All language subtitles for Law.and.Order.S14E23.Caviar.Emptor.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

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.

The gowns, and the jewels,
and the food, and the music.

Jenkooyeh, Patrika.

I'll take my father up
a cup of tea.

And ice sculpture?

Who could imagine
horse and carriage?

Ice swan, eh, but horse?

Uh!

Please, also coaster.

Of course.

It was beautiful.

So beautiful,
so beautiful.

And-and gifts, enough
to fill a gymnasium.

More candlesticks,
from her uncle.

Bijan.

Roya!

Asher!

He's not breathing!

Hurry. Come up here. Come on!

Name's Manoush Soleimani.

Big cheese in the caviar racket.

Soleimani,
sounds Italian.

Caviar,
it's probably Iranian.

Persian.

Whatever, he must have
sold a lot of it.

All those flowers,
looks like somebody

was expecting a funeral.

They're from a
wedding last night.

We got a time
of death?

Guy was so fresh,
I half expected him

to get up and
have breakfast.

No rigor, body temp
same as you and me.

He's dead, tops an hour.

There's no muss in there.

What makes you think
it's not natural causes?

Can't say.

Started my exam,

The lady of the house
threw a fit, told me to stop.

That's when I sent for you.

She wants me
to release the body

to the funeral home.

Is the DOA the
father of the bride?

The DOA was the groom.

Young bride...
old groom... wedding night?

Maybe he died
of a heart attack.

Like my mother
used to say,

play with kids
your own age.

If the wife doesn't want
us here, why are we here?

The son does.

He's sure
there's been foul play,

wants an autopsy.

I forbid it.

Who are you
to forbid?

Who are you to forbid?

Family feud,
my favorite.

My husband was
a private man in life.

I will not let you

disrespect him in death.

There will be
no autopsy.
Disrespect?

From someone who parades
around like a Paris Hilton?

Your father was a widower
for many years,

with many companions.

I was the one he chose
to take to the altar.

I made him happy.

You exploited him.

Ben and Yasmin,
stop arguing. Please.

I do not have to
answer to you.
You will have to answer

about my father's
death, not just to me.

All right, everybody
calm down, all right?!

We're going to need
to talk to all of you.

Yeah, in neutral corners.

It wasn't a heart attack.

My father just had a perfect
check-up. Pre-honeymoon.

They were about to go
on a Mediterranean cruise.

Who called 911?

I did.

I took him a cup of tea.

He wasn't, uh...

He wasn't breathing--
I called for help.

Who else was
in the house?

Roya and Asher were
in the dining room,

with Patrika.

And Roya is?

My sister. Asher is her
husband, my brother-in-law.

Patrika is the housekeeper.

She's been with us forever.

So where was his new wife?

Not by his side.

I went to look for her.

She was nowhere in the house.

The ambulance was here
by the time she strolled in.

You said that she'd have to
answer for your father's death.

Detective, she's 25.

My father was 68,

and a very, very wealthy man.

Ben knows better.

A traditional
Jewish funeral

has to take place
within 24 hours.

Mrs. Soleimani,
don't you want to know

what happened
to your husband?

I know what happened.

He died, peacefully
in his sleep.

No one killed him.

We don't need an autopsy.

We can ask the ME
to rush his exam,

try to make
that 24-hour deadline.

Manny was a religious man.

Our traditions meant
everything to him.

He would not have
wanted to be handled,

touched by outsiders,
secular people.

You called for the ambulance.

The EMS handled him.

I did not call 911.

I was not even here
when they found him.

Where were you?

I went riding.

What does it look like?

A lot of women in this zip code
run errands in those.

I don't do errands.

But you do go horseback riding

the morning after
you tie the knot?

I did not know how much riding I
would get to do on my honeymoon.

What, you don't believe me?

Mrs. Soleimani,

your husband was found dead,

in his own bed, the morning
after he got married.

To a much younger woman,
is what you're thinking.

I wouldn't be doing
my job if I wasn't.

I can assure you,
he was quite alive

before I left for the stables.

The bride's a piece of work.

