Original subtitles

the people are represented 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.

Your parents hated me, right?

They didn't hate you.

Well, maybe not your dad, but your mom...

She didn't hate you. She liked you.

Did you see the way she kept checking out my hair?

That's just how she is.

And could her ring be any bigger?

What are you doing?

They're going to come out any second now.

I need a cigarette.

Then let's just go around the corner then, okay?

Hispanic male, 30, 35.

Couple coming out of the restaurant found him like this.

What do you make of it?

Abrasions on the neck and a bruise--

looks like it runs down to his chest.

Mugging?

Maybe just some kind of fight.

Found about 250 bucks in his pocket.

Any I.D.?

Nothing. Either they took the wallet

or he didn't have one.

How long's he been dead?

An hour, maybe less.

Anybody see anything?

Unis are still canvassing the area.

We did find some other stuff in his pockets.

Bus transfer.

Stop's around the corner.

Should've took the subway.

[Captioning sponsored by STUDIOS USA TELEVISION

and NBC]

Any chance we can get a rush on him?

Soon as I rush ten other jobs.

Okay. How about a preliminary?

Well, looks like he's from Mexico, Central America.

Solid build, calluses on his hands.

I'm guessing some kind of manual laborer.

So, what did him in?

All right, see this dark area?

That's his heart.

He's got a widened mediastinum.

I was going to say that.

If he was over 50, I'd be thinking atherosclerosis

or high blood pressure.

And if he was 30?

Well, might be an aneurysm.

I won't know until I cut him open.

What would cause that in a guy his age?

Well, considering there's other bruising?

Some kind of trauma to his chest.

So something hit him.

Or someone.

MTA says the transfer indicates

he boarded a Q-32 bus at 5:34 p.m.

Q-32 originates in Jackson Heights.

How'd you know that?

My sister lives in Queens.

So, he's taking the bus into the City with $250 in his pocket?

Well, we figure he was on a job somewhere

got paid and then he was on his way home.

Or out on the town for the night.

Any luck pinning down where he worked?

None of the drivers on that route recognize him so far.

Rodgers says he had callused hands

like he worked construction or something like that.

Well, how about the inventory search?

Yeah, we got keys, we got a comb, candy wrappers.

Oh... and this.

"A Brief History of Marionettes."

Well, it could be a program insert from a puppet show.

Well, we'll check the ads in the weeklies.

Club soda.

We're an open congregation.

Most of the people who come here are transients.

When you say transients, you mean illegal immigrants?

God doesn't discriminate, Detective.

This man might've had little kids

who attended your puppet show last Sunday.

That was coordinated through our children's service.

Who runs that?

Volunteers.

Well, what about on Sunday?

I think Norma Lopez was here on Sunday.

Thank you.

Do you know this man?

We found his body on the street yesterday.

We're just trying to identify him.

Look, I don't want to get his family in trouble.

Hey, we're not from the INS, Ms. Lopez.

It looks like Marta's father.

She's six.

Does Marta have a last name?

Santiago.

Any idea where they live?

I'm not sure, but the little girl

she's in first grade at PS 73.

They should have an address.

Thank you.

Mrs. Santiago?

She is just not feeling too good.

And where's her husband?

San Salvador, visiting family.

Mrs. Santiago...

we found this man on the street.

We just want to find out who's responsible for this.

And when she tells you

it's her husband, the immigration people

come and take her and her children away.

No, nobody's going to take anybody anyplace.

I promise.

Is Hector.

Is Hector.

We're very sorry, Mrs. Santiago.

Ay Dios!

Look, we need to ask you a couple of questions

if you're up to it, okay?

Okay.

Your husband was found on East 56th Street.

Do you have any idea why he would be there?

Maybe my Hector was working near there.

Mrs. Santiago...

did he get paid on Wednesdays?

No, Hector got paid every day-- $50.

We found $250 in his pocket.

$250?

Is it possible that he was doing something illegal?

Something he didn't want you to know about?

No. Not Hector.

You didn't report him missing?

I was afraid to call the police.

I kept telling myself that he was going to be okay.

He wasn't feeling well on Tuesday.

What was wrong?

He said that he had hurt himself at work.

