All language subtitles for 02 Uncertainty Principle.en

- Can I help you with something?
- ASA Anna Valdez.

You have a prisoner...
Adrian Carrera.

- That we do.

- Uh, his defense attorney
should be with him.

- That he is.
Arnold Rifking...

Total bottom feeder.

Hey, Duarte,

escort ASA Valdez upstairs
to the drunk tank.

Uh, Mr. Carrera was
pretty loaded

when they hauled him in
this morning.

- Thanks.
- Mm-hmm.

- Good news, bad news, Arnold.
Which do you want first?

- How bad's the bad?
- Very.

- I'll take good for $500,
please, Alex.

- Stone authorized a plea of 20

for Carrera today only.
Take it or leave it.

- On a simple assault?
We'll pass.

- Brings us to the bad.

Mr. Carrera's victim
in the barroom brawl

died at Chicago Med.

We're filing murder charges.
- I barely touched that guy.

- Shut up, Adrian.
Let me talk to my client.

- Nothing to talk about.
And I need to get out of here.

And I need a shower.
Look!

That punk ass puked all over me!

I don't hear from you by 2:00,

I'm putting the case into
the grand jury.

- Uh, what do you have
for Boozy the Clown here?

Justin Wilkes... possession of
a controlled substance?

- You represent him too?

- It's a matter of time.
He took my card.

- Yeah, good luck with that.

Peter...
Rifking called.

Carrera said we should shove it.

- Well, look on the upside.

You're first chair
on a homicide.

- Really?

- Why not?

- Peter, I wanna...
- Anna, I'm eating.

- Valdez?
- Hey, it's Arnold Rifking.

- Sorry, Arnold,
you're too late.

- Boozy the Clown...
Kid in the cell... he died.

- What?

- Yep.

I'm here as counsel to
Mrs. Wilkes.

Her son, as you know,
is my client.

Mrs. Wilkes.

- I'm very sorry
for your loss, Mrs. Wilkes.

It's an honor to meet you,
Reverend Fitch.

- I only pray that
your office investigates.

Justin's death thoroughly.

- Sir?

- Clearly, Mr. Wilkes didn't die
of natural causes.

- He was in police custody.

Next thing we know,
he sustained fatal injuries.

- I assure you we will look into
the circumstances of his death.

- You're going to investigate?

A child...
no older than my Justin.

- Mrs. Wilkes simply means
that we expect

the maximum effort
from your office.

- Of course.

♪

- Go.
Say good-bye to him, Donna.

♪

♪

- Tell Mark I'll be calling.

♪

- Wilkes was brought in
on a drug charge

with a side of resisting arrest.

Nine hours later, he's dead
in O.R. at Lady of Hope.

- Cops, paramedics, doctors...

Any one of them
could be responsible.

- We can expect
some sort of public reaction.

- In the form of Reverend Fitch?
- Well...

what did you think of
the man, Anna?

- I've seen him on the news.
He was a bit...

well, intimidating.

- Like you're talking to
some sort of prophet

right out of the Old Testament?

- Nothing like
the ambulance chaser

representing Mrs. Wilkes.

- Well, William Fitch
won't put up with that for long.

- And he won't stop
pushing either.

- That's why you gotta get out
in front of this immediately.

Start at the hospital,
and work your way backwards.

- Assistant State's Attorney
Peter Stone,

meet the suprasternal manubrium,

or... or a... sliver of it anyway.

Manubrium's part of the sternum.

- So someone hit him
in the chest?

- Someone or something.

Lot of this going around
in fatal car accidents.

The bone punctured
the aortic isthmus,

causing an osseous pinch.

He bled to death.

- Has the lab sent over
tox screens?

- Not yet, but drunk or not,

once that sliver of bone
pierced the aorta,

unless we received
prompt medical attention,

Mr. Wilkes here was
a dead man walking.

Oh, FYI,
I'm checking the homicide box.

♪

- We had seven gunshot victims,

a boating accident
with multiple immersions,

then a guy whose head
was used for batting practice.

