All language subtitles for Law.and.Order.S25E18.Ride or Die.720p.x264-FENiX

.

- 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.

- And now, the moment
we've all been waiting for.

Please welcome our
final two contestants

for Miss New York Metro.

[cheers and applause]

I know how hard it is for these
young women to stand up here.

I was in their shoes
just a few years ago

and I am honored
to be back to judge.

To many of you, this pageant
may seem like a zero-sum game,

but it's really about
connection and sisterhood.

Tonight, however,
we do have to pick a winner.

Our first runner-up is...

Miss Prospect Heights,

making our Miss New York Metro
2026, Miss Astoria!

[cheers and applause]

[camera shutters snapping]

Remember, we're all winners.

- They held the Miss New York
Metro pageant here last night.

- She a contestant?
- No, a judge.

Janitor found her this morning.

- Oh.

[ominous music]

♪ ♪

Katie Harrington,

age 29.

Looks like she also works
at the local news station.

- Must have hit
the carotid artery.

- Yeah, she bled out fast.

- You got a time of death?

- MLI said,
based on temp and rigidity,

between 10:00 and 11:00 p.m.

- All right.

Well, let's make sure we get
the scissors dusted for prints.

Any witnesses?
- None.

Place had pretty much
cleared out by that time.

- What about the security
camera situation?

- Far as we know, no cameras
in the dressing room.

- Well, I always heard
these beauty pageants

were cutthroat, but...

[tense music]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- You turned off
all of the cameras?

- We had 30 women
backstage last night

in various states of undress.

They wanted privacy.

- What about security guards?

- One guard was
posted backstage.

- He see anything?

- Apparently he was
FaceTiming with his girlfriend

at the end of the night.

It's usually an uneventful job.

We can barely fill
an audience these days.

- Why is that?

- Too much competition--

YouTube, social media.

- So there are
fewer pageants these days?

- Well, there used
to be ten a year.

Now there were two.

- That really puts extra
pressure on the contestants.

- And on the judges.
- For sure.

Beauty pageants are still
important to these people--

some of these girls, if they
lose, think their life is over.

- We're gonna need a list
of last night's contestants.

- I'm surprised these
pageants are still a thing.

I mean, I thought
we were way past that.

- Yeah, I gave up
on those years ago.

- Hey, video just landed
from outside the theater.

Picked up someone
running out the exit

by the dressing room at 10:25.

- Can you freeze it there?

Not enough of the face
visible for facial rec?

- No.
- That hat.

What is that stitching?

- Looks like they
got it turned inside out

to hide the monogram or
something--what is that, XLV?

- Yeah, I don't think
it's a brand.

Maybe Roman numerals?

- Do we have any other video
of this person entering?

- No, and it was
freezing that day,

so half the people entering the
theater were wearing beanies.

But I have some good news.

Found this interesting text
from a Kailani Arizaga.

"Be careful how you vote.
There are consequences."

- Sounds like a threat to me.

- That name rings a bell.
Hold on.

Yeah, here.

"Kailani Arizaga,
Miss Prospect Heights."

She was the first runner-up.

- I've known Katie
since I was 15.

She was like an older sister,
a mentor.

- So you liked her?

- Loved her.

- Well, why did you send her
that threatening text

last night--the one that said
there'd be consequences

if she didn't vote
the right way?

- What are you talking about?

- This one.

- No, you got it wrong.

I wanted her to vote
for someone else.

- You wanted to lose?

- I wanted to not win.

- Why'd you do it
in the first place?

- My mom.

These pageants mean
everything to her.

She says they can open doors,
maybe even get me

a scholarship for grad school.

- Can you tell us
where you were last night

after the pageant?

- Eating pizza
for the first time in a year.

- Got anybody
who can back that up?

- Yeah, a few classmates.

Kinda turned into a party.
[phone buzzes]

I asked Katie
if she wanted to join,

but she said she couldn't.

- We gotta go.

Katie's dad just got in
from Alabama.

- [sighs]

Thank you.

- I still remember the day
I helped Katie move in here.

Her mom had just passed.

Katie wanted to stay at home,
look after me, of course,

but, uh,

I told her
she had to follow her dreams.

Just knew she was
meant for great things.

