All language subtitles for Law and order S10E02 - Killerz

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.

How do we know it's there?
'Cause I seen it.

Where?

If I tell you,
you won't pay me.

Let's go.

All right, it's down near the construction site.
But that's all I'm saying.

How much?
Five each.

I got mine.
All I got is two.

Forget it.

Come on, that's seven
for the both of us.

Yo, you wanna see it or not?

Two bucks or I'm
calling the cops.

And what're you gonna
tell 'em? Peace out.

There was a 911 call about a dead
kid in the construction area.

Me and my partner took the job.

That's where we found him.

He was dead when you got here?

I reached in and felt
for a pulse.

Thanks, Stevens.

BRISCOE: Son of a bitch.

Kid's seven or eight,
neatly dressed.

Till somebody pulled
his pants down.

Yeah, I'll check for signs
of sexual abuse.

Maybe all this creep needed
was a little peek.

All right, let's pull him out.

My guess is the perp nailed him out here,
and then hid his body in the pipe.

ED: Looks like
blood on his scalp.

There's something in his mouth.

Let me take a look.

It's a triple A battery.

Crazy son of a bitch.

The kid's a John Doe. We
checked Missing Persons.

There's no reports
matching his description.

Well someone's gonna miss that
little boy sooner or later.

Patrol's canvassing the
neighborhood with his picture.

Only got two teams, Loo. How about calling
the borough for some extra bodies?

I'm on it.
Anything on that 911 call?

Communications can pinpoint the
location once they find the tape.

Hey, it's Saturday.

The M.E.'s working.

Cause of death was
cerebral hemorrhage.

From the way the skull
fractured, you're looking for

a blunt,
irregularly shaped object.

Like one of the 10,000
rocks near the body?

When was he killed?

Uh, maybe an hour or two
before they found him.

Kid was clean.
No tearing, no fluids.

I found particles of sodium
chloride on his hands.

Salt?

Yeah, the large grain kind.

Maybe from some
kind of snack item.

Were there any prints
on the Triple A?

Latent couldn't lift
anything useable.

(CELL PHONE RINGING)

I can tell you it was inserted postmortem.
Who knows why?

Green.

Hang on. Communications
got a hit on the 911.

Thanks.
Yeah.

SHORTY: I didn't
call the police.

We have your voice on tape.

Yeah, well my voice sounds
like a lot of kids.

We traced the call
to your phone.

You can do that?

It's cool, you don't want to
talk to us, I know how you feel.

But we have a murdered child.

You saw the body.

I had nothing to do with it,
I swear.

How did you know where he was?

This kid I know told me.
Jonas.

Why'd he do that?

I don't know. He wanted money
to show us the dead kid.

What's a dead kid
go for these days?

Five bucks.

I just heard about this on the news.
What's it have to do with Jonas?

Your kid was selling tickets
to see the body.

What the hell?
Come on, Dad.

You have three seconds
to explain this.

I just heard a bunch of kids talking about
it in the park. I never even seen it.

Who are these kids?
Just some kids.

The girl who told me where the body
was was on my Little League team,

like five years ago.

What's her name?
I don't remember.

I don't. She was just this dork
who was scared of the ball.

I have his team photo inside.
All the kids signed the back.

Do you remember Jonas,
from the Asteroids?

He said you knew
where the body was.

He was in the pipe.

BRISCOE:
Do you know the boy's name?

I saw a man put him there.

You saw this, Tara?

Do you know this man?

No.

But you remember
what the man looked like?

Not really.

Come on, Tara. You can do better than that.
Was he black or white?

White.

ED: You must have
noticed his hair.

Yeah. He had short hair.

And sideburns on his face.

Why didn't you tell me?

You told me not to
play over there.

So what were you doing?
Mrs. Padden, please.

How about his clothes?

He had a blue uniform.

And he smelled like gas,
like from a car.

You were close enough
to smell him?

After he put the boy
in the pipe.

When he walked back.

He didn't know
I was watching him.

We had the witness
sit down with an artist.

We're figuring the perp works in
a gas station or auto repair.

Yeah, there's no hit on the MO

and all our local pervos
are accounted for,

so this guy may have
a clean sheet.

So we'll canvass in sectors
around the murder scene.

Yes, Lennie has
the assignments.

I want you to flash the victim's
photo along with the sketch.

Somebody may have seen the
boy with Mr. Goodwrench.

Nobody reported
the kid missing?

Maybe the kid's from
out of town.

