Shelter, get you off the street tonight.

We got soup kitchen tomorrow. Come on by.

Hey, Midnight House Shelter, you come down, come on by.

Come on.

Hey, you too, kid?

Hey, would you get a cop?

I'm out here every night. I know a lot of them.

What about this one?

Greyhound pulls in every ten minutes. He's always in his face.

Running from worse than this, if you can imagine.

You got any kids we can talk to? Maybe they've seen him around.

The regulars pass up the bed, but they come by tomorrow for food.

They don't pass up a free meal.

All right. Can you stick around, Father? Thank you.

He was beaten to a pulp.

Broken ribs, massive internal bleeding. My guess, somebody's pretty handy with

feet. Johnny Doe. No wallet, no ID.

Gets off the bus from Plattsburgh and it's welcome to the Big Apple.

No, no, he's not an import, he's a local.

Look, student bus pass.

Working his way through school.

When I was a kid and wanted extra lunch money, I delivered groceries.

Hey, tips wouldn't buy what he had on his feet.

Air Max, 130 a pair.

It still won't make you want to have to.

I just said I don't know him.

I ain't see him.

I ain't even heard of him, all right? Well, why don't you start by looking at

the picture, okay?

Oh, man, I don't know him.

Look, we don't catch this guy. Next time, this could be you, right?

My trick's like little girls. Little boys, that's a whole other kind of

Give me a break, would you? Because, you know, the father here tells me you're

on the corner every night.

Now, a good -looking new kid on the block, I think you're going to notice

Only if he's flashing jack and wants to date with me. Other than that, I'm

strictly for the girls.

Sorry you got your hopes up.

I tell you, young dudes never work solo. It's just not safe.

Mr. Brown rolls in from the suburbs all buttoned down.

Wants to get you a little butt in the salad.

He cuts loose.

That's what happens.

This kid get your warning?

I don't know him from even, baby.

Louis knows everybody.

I'll tell you this, though.

Looks like he was in the rough trade.

Specialty acts need management.

Got that right.

So you got a name for me, Lewis?

Honey, if they're cruising for a bruising, they work for Mr. Clyde.

Sounds like you got his beeper number.

Not this child. Paying pays, but see where it gets you.

Hey, champion for little boys. Check it out. Check it out. Check it out. Check

it out, manhole. Check it out, man. Check it out.

Manhole. Check it out, sir.

Manhole. No cover charge for the men in blue. Not here for the show.

You know a Mr.

Clyde?

He's the man.

Right there.

Check it out, man. Hey, sir, don't be shy. Come on in.

This

kid's

not old enough to be in here.

I'm not old enough to be in here.

Hey, we're looking for Clyde.

Mike, don't touch anything.

Hey, I'm all paid up at the precinct. I'm not laughing, Clyde. What do you

from me? I run a legitimate business for patrons of the dance.

Any of your patrons dance on this kid's face?

Oh, shucks. The party got out of hand.

Let me know where to send flowers.

Hey, Clow.

Just for laughs, we're going to lock you up for child prostitution, and you

won't last five minutes.

They'll be sending flowers to you, cowboy.

Hey, I deal only with consenting adults.

What, do you check their driver's license?

Matter of fact, yeah. You no different?

Take a nice, long look.

No, I never seen him. I told you before, I don't handle that end of the

business. It ain't worth the trouble.

Yeah, well, I think you better come along with us while we check your

references.

I put the kid at about 13, 14.

Time to worry about pimples and Debbie from next door. He had more pressing

concerns.

Cracked ribs, punctured lung, ruptured spleen. He was hemorrhaging from almost

every organ.

How long could he walk around like that?

Low rate of sleepage, a couple of hours.

Priest said he found him a little after 11.

Feeding at 9, filming at 11. Listen, we think the kid might have been working

the street.

Really? Doing what?

Selling newspapers?

No evidence of sexual activity.

No fluids, no tearing of tissue.

What about his wounds? Anything kinky?

Just your normal blunt force wounds.

