Original subtitles

- In the criminal justice system,

the people are represented

by two separate, yet equally important groups:

the police, who investigate crime,

and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders.

These are their stories.

- I heard the good news.

- I still can't believe it.

And thank you so much for writing that letter.

It means the world to me.

- He's a great kid.

Princeton's lucky to get him.

No, I mean that.

- Really?

He doesn't even nod hello?

I mean, here we are, working on a Saturday to make him rich.

He doesn't even say hello?

- You're missing the point.

We're here to make ourselves rich.

We're using him, just like he's using us.

[ominous music]

- The lady over there saw the body,

called 911.

- Did she see anything else? - No, sir. Just the body.

- Any other potential witnesses?

- No, sir.

? ?

- That's a lot of rage.

- Those are some very deep wounds.

Thinking maybe a pipe or maybe a bat?

- Got an ID?

- We didn't touch him. We were waiting for you guys.

- His wedding band and watch are still on him.

- Got a wallet.

Jon Geller, Higson Capital.

- Geller.

I know that name.

Wall Street guy, right?

He's kind of a legend.

- Can you bag that?

- Yes, ma'am.

- Probably on his way to his beach house

or someplace fabulous.

- Yeah, but once in a while,

it's not so good to be a legend.

? ?

[dramatic music]

? ?

- Cause of death was- you guessed it-

blunt force trauma.

Pretty vicious attack.

10, possibly 11, blows to the head and face

with a heavy object.

- Any idea what kind?

- No, but based on the wounds, something with a sharp

and thin edge to it, like a crowbar.

- Anything else?

- Found some third-party DNA

under Geller's nails.

- Figures.

The guy's been scratching and clawing

his entire life, right?

- Are you sure?

He's not the only Jon Geller in New York.

- Yeah, we're sure.

- Um, I'm very sorry.

We just need to ask you a few questions.

Were you aware of his plans for the day?

- Uh, he was heading out to Long Island

to play golf with a client.

- Was he driving?

- No, no, no.

He was-he was taking his helicopter.

He stopped by the office first.

- Was there anything unusual happening lately?

Anyone harassing him, stalking him, threatening him?

- Oh. - Whoa, whoa, whoa.

I got you. OK, all right.

Take a seat. Take a seat.

OK, breathe.

OK, just breathe.

- [crying]

- According to the video surveillance

we just watched, you guys met with Geller

earlier this morning?

- Uh, correct.

- And how long did you guys meet for?

- About ten minutes, maybe less.

- What'd you talk about?

- Business.

- Did he seem upset or agitated or everything seemed normal?

- Uh, both.

- What does that mean?

- Jon's normal state of being- at work, anyway-

was being agitated, so both.

- That your impression as well?

- Yeah, more or less.

He was a little more agitated than usual.

- Why is that?

- Because the deal we were working on hasn't closed yet.

He thought we weren't working hard enough.

- Did he mention anything about his plans for the day,

where he was going, who he was meeting with?

- No.

- To your knowledge, was anyone harassing or threatening him?

- No.

- Is there anything you can tell us

that you think might be helpful?

- He was carrying a putter.

He just had it custom made.

He said it was going to change his life.

- [sighs]

- Good chance that new putter was the murder weapon.

- Really changed the guy's life too.

Excuse me.

Are you the assistant for Mr. Geller?

- Yes, I heard what happened, and I rushed over.

I wanted to see if I could help with anything.

- What time did you arrive?

- About ten minutes ago.

- Did you happen to talk with

or text Mr. Geller this morning?

- Yes, we texted around 8:30.

- About what?

- His flight to Bridgehampton.

- Was he traveling alone?

- No.

- I was waiting for him at the helipad.

I just thought he was running late

or got caught on an early morning Zoom.

So I left and got a coffee.

- And you and Mr. Geller were heading to Long Island

to play golf?

Is that right?

- Yes.

- Which course?

- Um, the one he belongs to.

It's private.

- You don't know the name of it?

- No.

- Let me remind you that we're investigating

a homicide here, OK?

So anything that you say is actually-

- Sorry.

We weren't going out to play golf.

We were gonna spend the weekend together.

- Just the two of you?

- We were dating.

- So was this a serious thing or-

- Yes.

- Did Mr. Geller's wife know?

- Jon said he was gonna tell her about us,

ask for a divorce.

But he didn't wanna hurt her.

- Did you actually see Jon this morning?