Or the doer's
one of his parents.

I got two Pakistanis working here
plus one Tamil, one Nigerian.

This looks like Bruce Willis.

What about this boy?
You see him this morning?

Oh, my God.

Is that ayes?

No, no, no, this boy comes with
his mother to buy the Lotto.

You're sure?

She lets him pick the numbers.

Sometimes she charges her
gas on her Visa card.

Aaron's just seven. What's he
have to do with the police?

Was he wearing a navy blue T-shirt and
white Reebok sneakers this morning?

He's at my sister's
in the village.

Did you speak to either one
of them today, Mrs. Polansky?

Well, not since this morning.
But I just got back from work.

Oh, my God.

Where is he?

We're sorry.

(WHIMPERS)

I left him alone for an hour.

Ruth was supposed to get him.

We found him near
the highway construction.

Why didn't she call me?

Oh, my God.

He's dead.

Aaron, my baby.

(SOBBING)

Why don't we
call your sister, huh?

Yeah, why don't we?

I came by to pick Aaron up,
but no one was home.

I thought my sister took him to work.
She's done that before.

Why didn't you call
your sister at work?

I did.

Oh, God.

I guess she didn't
get her message.

Could Aaron get out by himself?

He was tall enough
to reach the lock.

ED: Was their door locked
when you got there?

It was, but I have keys.

I should have kept calling.

Why don't we go
upstairs to your sister?

Uh, can anybody get
in the front door?

You gotta have keys
or get buzzed in.

You remember seeing a guy
go in with a blue uniform,

like a gas station jumpsuit,
something like that?

Late 30's, short hair?

Could be.

Sounds like 1-B's
boyfriend.

Dale Varnette?

Yeah?

Your boss says you were on a
break this morning around 10:00?

Yeah, that's right.

We need to talk.

Richie wanted his car
an hour ago.

Richie's gonna have to wait.

You visit your girlfriend
this morning?

She say I did something to her?

Why did you have a little
eye-opener with her?

Hey, pal, she made me
a cup of coffee.

So you couldn't have
been there very long.

I was in a hurry to
get back to work.

That's why you took the shortcut
through the construction site?

Construction site?

Yeah we got a eye witness puts
you there with a little boy.

Little boy? What the hell
you talking about?

The kid you abducted from
your girlfriend's building.

No way. No way. All I did was have a cup
of coffee, and go back to work. Alone.

Anybody see you leave?

Yeah, okay, yeah. There was
this girl there, 13,14.

She was standing
in front of the building.

You're gonna have do
better than that.

Brown hair, kinda skinny,
wearing a Knicks T-shirt.

She was by the building?

Yeah. She was standing
by the door,

like she was
waiting for somebody.

You're gonna have to come down to the
station while we straighten this out.

Why couldn't you just
find my witness?

We already did.

BRISCOE:
Here's the problem, Tara.

You say you saw the man
by the construction site.

I did.

But we think you saw him
by the little boy's building,

on 46th street.

I wasn't at the building.

BRISCOE: You sure
about that, Tara?

Why do you think she's lying?

I'm not lying, Mom.
I swear.

Did you pass by that building
any other time today?

No.

All right, Mrs. Padden. Detective
Briscoe is going to take you

to fill out
a CB 12-14.

What's that?

Cab Fare Requisition Form.

Yeah, so the City will pay
for your transportation home.

While your mom's
taking care of that, Tara,

can you help me with something?

All right.

We're trying to catch the man
that hurt that little boy.

I told you everything I saw.

I noticed your mom rubs her lip,
when she's unhappy about something.

Like this. Right?

And when you're nervous, you twirl
your hair with your finger.

It's just a habit.

I think you do it
when you're telling a lie.

Do you recognize this man?

That's the man
I saw at the pipes.

We talked to him. He says you saw
him at the little boy's building.

He's lying or you're lying.

I'm not.

I'm going to speak to you
like a young woman, Tara.

Do you understand
how important this is?

If you don't believe me,
you can ask my friend.

Someone else saw what happened?

Jenny.
She's my best friend.

Her friend Tara says they were playing
by the highway construction yesterday.

Oh, yeah?

It was just for
a couple of minutes.

Tara made me go.

Wasn't Gabbie watching you?

She had to go
somewhere with her father.

Did you see something
happen down there?

You mean with the man
in the blue uniform?

That's right.

Well, there was this man and he had this
kid who was like dead or something,

and he was putting him
inside a pipe.