I guess we have to let the choreographer go.

Somebody on the street had to know that kid.

I doubt he was sleeping in any alley.

How many runaways do you know eat string beans?

Kid had a full belly.

Neat. potatoes, string beans, milk.

That was his age. The only place I ever saw string beans was at home. What about

the father's soup kitchen?

No, we checked the menu. It's soup and sandwiches, three days running.

He lives at home. His parents should have called 911 by now.

Missing persons doesn't have anyone matching this description.

We sent photos to every precinct, you know, in case the parents happen to walk

in. No hits.

It's been 48 hours. I'm sure they would have noticed he's missing.

Unless they're the reason he's lying on a slab.

I mean, if they were smacking him around, maybe they didn't care where he

crawled off to die.

You said the kid had a school bus pass.

No name on it.

My kids' passes are good only on the lines that take them to school.

Was his the Lower East Side? Yeah.

Start with the junior highs.

Look, I'm telling you, the faces, they go right by.

Maybe if you checked your attendance records for the past two days.

You're making a joke, right?

You name the day, at least 20 % of my students are asking.

Look, lady.

This one isn't coming back.

Now, look at her.

Two nights ago, we found them dead on the sidewalk.

We'd like to give them a name.

I'm sorry.

We have over 2 ,000 students. Maybe one of the homeroom teachers will recognize

them.

So long, Mrs. Kitt.

If Kitt had trouble at home, I bet he was trouble at school.

Maybe in line for a little individual attention.

He used to send me to the guidance counselor.

John Lasky.

One of my regulars.

Not exactly the teacher's pet, huh?

John got an A in energy.

Non -stop motion.

Mouth like the Grand Canyon.

Got him in trouble on a daily basis.

Off the record, the kid cracked me up.

Where'd he get his chuckles after class?

I think he lived in the Alphabets with his mother and her boyfriend. I might

still have the address.

Might? You don't hear from a kid for a couple of days, you're going to throw

his records?

Forty kids in a class is about all we can handle.

Johnny was transferred at the end of last year.

Hey, what can I tell you? The bitch moved out.

I don't know.

Two or three months ago.

And you're still carrying the torch, huh?

Tori was a piece, you know.

But the brat, forget about it. I had a theory about him.

What's going on, Zach?

We got company. What does it look like?

Hey, Delia, you want to cover your butt or what?

I gotta go pee.

So, you were saying about your feeling?

That the reason she got strung out was because of him.

It couldn't sit still, drive you nuts.

So the kid drove you nuts and you gave both of them the boot, huh, Zach? Hey, I

gotta go out of town with the band, come back, find her out of her head.

How long do I got to put up with that, huh? Yeah. So everybody's partying and

Johnny's going to take care of Johnny?

What do I look like?

The Partridge family?

When they hit the road, where did they go?

If I knew that, I wouldn't be stuck with her bills.

If you had to guess.

I don't know.

Maybe.

I heard she was back in rehab.

Daybreak Village.

Out on the island.

I didn't have nothing in the world but Johnny.

Nothing.

Those bastards.

They kidnapped him. Who did? Child welfare. They ripped him out of my arms

put him in foster care.

Maybe they were afraid you'd stick a needle in his arm by mistake.

I would never.

I would never hurt him. Not in a million.

I'm here because of him.

They wouldn't give him back unless I got clean.

Do you know where he was living?

Why would they tell me? I'm only the mother.

I might steal him or something.

They said I was too dangerous.

And look what they did to him.

First day on the job, they dumped Johnny Lasky on my desk.

along with 28 other members of the Oliver Twist Club.

He told me I was the sixth case worker in 10 years.

Just what every kid needs, consistency.

They tell me a couple more years, I'll be ready to quit, too.

These kids can tear your heart in half.

Looks like the damage goes both ways.

He tested positive for heroin at birth.

Johnny never had a chance.

Well, putting him on the foster care merry -go -round didn't improve the

Just because she has the right plumbing didn't make Tori Lasky fit to be a

mother. And we had the pleasure of meeting her.