Speak to him? - No.

He told me to meet him at the helipad at 10:00.

- Any altercations? Any arguments?

- Well, last night, Jon and his wife

got into an argument over the phone.

It sounded pretty heated.

- You know what it was about?

- Not really.

But I heard Jon say, this is happening,

whether you like it or not.

And then he just sort of stormed off,

told me he'd meet me at the helipad.

And that was it.

That was the last time I saw him.

- Do you think it's possible that Geller told her

about you and the divorce?

- Yeah.

He said he was going to.

Wait, you don't think that-

- Wait, you're telling me that Jon was-

he was dating a man?

- Yeah.

His name is Matt Thomas. - [sighs]

I find that very hard to believe.

- We're just telling you what we know.

- This man was meeting Jon

at the East End helipad yesterday morning.

- And he also says he heard Jon having an argument with you

the night before he was killed.

- What are you talking about?

- They were out at a bar,

and he heard Jon say, this is happening,

whether you like it or not.

Was he asking you for a divorce?

- A divorce?

No.

We were arguing about our son, Shane.

Jon wanted him to repeat the sixth grade.

He thought it would give him a tactical advantage,

you know, him being older than other kids.

And I thought it was overkill.

That's what we were arguing about.

- Did you find the person who killed my dad?

- No, not yet, but we are doing everything we can,

I promise you.

- Shane, honey, please go up to your room, OK?

- Mrs. Geller, I apologize in advance,

but where were you yesterday morning at 9:45 a.m.?

- Well, I had a Pilates class in the West Village.

- I know we asked you this earlier,

but can you think of anyone that was harassing

or threatening your husband?

- There's this one guy at work.

He was threatening to sue Jon for a lot of money.

- You all right?

- Yeah.

I was thinking about Geller's wife.

Dead bodies I can handle,

but telling innocent people secrets about their loved ones?

Not my favorite.

- Yeah, I get it.

Part of the deal, though, right?

Talking with perfect strangers on the worst day of their life,

asking them personal questions, telling them things

they never knew about their loved ones.

- Hell of a job.

[keyboard clacking]

- Sorry to bother you, Mr. Addis.

- I'm sort of in the middle of something.

- Eh, this won't take long.

- We want to know why you were threatening to sue Geller.

- [sighs] Excuse me.

Jon led me to believe that I was going to be

named CEO when he retired.

Told me that, like, five or six times.

- But he appointed somebody else instead?

- Carter Getzelman.

Good guy.

We went to business school together.

But I was still upset.

I've had lots of lucrative offers over the past few years,

and every time I got one, Jon persuaded me to stay,

told me I was going to run the firm when he retired.

But I never actually sued him.

- Why is that?

- We talked it out and renegotiated

my employment contract for the better.

- How come you didn't tell us this

last time we spoke?

- Well, you never asked.

- I'm pretty sure we did.

- Huh.

I lied. Habit.

- Excuse me?

- Three rules of Wall Street-

never admit defeat, never use your own money,

and never tell the truth.

- Are you trying to be funny? - Mm, a little.

- Knock it off.

- I didn't kill Jon Geller.

That's ridiculous.

Truth is, I liked him and respected him.

He taught me a lot and made me rich too.

- You happen to exit the building that day

after Geller left?

- I went for a quick lunch around 1:00.

- Got a receipt?

- Paid in cash.

- Didn't know you could still do that.

[phone vibrating]

- Ooh.

Guys, I need to take this.

Addis.

[tense music]

? ?

- These Wall Street dudes are so proud of being ruthless.

I'm not sure if this Addis guy is as OK

as he suggests at being passed over.

- Only thing more intoxicating than money

is power, right? - Yeah.

- And how about that video?

- There's footage of him leaving the building

at 12:49 p.m.

- Nothing before that?

- No, but I'm guessing there's a back exit.

For all we know, he could have snuck out and snuck back in.

[phone dings]

- DNA results are in.

? ?

[siren wailing]

? ?

- OK.

This is just officially getting ridiculous.

- Yes, it is, but we need to talk.

- And why is that?

- Because your DNA matches the DNA found

under Geller's fingernails.

- That's impossible.

- No, it's not impossible at all.

We borrowed some of the coffee cups

from the conference room.

Turns out the saliva-

- I don't drink coffee.

Never have.

So if the cups you borrowed had coffee in them,

it wasn't me.

