Original subtitles

Previously on In Contempt. Jackson Allen Whitmore of Washington Heights is

accused of shooting Officer Jacob Lockman. Miss Hastings recently joined

our office, Your Honor. Interesting.

You need to get you some groceries.

And for God's sake, you need to leave that flame boat alone. That stuff will

kill you. Officer, is he a child?

You do have a small arrhythmia. Your blood pressure was through the roof when

you came in.

Franklin!

The disciplinary committee? They're investigating you? So we gotta make an

enemies list.

Advance America Payday Loans. Girl, they have called you four times.

Why is it that you can't accept my help? You know you haven't set foot in this

building to come and see me in court?

Holy shit. Tessa?

Campanelli? The statute says you can't claim self-defense if you are resisting

arrest. What if we argue that there wasn't an actual arrest?

It was an assault.

By whom? The officer.

So this guy gets out of his car and just hits me on the chin so we fought.

Did you file a police report?

Yes, but he was a cop.

Oh, honey. And this is really going to make you feel terrible.

Come

on.

It's ridiculous. It's a rap video.

Shakespeare wrote Macbeth. It don't make him a murderer. I don't know.

It's not good.

It obviously says something about the guy. He writes lyrics about killing

cops. Sounds like a pretty violent person. A lot of people on that jury are

thinking what you just said. Gwen Sullivan cannot have had a good night's

sleep.

It's about right.

It's on.

I wish you would have known.

I'm sorry. It's not your fault we didn't find it, but we need to know if there's

anything else.

I don't know, sir. Are you sure? I don't know.

I'm trying to think, but I didn't think to think about the video.

Are we losing?

They did their side. Now we have to do ours. But are we losing?

No, we're not losing.

Girls in this show keep saying dead man walking every time I walk by.

Starting to have dreams about dying in here.

You listen to me.

I'm not going to let that happen. Not for talking back to a cop and not for

defending yourself.

It's not happening.

We've got to give him breakfast.

This case is not over, Jackson.

I need you to stay positive.

Face me, hands in front.

The cop never said you're under arrest or anything.

He was just so angry. He grabbed the kid and put him in a chokehold.

Don't speculate, okay? You can describe what he was doing or what he said to

make you think that he was angry, but you can't say he was angry because you

can't really know what he was thinking.

Okay? How's she doing?

Pretty standard mock crush. She'll be fine.

What about Ty?

Hasn't shown up yet.

I do not like this.

You okay?

Mm, caffeine headache. I quit the flame bolts.

I think we should go get him. Can you go?

Yes, boss.

Chop-chop.

Ty,

it's Charlie Riggs from the Public Defender's Office.

Look, I know you don't want to do this, but you're under subpoena. Why are you

yelling? It's open.

Excuse me?

Are you here for the open house?

Just take an application from the counter and leave it with the building

manager downstairs.

Ma'am, the man who used to live here, um, Tai Ching, you know where he went?

He moved.

California, I heard.

Immigration came to visit him. Immigration?

Are you sure?

That's what people say.

We

had a

witness who would testify that Officer Lockman assaulted him while off duty.

I've just been informed that that witness has disappeared, and I would

like the court to ask the people about their communication with him. What are

you trying to say?

I want to know whether the people encouraged him to disappear.

You want to know if I tampered with a witness and committed a felony? You're

damn right I do. Did your office have any contact with the witness, Mr.

Deshaies? Of course we did. I had an investigator interview.

Did you happen to instruct that investigator to talk about his legal

status, maybe in passing? No, I did not, and frankly, I find that insinuation

insulting. Oh, please. Judge, we took a video of the witness's statement. He's

unavailable, so we want to admit that video into evidence.

He fled. He's not dead. The circumstances are reliable.

Your Honor, this is classic hearsay.

The alleged incident was investigated by internal affairs and determined to be

unfounded. This office declined to prosecute. A cop?

Investigated by other cops, found not responsible. I'm so surprised.

We can't cross-examine a videotape.

All right. All right enough. I'm afraid Ms. Hastings is correct. The witness

statement is hearsay. Your Honor, this testimony goes directly to whether the

officer was the initial aggressor.

