Original subtitles

I'll have a blue Christmas

without you.

I'll be so blue just thinking

about you.

Decorations of blue.

You can't sing a sad song at a Christmas pageant that's supposed to be happy.

Holidays aren't merry for everybody. It's the loneliest time of year. So call

escort service and don't bother us.

It's that kind of insensitivity that compounds the melancholy.

It's not your pageant. I get to sing the song I want.

Would you keep it down, please?

Oh, honey, is your head still hurting?

I feel a little dizzy. Have a jolly, jolly Christmas.

It's the best time of the year.

Ah, good.

That's the police telling us to quiet down.

Hey.

Hey. I'm looking for Carter.

Carter? Right here. Somebody dead?

Uh, yeah.

Heart attack. ER. Doctor already pronounced.

Suspicious fall play?

No. Simple cardiac arrest.

We don't need you for anything official.

Why do you want it?

Well, uh... I'm sorry.

It was your mother.

Hi, Mom.

Well, you'd usually find a way to ruin Christmas.

Carter?

Lyman?

I came as soon as I heard.

into cardiac arrest while watching TV.

Hi, Mom.

You know, she'd usually find a way to ruin Christmas.

Yeah.

She's dead, Lyman.

We don't have any parents left.

Well... Gotta find out how.

Better get to work.

What do you mean, get to work?

I got a lot to do.

Toxicology, dissection, internal examination.

You're gonna autopsy Mom?

Of course. This is a suspicious death. What's suspicious? She had heart

It could just look that way. You're not cutting up Mom.

Lyman, I'm chief pathologist. It's my job.

I've been a pathologist longer than you have. This is natural causes. You have

no jurisdiction here.

No. What's wrong with you? You're interfering with an official

I'm interfering with a certified nut.

What kind of a pathologist has a piano in his cutting room?

That's to practice for the Christmas. If you want to embark on one of your

postmortems... Stop interfering.

If anybody's going to autopsy, Mom, it's going to be me.

I'm the medical examiner of Hogan County. This is my case. You get out.

If you so much as make one incision, I swear I'll have your license.

Get out.

We'll see about this.

Emergency. Rome High School. We're on it.

Come on, Ricky. Come on now. Put that thing down. No!

Shut up!

What happened? Take care of the kids. Crazy. Tie her to a tree. Stay back.

Ricky, put the flagpole down. Get away!

She's my angel.

She's my angel.

Don't take another step closer to my angel. He keeps calling her his angel.

Ricky. Away in a manger, no bread for us.

Show and tell is over. Kenny.

You've got a flagpole.

I've got a gun.

Shut up!

See the star, Ricky?

I never miss what I shoot at, Ricky.

Kenny. You don't want me shooting at you.

Hey, look what you did.

You did to me.

Put down the pole now.

They're waiting for him. He didn't know it was Frank.

Bernice, you fainted from fear, but you're just fine to go back to school.

And you, you, you're going home to bed. You have the flu. I'm fine.

You're not fine. Your temperature is 100.

You're going to bed.

I'll phone in.

Bed rest.

Don't answer his calls, Max.

Bye.

Oh,

I should have seen this last night. Thank you.

What about the Welsh kid? Has he got the flu?

No, it's more like crack.

Crack?

Crack cocaine?

In Rome, Wisconsin.

Hospital confirmed it.

Cocaine in his bloodstream.

You have to act, Kenny, fast.

We'll question Mickey Welsh as soon as he gets released. Not enough.

The parents are going to go wild.

We have to do something proactive to show the people that we're responding.

Well, I'll talk to Jimmy and see what he says.

Problem is now.

You're the acting sheriff.

This panic could spread like a brush fire. We must act now.

An injunction. I want an injunction.

Hold on.

Do you have a lawyer?

I did two years of law school. I can bring legal motions if I want to. I'm

to miss Hanukkah. Quiet.

Your Honor, it was cardiac arrest. It was natural causes. And I don't want him

getting knife happy with my mother. She's my mother, too, and I'm a better

pathologist than you.