- So that's why it took
five hours

for you to get to Mr. Wilkes?

This is a busy hospital.

Sometimes we're forced
to do triage.

Passed out drunks aren't on
the top of our list.

- All due respect,

how did you know he was drunk
if nobody examined him?

- Some of our best customers
are drunks.

Anyway,
that's what the paramedics said.

- And you took
their word for it?

- Are you sure you're with
the SA's office?

'Cause you sound like
Slip and Fall Attorneys.

- Probably the next knock
on your door.

What killed him anyway?

- Technically, exsanguination.

- Caused by?

- Not my department.

- Thanks.

- Call came in from the 21st.

We loaded Wilkes to the bus
exactly 11 1/2 minutes later.

He was unconscious,

but his breathing
wasn't labored,

his pulse was normal,
and his pupils were reactive.

- Any treatment
on the way to the hospital?

- We administered a saline line.

- And?
- And nothing.

En route to Hope, we got a call
about an eight-year-old kid

from Hyde Park...
Pulled from the lake.

No pulse.
Pupils were fixed and dilated.

- Hold on.

You went to the lake with
Wilkes still in the ambulance?

- The dude was covered in vomit,
and stinking of booze.

- We figured
he wasn't going anywhere.

- Turns out you were wrong.

- Remind me not to get sick.

- Remind me not to be
a black male.

- Hey...
that kid from the lake...

He made it.

Thanks for asking.

What?

- Stone got us the name of
the arresting officer.

This won't be fun.

- How you doing?

- Hey.

Look what the cat dragged in.

You just couldn't
stay away, huh?

How's the SA's office
treating you?

- Hey, how much caviar
can you eat?

- Yeah, tell me about it.

- We're looking for Atwater.

You better be going to gym
to work on that three.

- Hey, I wouldn't have to,

if I had one guard that knew
how to make it to the bucket.

- Yeah.

This place still
smells the same.

- Yeah.
Oh, and speaking of smells,

my condolences
for having to ride

with Mr. Salami For Lunch
right here.

- Air up high,

window open,
you can hardly tell.

- Well, you're a better man
than me.

So, what's the occasion?

- Justin Wilkes.

- Yeah, you know,
I-I pinched him.

- Yeah?
- Yeah.

Uh... what... I was at a stop sign
on Flournoy,

and he was selling H,
like, 7:00 in the morning.

You know, I know his mom
from back when I was in uniform.

She's real good people.

So I'm like,
"Hey, I'll give him a warning."

You know, "Next time
I catch you serving..."

blah, blah, blah."

But he sees me
get out of my car,

and he takes off running.

- And you chased him down?

- Yeah.
You know, I'm...

He's tossing little baggies
all over the place,

and, uh, he was running
pretty good too.

I mean, it took me about a block

before I took him down.

- Hard?

- Wait, what?
Wilkes isn't crying foul, is he?

- What happened?

- I just cuffed him,
I loaded him up, and that's it.

Hey, listen, if he says
anything different than that,

that's a lie, bro.

- Wilkes died, Kev.

Damn.

Um, you don't... you don't think

you should've
opened up with that?

- Hey...

nobody's blaming you.

- I'm...

no, but I-I just feel like
you just kind've worked me

a little bit.

- We had to ask.

- Then ask.

"Officer Atwater,
did you kill Justin Wilkes?"

No, investigators,
I didn't kill Justin Wilkes.

See how easy that is?

♪

What's going on, Antonio?

- Was the prisoner
properly restrained

inside the vehicle?

♪

- She's kidding, right?

♪

The suspect resisted
lawful arrest.

I subdued him using
reasonable physical force.

♪

End of story.

- There's no way Atwater
wanted to hurt the guy.

- What about the ride
to the District?

Come on, Dawson.
I'm not naive.

I know about
the so-called rough ride

when a guy mouths off.

Did Atwater say
he strapped Wilkes in?

- I asked him.
- And?

- He didn't answer.

- Because it was
an insult to even ask.

- She's just doing her job.

- Routine.