Cool as a cucumber.

If it was up her,

she'd have him
buried by sundown.

Bye-bye evidence.

Meanwhile, we're stuck.

We can't get a warrant
until you say

that the death was a homicide.

Which I can't do,
with the wife

saying no to an autopsy.

But you are an M.E.

You don't need
a warrant to investigate.

You can freeze the scene
and have your forensics guys

process whatever you find.

Yeah, I could, but it's
not really my job

and she's going
to raise holy hell.

Hey, believe me, we'd
rather do it ourselves,

but we're in a bind here.

Can you help us out?

What about the autopsy?

Just sit on the
body and make sure

it doesn't go anywhere

until the D.A.s
have a chance

to ruin some judge's
lovely spring Sunday.

A Persian Jewish family,
Your Honor.

Yasmin Soleimani
is asserting

a religious objection
to an autopsy.

The medical examiner

has the right,
under the law,

to perform an autopsy
over a religious objection

if there's a threat
to public health.

Which I presume
this is not.

Or in the face

of a homicide.

In the face
of an apparent homicide.

There's no apparent
homicide here.

No signs whatsoever of
foul play or violence.

We can't know that

until an autopsy
is performed.

Ben Soleimani
doesn't think

that his father died
of natural causes.

He wants a full
investigation.

The decision
to perform an autopsy

is Mrs. Soleimani's,

as next of kin.

Miss Southerlyn, unless
you bring me some evidence,

I'm unwilling to overrule
Mrs. Soleimani's objection.

Your Honor, how
can I provide you

with evidence of foul play
without an autopsy?

I'm sorry, Miss Southerlyn,
I can't accommodate you.

What if Mrs. Soleimani
is not the next of kin?

Judge, there were
more than 400 people

at the wedding,
all witnesses.

The wedding took place
last night, Saturday.

After Sabbath,
around 10:00.

Manny Soleimani

died this morning, Sunday.

The County Clerk's Office
doesn't open until tomorrow.

They couldn't
have possibly filed

their marriage certificate yet.

It's a hyper-technicality,
Miss Southerlyn...

but a legitimate one.

It is enough to dismiss
the autopsy objection.

Don't know if the marriage

was a marriage,
but his death

was definitely a homicide.

He was smothered.

Is a butterfly gonna
jump out at us?

No, but there is
lamb involved.

First, look at
this section of gum.

The frenulum is ripped.

When you're smothered,
the reflex is to move your head

from side to side, like this.

But, what, the killer
was too strong for him?

Not necessarily.

His last meal was
lamb and lentils.

Tox screen was positive
for a benzodiazepine.

Xanax.

So what's up with the lamb?

When you eat
a fatty meat like lamb,

the trigylcerides potentiate
the effects of the tranquilizer,

make it much stronger.

So in English, he was
weak as a kitten?

Throw in a lot of
alcohol at the wedding...

Would have been
child's play to smother him.

We also found a hair
on his torso.

Oh, you saved
the best for last?

I don't want to get
your hopes up.

Until it's analyzed, all we know
for sure is that it wasn't his.

Looks like
it's time

to start
checking alibis.

Shame about Manny.

He spent a lot of time
here over the years.

His daughter used
to ride here as a teenager.

When was the last
time you saw him?

He started coming back
around last summer.

Bought his fiancee
an Arabian.

Horses and girls.

She was here yesterday.

Saddled up around
9:30, 10:00.

How often does
she ride?

Oh, she goes riding
most mornings.

Weekends, too?

Don't usually see
her on the weekends,

come to think of it.

Excuse me.

I got a customer.

All right, so if she doesn't
usually ride on the weekends,

the alibi could
have been pre-planned.

Let's find out if her husband
left her more than the horse.

They got engaged.

Manny opened an
account for her.

A million bucks,
free and clear, after taxes.

Pretty nice nest egg.

The rest of his estate
he left to his children.

Two-thirds to his son Ben,
one-third to his daughter Roya.

What, did he
love his son

twice as much as he
loved his daughter?

That's their custom,
the old Persian way.

