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Previously on In Contempt...

Jackson Allen Whitmore of Washington Heights

is accused of shooting Officer Jacob Lockman.

Ms. 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 bolt alone,

that stuff will kill you.

Officer, isn'ttt

You do have a small arrhythmia and your blood pressure

was through the roof when you came in.

Franklin!

Franklin, it's me, Gwen!

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 were resisting arrest.

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

- It was as assault. - By whom?

The officer!

So this guy gets out of his car, just hits me on the chin,

so we fought!

Did you file a police report?

Yes, but he was a cop!

I just broke up with Bennett.

Oh, Honey,

then this is gonna really 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.

Morning, Gwen.

Who 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 bad, right?

The song?

- I wish we would've known. - I'm sorry.

It's not your fault we didn't find it

but we need to know if there's anything else.

No, no I don't think so.

- Are you sure? - I don't know.

I'm tryin' to think

but I didn't think to tell you about the video.

Are we losin'?

They did their side, now we have to

- do ours. - But are we losing?

No, we're not losing.

Guards in this shell keep sayin'

dead man walking every time I walk by.

Startin' to have dreams about dyin' here.

You listen to me.

I'm not gonna let that happen.

Not for talking back to a cop, and not for defending yourself,

it's not happening.

We gotta give him breakfast.

This case is not over Jackson.

I need you to stay positive.

Face me, hands in front.

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The cop never said you're under arrest or anything

he was just so angry,

he grabbed the kid, put him in a chokehold.

Ugh, 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 doin'?

Pretty standard "mock cross", she'll be fine.

What about Ty?

Hasn't shown up yet.

I do not like this.

You OK?

Mmm, 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 wanna 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,

Ty Ching, you know where he went?

He moved. California, I heard.

- Immigration came to visit him. - Immigration?

- Mm hmm. - Are you sure?

That's what people say.

All lives matter!

We had a witness who would testify

that Officer Lockman assaulted him while off-duty.

I've just been informed 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 wanna know whether the people

encouraged him to disappear.

You wanna 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. Dashay?

Of course we did,

I had an investigator interview him.

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, the client... - A cop?

Investigated by other cops, found not responsible?

I'm so surprised.

We can't cross-examine a videotape.

Alright, alright, 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 this afternoon.

All rise.

Dad.

Hello, Honey.

I tried to call you,

but you 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.

Oh, don't play coy with me E.J.

Vena, stop acting like you're still a defense attorney.

It's one thing to put all the evidence

on 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 burnt his girlfriend to death

and killed a witness?

You know what I had to do after

you went and 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.

Gwen has never done anything unethical.

Neither have I.

I asked two cops to question a 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.

You know, that stain kinda looks like Michael Jackson.

I never noticed that.

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

There's gotta 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 cop?

He could.

You know what? The gloves are off.

He's facin' life without.

All I'm saying it 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 Dashay's execution.

That's not a bad idea,

'cause you 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 gonna offer you money.

They promised that they were gonna wait

until after I testified.

Why on earth would they do that, Janine?

I don't know.

Damn it!

She was the only witness!

I feel like the universe is conspiring against us!

Okay, take a breath,

tell me what you need.

A Flame bolt!

I'm sorry, I'm not gonna be your pusher.

I hate you.

I can live with that. Sit.

We could still use Janine.

And list it up front that she sold her story.

Thirty witnesses saw what happened!

And everybody says something different!

She's 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, Tom.

I cannot let him die in prison

and do not tell me I'm too passionate!

You're not gonna let him die in prison.

We won't let him, okay?

Now close your eyes.

- Tom! - No, close 'em.

I want you to picture yourself,

in a gym, boxing.

You're opponent is Dashay.

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.

And tell me your next move.

We leak Ty's story to the press.

Look, I know I can get held in contempt again,

I know I can get banned again, I don't care.

We got witnesses dropping like flies,

Judge Adler is the least of my worries,

- I just wanna get this... - Settle down!

I was gonna 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 wanna 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 Dodson, Judge Fordman,

Vanessa, what game is this?

Smash, marry, kill?

Are my supervisor right now or my friend?

Friend.

I slept with Dodson, tampered with a 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?

Damn.

You're my hero.

