All language subtitles for Law and order S09E17 - Shield

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.

Two coffees.
One black with sugar,
one extra cream, no sugar.

You got something
on your cheek.

Right there.
Looks like lipstick.

Good for you.
Yeah, sure.

You sure you don't want
any donuts, Officer?

Are you a comedian?

Hey, Danny.

Oh, geez.
Danny. Oh, geez.

Danny! Danny!

Eight Charlie. 10-13.
We got a cop down!

Hudson and Duane!

Probably a. 38. No casings.
Slugs still in the body.

Two in the chest.
How close?

Within two feet.

So he sees the guy comin',
he gets out of his car
and gets shot?

Yeah, looks like it.

Weapon's still holstered.

Pelham and his partner
over there were staking
out that building

to serve
an arrest warrant
on Terry Mays.

Wanted for armed robbery
and attempted murder.

He lives there?

His girlfriend does.
Lois Henick,
on the third floor.

We set up a perimeter
as soon as the call came in.

Anybody see it
go down?

A homeless.
Said he heard the shots.

Saw somebody
with a dark parka
and a hood running away.

What's the situation?

Two cops workin'
the Warrant Squad.

Suspect's girlfriend
lives in there.

The Sarge here's
got a perimeter
around the place.

So what are you
waiting for?
Search warrant.

You go in.
I'll get the warrant.

- Police! Freeze!
- What the hell is this?

Where's Terry?
I don't know.
I haven't seen him.

Who else
was here tonight?

Nobody. I live alone.

Yeah? You always leave the
seat up when you're done?

Yeah. I was cleaning it.
What about these?
You taking in laundry?

That's right,
don't talk to us.

You're lucky you caught
us in a good mood, Lois.
Let's go.

Pelham transferred to the
Warrants Squad two weeks ago.

Single. No kids.
Small blessings.

Anything from the
girl's apartment?

Her address book
in her kitchen.

We got people runnin'
down the names.

Nothing in her LUDs.
She called her mother
every day.

Oh, that'll get her
six months off.

Known associates?

We got eight teams out
beating the bushes.

Well, Mays had to have been
stuck in his girlfriend's
place since...

When did Warrants
start their surveillance?

Six days ago.

Let's find out
who might have
visited him.

We had three teams on Mays.
Different vehicles,
staggered shifts.

Anybody who drove up
or went into that building,
we got their tag numbers.

He ever mention
any problems?

Like some old collar
doggin' him?

Bookie problems?
Anything like that?

No. No, he never mentioned
anything like that.

It was just...

"How about those Knicks?"
you know?

Who knew where you guys
were gonna be last night?

Nobody.

I don't hand out the
assignments till the
start of the shift.

Did you or Pelham
call anybody?

Tell 'em where
you were gonna be?

No.

If I'd just
stayed in the car...

Yeah, maybe we'd have
two dead cops
instead of one.

Don't worry,
we'll catch this mutt.

Your car was parked
outside the building
yesterday afternoon.

Uh, yeah, I brought
Dad his groceries.

He's 90.
I left right after dinner.

You know the woman
who lives in apartment 3-D?
Lois Henick?

No. But that's
the apartment
right above Dad's.

I heard some
yelling up there
just before I left.

A man.

Oh, yeah? What was
he yelling about?

I couldn't hear.

I'm very sorry about
that police officer.
Thanks for
your help.

Nine more to go.

Yeah, that's my plate.
Somethin' happen to my car?

It was double
parked outside

763 Hudson Street
yesterday afternoon.

Hudson Street?
I don't think so.

You absolutely sure?
About quarter past two?

Oh yeah,
I was visiting somebody.

Who?
That's just it.
Nobody, actually.

What is this,
some kind of riddle?

Last weekend,
I was at a club
in the East Village.

I met this girl.
She gave me her number.

Then I dropped her off
at that building.

Then what?
You stopped in
for a matinee?

Uh, actually, no.
I called her,
and got the Boys' Club.

So I went to look for her.
I checked all the mailboxes.
Her name wasn't there.

Well, according to the police
who were watching
the building,

your car was parked there
40 minutes.
You a slow reader?

Listen, Mr. Morris,
you really picked the wrong
day to lie to the police.

Look,

the kid wouldn't
hurt anybody.

What kid?

My brother.

He's got a record.

I lent him the car.

Blank credit cards,
blank bank cards.