Besides, Roya's married.

Her husband takes care of her.

So he gave Yasmin a
million bucks up front?

Not that she
needs Manny's money.

Why, because
she's so gorgeous?

Because she's so smart, and
because she has some of her own.

Yasmin grew up
in the caviar business, too.

Her Uncle Bijan--

Manny's biggest competitor.

Must have made
for interesting pillow talk.

So how close were Yasmin
and this uncle?

Close.

Bijan brought Yasmin's
family over from Iran

after the Ayatollahs took over.

The nice life she's led
in America, she owes to him.

Mr. Bijan is not here,

not home.

Well, where is he?

We need to talk to him.

Telephone call
come. He go.

Where did he go?

JFK.

JFK?

His business rival
gets killed, he hops a plane?

Thank you.

We called Mr. Bijan
to come in and talk to us

on a pretext to take
him into custody.

For what?

Smuggling caviar, straight
from the Caspian Sea.

Black market caviar.

The shipment
we seized today, 400 kilos.

Street value, $1.4 million.

Wow.

So Jimmy here can sniff
out tins of caviar?

There is no way
to pack the eggs

without breaking some,

which leaves
an oil residue.

So what exactly was illegal
about Bijan's caviar?

Could be a number of things,

like passing off cheap stuff
as high-end product.

In this case,
we got a tip

that Bijan's shipment
came from sturgeon

on the UN's
endangered species list.

So what happens
to the caviar now?

We test the DNA,

and if it's legit,
he gets it back.

And if isn't?

He goes to jail,
and the caviar down the drain.

So, where is this
fish-egg felon?

We need to talk to him.

Sorry.
He's already in the system.

You mean
your syste.

Afraid so.

I expected you
to come in with him.

There's a flag
on the play.

We're waiting
on the feds

to analyze
some caviar DNA.

You gotta be kidding.

Bijan's lawyer got a judge
to order an independent test

to prove that
his caviar was legal.

And meanwhile we can't talk
to a homicide suspect?

I don't think so.

Find out where they're
holding this guy.

I'll get you in to see him.

I went by the house to drop off

silver candlesticks,

a traditional gift.

Which you just
happened

to bring over the morning
Manny was murdered?

I forgot to bring them
to the wedding.

So you dropped them off

at the house personally?
Why not send them?

Why shouldn't I deliver
them in person?

Besides, I wanted
to pay my respects.

And did you?

Manny was still asleep,
and Yasmin had gone out.

I said hello to Roya

and Asher, and left.

We hear that you
weren't on good terms

with the Soleimanis.

Yasmin may have married Manny,

but I was still her uncle.

And what's that
supposed to mean?

Manny and I carried
on a fancy food fight,

but it was not a blood feud.

We both left Tehran
in the late '50s as young men.

We had much in common.

We were in
the same business.

How was business?

Mine was good, his wasn't.

So why not kill

the competition?
You corner the market.

I was not destroying
Manny's business.

His bigshot son was.

Trying so hard to do
things the "modern way."

He never had Manny's brains.

Are you saying
that Ben Soleimani

was trying to put
you out of business?

Let me tell you something.

If anyone was trying to kill
the competition, it was Ben.

Ben and Bijan
were friendly competitors

until he had the gall
to open a caviar store

just a block from here.

They became very
bitter enemies.

But he was invited
to the wedding?

Of course he was.
Yasmin makes him family.

But Bijan would have been
invited no matter

who Manny married.

Even an enemy who is one of us,

is more a friend
than any stranger.

At this year's Iranian Harvest

we came across an excellent
grade of caviar

from the Persian sturgeon.

Mmm. Crunchy, salty--
I like it.

You have good taste, Detective.
It sells for $170 an ounce.

I don't like it that much.

So was the caviar keeping
the company in the black?

The company went from a profit
of $20 million in '98,

to a loss of $2 million
last year.

Somebody stealing?

Never.

Well, then somebody
was spending it.

The cafe, catalog,
were all doing well.

But we opened stores
in places

where people haven't developed
a palette for our product.

Whose idea was
this expansion?