Who's he work for?

¿Donde estás papalito?

This man, Mike Anderson.

I wanted him to rest, but our baby was sick.

Ay Dios mio!

I haven't seen Hector Santiago in weeks.

Well, where'd you think he was, skiing in Switzerland?

Well, I just didn't need him for any jobs.

His wife was under the impression

he was still working for you.

Maybe he didn't want her to know that he wasn't.

Or maybe you paid him off to duck a workers' comp claim.

What are you talking about?

Hector's dead.

What?

His wife said he hurt himself on the job here Tuesday.

Tuesday? He wasn't here.

You can ask these guys.

Well, do you have any

renovation somewhere else?

Hey, Hector was a good worker

I had nothing against him.

I just didn't have the work.

The truth is, I felt really bad laying him off

you want to know.

Bad enough to help him find

another job?

Hey, if Hector needed a job

there's a corner up in Harlem

where these guys hang out looking for day work.

That's where I found him.

Anybody here know a Hector Santiago?

We're with the police, not Immigration.

Come on, bro, help us out.

Come on, guys, we just want to find somebody who knows him.

I know him.

What do you want?

When was the last time you saw him?

Monday. Why are you looking for him for?

Where'd you see him on Monday?

Here, looking for work.

Any luck?

Yeah. He got picked up to do some moving work.

What's happened to him?

Which outfit picked him up?

It's a... red truck.

You don't know the name?

Hey. ¿A veces te hace el camion rojo?

Si.

¿A quien le pertenece?

No seas tonto.

No te vas a meter en problemas.

Reed Moving Company.

Reed Moving Company?

Yeah, that's the one.

Hector went with them.

Are you sure he's not in any trouble?

No, his troubles are over, believe me.

Thanks.

His name's Hector Santiago.

We got a witness who says

he saw him get into one of your trucks on Monday.

A lot of these guys come through.

Yeah, well, this guy's dead.

Otis, you got two.

Look, maybe he did work for me.

I-I honestly don't remember.

Well, then maybe he worked for you

Tuesday and Wednesday, too.

I need some extra muscle

I send one of my drivers to the corner.

I don't suppose you send them their W-2s?

These people would be in the street if it wasn't for me.

Look, Mr. Reed, how many jobs

did you need extra muscle on on Monday?

I had two office moves Monday.

So where are those crews working now?

One's downtown.

One's on a job on the West Side.

Yeah, he worked on Monday and Wednesday.

The truth is, I started here a few weeks ago myself

so I get all the new fish.

What was the job he was working on Wednesday?

That would be the brownstone in Bensonhurst.

You sure you remember him working Wednesday?

Absolutely. It was a brownstone four-flight walk-up.

This guy-- Hector, is it?

Well, after the first trip

he comes to me and he tells me he's hurt.

For the rest of the day, he's practically useless.

I had to pass all the light stuff on the truck to him.

Well, how did he get hurt on the job that morning?

He wasn't hurt on this job.

Well, what then?

He said he was in a car accident.

It could definitely be from an auto accident.

Cause of death was a dissecting aneurysm of the aorta

caused by severe blunt force trauma.

If it was so severe, why wasn't he more beat up?

Oh, I've seen cases with no external bruising.

It's a deceleration injury.

As in motor vehicle deceleration.

As in whiplash.

He's thrown forward

then he gets pulled back by the seat restraints.

This extreme jerking motion

can cause traumatic injury to the aorta.

So the neck abrasions were from the seat belt.

Well, could he walk around all day like this?

I saw one guy lived for a month before the aorta ruptured.

The good news is you can close the file, send it down to AIS.

Assuming it was an accident.

Something I'm missing?

Guy gets in a car crash

why doesn't he tell his wife?

We don't own a car.

Did any of Hector's friends have a car?

Nobody I can think of.

Maybe he took a taxi.

We can hardly afford the bus.

Well, he did have that $250 on him.

Hector would never

have wasted money on a cab.

Excuse me.

Yeah? Green.

Can you think of any reason why

your husband might lie about this?

I don't know.

Maybe he just didn't want me to worry.

Thanks.

Mrs. Santiago, do you know someone named Chad Patel?