But a state cathologist of the year survived.

Two years running over you. Ask him about the piano, Judge. He's a wacko.

up. My county, my autopsy, my mother, and she wanted me making these

This is Hogan County.

It's Carter's official call if he wants to dissect his mother. Thank you, Doug.

Shut up, everybody.

If Carter wants to do an autopsy, I suppose that's his official right. Over

objection of family?

He is family. So are you. And since you are also a pathologist, my ruling is

this. You can both do the examination.

Now, get out.

Good afternoon,

boys and girls. If you have information there is cocaine in this building, we're

here to find it.

Hey, that's mine.

Public property.

Take another step forward, you go to jail.

Nothing here.

That's mine.

Open.

Ring. Good. Next.

LSD.

Can anybody tell me where Lisa finished?

Here.

Arrest her, Max.

All right, keep going.

All right, get out of the way.

You have the right to remain silent.

Give up that right.

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

A drug sweep at school?

They just charged right in, busting open lockers. That has to be

unconstitutional. This just happened?

First they broke open my locker and searched it, and then Lisa's.

I'll talk to them.

And, um, Dad, in Lisa's, they found some...

They found some, you know, drugs.

I beg your pardon?

There was some LSD.

What was your best friend doing with LSD?

I just got it to try, that's all. I mean, all the kids are doing it. I

maybe just once.

It was more than just one try there, Lisa. There were four or five hits on

paper. But I wasn't going to take it all.

I mean, that's why I brought it to school for the other kids.

I wasn't going to take it all.

You were going to sell it?

Well, just to get my money back. I mean, the guy sold me too much stuff.

Who? What guy?

I don't know. I mean, I don't know his name.

Do we have to tell my parents?

Don't worry about your parents.

You'd better get yourself a lawyer.

I told you I don't want a lawyer.

I'll do anything, okay? I'll plead guilty.

I just don't want my parents to find out. They're going to find out, Lisa.

You're in a lot of trouble.

What are you doing?

Thoracic abdominal.

I wanted that incision.

Get the xiphoid. Well, I like the sternum, too. I start there, go down to

pubis, I get a rib. What do you want me to do, probe for dandruff? She's my

mother, too, you know.

I'm in charge here. Just stick to the esophagus. There's plenty there.

When it's time for the thoracic, then we can both... Whoa.

What? What?

Come here, quick.

Pfizer. Right there, just above the kneecap.

Dried fluid. Look close.

Steven!

I'm prosecuting it.

No question.

As a felony?

If this was a federal bus, she'd get a 10 -year mandatory sentence.

10 years?

Killers don't do 10 years.

Well, in the eyes of the federal law, drug dealers in school are worse than

killers. And if she brings drugs... Hey, she's not a drug dealer.

She's a good kid who made a mistake. That's it. Let me tell you something,

Sheriff. Possession with intent makes her a drug dealer.

Now, I don't have the discretion to kick this thing, even if I wanted to, which

I don't.

Who told you to raid the school?

I was the acting sheriff. We had a problem, I responded.

I'm out for one day with the flu and you feel you gotta respond.

We found cocaine in 12 lockers, marijuana in six.

That search was way overdue. Uh -huh.

Well, I'm back now.

I found semen on my mother.

Carter, will you quiet down? I won't quiet down. My mother has been murdered.

She wasn't murdered.

What are you talking about? I don't think it was a simple heart attack.

Wally Pendleton made love to her and intercoursed her into cardiac arrest.

I want him charged with murder. Okay, slow down.

What is going on? My brother's losing his mind. I want this man off the case.

Carter. She was on a date with Wally Pendleton. We know that. He called the

house to make sure that she got home safely. When she didn't answer the

he called us.

Well, he slept with her.

Tell him Lyman found semen.

That doesn't make the guy a murderer.

Death by suspicious causes. That's my official report.

Look, I'll talk to Wally, all right?

Meanwhile, concentrate on making some funeral arrangements. She was murdered.

