All language subtitles for Law & Order s20e01 Memo from the Dark Side.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.

This is crazy.

You can't leave! - I can't stay.

Even with the work-study,
I won't make

My next tuition installment.

Taxi.

I'll get you the money, okay?

I got something big lined up.

Don't worry about me.

Just take care of yourself.

Excuse me. You spare something?

Beat it!

Everything's gonna be all right.

I love you.

Call me, okay?

You a marine?

Yeah.

Here. Take it all.

You serious?

Yeah.

Thanks, buddy.

God bless.

Two in the chest.

Student biking through the alley

Heard the shots around 21:10.

Patrol got here quick.

Faculty parking garage,
not exactly

Ground zero for gun crime.

You secure the area?

First thing.

No ins or outs till
you release the scene.

No wallet or I.D.
, but we got a dormitory key card.

let's see what else he's got.

Oh.

Looks like he was a business major.

yeah, minoring in herbology.

Looks like the campus dope dealer.

Mark his report
card "d" for deceased

Sub for addic7ed
www.addic7ed.com

Dealers. Good riddance.

There's a bunch of
latinos over on 125th.

My guys keep 'em off campus.

Yeah.

We're gonna need the
security videos for the garage.

There's only one camera.

It covers the exit.

But the rains this summer
knocked it out of commission.

Okay, we'll need a list of
all the faculty who park there.

That I got.

Okay, it's ready.

And your john doe is...

Hayley kozlow?

It's greg.

Greg tanner.

He's been crashing here.

I can't believe this.

How'd you know him?

We met at the cafeteria.

He's not a student or anything.

He said he had a sister here.

He was mature and nice.

Really nice.

His duffel bag's military issue.

Was he in the service?

Yeah.

Um, greg said he had
nightmares from it.

But we didn't talk much, you know?

You talk about this?

Oh, my god.

If I knew about that,
I swear he would have been gone.

Was anyone giving him trouble?

I don't know.

Last Saturday I saw him
outside of rocco's.

He was getting into it
with some hispanic guy,

But greg said it was nothing.

We've got a winner.

Wait here.

Hey, the m.E.'s confirmed it.

There's no stippling or
powder burns on tanner,

So figure he was shot from
at least three feet away.

Mm-hmm.

There's a young woman downstairs,

Just in from pittsburgh,
looks very upset.

It's the sister of
our campus dealer.

We have any progress
to report to her?

Well, our witness
picked out this guy

As someone tanner was
having a beef with.

Manny lopez, works with
a drug crew on 125th.

So maybe this was a turf dispute.

Slugs came back to a .
22, but they were fragmented.

Even if we do find a weapon,

Matching ballistics will be iffy.

All right, let's go
talk to miss tanner.

oh, my god.

My big brother.

When was the last
time you saw him?

It was just two days ago.

I had to leave school.

My financial aid fell through.

Greg said not to go,
that he'd help me.

Megan, how did he end
up living on campus?

It was because of me.

After he got out of the service,

He had no place else to go.

My mom's at a home in pittsburgh.

She's got parkinson's.

Dad died when I was ten.

Greg joined the marines
so he could be like him.

Here.

He never said where they sent him,

But me and my mom would get emails,

A phone call at christmas.

Then he showed up
at my dorm one day.

He'd been discharged.

But he didn't come
back the same guy.

How was he different?

He got anxious a lot.

He needed help, but I think
he was having problems

Getting his army benefits.

Megan, do you know what your
brother was doing on campus?

I think auditing classes.

I didn't see him much
the last few weeks.

Why?

We believe he was dealing drugs.

Oh, god.

Greg.

He met this girl.

I wanted to give him space.

I should have--

Oh, my god. I lost him.

Excuse me.

That last time you
saw your brother...

What did the two of you talk about?

He said he'd get
me money for school.

That he was working
on something big.

The woman has seen it all.

Now one tale of woe and
she suddenly goes soft?