Cops are trained to do
the same thing every time

to establish a routine.

You make an arrest,
you cuff your man.

You holster your weapon,
safety on.

You load a prisoner,
you strap him in.

That way, if someone
accuses you of something,

you don't have to think
when you answer.

You know exactly what you did,

because you did it the same away
a thousand times before.

- Valdez?

We'll meet you there.

Mr. Carrera has something
he thinks might help

with your search for
Mr. Wilkes's killer.

- Right.
In exchange for what?

- Hear him out,

and then tell me
how you want to play it.

- When I was in the cage
with Wilkes, he...

He might've said something
about a cop hitting him.

- Might have?

- Depends.

What do you got for me?

- Wh... what my client means

is that in exchange
for your empathy

regarding a certain incident
in a local tavern,

he'd be willing to testify
against the police officer

who killed Mr. Wilkes.

- Pass.

- Like that?

- One client swears a cop
killed your other client,

he gets a slap on the wrist,

and you get a seven-figure
civil verdict against the city.

Look at it this way, Arnold.

I am protecting you
from a feeble attempt

to suborn perjury.

- I do this, we both end up
in orange pajamas.

- Alongside Atwater.

- Tell me again why you can't go
through proper channels.

- An official request
gets the blue wagons circling,

and all of a sudden,
the videos are magically drawn

into a big black hole.

- Sound like you're not gonna
like what we find.

- I don't know
what the hell we'll find.

But I do know
I gotta get ahead of it

before the big guys
throw Atwater to the wolves

just to keep the peace.

- What you need exactly?

- Any and all footage
CPD recovered that morning.

Hey, it's between you and me.
I swear.

Give me a couple hours.

- My heart goes out to you,
Mrs. Wilkes.

The loss of a child...

I can't even imagine it.

- Thank you, sir.

- How can I help you?

- Actually...

we're here to help you, Mark.

I have what some might call

a unique relationship
with the community.

- No one appreciates that
more than I.

- In that capacity,

I have often been privy to

certain information
and confidences.

Cell phone videos made by
members of the community

who might have otherwise been
reluctant to come forward.

- I suppose we're lucky nobody
posted them on the Internet.

- These are good people.

They just don't want to
get mixed up with the cops.

- Meaning the cops
aren't good people?

- The videos
speak for themselves.

Justin was definitely
murdered, Mark.

No.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

♪

- So this footage is from
Atwater's dash cam.

- How did we get...

♪

- Wilkes doing the hand-to-hand.

♪

- I can't tell
what he's actually doing.

- Well, Atwater must have had
a better view.

- How you doing, man?
Just wanna talk, man.

- All right,
Wilkes takes off running.

Atwater gives chase.

Security camera picks them up
in the intersection.

This is footage from one of
the cell phones turned in.

- Stop!

- And then this is the corner
store security camera footage.

- I don't see any signs of
Wilkes tossing dope bags.

- Well, you won't.

It might've happened,

but not in any of
the recorded footage.

Cell phone from a rooftop,

followed by another
security cam,

which caught the tackle.

When you splice
everything together,

it's like a movie
missing a reel or two.

♪

More cell phone footage
from across the street.

- Atwater heads back
to his truck.

- I'm not gonna ask
where this came from.

♪

- Here they are
back at the intersection,

walking towards Atwater's truck.

♪

A civilian caught
the grand finale

from their apartment window.

- I can't see if he put Wilkes
in a seatbelt.

- Can't see if he didn't.

♪

- Nice work, Ronnie.

♪

- You know what would be nice?

If I was on the same page
as my partner.

- I worked with Atwater.
- In case you haven't noticed,

you work with me now.

- It's kind've weird we gotta
meet out here like this, huh?

- It's better safe, you know?

- I've been wracking my brain,
Antonio.

Damn if I could remember
if I strapped Wilkes in, bro.

- You follow the drill?

- Usually.

- That's that.
As far as I'm concerned,

you strapped a seatbelt on him.

Look, you got a solid reputation

that'd be hard to get around.