Why didn't you tell anybody?

Tara said not to tell.
She's in 7th grade.

Mom, can I go
back to the swings now?

Sure, sweetie.

Maybe you should
have a talk with her.

Sure.

BRISCOE: At some point we may need
your daughter to view a line-up.

Well, you already have her friend. Why
do you have to drag her into this?

I say we've got enough
to charge Varnette.

Tara Padden ID'd his photo.

And Varnette ID'd her, in front
of the dead kid's building.

Maybe he noticed her
at the murder scene.

Not a bad scam. Turn the
eyewitness into his alibi.

I'm not buying it. I still
think the kid is lying.

Because she plays
with her hair?

You played cards with her, Ed?

Varnette's lawyer calls here
every 10 minutes

to ask what we're
holding him on.

Look, if he walked the
boy out of the building,

someone had to have seen them.

I'll buy you some time.

You bring me a witness.

His name is Dale Varnette.
He's got a girlfriend in 1-B.

He doesn't look familiar.

What about you, Jake?
You remember seeing this man?

Look, we're trying to
catch a movie.

The man came here yesterday?

BRISCOE:
Yeah, did you see him?

I don't remember him.

FRED: Is that it?

Jenny was here Saturday.
Maybe she remembers.

Jenny Brandt?

He knows her from school.

She wanted me to see
if I could come outside.

She said she would
get me a hot dog.

Did you go with her?

I don't like to play with her.
She hits.

Maybe you can
still make that movie.

What do you think, Lennie? The two girls
came by to lure Jake with a hot dog?

The salt on
Aaron Polansky's hands.

Maybe he didn't want a hot dog.

WOMAN: Thanks.

Sold about five dozen
pretzels yesterday.

Saturday is my best day.

You remember this kid?
His name's Aaron Polansky?

I don't think so.

Try putting him with a couple
of girls, 10 and 12 years old.

Lot of little girls
in the neighborhood.

One of them had
blond hair and pigtails.

Okay.

She was 10 cents short. Cute kid,
looked like she was gonna cry.

So I let her slide.

Thanks.

I was hoping you were wrong.

Oh, I got a knot in my stomach
just thinking about this.

It all adds up. Jenny goes
inside while Tara waits outside.

Varnette said she was hanging
out by the building.

Maybe there's something
we're missing.

Call the parents, have them bring
the girls down for a talk.

Ed had some rapport
with the older girl.

Once Lennie got the mother
out of the way.

Okay, you take the 10-year-old. Her
mother will have to be in the room.

The other girl's 13.

So you can talk to her
without a parent present.

Are you sure about that?

I'll let the mother listen
through the one-way.

If she wants to stop,
I'll let you know.

Sounds good.

I'm giving you
a little slack here, Ed.

Just don't break the rope.

You understand, you can
get a lawyer if you want?

I don't think we need a lawyer.

Now, yesterday morning, Jenny, you went
out to play with your friend Tara?

First Tara came over and
we watched some cartoons.

Then Mom said we
could go to the playground.

You were supposed to
be with Gabbie.

BRISCOE: Do you know a boy
named Jake Hansen?

Yeah.

Did you go to his apartment?

I went with Tara. We just wanted to
see if he could come play with us.

You told me you were going
straight to the playground.

No, I didn't.

This isn't fair. Why is
everyone asking me questions?

This Jake Hansen, he lives in the same
building as the boy that was murdered?

That's right.

You know something? My husband had a lawyer.
Maybe I should talk to him.

He had a lawyer?

Vince is in jail.

For what?

Stealing cars.

I wanna make a phone call.

ED: Remember how we talked about what
you saw at the construction site, Tara?

I saw the man
with the blue uniform.

Remember how I said you were
getting to be a young lady?

Yeah.

Young ladies only tell
the truth, right?

Right.

Unless they're
bad young ladies?

I know you're not really bad.

I know that in my heart, okay?

Okay.

So I want you to tell me
the truth about what happened.

I did.

You go to IS 48?

Yeah.

Like school?

It's hard.

You still play little league?

Just soccer.

Ooh, maybe I'm talking
to the next Mia Hamm.

I'll never be as good as her.

But you're getting
better though, right?

I guess so.

When I was a kid,

all my friends tried out
for the basketball team.

But I pretended I was sick.

Because you weren't
good enough?

Yeah.

I never told anyone
that before.

I feel better
now that I told you.

You know sometimes
when you try to keep a secret,

it hurts to hold it
inside of you.