Well, if she hears
you talking like this,

You're gonna be eating
through a straw.

Now that's the lieutenant I know.

No, the something big
the sister mentioned

Could have been a drug score.

Could be how tanner got himself

Into a beef with the competition.

So they ambush him
in the faculty garage?

Or maybe they followed him there?

Could be he was meeting a client.

Professor pothead.

Take this guy for example.

A law professor by the
name of kevin franklin.

In the garage every day at 1:00.

Out by 9:15.

Except the day that
tanner's killed.

Really?

Franklin breaks his pattern.

Leaves his car in the
garage overnight.

Drives it out the next day at noon.

He looks vaguely familiar.

I might have seen
him around campus.

And how about the faculty garage

Wednesday night, say around 9:00?

I wasn't in the garage Wednesday.

If you'll excuse me,

I have a class of law
students waiting.

Actually, we have a
few more questions.

You'll have to call me later.

Not so fast, professor.

We believe that you
were in that garage

Maybe to do a little
business with mr. Tanner.

Business?

Score a little pot for
your weekend barbecue?

Are you kidding me?

I used to work for the
department of justice.

Look, we don't care if you
like the occasional joint.

Well, I don't.

And if I saw something,
I assure you

I know my obligations,
but I wasn't in the garage.

Then tell us why you left

Your car there overnight Wednesday.

I finished teaching
my class around 9:00.

I went to wordplay on
amsterdam to buy a book.

What book?

John rawls' theory of justice.

The new annotated edition.
You buy it?

No, there was a
line at the cashier,

So I walked back to the garage,

But the police had
already sealed it off.

What time was this?

Just after 9:30, I guess.

My wife was waiting up,
so I got a cab

To grand central and I
caught the last metro

North to hastings.

Right.

The new rawls' edition
came in last week.

What kind of traffic did you have

At the register Wednesday night?

Traffic? You're joking, right?

This place is dead after dinner.

Dead.

Great.

Hey, just ran kevin
franklin through the system.

He was arrested in
hastings last year.

Get this.

On a cpw.

Cpw? How sweet is that?

Mr. Franklin got
into a fender bender

On north street with a max epstein.

And the cpw?

Epstein claimed
franklin flashed a weapon.

That was an exaggeration,
but franklin

Was carrying a piece
in the hip holster.

He said he had a carrier permit,
but he couldn't produce it,

So the officer took him in.

Did he have a permit?

Turns out he did.

Full carry for westchester

And a special permit
for new york city.

The charge was dropped.

What kind of weapon did he have?

.22 caliber smith and wesson.

Sweeter and sweeter.

Franklin's alibi doesn't hold up.

Plus he got his timeline wrong.

Yeah, franklin said he
couldn't get his car at 9:30

Because the garage was sealedff,

But the first unit wasn't
on the scene until 9:45.

So tell me why he
killed greg tanner.

Money.

Greg told his sister he was
working on something big.

Our guess is he tried
his hand at blackmail.

Yeah, franklin's a tenure-track

Assistant professor of law.

It comes out he's buying pot,
he's got a lot to lose.

Academic post, law license.

None of which adds
up to probable cause

For a warrant for his gun.

We can always say,
"pretty please with a cherry on top."

Call me when you have some p.C.

Look, you guys need to
tie franklin to tanner.

Calls, meetings,
evidence of bad blood.

I have to take this.

Look, this case won't clear itself

With you guys sitting on your ass.

Hey.

I never heard greg mention
a professor franklin.

Conflict of laws. Civil rights.

You want to be a lawyer?

Uh, those are greg's.

Is there anything else up
there that belongs to him?

That folder's not mine.

Hey, I got to go to
a spin class, okay?

Just don't mess with my stuff.

We got you.

Have fun spinning.

Oh.

Look at this.

Course syllabus for
franklin's con law classes.

And this.

I need your help with the v.A.