Patel? No.

We had our officers pull the accident reports

from Monday and Tuesday.

One of them listed your husband as the passenger.

Chad Patel was the driver.

We're investigating the accident you were in on Tuesday.

I already talked to police.

Well, we just need

to verify a couple of things.

The two guys that were in the car with you--

Hector Santiago and Everold Daly--

they're friends of yours?

Just friends of a friend.

What were they doing in your car?

I run into them at this place in Queens.

I gave them a ride back to Harlem.

Why do you ask me these questions?

One of them died.

The doctor tells us it was

from the accident.

But I saw him after.

He looked okay.

How about you?

You okay?

My arm and neck hurt, but I got to work.

You know how it is.

You should really see a doctor, though, Mr. Patel.

The other guy died from his injuries.

I can't afford no doctor.

When's the last time you saw Mr. Santiago?

After the accident.

The police tow my car.

We all take the bus.

How did this accident happen?

Some car cut me off.

I hit my brakes.

Some guy in SUV

rear-ends me.

And you called

the cops?

I tell them that the guy was tailgating me.

He was on his cell phone.

He wasn't paying attention.

The cops didn't do anything.

Okay, thanks.

Should we be looking at this SUV driver?

Cops on the scene let it go.

Well, they didn't know

Hector Santiago was going to die.

Driving while on a cell phone isn't illegal.

Not yet.

All right, well, I'll call the DMV--

find out if this guy's got a history.

The other driver saw you on your cell phone.

No way.

I got on my cell phone after the accident.

My eyes were on the road the whole time.

Who were you calling, your lawyer?

You got two moving violations in the past year

a DWI a while back...

"A while back"

was in college.

I was calling my wife.

Look, the accident wasn't my fault.

This guy just slammed on his brakes for no reason.

He said he was cut off.

Bull.

There was nobody in front of him.

I tried to swerve out of the way

but there was this other car in the lane next to me.

I was boxed in.

Did you tell that to the cops at the scene?

Gave them my insurance information.

They said I could leave.

Look, I did everything I was supposed to do.

I even offered to take him to the hospital

but the officer said

he already called an ambulance.

An ambulance responded?

As I was leaving.

Oh, man, my insurance is going to go

through the roof now, isn't it?

Thanks.

Too bad.

Guess he shouldn't have refused medical assistance.

So, what, if a guy's half-dead, you just leave him there?

If he's RMA and we treat him

do you know what happens if he dies then?

The city gets sued; I get screwed.

So you didn't realize

how badly Santiago was injured?

All three of them were ambulatory.

No loss of consciousness.

Even then, I advised them

to get checked out at a hospital.

And what did they say?

They said they had their own doctors.

Patel said he didn't have a doctor.

You got your run sheets from that day?

Yeah. I pulled them

when you called.

Treat and release.

They all signed off.

Well, what's this where it says, "Patient complaint"?

Somebody wrote, "Pain radiating from the neck."

Yeah, I did

and that's just what they said.

I thought it was kind of strange--

these guys all saying the word "radiate."

Chad Patel.

You looking for the Indian, he's gone.

I saw him leave last night with a bag.

Told me he was moving out.

Did he tell you where he was moving to?

Oh, no.

But it must be someplace he don't need a hot plate.

Gave me his.

Told me I could keep it.

Thanks.

And then there was one.

Mm-hmm. Everold Daly.

623 East 116th.

Where's Everold Daly?

Who?

Yeah, right.

Open the door.

Where is he?

He's not here.

What's this?

The bathroom.

All right, Everold, come on out.

He's going out the window, Ed.

That's good, that's good.

Now, radiate your ass up against the wall, come on.

The DMV says your friend Patel's been involved

in two other rear-enders in the last nine months.

So, if you don't start talking, Everold

you're going to be looking

at an accessory charge to manslaughter.

I wasn't driving.

Insurance fraud's a felony.

It doesn't matter if you were driving or not.

Maybe you'd like a few months in the Immigration lockup

to think about it.

No.

No Immigration.

So, you want to help yourself, here?

Smash was too heavy-footed on the brakes.

"Smash"?

Patel.

He likes to smash up the cars.