If Ben was wrecking
his father's business,

he might have
been worried

if the old man took
it away from him

and leave it
to the new wife.

That actually takes
the wife off the hook.

I mean, she's got a million
dollars, there's a pre-nup,

and she's not even
in the will.

So she has no reason
to kill him.

The son made the call to 911?

Yeah, but that could've
been a smoke screen.

Ben could have killed
his father

to keep control
of the business.

And throw the blame on Yasmin.

I could have a lawyer here

faster than you
can pour a cup of coffee.

Go ahead, call him.
I'll start pouring.

I was the one
who found my father.

I tried to save him!

Man, please.
You called 911

to make us believe
you were trying to
save your father.

All right...

I went into his bedroom
to say hello, like always.

Yeah?

He didn't respond
and he wasn't breathing.

Well, unfortunately for you,
you were there by yourself.

No witnesses.

It was already too late.
He'd been murdered.

Yasmin got an alibi;
you don't.

Why would I kill my father?

To keep control of
the family business,

which was failing,
thanks to you.

You were scared that Yasmin
was going to get the company.

My father would
never have done that.

I am his son!

Yo, Lennie, what you got?

Oh, yeah?

Fantastic.

We got the murder weapon.

Good. Maybe now you'll find
whoever killed my father.

Maybe we already have.

Here's your murder weapon.

The pillow contains goose down
and DNA from the victim; saliva.

He was a drooler?

Apparently only
when being smothered.

It's the only pillow
in the house with
traces of his saliva.

You found that
in his bedroom?

His daughter's.

Any trace evidence?

Got a hair.

It's a woman's, dyed,
with a gray root.

If it's got a root,
we can get DNA.

See if it matches
the one we found on the body.

You know what, I'm
going to call the lieu.

See if she wants to
handle this herself.

It is disrespectful,
she is sitting Shiva.

Sir, it's important
to our investigation.

Can't it wait?
She's been through a lot.

We both have.

Asher, it's all right.
I'll talk to her.

Come, please. Sit down.

Mrs. Koutal, when was
the last time you were
with your father?

At the wedding.

And were you with him
at all the next morning?

No. By the time I saw him

he was already dead.

Did you touch him?

I could hardly look at him,
let alone touch him.

Now I wish I had.

Did your father have
a routine before he went to bed?

He had a cigar,
and a brandy, and then a shower.

A woman's hair was found on him.

Would you be willing
to supply a DNA sample?

Of course.

Do you know how his pillow
got into your bedroom?

No.

No, I don't.

His DNA was on the pillow
from his saliva.

I don't understand.

It was the pillow that
was used to smother him.

Oh, my God.

Qh, my God.

Roya, is everything all right?

They think I killed him.

Mrs. Koutal, please.
That is not what I said.

We are looking into
your father's death.

You're wrong.
She was devoted to him.

She loved him best of all.

She seemed genuinely distressed;
horrified.

If I killed my father I'd be
distressed and horrified, too.

She kept talking about
staying in the house.

Is she entitled to?

Well, that's a whole
other question.

Well, usually,
it goes to the wife.

I'll find out if the townhouse
is Yasmin's to keep.

Okay.

I gave the detectives
the financials.

What I need to know
is who inherits the townhouse?

Roya.

What about
the two-thirds custom?

The son doesn't get
a piece of the house?

When Ben had
his first child

Manny bought him an
apartment of his own.

And he didn't buy
his daughter a place

because she
doesn't have a child?

And because she
always lived at home.

Even after
she got married?

Manny was a widower,
so Asher moved in.

Manny was thrilled
that Roya married
a boy like that.

Like what?

Asher was raised in Iran,

came here in his 20s,

just like Manny.

Old school, traditional.
Hard worker, too.

Manny took Asher
into the family business?

Asher was loyal, devoted,
grateful for the job.

He and Manny cut
from the same cloth.

Manny loved him
like a son.

And Ben?

Ben's a good son.

But it's hard
not to take for granted

that which you have
always known would be yours.

We ran a title search

and found out that Manny
just closed on an apartment.