Two months ago, Johnny showed up for class every shade of purple.

Don't tell me. The boyfriend used him for a drum solo.

Poor kid was too scared to say.

Anyway, Johnny went into foster care and Tori went into rehab. You know the

rest. Not quite.

We'd like to see the foster parents.

Sure.

We put him in with Flo Bishop.

He lucked out. She's terrific.

She knew Johnny was a hard case, but she didn't mind.

Yeah, she also didn't mind him being missing for three days.

Thanks.

I take good care of my boys.

I never even let them go out alone.

And if one of them forgets to come home, you don't report him?

I was sure he would be back.

Look, I report him. They transfer him to a group home that's no better than a

prison. That was better than a morgue, don't you think?

I had no way of knowing.

I tried to provide for these boys some kind of stability.

I thought Johnny was making real progress.

He went to a six o 'clock show at the movie.

He went with two of the other boys, Chris and Andy.

On the way home, they turn around and he's gone.

Did they have any idea where he went?

They just said he took off.

I could guess.

I mean, usually when the boys run away, they go back to their parents.

Hoping Mom and Dad get their act together.

And then in a day or two, they come back to me.

And they never run away again.

Two hours and watching Van Damme makes you hungry.

So around eight, you stopped the food, right?

Yeah, we did.

But Johnny, we go to get a slice on Dykeman and he's beamed up like some UFO

grabbed him.

How about it, Andy? He say anything to you before he left?

Nothing. He just booked.

Like Chris said.

Maybe he got homesick.

I don't know. Now, the way Johnny told it, home was what made you sick.

The guy his mom shacked up with?

A real jerk.

Enough of a jerk to hit Johnny?

What else is new?

I never laid a hand on him.

Never. And what?

Two months ago, he fell in the bathtub?

It was between me and Tori.

He got in the way.

and he walked right into your fist.

It's Friday night, Zach.

You must have been really ticked off when the kid showed up, huh? I told you

wasn't there.

I was doing a gig in Jersey.

Don't get us wrong. We understand.

The little brat, he got in the way of the scene with his mom. You guys are

I ain't saying anything until I get a lawyer.

His alibi checks, if you squint. The club manager in Bayonne said the band

the stage at 11. He can't remember what time Zach showed up.

Look, we're not ready to cut him loose.

This creep could have beat the kid and made the show. You said he had a

girlfriend. Yeah, just this side of jail bait. She's a waitress downtown.

Check her time card for last Friday.

I stayed home Friday night.

I was sick.

Stomach flew.

Zach stick around to make you chicken soup?

I don't need his help to puke my guts out.

He left around 8.

Why don't you just ask him? You say he left around 8. He didn't get to the club

till about 11.

That doesn't take three hours to get to Bayonne.

Well, maybe he stopped to tune his guitar.

If you're lying to protect him, that makes you an accomplice to murder.

You mean that kid?

Are you out of your mind?

What about these bruises on your arm? Are those hallucinations too?

Does he always talk with his fists?

Johnny Lasky was at the apartment last Friday, wasn't he?

Yeah.

I didn't tell Zach because he'd just get mad.

So he didn't know?

About an hour after he left, I heard someone at the door like they were

to get a key in a lock.

And I heard kids whispering.

Did you tell how many there were?

No, a couple.

I guess they must have heard me because I saw the one kid, Johnny, running away.

You've seen him before?

Yeah.

Hey, you know, about four weeks ago, someone ripped off some of our

No breaking, just entering.

Zach figured it was his ex.

He changed the locks.

No one ever thought about the kid.

You know, if she's telling the truth, it means the angels with dirty faces

aren't.

Steve Houlin calling me shot.

Yeah.

Go ahead.

Uh -huh.

Anything else?

All right, thanks.

Johnny's little foster brother, Chris Pollitt, did time at Spofford. Now, his

records are sealed, but he had some months added on for bad behavior.

So let's go rattle their cages.