But the other man, he no have a chance to slow down.

The guy in the SUV

Patel is supposed

to swing in front of him, then stop.

There's another car in on the thing, too.

He pulls up next to the man so he can't get out of the way

then thump-- he hits us from behind.

A swoop.

So, who was driving the other car?

I don't know this rude boy's name.

Look, Patel say he already crashed two cars before this one

and no harm come to anyone.

What happens after the accident?

We tell the ambulance driver

what we're supposed to.

Then Patel takes me and Hector to the clinic.

We talk to the doctor like so.

We have sore necks.

That's it.

And how much you get paid for all this?

$200.

Where's Patel now?

I don't know.

I don't.

I never even met him before the other day.

How'd you meet him?

The man at the moving company.

He come up to me and Hector after work on Monday

he pay us for the day, then he say he know how

we can get another $200.

Which guy at the moving company told you this?

The big boss-- Mr. Reed.

Mr. Reed? Yeah?

We need you to come with us.

Why?

Oh, come on.

You're smarter than that.

Okay.

Hey, man, we'll give you a ride.

Yeah, don't worry.

My partner's an excellent driver.

I don't know why I'm in here.

How about hiring guys to play bumper cars on the West Side Highway?

That ring a bell?

I pay men to move furniture.

Have a seat.

A man died from an accident you arranged, Mr. Reed.

He left behind a wife and two little children.

You're looking at homicide charges.

Homicide?

Criminal fraud executed with reckless conduct

creating a grave risk of death to another person.

That's the definition of Murder

in the Second Degree.

And like I said, I run a moving company.

Come on, DMV already confirmed Chad Patel's been involved

in two other accidents in the past year.

Everold Daly will testify

you gave him Patel's phone number.

He was looking for work.

I got to figure you're the low man

on this totem pole, Mr. Reed

but if you don't give me anyone higher up on the food chain

that leaves you at the top.

Look, you're in way over your head this time.

Yeah, well, it's my head, and...

I want to see a lawyer.

Reed made bail.

The judge set a $25,000 cash alternative.

For second degree murder?

With Reed as our only defendant

it doesn't give us much sizzle.

I take it the court wasn't overly impressed

with our depraved indifference theory.

A car accident was staged.

That endangers the lives of everyone in those vehicles

not to mention the rest of us on the road.

If that's not depraved indifference to life, what is?

What about the second car?

Daly doesn't know the name of the driver

and Reed's not talking.

If these accidents were staged

there has to have been more than a few hundred dollars in it.

Follow the money.

We'll get our sizzle.

Mr. Patel's second accident claim

was settled for $6,500.

What injuries did he allege?

Soft tissue damage to the back and neck.

"Soft tissue damage"?

As opposed to

a broken arm or leg.

The lay term is "whiplash."

Hard to prove, hard to disprove.

That's the same injury

he claimed in his first accident.

You settled both, Ms. Miller.

To fight it

we'd have to spend $700

bringing in a doctor for an opinion

another couple hundred for a second X ray

maybe even an MRI.

Add another $3,000 bringing in legal counsel

to depose the plaintiff.

So, you settled for nuisance value.

Exactly.

All right, I'm going to need copies

of all your soft tissue claims for the past 12 months.

Exel's one of the largest auto insurers

in New York, Ms. Carmichael.

That's a pretty tall order.

If it'll help, I'll get you a subpoena.

Last thing I need is more lawyers.

I'll get you the copies.

Jack...

I went through Miller's files.

19 claimants listed themselves as employees of Bill Reed.

A cottage industry. How much money are we talking about?

Several hundred thousand dollars, at least.

And that doesn't take into account

any other insurance companies that may have been sued.

And there's a common thread besides Bill Reed.

All 19 men went to the same chiropractic clinic.

Let's get a second opinion.

It's not my practice

to second-guess another doctor.

We believe these accidents were part of a con game.

What we're trying to figure out is

if the injuries warranted insurance settlements.

Well, soft tissue injuries

are extremely complex to diagnose

and the nerve conduction tests that were ordered by Dr. Raleigh

are notoriously unreliable

and the patient's X rays, and the MRI results

are completely within the normal range.