- Mr. Harrington, were you
and your daughter very close?

- Yeah.

We talked every day.

- Was she having any problems
with anyone?

Friends? A boyfriend?

- She was always too busy with
work for much of a social life.

I encouraged her to date.
Didn't want her to be lonely.

You know,
there was this one guy,

kept chasing after her
like a damn dog with a bone.

- He got a name?
- I never made it that far.

Never even went out on a date,
but he was persistent.

Kept calling her
and sending her flowers.

Got a bit much for Katie,
if I'm being honest.

- Do you know where he worked?

How they met?
Any detail will help.

- They met at some sort
of cancer fundraiser,

and he was a hockey player.

That's all I know.

♪ ♪

- Any luck with
the hockey player?

- Yeah, I checked out
Katie's Instagram.

Looks like the only
cancer fundraiser

she attended in
the last six months

was the United Hands
Leukemia Gala.

Lots of photos of her and this
guy named Alexander Hayes.

- Looks smitten.

Hockey player?

- Rookie left-winger for New
York's favorite hockey team.

- Islanders?

- Not funny.

- No choir boy.

He just finished
a five-game suspension

for smashing a stick
into his opponent's head.

- And here's the best part--

he posted a story last night
at 9:30 p.m.

Location tag puts him two
blocks away from the pageant.

[tense music]

.

- I adored Katie.
I would never hurt her.

- Well, you say adored.
We say stalked.

- We talked to her doorman.

We know that you were
sending her flowers,

hanging outside her building.

- Yeah, to--to show her
that I liked her,

that I was serious
about dating her.

- She had two extra deadbolts
installed in her door.

- Look, I was just
trying to get a date.

It's called being romantic.

- If she said yes,
it's romantic.

If she said no, it's scary.

- So what happened, hmm?

You get tired of
waiting for her

to see how romantic you were?

Maybe you snuck into her
dressing room last night?

- What?

- We know you were
near the theater

where the pageant was held.

- Right around the time
of the murder.

- Hey, look, you guys
are crazy, all right?

I was at a party last night
with about 200 other people

and I was there
until about midnight.

Instead of wasting your time
talking to me,

you should look into
the shady people

she was dealing with at work.

- What does that mean?

- She told me that
as a journalist

she had to take big swings,
to go where her colleagues

were too scared to go.

So if she was adding
extra locks to her door,

I mean, it's because of that,
not because of me.

You should go talk to her boss.

- I wouldn't call her
segments dangerous.

More like ambitious.

She was a smart woman,
had a great gut instinct,

knew how to avoid trouble.

- Sounds like
you knew her well.

- Well, I took her
under my wing

when she first started here.

I got her out from
behind the research desk,

made her a field reporter.

I was a producer on
some of her segments.

- Very nice of you.

- Well, it's a tough business
for women here,

so I thought I could help
wherever possible.

- If you don't mind,
when was the last time

you spoke to Katie?

- Um, she was in the office
until about 5:30 last night

and then headed downtown
to the pageant.

- Did you speak to her
after that?

- No, I stayed working
for a few more hours

and then I went home.

- And you were there all night?

Sorry, just standard procedure.

You know, the more people
we can eliminate

from her life, the better.

- Right.
Of course, I wanna be helpful.

Yes, I was home all night.

Here is her work schedule.

I hope it's helpful.

- We will take a look.

- Do you know, did she have
a work phone of any sort?

- Yes, she had several.

Good reporters
always use burners

to protect their sources.

[sighs]
Katie was a terrific reporter.

She was gonna do great things.

[sighs]

- Hey.

Warrant for the burner phones
came through.

- And?

- And we got a pretty
interesting text.

"This is not okay.

Make this right or things
are gonna get ugly."

- Any luck ID'ing the sender?

- Phone's registered
to a Jazmin Hernandez.

She's affiliated
with the Cobra 10 gang.

Got a pretty healthy
rap sheet, too--

drugs, assault,
weapons charges.

- Let's go talk to her.

- Yeah, that's me.

I meant it too.

- Could you be more specific?

- Katie came up here
a few months ago

with that other news lady,
Ann Merrick.

They convinced me to help them
do a segment

showing gangs
recruiting young girls.