If you just go on record--

I don't know what
you're talking about.

I can't do this without you.

Please, you owe .

Just get that thing
out of my face.

That bad blood seems to be

About the veterans administration.

Tanner's sister said
he was having trouble

Getting benefits.

Sergeant tanner
received counseling

For 30 days post-discharge.

After that, his temporary
benefits lapsed.

Okay, what was
the counseling for?

Come on, you know I
can't get into that.

How about what type
of discharge he got?

That's not classified.

- He got a 5
-13 discharge.

Separation from service due

To a pre-existing
personality disorder.

Pre-existing, meaning
whatever was wrong with him,

It wasn't service-connected,
meaning the military's

Not on the hook for
his long-term care.

that's how it works.

A guy humps it for his
country for eight years.

He comes home and then uncle sam

Just kicks him to the curb.

Does that seem fair, doc?

No, not for a
soldier who required

Post-traumatic stress
disorder from doing

Guard duty at abu ghraib.

Greg was guarding terrorists?

He said what he saw
kept him up nights.

From the stuff that
tanner has underlined,

Looks like he was
preparing a lawsuit

To have his benefits reinstated.

And he wanted franklin
to represent him.

Can I get your attention, please?

Uh, listen.

Last week, I was
diagnosed with cancer.

It's manageable,
but I have to start

Treatment immediately.

I'm telling you this because
I'll be coming and going

More than usual and I don't
want any tongues wagging.

Oh, and before I forget,
the chief of ds

Is coming down hard on the fives,

Or should I say the lack of them.

You're all big boys and girls,
so get them done on time.

Uh, loo?

Yeah, what you got?

It looks like tanner
was after franklin

To help him sue the government

Over his veteran benefits.

Except franklin's a
constitutional scholar,

Not a benefits expert.

We'll talk to some of
franklin's colleagues.

See what they know.

- Hey, loo.
- Yeah?

Sorry.

Yeah.

Professor franklin never
mentioned a greg tanner.

I highly doubt that
he'd have anything to do

With a drug dealer.

He's wound tighter
than a swiss watch.

He sounds pretty tough
to get along with.

He's very competitive.

We're both up for tenure,
except I don't have

His fancy government pedigree.

Not that I'm suggesting that
he's unqualified, mind you.

Just that he's very well connected.

He must be.

Not too many law professors
carry permits for handguns.

That's because of the work he did

For the department of justice.

What kind of work?
Drug enforcement?

No, all I can tell you is that

A number of bush
administration documents

Have recently been declassified,

Including a few memos
that franklin wrote.

And, uh, you didn't
hear it from me.

Mmm.

"techniques that may be
used in interrogation

Of high-value al-qaeda detainees."

Now there's a sexy title.

These declassified documents

Are all about handling
terrorist suspects.

This one says the president
can send the army

Into american neighborhoods
to make arrests.

Here's one that franklin wrote.

"legal standards
governing the detention

And interrogation of
unlawful enemy combatants."

The entire playbook for
gitmo and abu ghraib.

The playbook that set
the working conditions

For guards like tanner.

The conditions that caused
his post-traumatic stress.

Tanner might have
seen it that way.

And blamedranklin.
He said franklin owed him.

Maybe this was the payday
tanner was talking about.

Money from franklin for
his pain and suffering.

There's your bad blood.

And our probable
cause for a search.

Let's go.

Connie, I think we got our p.
C. On franklin.

You guys are about
five minutes late.

Come on in, detectives.

Professor franklin
here just confessed

To shooting greg tanner.

He even brought the gun.

Professor franklin
was being stalked

By a mentally disturbed lunatic

Who had accosted
him in a stairwell.

If this office intends
to file charges,

My client will be
arguing self-defense.

Of myself and my country.

A plea?

First you push for
a million in bail

And now you expect
us to take a plea?

We're here as a
courtesy to give you

A chance to drop this charge

Before we publicly embarrass you.