This is my stimulant of choice.

? ?

- Nick Rossi.

- What's going on?

- Can you give me that cup

and put your hands behind your back?

- Why?

- Because you're under arrest

for the murder of Jon Geller.

- What?

- We found your DNA under Jon Geller's fingernails.

People who commit murder shouldn't leave

half-empty coffee cups lying around.

? ?

- We just found your DNA under Geller's fingernails.

And a patrol officer just found the putter,

the one that you used to smash Geller's skull, in a dumpster.

So I'm guessing we're gonna find your fingerprints

all over that too.

And if that wasn't enough, we've got video

of you leaving the office the morning of the murder

at 8:48 a.m.

You don't return until 11:17.

So what happened, huh?

Why'd you attack this guy?

You know, I looked at your bio.

You graduated top of your class at Fordham.

You played lacrosse. You got a clean record.

I mean, you seem like a good kid.

But good kids don't kill people.

Not without a reason, right?

A good reason?

You know, Nick, believe it or not,

I actually am trying to help you here,

but I can't do that

if you don't tell me your side of the story.

So just start at the beginning.

What did Geller say? What did Geller do?

- He is the most disrespectful human being

I've ever met.

He treats people like- he acts like-

he acts like he owns you.

- That must be very hard to deal with.

I know if someone treated me that way day after day-

- I'm done talking.

I want a lawyer.

- Thanks for doing this.

Please.

The evidence against Mr. Rossi is strong.

It's clear that he killed Mr. Geller.

What I'm trying to understand is why.

Was there anything going on between these two?

Anything unusual?

Anything unrelated to work?

- Not that I'm aware of.

But they definitely weren't romantically involved,

if that's what you're suggesting.

- And what made Rossi, who is seemingly

a normal, law-abiding young man,

commit such a violent act?

The defendant worked with Jon Geller for five years.

He was paid quite handsomely as well.

Last year, his total compensation was $745,000.

That's not bad for someone who just turned 27.

And yet, the defendant despised John Geller.

He thought he was disrespectful,

dismissive, abusive.

And for the most part, he'd been able

to keep this disdain in check

and carry out his professional obligations.

But on July 19th,

on a crisp, sunny Saturday morning,

something triggered him

to viciously attack and kill Jon Geller.

To be honest, we don't know the reason for this attack,

but we do know the evidence will show

the defendant confronted Mr. Geller

near the East End helipad

and beat him to death

with a golf club.

The defendant may look like just another

clean-cut former lacrosse player

trying to make it big on Wall Street.

And for the most part, he was,

until the morning of July 19th, anyway.

On that day, he turned

into a vengeful and cold-blooded killer.

- You've all heard of Battered Wife Syndrome-

or Abused Person Syndrome,

as they say here in New York.

Nick Rossi was a victim of something very similar,

Battered Banker Syndrome.

The victims of this abuse suffer

the same debilitating and disturbing

psychological trauma as those who suffer

from Abused Person Syndrome.

Jon Geller mentally tortured

and abused Nick Rossi for years.

The abuse was so extreme and its effect on Mr. Rossi

so profound that Mr. Rossi truly believed

the only way to extricate himself

from this abusive relationship

was to kill the man abusing him.

- "Battered Banker Syndrome" is neither a legal concept

nor a psychological condition.

It is a made-up buzzword.

It's a clever phrase the defense invented

with the goal of blaming Mr. Geller for his own death.

They're-they're trying to put Geller on trial

instead of the person who killed him.

This is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt

to goad the jury into ignoring the law.

- There's nothing veiled about what we're trying to do here.

We want people to understand just how degrading

and stressful it was to work for Jon Geller.

- And this Battered Banker thing?

- Is merely a variation of a well-known condition.

In many ways, it's the exact same thing.

The psychological consequences of an abusive employer

to an employee are akin

to those of an abusive husband to his wife.

- Except for the fact that bosses

aren't named in the statute.

This law is meant to address children,

wives, domestic partners.

- Or persons who are or have been

in an intimate relationship.

- Correct, intimate, not professional.

- Well, when you spend 100 hours a week together

in an office building- - [laughs]

No, no, no. That is ridiculous.

If the legislature wanted to include

employers in the statute, they would have done so.

Furthermore, there's no evidence whatsoever

that Geller was ever physically abusive.

- That's not true.

Geller was constantly threatening to harm my client.

- No, it was all hyperbole-

- Ah, a threat is a threat.