Come on, Chris.

I know you weren't eating pizza on Dyckman Street that night.

You were at the other end of town with your friend Johnny.

Wasn't me.

We got a witness who put you with him.

Maybe Johnny was hanging out with his Lower East Side homeboys.

Hey, Kreskin, how'd you know he was on the Lower East Side?

You said?

Nobody said. Well, somebody did, because I heard it.

It's getting tough keeping all the lies straight, isn't it?

Look, kid, we don't care about your little burglary, okay?

And we don't care that you went back for seconds.

All we're interested in is what happened after you left Zach's apartment.

Yo, Bill Cream, why don't you and I, Captain America, go blow it at your

I can tell when my son's lying.

You're pretty good at it.

I bet you put a lot over on your mom, huh? She's pissed out most times. How

about Mrs. Bishop?

She easy to fool?

You know, it says on your sheet you've dated with her four times in the past

years. She must know you pretty well.

Anybody thirsty?

Andy here was telling me how much he likes staying at Mrs.

Bishop's. Oh, yeah?

That's too bad.

This friend Chris just finished telling us that Mrs. Bishop fenced the sound

equipment that him and his buddy Johnny stole.

Really? Yeah. You sure?

Yeah, it seems Johnny was going to rat on them.

And the old lady had him killed.

Murder.

Trafficking and stolen goods.

Delinquency of minors.

That's pretty serious stuff.

He's lying.

She don't have nothing to do with it.

He's the one.

Better get the foster mother down here and someone from the DA's office.

Okay, from the beginning, Andy.

Johnny thought that if he could get up some money, him and his mother could

afford an apartment.

The first time at Zach's apartment, you were with him?

He still had his old key. It was easy. But the second time, you ran into

problems. It was a bad idea.

But Johnny, he needed the money, and there wasn't any left from the first

What, did he have holes in his pockets?

It was Chris.

He was supposed to fence the stuff.

Instead, he spent it on clothes and boots, shades, junk like that.

So what happened Friday night?

Well, we heard someone inside, and we took off.

Then Chris blamed Johnny.

And he started to fight.

Chris went nuts.

I mean, I'd never seen him like this before. And kicked the hell out of him.

He had this look in his eyes like he wasn't even there.

And after we left, he was shaking all over.

He was in his own zone.

Even I was afraid to look at him.

And I mean, my dad used to beat me all the time, but...

But I've never seen anything like that.

Look, I'm the first to admit this kid is no Andy Hardy.

But if he's tried as a juvenile, at least there's a hope of rehabilitation.

He brutally murdered his friend, Helen. And you want me to send him to his bed

without dinner? They tried that once. It didn't work. If he's over 14 years of

age, the presumption is he's tried as an adult.

And we both know that that presumption is rebuttable.

I'm just asking for compassion, Ben.

He's a kid, for God's sake. So was John Lasky.

I'll see you at the hearing.

Oh, um... By the way, it's been assigned to Judge Kirshen.

Judge Kirshen? She spent at least six years as chairman of the Bar Association

Committee on Children's Rights.

That's not easy to get a case for mandatory family court.

Burton's still on the defense.

Well, the burden just got a lot lighter for them, so we better find out all

there is to know about young Mr. Pollack.

You actually expect me to help you send Chris to jail? He murdered John. I can't

imagine you wanting to protect him.

Maybe it's time somebody did.

I'd like to protect him from his mother, who rented the boy out by the hour to

some pervert when hooking didn't bring in enough money to pay a rent.

And how about those doctors who bailed you and doped the boy up on Thorazine

over a year?

And those three foster families, lovely people they were, took him in and used

the stypan for big TV screens and trips to Aruba while the boy had barely enough

to eat. So you don't think he should be punished?

I think he's been punished enough.

I lived with him.

I had dinner with him. I got the boy ready for school.

I don't know what snapped, but I do know that's not all there is to Chris.

What can you tell me about his year at Spofford?