I have spoken. The witness statement is inadmissible.

We're adjourned until the afternoon.

All rise.

Dad. Hello, honey.

I tried to call you, but didn't answer. I've been busy. And angry.

I can't talk about this right now.

Did you?

Did I what?

Intimidate their witness?

Depends on your definition of intimidating.

Don't break away with me, EJ.

Then stop acting like you're still a defense attorney. It's one thing to put

all the evidence on the table and let the truth shake out.

It is another thing to put your thumb on the scale.

You remember your client?

The one that burned his girlfriend to death and killed the witness?

You know what I had to do after you and Gwen let him walk out the door?

I had to talk to the families.

That woman's mother.

That witness's wife. Talk to me when you've had to do that a few dozen times.

Who has ever done anything unethical? Neither have I.

I asked two cops to question the witness because that's my job. And if there is a

delightful side benefit to that, then great.

This is an adversarial process, Vanessa. It is, by definition, not a truth

-seeking one.

Both sides play hard and throw elbows to win.

And sometimes the truth shows up along the way. That's the game.

Get used to it.

This is actually really comfortable.

That stain kind of looks like Michael Jackson.

I never noticed that.

I hate to say it, but we might be in trouble.

There's got to be a way we can prove that the cop was violent and not

Jackson.

I looked at the civilian review panel reports.

They didn't make any statements we could use.

What if Jackson testifies he knew the cop and knew that he had a bad

reputation?

So we get it in to show Jackson's state of mind?

Jackson knew he should be afraid of Lockman and reacted accordingly.

Wait, did Jackson know the gun?

He could.

You know what? The gloves are off. He's facing life without.

All I'm saying is that it could be a little risky.

Jackson could end up looking like a liar, and if he goes down, he could turn

on us and rat us out.

Am I interrupting something?

We're just planning Deshaies' execution.

That's not a bad idea, because you've got a problem.

I can't use you now. You're compromised.

It was $10,000.

My son just got into private school, and we're struggling. We talked about this,

Janine. I told you people were going to offer you money.

They promised that they were going to wait until after I testified. Why on

earth would they do that, Janine?

I don't know.

I'm the only witness.

I feel like the universe is conspiring against us. Okay, take a breath.

Tell me what you need.

A flame bolt! Oh, sorry, I'm not gonna be your pusher. I hate you.

I can live with that. Sit.

We could still use Janine and elicit up front that she sold her story.

30 witnesses saw what happened, and everybody says something different. She

is the only one who fully backs up Jackson's story.

She'll just look like she made it up to get a payoff, and we'll look like liars

by extension if we use her.

I cannot lose this case to him.

I cannot let him die in prison, and do not tell me I'm too passionate.

You're not going to let him die in prison.

We won't let him.

Now close your eyes. Tom! Now close them.

I want you to picture yourself in a gym, boxing.

Your opponent is Deshae.

I want you to see yourself beating the shit out of him.

He's on the mat.

You're standing over him. He's bloody, incoherent.

Now, open your eyes.

We leaked Ty's story to the press.

Look, I know I could get held in contempt again. I know I could get

banned again. I don't care.

We got witnesses dropping like flies. Judge Adler is the least of my worries.

I just want to get them. Then settle down.

I was going to offer to leak it for you.

Welcome back.

Now let's crush them.

Hey, yes, I saw your text, but I ignored them. Do you want to know why, sugar?

Because like I said, the way this works is I call you if I want, when I want,

okay? You don't call me or text or anything. Do you got it?

Good. Bye-bye now.

Man.

Judge Dotson, Judge Fortman, Vanessa, what game is this? Smash, marry, kill?

Are you my supervisor right now or my friend?

Friend.

I slept with Dodson, tampered with the jury, and somebody reported me to the

Bar Association.

Hmm.

So... Suspects.

Really? Judge Myers?

Honey, it's his mustache.

Okay.

And what is that?

Well, according to Gwen, I might have somebody in my blind spot.

Maybe.

Not to state the obvious, but listening to you on the telephone, are you sure

it's not some guy that you screwed and then screwed over?