Then all these expensive tests

really tell us nothing.

No, not exactly. You'd expect that some

of the 19 charts that you've given me

would have an injury verifiable by an X ray or an MRI

but there's not a single test

that shows any problems whatsoever.

So, they're faking it?

They average ten visits

with this chiropractor.

I believe if you examined

the no-fault coverage on those policies

the amounts would correspond exactly

with the number of treatments

his patients received.

I guess they were cured

as soon as their coverage ran out.

According to Patel's insurance claims

you treated him for soft tissue injuries

allegedly resulting

from three different car accidents

within a span of less than ten months.

Our client can't refuse to treat a man

because he's a lousy driver.

He also treated every one of Patel's passengers.

Nothing unusual about getting referrals from current patients.

All of these referrals were employees of Reed Moving.

I'd imagine chiropractic problems

are common in the moving business.

And so are car accidents?

I wouldn't know.

But you do know exactly when their

no-fault coverage runs out.

Dr. Raleigh's patients are mainly

low-income individuals without insurance.

I don't see why he should be singled out for the failings

of our nation's health care system.

How about

for claiming treatment he never provided?

Those are Mr. Patel's current work records.

On six occasions

Dr. Raleigh claimed office visits

Mr. Patel was actually working as a busboy.

Well, obviously, my billing department

has made a clerical error.

Six clerical errors.

Even if that's true, at most, uh

what you're describing is a minor civil matter.

I wouldn't call a pervasive pattern

of insurance fraud that led to a man's death

a civil matter, counselor.

I'd call it murder.

Murder?

That's ridiculous.

Car accidents were staged

that put lives at risk

and then the occupants of those vehicles

were steered to this office to claim injuries

that didn't exist.

You can't prove that.

We're prepared to call a board certified

orthopedist who will testify

that none of their injuries were real.

And we'll call five others

who'll swear they were.

We've tried more medical cases

than you've tried homicides.

I'm afraid this discussion's over.

What now?

If they can fake it, so can we.

All you have on my client is the testimony

of an illegal immigrant desperate to avoid prosecution.

Not anymore.

We checked soft tissue claims

from other major, auto insurance companies in the city.

Do you have any idea

how many of those people worked for you

at one time or another, Mr. Reed?

46.

All treated at Raleigh's clinic.

You talked to Raleigh?

How long do you think it'll be

before we'll have ten witnesses willing to testify against you?

All I did was spread a few bucks around, that's it.

Bill... Why don't you go after the people

who really got fat off of this?

And who would that be?

Before he talks, he needs a deal.

Conspiracy to commit fraud, five years probation.

Try Man Two, three to nine.

Look, I never thought anybody'd get hurt.

These were supposed to be little rear-enders

with everybody wearing their seat belts.

This is Chad Patel's car.

That will be our first exhibit to the jury.

That doesn't look like a little fender bender to me.

It was Raleigh's idea.

I moved him into his office a couple of years ago.

He knew I hired

a lot of illegals from the corner.

Said if any of my guys want to get in on this scam

he'd give me a finder's fee.

I was supposed to pack the car with three or four guys

and after the accident, they'd go to Raleigh's clinic.

How much was your fee?

500 bucks per.

You'd pay these people $200

to risk their lives and you'd keep $300?

Look, it's not like

we were ripping off little old ladies, here.

These were the insurance companies

and the lawyers, Petrie and Sanders

they ran the whole thing.

Petrie and Sanders supplied the grease.

The law firm representing Dr. Raleigh?

One and the same.

Their firm handled all the personal injury claims

of Raleigh's patients.

So, Reed sends Dr. Raleigh illegal immigrants

and these shysters turn them into clients?

Their contingency fees

in these cases run in the millions.

A scam using immigrants as crash-test dummies.

And these two lawyers orchestrated the whole thing.

No wonder they wouldn't let

Raleigh talk about a plea.

All right, let's make examples of these two.

I want murder indictments for both of them.

That's not going to be easy.

Petrie and Sanders never had direct contact with Reed.

And Dr. Raleigh was the bag man.

And we can't flip Raleigh because they represent him.

What about getting him shadow counsel?