He shot an unarmed war
veteran from three feet away

And we're the ones who are
supposed to be embarrassed?

He shot a trained
killer who blamed him

For his mental problems,
demanded money,

And then threatened him
when he said, "no."

It's a perfect
case of self-defense

Except for the running away,
the lying.

All of which evinces a
consciousness of guilt.

Now he can plead
to manslaughter one

Or starting tomorrow, a grand jury

Will hear all about his deceptions.

No, they won't.

What's that?

A writ of prohibition
to exclude all statements

My client made to the
police on the grounds

That their interview
with him was custodial

And he should have been mirandized.

The judge threw it all out.

His phony alibi.

His claims of not knowing tanner.

I mean, in short, everything
that makes him look guilty.

I can count on the
fingers of one hand

The times I've seen a writ used

To keep evidence out
of the grand jury.

Not just any writ,
but one franklin

Dashed off during a plea conference

Complete with citations.

Brilliant.

Any evidence he killed tanner

For reasons other
than self-defense?

Nothing.

The only one who'd know is tanner.

And, well, he's not talking.

Thanks.

Oh, it's from franklin.

He's asserting his right
to address the grand jury.

Sure.

First, get rid of as
many inconvenient facts

As possible and then
spin what's left

Into a self-serving tale.

Yeah, the law-abiding professor

Versus the deranged drug dealer.

Spin it the other way.

Make greg tanner as cuddly
as a week-old puppy.

Greg was smart.

People liked him.

He believed in serving
the greater good.

But when he was over
there in the war,

Something inside him broke.

He suffered from
post-traumatic stress.

That's what his
psychiatrist told him.

He worked in the prisons.

He saw interrogations.

People being hurt,
being hanged in a shower room.

He had nightmares.

He couldn't keep a job.

Mr. Tanner approached
me one night after class.

He told me about his grievance
over his military discharge.

He wanted my help suing to
have his benefits reinstated.

He thought because I worked
for the department of justice

Under the bush administration

That I had some special expertise.

What work
specifically did you do?

I wrote advisory memos
governing the manner

In which suspected
terrorists were held.

Because mr. Tanner
guarded those detainees,

He thought I had insights
into the conditions

That had caused his
post-traumatic stress.

I told him he needed a specialist

In healthcare litigation.

I thought that that
was the end of it,

But a week later,
he confronted me at the garage.

He was agitated. He demanded money.

He said that I was responsible
for his mental problems.

I tried to reason with him,
but he wouldn't let me leave.

I was trapped by this
deranged ex-soldier.

Did he actually
threaten to kill you?

I was in fear for my life.

He kept saying,
"you're not leaving."

And then he started
toward me and that's--

That's when I shot him.

He fell. He stopped moving.

What did you do then?
Did you call the police?

Somebody else did.

I wish that I had had
the presence of mind

To stay calm, but I was in shock.

And it took you four days
to regain your composure

And turn yourself in to the police.

No, I was in contact
with the police

Before the formality
of my surrender.

You were in contact?

Please, describe those contacts.

Mr. Cutter, I would be
happy to tell the grand jury

What I discussed with the police,

But there's a judicial writ
prohibiting me from doing so,

Because of the misbehavior
of your detectives.

He cooperated from the get-go.

It was the police who misbehaved.

I let myself get bushwhacked.

Twice.

We got bushwhacked twice.

Tanner's sister told the
police that he never

Talked to her about
his service in iraq,

But she testified that he
witnessed interrogations.

She might have gotten that
from news reports on the case.

No, she said he saw people
hanged in a shower room.

That wasn't in the news.

Thanks.

No bill.

Grand jury bought franklin's story.

Next stop, megan tanner?

I told the police the truth.

Greg never said anything to me.

Well, then where did you
hear about this shower room?

My mom needs to know
that greg served with honor

Like my dad.

She's very sick and...

If she ever found out
that he did that,

Well, I don't think
she could take it.