Yeah.

But if you have a friend
to share it with,

it feels better, right?

I want to be your friend, Tara.

I think

you have a secret,

about what happened
to that little boy.

(SOBBING)

Hold my hands, Tara.

It's okay. Go ahead.

We're friends, right?

ED: I wanna share
that secret with you

It's okay to cry, Tara.

All that pain you're feeling, I want
you to give some of that to me.

Okay.

I'm not gonna let anybody
hurt you if you tell, okay?

I promise.

We didn't see the man
at the construction.

ED: Okay, good.

Who was there?
Tell me who was there.

It... It was me and Jenny.

What did you and Jenny do?

We took him there.
The little boy.

Did somebody hit him?

Jenny did.
Jenny hit him with a rock.

More than once?

Like this.

Did you hit him?

Just Jenny.

Did you know Jenny was
going to hurt him?

No.

What did you do
after she hit him?

He wouldn't wake up.

So we put him in the pipe.

And you pulled his pants down?

Yeah.

Why did you do that?

I don't know.
Jenny said to.

It's okay, Tara.

Thank you for
telling the truth.

You're a very good young lady.

(SOBBING)

CLERK: "Docket numbers 556
and 557."

"In the matter of Tara Padden
and Jennifer Brandt."

"Murder in the
second degree."

(CROWD MURMURING)

How old are these children?

Miss Brandt is 10.
Miss Padden is 13.

We may transfer her to Supreme Court
and prosecute her as an adult.

Let us know, Ms. Carmichael.
You want bail?

There's obviously been a lack
of parental control here.

I represent Tara Padden.

Your Honor, Ms. Carmichael
assumes my client is guilty.

CARMICHAEL:
She confessed, Judge.

The statement was elicited
by an aggressive officer,

who pressured her to tell him
what he wanted to hear.

I'm moving to suppress
the statement.

I'll put the matter over
for a hearing.

What about Miss Brandt?

She denies any
participation in this.

Miss Padden's statement indicates
Miss Brandt was the one

who hit the victim with a rock.

Tara's a liar. She blames everything
on me, 'cause she's older.

JUDGE: Quiet down, Miss.

I'm releasing these children
to their parents.

Your Honor...

But I am requiring
electronic ankle monitoring.

You should've been there.

The ankle monitors
we had didn't fit.

We had to punch extra holes.

If it wasn't so pathetic...

What about this confession?

If there was manipulation, her
mother could have jumped in.

"Share your pain with me,"

"the next Mia Hamm."

What I hear is
damn good police work.

I see an overzealous cop.

This didn't make you
uncomfortable, Anita?

Maybe I could have
pulled him back a little.

But it doesn't mean it didn't
happen the way the girl said.

Or she made up a story
to please an authority figure.

CARMICHAEL: ls Dale Varnette
still in custody?

We released him. As far as we're
concerned, the case is closed.

It could all fall apart
at the suppression hearing.

Well, now, that depends
on you, Counselor.

Those girls killed
that little boy.

(DOOR OPENING)

SPECTOR: The police did everything
possible to manipulate this little girl.

They bribed her
with a Happy Meal.

They chatted about her hobbies.

JACK: The detective was creating a
bond of trust with the suspect.

Or an atmosphere of coercion.

Why did Detective Green suggest
details of the crime to her?

This wasn't a kid who wouldn't
talk without a little prodding.

A little prodding?

This was a snow job on a girl
who repeated the sixth grade.

JACK: The police are allowed to
use deception during questioning.

With an adult,

who's presumed to have the
intelligence and experience

to evaluate these lies.

JACK: The mother could have
stopped it at anytime.

Why did the police exclude her?

When they interviewed Tara previously,
the mother was inhibiting her.

And why wasn't Detective
Green's partner present?

Detective Green had already
established a rapport with her.

He's been cited twice
for excessive force.

He held her hand.

Are you accusing him
of excessive kindness?

I'm accusing him
of railroading a child.

All right, I've heard enough.

I've reviewed
the interrogation.

It's apparent the police
acted in a manner calculated

to manufacture an admission
from an immature 13-year-old.

This so-called confession
is inherently unreliable,

it doesn't pass
due process standards,

and I won't consider it.

Motion to suppress is granted.

What do we have to do?

Put an A.D.A.
in every precinct?

Lieutenant Van Buren
made a judgment call.

She made the wrong judgment.

I don't think
these kids are innocent.

Little girl killers?