He's the one who'd have to request it.

Oh, how do we cut Raleigh loose

from these damn lawyers?

A motion to disqualify?

On what grounds?

The People plan to call both of you as witnesses.

Here are your subpoenas.

This is outrageous.

Judge, we refused to play ball

with Mr. McCoy on a plea bargain

for our client.

This is simply retaliation.

What about it, Mr. McCoy?

We need these lawyers to prove

there was a conspiracy to defraud the insurance companies.

You have to be more specific.

They can testify about the money

the phony accident victims received.

Even if the accidents were phony

we can't be compelled

to testify against our own clients.

We have attorney-client privilege with these people.

Does seem to present a problem.

Not if we offer blanket immunity

to every one of their clients

who might conceivably be implicated by their testimony.

What about Dr. Raleigh, doesn't he get immunity?

We're not going to ask them about their conversations

with Dr. Raleigh.

Your Honor, we've spent two months

preparing for this trial.

And I'll give substitute counsel plenty of time

to get up to speed.

So, what are you worried about?

What exactly are you looking for, Mr. McCoy?

Testimony

against the law firm of Petrie and Sanders.

That's why you disqualified them.

You should be thanking us, Dr. Raleigh.

Your lawyers wanted you

to take the fall for this.

What would

this testimony be worth?

Man Two; three to nine.

That's what you gave Reed.

I don't think your client's culpability is any less.

Maybe not, but his information

is worth more.

Dr. Raleigh's the only one

who had direct contact with these attorneys.

What are you looking for?

Two to six.

No opposition to parole.

Let's hear what he has to say.

Petrie and Sanders paid me a referral fee

for sending them accident victims.

How much?

$600 for every client I referred

plus five percent of the insurance settlement.

And no-fault takes care

of chiropractic visits that never took place.

Were Petrie and Sanders aware

that the accidents were staged?

They were the ones who insisted

on at least three victims per accident.

Alan Petrie and Richard Sanders?

We're in the middle of a deposition here.

You're under arrest for the murder of Hector Santiago.

You might want to find yourself a new PI firm.

And you might want to get a lawyer

who knows something about insurance fraud.

Petrie and Sanders told Raleigh

to target new, expensive cars

that would be likely to have good insurance policies.

That's how they picked the SUV

in the accident that killed Hector Santiago.

Has anyone approached you

about a plea bargain for these creeps?

They put out a feeler.

I haven't returned the call yet.

Raleigh is the only one who actually puts

Petrie and Sanders in the driver's seat.

We could get Man One... restitution if we deal.

These attorneys sacrificed Hector Santiago and men like him

for nothing more than a legal fee.

For that, they have to be made to pay full price.

Reports of auto insurance fraud

in New York have doubled in the last five years.

Fraud adds almost $200

to the average family's insurance bill.

Have you examined

the reports of the accident that killed Hector Santiago?

Yes, I did.

What's your expert opinion on whether that was

a real or a staged accident?

It was a "swoop and squat."

Two cars came up alongside the mark-- in this case, an SUV.

Then the lead driver sped up, swooped in front of the mark

and jammed on his brakes.

The second car stayed next to the mark

so he couldn't veer left.

The mark slammed on his brakes

but not in time to avoid hitting the lead car.

How many accident cases

did Dr. Raleigh and the defendants share?

Based on my department's investigation, 58.

And of those accidents

how many fit the pattern of a "swoop and squat"?

Virtually every single one.

Ms. Claire, um, do you have any proof

my clients participated in this fraud?

They took their legal fees

out of the settlements in these cases.

Isn't it possible they...

they didn't know the accidents were faked?

I find that unlikely.

Why?

Aren't soft tissue injuries easy to fake?

Doctors may disagree, yes.

So, it's possible

the accident victims were well-coached

by Dr. Raleigh to deceive my clients?

When a lawyer gets 200 cases from the same chiropractor

and the medical reports read almost identically

I find it hard to believe

the lawyer didn't know exactly what was going on.

Mr. Petrie came to my office three years ago

on a personal injury case.

He liked the workup I did for his client.

Two weeks later, he and Richard--

uh, Mr. Sanders-- took me out

to an expensive dinner as a thank you.