- So you were a source?

- I connected her
to the right people.

- Doesn't explain
the angry text, though.

- When the segment came out
a few weeks ago,

there was a mistake.

A guy that lives here, he was
in some of the video they shot.

They claimed
he was a gang member.

He was pissed, and now people
are coming after me about it.

- All right, well, can you tell
us where you were

last night around 10:00?

- Working the register
at a bodega.

166th and Webster.

They got cameras everywhere
if you wanna check.

So, am I good?
- For now.

Where did you get that hat?

- Ann Merrick gave it to me.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

- All right.

Yep, thank you.

Turns out Ann Merrick
had those beanies made

for the station's anniversary.

- Okay.

Ann told us that
she went home after work

and never left, right?

- Yeah, and her doorman
confirmed it.

- I don't think
her doorman saw that.

Surveillance video
from her garage,

rear side of her building,

shows her leaving at 9:24 p.m.

- Wearing a XLV beanie and an
outfit that matches the video

we have of the killer
fleeing the scene.

NYPD.
- Stop.

We're about to go live.
- No, you're not.

- Hey, hey, you can't be here.

- Warrant says we can.
- Step aside.

- What's going on?

- Ann Merrick,
you're under arrest.

- For what?

- The murder of
Katie Harrington.

- What the hell are
you talking about?

Katie was my friend.
She was like my little sister.

.

- Earlier today, veteran
TV news anchor Ann Merrick

was arrested on suspicion...

- Turns out arresting
a news anchor is big news.

- Yeah.
- How's the evidence?

- Strong.

Detectives found
a beanie in her apartment

identical to the one
seen at the crime scene.

Plus, her DNA was
on the murder weapon--

a pair of scissors
found in her neck.

- Motive?

- Still not adding up.

- So this woman suddenly
bolts from her apartment,

walks three miles
to this beauty contest,

and stabs her colleague
in a dressing room.

Something must have
triggered her.

- Question is, what?

- Yeah, well.

Since Nolan's out
for a few weeks,

this is your case.

- Oh.

Okay.

Great.

[soft music]

And thank you.

♪ ♪

- How can I help?

- You had a six-minute call
with Ann Merrick the night

of the murder, just before
she left her apartment

to go kill Katie Harrington.

We wanna know
what that call was about.

- I can put you in touch
with New York 32's lawyers.

- Or we can subpoena you.

Just tell us what you know now.

- Ann had been hounding me.

She wanted to know why she
hadn't gotten the paperwork

for her contract renewal.

So I finally called,

told her
we wouldn't be renewing her.

- Must have made her upset.

- Yeah, she was livid.

She wanted to know
how I could possibly justify

firing her after all
she's done for the station.

- And?

- I told her HR would
discuss the matter with her.

I've learned to keep
these calls brief.

- You guys discuss
anything else on this call?

- She asked who
was replacing her.

- And you said
Katie Harrington?

- Yes.

I regret it.

♪ ♪

- Okay.

Well, thank you for your help,
Mr. Williams.

There's your motive, Sam.

Vengeance.

- Sam.

Sam!

- [laughs] Abby!

- Hi.

- Hi, how are you?
- Good.

Busier than ever.

- Oh, we're overdue for dinner.

- Well, don't worry,
you're gonna be seeing

plenty of me in the next month
or so.

- What, are you--
- I am.

- Well, Ann Merrick has
good taste in lawyers.

[phone buzzes]
- We'll see.

I gotta go.
I'll see you in there.

- Okay.

Your Honor,
we've got DNA evidence

that links the defendant
to the murder weapon,

video showing her
leaving the crime scene,

and clear motive.

Your Honor,
the people request remand.

- Your Honor,
we plead not guilty

and request reasonable bail.

My client has
no criminal record,

strong community ties,
and a face recognizable

in most of the tri-state area.

- Good for her,

but I'm denying bail anyways.

Defendant is hereby remanded.
[gavel bangs]

- We'll talk later, okay?

[indistinct chatter]

You open for a plea discussion?

- You're asking for a plea?

That might be a record.

- Oh, we don't wanna
waste anyone's time.

- Meaning what?

- Meaning she doesn't
intend to dispute

the fact she killed
Katie Harrington.