Miss Kincaid, I have a toaster. It breaks. I don't toss it into the trash

call the repairman. I'm not suggesting. Oh, I know. You only have his best

interest in mind.

But if Chris Pollitt goes to Attica, you and I both know he's not coming out.

The judge sealed the records.

Why should I tell you anything?

So he stepped in it bad.

Should I be surprised?

Maybe not.

Son did spend a year in Spofford. A year?

I guess they're right.

Parents are the last to know.

If you haven't noticed, Chris is not my problem anymore.

Was he ever?

What do you think, just because I didn't go to Miss Porter's, I didn't love my

kid? Well, the state found it necessary to take him away from you.

I left him alone for a couple hours a day. Some pervert downstairs gets a hold

of him. That's my fault. Where's his father?

Jack's in lovely downtown Attica for another 5 to 15.

Look, maybe I screwed up with Chris.

What did I know about kids? I was a kid myself.

And now you know better.

I got as much right to be a mother as anyone else. And what right does your

have? You got an education.

You got a job. This is all I got.

Nobody has taken this baby away from me.

When I was 14 years old, I had a fight with Joe Dworkin. I pushed him.

He retaliated by throwing my Spalding down the sewer.

Kids killing kids.

You bounce around the system long enough, you grow up a lot quicker.

Meaning what?

If his mother's any indication, he never had a chance.

And the system only made the problem worse.

He had four years with Florence Bishop.

She's the best the system has to offer. It didn't make any difference.

For all we know, this may be his first violent offense.

Well, why does our Mr.

Pollard deserve two bites at the apple?

Because he's not even 15 years old.

Okay, find a way to open the kid's file.

If his first offense was non -violent.

Let Helen Brolin do her song and dance in family court.

I thought your job was putting the bad guys in jail.

I just want to make sure he goes to the right jail. From what I've read, Chris

Pollitt should be riding the ferry on the River Styx.

Seems you're getting a little soft in your old age, Claire.

It seems you're getting a little callous in yours.

Hey, hey, I'm a lawyer, not a social worker.

I represent the little buggers. Doesn't mean I have to like them.

Tell me about your full -fledged marriage.

Sure, that's where we dress them up in their Sunday best, clean their

fingernails, and teach them to cry a lot while saying, I didn't do it, and I,

well, I won't do it again.

Can we introduce cries?

An often overlooked statute requires that the judge consider all relevant

factors, even if they're not admissible at trial.

Even if the record is sealed?

Anything goes, as long as it bears on the little angel's history and or

character.

And the best part, none of it can later be used at trial.

Not even a confession.

You're awful cynical for a children's rights attorney.

I'm just being pragmatic.

Child is father of the man. I gotta live in this city when these kids grow up.

Johnny and I always got along pretty good before, I mean.

We never got into a fight or anything like that.

In your own words, Chris, tell us what you remember about your fight with John

Lasky.

He started getting down on Mom.

You know, we called her a whore, stuff like that.

Did you tell him to stop?

Yeah, me and Andy both, but he just wouldn't let it go.

So what happened then?

I don't remember.

You don't remember the fight at all?

I remember crying on the subway back to Miss Bishop's.

And how do you feel about that now, Chris?

I wish it didn't happen.

But I don't want to hurt nobody.

Young man, who is Brian North?

Objection. Irrelevant. You know better than that, Counselor.

Answer the question, son.

He's a kid I used to know.

Didn't he cut in line in front of you at Spofford?

And you smashed him right in the face with your tray?

He pushed me.

But didn't you kick him?

And keep kicking him until he's unconscious?

Your Honor, when he's in a normal environment, he's had no violent

Mr. Pollard, why were you placed in Spofford in the first place?

I was with a bunch of guys. We robbed a deli. And you were armed, right?

Isn't that true?

Mr. Pollitt, isn't that true?

Yes. Your Honor, there was no money in the store, and Mr. Pollitt got mad, and

he shot the owner with a .22.

This case must be special.

Judge Kirshner removes nine out of ten cases to family court. Three violent

episodes that we know of so far. She had no choice but to try him as an adult.