- This is for real, huh?

Truth be told,
I didn't have to do anything.

Should've just let Wilkes go
sell his dope,

poison somebody's kid.

♪

- Justin Wilkes, 26.

Multiple arrests,
including possession,

possession with intent,
and misdemeanor theft.

- Atwater spots him.
He runs.

He is arrested
and transported to holding,

where somebody notices
something hinky,

calls the paramedics,

who then take him to
Lady of Hope.

Wilkes has a long nap
on a gurney in the hospital,

dies six hours later in the O.R.

- Does he have a history of
resisting arrest?

- Not once in 22 stops.

- And yet this time,
for whatever reason,

he resisted?

- He sees a cop, he runs.
Most of them do.

- Yeah, especially those with
pockets full of heroin bags.

- Allegedly.

None of that was
caught on video.

- You know Atwater.
You worked with him.

- I also know Voight's unit.

I wouldn't exactly call them
shrinking violets.

- That's bull.
- Hey.

I get no pleasure
from going after a cop,

especially a cop like
Kevin Atwater.

- Yeah, then drop it.

- My obligation is to the victim
and his family.

I can't just drop it.

- Then I don't have to be
a part of it.

- Hey, just the man
I wanted to see.

You okay?

What do you think?
I'm doing everything I can.

- Well, I know that.

What'd the video show?

I would've done the same thing.

- With everything going on,
it's not good.

- Jesus.

- What if...

- What if Kev killed him?

- Yeah.

- If Kev killed
that son of a bitch,

that son of a bitch
needed killing.

- A cop, EMTs, doctors...

Lots of fingers
will be pointing.

- Ending in a textbook case
of reasonable doubt

for any and all of them.

- The problem is,
we don't have enough evidence

to convict any one of them
alone.

- No, Anna,
the problem is saying,

"Sorry,
someone screwed the pooch,

but we don't know who."
- Because of Reverend Fitch?

- Not that I have to
justify anything to you,

but the man has a voice
that people listen to.

- We'll conduct a thorough
grand jury investigation

with named targets.

- Which ones?
- All of 'em.

We'll seek indictments on
everyone involved.

The cop who arrested Wilkes,

the EMTs who took their time
getting him to the hospital,

and the doctors who let him
bleed to death

in a waiting room.

- So we throw spaghetti
against the wall,

and see what sticks?
- Why not?

Once in custody, Justin Wilkes
became a ward of the State,

and deserved all the protection
the State has to offer.

But to the cop,
the EMTs, the... the doctors,

he was just a subhuman
whose life wasn't worth saving.

- And to you, what is he?

- He's a murder victim.

- To establish conspiracy,
you have to prove

they all agreed to kill Wilkes.

- That's why I never said
anything about a conspiracy.

I'm gonna argue that
their collective actions,

or inactions,
contributed to his death.

But for each of them,
Wilkes would still be alive.

Our country is coming apart
at the seams, Anna.

The people have lost all
their faith in our institutions.

The universities, the churches,
the government?

Nobody trusts
any of them anymore.

- And you're going to
change their minds?

- No, but I'm gonna argue that

our little corner of
the world is well

and doing fine.

A man dies, those responsible
will go to prison.

- You are aware that
contributory negligence

doesn't exist in
the criminal code?

- If you always know
where you're going, Anna,

you never get anywhere new.

- Hm, I heard that
somewhere before.

- Hey.
- Peter.

- Mr.... Mr. Robinette, I...

- Please, I think it's time
you called me Paul.

- Uh, ASA Anna Valdez,
this is Mr.... Paul.

He served for my dad
at the DA's office in New York.

- Good to meet you.

- Yeah.
- Have a seat.

- His dad used to brag non-stop
about that right arm.

- I haven't touched
a baseball in years.

What, uh...
what have you been up to?

- Defense work.

I got what you might call
a sub-specialty...

Defending cops.

- So this isn't
a happy coincidence?

- Hm, afraid not.

I've been retained by
Officer Atwater.

Turns out my sub-specialty
has been in the news of late.