And these
drivers licenses.
Names but no photos.

We called these people.
You think they ever
heard of Jeff Morris?

Just hold
on a minute.

You've got an army of cops
serving a warrant
for an E felony,

and a Lieutenant
doing the interrogation.

This isn't about
check kiting, is it?

It's about Terry Mays.

Wanted for
killing a cop.

Whoa, I... I don't know
anything about killing a cop.

You drove your brother's car
to the building where
Mays was holed up,

the same day
he killed the cop.

He cooperates,
he's back sleeping on his
own couch tomorrow night.

He gives us any flack,

he's got rotating bunkmates
for the next six years.

Mays called me last Sunday.

Said I had to
come to his girl's place.

What kind of ID
did you sell him?

Jersey license and
matching credit card.

Both clean.

You're lookin' for
Mark Wainwright,

a 38-year-old
dentist from Newark.

Well, you gotta
hand it to the guy.

He's tryin' to dress
like a dentist.

Credit card company's got him
buying a pair of khakis

and a blue Oxford shirt at a
Banana Republic in Queens.

We told the credit card
company to let the
charges go through.

Curtis.

All right, thanks.

LaGuardia.
5:35 to Richmond.

Hey, that fool bodega
owner pulled a knife on me.

How many times
we gotta tell you?
You want to talk to us,

sign the paper.

I don't need a lawyer.
It was self-defense.

Yeah, you're so innocent?

Then how come you hid out at
your old lady's for a week.

What are you
talkin' about?

She told us the whole story.
Nah, Lois wouldn't do that.

Your
fingerprints were there.
Your underwear was there,

with a nice fresh
presidential DNA sample.

All right,
so I was there.
So what?

And then you weren't.

And the only thing that
changed was there
was a dead cop,

with two bullets in him.
Oh, hey, hey,
I had nothin' to do that.

Oh, now you know
what we're
talkin' about, right?

Yeah. Yeah, 'cause
I saw it go down
from the window.

One of the cops
in the car left.

Then this guy goes
strollin' over to the car,

the cop in the car
rolls down the window,

the guy pulls out a piece,
and... Bam! Bam!

He books outta there.

The cop gets outta the car,
he makes it about two feet.

That's when you split?
Yeah.

Yeah, I figured the supreme
being was holdin' open
a door for me.

Yeah, well, Terry, I wouldn't
count on the supreme being
helping' you out this time.

Hey, honest to God,
I saw the guy.

He had on a black parka
with a hood.

Okay, so the
first time through,

Forensics got a
bloody fingerprint
on the steering column.

They figured it
came off Bowers when
he went for the radio.

Well, they gave it
a second look,
matched it to Pelham.

So Pelham was
shot in the car.

Just like Mays said.

Still doesn't mean
he didn't do it.

Well, I don't see him walkin'
right up to the car,

while Pelham sits there
doing nothing.

Wouldn't be the first time
a cop fell asleep
on surveillance.

Shots were
reported at 12:02.

Pelham's radio log
says his last report
was at 11:59.

He wasn't asleep.

Who knew where Pelham was?

Far as we know,
just the sergeant that
gave out the assignments.

Well, you know
what this means.

Get some people.
Work the neighborhood again.

Guy wearing a black parka?
That's it?

With a hood.

I don't know.

There's an all-night
coffee shop down the block.

Maybe the counterman
saw something.

He didn't. This guy was
probably hangin' out for a
while. Around midnight.

Well, we did have a
guest leave about that time,
but he wasn't in a black parka.

Maybe he saw something.
Did you get his name?

No.

He came in about
a half an hour before,
went upstairs to the rooms,

then he came back down.

Can we see
the register?

Sure, we can get that.

He was a big guy,
wearing a
brown leather jacket.

Was he wearing a hat?

Yeah, a watch cap.

He asked me where
he could buy
a cup of coffee.

Look, why even bother
denying it?

Your wife's name
was on the ledger.

She paid for
the hotel room
with her credit card.

Yeah, you're off snakin'
the drain while your partner
bleeds out on the pavement.

Look, guys, guys, I swear
if I knew, I would...
Why didn't you say something?

Why didn't you just tell us?
You know how
this is gonna look?

Too late for that, pal.
Maybe if you'd have stuck some
ice down your jock instead.

It's not like that.

My wife works days.

I've been pulling nights
for nearly a month.

That ain't no life.
You've done this before?