CARMICHAEL: You can't believe it because
they wear knee socks and pigtails?

Could have been an accident.

The battery in the boy's
mouth, the victim's pants...

Sounds like an adult offender.

You have something
beside this confession?

There were salt particles
on the victim's hands.

Jenny bought a pretzel
right before the murder.

Case is built
on salt particles?

We have a witness who put Jenny Brandt in
the building at the time of the abduction.

Who's the witness?

An eight-year-old.

Detective Green
take his statement?

I don't think this Tara Padden is
smart enough to pull this off.

Maybe the younger girl
pulled the strings.

Gabbie's been babysitting for
Jenny since the Brandts moved in,

about five years ago.

Is she hard to take care of?

If you don't do exactly what
she wants, she just loses it.

Like, if I'm watching TV and
not paying attention to her,

she throws a total fit.

Does she get along
with other kids?

She's okay with girls, but I don't
think she likes boys too much.

What do you mean?

She once borrowed my 16 Magazine and
blacked out all the eyes on the boys.

She said she wished
they would all just die.

Has she always been like this?

She's always getting into
fights with boys at school

and it's gotten a lot worse
since her father went to jail.

You wouldn't believe what goes
on in their apartment though.

Like what?

Her mother tells her
all about her boyfriends.

They don't even close
the bedroom door.

She knows more
about sex than I do.

Does Jenny have
any contact with her father?

Jocelyn won't let her see him.

I felt bad for her.

Don't tell Jocelyn, but I let
Vince talk to Jenny on my phone.

And how recently was that?

Last time was a couple of
days before the police came.

VINCE: You think my daughter
did a murder?

JACK: That's what her
friend Tara says.

Well, maybe this other kid's
full of crap.

There is corroborating
evidence, Mr. Brandt.

She's 10 years old.
She can barely ride a bike.

She lured a seven-year-old boy
from his apartment.

There was a battery
stuffed in his mouth.

A battery?

What if they find her guilty?

You gonna put her in one
of those juvie homes?

That's one possibility.

Those places are pretty rough.

CARMICHAEL: It's not as rough
as her home environment.

Your wife has sex with her boyfriends
while Jenny's in the room.

(WHISPERS) That bitch.

And I'm locked up in there.

Auto theft is
a non-violent conviction.

We can have you moved to a
facility closer to the city.

There's a possibility
of work release.

(SIGHS) Oh, God.

JACK: You know what,
Mr. Brandt?

You help us, we'll help her.

I gotta think what to do here.

We are not the enemy.

You think we want to slam
a 10-year-old child?

(BREATHES DEEPLY)

There's this picture
I gotta show you.

JACK: Jenny sent this to her father
just before she was arrested.

It's Aaron Polansky.

With batteries around his head.

It's just a child's drawing.

The girl holding the rock,
that's Jenny.

It's a pictorial confession.
It implicates both girls.

Well, if that's Tara,

she's just standing there,
like she said all along.

I had a hard time
believing it myself.

Now I'm convinced.
They're murders.

If you brought us down here to
plea bargain, I'm not interested.

Isn't your objective to do
what's best for her?

Locking her up with other out-of-control
kids is hardly the answer.

I'm fighting the charges.

Easy for you to walk away.
You're in juvie court.

My client's facing
a life sentence.

She's three years older.
Jenny led her by the nose.

Jenny didn't know
what she was doing.

Here's my notice.

I'm pleading not responsible.

(DOOR OPENING)

Sharkey's conceding Jenny
committed the murder.

She's claiming she's
mentally ill?

Too young to appreciate the
consequences of her actions.

The judge buys it
it's a total walk.

Well, maybe there's something to it, Jack.
She is 10 years old.

I don't know.

Old enough to rope in an
accomplice, and lie to the police.

I'm calling Skoda
for a psych work up.

How did you feel
when your father left?

I didn't care.

It didn't make you sad?

Nope.

But you wrote letters to him in jail.
You must have missed him?

My mom got
a boyfriend right away.

Byron the Beast.

Why did you call him that?

Because he was smelly.

When did you smell him, Jenny?

You know, whenever
he came near me.

Did he ever get
really close to you?

No.

Did he ever touch you?
No.

Make sure you write that down.

I saw Byron touch Mom.

They did all kinds of stuff.

I hate him!

Did you want to hurt him?
I wanted to.

Byron's too big.

Did you ever think
about hurting someone else?

Sometimes I think about
hurting a little boy.