I'm ahh, gonna leave you to it.

Hey! Kyle?

Yeah, it's me, Honey.

Uhm, 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 No. 5's purse.

Do you wanna 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 No. 5 be dismissed, Your Honor.

Why? The jury's not sequestered?

Ah-ha, they are now.

- Your Honor... - Enough!

I've had it with both of you.

Juror No. 5 is dismissed.

And I'll have 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 'cause I had my headphones in.

Did you stop?

Yeah, when he took my headphones off,

he was screamin' at me.

Askin' me, why I wasn't listening to him.

I told him I couldn't hear,

and then he said, can you hear me now?

I was nervous so I laughed,

'cause you know the commercial?

Anyway, he just started screaming at me

and callin' me a punk and disrespectful,

and, 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 a headlock,

then we were on the ground,

and he kept choking me.

I kept tryin' to tell him I wasn't resisting.

I don't know,

I was getting limp and I couldn't breathe,

I thought I was gonna die.

So what did you do?

He was kinda flailin' so,

I felt his gun and I pulled on it,

that was just the instinct to get him off me.

But the gun went off.

Look, I wasn't tryin' to kill him.

I was just tryin' to save myself,

I thought it was either him or me.

Jackson, did Officer Lockman

ever tell you that you were 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 wanna go with him, correct?

I don't think I was thinking anything,

I just thought he was pullin' my arm really hard

and I reacted by pullin' my arm back.

You testified and said,

"What did I do?" to Officer Lockman,

but you know what you had done?

You had 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?

Stop resisting!

I'm not resisting!

- Stay down! - I'm not resisting!

I'm not resisting!

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 doin'?",

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 me. - You didn't say,

"stop, you're choking me", did you?

I thought he was gonna kill me.

You didn't say stop,

you're gonna kill me, did you?

No.

So stop resisting arrest

is the only thing that he could've 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... No. - Yes or 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, I don't, I don't remember.

I have nothing further.

We don't have a case.

Hate to admit it, but Dashay 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 it,

I'm just carrying it around like maybe this caffeine

will seep into my skin by osmosis.

You need help.

Okay, you've a problem.

That's what I'm sayin'.

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 Dashay flipped even that against you.

We need to shift gears,

we keep trying to 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 lettin' her drink that?

No!

Good reflexes.

It was instinctual.

Shh, shh, she's thinking.

Just holding the bottle gives her energy.

Jackson kept saying shooting Lockman 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 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!

Ahh, if you don't like it, Mr. Dashay,

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, E.J. - 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 is 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?

He was gonna kill me.

- You gotta take it, son. - No.

What you talkin' about?

At least after 20 he'll be able to apply for parole.

If he takes 20 to 40,

you know damn well he's doin' 40

they're not paroling a cop killer.

He's gonna have a chance...

When he's 60!

I didn't do anything!

Which is why you're not pleading guilty!

- Loretta - No!

I'm not gonna 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,

keep your hands out of your pocket, 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 win this, Ms. Sullivan.

Because we are not backing down.

I am not giving them my son.

Mr. Givens, how are you employed?

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.

Ugh, 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 their chest.

And these people who panicked,

and pushed their lifeguards underwater,

are they doing this intentionally?

Ahh, no, they're not to blame,

like I said, it's a natural human response.

Mr. Givens, do you have any personal experience with this?

Ugh, I do, yeah, a buddy of mine was killed

three years ago by someone who was drowning.

That person survived.

Was he prosecuted for murder?

- Objection! - No.

Sustained, the jury will disregard

the last question and answer.

No further questions.

Mr. Givens, 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, 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?

- Objection! - Objection!

Overruled. You opened this door, Counselors.

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

Thank you, no further questions.

I don't understand, what happened?

What happened?

It wasn't good.

Gwen, Gwen.

Hakeem, 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 tell me I should refuse to sell you any

- no matter what you said. - I know,

but I'm saying right now it's okay.

You said you would tell me that.

Hakeem, sell me the Flame bolt

it's an emergency I don't feel right,

I think I actually need the caffeine.

No, you said, Hakeem,

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 bolts

- so I'm... - Hakeem I swear to God I will hurt you.

Sell me the Flame bolt.

No.