Yeah. Last few nights.

I get an assignment,
I find the nearest hotel,
I call Alicia.

You call anyone else?

Did Pelham call anybody?
No.

The only person
I told was Alicia.

I swear.

We are so sorry.

We knew it was wrong, but...

Pete and I haven't had
much time together, and...

We're tryin' to have
another baby.

What we want to know,
Mrs. Bowers, is if you
told anyone about this?

No.

It was just our secret.

What did you do
with your son?

I dropped him off
at my mom's,
then I went to the hotel.

Did your mom know
where you were going?
No.

I swear,
I didn't tell anybody
about meeting Pete.

Maybe Pelham did.

I don't understand
these questions.

We heard from the guys
at Danny's old precinct.

They told us you got the
bastard that killed our son.

Well, it's turning out
to be a little more
complicated than that.

Well, he wasn't
in trouble with anybody.

He didn't gamble.

He didn't owe
a dime to anybody.

He was just a decent kid.

When was
the last time
you talked to him?

The Sunday before.

He came over for dinner.

Did he talk about
his work with
the Warrant Squad,

or about his partner,
Peter Bowers?

He just said
he was enjoying his work.

Was there anybody
he talked to
on a regular basis?

Well, there was his
old partner at the 31,
Charlie Nash.

Any girlfriends?

Uh, Marissa Hastings.
She's a police officer.

How was that going?

Danny said he broke up
with her just before
he got transferred.

She was divorced.
She has two children.

She just
wasn't right for him.

We didn't break up.
We were just taking
some time off,

to figure out what we wanted
out of the relationship.

You two were
still talking?
Yes.

So what?
You talk on Tuesday?

Last time
I talked to him
was Saturday.

Who called who?

He called me.

Where are you guys
goin' with this?

Tuesday night,
where were you?

I worked 2:00 to 10:00.
I picked up a pizza
and went home.

Who else was there?

The babysitter.
My kids were
already asleep.

What are you guys thinking?

Hey, we're open to
any possibility.

If you can verify
you were home
the rest of the evening...

Well, as a
matter of fact,
I can't.

I didn't call anybody.
Nobody called me.

This is bull.

Next time you want to
talk to me, you do it
in front of my PBA lawyer.

Danny started goin' out
with her last summer.

It sounded hot
and heavy for a while,

and then he stopped
talkin' about her.

You were his partner
for two years.

Yeah,
Danny was old school,
you know.

If he didn't have anything
good to say about a girl...

Well, Hastings said
that they were taking some
time off from each other.

But his parents said
that he broke up with her.

Ah, that one sounds right.
How do you figure?

Well, she was a handful.

Couple of times Danny
showed up with scratches
on the side of his neck.

He say
where he got 'em?

He said her
cat scratched him.

Had to be
a pretty big cat.
Was he seein' anybody else?

Ah, I don't know.
Hastings might've
thought he was.

She always
kept tabs on him.

What does that mean?
The desk sergeant,
McAllen,

he took a bunch of
calls from her.

Thanks.
All right.

Maybe I exaggerated.

She called a few times.

And what did she want?

Ah, the usual female crap.

Oh? What's that?
I forget.

Have I seen Pelham?
What time's
he clocking out?

Is he back
in the house yet?

Same crap I get
from my wife.

Did Pelham know
she was checkin' up on him?

Yeah. He'd just,
you know, shake his head.

Did you keep a log
of Hastings' calls?
Yeah.

Ballpark,
how often did she call?

Enough that we were on
a first name basis.
And the last time?

About a week and a half
before he was killed.

After they broke up.

Thanks.

Yeah, all right,
La Motte. Thanks.

Okay, so the babysitter
confirmed that Hastings
got home just after 10:30.

She was preoccupied
and in a hurry to get the
sitter out of the house.

The kids were asleep.

She could've
left 'em alone
for the time it took

to go downtown
and take care
of Pelham.

Lennie, I hate to
state the obvious,

but we are
talkin' about a cop.

Yeah, and inside the uniform
there's a real live person
with two kids,

who's not
gettin' any younger.
Pelham ditched her,

she was possessive
to begin with,
and she had hurt him before.

Yeah, yeah.
But at the end of the day,
she's still a cop.

Exactly. Which means if Pelham
told her about his partner's
nightly conjugal visits,

she'd know
how to find Pelham.
How do you figure?