- That's a fair point.

But the facts don't even remotely support

a claim of self-defense.

The defendant followed Geller

to the East End helipad.

He pursued the victim.

- I understand.

And if you're right, and if the facts are

as clear as you suggest, the jury will see that.

But Mr. Damaso is free to present

the defense he wants, flaws and all.

- Your Honor, they are inventing a narrative

for the sole purpose of confusing the jury.

- Pretty sure that's Mr. Damaso's job.

- Mr. Addis, could you please describe

your general impression

of the relationship between Mr. Geller

and the defendant?

- My general impression is,

they really didn't have a relationship.

I'm not sure Jon even knew Nick's first name.

- And what was your general impression

of the defendant's opinion of Mr. Geller?

- Well, he hated him with a passion.

- Why do you say that?

- Because he told me all the time.

Geller drove him crazy.

- Can you be more specific?

- Geller was all about business, money.

Two and twenty.

- What does that mean?

- We get 2% of the assets under management

and 20% of the profits.

That's all that Geller focused on,

growing our assets and increasing our profits.

He had absolutely no interest in anything else,

no empathy for employees,

no interest in people's personal lives.

But everyone knew that.

That was the bargain we all made.

Work like a dog, be treated like crap,

get rich by 35.

But Nick didn't seem to comprehend that.

He never quite figured out

that he'd made a deal with the devil.

- Did the defendant ever say that he intended

to inflict harm upon Mr. Geller?

- Yes. - When was this?

- About a week or so before Geller was killed.

- What did he say?

- He was tired of Geller disrespecting him.

Said if he kept it up, he was going to beat his ass.

To be honest, I just thought he was venting.

- Can you please describe what happened

on the morning of July 19th?

- Nick and I were working, trying to close a deal

we'd been working on for months.

And Geller stopped by, carrying this new putter

he had custom built, and he was pissed.

He said that we needed to close the deal this week,

or we'd both be fired.

- And then what happened?

- He left, said he was off to the Hamptons.

- How did the defendant react?

- He just kept complaining about Geller.

And then about 15 minutes later,

he just walked out.

- Did he tell you where he was going?

- No.

I just assumed that he had hit his breaking point,

that he quit.

Happens a lot.

- Nothing further.

- If Mr. Rossi wanted to go home

and take a nap on the morning of July 19th,

Mr. Geller would have fired him, correct?

- Yes, absolutely.

- If Nick Rossi were ill

and left the office to see a doctor,

Geller would have fired him for that as well, correct?

- No, Geller wasn't that crazy.

He probably would have just tortured him

a little bit down the road.

Look, this business isn't for everyone.

But if you sign up for it, if you're lucky enough

to get one of the coveted few seats of the table,

you don't get to be soft.

You have to be prepared to do whatever it takes-

working through illnesses,

birthday dinners, friends' weddings.

If you don't want to do that or you can't do that,

then get a job whipping up cappuccinos

at a caf� in the West Village.

- Nothing further.

- There were several lacerations to the scalp,

including a linear laceration measuring 13 centimeters

on the left temporal region and a stellate laceration

with surrounding abrasions on the right parietal region.

Multiple skull fractures were identified

on the left frontal lobe,

as well as evidence of cerebral contusions

and subarachnoid hemorrhage.

- Does the medical report state

how many times Mr. Geller was struck?

- Yes.

Based on an examination of the decedent's injuries,

the decedent was struck at least 10,

possibly 11 times with violent force.

- Is there a reason why the medical examiner

wasn't more exact?

- Sometimes when the violence is so severe,

it's just impossible for the medical examiner

to determine exactly how many blows

were administered with any real degree of certainty.

- In other words, this attack was so violent,

it is impossible for the medical-

- Objection.

- Sustained.

- Nothing further.

- No questions.

- People rest.

[tense music]

- Photos seemed to do the trick.

The jury was horrified, in a good way.

- I just need to keep reminding them

that Geller was the victim, not Rossi,

and that having a bad boss doesn't give you

the right to commit murder.

- Yeah.

The problem is, people hate bad bosses,

and lots of people have them, which means

some or even most of the jury have them.

- That may be true, but that's a good thing too.

- Why is that?

- Well, none of the jurors killed their bad boss.

[overlapping arguing]

- You didn't know my husband. You don't know-

- And you don't know my son.

- Why didn't he just quit?