Gwen!

Come back!

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 worse idea?

Me trying to do a summation,

- feeling the way I'm feeling. - Oh yeah?

How are you gonna feel when you pass out in court?

Oh 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 callin' 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.

Oh Honey!

You're missing the point!

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

I just care about you.

You're gonna 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.

Ahh, it's okay.

No, it's not okay.

I was too cocky.

What was I thinking?

A lifeguard, seriously?

The jury must be laughing at me.

It was a little weird.

It was.

Good weird.

It's just didn't land.

You're gonna have to come up with "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, when it's over.

I'll help you, by teasing you.

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.

Good, now put on your big girl panties and let's go.

I don't know, I just keep

looking at the self-defense statute.

Hello, Gwendolyn.

Your 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?

But the problem is we haven't proved excessive force.

But the kid has a crushed larynx,

I mean, that's not enough? C'mon.

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

the kind that did not indict the cop that killed Eric Garner,

to see that race is at play here?

See......

Daddy, 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. Dashay 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 windpipe.

This kid, this college kid

who has 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 a 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 to 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 wanna 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've been there sooner, I'm sorry.

What else did you wanna talk about?

I don't know,

I feel like my life

isn't turning out the way I pictured it.

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

I love my job, but I don't know 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... - Hmm.

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.

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,

Oh, God.

I want 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.

Thanks, Dad.

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...

I had to take out a payday loan.

And they froze my bank account.

I really need your help.

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.

Done.

Hear me.

This is it.

Thank you.

You're welcome, baby.

I knew you guys would still be here.

Thought you went home with Tracy.

No, I don't know how she sleeps

when the jury's out.

I went to see my Dad.

Mmm, how'd that go?

Well, surprisingly not that bad.

Told me Bennett wasn't man enough for me.

I could've 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're 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,

it's his loss.

Thanks, Charlie.

No, I'm for real.

Gwen?

Uh oh.

Can I talk to Gwen for a minute?

Whatever you wanna say to me, you should to him too, so.

Okay.

I'm sorry, I'm really sorry for leaving

and not telling you.

A conversation would've been nice and no even.

- What else? - What do you mean?

How about I'm sorry I told Dashay

about your opening statement,

I'm sorry I broke your trust?

I didn't think he was gonna steal it.

He wouldn't have been able to if you hadn't had told him.

I'm sorry.

Nuh-uh, 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 gonna 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 Darien, Connecticut

and convinced you that all that stuff was possible,

but it's not.

Life is messy and f'd up

and you're gonna have a job

where you have to make complicated decisions.

So I guess what I'm trying to say

is that you need to grow the hell up.

Gwen, I really don't wanna lose our friendship.

Go find yourself first, Vanessa.

I can't be friends with a ghost.

Jury's back.

9AM tomorrow.

That was fast.

Is that good or bad?

For who?

Let the oppressor be the oppressed.

Will the system crumble under weight of its own lives

to come to its own deaths?

They're not lookin' at me, is that bad?

I don't know.

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 are adjourned.

All rise.

- I love you. - It's over.

For havin' my back, thank you so much.

Give the family a little bit of room!

Mr. Whitmore, do you have any comments about today's verdict?

We'd like to express our gratitude and thank you

to the jury and everyone who supported our family.

Thank you, thank you.

Alright, guys, clear a path.

Please, clear a path for the family.

Comin' through!

- Comin' through! - Thank you all so much!

Tessa, Tessa, Tessa.

You again?

What do you want?

You 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 were victorious against the oppressor!

- Yes, I was, but are you okay? - You beat them but,

you still harbor the stench of the oppressor.

- That's why you need... - You sound like you're off your meds,

we've talked about this, I'm gonna call your sister.

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, he's Franklin.

- I'm not in any danger. - But he tried to attack...

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 gonna leave now, okay?

I know what you are! The oppressor's inside you!

- No, Franklin. - The system's taking your soul!

That's why I went to jail!

Oh my God! Dad!

Put your hands in the air!

Franklin!

Daddy! Somebody help us!

This oppressive system...

Help! Call an ambulance!

Cameras everywhere!

Monitors! 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 communities.

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 'cause 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 a trial at all

why not just take him out back and hang him from a tree?