Wait until you see this.

Rowland's notice of her intent to plead Chris not guilty by reason of mental

defect.

He testified that he knew what he did was wrong. He expressed remorse. She'll

never get out of the gate with an insanity defense.

She's not claiming he's insane.

She's claiming he's not responsible because he's genetically predisposed to

violent behavior.

Most of his blood relations are incarcerated for violent crimes. The

father are visited upon the son. That is not a defense for murder.

You say it's nurture. Brolin says it's nature.

What's our plan?

We have a conference tomorrow in Chambers to see what Judge Kirshen says.

Ever since Mendel at the turn of the century, scientists have seen a direct

relation between genetics and human behavior.

And most of those scientists goose -stepped their way through the streets

Berlin in the 1940s.

Very dramatic image, Ben, but unfortunately misinformed.

Researchers in our own backyard have identified the XYY chromosome, male, as

being predisposed to criminal behavior.

Are you saying this kid has an extra Y chromosome?

Verified by the Tyler Hampton Clinic.

He also has blonde hair and brown eyes. Could we allow that as a defense for

murder as well? If there's a relation between that and aggressive antisocial

behavior, yes.

There is no proof that the XYY male is predisposed to any kind of behavior,

Honor. Frye v. U .S. Scientific evidence is only admissible when it is generally

accepted by the scientific community.

Well, show me one scientist who doesn't accept the laws of genetics.

The Frye case says nothing about the conclusions drawn from those laws.

Richard Speck?

Didn't he try this XYY chromosome defense?

And the judge threw it out, Your Honor. Yes, that's because Speck didn't have

the extra Y chromosome.

No court that we know of has ever accepted this defense.

Your Honor, we can fill the courtroom with experts who'll say this is

And we'll see if the jury believes them.

What is next, Ellen, the astrological defense?

Jupiter aligned with Mars, so I had her on the bank?

If it gets my client the justice he deserves, why not?

You don't think people respond with their actions? Sure.

I read Sartre in college. Oh.

I also read Freud.

Chris Pollitt's life was determined for him before he hit the age of six.

Maybe, but not before he was born. Look, Ben, I present even the smallest life

of Chris's home life, the jury starts bawling. What does that get me? Maybe a

man -won conviction.

I start hitting them with genes and chromosomes, I got a shot at an

And that's what's best for Chris? No.

What's best is transferring this to family court.

Helen, you had the opportunity for that. You didn't meet the person. Yeah,

well... It's a lot easier to confuse a jury than it is to convince a judge.

This is dumb.

Humor me, Chris.

What would you do?

I told the teacher she was stupid.

Why is she stupid?

Because the other kid was cheating off me. I wasn't cheating off him.

But the teacher said she saw you.

I told you she's stupid.

Does that make you angry?

If I got in trouble, sure.

What would you do?

Beat the hell out of the kid.

You think you'd try to kill him?

I'd get mad. I don't know what I'd do.

You think that's what happened with John Lasky?

I like Johnny. I mean...

He should have cracked me up.

It's not like I wanted to kill him or anything.

He just got me mad.

There's no question he knows what he did was wrong. He's aware of the

consequences. He feels remorse.

So he's not legally insane.

The problem is, when sufficiently provoked, he loses control.

Liz, you don't think there's any validity to this XYY chromosome theory?

Current thinking among geneticists is that the extra Y chromosome causes a

slight increase in height. There's no evidence of any causal connection to

criminal behavior.

So all he's really got is a homicidal temper, right?

There's a lot we don't know about the brain.

Let's keep this out of the shadows.

Is he responsible for what he did?

With all the scientific data available at this time, yes.

There were hematomas on his arms, legs, chest, back, and face.

Three ribs were fractured, vertebrae displaced in the spinal column. The

cause of death was internal hemorrhaging.

Doctor, could you determine if the victim was unconscious during the

From the amount of cranial bleeding and bruising, I would say that no, he had to

be conscious at the time.