He didn't have to bash his face in!

- Your husband treated him like dirt!

Didn't let him come to my wedding.

My wedding! - OK, OK.

- That's what he- - OK, OK. Calm down.

- Stop talking to me! - Screw your wedding!

- Everyone, back up, now.

- At least you have your husband!

- I know you're just doing your job,

but you're on the wrong end of this one.

A man can only be pushed so far.

- Let's go. Time to leave.

- Dr. Morley, did you have the opportunity

to examine Mr. Rossi?

- I did.

- And what were your observations?

- That he is, in essence, experiencing the same level

of fear, stress, helplessness, and anger

that abused wives or domestic partners tend to suffer.

- Would it be reasonable for someone suffering

this kind of abuse to believe

they were in imminent fear of death?

- Yes.

- Would it be reasonable for someone

suffering from this condition to believe the only way

to end the abusive behavior was to kill the abuser?

- Yes, absolutely.

- Nothing further.

- There is no condition or-or illness

in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual

of Mental Disorders called Battered Banker Syndrome.

- Correct.

- And most cases of Abused Person Syndrome

are a result of abusive intimate relationships.

The victim typically lives with

or is sexually involved with the abuser.

- Yes. - And to be clear,

in your examination of the defendant,

he never once mentioned that-that he was

intimately or sexually involved with Mr. Geller.

- He did not.

- He didn't live with Mr. Geller?

- That's correct.

- And Mr. Geller never

put his hands on the defendant, either.

- No.

- OK. Thank you.

- On the morning of July 19th, did you hear Jon Geller

arguing with Nick Rossi?

- Yes.

- What was the basis of the argument?

- Geller was pissed the McKenna deal hadn't closed yet.

He was worried the interest rate might spike

and kill the projected IRR.

- Meaning what? He'd make less money?

- Yes.

- Did you hear the exact words Mr. Geller said

to Mr. Rossi? - Yes.

I was standing in the hallway near the coffee room.

And I heard Geller screaming at Nick.

He said something like,

"Do not leave this office until the deal is closed.

"If you so much as take a walk around the block,

"I will fire you.

"No, wait. That's too kind.

"I will literally beat you with a baseball bat

and watch you bleed to death."

- Have you seen or heard Mr. Geller

verbally attack Nick Rossi before that incident?

- Yes, several times.

- How would you characterize

the nature of these verbal attacks?

- As sadistic.

I think Geller enjoyed berating Nick.

I once heard him say, "You are probably

the dumbest associate I've ever hired."

- Can you recall any other verbal abuse?

- About a month ago, Geller was really upset

and started attacking Nick's Italian heritage.

It was so outrageous, I just started recording.

- Your Honor, I'd like to introduce this video

as Defense Exhibit 22.

- I can't believe I actually hired you.

I don't know what I was thinking.

And I swear to God,

if you don't somehow

get smarter, a lot smarter,

I'm gonna throw your dumb ass out on the street,

and you're going to be pouring concrete

with your paisans from Brooklyn.

- I'm sorry. I'll do better. - No, no, no.

You don't get to apologize or make mistakes.

That's not how it works.

You either get it right, or get out!

And I'm serious.

You screw up one more time,

you're gone-

from here, from Wall Street.

Oh, I'll blow your ass up at every firm in this city.

[dramatic music]

- So what happened after the video ended?

- Geller walked back to his office like nothing happened.

In fact, he was kind of smiling,

like he was proud of his rant.

- And what about Nick?

- Nick started crying.

It was difficult to watch.

- Nothing further.

? ?

- No questions.

- The witness is excused.

- The defense calls Ron Moffit.

- Your Honor, can we meet in chambers?

There is nothing Mr. Moffit can testify to

that is remotely relevant to this case.

- Really?

You don't think the fact that Mr. Moffit's son

died at his desk while working for Geller

is relevant to this current case?

It literally couldn't be more relevant.

It establishes the reasonableness

of Mr. Rossi's fear of imminent death.

- Can you be more specific?

- Geller abused this young man, Ted Moffit.

He abused Rossi the same way.

And that kid wound up dead-

died at his desk after working 72 hours

because Geller refused to let him leave.

- Sounds relevant to me.

Call your witness.

- When was the last time you talked to your son?

- The day before he passed.

- Was he sick?

- Yeah, he had the flu.

I told him to stay home and get some rest.

He said that was not an option.

- What do you mean by that?