Why? What did he do?

When greg was living with me,
he made a video diary.

I found it on my
computer after he died.

We walked the detainee
into the shower room.

He was handcuffed and he was
wearing a hood over his head.

The interrogator
told us to hang him

By his wrists from the
bars of a window like this

With his hands behind
his back up high,

So the guy can't kneel or sit

And all the weight's
on his arms and chest.

The 'gator said the guy
was an unlawful combatant

And under the rules, we could do

Whatever we want with him.

We hooked him and we
left him with the 'gator.

An hour later,
'gator called us back in

And he wanted us to
reposition the detainee.

The detainee was slumped forward.

His arms were almost
out of their sockets.

He wasn't responsive.

Then we took the
hood off of his head

And all this blood
poured out of his mouth.

He was--

He was dead.

And those rules--

Those damn rules were wrong.

We had to live by 'em,
and it messed us up.

I found one of the guys
who wrote the rules

Here at the college.

I got to get right with this.

I didn't join the service
to murder people.

Can we confirm this story?

Tanner was stationed
at abu ghraib in 2003,

And there was a death
that fit his description

In November of that year.

He talks about
other interrogations

He witnessed in iraq and gitmo,

Enhanced interrogations,
waterboardings,

At all kept him up at night.

Maybe that's what
was going through

Franklin's mind
when he shot tanner.

Maybe he thought
tanner was threatening

To implicate him in
a death by torture.

Franklin was bucking for tenure.

Controversy's the
last thing he wanted.

Now he shot tanner in a panic,

Not to defend his life,
but to protect his position.

Forget it.

You had your bite
at the grand jury.

Franklin is getting
away with killing tanner.

This memo he wrote for
the department of justice

Laid out the legal architecture

Permitting the abuse of prisoners.

Abuse that led directly
to this death in iraq.

You could argue this
memo is an element

In a conspiracy to commit assault

And depraved indifference murder.

Someone could try to argue it

If they had jurisdiction.

Have you looked at
the time stamp on this?

April 10, 2003, 1 st.
Andrews plaza.

Franklin was working at the u.
S. Attorney's office

Downtown when he wrote it?

Right under our noses.

It's the jurisdictional
nexus we need

To prosecute him.

We already have the testimony

Of one of his co-conspirators.

Jack, you want to
prosecute a member

Of the bush administration
for assaulting

Suspected terrorists?

The word is "torturing."

And, yes, it's about
time somebody did.

Draw up a bill of
indictment against franklin.

Gladly.

The people have met

Their jurisdictional
requirement, mr. Granick.

Your motion's denied.

But, your honor,
a conspiracy charge

Requires an agreement
between the conspirators.

There is no agreement between mr.
Tanner and my client

To assault prisoners in 2003.

The agreement is
manifest by the fact

That the recommendations in mr.
Franklin's memo

Were conveyed by intermediaries

To mr. Tanner in the field
and agreed to by him.

They haven't connected the dots.

Those intermediaries
should be named

In the indictment
as co-conspirators

Or the charge is
legally insufficient.

Franklin's daring us to indict

The whole chain of command.

Have you actually
read franklin's memo?

Cover to cover? No, not yet.

Read his advice to anyone worried

About being charged with torture.

"if a defendant has
a good faith belief

"that his actions will not result

"in prolonged mental harm,

"he lacks the specific
intent necessary

"for his actions to
constitute torture.

"a defendant could show
that he acted in good faith

"by surveying the
professional literature

"or consulting with experts.

Good faith is a complete defense
to a charge of torture."

He's telling the interrogators
how to circumvent the law.

Just remember, kids,
if you're going to torture,

Read a book first.

They want co-conspirators?

I'll give them co-conspirators.

The joint chiefs of staff?

Former secretary of defense?

Vice president cheney?

In for a penny,
in for a pound, mr. Cutter.

The indictments are being
served as we speak, your honor.

