All language subtitles for Law and order S08E05 - Nullification

NARRATOR:
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.

(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)

Hey, so who do you
like in the third?

Alby's Gal.

You gotta be kidding.
Her last start...

She was over-matched.
But I still lost.

Who told you to bet?

You did.

Hey, I just told you
who I liked.

Sam, Alby's Gal in the third.

When's the last time
you picked a winner?

Maryland Princess.

Get out of here.

(GUNSHOTS)

(WOMAN SCREAMING)

(MACHINE GUN FIRING)

(ALARM RINGING)

(PEOPLE SCREAMING)

MAN 1: Are you all right?
Are you okay?

MAN 2: Oh, my God, what happened?

(BLARING CONTINUES)

It was their scheduled run.
They come twice a day.

You notice anyone
casing the place?

No. I was just walking
with them, talking.

About what?
The third race.

I gave them a good tip, too.
Alby's Gal. Came in 38 bucks to win.

They should have bet.

Thanks.

All this body armor, and they
forgot the bullet-proof ski mask.

The other one's on the
way to the hospital.

Tell me this hump has a wallet.

"Audentes fortuna juvat"?

CURTIS:
"Audentes fortuna juvat."

Yeah. Jesse James and his dead
partner both have the same tattoo,

an eagle with what?

"Fortune favors
the brave."

What'd you get from that guy?

Along shot. Alby's Gal.
Paid $38 to win.

He thinks the guards
should have bet.

I guess it wasn't
their lucky day.

RODGERS: Male, 45 to 50.
No needle marks.

Drug panel was clean.
He kept himself in shape.

Thickened skin on the
index finger of the left hand.

He could have been a carpenter.

Hammer kept missing the nail?

Or a do-it-yourself er.
These scars, from the knee to the hip,

fragments of something hit him
at fairly high velocity.

The bird house
he was building blew up?

Maybe a car accident.

Or shrapnel. See how
the skin is stretched?

Old wounds.
20, 30 years.

What about the tattoo?

Within the year.
Mid-life crisis.

Some guys get a Harley,
some get a tattoo.

(RINGING)

And what did you get?

27-year-old boyfriend.

Good for you, Rodgers.

SHRIER: MAC-11s. Both of them.
Take a look at the slide mechanism.

The releases are filed down.

It's been modified
from semi to full auto.

Yeah. Our do-it-yourself er
isn't just a carpenter.

Modifications like that
aren't hard,

if you know what you're doing.

What about the bullet that
killed the guard? Wells?

Didn't come from these guns.

The guy that got away?

The residue in the casings
indicates that all three guns

used the same
kind of ammunition.

Centerfire.
American-made, most likely.

From the proportions of lead,
barium, and antimony,

I'd say a non-standard mix.

Extra kick. Something
they cooked up at home?

Sure, depending on the home.

Yeah, but not something
you'd find in Martha Stewart.

The good news is, the second
guard's gonna make it.

And the perp in the hospital?

John Doe's still unconscious.

But Latent rolled
his prints and the DOA's.

And the third guy
disappeared into thin air.

The guy in the red windbreaker.

Not just red.

Witnesses from the NYB,
from the street,

we got fire-engine red,
cherry red.

Crimson.

So our fugitive's
windbreaker's noticeable.

Everyone's looking at the windbreaker.
They don't see anything else.

Prints taken off the DOA
and the one in a coma.

Matthew Brant, the DOA,
and our Mr. Doe is Greg Kubie.

Both guys are from
the suburbs, Hastings.

Criminal records?

Not a traffic ticket between
them, Brant was a vet.

Kubie's a cop.

Yeah. Hastings PD.

It's him.

(SNIFFLES)

I know this is hard.

Was your husband
having money problems?

Any trouble at work?

No.

The third man
we're looking for,

do you have any idea
who that might be?

Other wives, how do they react?

Everyone reacts
in a different...

Have any of the other wives
called you sadists?

My husband was a good man.

Two or three times a week,
at dinnertime...

Mom.

...his old students stopped by to
tell him how he changed their lives.

He was not a criminal.
What right did you have to kill him?