Oh, shit. You think?

You're my hero.

I'm gonna leave you to it.

Hey, huh?

Yeah, it's me, honey. I was just wondering, are we good? I mean, you're

not still upset, are you?

The court officer saw this sticking out of juror number five's purse.

Do you want to tell me who's responsible for it? It wasn't me, Judge. Oh, come

on. Who else would benefit from this? Wow, that is the same question I asked

myself when my witness disappeared.

I'm requesting juror number five be dismissed, Your Honor. Why? The jury's

not sequestered. They are now.

You're wrong. Enough!

I've had it with both of you.

Juror number five is dismissed.

I'll have a colloquy with the entire panel to see if anyone else saw it.

Now, call your first witness.

I just had done a topside 360, and when I landed, I saw the officer coming

towards me, so I slowed down, but I didn't hear anything because I had my

headphones on.

Did you stop?

Yeah, when he took my headphones off, he was screaming at me, asking me why I

wasn't listening to him, and I told him I couldn't hear.

And then he said, can you hear me now? And I was nervous, so I laughed.

Because, you know, the commercial, anyway, he just started screaming at me

and calling me a punk and disrespectful.

And then he grabbed me by the arm and started pulling me, and I pulled back

and asked what I did, and he went ballistic from there.

What do you mean?

He tried to grab my skateboard, then he put me in the headlock.

Then we were on the ground, and he kept choking me.

I kept trying to tell him I wasn't resistant.

I don't know.

I was getting limp, and I couldn't breathe. I thought I was going to die.

So what did you do?

I was kind of flailing, so I felt his gun, and I pulled on it.

That was just an instinct to get him off me.

But the gun went off.

Look, I wasn't trying to kill him. I was just trying to save myself. I thought it

was either him or me.

Jackson, did Officer Lockman ever tell you that you're under arrest?

No, he didn't.

No further questions.

Mr. Whitmore, you knew that skateboarding was illegal in Washington

Heights Community Plaza, didn't you?

Yeah, but everybody does it. So when Officer Lockman stopped you, you knew

why he stopped you. It's because you did something illegal, right? I guess.

Yes or no?

Yes. So when he took your arm and you pulled away, it's because you didn't

want to go with him, correct?

I don't think I was thinking anything. I just thought he was pulling my arm

really hard and I reacted by pulling my arm back.

You testified and said, what did I do to Officer Lockman? But you know what you

had done. You committed a crime, hadn't you?

Well, I guess, but I didn't think I deserved to be... To what? To be

arrested? No.

Really? Mr.

Whitmore, that is an interesting choice of words, isn't it? I'm not resisting.

I don't know. You didn't say get off me or what are you doing or stop, you're

hurting me, did you?

No. You said I'm not resisting. What exactly were you not resisting?

He was beating me up. Well, you didn't say stop, you're beating me up, did you?

He was choking. You didn't say, stop, you're choking me, did you? I thought he

was going to kill me. You didn't say, stop, you're going to kill me, did you?

No. So stop resisting arrest is the only thing that he could have said for you to

say, I'm not resisting.

I'm not sure.

Well, he didn't say, sit down, did he?

Well, I don't. Yes or no?

No. He didn't say, I need to talk to you, did he?

Yes or no?

No. He didn't say, stop messing around, did he?

Yes or no?

No. He said, you're under arrest, didn't he?

Didn't he?

I don't remember.

I'm nothing further.

We don't have a case. You need to admit it, but the chair has a point with this.

I'm not resisting.

Do not tell me there's a flame bolt in that bag.

I'm not drinking. I'm just carrying it around like maybe this caffeine will

seep into my skin by off-motivation. You need help.

Okay, you have a problem. That's what I'm saying.

No, he means we have a problem, Sherlock, and we do.

You lost your eyewitness, you have no proof of excessive force other than

Jackson's testimony, and Shea flipped even that against you. We need to shift

gears. We can kind of argue that there was never an arrest and he just straight

-up assaulted Jackson, but what if we let that go? Then how do we argue self

-defense? Hold up. Why are you letting her drink that?

No! Good reflexes. It was instinctual.