Mrs. Bowers
paid for the hotel
with a credit card.

Tuesday, January 13th,
Alicia Bowers.

Yes, we got an inquiry about
a card at about 10:00 p. m.

From who?

NYPD.

Inquiry came by fax.
We faxed back our response.

Which was?

That her credit card had just
been used to book a room at
the Ogden Hotel in Manhattan.

Do you have that fax?
Yes.

Fax is a nice touch.
No prints.
No personal contact.

How do you check to see
if it's a legitimate inquiry?

Official NYPD letterhead.
It's good enough for us.

What's goin' on?
We're from
Internal Affairs, Officer.

You're under arrest
for the murder of
Daniel Pelham.

I'm taking your weapon.
But I didn't do it.

The night Pelham was killed,
somebody tracked down his
partner using a fax machine.

This fax machine.
I can't believe this.

That makes two of us.

You have the right
to remain silent.

Anything you say can be
used against you. You have
the right to an attorney.

Hastings has two civilian
complaints in her file
in the last six months.

Both for verbal abuse.
One on a suspect,
one on a witness.

She have a short fuse?

She has a problem
establishing her authority.

Maybe if she were 6'2",

she wouldn't feel the need
to raise her voice.

How about this?

"Officer Hastings shows
reluctance to secure suspects,

"including weapons inspections
of their person. "

What's that about?

It's about letting her male
partner do the dirty work.

She got five days
for dereliction.

Did Pelham
ever complain to
Internal Affairs about her?

That she assaulted him
or was stalking him?

I don't have anything
on file like that.

We got reports she spends
a lot of time in the gym with
her fellow female officers.

Your point?

Maybe she's got a
problem with men.

Thank you for
dropping by, Lieutenant.

Careful you don't get carpet
burns on your knuckles.

I used to hear the same crap
when I was on the
track team at U.T.

That's too bad.

Was this woman
unbalanced?

There's
no evidence of it.

Is there evidence of anything?
A murder weapon?

Ballistics haven't matched
the slugs to Hastings' weapon.

No, but she has no alibi,
she had access
to the fax machine,

she'd assaulted
Pelham before.
That's an assumption.

Granted.

But she was
keeping tabs on him,
even after they'd split up.

A policewoman scorned.
Makes for a heck of a
recruitment poster.

When are you presenting
to the grand jury?

I want to talk
to her partner first.

See what fury
Hastings was capable of.

Those complaints were
blown out of proportion.

The witness
she verbally abused,

tried to climb into our patrol
car and stick an umbrella
into a handcuffed suspect.

IA pegged her
as some kind of
castrating lesbo Nazi.

Yeah, right.
'Cause she don't
run like a girl.

And if she did, they'd say
she's too soft for the job.

A lot of these clowns,
anybody don't pee standin' up,

they got a problem with.

We have a report she
scratched up Pelham's face.

If she did that,

I'm sure she didn't mean it.

What did she tell you
about Pelham?
They were seein' each other.

That's all I know.

You must have some idea
how she felt about him.

Look, Ms. Carmichael,

Hastings and I
didn't bare our souls in
some big hot tub every day.

We talked about our kids.
About the job.

Period.

Far as anything else,

I never saw her
raise her hand
in anger at anyone.

Okay?

I got permission from
Pelham's parents to
pull his medical files.

Fingernails to a. 38
too big a leap?

It'd help convince me
if she inflicted some other
damage in between.

Assuming he'd report it.

Anything in the autopsy?

There was a healed cut
on his upper back,
origin unknown.

I'm not finding any
paperwork on it.

Did you check for
medical insurance payments?

I have that file
here somewhere.

Thanks.

Okay, flu shot, sinusitis.

Here.

A payment for medical service
to Corona Methodist Hospital
Trauma Center,

no details, for $1200.

That's no runny nose.

January 6th,
Officer Daniel Pelham.

Nasty laceration below
the right scapula.

Took 14 stitches.

What happened?

He said he tripped
in the shower.
You suspect otherwise?

One cut, no glass
fragments in the wound?

You walk through a glass door,
you're gonna have
multiple jagged lacerations.

So you just took
his word for it?

And the word
of the two cops
who brought him in.

Do you have their names?
Admitting would.

We were out on patrol
and caught a run over
to Hamilton Drive.

To Marissa
Hastings' house?

Yeah, routine injury run.

You met the ambulance there?