PHIL: Kay?
(DOOR OPENS)

Hey, Kay.
Kay, Kay, Kay...

(SOBBING)

Easy.

If you'll excuse me.

I'm Mrs. Brant's brother,
Phil Christie.

Your sister's
having a hard time.

Is that a photo of Matt?
Do you mind?

(EXHALES)

It really is him.
It's unbelievable.

Did you know your
brother-in-law owned a gun?

That's not unusual up here.

A MAC-11?

Do you know a guy
named Greg Kubie?

Yeah, once or twice a year, he sat
in on a poker game we got going.

Was your brother-in-law tight with
anyone in particular besides Kubie?

This is a friendly community.
Matt had a lot of friends.

Any of them with eagle tattoos?

(CELL PHONE RINGING)

Your brother-in-law and Kubie
had the same tattoo.

It's the first I heard of it.

Two days ago, I was having
breakfast with him.

Today, they tell me
he's murdered

because he's trying
to rob an armored car.

He wasn't murdered. The guard he was
robbing shot him in self-defense.

Matt was one of the most
decent men I have ever known.

I'm gonna go check on my sister.
Excuse me.

That was Profaci.

Nothing at Kubie's place except
for three-day-old pizza.

Brant and Kubie
had the same tattoo.

You want to give me odds
the third guy has one, too?

How many tattoo parlors can
there be in a town this size?

Yeah, 10-12 guys, right, came
in maybe last March, April,

eagle tattoos
with something in Latin.

All at the same time?

Three together.

Then, a couple of guys three weeks
later ask for the same design,

the next week, two guys.
Like that.

You keep a record?

They came in with a picture,
something from a computer thing.

Did they tell you what it was for?
A club or a gang?

It's not my business to ask.

Here. One of them
paid by check.

Thomas Robbins.

The tattoos? A gag.

A few of us got drunk
one night, made a bet.

The next morning,
I forgot I had it.

I get out of bed.
Boy, was my wife pissed.

Who made the bet?

Tony Lapella,
AI Goodman, Matt Brant...

You know Brant well?

Since high school.
A decent guy.

History teacher, basketball
coach, active in the church.

What about Greg Kubie?

Never met him. I guess he saw the
tattoo on one of my buddies.

Yeah, I guess so.

Everybody in town's
been talking about it,

and I don't know
what did or didn't happen,

but one thing I do know is, Matt
Brant couldn't hold up anyone.

And the 20 or 30 witnesses?

(PAGER BEEPING)

Mind if I use your phone?

Yeah.

So, where were you
on Tuesday at 2:00 p.m.?

A bunch of guys get a tattoo, they
got to be crooks? Is that it?

Two guys rob an armored car,
they both have the same tattoo,

we have to take that
into consideration.

Day before yesterday,
2:00 p.m.,

I was just finishing
meals-on-wheels.

Every week,
same time, same day.

We're not like you guys
in New York.

Kubie just
regained consciousness.

If I wanted a lawyer,
I'd hire one.

But, Mr. Kubie...

Who have you
talked to about my case?

No one, but I still
think it's important...

Get out.

These are detectives.
I'd advise you...

KUBIE: Get the hell out!

You can get out, too.

Why don't we just...

I have the right
to remain silent.

Officer Kubie...

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

Look, I got nothing
to say to you.

(SIGHS)

Cops. What a pain.
He's not gonna roll easy.

Hey, that tattoo artist,
she said they came in

with a picture
printed from a computer.

I type in what we're looking
for, eagle graphics

and the motto
"Audentes fortuna juvat."

The search engine
does the rest.

If it's anywhere on the
Internet, we'll get a hit.

One of these days,
you'll have to teach me

how to play solitaire
on that thing.

(COMPUTER BEEPS)

Bingo. This shows us
where to find it.

Let's surf the Net.

CURTIS: The New Sons of Liberty homepage.
It's a militia.

Maybe Jesse James and his pals

were trying to
finance a revolution.

What you're saying is,
I've got this tattoo,

it means I belong to this group,
the New Sons of Liberty?

Do you?

How about you, Detective?
Are you active in politics?

How about
answering my question?