Do you know why he bought it?

No, but I do know where,
on Park.

The real estate agent
offer anything?

Just that the
market's still
strong.

Did she know if Soleimani
bought it for an investment

or for some personal use?

All she knows is that

she's going to get her
commission either way.

DNA results come back?

Yeah, the hair on
the victim's body

and the hair on pillow
both belong to Roya.

I got something else--
we ran her fingerprints.

They're on file
with Immigration.

Because of the
caviar business?

No, the kid business.

Over a year ago,
she and her husband filed

for a foreign adoption, China.

That was a long time ago,
and they still don't have a kid.

Let's look into it.

I met with them
in person several times.

Once, at their house,
to do the home study.

Between the phone and e-mails,
we were in touch every week.

And they went through
the entire process?

Start to finish;
and the paperwork is daunting.

You try dealing with
the City of New York,

the State of New York,
the Federal government,

Homeland Security

and the People's
Republic of China.

You've really
got to want it.

And then what?

I'm just a social
worker, not a shrink.

I called to say they'd
been matched with a baby.

I sent them a picture,
an adorable little girl.

You always carry
your files with you?

Just the active cases,
so I can return calls

after my boys go to bed.

Parents waiting for
a child call 24/7.

Oh, wow. I couldn't resist
this face

and I'm not even looking
for another kid.

They could. After looking
at that picture for weeks,

one day Roya calls
and says, "I'm sorry."

And her explanation?

She was vague.

It didn't add up.

Especially since they
already had a travel date

to get the baby.

I live here more
than 20 years.

I only know how
much Roya wanted child.

How did Roya
and Yasmin get along?

You know... older
daughter, younger wife.

Before Yasmin, Roya and Asher

would be with Mr. Soleimani,
hours and hours.

Talk and laugh,
play cards.

And after Yasmin
came into his life?

Not so much.

He only have time for new woman.

And Roya never had any children?

That is why she want
this little China girl so much.

So when it didn't happen...?

She upset...

a lot.

Very moody, all the time;
can't sleep.

We know that she was
taking tranquilizers.

Was she
seeking help anywhere?

I saw Roya
several times a week.

Then you knew she
wanted to adopt?

Sure.

What happened? Why didn't
she go through with it?

Out of respect
for her father.

Respect? How so?

Manny emigrated here
four decades ago,

yet carried values
from the past.

He did not
approve of adoption.

That's old-fashioned,
to put it mildly.

It's hard for you
to understand,

because these are not
your ways.

If Roya disobeyed her father,
she would have been ostracized.

By the family?

By the entire community.

How was Asher
with the adoption?

Roya is first generation

American, born here.

Asher was born in Iran,

he would never disrespect
Manny's wishes.

Probably, on some level,

he even agreed with him
about the adoption.

When was the last time
you saw Roya?

Saturday, at services,
then that night at the wedding.

Was she was still upset
about giving up the baby?

And how her relationship
with her father would change.

She didn't want
a new stepmother?

One who was even younger
than she? Would you?

She didn't want to relinquish
her place with her father.

And she certainly didn't
want to leave the home.

She was moving
out of the townhouse?

At her father's request.

I tried to persuade her
to see it as a positive change,

for herself and Asher.

But she didn't?

She was devastated.

She didn't support
her brother's request
for an autopsy.

She was the only one with
a scrip for the tranquilizer.

The murder weapon,
the pillow he was
smothered with,

was found in her bed.

And her hair was
found on his body.

Suggestive,
but not definitive.

She'd just given up
a child she wanted
desperately.

Only to have her father
marry a younger woman

and kick her out
of the house

that she'd lived
in all her life,

after she took care
of it, and him,

since her mother's death.

Jack, everything
points to her.

Why did he want her
out of the house now?

To be alone with
his new, young wife.

Her Rabbi said as much.

Have the cops pick her up.

Then work on getting

a subpoena for the Rabbi

to testify as a hostile witness.

Roya Soleimani Koutal,
you're under arrest

for the murder
of Manocher Soleimani.

My father?
What are you saying?