I'm not burying her. She wasn't murdered.

Daddy, can I talk to you for a second?

Yeah, honey, in my office.

All right, give me your reports. I'll review them.

And you, don't go around yelling murder. You got that?

What's up, honey?

Please don't prosecute Lisa.

She was planning to distribute LSD, Kimberly.

She just bought it off this guy to experiment.

She didn't know how much there was. She didn't buy it to sell it to other kids.

identify the man who sold it to her?

No.

He just came up to her in the parking lot at Fenton's Mall.

She doesn't know who he is.

I don't know what to tell you, honey.

Daddy, she's my best friend.

And I know...

I know I can't expect favors because my father's the sheriff.

But I've never asked for special treatment, not once.

I'm asking for it now.

I can't do that.

Please.

I asked the court to consider my motion to suppress all evidence.

The despicable search of the school lockers... Students are warned that

lockers can be searched. They therefore have no expectation of privacy.

This was a warrantless Fourth Amendment violation.

Motion denied.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has spoken on this. The lockers can be searched.

The confession was also illegal. Now, my client... Waves counsel.

She's 18. She had the capacity to wave, and she did.

Her statement is allowed.

Well, why don't you execute her right here in this courtroom?

Warm bow, please.

She's just a kid. She was intimidated by the police.

She didn't know what she was saying.

She's of adult age. The case stands.

Probable cause hearing tomorrow at 10.

Defendants released. O .R. adjourned.

Carter's driving the lab crazy, trying to prove somebody killed his mother.

check out Wally Pendleton just to satisfy Carter.

It's a sad day when any of our youth are arrested on drug charges.

We nevertheless have to applaud the quick action of our acting sheriff,

Lacos. As soon as the threat of drugs in our schools became real, he responded.

It's this kind of fast action that is sorely needed in our community.

It's not like it was crack or ice.

LSD can be even more harmful, Kimberly.

But it's not addictive.

Have you ever tried it?

No, but it's all over, Mom.

It only cost like $3, and it's supposed to be amazing.

It can leave you in a permanent psychotic state even one time, and you

permanent psychological effects.

Promise me you will never try it.

I was going to try it.

I was with Lisa when she... Um...

We bought the LSD together.

It could have just as easily have been in my locker.

Does anybody else know about this?

No. Just me and Lisa.

All right, look, we don't tell anybody.

Not even Dad?

No.

I mean, I'm sure that your father wouldn't turn in his own daughter, but

don't know.

I'm sure that he wouldn't have you arrested. I'm positive that he wouldn't

you in, but why... But for now, we say nothing. We say nothing to your

father about you buying drugs.

Okay?

But you get this, young lady.

How dare you?

How dare you? Aside from the utter stupidity, how dare you risk getting

How dare you risk the embarrassment to your father? He is the sheriff and he...

And your little brothers, they worship you.

This family has an obligation to each member, whether you like it or not. They

look up to you whether you like it or not. And if they should hear or see that

you... What's that?

Nothing. Kimberly has some questions about her cycle.

This is a family.

Try not to let your damn teenage selfish curiosity destroy it.

How can you blame yourself?

I've been practicing this song, Blue Christmas, for the pageant. It's about

losing somebody right before the holidays.

Somebody you love more than life.

I don't know, maybe it's some sort of...

Self -fulfilling prophecy.

Maybe I shouldn't have been singing that song.

Carter, you don't really believe that.

No.

I just hope she knows how much I loved her. I didn't tell her enough. I hope...

She knew.

Yeah, but three days ago on the phone we were talking and... What?

Semen analysis back from the lab.

Wally Pendleton isn't who he says he is.

Well, who is he?

Wally Pendleton is a murderer.

What are you doing with that gun?

I have a carry permit.

I'm not just a medical examiner, you know. I don't care.

I can bear arms. We got test results back from the lab. The man my mother had

sex with is genetically identified as Roth Margolis.

What? DNA. The semen analogous trace it to Ross Margolis. Now, get this. I

discovered it. Let me tell him. He won't believe you.