Just holding a bottle gives her energy.

Jackson kept saying that shooting Lachman was instinctual.

What if we actually argued that?

Like it was a human survival response. Like when people panic in a fire and

someone dies, no one meant to kill anyone.

Is that a defense? Human survival response?

It is now.

It would be arguing lack of intent to kill.

Yeah, but we give it a fancy name.

So what do we do? Get an expert?

Yeah, but not the kind you're thinking of. A lifeguard.

To testify as to human survival response? Are you kidding me? Judge, the

statute says that a defendant cannot use force to resist an arrest. My client

didn't shoot Officer Lockman to resist an arrest. He was reacting

instinctively. We're arguing that he didn't have intent to kill.

You have to admit that's a creative way to illustrate a lack of intent,

Counselor. This is a murder trial, Your Honor, not a creativity contest. And

with all due respect, it's not funny.

You know what else is not funny, Counselor? Life without parole.

I shall afford the defense a bit of latitude.

This lifeguard isn't a neurologist or a psychologist.

So how exactly would he give expert testimony regarding human survival

response? Well, we'll see, won't we? Your Honor... If you don't like it, Mr.

Deshaies, make the defendant an offer. Excuse me? I haven't said anything up

until now because a police officer is deceased, so politically it's not an

option. But why hasn't there been an offer?

This has nothing to do with politics.

Oh, please, EJ. Are you trying to strong-arm the people into making an

offer? Not at all.

I'm just telling you that if you don't like my ruling, you're free to make an

offer.

20 to 40 years.

How's that an offer? It takes life off the table.

Do you think you can win this?

To be honest, I don't know. The judge is allowing us to put the lifeguard on the

stand, but losing the witness was not good, and Jackson's testimony... I don't

understand how this is happening.

20 to 40 years for riding a skateboard, trying to defend myself.

It's gonna kill me.

You have to take it, son. No.

Jack.

At least after 20, be able to apply for parole. If he takes 20 to 40, you know

damn well he's doing 40. They're not paroling a cop killer.

When he's 60, which is why you're not pleading guilty.

No, I'm not going to let them do this to him. He did not do anything wrong.

Everything we could.

Try to teach him how to deal with the cops. Don't argue. Don't talk back. Get

your hands out of your pockets. Don't run.

But if you don't fight back, then they try and kill you. And if you do fight

back, then this.

So no, you had better try and witness, Miss Sullivan, because we are not

backing down.

I am not giving them my son.

Mr. Gibbons, how are you, employee?

I was a lifeguard for the city of New York for 10 years. I've been chief

instructor for the Red Cross for the past five, and I head the city's water

safety instructor program.

Basically, I train the people who train the lifeguards. Have you actually saved

people? Yeah, I have 212 saves.

You saved 212 lives.

That's impressive.

Oh, not really. It's just training.

And can you tell us how you're trained to avoid specific danger to yourself

when saving someone?

Yeah. Well, there's a phenomenon that every lifeguard is familiar with. When

someone is drowning, they panic and will instinctively grab onto the lifeguard

and push him down to keep themselves afloat. Lifeguards have been killed by

being pushed under the water.

It's why we're trained to approach someone from behind and grab them around

the chest.

And these people who panic and push the lifeguards underwater, are they doing

this intentionally?

Oh, no, they're not to blame. Like I said, it's a natural human response.

Mr. Gibbons, do you have any personal experience with this? I do, yeah.

A buddy of mine was killed three years ago by someone who was drowning, and

that person survived.

Was he prosecuted for murder?

Objection! No.

Sustained. The jury will disregard the last question and answer.

No further questions.

Mr. Gibbons, the defendant testified regarding shooting the officer.

I didn't mean to kill him. I was trying to save my life. I thought it was him or

me. Do you think that people who try to put lifeguards under are thinking it's

him or me?

Objection! He's offering the witness as an expert, Your Honor.

Overruled.

No, uh, people describe it as almost an absence of all thought. It's like a

fight-or-flight thing. All animal instinct.

So given that Mr. Whitmore said that he thought it was him or me...

His actions weren't consistent with the phenomenon that you described earlier.