They never called one.
Hastings had the
direct number of the 116.

Pelham was in the front room
when we got there and, uh,

Hastings had a towel
pressed to his back.

Who came up with
the shower story?
He did.

And what did she say?

She corroborated.

And how did things
look inside the bathroom?

We never looked.

Officer Di Ponti
you're telling me
you took their word for it?

The word of
two fellow officers.

This didn't look like
a knife wound to you?

It looked like
what they said.

It's all in the report.
It was an accident.

Officer Di Ponti worked
with Marissa Hastings,

on the Bronx Trick or Treat
Squad two years ago.

Nice of her to mention it.

Yeah, well maybe she
didn't want me
gettin' the wrong idea.

Okay, here we go.
The 116's muster sheet
for the night of the accident.

Di Ponti and Kass
left the precinct
at 10:28.

What time did Hastings
call for help?

LUDs show she called the
precinct six minutes earlier.

Friend in need.

Look, I thought we were
on patrol when we
caught the call.

I remembered wrong.
It was two months ago.

You know how many calls
we've had since then?

One cop tries to kill another.
Yeah, I bet you get
one of those every night.

They both said
it's an accident.

What are we supposed to do?
Officer,

you're already looking at
a two week suspension.
You want to try for four?

I didn't do anything wrong.

Failure to
report a crime,

falsifying an
incident report,
dereliction of duty.

Being friends with
Marissa Hastings
just isn't paying off for you.

That trauma doctor
was fresh out of med school.

She made that cut
for a knife wound
no problem.

You've got 12 years
on the force.

Lacerations aren't
my area of expertise,
Lieutenant.

Anyway, Officer Di Ponti
got a lot closer
look than me.

I don't get it, Kass.

You're blowin'
a beautiful career,

because some police
person asked you to
lie for her friend?

Who wears the pants
in your patrol car?

I make the
command decisions.
Good.

So why don't you
explain this one to us?

Where do you get
she's a psycho?

She was stalking Pelham.

Oh, right.

Another lady cop with
PMS. going berserk.

Is that what Pelham
told his buddy boys?

Right now, that's the
only story going.

She was trying to keep
Pelham from killing her.

When we got to the house,
her blouse was torn.

She had bruises
up and down her back,
on her stomach.

You could see his
hand prints around her neck.

She had to use a box cutter
to defend herself.

She told me
he abused her
all the time.

I don't understand.

Why didn't you arrest him?

He wanted us to arrest her.

Dumb, drunken son of a bitch.
I told him to shut up.

But you didn't arrest him.

I would've had
to arrest both of 'em.

Her for assault
with a deadly.

Why would I want
to make trouble
for a couple of cops?

So what did you do?

I got him
out of the house.

I told him if I ever
got another call on him,
I'd take him in.

But what about Hastings?

She wanted to
put charges on him.

So I told Di Ponti
to talk to her.

He ordered me
to talk her out of it.

He said if she didn't back
off, he was gonna write her up
for assault with intent.

His word
against yours.
His word against nothing.

He's got 12 years
to my two.

What'd you say to Hastings?

I told her
the incident report
wouldn't back her up.

It would just look
bad for her.

I told her my partner had
talked to Pelham

and if he gave her
anymore trouble,
she should call me.

Did she ever call you again?

No.

I got a hard enough time
gettin' these guys
to trust me.

I'm not gonna blow it over
some cop who can't
handle her boyfriend.

So now you know.
Pelham was a violent lunatic.

I'm hoping you're going to do
the right thing, Mr. McCoy.

What would that be?

Dismiss the charges.
It's the thing to do.

Except for the fax
from her precinct.

How many people have had
access to that fax machine?

What about the calls
to Pelham's precinct?

She called to complain
about his abuse
and to keep track of him,

because she was in
fear for her life.

All this behavioral science
evidence you think you have
against my client,

is explained away
by that fact.

There's not one single
complaint of domestic violence
in Pelham's file.

Instead of calling
Pelham's precinct, she should
have called One Police Plaza.

Ah, but she did.

The day after he tried
to strangle her,

she called the IA hotline.
Nothing happened.

Everyone knew
what he was doing to her,

but nobody lifted a finger.

We reviewed the tapes
of the calls to the
Action Desk on January 7th.

Hastings' call
came in that morning.

What did she say?

She accused
Pelham of attacking her.