You cannot do this,
you must stop.

You're making
a terrible mistake.

She did not
kill her father!

Take it easy.

I didn't kill him.
Let me go.

Asher, please?

I'll call Rothenberg,
don't worry.

I am not a monster.

It'd be easier
for us if you were.

You have the right
to remain silent.

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

Docket number 21118.

People v.
Roya Soleimani Koutal.

Murder in the second degree.

How does your client plead,
Mr. Rothenberg?

Not guilty, Your Honor.

People on bail, Ms. Southerlyn?

We ask for bail
set at $2 million.

No remand?
No, Your Honor.

Given her particularly
strong ties to family

and community, we
don't see the defendant
as a flight risk.

Done. Bail is set at $2 million,
cash or bond.

We've known each other
a long time, Jack.

What do you want, Norman?

Drop the charges.

I talked to
her doctors.

She's more likely

to harm herself
than someone else.

I'd like to hear that

from the State's doctor.

Let Skoda see her,
if you're that sure.

Make the arrangements.

Oh, there's also this.

Motion to dismiss the
rabbi from testifying.

His conversations with my client
are privileged.

Two people taking a stroll
in the garden

doesn't meet the standard--
show us the confessional.

Only practicing Catholics
have expectation of privacy?

In the absence of one,
the congregant has no claim

to an expectation
of privacy.

You don't need a
physical structure,

for a conversation
to be sacrosanct.

Forget the physical
structure--

I'd settle for
an intellectual concept.

You just said it yourself.

The rabbi and the defendant
had a conversation,

which is inherently devoid
of any standing as privileged.

You cannot compel
a rabbi to testify,

or he will be in violation
of rabbinic doctrine.

It's considered stealing.

Taking a sacred trust...
and giving away

that which is not
the rabbi's to give.

I'm a staunch advocate

of the separation
between church and state,

and I've always taken
the term church

to include any house of worship.

We lost the rabbi.

How are we gonna prove

Roya knew her father
wanted her out of the house?

There must be someone
he confided in

outside the hothouse
of his family.

Could be the barber, his tailor,
the massage therapist.

I'll see if the cops came across
anyone who fits the bill.

Last summer, Manny
started coming around

to watch his fiancée ride.

She'd ride, we'd talk.

About his family?

And mine.

Did Manny ever talk
to you about Roya

and how she got along
with Yasmin?
Oh, yeah.

He was worried about
how the two of them
would get on

once they were under
the same roof.

Did you offer
a point of view?

Just that two women
in one house

is one too many.

My advice didn't
matter, though.

Manny had already put
a plan in action.

What was that?

Divide the territory.

Put his daughter
in a new house.

He thought it was
the right decision,

but that didn't
make it easy.

Why not?

Manny couldn't shake the guilt

about what happened to Roya
when she was still a teen.

He pressured her...

to jump
in the Hamptons competition.

What happened?

She took a fall,

broke some bones.

Manny said the worst of it
only came out years later.

Roya couldn't have kids.

My mother had died,
it was a bad time.

It made me feel better
to be of help to my father.

How did you manage that?

I...

ran the house, I hosted parties,

I sat by his side.

There must've been times

when your needs
didn't fit with his.

Not really.

No. His needs...

were my needs.

What about when you wanted
to have a child?

As Asher always says,
"God gives with one hand."

A child wasn't meant to be.

Besides, I cared for my father,
I was loved by my husband,

I was an aunt
to my brother's children.

I had a good life.

But you gave up

your own chance to be a mother,

to adopt.

When did you tell
your father about
the adoption?

I didn't want to tell him

until the papers
were ready to be signed.

But he found out?

He accused me
of keeping a secret, when...

I... I wanted
to make him a surprise.

Were you shocked
by his reaction?

He knew how important

it was to me.

But he said...

he would never let
someone else's "bastard"

become his grandchild,
that it would tarnish his image.

You had choices.

You could have left his home;
you're not a child.

I had no choice.

If I had adopted that baby,

I would have been out
of our home and his life.

My father would have seen to it.