I figure you for
a disappointed Democrat,

or maybe
a disappointed Republican?

You're disappointed
in something.

BRISCOE: it's a nice computer
you got there.

Is that where you keep
your virtual clubhouse?

You thinking of dropping in?
Maybe signing up?

Depends on the dues.
Cops get a special rate?

"Congress shall make no law
abridging the freedom of speech

"or the right of
the people to assemble,

"and to petition the government
for a redress of grievances."

I don't have to tell you
anything about my politics.

CURTIS: "What about Waco?

"The Feds pumped the Davidian
compound full of CS,

"which is highly flammable, and then started
the fire which killed women and kids."

BRISCOE: The FBI infrared
surveillance tape made at Waco

shows flashes
coming from the FBI forces

that could have been
incendiary fire.

It's 3:00 in the morning.

That's when they
come out of the woodwork.

"it was a show of force
to scare off anyone

"who wants to
fight Big Brother.

"We've got to learn
how to defend ourselves."

I'm ready. Do you know any Web
sites where I can find out more?

What are you doing?

(GRUNTS)

I'm looking for
the black helicopters.

They don't come
near urban centers.

(COMPUTER BEEPS)

Lennie, we're in.

You got this from a chat room?

A New Sons
of Liberty sub-site.

Which we found
through a chat room.

This tells you how to modify a
semi-automatic weapon to full auto

in the same way the guns used
in the robbery were modified.

Are we sure one of the New
Sons of Liberty posted it?

No, but it's a connection.

It's a stretch.

Your Honor, if I publish
a magazine article

by an anonymous author
on how to make a bomb...

You're gonna protect
your anonymous author.

But if that article
advocates using that bomb...

Can I subpoena your notes to find
out the identity of the author?

We're on very
murky ground here.

This is speech protected
by the First Amendment.

With these instructions,
the New Sons of Liberty

advocate illegal use
of automatic weapons.

It's no longer free speech, it's a verbal act.
An illegal act.

I don't know.
I don't like this.

My daughter just had a baby.
A girl. Two weeks ago.

I want her to have
the same freedoms I've had.

And if she becomes
an armored car guard?

Give me the paper.

I figured you'd be back.

With a warrant?

I was going to say
with stormtroopers.

Look, why don't you
make it easy on all of us

and just give us a list
of the New Sons of Liberty?

Am I under arrest?
No.

Lock up when you're done.

Keep an eye on him.

The New Sons of Liberty membership list.
Twenty in all.

A nice round number.

Not enough to
start a revolution.

More than enough
to rob an armored car.

We need search warrants for
their homes and workplaces

to be executed simultaneously.

6:00 a.m.

A big show of force.

Will the department
back you up on this?

I'll get the money.

Then, I'll get the warrants.

What are you looking for?
My son is only 17!

The New Sons of Liberty
don't have an age limit.

Read the warrant. If you have any
questions, I'll be glad to answer them.

COP: Why don't you check out
that cabinet over there.

Hey, Sergeant.
Yes, sir?

Open this up.

We hit the mother lode
in the crawl space.

"A well-regulated militia being necessary
to the security of a free state,

"the right of the people to keep and
bear arms shall not be infringed."

Look at this, full autos,
AK-47s, a couple of MAS .223s,

a bunch of M16s, boxes of ammo.

Yeah. Enough guns to
take over Staten Island.

Take a picture and send
it to Charlton Heston.

Pack this stuff up.
Take everybody downtown.

Okay. Let's go now.

Cray, Lewis, March 21, 1965.
Private, New Sons of Liberty, 016.

Okay, Mr. Cray, Lewis.
We're gonna need to know your whereabouts

on the afternoon
of Tuesday, August Sth.

Cray, Lewis.
March 21st...

1951. Sergeant,
New Sons of Liberty, 004.

004? What are you,
James Bond minus three?

Robbins, Thomas.
October 15th...

1980. Private,
New Sons of Liberty, 018.

Listen up, tin soldier,
this is no game.

Felony murder means
a needle in the arm,

so if you don't want to be the
sucker on the slab, wise up.