So then it is possible that John Lasky was screaming while he was being

beaten. Any objections, Miss Brolin? No, Your Honor.

Well, I can't imagine that anyone could sustain such a beating and not cry out

in pain.

Thank you.

Was the victim already on the sidewalk when the severest part of the beating

occurred? From the pattern of the bruising, it would appear he had to be

prostrate, yes.

So there he was, Johnny Lasky.

13 years old, lying on the sidewalk, screaming in pain. And what did the

defendant do?

He kept on kicking.

Would you characterize this beating as savage, doctor?

Yes.

Inhuman?

Yes. Like someone not in control was doing? Objection. Sustained.

The defendant was definitely cognizant of the difference between right and

wrong, but more importantly, he's able to analyze his own behavior in terms of

societal norms.

Did Mr. Pollack tell you that he heard voices telling him to kill John Lasky?

No. He's not schizophrenic.

Doctor, please tell the court what you know about the XYY male syndrome.

It arose in the 60s. Geneticists tried to correlate the existence of an extra Y

chromosome in men to aggressive antisocial behavior.

And what became of this theory?

To date, there's no proof that there's any validity to it. Thank you.

Doctor, isn't it true that some psychiatrists believe that depression is

on genetically?

Well, it is commonly found to occur in families.

And what about schizophrenia?

Yes. So why would it be so unbelievable that we may pass on criminal behavior to

our children?

Because there's no scientific evidence that criminal behavior is anything but

learned. All the data supporting the XYY male syndrome was dismissed in the 70s

because the pools from which the samples were taken were not sufficiently random

to form cohesive scientific conclusions.

So what you're saying is that there was a problem with the methodology, not the

theory.

Our lab ran karyotype tests on the defendant, and there's no question that

has a second Y chromosome.

And has your lab studied the effect of this chromosomal anomaly?

Certainly. And it definitely appears to occur to a higher degree in members of

the prison population than in the general public.

And what does that indicate, doctor? The extra Y chromosome relates to criminal

behavior. So, doctor, if this behavior is genetic, would you also say that it

was uncontrollable?

No more controllable than your height.

Thank you, doctor.

Doctor, as I understand it, you have found in the general population at large

people like you and I who have this extra Y chromosome, correct?

Yes. Are they leading productive lives?

I couldn't say.

Well, then let me rephrase the question, okay?

In your files, is there evidence that they exhibit Aggressive, homicidal,

sociopathic behavior.

I suppose not.

So then, isn't it true that your testing hasn't even come close to proving that

this chromosomal anomaly has any effect on behavior?

My study is not yet completed. You should have told the court that when you

arrived. Objection!

Withdrawn.

Head of the local chapter of the White America Caucus.

It's taken up Brolin's cause.

Letter to the editor.

It's a known fact that genetics is the cause of violence and feeble -mindedness

in the black man.

Do you think educated people actually buy this XYY chromosome, sir? Well, no

wants to think that their society produces monsters like Ted Bundy,

Dahmer, or Chris Pollitt.

Brolin paints a bad enough picture.

The jury convinced itself the kid can't be normal.

The defense has added Chris's mother to their witness list.

Oh, great.

Now we'll hear stories about the poor baby torturing puppies during nap time.

From the day he was born, we knew Chris was... different.

Please go on, Mrs. Pollack.

He never cried.

We thought maybe he was deaf or dumb. We didn't know.

When he was four, I took one of his toys away.

He went crazy and came at me with a knife.

Where is Chris's father now?

He's in Attica.

And why is he in prison?

Jack attacked the mailman with a hammer.

And is he the only family member in prison?

Jack's brother.

Chris's uncle is serving life for murder.

Thank you, Mrs. Pollitt.

Mrs. Pollitt, did you try to discipline Chris at all?

Jack hit him all the time.

It didn't help.

So you just gave up on him?

I used to think it was my fault.

But I didn't know about this Gene stuff.

Oh, the...

The Jane stuff, right?