Hurting how?

Hit them over the head
and make them cry.

Kill them and leave them with no
clothes on so they'll look stupid.

Do you have
these thoughts often?

Uh-huh.

Since when?

I don't know.
A long time.

Have you tried hurting
other things, like a pet?

There was this tabby cat
that lived in my building.

It used to like me
'cause I gave it ice cream.

So what happened to it?

I gave him some ice cream, but, I
put some cleaning stuff in it,

you know like for the floors.

And it like started screaming
and choking and everything.

Then it went dead.

It was way cool.

That makes me so angry, Jenny.

How could you do that to a
helpless little animal?

I don't know.

Is that how you felt
when you hit the little boy?

It wasn't cool or anything
like with the cat.

I just hit him with a rock.

He deserved it.
He wouldn't stop crying.

When the boy didn't wake up,

what did you think?

I don't know.
That he went dead.

That's why I put
the battery in his mouth.

To give him some electricity
to wake him up,

like they do in the hospitals.

Jenny's been emotionally abused.
Maybe physically.

She lashes off when her anger
reaches the boiling point.

So we lock this girl up?

Get used to it.

More and more girls
committing violent crimes.

I don't see anything for Jenny

except a future of escalating
anti-social behavior.

What makes you say that?

Emotional abuse,
the snuffed cat,

the blacked-out photographs.

Her lack of response
when I went after her.

Her fantasies about
hurting little boys.

Yeah, previews of
coming attractions.

She's graduated to murder.
She's not gonna stop.

You sound pretty sure.

Kid's a done deal. She's a
textbook serial killer.

We just got her early.

You've read the reports,
Ms. Sharkey.

Jenny Brandt is damaged goods.

So what do you want?

Consent to restrictive
placement until age 21,

reassess when she's an adult.

I'm sorry. She's too young
to just throw in the towel.

She's deeply disturbed. She needs
to be kept away from little boys.

We can stipulate Jenny be housed in a
facility with psychiatric services.

She can get treatment
on the outside.

The best you can get under the Family
Court Act is five years, Mr. McCoy.

And I'm not helping you get it.

Five years in a youth facility,

it's not gonna
solve the problem.

That's the law, Jack.
Our hands are tied.

Not if we can convince Miss
Brandt to commit her daughter.

An open-ended
psychiatric confinement?

If the system doesn't have a place for
this girl, we've got to make one.

So I sign the papers and they
put Jenny in a mental hospital?

As long as your application is approved
by a pre-certification committee.

And how long does she stay?

Until the doctors think
she's no longer a threat.

Well, that could be forever.

Your daughter is
a predator, Ms. Brandt.

She needs to be somewhere where
she can't hurt other people.

Jenny's all I have.

You did the best you could,
but you can't handle her.

(LAUGHS) Go ahead
Blame me for this.

We're not blaming anybody.

Your daughter needs help.

I am not putting Jenny
in a mental institution.

We're done.

Well, that solves
my problems with this.

You promised me
you would help her.

This is helping her.

You said Jenny'd be in a
juvie home, not a nut house.

That was before we knew
what we were dealing with.

Look at the people here,
Mr. Brandt.

Jenny's on her way.

Are you gonna watch
or you gonna help her?

(SIGHS)

You two have been on the road?

Peconic Correctional Facility. Vince
Brandt signed the commitment papers.

State head-shrinkers

In the past year they
released three subway pushers

and a man who dined
on his neighbor's liver.

There's no other way.

What about the way the state
legislature prescribes?

They never conceived
of a Jenny Brandt.

Legal Aid wants her
back at home.

I'm not going to
let that happen.

I don't want this office
coming off inhumane.

Inhumane to whom? To Jenny or to the
society on which she wreaks havoc?

What do you got planned
for the older girl? Attica?

We cut a deal with the lawyer.

She's pleading as
a juvenile offender.

We're leaving sentencing
up to the judge.

Wonderful.
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

Well, Jenny's lawyer
caught wind of it.

She filed a motion to
stop the civil commitment.

We'll fight it.

Skoda convinced me,
he'll convince Judge Solomon.

Jenny's lawyer has
an expert too.

We've retained
Elizabeth Olivet.

Wasn't Dr. Olivet formerly
affiliated with the D.A.'s office?

And now she's in private practice,
specializing in children.

She's examined Jenny and feels
that Mr. McCoy's position

is based on
a bunch of voodoo psychology.