Brant, Matthew Jr.
December 18th, 1980. Private...

Automatic weapons,
munitions, body armor.

Is that what the robbery was
for, more guns? Bigger guns?

Christie, Philip.
August 4th, 1962.

Major,
New Sons of Liberty, 002.

LT, you have a call.

Make sure
the Major is comfortable.

So far I've got calls
from the ATF, the FBI,

the whole alphabet soup down
in Washington.

Let them take a number.

It's our case, New York City.
They have no jurisdiction.

They took jurisdiction in Waco.

JACK: The murder weapon?

VAN BUREN:
Not among the ones we found.

ROSS: They're smart.
Probably tossed it in the Hudson.

If it's any consolation, we have
the militia members' prints

all over the guns.

But no connection
to the murder.

So after all that, we charge
them with simple gun possession.

They post bail. We look like
fascists or idiots, take your pick.

(TELEPHONE RINGING)

McCoy. It's for you.

Yeah?

Thanks for calling.

Ballistics.
The special powder in the ammunition,

the home-load
used in the robbery,

they found it in the arsenal
seized in Christie's house.

But we don't have
the murder weapon.

(EXHALES)

The hell with it.

Conspiracy to commit murder
and robbery. Charge them all.

"Docket number 57643,

"the People v.
Philip Christie, Thomas Robbins, et al.

"Murder in the First Degree, Attempted
Murder in the First Degree,

"Conspiracy in
the First Degree,

"Attempted Grand Larceny
in the First Degree."

Ms. Mandel,
how do they plead?

PHIL: Your Honor,
as ranking officer

my co-defendants have chosen
me to act as our own counsel.

Are you a lawyer?

I've worked as a bailiff.
I know about your rules and procedures.

You file the motion,
the court will consider it.

Now enter a plea.

Your Honor, for all defendants
on all charges, not guilty.

Your Honor,
the People request remand.

Your Honor, we move
that all charges be dismissed

on the grounds that
we are prisoners of war

under the terms of
the Geneva Convention.

What?

Mr. Christie, this is
a civilian criminal court.

I have no authority
to rule on your motion.

PHIL: You do,

Your Honor.
That flag has fringes on it,

which means it is
a military flag.

Which means this court
is a military tribunal.

You must recognize us as prisoners
of war exempt from trial.

Our motion...

Mr. Christie, I don't care
how many fringes,

bells and whistles
are on this flag,

this is a civilian
criminal court. Got it?

Bail is set at $1 million for
each defendant. Next case.

(GAVEL POUNDS)

Prisoners of war?
What's he talking about?

The New Sons of Liberty believe they're
at war with the US Government.

And Son of Sam got his
marching orders from a dog.

It's nonsense.

Have you read their manifesto?

"For the sake of global trade,

"low wages and high profits, the US
Government has mortgaged its sovereignty

"to global interests, and has endowed
the FBI, the ATF, and the CIA

"with extraordinary powers to
enforce this new world order."

You could make a case for that.

Have you started wearing
fatigues under your clothes?

Jack, these are not religious
fanatics living on a compound.

They're articulate...
Misguided...

Definitely, but don't underestimate them.
They've got lots of support.

They've already raised six of
the $20 million they need,

from every state in the union,

not one contribution over $500.

And who was this guard they killed?
A redcoat?

You need to prove
there was a conspiracy.

Seventy rounds fired, two dead.
No problem with the overt act.

And your proof of the agreement
to commit the robbery?

So far no one's rolled on that.

The agreement can be inferred

from membership
in the New Sons of Liberty.

ROSS:
Guilt by association?

If it's an association dedicated
to murder and mayhem, why not?

Now I have to
take him seriously.

Christie got his motion
in front of Judge Scarletti.

Just be sure we don't have to go
to The Hague to try this case.

Ha!

The Geneva Convention
defines prisoners of war

as "persons who have fallen
into the power of the enemy."

The enemy being
the District Attorney?

And any office or
branch of any government

which is not constituted
of and by the people.

Your Honor, how long are we
going to humor this man?

On its face, this is
a patently absurd motion.

Mr. McCoy, please.

Go on, Mr. Christie.