- But you just pled not guilty.

- To murder two,

but manslaughter,
that's different.

We're willing to
plead guilty to that.

♪ ♪

- No, I'm not open
to discussing that.

- You're gonna have a really
hard time hearing our defense.

[tense music]

- I'll see you in court, Abby.

♪ ♪

Yes, Nolan.

For the fifth time, I've
double-checked the affidavits,

the addresses, and everything
else in the damn file,

so you can relax, okay?

Just focus on getting better.

Who needs an appendix, anyway?

Thank you.

Okay, I-I'll do my best,
I promise.

Okay.

- Defense lawyer
is claiming EED?

- Yeah, she's saying the
defendant and Katie Harrington

had an intimate
mentor-mentee relationship

and that the idea
of Katie taking her job

triggered such extreme
emotional disturbance

that it drove the defendant
to kill her.

- Nice try, but that's not
how EED works.

It's not meant
to cover workplace issues.

- Exactly.
It's a big stretch.

I'm not surprised.

Abigail Donahue is, uh--

[chuckles]
She's aggressive.

I worked with her
in the Brooklyn DA's office.

- Yeah.

Well, unless there's evidence
I don't know about,

this is murder two
all day long.

- No, you're not
missing anything.

You know, I think Abigail
is hoping that the jury is

gonna buy into the old trope
that all women

are prone to hysteria.

- Right.

- At the crime scene, we
discovered a pair of scissors

were jammed into her neck.

- In your experience,
does that type of injury

create a substantial
risk of death?

- Yes.

When the carotid is severed,
the victim dies within minutes.

- Is it fair to say that
these are the type of injuries

you see from someone
intending to kill?

- Yes.

- Can you please describe
what you see in this video?

- That is the defendant
exiting the back door

of her apartment building.

- And what's relevant
about her clothing?

- The clothing matches
video we have of the killer

fleeing the scene.
- One last question.

Can you read the timestamp
on the video?

- 9:24 p.m.,

about an hour
before the murder.

- Thank you.
Nothing further.

[tense music]

- The back exit
of my client's building--

the southern exit,
to be exact--

isn't that closest
to where she was headed?

Downtown?
- Yes.

- So the suggestion that she
was headed out the back door

to evade detection, it doesn't
really make any sense, does it?

- It still makes sense to me.

- Mm.

Lieutenant Brady, did you
determine where the scissors

in question came from?

- The scissors came
from a hairstyling kit

belonging to the victim.

- They were present
in the victim's dressing room?

- Yes.

- Which means my client
brought no weapon of any kind

that night?

- Not that we know of.

- Hmm.

So she went there
to kill Katie,

but she didn't bring a weapon.

That doesn't make
any sense either, does it?

- Maybe she didn't decide
to kill Katie

until she got
into the dressing room.

- Ah.

So Ann Merrick acted
in the heat of the moment?

- I don't want to parse
legal terms with you,

but the intent to kill can
happen fast, instantaneously.

So it doesn't mean she acted
in the heat of the moment.

- But you're the one who said
that she was triggered

in the dressing room--
- Objection.

She's badgering the witness.

- Sustained.

- All right, just--
nothing further.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

- Mr. Williams, as chief
executive of the New York 32

television station,
you had cause

to speak with the defendant
on the telephone

approximately two hours
before the murder?

- Yes.
- Would you tell the court why?

- I had to inform Ms. Merrick
that the network

would not be renewing
her contract.

- How did she react?

- Well, after 22 years of
annual renewals, not well.

She became extremely upset

and she accused me
of sexism

and ageism.

- Is that true?

Did you fire the defendant
because, uh--

because you don't like women,
or because she's too old?

- No,
it was performance-related,

and I told her as much.

- Her response?

- Well, she demanded
to know more

about the performance issue,
but I told her

I wasn't at liberty
to say more.

- Then what?

- Well, she asked me
who was want to replace her

and I told her
Katie Harrington,

and then she got
even more angry.

- Thank you, Mr. Williams.
Nothing further.

- What was the performance
issue you fired my client over?

- Ann had
misidentified someone

as a gang member
in the segment.

That was a mistake
that exposed the network

to significant legal liability.