She said unless something
was done, she would,

quote "do whatever it takes,
to protect her family. "

What's the usual procedure
with these calls?

Each call is logged in
and assigned a number.

The logs are then sent to
the appropriate personnel
on a daily basis.

And why wasn't
this call logged in?

The detective working
the desk was filling in
for someone else.

It was his first time.
He screwed up.

He's on 15 day
suspension.
Meanwhile,

one officer's dead
and another's
charged with murder.

Attaboy, Lieutenant.

What can I tell you?

We take these
calls seriously,
Counselor.

This one...
Just fell through the cracks.

Some crack.

One call to IA doesn't mean
she exhausted every recourse.

Who else did she tell,

and what did they do about it?

You must've known
what Pelham was doing to her.
Why didn't you tell me?

Because it's got
nothin' to do
with anything.

Except for the fact
Pelham's dead.

Maybe somebody in that
neighborhood don't like cops.

Look, it's very noble of you,
standing up for your partner.

You know,
you people should send
her home to her kids,

with a big fat apology.

Pelham was an animal.

She told me one night
he pushed her 5-year-old
down the stairs,

just for the hell of it.

It's the first
we've heard of it.

She sent up plenty of flares,
right to IA. It was a joke.

Did you do anything?

I had a talk with Pelham.

Told him if he didn't
straighten out,
he was gonna lose his job.

And what did he say?
He laughed.

He said,
"Until Hillary Clinton
becomes Police Commissioner,

"no cop's ever gonna
lose his job for slappin'
around his girlfriend. "

And you know what?
He's right.

But that's got nothin'
to do with anything.

Somebody in that
neighborhood
just don't like cops.

No heroes here.
Have we
tendered an offer?

We might consider man one.
But the ball
is in their court.

Man one?

She shoots him
in cold blood,

and you're absolving
the poor weak thing
from her responsibility.

If the police department
dropped the ball,
it might be a mitigating fact.

Jack,
more than anyone else,
she should have known better.

I don't know
what she knows.

I said I'd consider man one,
depending on her
state of mind.

Isn't that their defense?
Battered woman syndrome?

They can argue it. But not
until the judge allows our
psychiatrist to examine her.

The judge said
you have to talk to me,
Marissa.

Do you like strangers
calling you
by your first name, Doctor?

I don't.

It's Officer Hastings.

Officer Hastings.
I'm sorry.

So, did Pelham ever
threaten to kill you?

He promised he'd kill me
if I left him.

Did you want to leave him?

After what he did to my son?

Yeah.

Did you believe
he was going to kill you?

This is a bunch of bull.

Go shrink those
sons of bitches
in the department

who stood around waiting
until Danny beat me to death.

Look inside their heads.

Find out what
their malfunction is.

I want to go back to my cell!

How severe was the abuse?
Severe.

You can see it
in her job performance.

Stress, verbal outbursts,

reluctance to have
physical contact
with suspects.

Did she think her life
was in danger
from Pelham?

Yeah, absolutely.

Imminent danger?

As a legal requirement
for self-defense?

Don't count on me
for a graceful way out.

She didn't give me
enough to go on.

She's more focused on slamming
the police department
than defending her innocence.

She's conceding the obvious.

Unless she admits
killing Pelham, I can't see
cutting her any slack.

Neither will a jury.

Officer Hastings called me a
number of times to complain
that Officer Pelham was

physically abusing her.

Well, you told the police
that she called you with,
uh, in your words,

"The usual female crap. "

Well, sometimes she did call
to check on his whereabouts.

Mmm. Sergeant,

what steps did you take,
if any, to investigate her
complaints of abuse?

Well, she didn't
have any witnesses,
no doctor's reports.

Do you think
she was making it up?

I thought she
might have been
blowing it up a bit.

Well, what other steps
did you take in your,

investigation?

I questioned Officer Pelham.
He denied there was any abuse.

He accused Officer Hastings
of being possessive
and hysterical.

I ordered him to see
a peer counselor.

What... What...
What is that?

A fellow officer who,

volunteers to help
other officers
talk through their troubles.

Oh.
Is he a licensed therapist
or psychologist?

No. But he gets
some training.

Did you refer
Officer Hastings' complaints
up the chain of command?

No. Pelham was
seeing the counselor,
so there was no point.

Did Officer Hastings
stop calling you?

No.

Thank you.

Sergeant McAllen, as far as
you know, did Officer Hastings
call your immediate superior?