With all due respect
to Dr. Olivet,

a parent has a right to
commit a mentally ill child.

Except the mother opposes it and
there's a family court charge pending.

Aren't you usurping the authority
of the Family Court, Mr. McCoy?

If that's a problem,
we'll drop the prosecution.

Do you see what's
happening here?

Mr. McCoy's short circuiting
Jenny's defense by committing her.

I'm trying to protect
the public from a killer.

You're making it up
as you go along.

JUDGE: You know something,
Ms. Sharkey?

We have a 10-year-old
killer here.

Mr. McCoy's position
has some merit.

Judge...

I want to hear from
both your psychologists.

And anyone else who has
some insight on this child.

Then I'll rule,
on the whole ball of wax.

JACK: After examining Miss
Brandt, what's your diagnosis?

The child is a sociopath.

In layman's terms?

Enormous anger,

which she directs
at other children.

She's desensitized to violence,

lacks empathy with her victims.

Basically, she exists
in an emotional vacuum.

Is this condition
likely to change?

Sure. It'll get worse.

She's already demonstrated a pattern
of escalating violent behavior.

There's no reason
to think it'll end.

In your opinion, did Jenny comprehend
that she was killing this boy?

She's had fantasies
about it for at least a year.

And she was perfectly clear to me
about killing her neighbor's cat.

I don't see why it would
be any mystery to her.

Jenny's never been in therapy,
right, Dr. Skoda?

It wouldn't help.

How can you possibly know that?

She shows all the signs of
a recidivist violent predator,

torturing small mammals...

Are you trotting out
the McDonald's Triad?

These so called predictors have been
discredited in over 20 studies.

Okay, forget about predictors.

She's already killed someone.

SHARKEY: And you know,
she'll do it again.

DR. SKODA: I know I don't
want to take that risk.

If she were my patient,
she'd be institutionalized.

So you'd give up on her without
even trying to treat her?

I have no problem
trying to treat her,

behind bars.

A little dispassionate,
don't you think, Doctor?

I'll save my compassion
for next kid she kills.

DR. OLIVET: Jenny was in a car
accident when she was four.

I ordered some
CT scans on her brain.

There's frontal lobe damage.

Studies link this with
poor impulse control.

So in your opinion, is the cause of
Jenny's violent behavior organic?

In part.

I'm not saying her family
problems aren't a factor,

but abuse alone doesn't
necessarily cause violence.

SHARKEY: Is she responsible
for her actions?

DR. OLIVET: My examination points
to identifiable biological

and psychiatric factors which
diminish her culpability.

Jenny doesn't process right and
wrong the way you and I do.

And her fantasies
of harming a child?

Everybody has
inappropriate fantasies.

Given time, Jenny's
fantasies can be refocused.

So her condition is reversible?

It's worth a shot.

There is no reason to
give up on this child.

(WHISPERING INAUDIBLY)

Dr. Olivet, is there any
medication for the kind of

frontal lobe damage
you described?

Not yet.

Any drugs in FDA trials?

No. And I know all about Dr. Skoda and
his penchant for easy chemical fixes.

But there are other therapies.

Talk therapy,
behavior modification.

JACK: Do they work?

Sometimes they do,
sometimes they don't.

And if they don't,
Jenny Brandt will kill again?

Nobody knows that,
not even Dr. Skoda.

But there are no guarantees,
are there?

I'll give you
one guarantee, Mr. McCoy.

You lock this child away in an
asylum for the criminally insane,

and you're wasting whatever
chance you have of fixing her.

Jack, I don't get it. Why are
you going after this kid?

She killed a little boy.

I thought you were
a victims advocate?

I am. But I don't like to see a colleague
who has no clinical expertise in children

trying to put away
a 10-year-old.

I think all that expertise
has turned you soft, Liz.

Too bad we don't have
time for 10 rounds.

Everything was fine with Jenny
until Vince went to jail.

SHARKEY: When Jenny started to have
problems in school, Mrs. Brandt,

did you do anything about it?

Oh, Jenny and I would talk.

She said the boys she hurt
were teasing her or something,

so she had to fight back.

I tried to teach her not to be so physical,
but I guess it just didn't get through.

Do you realize now that your
daughter has a serious problem?

Oh, believe me, I do.

I'm so sorry for the
parents of that boy.

If you send Jenny home,
Your Honor,

I will do everything
I can to help her.

I promise I'll
watch her like a hawk.

This will never happen again.

So the point is, Ms. Brandt,

you didn't watch her
like a hawk?