Under the convention,
such prisoners of war

include the armed forces
of a party to a conflict,

as well as members of
militia or volunteer corps,

including members of an
organized resistance movement.

Your Honor, the convention
protects combatants,

not common criminals.

It requires the existence
of an open, armed conflict.

Lexington, Concord,
Bunker Hill,

the Revolutionary War
was fought for months

before hostilities
were officially declared.

JACK: They didn't attack
an Army base.

They robbed a New York
State Betting Office.

At best, they're terrorists.

Mr. Christie's so-called army
amounts to 20-odd hoodlums.

Twenty? 1,000? 10,000?

How many have to
believe what I believe

before you recognize
my right to say,

"This is wrong,
this must be changed"?

Mr. Christie, this isn't
a First Amendment issue.

Your motion has
been tried in the past

by the Black Panthers
and by other groups.

Granting it would give license
to any criminal organization

to circumvent
the criminal justice system

by declaring themselves at war with
the government. Motion denied.

As to your motion to act as
your own counsel, it's granted.

But I want Ms. Mandel to
serve as your legal adviser.

Now, we're going to trial.

Did you compare the gunpowder found in Mr.
Christie's basement

to that found at
the crime scene?

Yes, sir.

And what did you find?

"We hold these truths
to be self-evident..."

JUDGE SCARLETTI: Silence! "...
that all men are created equal."

Silence in the court!

ROBBINS: "That they are
endowed by their creator..."

Silence in the court!

"...with certain
unalienable rights..."

JUDGE SCARLETTI: Bailiff,
please remove the defendant.

(GAVEL POUNDING)
Order in the court.

ROBBINS: "...that among
these are life, liberty,

"and the pursuit of happiness.

"That to secure these rights governments
are instituted among men..."

Your Honor,
I object to this removal.

Overruled.

We will make provisions
for the defendant

to observe the
procedures of this court

through closed-circuit television.

You may sit down,
Mr. Christie.

Mr. McCoy,
you may continue.

Did you compare the gunpowder found in Mr.
Christie's basement

to the gunpowder
at the murder scene?

Yes, sir. Both had the same
distinctive chemical composition.

In my opinion, they were
from the same batch.

Thank you.

Do you pay taxes?

JACK: Objection.
Sustained.

Have you ever
read the Constitution

of the United States
of America?

Objection.
Sustained.

(EXCLAIMS)

No more questions.

Yeah, I carried a gun.
But I never thought I'd have to shoot anyone.

It was crazy.
Suddenly...

KUBIE: "That whenever
any form of government..."

JUDGE SCARLETTI:
Order in the court!

"...becomes destructive of these ends...
" I warned you!

"...it is the right of
the people to alter..."

JUDGE SCARLETTI:
Bailiff, remove the defendant!

"...or to abolish it and to..."
Get him out of my court.

"...institute new government
laying its foundation..."

You hear me?
"...on such principles

"and organizing its powers
in such form..."

(GAVEL POUNDING)

"Governments are
instituted among men..."

(KUBIE CONTINUES YELLING)

You were saying, Mr. Parent?

Suddenly,
everybody was shooting.

What do you know about
the new world order?

Before this trial,
I never heard of it.

JACK: Do you work for it?

PARENT: No, sir.

What branch of the
government do you work for?

No branch. I work for the Stevens
Securities Transfer Company.

Thank you.

Mr. Parent, who owns the Stevens
Securities Transfer Company?

I don't know.

Who's on the board?

I don't know.

Could they be working for
a multinational corporation...

Objection.

JUDGE SCARLETTI:
Sustained.

PHIL: How about
New York Bets?

What? Who owns it?

The State, I guess.
New York State?

Yeah.

Do you know who actually
runs New York Bets?

No.

And you didn't vote
for any of them, did you?

Objection.
JUDGE SCARLETTI: Sustained.

Mr. Christie, if you have no relevant
questions, you may sit down.

I have questions
the jury may find relevant.

Your cross-examination is over.
The witness is excused.

KAY: They weren't called
the New Sons of Liberty then.