Mr. Franklin can consider
the dots connected.

It's absurd.

Mr. Cutter is making a mockery

Of the conspiracy statutes.

It's clear who's behind this.

Jack mccoy obviously took exception

To my boss's conduct
of the war on terror,

And now he's politicizing
this prosecution.

If mr. Franklin is afraid a trial

Might embarrass his
former colleagues,

He's always welcome to take a plea.

I see no reason for this
indictment not to proceed.

See you all at trial.

So far, so good.

This was nothing.

The real hailstorm's gonna come

When those indictments
start landing

On the co-conspirator's desks.

Our client sent us here hoping

We can talk some sense
into you, mr. Mcy.

You wouldn't be the first to try.

You're going to spark
a constitutional crisis

And that's no threat.

Is that really the valediction
you want for your career?

You let me worry about my career.

And now, unless you're all
here to talk about a plea,

There's the door.

A plea?

You actually believe that you,
a county d.A.,

Can prosecute a
former vice president,

Cabinet members for
their conduct of a war

On foreign soil?

I prosecuted a chilean
colonel for the murder

Of a u.S. Citizen in santiago.

So government officials
who torture prisoners

On american military bases?

Sure. Why not?

This is why not.

This is just the beginning.

We'll keep churning them
out until your office

Is drowning in motions.

Motions for change of venue.

Motions to dismiss, to suppress.

Trial starts next week.

We'll be lucky to get through
just one of these bricks.

Strawn doesn't
represent everybody.

We'll sever the trials.

We'll try franklin and
his associates first.

We convict them, then move
up the chain of command.

Connie, assemble a team.

Get them working on
strawn's motions.

Cards on the table, jack.

I think we bit off
more than we can chew,

And I'm not even convinced
of our legal standing.

I know.

You value legalities over ethics,

But sometimes doing what's
ethical is more important.

You can insult me
all you want, jack,

But maybe the ethical
thing to do here

Is to save american lives.

We're at war with people
who've sworn to kill us

For who we are.

It doesn't matter if
it's civilians, women,

Children, as long as
they kill americans.

And if we have to
use force to extract

The information we need
to protect ourselves,

Well, then maybe that's
the right thing to do.

I see.

Maybe I should find somebody
else to prosecute franklin.

Oh, no.

You can count on my
obsession with legalities.

If there's a way to prove
that franklin broke the law,

I'm your man.

It's called a
palestinian hanging.

It's how the north
vietnamese tortured

Senator john mccain
when he was a p.O.W.

It's one of the stress
positions sanctioned

By mr. Franklin's memo.

What other harsh
techniques are sanctioned

By mr. Franklin's memo?

The most well known
is waterboarding,

Where a detainee is held down,
a cloth is placed over his face,

And water is poured
over his mouth and nose

To simulate drowning.

And who, if anyone,
besides the u.S. Military

Has used this
interrogation technique?

The spanish inquisition.

And after the second world war,
we convicted

Japanese officers of war crimes

For waterboarding our p.O.W.S.

Now you told us that during
your career in the military,

You participated in over a
thousand interrogations.

Did you ever use any of
these harsh techniques?

No, sir.

We took down terror networks
with tools like respect,

Rapport, cunning, and deception.

Not the techniques in this memo?

Besides the fact I have a
moral problem with torture,

It doesn't work, sir.

In fact, it works against us.

It's hypocritical to defend
our values with torture.

That hypocrisy is the
best recruiting tool

You can give to the terrorists.

Thank you.

I want to be clear, mr. Gardner.

If you had a terrorist
who you believed

Had information about a dirty bomb

Set to go off in this
city within 24 hours,

You wouldn't avail yourself
of every possible technique

To extract information from him?

A man in severe
pain or mental anguish

Will say anything to make it stop.

If you only have 24 hours,
the last thing you want to do

Is waste time chasing
down false leads.

Torture just doesn't work.