Objection!

Overruled. You opened this door, counselors.

I guess it doesn't really seem like the same thing.

Thank you.

No further questions.

I need five flame bolts. I'm sorry, Gwen, I can't. Look, I know I told you

not to sell me any, but I really need one. You told me I should refuse to sell

you any no matter what you say. I know, but I'm saying right now it's okay.

You said you would tell me that.

Hakim, sell me the flame bolt. It's an emergency. I don't feel right. I think I

actually need the caffeine. No, you said, Hakim, I will ask you, then I will

cajole you, then I will beg you, then I will threaten you, then I will probably

tell you that it's a medical necessity, but no matter what I do, don't sell me

the flame bolt.

Hakim, I swear to God, I will hurt you.

Sell me the flame bolt.

No. Gwen!

Come back! Gwen, do not close that door.

Gwen! Open the door!

Gwen!

Gwen! Gwen, let me in!

Open this door!

I need the flame bolt! No, you don't. You have an arrhythmia. It's a bad idea.

You know what's a work idea?

Me trying to do a summation feeling the way I'm feeling. Oh, yeah? How are you

going to feel when you passed out in court?

Stop being so dramatic.

It's flame bolt. No!

Honey, it's not.

You were just in the hospital. God, when is the last time you even had a proper

meal? Jesus Christ, you sound like Bennett. Do not harp on me for what I

eat. Oh, don't you dare.

Don't you lump me in with him. I am your best friend, and I'm calling it like I

see it.

Honey, you're taking yourself down. God, this shit with the flame bolts and your

money and your unopened mail.

Yeah, which, by the way, I decided to actually open. Yeah, you're damn

straight I did.

You got a letter from your bank telling you that your account is frozen because

of that stupid payday loan. Do you even know that, Gwen?

Did you know that?

That is so wrong.

You're missing the point.

Look, I don't care about your money, okay? I just care about you.

You're going to do what you want, and you can do it, but I'm done pretending

like it's okay.

I can't watch you self-destruct. I will not.

Gwen? We're screwed, Charlie.

Totally, utterly, and completely screwed.

Ah, it's okay.

No, it's not okay.

I was too cocky.

What was I thinking?

A lifeguard? Seriously?

Jerry must be laughing at me.

It was a little weird.

It was.

Good weird.

It just didn't land.

I have to come up with a plan C?

I don't have a plan C. That's why I'm here.

Okay, so just...

Take this.

Wait, what?

I can't watch you struggle anymore.

Okay? You quit when we're done. It's over.

I'll help you. By TCB.

I don't even have a quippy response right now because I am deeply, deeply in

love with you.

Shh. Drink and think.

Better? Yeah.

Okay, good.

Now put on your big gold panties and let's go.

I don't know. I just keep looking at the self-defense statute.

Hello, Gwendolyn.

His father stopped in to say hello. I thought, since he was a judge, I would

pull him in.

That's great.

You were talking about the defense statute.

Yeah, it says you can't claim self-defense if you're resisting arrest.

The idea being that if you start the violence, it's your fault.

But what if you resist arrest initially, but then you submit?

It can't just be the law that if a cop uses excessive force, you have to just

let yourself be killed. The problem is we haven't proved excessive force.

But the kid has a crushed larynx. I mean, that's not enough. Come on.

Because he's a big, scary black man, he's the one considered violent, not the

cop. White people believe the cops. They don't get stopped and dealt with

aggressively by them. The question is, how do we convince a New York City jury

of the kind that did not indict the cop that killed Eric Garner to see that race

is at play here?

Teddy, what did you say a second ago?

Because he's a big, scary black man, he's the one considered violent.

And that is our plan C.

Wait, what is plan C? We have no idea.

Trust me, Mr. Sullivan, it'll be good.

Dr. Sanders, is this the photograph taken of Mr. Whitmore's neck when he's

admitted to Hollowbrook Hospital?

Yes, it is. And it shows the bruising around his crushed windpipe.

Yes. Now, could this injury have been caused by a chokehold?

Yes, it could. Let me be more specific.

Um, what's going on here? I'm allowed to demonstrate. That's why it's called

demonstrative evidence.