A few years ago, my brother,
Phil, and my husband

used to sit around
the kitchen table

and talk about how the FBI shot that
woman and her baby at Ruby Ridge,

about how no one in the
government cared about anything

but the special interests.

Special interests?

If you're rich or poor, the
government pays attention.

But the average family in
America doesn't stand a chance.

Like what happened
with my brother

when the government wouldn't let
him see his kids after the divorce

and they gave custody
to his wife.

At any time, did your husband discuss
plans for a robbery with you?

The more involved Matt got with
the group, the angrier he got.

And it wasn't like he was angry
at anything in particular.

It was almost like
he was angry at our life,

at what we had,
at what we didn't have.

After a while, I could
hardly talk to him anymore.

Mrs. Brant, did he ever
talk about a robbery with you?

Matt woke me up one night, after
Phil and the others had been there,

and he told me
they had planned a robbery,

and that he had volunteered
for the mission,

and there was
some danger involved,

and that if
anything happened to him,

he wanted me to know
that he did it for my sake

and for Matt Jr.,
for the country.

JACK: And what did you say?

I told him I didn't understand.

I didn't understand.

The government
wasn't bothering us.

I didn't understand why
they had to commit a crime.

Thank you.

Mrs. Brant,

was your decision to testify
coerced in any way?

Objection.

JUDGE SCARLETTI:
Sustained.

Did Mr. McCoy
offer you anything

in exchange for your testimony?

Objection.

JUDGE SCARLETTI:
Overruled.

Answer the question,
Mrs. Brant.

Mr. McCoy said if I testify,
he'd sever my son's case

and try him on reduced charges.

No! No, Mom!
You shouldn't have done this!

Turning mother and son
against each other.

Order in the court!

Mr. Christie,
please sit down.

Do you think
the American people

are gonna stand by and watch
as you tear a family apart?

JUDGE SCARLETTI: Bailiff, will
you sit the defendant back down?

Remove those defendants!

Remove those defendants!

No!

JUDGE SCARLETTI:
Remove those defendants!

(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)

(CLAMORING CONTINUES)

Christie's master plan.
Look at his witness list.

The directors of the CIA,
the NSA, the President.

The judge excludes them,
Christie yells cover-up.

When you have no case...
JACK: Right.

It leaves him
with just one witness,

himself.

(TELEPHONE RINGING)

(SIGHS)

Ross. Uh-huh.

We'll be right over.

That was
Judge Scarletti's clerk.

There's a problem
with one of the jurors.

(SCOFFS)

Mr. Shelby, it has
come to my attention

that you passed some reading
material on to another juror.

Yes, sir.
To Bob Clark.

It's a newspaper.

Is this it?
The Crisis.

Yes, sir. It's named after the
newspaper published in 1776.

How would you characterize
this newspaper?

"Our new army at both ends of the
continent is recruiting fast,

"and we shall be able to open the
next campaign with 60,000 men."

isn't this inflammatory?

It's a quote. From Thomas Paine,
one of the founding fathers.

In the voir dire,
you were asked

if you had any opinions

which might prevent you from
judging this case objectively.

I believe I can
judge it objectively.

You told Mr. Clark that you
and some of the other jurors

had made up their minds
to acquit.

You said you wanted
to send a message.

What message
would that be, Mr. Shelby?

In this country, the people and
not the courts are sovereign.

Isn't that right, Your Honor?

Thank you, Mr. Shelby,
you can go.

So, Your Honor, he's dismissed?

Why? He's going to exercise
his right as a citizen

and decide the case
on its merits.

Your Honor, I move you excuse the
entire jury and declare a mistrial.

Because they might acquit?

Because Mr. Shelby is
encouraging them to nullify.

Which is his right
in an illegal trial,

and you've already thrown out
all my co-defendants.

Now you want to
throw out the jury, too?

It's not enough you have the whole
power of government behind you,

you also have to
rig the verdict.

You entered the courtroom with
the presumption of innocence,

just like anyone else.

The rights that I am fighting to
protect are your rights, too.

I can defend my own rights,
Mr. Christie.

Please...

We'll replace Mr. Shelby and Mr.
Clark with alternates.

Your Honor.
Gentlemen.