No one here's advocating
torture, mr. Gardner.

We're talking about
harsh techniques.

I know what we're
talking about, sir.

I don't need a memo to
tell me what torture is.

Jack?

David? What a nice surprise.

Come with me.
I'm taking the stairs.

I need the exercise.

So do you, kid.

How are they treating
you in washington?

Good.

The attorney general's
no jack mccoy,

But I'm learning a lot.

Jack, they sent me here

To talk to you about
the franklin case.

They want you to call it off.

The jury's empanelled,
jeopardy's attached.

They don't care.

They want the charges dismissed
against all the defendants.

I don't get it.

The new administration doesn't
have a dog in this fight.

We can't let state
prosecutors try to hold

Federal officials accountable
for their conduct of a war.

It's a bad precedent.

In any event,
the attorney general's

Naming a special prosecutor
to investigate torre claims.

I heard. To go
after the small fry,

A couple of thugs in the field.

What about the policy-makers,
the deciders?

Right.

They get a free pass,
because if you go after

The previous administration's
dirty laundry,

The next administration
will go after yours.

That's the precedent
you don't want to set!

It's just politics, jack.

I don't know what you're
learning over there, david,

But you've forgotten
everything you learned here.

Tell the attorney general no deal.

Information is perhaps
the most critical weapon

For defeating the terrorist threat.

Our success rests on
our ability to extract

That information.

I was asked to advise
the defense department

As to the legal standards
governing the interrogation

Of terrorist suspects.

I put my findings in a memo

And sent it on to the
relevant parties.

Thank you.

Mr. Franklin, isn't it fair

To characterize the
legal standards you set

Governing the
interrogations of suspects

As "anything goes," so long
as the president orders it?

And in his capacity
as commander-in-chief

In a time of war,
he has the authority

To issue any order
he deems appropriate?

Well, the president
can't break the law.

Well, according to your memo,
what law is the president

Bound by in the war on terror?

The geneva and hague conventions?

Not applicable because
the terrorist detainees

Are illegal combatants.

Well, the due process
clause of the fifth amendment?

Not applicable to alien
enemy combatants held abroad.

The eighth amendment ban on
cruel and unusual punishment?

Not applicable because
harsh interrogations

Are not punishment.

So you are saying, in war,

The president is bound by no laws?

Yes, in war.

So if he deems he's
got to torture somebody,

For example,
by crushing the testicles

Of that person's child,

Your memo says there is no law,
no treaty that can stop him?

Well, it would depend
on why the president

Thinks he needs to do that.

Now, your memo
justifies these actions

Because the detainees
are not regular soldiers

In a national army as we
understand it, correct?

Correct.

Unlawful enemy combatants
are not entitled

To the usual protections.

Is it too much to
assume they'd be protected

By our own sense of decency?

That's not the task I
was given, mr. Cutter.

My memo addressed legal,
not ethical, standards.

Now, your memo says that,
"historically, nations

"and their sovereigns
have been free to treat

Unlawful combatants as they wish."

Could you please give us
such a historical example?

Well...

Off the top of my head--

What about this example?

The summary execution
of a vietcong guerilla

By a south vietnamese general.

Or this.

The torture and murder of
polish resistance fighters

By the german army.

Is this the historical
right you say

The president should
avail himself of?

I didn't invent the right
of sovereigns, mr. Cutter.

I simply defined it.

The right to do what they
want with unlawful combatants?

Yes.

Unlawful combatants
like the american militia

After king george
declared them rebels?

Yes, like that.

So you would defend
the brutal treatment

Of american prisoners
by the british

During the revolutionary war?

From a legal standpoint? Yes.

Mr. Franklin,
what is it about this country

That you don't get?

Withdrawn.

No more questions.

There was a state
senator on just now

Calling for your removal as d.A.

You know, that day,
eight years ago,

We could see the towers
burn from adam's window.

I remember.