- How did you know it was
Ann who made that mistake?

- Katie Harrington told me.

- Your Honor, we move to admit,
as Exhibit B,

an email sent by Ms. Harrington
from her New York 32 account

to the misidentified individual
in the gang segment.

- Objection.

Your Honor,
we had no notice of this.

- Your Honor, we just got
our hands on this email,

and it's important
that we present it now

because it undermines
everything that this witness

just testified to.

- Chambers, now.

♪ ♪

- This was unfair surprise,
Your Honor.

- Agreed.

That's not how we do things
in this office, Ms. Donahue.

- Your Honor,
we just got verification

of this email earlier today.

- You've had access to Katie
Harrington's work accounts

for weeks.

- An abundance of
correspondence.

- Counsel is perfectly
capable of reviewing

discovery in a timely fashion.

Your Honor, I request exclusion
of this evidence

at this point in time,
since the people

have been deprived of any
meaningful opportunity

to investigate.

- You will see the email comes
from a New York 32 account.

That's the news station
that Ms. Maroun's witness

has been testifying about.

- [sighs]

If that's the case,
I will allow this exhibit.

But if this happens again,
Ms. Donahue,

there will be sanctions.
- Of course.

♪ ♪

- That was not okay, Abby.

- I'm just trying
to win a trial here.

- By hiding evidence from me?

- It's the oldest trick
in the book.

- Well, you never
taught me that one.

- Oh, I can't give away
all my secrets.

♪ ♪

.

- Mr. Williams, will you please
read the highlighted portion

of the email
sent by Ms. Harrington

from her New York 32 account

to the misidentified individual
in the gang segment?

- "I'm horrified I did this.

"I'll remove all footage of you
from our files

and correct the name
immediately."

No, um--no.

Katie told me

that Ann provided
all the footage

and oversaw the identifications
in that segment.

- Exactly.

Katie Harrington, who the
prosecution has portrayed

as a hard-working
beauty pageant winner

turned TV reporter,

actually threw her mentor
under the bus

to save her own skin.

She had Ann Merrick,
who had done nothing

but tirelessly champion
her work

since the day she started
at your network, fired.

[tense music]

Who wouldn't feel betrayed?

Who wouldn't feel devastated--

out of their mind?

♪ ♪

- So they're
sullying the victim.

It's the right move.

Do you think
the jury's buying it?

- I'm not certain.

It definitely makes Katie
look less than saintly,

that's for sure.

- What do you think?

- I mentor a few women.

I-I help them out.

I pull them up
whenever it's possible.

And if one of them
betrayed me like that,

uh, yes, I'd be emotional too.

- Fair.

But I'm guessing you wouldn't
slam a pair of scissors

into someone's neck?

- Probably not.

- Neither would 99.9%
of other people,

which is why this is murder
and not manslaughter.

So who's their first witness?

- An expert in female
workplace trauma.

- Wow.

I didn't know that
was a field of study.

- Neither did I.

- Use that to your advantage.

- Yeah.

- And how would you
describe the nature

of the workplace relationship
between female mentors

and their protégés?

- Quite intimate.
- Hmm.

In what way?

- Powerful bonds form
in stressful environments

and spaces where
women are outnumbered.

And the relationship
provides emotional support,

often helping both women thrive
in challenging situations.

- And what happens if the bond
is threatened or ruptured?

- It's psychologically
destabilizing.

Given the intimacy
of the relationship,

a betrayal would cause a shock
to your core sense of safety,

akin to your spouse
cheating on you.

- Would you say
emotions dominate?

- Absolutely.

- And based on your evaluation,
how did the termination

psychologically affect
Ms. Merrick?

- It was a highly
traumatic event for her.

- That the one person
in the work environment

with whom she had formed
a strong emotional bond,

whose career she championed--

- Objection.
Counsel is testifying.

- I'll rephrase.

Based on your examination,
how did the specifics

of the dismissal
shape her reaction?

- I believe it was
a perfect storm

that triggered an extreme
emotional disturbance.

She lost her capacity to reason
when she realized what

Katie Harrington
had done to her.

- Thank you.

Nothing further.

- Dr. Fitzgerald, are you aware
that the defendant has reported

on police brutality, city hall
corruption, human trafficking,

and terrorist cells?