I tried.

You said you talked to her when
she got in trouble in school,

but did you do
anything about it?

Well, I grounded her.

You grounded her.

Well, what else could I do?

Did you consult a therapist?

No.

Did you investigate
any intervention programs?

No.

Did you do anything about it when
she killed your neighbor's cat?

I didn't know she did that.

Do you have any reason to think

that there's anything
you could do to stop her?

I don't know.

So Jenny's just out there
terrorizing other children?

No, she's not a monster.

Please don't take her
away from me.

She's...
She's my best friend.

(SOFTLY) Please, don't.

Your Honor,
my client is 10 years old.

She has teddy bears
on her bedspread

and a Big Bird piggy bank
filled with pennies.

And she killed a child.

It's so incongruous,
it's almost inconceivable.

Dr. Olivet has testified that,
because of her age,

and because of the way
her brain works,

she simply couldn't appreciate
that as she struck Aaron Polansky

with a rock,
she was killing him.

Jenny thought she could revive him
with a one-and-a-half-volt battery.

It speaks for itself.

Mr. McCoy's position is to ignore
the question of responsibility

and brand Jenny Brandt
a killer.

She'll never change,
we have to put her away.

People change.

If anyone can change,
it's a child.

And Dr. Olivet
has emphasized

that this will not happen
in a state mental hospital.

Mr. McCoy's solution
is a solution of last resort.

Please,

don't give up on her, Judge.

Jenny got dealt a lousy hand.

I look at her
with pity and regret.

But Jenny Brandt is trouble.

She battered Aaron Polansky's
head and stuffed him in a pipe.

Ms. Sharkey wants us to believe that
she didn't appreciate what she did.

I don't agree.

Jenny daydreams
about killing small boys.

She even had atrial run
with a cat.

But ultimately what she could or
could not appreciate is irrelevant.

Jenny is a loaded gun.

She's a cocked fist
with a rock in it.

She needs to be stopped,
before she kills again.

Dr. Olivet talks about sending Jenny to a
state institution like it's a death sentence.

That turns the world
upside down.

Aaron Polansky
got a death sentence.

Jenny would get treatment.

Now everybody knows, state
psychiatric care could be better.

But letting Jenny get away with
murder won't help this girl.

How will she ever appreciate

that her actions have
consequences if there are none.

And how many
children will she kill,

before the adult criminal
Justice System can take over.

Do we have to wait and see?

Ms. Sharkey would like us to
cross our fingers and hope,

hope that it won't
happen again.

I have my own kind of hope.

I hope the state doctors can
find a way to fix this girl.

I hope that it takes
six months,

but until they do,

we can't afford Ms. Sharkey's
brand of hope.

We need to protect the Aaron
Polansky's of this world,

from Jenny Brandt.

Thank you both.

I'll render my
decision tomorrow.

We're adjourned.

Sharkey gave a good closing
I'd say it's a tossup.

You comfortable with
your position?

It's quite a row your hoeing.

You don't think it
keeps me up at night?

Nobody twisted your arm.

Would you want this kid loose
in your neighborhood?

The public is tired
of violent children

being sent to bed
without their dessert.

Five countries in the world
execute their children.

And we're one of 'em.

Where do we draw the line?

On a case by case basis,
like we always do.

Now we condemn this 10-year-old
to state psychiatric care.

Yes.

It's the worst
possible solution,

except for all the others.

And if Olivet is right?

That's why I'm not sleeping.

JUDGE:
What we have before us,

is an angry little girl,

who killed because of
some deep turmoil,

no one can adequately
explain to me.

But I'm convinced,
based on her age,

and psychiatric make-up,

that Jenny did not understand the
consequences of her actions.

And if I believe she's not
responsible for what she's done,

I can't deny her the chance

to evolve into
a healthy young woman.

I must hold out hope that she can
be treated, and rehabilitated.

And I don't think that's going
to happen in a state hospital.

Mr. McCoy's fears about Jenny's
future are well founded.

But I won't lock a child away
because of a fear,

or a prediction
of future behavior.

I'm quashing your
commitment papers, Mr. McCoy,

and releasing Jenny to the
custody of her mother.

Ms. Brandt,
get help for your daughter.

You and I are going to have a
standing monthly appointment.

I want to know what's
happening with this child.

We're adjourned.

(GAVEL POUNDING)

(JENNY LAUGHS)

Someone should call
Aaron Polansky's mother.

I'll call her from the office.