They said that if I helped them generate cases

there'd be even bigger thank yous.

Did they propose how to generate cases?

They suggested we stage car accidents.

They, uh, said they would pay me $600 for every referral

plus a percentage of any insurance settlement

I helped to secure.

Did there come a time

when you acted on the defendants' proposal?

Bill Reed set up a car accident using four of his workers.

Afterwards, they came to my office for treatment

and I sent them to Petrie and Sanders for representation.

Did any of these car accident victims

require treatment, Dr. Raleigh?

No.

And over the years

how many of these so-called victims

did you deliver

to Petrie and Sanders?

Including repeat customers, 212.

You received a very cushy deal

to testify against my clients today, did you now, Doctor?

I wouldn't call two to six years in prison cushy.

Not even if you're facing 25 to life on a murder charge?

Dr. Raleigh, it's quite common for doctors

and chiropractors to refer their patients

to personal injury lawyers, is it not?

Yes.

Nothing wrong with that, is there?

No...

unless money changes hand.

Do you have any proof

that my clients ever put a single penny in your hand?

They always paid cash.

And you billed the insurance companies directly

for your services?

Yes.

Yes.

Seems you took care of everything... Dr. Raleigh.

Our law firm turns away potential clients all the time.

If Richard and I think somebody's being dishonest

we don't want anything to do with them

but I'd rather make mistakes once in a while

than turn away somebody who's truly deserving.

Mr. Petrie, have you and Mr. Sanders ever knowingly

participated in fraud?

Absolutely not.

Ever paid anyone to get in an accident?

No.

Ever paid Dr. Raleigh?

Never. What about the testimony

we heard from the prosecution's insurance industry expert?

Well, people should remember that that's exactly what she is:

a representative

of the insurance companies

and insurance companies don't like paying insurance

and they especially don't like law firms that make them.

Thank you.

I have nothing further.

Mr. Petrie...

you visited Dr. Raleigh's office over 30 times

during the past two years.

It's not uncommon for a lawyer

to attend his clients' physical examinations.

And always the same diagnosis: soft-tissue injuries.

It happens to be the most likely injury

to occur from a rear-end collision.

And rear-end collisions happen to be the most lucrative type

of accident to sue on, correct?

I think, as a general proposition

that's probably true.

So, was it luck, Mr. Petrie

that every client referred by Dr. Raleigh

had been involved in a rear-end collision?

I'm a lawyer, Mr. McCoy.

I try the facts I'm given.

Every accident

from Dr. Raleigh's office a rear-end collision.

Every claim whiplash.

Every client an illegal alien

and/or an employee of Bill Reed.

Pretty coincidental facts, Mr. Petrie.

My law firm doesn't represent Park Avenue matrons, Mr. McCoy.

We're down in the trenches

fighting for the people society has forgotten.

And you turn a nice buck doing it, don't you, Mr. Petrie?

Yes. My law firm is successful.

I don't make apologies for that

but we don't collect if our clients don't collect.

It's as simple as that.

Petrie's painted himself

as a cross between Robin Hood and Cesar Chavez.

There's bound to be four or five blue-collar types

who are going to be sympathetic.

These guys have an answer

for everything.

We should make sure his performance backfires.

Let's look through some of their more serious injury cases.

Let's look through some of their more serious injury cases.

Maybe we can find some little people who aren't so grateful.

What happened to your husband, Mrs. Ndabe?

Musa was in a car accident last year with three other men.

A car hit them from the back

and Musa ruptured his spleen.

He died that night.

This is highly prejudicial, Your Honor.

You've already made your objections in chambers, Mr. Kaufer.

Please sit down.

Did these defendants represent you and your husband?

Yes.

After he died

they settled with the insurance company for $100,000.

And how much did you receive?

Mr. Petrie and Mr. Sanders took one-half.

Not one-third?

One-half.

They also took $37,000 for expenses.

Leaving you with $13,000

for your husband's wrongful death?

Yes.

Is that why you're testifying here today

because you feel cheated?

No. I'm here because my husband's accident

was not really an accident and these men knew it.

Objection.

The jury will disregard the

statement about the defendants' knowledge.