- I am.

- Yet it is your opinion that
when she was faced with

what essentially is
a workplace conflict,

she became so emotional
that she lost all self-control

and killed someone?

- Yes.

♪ ♪

- As a preeminent expert in
the field of workplace trauma,

have you ever been called
to testify in a murder trial?

- No.

- Well, do you know of any
instance in which

a perceived betrayal
of a senior female employee

by a junior employee
resulted in murder?

- As I said, this would
have been a perfect storm--

- Yes or no, Doctor?

[tense music]

- No.

- So if an emotional
reaction like that

has never happened before,

it's impossible to call it
reasonable, isn't it?

♪ ♪

- I suppose so, but I--

- Nothing further.

♪ ♪

- Ms. Maroun?

Ms. Maroun.

- Mr. Harrington, hi.

How are you, um--
how are you feeling?

I know it's not easy
sitting in there.

- I wanna know
what all this means.

I mean, that doctor,
the stuff about how Ann Merrick

has some sort of mental issue.

- Well, they're saying
that the defendant

was so overcome with emotions
that she didn't

have legal intent to murder.

- And if the jury agrees,

then they can't put her away
for murder?

- Correct.

- Well, then what happens?

- Well, then she'd be convicted
with man one,

which is a class B
violent felony.

The sentence is 5 to 25 years.

- Five years?

♪ ♪

For stabbing my daughter
in the neck?

Katie was 29 years old.

That woman stole her life.

No.

Five years is not okay.

- 20 years ago, there were
only a handful of women

doing on-air reporting.

Everyone doubted that
we could handle real stories.

My bosses handed me baking
contests, nanny scandals.

But I wanted
to report real news,

so I found my own features.

Woke up at 5:00 a.m.,
worked till 10:00 p.m.

- You made sacrifices?

- I didn't have time
for relationships,

marriage, children.

But, um, it was worth it.

I loved my job.

- And you excelled at it.

You won several local Emmys.

- Three.

- Quite a feat.

So when you got the phone call
from Mr. Williams

at New York 32
that your contract

was not going to be renewed,
how did that feel?

- Totally blindsided.

I thought that I was
on the path to national anchor,

and suddenly a lifetime
of work

and sacrifices...

gone.

You know, it was terrifying.

- Why blame Katie Harrington?

- I had taken Katie
under my wing.

I wanted to make it easier for
her than it had been for me.

- So what did you do
to support her?

- I did what I had always done
for all the young women

that I had mentored
throughout my career,

and there have been dozens.

I advocated for them
and nurtured

their professional development.

- Ms. Merrick,
I want to show you

some documents that were
admitted to evidence.

Will you please tell the jury
what this is?

- Um, this is a letter
of recommendation

that I wrote for Katie's
Hudson Fellowship application.

- Would you mind reading

just the highlighted portion,
please?

- "Katie Harrington
is a brilliant reporter

"with a great future ahead.

"Her work in our office has
been nothing short of dazzling.

"I recommend her
without hesitation

and would do anything to help
advance her application."

- Would it be fair to say
that you were

devoted to Katie Harrington?

- Absolutely.

- So what did you think
when Mr. Williams

let you know that he was
replacing you with her?

- I was, uh--I was confused.

He--he said that I was
getting fired because

I'd made a big mistake,

and I had no idea
what he was talking about.

And then I remembered that
Katie had misidentified someone

in the gang segment,
and she had told me

that she was terrified that
it was gonna get her fired.

So when he told me
that she was replacing me,

I thought...

that she had
laid the blame on me.

- What did you do next?

- I went to find Katie,
to ask her

how the network got the idea

that I had made
that major error.

- What did she say?

- She said she panicked

and told them that--

that it was my mistake.

- Then what?

[somber music]

♪ ♪

- Before I knew it,
Katie was dead.

It was--it was a blur.

Katie did not deserve that.

[sobs]

I know that now.

But on that night
in that moment, I just--

I-I didn't think.

I didn't think.
I just--I just reacted.

I just--

like I said, it was just--

it was such a blur.

[sobs]

♪ ♪

- Donahue is trying to turn
their work relationship

into something much more
deep and personal,

kind of like
a husband and wife.