All that Christie needs
is one hold out.

In the world
of public relations,

a hung jury
is as good as an acquittal.

If we can knock just
one more juror off,

we exhaust the jury pool,
we get a mistrial.

How do you propose we do that?

I think we should find out everything
we can about the other jurors.

I'll talk to
Briscoe and Curtis.

Shady stuff.
This fellow Christie,

he's really
gotten under your skin.

JACK: He's a fanatic.

Because he believes
what he's saying?

When you first applied for a
job here, we had an argument

about some
anti-war protesters.

Oh, come on, Adam.

They broke into a draft board

and poured blood
over the records,

and you defended them.

You said a bad law sometimes
demands an illegal act.

Nobody got killed.

It was a protest and they
took their punishment.

PHIL: I know some of our ideas
sound crazy, or extreme.

I could talk to you about
Ruby Ridge or Waco

or I could tell you how I came
to believe that our government,

a government I was brought up to
love, is a threat to our liberty.

But none of that would
explain what's happened,

why we're on trial here.

The prosecution says we
robbed and murdered.

And that's all
this trial is about.

But let me tell you
how I see it.

Let's say someone
breaks into your house

and they threaten you
and your family...

Your Honor, objection, the defendant
is on the stand as a witness.

This is summation.
Your Honor,

as the counsel for the defense,

I am laying the groundwork
for a line of questioning,

a line of thought that goes
to the heart of my testimony.

I'll give you a little leeway, Mr.
Christie.

Thank you, Your Honor.

So, if you killed someone

who broke into your house
and threatened your family,

most of you would see that
as an act of self-defense.

Now, what if an enemy army
occupies your town,

and what if you and your
neighbors decided to resist...

Objection, Your Honor.

Overruled.

Get to the point,
Mr. Christie.

Okay.

So, what if, as part of
the resistance movement,

you robbed somebody
who was collecting taxes.

Taxes that would
be used to increase

the enemy control
of your town...

Your Honor!

New York Bets is
a scam to collect taxes...

Objection sustained.

...through
a levy on gambling.

Limit yourself to direct testimony, Mr.
Christie.

Your Honor...

I am not going to
allow it, Mr. Christie.

And if I don't knuckle under,
you'll drag me from court, too!

Don't try my patience!

And then who will
be left to defend us?

That's all.

According to Mrs. Brant's testimony,
the night before the robbery,

you met with Matthew Brant, his
son, Thomas Robbins, Lewis Cray,

and half a dozen others.
Is that true?

Did you study the Bushell case
in law school, Mr. McCoy?

Please answer the question.

1670.
The case established

the right for
juries to nullify.

Answer his question,
Mr. Christie.

I am trying, Your Honor.

The right for juries to protect
defendants by finding them not guilty,

evidence of their guilt
notwithstanding.

A right that goes back in
America to John Peter Zenger,

and had been used by black juries
to acquit black defendants

when they had
been tried unfairly.

Mr. Christie, what did you discuss
that night with your co-defendants?

It is a right used
in anti-war cases

and was defended
almost 25 years ago

in an article published...

JACK: Objection.
Non-responsive.

Published by the NYU
law school entitled,

"Jury Nullification in
the Criminal Justice System"

by Jack McCoy.

JUDGE SCARLETTI:
Sustained, Mr. Christie.

You wrote this.

In many ways, you and I
are alike, Mr. McCoy.

No, we're not.
I don't rob armored cars.

You were the third robber,
weren't you?

You killed Walter Wells.

What's the matter,
Mr. Christie?

If you believe what you did was
justified, why won't you answer?

"No person shall be compelled
in any criminal case

"to be a witness
against himself."

No further questions.

JUDGE SCARLETTI: Mr.
Christie, do you have any other witnesses

or evidence to present?

Since you've excluded all of
my witnesses, no, Your Honor.

The defense, the resistance
to tyranny, rests.

I think we've got what we
need to bounce another juror.

Howard Lam m.

The blonde guy
with the glasses.

Late '60s, at Harvard, he was
one of the leaders of the SDS.

A real firebrand.

Implied prejudice
against the government.