Why is it you believe

that the car crash was not an accident, Mrs. Ndabe?

Because at the hospital, Mr. Petrie was already there.

He said that Musa was in critical condition

and I had to sign papers--

the retainer-- in case he died

so that his firm could represent us.

And why was that so urgent?

Mr. Petrie told me

that if a different lawyer was to take the case

they would find out what really happened

and I might not get any money

that I could even be deported for what Musa had done.

Mrs. Ndabe, by testifying here today

aren't you afraid that the insurance company

may realize they were defrauded

and try to get their money back?

I may lose the money, yes

but I don't want to let my husband's killers go free.

Mrs. Ndabe, I'm sorry for your loss.

I know that in times of sadness

we often search for a reason for the pain

something to explain the inexplicable.

Objection.

Ask a question, counselor.

Mrs. Ndabe, in your time of need

who paid your husband's medical bills

his funeral bills?

Who treated you with kindness and respect?

It felt like kindness

at the time.

Later it turned out to be expenses.

So, you're bitter about your part of the settlement

is that it, Mrs. Ndabe?

No, I'm not bitter.

But you waited such a long time

before coming forward with your accusation.

I was afraid.

I wasn't legal.

Or is it maybe

because you didn't want to do anything

until you saw how little money

you were going to get?

That's not true.

No, no, I'm sure it's not.

Thank you, Mrs. Ndabe.

Hector Santiago's death

is a terrible tragedy.

By all accounts, he was a decent man

who simply made a terrible mistake

agreeing to participate in an insurance scam--

a scam that ultimately cost him his life

but it was an agreement my clients had no knowledge of

an agreement they could have no knowledge of

unless you want lawyers

to be their clients' inquisitors rather than their advocates.

So, why are my clients on trial?

After all, Dr. Raleigh's the one

who paid Bill Reed to stage the accident.

He's the one who dealt with the insurance companies.

He's the one who billed

for the nonexistent medical treatments.

So why put Alan Petrie and Richard Sanders on trial?

It's because Mr. McCoy knows that people are willing

to believe the worst about lawyers

especially personal injury lawyers

and the more successful they are

the more political pressure is brought

by the insurance companies

to bring them down.

So they're portrayed to you as bottom feeders

ambulance chasers.

But these so-called ambulance chasers

are our protectors.

Lawyers like Alan Petrie and Richard Sanders

defend us from the corporations

and the insurance companies

to whom the rest of us are just numbers.

Everyone hates lawyers...

until they need one.

Alan Petrie and Richard Sanders

made millions of dollars on the backs

of the Hector Santiagos of the world.

They're not champions of the people.

They're just corrupt lawyers

who preyed on the most vulnerable among us

in order to make themselves rich.

Inducing hard-working men desperate to feed their families

to risk their lives in car accidents

with innocent drivers.

Their scheme endangered all of us

because it turned all of us into potential victims.

Thirty visits

to Dr. Raleigh's office to observe

medical examinations...

that all ended with the same result

the same injuries

the same rear-end collisions.

You heard Dr. Raleigh testify

that thousands of dollars changed hands

in these visits

but where was the big money in this scam?

Did it go to Bill Reed or Hector Santiago

or even Dr. Raleigh?

It went to these defendants, these lawyers...

who handled 212 identical cases

and made $2.5 million plus expenses doing it

leaving the Mrs. Ndabes of the world

with their 13 percent.

Petrie and Sanders were running a fraud mill

and Hector Santiago and the men like him

were simply the grist.

The bottom line is this:

Hector Santiago is dead

because these men

paid him $200

to get into a cheap car and cross his fingers...

and hold on tight.

Has the jury reached a verdict?

We have.

As to Alan Petrie

on the charge of murder in the second degree

how do you find?

We find the defendant guilty.

As to Richard Sanders

on the charge of murder in the second degree

how do you find?

We find the defendant guilty.

Do we charge them with Mr. Ndabe's murder?

We have 20 years to decide.

Gives the new meaning to the term "jailhouse lawyers."

What happens to all those settlements now?

The insurance companies are moving to set them aside.

Hector Santiago's family won't see a penny.

He died for nothing.