She thought
she'd have his blessing.

Instead, her father spit
on the idea of adoption.

She must have been aware
of his feelings on that subject.

She let herself believe
that he'd swallow his pride

and allow her to be
happy with a baby.

Where was the husband
in this mix?

Mostly on the father's side.

Seems they were both
more "Old World."

Do you think she was capable
of killing her father?

They had an unspoken covenant.

Functioned like
a married couple.

Hard as it may have been
to give up the child,

she chose her father.

And when he told
her to leave anyway...?

She was as angry
as any wife being replaced,

especially by a younger woman.

Each room was searched

with a high-intensity
light source

that picks up biologicals:
blood, semen, saliva.

How did you identify
the murder weapon?

We knew from the
autopsy report
that the decedent

was smothered,
most likely a soft object.

We identified the pillow used
by his DNA on saliva.

Could you tell us

where the pillow
was hidden?

Objection.
Sustained.
Rephrase.

Where did you find the pillow?

It was recovered
from the defendant's bed.

When the pillow

was recovered
from the defendant's bedroom,

was it inside a drawer?

No, sir.

Was it inside a closet?
No.

Was it under the bed?

No.
In fact, wasn't it
on top of the bed?

Yes.

So the pillow wasn't hidden,
it was in plain sight.

Hidden in plain sight.

Except for
a tiny scalloped edge,

the victim's and the defendant's
pillows look exactly the same.

Thank you.

For 20 years, she
functioned as his
surrogate wife.

Until her father replaced her
with a real wife.

A younger woman.

And after sacrificing her
chance to become a mother,

he hit her with
the psychological equivalent

of a one-two punch.

Why did she stop the adoption
and give up the baby?

She was under the rule
of a patriarchal culture

and a controlling father.

In your opinion,
was she capable

of taking her
father's life?

She was full of rage

for her father.

That state of mind is
psychologically dispositive

toward an act of violence.

You conclude this
based on your snapshot?

What did you spend with her,
two, maybe three hours?

A psychological
snapshot.

And your specialty
is Persian women?

No, but...

Well, how about just Persians?

Their cultural norms.
No.

But you would agree the culture,

and the father
that you talk about,

did instill in Mrs. Koutal
a strict code of conduct.

Yes.

With prescribed

behaviors for everything,

from... dietary laws

to... appropriate dinner attire?

Yes.

And she would've
learned these...

values, traditions, behaviors

when she was very young?

I would assume so.

Now, if she was

so devoted to her father,

and to the traditional ways,

how could she possibly
have tossed that all aside

to commit an act of murder?

She believed
he pushed her too far,

caused her to suffer
too many losses,

left her no choices.

If she ever were to behave
in a violent manner,

isn't it more likely,
given her background,

that she would have
committed suicide...

not homicide?

It's possible, but...

she suffers from anxiety,
not depression.

She doesn't blame herself
for any loss.

She blames her father.

So you befriended

your father's
then fiancée, Yasmin?

Of course.
I knew her well.

Were you upset
that he was marrying her?

Change is always hard,

but I wanted to see
my father content.

So there was no problem

contemplating living
under one roof

with his new wife?

It is a large roof,

and we were
to be one family,

she and I living
like sisters.

I planned her
bridal shower.

I helped with her registry.

Thank you.

Living like two sisters

vying for their
father's attention.
Not at all.

People's exhibit eight,
Your Honor.

Proceed, Mr. McCoy.

Mrs. Koutal...

could you tell the court
what document you're holding?

It is a plane ticket.

Where were you traveling?
China.

To pick up the child
you were planning to adopt?

Yes.

Exhibit nine, Your Honor.

Go ahead, Mr. McCoy.

Is this the child?

Yes.

Who you were planning to name
after your mother Dora?

Yes.
Were you angry

at your father
when he forced you to choose

between being
a mother to this child

and a daughter to him?

I gave up the baby willingly.

I wanted to keep
my father happy.

You had tickets

for China...

chose a name for the baby,

chose a pediatrician,
ordered baby furniture...

...and then gave all that up
to make him happy?