- Ted said they were working on some important transaction,

and he needed to be in the office.

I said, I don't care how big a damn deal that was.

You need to stay home and get in bed.

- And how did he respond?

- That if he stayed home, Geller would have him fired.

So he went to the office.

He worked all night,

and he passed the next night at his desk.

- Thank you.

Nothing further.

- Mr. Moffit,

Mr. Geller didn't force your son

to go to work that day.

If Ted had listened to your advice

and stayed at home,

no one from Higson Capital would have come

to his apartment and dragged him to the office.

- No, of course not.

But he would have been fired.

- According to Ted.

He may have believed that he would have been fired,

but there's no evidence of that.

That was simply Ted's impression.

- All I can say is that Ted didn't think

he could stay home that day, even with the flu.

- Ted also had a pre-existing heart condition as well,

arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy.

- That's correct.

- An autopsy was conducted following Ted's death?

- Yes.

- And the official cause of death was

determined to be sudden cardiac arrest.

- Yes.

- So from a medical perspective,

Mr. Geller had absolutely nothing

to do with your son's death.

- What?

Well, he didn't choke him to death.

He didn't stick a damn knife in his chest.

But Geller contributed to his death.

All that stress, all that pressure,

plus the lack of sleep,

that is what caused Ted's heart to malfunction.

- That's your belief, sir.

But the medical examiner did not find any evidence-

- I don't care about the damn medical examiner.

If it weren't for Jon Geller, my son would still be alive.

I guarantee that.

[dramatic music]

- Nothing further.

- Can you please tell the jury what happened

on the morning of July 19th?

- I was working on this deal day after day,

trying to- we were trying to buy

this luxury goods company called McKenna.

- When you say day after day, what do you mean?

- It means I didn't leave the office

for three straight days.

- Not even at night?

- No.

I slept in my office.

- Can you describe your-your state of mind?

- I felt like I was trapped,

like I couldn't leave the building.

I literally felt like I was gonna die like Ted.

And that scared me.

I was the one who found Ted's body.

At first, I thought he was sleeping,

but he was dead.

- If you felt this way, why didn't you just quit?

- I thought about it all the time,

but I couldn't do it.

I needed to stick it out, succeed.

- Even though Geller was verbally

and mentally abusing you.

- Objection. - Sustained.

- I'll rephrase-

even though you were miserable and felt trapped.

- Yes.

Look, I know it doesn't make any sense,

but I didn't think quitting was an option.

Not for a guy like me, anyway.

- What do you mean by that?

- I didn't go to Harvard.

I don't have an MBA.

I kind of snuck in through the back door, you know?

I wanted to prove myself and prove that I belonged.

If I quit, my career would be over.

Other firms would think that I couldn't hack it

or that I got pushed out.

Rich kids with perfect r�sum�s get to quit.

Blue collar kids who went to Fordham don't.

So I sucked it up, no matter how bad it got.

- When you left the office

the morning of July 19th,

what were you trying to accomplish?

- What do you mean?

- What was your objective, your goal?

- My goal was to free myself of Geller's chokehold.

- Can you be more specific?

- I felt like he was suffocating me.

I couldn't breathe.

I couldn't think.

My heart was racing.

Like I said, I thought I was gonna die.

So that morning, when I left the office,

my purpose was to kill Jon Geller

because I knew that if I didn't,

I would have ended up dead.

- Your Honor, it's almost 5:00.

Can we adjourn for the day?

- Yes, good idea.

We'll see you all tomorrow morning.

[gavel bangs]

- So you want me to testify as a rebuttal witness.

- I need you to help establish Rossi's state of mind,

his general demeanor on the morning of the murder.

- Why?

- Because Rossi just told the jury that he felt like

he was on the verge of death that morning.

He couldn't breathe. His heart was racing.

And he was very convincing too.

- Yeah, well, I'm not sure I can do that.

[clears throat]

- Well, what do you mean?

You were there. You were with Rossi.

- Oh, yes, but I've had time to reflect.

And I'm starting to relate more

to Rossi's point of view on all this.

- What the hell are you talking about?

- Jon Geller and his number two,

Carter Getzelman, created a hostile

and poisonous work environment.

They constantly and systematically

degraded employees, made unreasonable

and unhealthy demands of their time.

I don't wanna say anything on the record

that might appear to support this type of behavior.

- You son of a bitch.

- Excuse me?