Part of me says,
"I don't care what you do

"to these detainees.

"I don't want to know.

Just protect us."

The problem is now we do know.

Yeah, and I'm not sure
that makes a difference.

We're wanted in
federal court tomorrow.

The attorney general
is asking the court

To issue an order staying
the district attorney's

Prosecution of mr.
Franklin and the other defendants.

They can't just step
in and stop the trial.

Under the supremacy
clause of the constitution,

Actions taken by federal
officials in pursuit

Of foreign policy are not
grist for state prosecutions.

If those actions are illegal,
as torture clearly is,

There's no overriding
federal interest

In shielding those who
enabled such actions.

All right, gentlemen,
I'll take the motion

Under advisement.

I'll issue my ruling
by the end of the day.

In the meantime,
the state trial can proceed.

I never expected this of you.

You're way off the
reservation, jack.

Damn it, david.

I'm trying to save the reservation.

We're looking forward,
not backward.

We'se not looking to give aid
and comfort to the enemy.

What are you accusing me of?

My client never tortured anybody.

He never ordered another
or conspired with others

To commit torture.

As a member of the
office of legal counsel

Of the department of
justice and in service

To his commander-in-chief,
he was asked

To give a legal opinion.

Might not be the most brilliant
opinion ever written,

But in the end, it's just that.

A legal opinion.

Whether or not we
agree on the conduct

Of the war on terror,
we can all still agree

That in this country
you have to actually

Commit a crime to
be convicted of one.

Thank you.

This is no simple legal opinion,
ladies and gentlemen.

This is an instruction
on how to commit a crime

And avoid prosecution.

A surgical parsing of words to
draw hair-splitting distinctions

Between severe pain
and extreme pain.

The creation of a special
class of prisoners

Who are fair game for any suffering

We might subject them to.

This is the legal grease

That enabled the
conspirators to commit acts

That are immoral and illegal.

Hanging prisoners by their wrists

Until their lungs collapse
against their ribs.

Waterboarding one
detainee over 180 times.

Now mr. Franklin's
defense is that he was

Just following orders
as a mere lawyer

In the justice department.

Well, like all lawyers,

He was employed as the last

And best defense against injustice,

To use the law as a
shield to protect people.

But instead he used it as
a sword to injure them.

Where he was sworn to
uphold the constitution,

He used his legal
education to subvert it,

To shame it, and betray
its promise to the world.

Five days after 9-11,

Vice president cheney told
us that we would have to

"work the dark side"
to fight terrorists.

Well, we never
imagined that to mean

That we would cede control
to our own dark side.

The tactics justified in mr.
Franklin's memo

Draw from the worst of our nature.

Even in the midst of
the revolutionary war,

In the midst of the civil war,

Presidents washington and lincoln

Admonished their troops not
to injure their prisoners.

Now, some of you may feel
that it is not the place

Of this jury or even the
people to question the actions

Of our government officials
during a time of war...

That the premise of this
trial itself somehow is...

Treasonous.

I would assure you,
ladies and gentlemen,

It is not disloyal
to hold our officials

To the highest
standards of conduct.

And it is not disloyal
to allow you, the people,

To decide what you
want done in your name.

Thank you.

Has the jury reached a verdict?

We have, your honor.

The defendant will stand.

On the first count
of the indictment,

Conspiracy in the--

What's going on, eddie?

He's a federal
marshal with an order

From the district court.

Bring it here.

The federal court for
the southern district

Has issued an order
preempting this prosecution.

The trial is over.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,

Thank you for your service.

We are adjourned.

But, your honor,
the jury had a verdict.

There's no verdict till
it's entered in the record.

It's over, mr. Cutter.

I'll start checking the case law,

See what our next step is.

You won't find anything.

There's no recourse.

The people who
want you out, jack,

They'll use this to hammer you.

Good.

At the end of the day,
I hope to give them

Even more reason to be mad at me.

Come on, mike.

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