Now, if Officer Lockman had his arm around Mr. Whitmore's neck like this...

Objection, Your Honor. This is totally prejudicial. Look at the size

difference. Come on, Ms. Sullivan.

Oh, I'm sorry. You're totally right. I'm sorry.

Now, as I was saying, if the officer was choking my client like this...

Objection! Your Honor, they look exactly the right size to me. Yeah, but this man

is... Black?

Jackson Whitmore is sitting in that chair because he's black.

He's being charged with murder because he's black, and in a sense, Officer

Lockman is dead because Jackson Whitmore is black.

Mr. Deshaies basically just admitted it, so why don't we just finally say what is

true?

Why don't we finally just admit to each other that if you were to take a black

cop and a white kid skateboarding in a park, what you get is a ticket.

You get a summons. But Jackson is black, so there was a confrontation and an

escalation and the brutality of violence so severe that it crushed his wave bite.

This kid, this college kid...

He's never been arrested before. He was faced with a life-changing choice in

that moment.

Kill or be killed.

The only question in this case is whether you believe that a black man has

to agree to die every time a cop asks him a question or puts his hands on him.

I'm not resisting.

I'm not resisting.

Those are the words of a young black man desperately trying to convince

The cop.

That he doesn't pose a threat.

It's too bad he couldn't have just said, imagine I'm white.

If you punched me and I punched you back, you could not then.

hit me with a tire iron and claim self-defense.

That makes sense, doesn't it?

Because you are the one who brought force to the table to begin with.

You started it.

Jackson Whitmore was being arrested. We know this because he said, I'm not

resisting.

That statement makes no sense unless it is in response to Officer Lockman

saying, you are under arrest and stop resisting that arrest.

He is the one who began to use force.

And he resisted enough to provoke a response from Officer Lockman. To

believe otherwise is to believe that Officer Lockman decided to forcefully

choke someone that day for no reason.

When he resisted, he forfeited his right to claim self-defense.

It is the law.

It has to be the law.

Otherwise, criminals can violently resist arrest.

And when a police officer responds with force, they can kill that police

officer. That is not the world I want to live in. It is not the world we should

have our police officers work in.

Jackson Whitmore is not here because he is black. He is here because he broke

the law. He resisted arrest.

He killed a police officer, and now he wants to walk away.

Don't let him.

Thank you.

Thank you for coming to see me in court.

You're welcome.

I should have been there sooner. I'm sorry.

What else did you want to talk about?

I don't know.

I feel like my life is turning out the way I pictured it.

I'm not sure anyone's does, baby.

I love my job, but I don't know how much longer I can keep doing it.

I might win the occasional skirmish, but I'm losing the overall war, and then

there's Bennett.

I just... I have to tell you that I have never thought that you and Bennett were

good for each other. Really, Dad?

No, no, no, hear me.

What I mean is, is that Bennett is not man enough for you.

Oh.

Go on.

Bennett is looking for someone he can put on a pedestal, someone he can

admire.

More importantly, he's looking for someone to admire him.

When you were his student, he could deal with that.

Now, not so much.

You're a tough woman, Gwendolyn.

Not a lot of men can appreciate that.

And that's what I'm afraid of.

That I'm never gonna find the guy who can deal with me.

He's out there.

And when you find him, he's gonna be special.

Now... As far as work goes...

God wants you to hear me.

I have never been more proud of you in my life.

Win or lose this case, you have fought brilliantly for that young man. You have

fought brilliantly for our community.

Take a vacation.

Take a break.

Do whatever you have to do to reboot.

But get back on those battlements.

We need you out there.

Dad, I have something to tell you.

I have a problem with money.

You always have a problem with money. No, I'm saying that I have an issue

with money.

It's gotten pretty bad. I had to take out a payday loan.

And they froze my bank account.

I really need your help.

Um... What if I cleaned your slate?

Took you back to zero?

I can't ask you to do that, Dad. You're not asking, I'm offering. How much is

it?

It's $50,000.

This is it.

Thank you.

You're welcome, baby.

I knew you guys would still be here.