Can I go?

No. Okay, here's the thing.

Ross Margolis was wanted for drug trafficking and five murders in 1988

suddenly vanished.

What do you mean he vanished?

Right off the face of the earth. And here is a computer picture ID of Ross

Margolis.

Dead ringer for Wally here. This man is a fugitive and he killed my mother.

Mr. Pendleton, what do you have to say about this?

Don't I get a phone call?

Maxine arrests the gentleman, then let him have his phone call.

I didn't kill your mother, Carter. If he'd murder, he'd lie.

I think we should be deputized on this. No, I'm not saying another word.

I just feel so guilty saying silent.

And what good would it do if you confessed? I mean, it wouldn't help me

It'd just mean the two of us going to jail.

Besides, it was my idea to buy the stuff anyway.

Do you think I will go to jail?

There's no avoiding it.

That's what I keep telling you. But she's just a teenager.

Now, I'm not going to let them just send my little girl to prison without my

trying to do everything I know how to do. Mrs.

Fenn. No, we do not plead guilty.

They found the drugs in her locker.

She signed a written confession.

If we go to trial, we lose.

I'm not a magician.

So stall.

Drag it out, maybe.

Exactly the opposite.

If we plead guilty now, we can proceed directly to sentencing.

Our best shot is leniency.

A week before Christmas is the most lenient time of the year. I'm telling

as her lawyer, we must put this to the judge today while the wreaths are still

hanging in the courtroom.

And the Christmas carols are in his head.

FBI. Thank you. Release Wally Pendleton.

Pardon me? As I understand it, there's no evidence linking him to the death of

the coroner's mother. I want him released at once.

But there is evidence linking him to other crimes, including murder.

It's real names. It's Ross Margolis. Yes, I know that. Mr. Margolis was part

an international drug ring. He is now part of our federal witness protection

program. He was given the new identity, Wallace Pendleton, and he has lived

happily under that identity since 1988.

You put him in my town and you didn't tell me, the sheriff?

We have marshals he checks in with.

How many people has that man killed?

That's not your concern, Sheriff. What's important?

You put a killer in a community I'm in charge of protecting it damn well is my

concern. This is a federal program. You're preempted. The man has killed

And his testimony has put a lot of people behind bars.

Look, drugs are destroying the country. We all know it.

Sometimes when a problem gets big enough, you do whatever you have to to

Including making deals with murderers?

Please release Wally Pendleton.

Lisa Fenn is not a criminal who poses a risk to society, Your Honor.

We all know that.

No prior record. She's never even gotten a parking ticket.

She's an honor student.

who made one stupid mistake.

She has a loving family, a good community, and all her life she

values of this community.

You can read for yourself the glowing recommendations from 13 different

who are saying that this is a giving, caring young woman with a bright, bright

future.

She pleads guilty today.

Because she chooses not to lie.

She wants to accept responsibility.

That's her character.

I think that under the circumstances, community service or perhaps a few

weekends in jail would be a penalty proportionate with her indiscretion.

She is deeply, deeply sorry, Your Honor.

And we know what prison can do to a person.

Every ruling you ever made was tempered by compassion.

For Lisa's sake, please, don't make an exception today.

An exception is exactly what he's asking you to make.

If this were a black defendant in a city court, he'd be going straight to jail

without ever passing go.

Don't make this about race. You made it about race. Mr. Littleton. I heard the

message in his speech, Your Honor, and so did you.

Lisa Finn isn't one of those gang members. She's a nice suburban kid from

family in a nice lily -white town.

Don't politicize this.

Exactly my point. Don't politicize.

Treat this like any other drug case.

Don't give her special treatment because she's a wonderful honor student who's

sorry. The fact is, Judge, those are not mitigating factors.

She had a choice.

Now, most teenage drug defendants are thrown into that world with little or no

choice. They don't have the stable family, the solid community, the devoted

teachers flanking them with glowing recommendations.

She's privileged.

Now, the question is, does she get a lighter sentence because of her

socioeconomic advantage?