It was my choice
to abide by his wishes.

Isn't it a fact

that your father was evicting

you and your husband
from the family home?

Don't you say that
he was evicting me.

But it is the truth,

not some fiction, like...

you and Yasmin being friends.

He cared more about her wishes
than he did about yours.

Didn't he want you
out of his house

before he returned
from his honeymoon?

I did everything
my father asked of me.

Yes, I wanted a baby.

But he said
that I should be content

to be an aunt.

He said that he was
planning on having

more children with Yasmin.

That was the reason he wanted me
to leave the house--

a home that I had made for him
since I was a young woman.

Nothing further.

Putting her on the stand

didn't help the defense.

What the jury saw was
an angry, damaged woman.

Guess Rothenberg bet wrong.

We just heard from him.

Trying to cut a deal,
cut his losses?

Asher Koutal is gonna testify.

Last-ditch effort
to rehabilitate

his wife's testimony,
offer an alibi.

Well, the jury'll see
that for what it is--

a husband lying for his wife.

Where was Roya,

between
9:00 and 11:00,

on the morning of
Mr. Soleimani's death?

Like every Sunday morning,

she was at home,
in our bedroom, with me.

And how can you be
quite so certain?

It is our
routine.

We watch the news,
read the paper,

have bagels
in bed.

And Roya never left your side?

Mr. Koutal?

I left hers.

Roya, I am so sorry.

I left her side...

to kill Manny.

Mr. Koutal, what are you...

I put two
tranquilizers

in his drink
at the wedding.

And then I slipped into
his bedroom that morning,

and I smothered him
with a pillow.

Why?

I was devoted to Manny
as if he were my father...

No...

...but in
the end,

he betrayed the convictions
he claimed to live by.

It was he
who broke the covenant,

by bringing Yasmin
into our home,

then banishing Roya,
his obedient daughter,

who sacrificed ever knowing

the love of
a child.

His was the act
of a hypocritical tyrant,

not one of a loving father.

Thank you,
Mr. Koutal.

How many years have you been
married, Mr. Koutal?

Fifteen.

You love your wife?

Very much.

Do anything
for her?
Yes.

Including sacrifice yourself

so she won't
have to go to jail?

Objection.
Sustained.

I killed Manny Soleimani.

Do you have any proof
to corroborate this story?

No proof. I was alone.

I did it because I love her.

I had
no choice.

You know, Mr. Koutal,
lying under oath

is a serious offense.

Objection.

No more questions.

The family is a haven
in a heartless world,

but it is also the place
where emotions run deep,

tensions run high.

The nature of
family dynamics

can be more complicated
than quantum physics.

But what is not
so complicated

is the decision that you,
as jurors, have to make.

Asher Koutal
told you

that he killed
his father-in-law.

That in and of itself

is enough to create
reasonable doubt.

The only way that you
can serve justice

is to find Roya Koutal
not guilty.

Thank you.

I agree with Mr. Rothenberg,
about one thing at least.

The choice before you
is simple.

The defense has
offered no rebuttal

to the evidence
against the defendant--

only the transparent confession
of a husband

desperate to save
his wife.

But all
the evidence--

the hair, the pillow,

the tranquilizer,
the depth of her rage

against the overpowering,

omnipresent figure
in her life--

all point in one direction.

Roya Soleimani Koutal

murdered her father.

Statistically, jurors

are loathe to convict women,

especially for violent crimes.

Especially if they
have the option

to convict a man instead.

Do you think the jury
has reasonable doubt?

I do.

And if they
acquit her?

If that happens,
I want Asher Koutal

taken into custody
faster than spit flies.

You may read the verdict.

We find the defendant,

Roya Soleimani
Koutal,

not guilty.

Roya.

Roya.

Let's go.

Roya...

Asher...

Asher.

Roya.

Roya.

Roya!

Roya!
Asher...

The covenant
the father broke

was with
both of them.

Even after everything
he did to her,

she forgave him;
Asher didn't.

He felt more betrayed
than she did.

He may have married
into the family,

but he'd never be blood.