Thought you went home with Trace. Nah, I don't know how she sleeps when the

jury's out. I went to see my dad.

How'd that go?

Surprisingly not that bad.

Tell me Bennett wasn't man enough for me. I could have told you that.

What?

He just seemed to have a...

Image of you that he wanted you to fulfill.

What, you guys think I don't see things? I see everything. That is scary.

Okay, I'm done.

I'll see you inside.

Sorry about Bennett.

Tom's right.

We were both stuck in the past. We had these images of who we used to be, and

we were each in love with the image and not who we really were.

Well, for what it's worth, she's lost.

Thanks, Charlie.

Oh, for real?

Gwen?

Uh-oh.

Can I talk to Gwen for a minute?

Whatever you want to say to me, you should say to him, too, so... Okay.

I'm sorry.

I'm really sorry for leaving and not telling you.

A conversation would have been nice and no even.

What else?

What do you mean? How about I'm sorry I told DeShay about your opening

statement, I'm sorry I broke her trust?

I didn't think he was going to steal it. He wouldn't have been able to if you

hadn't told him. I'm sorry.

Mm-mm.

Don't look at me.

You know why I'm being a bitch right now?

Because I actually cared about you.

I invested and you just bugged out. I bugged out because the PD's office was

not the right place for me. And the DA's office is?

I don't know.

You know you're not going to find it, right?

What? That perfect, well-manicured, hand-sanitized life.

That job with the black and white rules.

I know your parents meant well when they adopted you and insulated you in dairy

in Connecticut and convinced you that all that stuff was possible, but it's

not.

Life is messy and effed up, and you're going to have a job where you have to

make complicated decisions.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is you need to grow the hell up.

Gwen, I really don't want to lose our friendship.

Go find yourself first, Vanessa.

I can't be friends with a ghost.

Oh, Dewey's back. 9 a.m. tomorrow.

That was fast.

Is that good or bad?

For who?

I understand you have a verdict.

On count one, murder in the first degree, we the jury find the defendant,

Jackson Whitmore, not guilty.

Order! Order!

No more outcries.

Please continue.

On count two, murder in the second degree.

We, the jury, find the defendant not guilty.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, thank you for your service.

We're adjourned.

All rise.

I love you. It's over. I have my back. Thank you so much.

We'd like to express our gratitude and thank you to the jury and everyone who

supported our family. Thank you.

Thank you. All right, guys. Clear a path, please. Please clear a path for

the family. Coming through.

Coming through. Coming through. Thank you. Thank you all so much.

Thank you.

Tessa, Tessa, Tessa. You again?

What do you want?

You've got a lot of explaining to do. To me, to a whole lot of people in the

neighborhood. Get in.

And if I don't? Then that complaint with the bar proceeds.

Get in.

Brothers and sisters, we have defeated the system! Franklin, are you alright?

You are victorious!

against the oppressor. Yes, I was, but are you okay? You still harbor the

stench of the oppressor. That's why you didn't help me. Franklin, you sound like

you're off your meds. We've talked about this. I'm gonna call your sister, okay?

Don't call my sister.

I'm on my medication.

I still know you're in danger. Honey, I think we should go. I'm not in any

danger. It's okay, Dad. I know him.

I'm not in any danger.

I'm gonna call your sister. We're here to help you. No, no. I know who you are,

sir. Sir, listen, this is my daughter. We're going to leave now, okay? I know

what you are. The oppressor is inside you. No, Franklin. The system is taking

your soul.

That's why I want you down.

Franklin!

Somebody help us!

Franklin! Daddy!

Somebody help us!

This oppressive system is monitoring everything you do. Your phone is being

monitored. Your texts are monitored.

Cameras everywhere.

Monitor every man, woman, and child.

This is America!

Here's a look back at In Contempt. My team and I are fighting to save your

community. Then on behalf of my community, let me say that we'd feel

much better if you showed up with some actual evidence.

My client just pled guilty to a crime he didn't commit because he couldn't afford

bail. Get off of me!

Does anyone care about the law around here? You are supposed to care. We are

not processing widgets. These are human beings.

I mean, why are we even bothering with the trial at all?