Not as far as I know.

Did she call the Tour
Supervisor for your precinct?
No.

How about the
Borough Commander?

Not that I know.

No further questions.

Oh, redirect, Your Honor.

Sergeant McAllen,
are you familiar,

with the recent spousal
abuse related incident

involving an officer of
the 34th Precinct?

Yes.

The officer's wife made
numerous complaints
to his superiors,

in his precinct,
isn't that right?

Yes.

To the best
of your knowledge,

had that officer
been disciplined,

or relieved of duty,

or had his weapon taken
from him as a result
of those complaints?

No.

Tell us what happened,

to his wife.

The officer killed her,

and their kids,

and then he took his own life.

Thank you, Sergeant.

I met Danny
at a racket downtown.

He was good looking,
sure of himself.

First couple of months
were great.

What happened
after that?

He came
over for dinner.

He had some problem at work.
They changed his shift.

He was in a bad mood.

All of a sudden,
he went off on me because
of how I cut the tomatoes.

He pushed me
against the wall,
twisted my arm.

Yelled.

Did it happen again?

A week later.

He'd hit me,
he'd say he's sorry.

Why didn't you
stop seeing him right then?

I'm 35.
I've got two kids.

I kept hoping he'd change,
but it got worse,

especially when
he had a drink.

Did you notify
his superiors?
Yes.

Sergeant McAllen kept saying
he was looking into it.

He told me I didn't have to
get anyone else involved.

I didn't want to cost
Danny his job.

Then came the night
he tried to strangle me.

I had to stab him
to get him away from me.

And the next day
you called the
Internal Affairs hotline?

Yes.

I never heard back.

I told Danny
to stop coming around.

But he had a key, so I'd come
home, he'd be sitting in the
living room eating our food.

I changed the locks.

He still got in.

Did the beatings continue?

Yes.

He told me,
he'd never let go of me.

Wherever I went, he'd find me.

He was a cop.

He said he could do anything.

And then he'd kill me.

Me and my kids.

Did he ever
hurt your children?

Yeah.

Couple of weeks
before he died, he shoved
Matt down a flight of stairs.

Did you tell anyone
what he was doing
to your kids?

I was afraid to.

I was afraid,
if I provoked Danny,
sooner or later he'd kill us.

Now that he's dead,
do you still think about him?

About what he did?

All the time.

I get sick.

I have a hard time sleeping.

Marissa...

Did you kill Danny?

No.

No, I didn't.

Officer Hastings,

did you get a restraining
order against Daniel Pelham?

I would have needed a police
report, and nobody wanted
to write Danny up.

And even if I got one,
who's gonna enforce it,
other cops?

So you really only had
one option left,
didn't you?

I didn't kill him.

He beat you.

He beat your children.

Yes.

But you say,
you didn't kill him.

Yes.

But if you did, it was
self defense. Is that
what you're telling us?

Objection!
Sustained.

You told us
you exhausted all
the legal possibilities.

You did all you could,
short of killing
Daniel Pelham,

to protect yourself
and your children.

Yes.

And now that Pelham's dead,
you're relieved.
Your children are safe.

Yes.

He deserved to die.

But I didn't kill him.

Why deny it,

if it was the only course
of action left open to you?

It's because you know
what you did was wrong,

isn't it,
Officer Hastings?

There was no justification
for this murder, was there?

I don't know.

No more questions.

Man one, eight-
and-a-third-to-25.

Maybe before
she took the stand.

Murder two, 15-to-life.

Because she didn't
pass the McCoy Truth
or Consequence Test?

Look, she gets a deal,
she has to allocute.

You get your
precious admission.

We'll get back to you.

Eight years
for killin' a cop.

Nice message.
That crossed my mind.

This comes with the
usual caveats.

For what it's worth,

Hastings didn't do it.

Beg your pardon?

She said she thought
he'd kill her
sooner or later.

Not imminently.
Not any minute.

That just torpedoes
her claim of self-defense.

Doesn't mean
she's innocent.

I've talked to a
lot of these ladies.

Battered women
who killed their abusers.

They literally thought
they'd be dead any minute.

Not one of 'em killed
until she believed
it was the only way out.

And then they're anxious
to confess and
justify their actions.

I didn't hear any of
that from Hastings.

Just this man's opinion.

If not her, then who?

Something she said.

I didn't make
much of it at the time.