I got a call from
Officer Atwater's C.O.,

a Sergeant Voight,
and here I am.

And so here we are.

And since my mom taught me
a guest should never show up

without a gift...

- A motion to preclude
grand jury action.

You're kidding, right?

- I'm sorry, Paul,
I think you've got

your jurisdictions confused.

This might fly in Manhattan,
but it's DOA in Cook County.

- Hm, and those who always know
where they're going...

How about we let the presiding
judge make that call, huh?

It really is good
to see you, Peter.

- Yeah.

- Ms. Valdez...

Considering the paucity of
evidence against him,

dragging my client in front of
the grand jury at this point

would permanently scar
his reputation,

and hinder his chance
for advancement

in the Department.

- Defendant's proper remedy

is a motion to quash
the grand jury subpoena.

- And ordinarily,
I would've made that motion,

but the culture's
made it necessary

to nip this in the bud
as soon as possible.

- The culture?
- Specifically, the regard

in which police officers
are held in society today.

Is there really any question
what a grand jury will decide?

- Like I said, I'm curious.

Let me reread counsel's brief,

and we'll pick this up
in, say, an hour.

- Thank you, Your Honor.
- Oh, and Mr. Stone,

could you please have
your office deliver a copy

of all issued subpoenas
to my chambers ASAP?

- You know, I have to admit,

I thought she was gonna
toss you out on your butt.

Thank you.

She's probably just humoring me,
but it was worth a shot.

Did you know that, uh,
Officer Atwater

takes care of his sister
and two brothers?

- Character evidence
isn't admissible

until after a verdict.

- Yeah, I know that.

My question is why?

- Because we're looking
into the truth

about what happened to Wilkes.

- You even sound like
your old man.

When the acorn falls, it lands
in the shade of the oak.

It could be stifling.

No, my dad has nothing to do
with how I practice law.

- Hm.

A couple of years ago,
I called my dad out of the blue,

just to say I'm sorry.

- For what?

- Mm, being his son,

letting him down, whatever.

You should try it.

- No offense,
but you don't know...

- Mm, I think I do.

- I congratulate you on making

a concise, reasoned argument,
Mr. Robinette.

- Thank you, Judge.
- However, in Illinois,

a grand jury has very broad
investigative powers.

I understand your concern
about the negative impact

the subpoenas might have
on the targets in this case,

but that's the world we live in,

and in that world,
I must deny your motion.

- Thank you, Your Honor.

- Targets, plural?

Did he catch it?

- Paul's a very good lawyer.

- Is he good enough
to bring a frivolous motion

just to trick a judge
into tipping our hand?

Then he's got all
the reasonable doubt he needs.

- Not under my theory
of the case, he doesn't.

- The grand jury just returned
a single indictment

against officer Kevin Atwater
for first-degree murder.

- What about the others?

Nothing.

- So much for getting
somewhere new.

- I want an arrest warrant
on Atwater,

issued within the hour,

and executed
immediately thereafter.

- I'm sure Atwater
will surrender himself.

- You just worry about
how you're gonna counter

all the reasonable doubt
you just handed Mr. Robinette.

♪

♪

This action by
the grand jury today

is a strong mandate
to this office

to pursue the charges
against officer Kevin Atwater

to the fullest extent
the law allows.

And this is just an example

of how the system works
on its own power,

without the unnecessary
civil unrest

we've seen in
too many other cities.

Now it truly saddens me

to bring the weight
of this office down

upon a member
of law enforcement,

but Mr. Wilkes and his family

deserve nothing less.

- You know,
when someone needs help,

they dial 911.
Who shows up?

- You really want to do this?
- I'll tell you what.

It's not a lawyer.
We show up.

And we don't know
what we're gonna find.

Let's say Atwater
didn't tackle that punk.

Let's say he approached him,
and said, "Excuse me, sir",

"I saw you selling illegal
narcotics on a street corner.

"Would you mind very much
coming to the station with me,

so I can lock you up
for the next 30 years?"

You know what happens then?