Kick Lamm off the jury,
you got your mistrial.

Where'd you get
this information?

Police Red Squad records.

The creeps
who took our pictures

during demonstrations
in the '60s?

These files were supposed
to be destroyed years ago.

Governments are like elephants.
They never forget.

We're not gonna do this.

We're not gonna become the
people Christie thinks we are.

"Tyranny, like hell,
is not easily conquered.

"Yet we have this consolation with
us, that the harder the conflict,

"the more glorious
the triumph."

Tom Paine wrote
that in a pamphlet

that helped rally Americans
to the cause of liberty

in those dark days
of December 1776.

We again face dark days.

Our founding forefathers
fashioned a government

based on life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness.

Today, instead of life, we have a
job, we have sometimes two jobs.

Instead of liberty, we have crushing debt.
And happiness?

We work hard, husbands and
wives, 10-12 hours a day.

We work weekends, and at the
end of the week we have less.

We have less real income, less
benefits, less time with our kids.

The American dream used to be,

each generation was better
off than the previous one.

Are you better off
than your parents?

Will your children
be better off than you?

We believe that our government has
been sold to global corporations

that are sucking the blood and
the life out of this country.

It's all right there in the
newspapers, what they're doing.

NAFTA, illegal campaign contributions
by foreign businessmen,

the sale of foreign policy.

These people
don't care about us.

They don't care
about Americans.

They care about
their bottom line.

We are not common criminals. We are...
We are ordinary people like you,

with jobs and mortgages, who are
willing to lay it all on the line

because we are afraid
of losing our freedom.

But today, you have a chance to
tell the government what you think.

Seize that opportunity.

We, the defendants, are not
the only ones on trial here.

You are on trial here.

The State tells you
to follow its laws.

But who lends the State its power?
Who can take it back?

The judge? Mr. McCoy? No.

You do. You are the State.
You have the power.

Freedom starts with a no.

Will you turn to the State
and say no?

Okay. Okay.

This country began as an
experiment in freedom.

The foundation of that freedom
is equality before the law.

Everyone, whoever they are,
whatever they may believe,

must be equally accountable.

Mr. Christie hopes you will
ignore the evidence and nullify.

A power, he says,
derives from a higher law.

I agree that such
a higher law exists.

And each of you, as members of
the jury, bound yourselves to it

when you swore, on your conscience,
before God and as a citizen,

that you would decide
this case on the facts.

You are asked
to judge one thing,

were the defendants, whatever their
reasons, whatever their beliefs,

part of a criminal conspiracy
to commit armed robbery

and murder!

These guys did a great
job of memorization.

Too bad they
didn't learn from it.

We all remember that phrase from
the Declaration of Independence

about life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness,

the unalienable
rights of everyone.

Notice that life comes first.

You can forget everything
else about this case,

if you remember one thing,

these defendants, these conspirators,
targeted an ordinary citizen,

someone just like yourselves, a guy
with a job and in the private sector,

with bills to pay and
a family to take care of,

and they took his life.

They took his life!

If it's okay for them
to shoot him,

it's okay for them
to shoot anyone,

including any one of you.

Without the law
there can be no freedom,

and without justice
there can be no law.

Your Honor,
we've been out nine days.

We've had 40 ballots.
We're unable to reach a verdict.

Is there any chance you could
agree if you had more time?

No, Your Honor.

(INHALES DEEPLY)

All right.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have no
choice but to declare a mistrial.

Yes!

The jury is dismissed.

ROBBINS: You did it!
See, see, see.

MAN 1: Hey, man.
MAN 2: All right.

Admit it, McCoy.
We won.

You didn't win anything.
The system you want to destroy won.

See you back here
in a couple of months.

Enjoy your freedom
while you have it.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

REPORTER: Mr. Christie,
over here.

If he only knew. You could've
sunk this trial and you didn't.

You played it straight, Jack.
That rates as a moral victory.

It could be a hollow one

if those clowns could find even
one person who'd acquit them.

What does that tell you
about this country?

PHIL: We want to thank you
all for being objective

in covering this trial
and being supportive...

.srt by GeirDM
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