She said she was
too scared to tell anyone
that Pelham hurt her kids.

But her partner Felton
knew all about it.

Only one reason she'd lie
about having told him.

Do we know where he was
when Pelham was shot?

I can't tell you
how it's affected Steven.

I mean, he and Marissa
are very close.

Was she close to
the both of you?

Yes.

I mean, at first he had
a hard time adjusting
to a female partner.

But he got to respect her.
How about off the job?

Did they
socialize much?

Some weekends Marissa'd
bring her kids here
to play with the boys.

Anything without the family?
Just the two of them?

We need to know,
Mrs. Felton.

Steven and I hit a rough
spot about, you know,
a year and a half ago.

He was distant.

There might have
been something between
him and Marissa.

We got over it.
We're closer now.

The night Officer Pelham was
killed did your husband
talk to Officer Hastings?

No, I don't think so.

I mean, I was on the phone
a lot to my sister.

Maybe he used a cell phone?

Well, he went to the pharmacy,
so I'm not sure.

What time did he go?

He went to refill his
cholesterol medication.

There's a 24 hour
pharmacy.

So...

I don't think I should be
talking to you anymore.

It'll only take a few minutes.

Yeah, good,
'cause my wife left
a lot of messages for me.

Those detectives brought
me down here on the fly.

I didn't get a
chance to call her.

Have a seat, Officer.

What's goin' on?
What's he doing here?

Before I decide
on your plea,

I want to talk to the person
who knows your client
better than anyone.

We didn't
see you at the trial.

I'm back on days.
Hard to get over here.

I'm surprised you
didn't testify on
your partner's behalf.

Wasn't my call.

It's all academic anyway,

Officer Hastings offered to
take a plea on
First Degree Manslaughter.

How much time?

Eight-
and-a-third- to-25.

We might still let it go
to the jury on murder two.

That's why we wanted
to talk to you.

The civilian charges
against her might be a
factor in which way we go.

I told you,
there was nothin' to that.

Not if they demonstrate
a pattern of
aggressive behavior.

Mr. McCoy,

if you're going
to rely...

If I were you,
Mr. Jerrold,
I'd just listen.

You got the wrong idea
about Marissa.

Funny, that's what our
psychiatrist told us.
He thinks she's innocent.

Then I don't get it.
If your own people are
tellin' you she's innocent...

Psychiatry isn't an
exact science.

The fact that she's
willing to take a plea
speaks for itself.

And if we accept her offer,
that's it.

She waives her right
to appeal.

What do you think,
Officer?

You know what
she was going through.

Should we let her
plead to man one?

I think you know
what needs to be done.

Your wife told us
you went out,

just about the time
Pelham was killed,
to refill a prescription.

The cops called the pharmacy.

You didn't get that refill
until the next day.

It's time to
take your partner
off the hook, Officer.

Steve, don't.

Of course, in of itself,
it doesn't prove anything.

Maybe there was a
line at the pharmacy,
you didn't want to wait.

For God's sake, Marissa,
tell them...

He doesn't know
anything about it.
He's got nothing to say.

Get out of here,
Steve.

Go back to your family.

All right, Officer,

you can leave us.

Hold on.

She don't know this.

Steve, please.
Look, you don't
owe me anything.

I shot Pelham.

I had to.

I saw what he was
doin' to her.

Six months,
that piece of dirt
was beatin' on her.

It was just a matter of
when he was gonna kill her.

She tried everything,

but the department...

They tell you at the Academy,

man or woman, black,
white or brown,

we all bleed blue.

But it's a lot of smoke.

When she told me what
he did to her kid,

I just couldn't
sit there anymore.

She's my partner.

That's the bottom line.

She's my partner.

Officer Hastings
didn't know what
I was planning,

I never told her.

Not before,

and not after.

When I heard
she got arrested,

I thought for sure
she'd beat the rap.

I'm sorry for what
I put her through.

That's all I got to say.

Are the People satisfied?

Yes, Your Honor.

Mr. Felton,

pursuant to your plea
agreement with the
District Attorney,

I hereby sentence you
to a term of
not less than 15 years,

and not more than
your natural life,

at a facility to be
determined by the
Department of Correction.

After six years,
I still don't know
what cops are about.

I grew up with one.
I don't know either.

Well, they're real good at
circling the wagons

to protect themselves
from the likes of us.

But who protects them
from each other?