Do you believe it? Do you believe that Chris inherited his criminal behavior

as such he's totally incapable of changing?

Well, there's nothing I could do about it. But if there was, you would do

something about it? Sure.

How many months pregnant are you, Mrs. Paula?

Five. Has it ever occurred to you that you might be carrying a killer?

Would you think I want another one like him? I don't know, Mrs. Pollack, but if

he is like Chris, what are you going to do about it? I'm not going to kill my

baby, if that's what you're saying.

You haven't thought this through at all, have you?

What do you mean?

If this theory is true, and your infant is like Chris, aren't we going

to have to lock him up right away and sterilize him so he won't reproduce?

Because if he is genetically criminal, he can't stop.

Or why don't we just avoid the whole bloody mess and kill him right now?

Counselor.

No further questions.

For me, it's always cold fried chicken before a summation.

Summation's next week.

Change of plans.

I ran out of witnesses.

How about the ranch that you put Chris on, Stan?

Yeah, I would.

But my client thinks otherwise.

Well, maybe your client is smarter than both of us.

You know, the way I see it, I've got jurors two, five, and seven. You've got

six, four, eleven. The rest are up the ground.

Roland, you know what they say about counting your chickens.

Listen, Ben.

Give me Man 2.

He stays at Spofford till he hits his 18th birthday, and the rest he spends at

facility of your choice.

Hold on.

What's going on?

If you have three jurors in your pocket, it's a sure mistrial.

I advised him against it, but, uh,

Chris wants to sit down.

Okay.

Come on.

My office, 9 o 'clock.

Want a drink?

Yeah. I just want you to understand, Chris, I don't think this is in your

interest.

Don't worry, you're off the hook.

I spoke to your attorney last night, Chris, and a plea at this point in the

trial is unacceptable.

I don't think you get what I'm looking for.

I heard everything that went on in the courtroom, and I just... I just want it

over with.

Chris, this is a mistake.

Why?

I mean, you go on and on about how my teams are screwed up.

And nobody can ever fix that, can they? I'm just trying to get the jury on our

side.

What, are you lying?

I'm just trying to present a valid argument for your defense.

I mean, I killed him, didn't I?

I mean, I tried to kill that guy in the deli and that kid at Spofford.

I'm screwed up.

Chris, what are you trying to tell us?

I want to go to jail.

You might spend the rest of your life there, Chris.

So what?

I'm a freak.

Can't force the other side to play.

You put a check in a win column and you count your blessings. In any other

circumstances, that's exactly what I'd do. Why does this kid deserve such

special attention?

Because he's pleading for the wrong reason. His lawyer tells him that he's

bad. We say he's raised bad. He buys both stories, sees his life as a dead

Maybe he knows his life better than you do. Your job is to convict, not to

rehabilitate. He's a 14 -year -old kid who gave up. So you're doing him a

If he gave up his illusions, right, but he gave up hope, and I drove him to

that. Now, anything might happen to that kid in prison. Gary Gilmore, Wesley

Dodd, two unrepentant killers.

Everybody wants them dead until they agree, and then we turn them into folk

heroes. I had nothing to do with their fates. You want them to start naming

churches after you, I'd get another profession. Take the kids, plea, move on

the next case.

Murder, too, he serves the maximum.

Am I reading this right, Miss Brolin?

It's what my client wants, Your Honor.

Do you understand the charges to which you're pleading guilty, Mr. Pollitt?

Yes.

Please describe in your own words what occurred on the night of September the

10th of this year.

I had a fight with Johnny.

I hit him and I kicked him until he was dead.

Why did you kill him?

Think I know.

I get mad, I can't stop.

The result of a plea bargain usually is a reduced sentence.

Doesn't anybody live?

I killed him.

I'd do it again.

I don't want anybody's help.

Mrs. Jones.

Your Honor, we have agreed that the defendant be incarcerated in a juvenile

facility until his 18th birthday, at which point he'd be transferred to

Why?

We're trying to save your life, son.

What's the point?