- You're using this trial

to take out the new CEO, Getzelman.

- No.

I'm trying to do the right thing.

- [scoffs] Uh, no.

No, no, no.

No, the right thing is to tell the truth,

is to get justice for Jon Geller,

not to exploit his murder for personal gain.

You said that you liked him, that you respected-

that he made you rich.

- He did.

Just not rich enough.

- [sighs] Hope it's worth it.

[elevator dings]

- I knew Geller was a shark, but-

- It's all just a game to these guys.

They see a pathway to more money or power, they take it.

- Hell of a way to live,

if you exclude the Hamptons houses

and the private jets.

- I need to make it clear on cross

that Geller's so-called threats were hollow.

They were just bluster and hyperbole,

and that no matter how disrespectful Geller could be

or how helpless Rossi felt,

it didn't justify murder.

The simple truth is, Rossi got tired

of Geller degrading him, and he snapped.

- If that's what you believe,

shouldn't we be considering a lesser charge?

- Excuse me?

- You just said he snapped.

If that's what you think, then-

- Yeah, yeah, he snapped,

but it was a cold-blooded attack,

based on-on rage, anger, hate.

- Yeah, yeah, sure, but he was in a tough situation.

- What do you mean?

- He knew he didn't fit in, right?

That he was different than most,

if not all, the other associates.

Pretty sure they call that imposter syndrome.

- I get it.

And it's understandable for someone

to have doubts about his or her status

or sense of belonging

within a highly competitive organization,

but it obviously doesn't justify murder.

- Oh, no. No, of course not.

I'm just saying it explains the-

the anger and stress.

You know, it's not easy to work at a place

filled with really smart, really driven people

who all went to the best schools

when you're just a regular Joe.

You know, you try really hard to fit in and be one of them.

But deep down, you know you're not.

- I understand how difficult that might be

and that it's easy for someone in that situation

to feel insecure at times.

But once again, it has nothing to do with this case.

It doesn't matter that Rossi seems like a decent guy

and that he was trying hard to fit in

or that he was being overworked and disrespected.

That's the job.

That's what he signed up for.

- Well, what can I say?

I like to root for the underdog.

- I know.

But unfortunately, prosecuting decent people

who do horrible things, people like Rossi,

that's part of our job.

That is what we signed up for.

When you accepted the offer to join Higson Capital,

you knew that you'd be required to work

incredibly long hours, correct?

- Yes.

- And that you would be asked to work weekends

and even through the night, on occasion?

- Yes.

- But that wasn't the problem.

- I don't know what you mean.

- Well, the problem was Jon Geller.

You despised him.

You thought he was an elitist?

- Yes to both questions.

- It's hard

to work at a place like Higson,

a place that is filled with really smart,

really driven people who all went to the best schools

when you're just a regular Joe.

- It is.

- You try really hard to fit in

and to be one of them, but you knew that you weren't.

And you knew the second you screwed up,

Geller was going to kick your ass to the curb.

- I suppose.

- And you hated Geller for making you feel that way.

- That's not true.

- You didn't suffer from Battered Banker Syndrome.

You suffered from imposter syndrome.

- I don't know what that means.

- It means you knew you didn't belong.

You knew your peers were more accomplished than you,

and you knew that Geller knew.

- Is there a question here?

- Get to the point, Mr. Price.

- You didn't kill Jon Geller

because you were afraid for your life.

You killed Jon Geller because he made you feel

inadequate, small, weak.

You resented his wealth, his pedigree.

- I resented his arrogance.

- And that's why you killed him, right?

Because he was arrogant.

Because he saw right through your fa�ade.

- He thought he was a king,

that he could say whatever he wanted.

- And that pissed you off!

- Yes! - Your Honor, a brief recess.

- So you killed- - Your Honor-

- You didn't need to kill Jon Geller.

You wanted to kill him.

- You're damn right I did!

And that son of a bitch got what he deserved!

[dramatic music]

? ?

- That might have been the quickest

jury deliberation ever.

- He confessed on the stand.

- Yeah.

I still feel bad for him, though.

- Not me.

- Really?

Not even a little?

Well, I aspire to be as coldhearted as you someday.

- Good luck.

Look, I know you were just venting earlier.

But you are no impostor, Sam.

And if I make you feel that way-

- No.

No, you don't.

It's just, uh, the way I see the world, I suppose.

[dramatic music]

? ?

[wolf howls]

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