That punk pulls a Glock 22
from his pants,

and that's all she wrote
for Atwater.

- Don't forget, Dawson,
you are no longer CPD.

♪

- Believe me, I won't.

♪

Atwater is just a guy, you know.

Worse than some, maybe...

but better than most.

And you tell me,
what kind of prick

goes out of his way
to ruin a man like that?

- Simply, the victim suffered
blunt force trauma

to his rib cage,
causing it to splinter.

A shard of bone
nicked the aorta,

causing slow
but steady bleeding.

- Could this have
caused the trauma?

- Yes, if the victim had
landed on a rock

or something like that.

- Or this?

- That's a lot bigger
than a rock... yes.

- Thank you.

- How long after
such a nick of the aorta

would it take
for Mr. Wilkes to die?

- Perhaps six or seven hours,
depending on how...

- I show you what has been
marked as People's 3,

Mr. Wilkes's
Certificate of Death.

What time does it say he died?
- 4:06 p.m.

- Huh, now,
according to the time stamp

on the videos
Mr. Stone just showed you,

Officer Atwater's last
so-called act of violence

occurred at 7:10 a.m.

According to your testimony,

he should've been dead...
At the latest... 2:10.

Isn't that correct?
- It's possible that...

- Yes or no?

- Sure.
- Right, so it's possible.

No, it's scientifically probable
that neither of the events

involving Officer Atwater
caused Mr. Wilkes's death.

Isn't that correct,
Dr. Fletcher?

- There's no way of...
- Yes or no, Doctor?

- Yes.

- I suppose that's why Mr. Stone
tried to indict the EMTs

that brought Mr. Wilkes
to the hospital.

- Objection.
- And the doctors who...

- Objection.
- Does counsel deny

they were all targets
of the grand jury?

- Your Honor...
- Do I have to put you

on the stand to verify?
- That's enough, Mr. Robinette.

The jury will ignore
any mention of the grand jury.

- No more questions.

- Redirect, Your Honor?

- Go ahead.

- How precise
was your estimation

of six or seven hours?

- If defense counsel
had let me finish,

I would have said that
the time needed

for death by exsanguination
varies,

according to the individual's
particular circulatory system.

- So it could've taken
longer than seven hours

for him to die?
- Yes.

- Thank you.

- I saw the police officer
arrest Mr. Wilkes.

- You're referring to
Officer Atwater?

- That's him over there.

He nearly knocked me over
when he ran past me.

I was carrying my groceries.

He chased Justin
around the corner,

and then a couple of
minutes later,

he brought Justin back
in handcuffs.

- Did Mr. Wilkes
appear injured to you?

- He was kind've bent over.

It looked like
he was in a lot of pain...

Like he was having trouble
walking on his own.

- Thank you.

- Sounds like you knew
Mr. Wilkes

from the neighborhood.
- We say hi.

- So, you knew that
he was a drug dealer?

- He didn't need to die for it.

- Non-responsive...
Motion to strike?

- Granted.

The jury will disregard
the witness's last remark.

- Have you ever been arrested,
Ms. Davis?

- Uh, relevance?
- Credibility, Your Honor?

- I'll allow it.

- No, I've never been arrested.

- Has anyone in your immediate
family ever been arrested?

- Objection.
- Overruled.

- My brother, James.
He was sitting on the L.

- Hm.
Why was he arrested?

- They said
he was disturbing the peace.

He was on his way
to the United Center.

His teacher gave him a ticket
to see the Bulls.

I guess being black on the L
disturbs some people.

- So what you're saying,
Ms. Davis,

is that your testimony
in this case

may in fact be prejudiced
by your general dislike

for the police force?

- Objection.
- Sustained.

- No more questions.

- We shouldn't be talking.
- I'll arrest myself.

- What do you want me say?

"It's okay"?

"Thanks for trying, Antonio"?

- Hey, come on.
- 'Cause it's not okay, Antonio.

- I did what I could.

- Yeah, it's too bad
for me, huh?

Too bad it wasn't good enough.