You can't give in to that kind of hypocrisy. He's fighting a different

I'm fighting the war against drugs.

I'm not so sure, Mr. Littleton. Stick to the facts of this case.

If this were in federal court... Lisa Fenn would get a 10 -year mandatory

sentence. That's a fact.

We're not in federal court. But we are subject to the same public policy.

Drugs are invading our schools.

We have not been able to stop it.

A 17 -year -old kid OD'd on crack two days ago and almost killed his teacher

with a flagpole.

Now something has got to be done.

You're the judge. You have a chance right now to do something about it.

The kids at Rome Wisconsin High School are waiting for your message.

So am I.

Now, I have no doubt that Lisa Fenn is a very nice young woman, but she's also a

convicted drug dealer.

She must go to prison.

I didn't kill your mother.

You've killed before, five times.

That was another life.

Ethel and I were friends. Friends communicate.

Did you tell my mother about your former life? I should think not.

You must be Lyman.

She said you'd always ask and answer your own question.

My mother talked about me?

Both of you, all the time.

With such joy.

What are you doing?

I'm questioning the suspect. No. Blimey. It's appropriate for a medically

damaged to question suspect.

They don't believe me. Will you let me do the talking? I have the relationship.

I'll do the talking.

This man had nothing to do with the death of your mother.

They had sex at his house. Two witnesses saw her drive away.

Federal witnesses, probably hired by him. What?

Thank you. Okay, out we go.

Come on.

He even gave Wally a lie detector test. He passed that, too. Your mother died of

natural causes. There is nothing to suspect foul play, and you know it.

So let's just put her at peace.

Body's evidence. I won't bury her. Carter. No.

I'll release Wally Pendleton.

But I'm also releasing his true identity and his criminal records.

If you do that, he'll be killed.

My job is protecting the people in this town. One of which is Wally Pendleton.

If you blow his cover, that's a death sentence.

The mob will expunge him.

He's a dangerous, violent man.

Sheriff, you and I have gone head -to -head so many times, our minds are bound

to meet at least once.

Not in this one.

The Witness Protection Program represents a huge federal investment.

If you out this guy, you would jeopardize federal cooperation with your

every level. Should you need police equipment, the National Guard, FBI

Is that a threat?

It's the truth.

We need Pendleton for more testimony.

We're about to break a huge cartel in New Jersey. We can't blow his cover.

Take him out of Rome.

Sheriff, you want me to be quiet? You take him to a town 100 miles from here.

That's the deal.

Okay, we'll pick him up tonight.

Rise.

Be seated.

70 % of all murders are drug -related.

We have 100 ,000 crack babies born every year.

Drugs have driven up violence, health care costs.

They've economically crippled every...

Major city in the nation.

So desperate are we to stop it.

We make plea bargains, freeing murderers if they can offer testimony to help

stem the tide.

So desperate are we to stop it.

Federal law gives life sentences to first -time drug offenders.

So desperate are we to stop it.

We keep building prison after prison after prison.

We have over a million people behind bars.

More prisoners per capita than any country in the world.

So desperate are we to stop it.

But we can't.

It keeps spreading.

And now it's come to Rome.

On your feet, young lady.

If my mission were solely to be safeguarding this community, I'd put you

for a long, long time.

Mr. Littleton is right.

Society is desensitized to the incarceration of black inner -city

A pretty, suburban, honor student.

Such as yourself.

With a bright, bright future.

I could send quite a message.

And I'm tempted.

But my job is to consider the specific case before me and all the mitigating

circumstances.

Your clean record.

Your plea.

Your exemplary background and past.

And I do so.

I must also consider, however...

The fact that you brought those drugs to a school with intent to distribute.

That means enhancer penalties apply.

I hereby sentence you to three years at the Cheetah Women's

Correctional Facility.

Your Honor, I beg you.

sentenced to begin immediately.

Take the defendant into custody.

Excuse me, Your Honor, but this matter has come to the attention of the DEA. I

have been ordered to place Miss Fenn under arrest and to take her into

custody. No!