- Makes sense.

That's where most
of these EED cases live--

spouses catching their partners
in bed with someone else.

Hell of a lot different than
losing your job to a protégé.

- Know what I don't get,
though?

- What?

- They're trying
to paint Ann Merrick

as the world's most amazing
mentor, right?

A selfless, devoted woman
who lived

to help everyone around her.

Yet they haven't called any
of those so-called mentees

to testify to any of this?

It's strange, right?

- So talk to some
of these women

the defendant
allegedly mentored.

See what they have to say.

- I owe a lot to Ann Merrick.

I was a total novice when
I started at the station,

and she was really helpful
and kind--

until I got hired by MSN.

- Then what?

- She--

she wasn't happy
about me getting that job.

She was upset
that I didn't tell her

that I'd interviewed for it,

that I didn't get her opinion.

Then I found out the real
reason she was so upset.

She applied for the same spot.

- And when you say
she wasn't happy,

can you be more specific?

- She--she literally grabbed me
by my collar and said

if I ever double-crossed
her again, she'd kill me.

She had this look in her eye.

I think she really meant it.

[ominous music]

.

[knock on door]

- Abby, hi.

Come in.

- I got the email
about Sarah Chase.

Are you kidding me?

- Well,

it's relevant information,
Abby.

I mean,
your client doesn't like it

when her mentees succeed.

Yeah, of course
she didn't kill Sarah Chase,

but she sure as hell
threatened her.

- Ann Merrick is a woman
of a certain generation.

She had to put on armor
in order to survive

a male-dominated profession.

- She threatened vengeance
when she thought

other women crossed her.

- That's one way to put it.

- The other?
- She acted like a man.

She used male language.

She flexed verbal muscle,

telling people
not to mess with her.

If a man said "I'm gonna
kill you" in this context,

we wouldn't even blink,

let alone use it
as evidence to prove intent.

- Look, Abby.
[sighs]

You put on a solid defense.

- Solid defense?

- You know what I mean.

- I wanna plead
this one out, Sam.

Man one is
the right result here.

- Like I said before,
I don't think this is EED.

- Yeah, because of
existing sexist case law.

That's why men have
successfully been using EED

for crimes of anger and rage.

But women, we can only use it
if--if we're traumatized,

because the law
doesn't allow us to be angry.

This is a chance to move
the case law forward.

- I can't tell
Katie Harrington's father

that the person
who killed his daughter

is gonna be out in five years.

- You owe me this.

- I what?

- I got you this damn job.

- Yes,

you definitely helped,

and I'm grateful for that.

- I did you a favor.

And now I'm asking you for one.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

Please.

I haven't had a good result
in a while.

I need this, Sam.

♪ ♪

[door opens, closes]

[footsteps approaching]

- Any luck finding other
rebuttal witnesses?

- Working on it.

- Everything okay?

- Did you ever have a mentor?

- Yeah, a few.

- Did any of them ever
ask you to repay the debt?

- No.

And no mentor worth her salt
would ever ask that of you.

[somber music]

♪ ♪

- Please call your
next witness, Ms. Maroun.

♪ ♪

Ms. Maroun,

your next witness.

♪ ♪

- Your Honor,
the people call Sarah Chase.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

Ms. Chase,

was the defendant
your supervisor

and mentor at New York 32?

- She was.

- And is it true that
you left five years ago

for a better position
in cable news?

- Yes.

- Sarah, can you please
tell the court

what Ann Merrick said to you

when you told her
about your new job?

- She grabbed hold of my collar

and said if I ever
double-crossed her again,

she'd kill me.

♪ ♪

- Members of the jury,
have you reached a verdict?

- We have, Your Honor.

On the count of murder
in the second degree,

we find the defendant...

guilty.

♪ ♪

- Members of the jury,
thank you for your service.

We are adjourned.

- Thank you, Ms. Maroun.

Thank you.
- You're welcome.

- Thank you.

♪ ♪

- Abby.

Come on, Abby.

God, Abby!

Look, I'd like to,

well, explain.

- We're done here.

♪ ♪

- Good work, Sam.

You did a great job.

♪ ♪

.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[wolf howls]