How long we ride together,
Antonio?

Look at you.

You moved on.

Got a bigger and better house.

- Look,
if it makes a difference,

the vibe around the SA's office
is your lawyer's kicking ass.

- You know that doesn't
mean anything.

I got a badge.

I'm guilty.
Case closed.

- You don't know.
- I know I watched a black woman

testify against me
in court today,

and look at me like
I'm turning my back

on my people,

a people who's been
shut out of restaurants,

schools, shot with firehoses,
lynched.

Why does your boss
have to look at me

like I'm the one
doing the lynching?

- I see a guy doing his job.

- Well, I see my brothers
and my sister

being tossed into a motel,
because we got death threats.

That's not what I signed up for
when I got on this job, Antonio.

- Why didn't you say something?
They're moving in with me.

After you're cleared...
- It's too late.

Stone's taking something from me

I'm not gonna
be able to get back.

So forget it.

You know, you might be right.

Maybe I did rough up Wilkes
a little bit more

than I should have.

Maybe I did kill Wilkes.

- That's crazy, Kev.
- No, it's not.

Because how many times
have you grabbed a bad guy

a little tighter
than you should have?

Hit him harder
than you should have?

I mean...

This is what we do.

This is payback.

- No, it's...

What we did...
What we do...

We do it for the right reasons.

♪

- Keep shooting, huh?

♪

- What?

- You ever think about the power
we have as prosecutors?

I don't like you,
you look at me funny,

I can drag you in front of
a grand jury for something.

Anything.

And so what if
it gets no-billed?

The mere act of accusing you
can destroy your life.

- It's a little late
in your career

for a crisis of conscience.

- Robinette was right
in court today.

I had plenty of other targets.

- But the people of Cook County
indicted only one of 'em.

I just got off the phone
with Reverend Fitch.

He feels things
aren't going our way.

How much of what I told him
was a lie?

- It's a coin toss,

and I'm out of witnesses.

- What about
the jailhouse snitch?

Carrera?

- I'm not sure he's credible.

- That's the jury's job,
not yours.

Do you know for a fact
the man's lying?

- No.

- Then talk to him.

- I was in the next cell over.

The guy looked all busted up.

- You're referring to
Mr. Wilkes?

- Yeah, that's right.

Mr. Wilkes was
moaning and groaning

like I don't know what.

I asked him if he was okay.

- Did he respond?
- Yeah.

He puked all over me.

- Did he say anything?

- He said that the cop
that arrested him

beat the hell out of him.

- And you're testifying
here today

as part of a plea deal.
Isn't that right?

- Yeah.

I was in a barroom fight.
The guy died.

I-I didn't mean
for that to happen.

You knocked down the...

The charges to
involuntary manslaughter...

Two-year sentence.
- Thank you, Mr. Carrera.

- That's enough for today.

You can begin
your cross-examination

tomorrow morning, Mr. Robinette.

Yeah?

- How about we talk?

Between you and me,

did you believe
a word Carrera said?

- That's not my role.
- Come on, Peter.

We're talking about
a man's liberty here.

Your father...
- My father?

Screw my father.

Maybe he can live
with one foot in heaven.

- And you can't?
- And neither can you.

You left him
just like I did, Paul.

I'm not the only acorn
under the damn tree.

- That's his, uh, special
purpose in life, you know...

To make everyone
around him take note

of their own imperfections.

- Hell of a world, isn't it?

A murderer has more credibility
than a cop.

- Let's end this.

Well, that's pretty drastic.

- Atwater pleas to
aggravated assault.

Six months probation.

- Involuntary man.
He does a year.

- Fine.

- Atwater's okay with that?
- He knows the alternative.

♪

- Do you understand
the terms of the plea?

♪

- I do.

- Please state in your own words
what happened.

♪

- I observed Mr. Wilkes

in what appeared to be
a narcotics sale.

I got out of my car.
He saw me and fled.

I chased him down.

♪

I didn't mean to,

but I guess
I was too rough with him.

♪

He died.

- A year's not that bad,
considering.