Lawyers and police in chambers.

This is overkill.

It comes from the top. I have absolutely no control. If you prosecute her in the

federal court, she goes away for ten years.

That's mandatory.

I know that. Ten years.

My God, that's her life. How could that possibly serve society?

It doesn't. Like they say, the Fen girl is ideal for sending a wake -up call to

other teenagers.

My superiors want to make that call.

Three years sends that message.

Why don't you ask your superiors?

How can they take Lisa Fen for ten when murderers get out in six?

What's the federal government's answer to that?

Public policy.

What?

I'm gonna be sick.

At least, can she spend Christmas with her family?

No. They want her in custody tonight.

I'll give her till 10 o 'clock. That's the best that we can do.

I can't send her to the mortuary.

Carter, let her go.

Can't you see you're doing everything you can to avoid grieving? I've been

it too.

Time has come to grieve.

She was my strength, Lyman.

She stood up for me.

I'll stand up for you.

You were a good older brother. I know

how you always got me included.

Camping trips.

Made sure I always got picked for the team.

But you never believed in me. Mom did.

I believe in you.

You know, I always wanted to be you.

Followed you to the same college, went into pathology.

What I'm saying, Lyman, is that I admired you, and

I've always looked for the slightest sign that you admire me back.

I've never seen it.

Did you ever doubt that I love you?

No.

But... Mom... gave me my foundation.

And now... No offense, but...

I feel completely alone.

We'll make it, Carter.

We're brothers.

We'll make it.

Yeah.

Hi. Hi, hon.

What, uh... Kimberly wanted to say goodbye to Lisa, so I brought her in.

Oh, God.

What if it had been Kimberly instead of Lisa? You ever think of that?

They're here.

Get Pendleton, too. We'll take them both.

Well, what a proud day for law and order.

Wally Pendleton had a million -dollar drug business, and you give him house

home. Lisa Fenn makes one mistake, and she gets ten years.

I'll fight it to Supreme Court.

I won't give up, Lisa.

Ah, Inspector.

Allow me to vomit on your shoes.

All right.

Let's go.

I'll visit tomorrow.

Yeah, we'll be fighting, baby.

Okay. Yeah.

Isn't goodbye?

Okay. We better go.

I'm afraid there's been a mistake.

In reconsidering, Lisa's confession was the product of coercion. It was wrong of

us to question her without her lawyer. She waived counsel.

Under duress.

Without the confession, the guilty plea is set aside.

And if you federally prosecute her, I'll testify that her statement was coerced.

Very good Except we really don't need the confession or the state conviction.

The drugs were found in her locker. That's enough to make the case Except I

the evidence You lost the evidence

Yes, we it was my fault

See, I took the LSD out of the locker to send to the lab, and I put it in a bag

on my desk. And I threw it away, not knowing what it was.

Well, isn't this inspiring?

Sometimes, if a problem gets too big, you do whatever you have to to fix it.

Well, mistakes happen. One of those things.

I'm sure we'll all do better next time.

Miss Fenn?

I'm afraid we're going to have to let you go.

Come on.

Why, you people are something.

Thank you.

Thank you, everybody.

Now it feels like Hanukkah.

Hey!

What happened here was a complete... complete perversion of justice.

Don't you dare celebrate it.

Any of you.

You lucked out, young lady.

This man saved your ass.

The idea that you get to walk completely free is disgusting to me, as I'm sure

it is to him.

And him.

But... Ten years in federal prison happens to be more repugnant.

So you get a windfall.

When you wake up Christmas morning, Miss Finn, remember how lucky you are to be

with your family.

Remember, in reality, you're a drug dealer.

And especially remember that you forced a lot of good, law -abiding

people to resort...

to organized anarchy.

Don't any of you dare celebrate.

without you I'll be so blue

thinking about you

Decorations of red

on a green Christmas tree

won't be the same dear

And when those blue snowflakes start

falling, that's when those blue

mammies start calling.