- I don't want to talk about it.

- Yeah, that's gonna be
a problem, 'cause I do.

I have these friends...
The Durells, identical twins.

One day in the schoolyard,

Davey, or Dougie...
I can't remember which one...

He gets pissed at the other,

and they start
pounding on each other.

Finally,
the teacher breaks it up.

And since I'm the only witness,
he asks me who started it.

Now, I don't want to
pick sides...

They're both my buddies...
So I say, "I don't know."

I can't tell 'em apart."

- That's a nice story.

- Yeah, I think so.

Only they both got suspended.

The thing is,

I knew it was Dougie
that started the fight.

To this day, I beat myself up,

because deep down,
I know the right thing to do

was to pick a side
and stick with it.

Anyway, if I ever get in a jam,

I'm happy to have you
as my partner.

The EMTs and the doctors all
said Wilkes was drunk, right?

- Yeah.

- There's no blood tox report
here.

I play ball with Atwater.

I can barely keep up with him.

How does a drunk take him
on a run around the block

before getting caught?

- The only person who didn't say
Wilkes was drunk was Atwater.

- How did Stone not
look for the tox report?

- Wilkes was a victim.

It didn't matter to his case
if he was drunk.

- There's nothing
in his booking report

saying that Wilkes
was covered in puke.

- So if he was clean
when he got to lockup,

but he wasn't when
the paramedics picked him up...

- I'm thinking a punch
hard enough to crack a rib

might make me nauseous.

- And the only place that
could've happened was lockup.

- The snitch, Carerra...

He testified
Wilkes vomited on him.

- He also testified
he was in another cell.

- You called this meeting.

What can we do
for you fine people?

- We're here
to offer you a deal.

- We already have a deal.
- That one's null and void.

- It was contingent
upon your client

telling us the truth.

We have reason to believe
he's lying through his teeth.

- About what?
- Everything.

- Police records show
you and Wilkes

were in the same cell.
- That son of a bitch was drunk.

He puked on me.

I asked the guard to move me.

Hey, I still heard what I heard.

- Problem is, Wilkes didn't have
any alcohol in his system.

- I didn't know about
any of this.

- Well, right now,
that's neither here nor there.

If I were you,
I would explain to my client

the consequences of his lie.

- If you lied,
we can't hold them to the deal.

- And?

- Perjury will get you
five years.

- And?

- The murder charge
in the barroom killing

carries a minimum
20-year sentence.

- Very good.
It pays to keep up.

Now tell him
the difference between

concurrent
and consecutive sentences.

- I know that.
- The choice is yours.

Oh, and I almost forgot.

I'm charging you with
killing Justin Wilkes.

So what'll it be, Mr. Carrera?

Concurrent or consecutive?

- Two murders and perjury?

- Keeps me waiting, I'm sure
I can think of something else.

- That punk ass should've
given me a smoke.

- You killed him
for a cigarette?

- Look...

I didn't know
that guy was gonna die.

- So...

let's make a deal?

♪

- Based upon
newly discovered evidence,

the people move to vacate
Officer Atwater's earlier plea,

and dismiss all charges
against him.

- I assume you have no problem
with that, Mr. Robinette?

- The defense has no objection.

- One more thing, Your Honor?

- Go ahead.

- Part of what we do
as prosecutors

is to make decisions
that might destroy the lives

of innocent people.

We do our best
to make those decisions

without prejudice or pride.

Sometimes...

we get it wrong.

♪

Officer Atwater,

on behalf of
the State's Attorney's Office

and all the people
of Cook County,

I'm sorry.

♪

♪

- I think he'd be proud.

- Of both of us.

♪

- Pursuing justice
is a messy business,

and yes, it took us awhile
to dig it out of the muck,

but in the end,

the truth emerged victorious.

- I figure I owe you an apology.

- Forget about it.

- Nah, I was pissed
at the world.

I took it out on you.

- I probably deserved it.

- Well, anyway...

- Yeah.

♪

♪

Hey, Pop?
It's me.

♪