All language subtitles for Law and order S14E21 - Vendetta

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.

He's got it in for me is all I'm sayin'.
He don't got it in for you.

He's startin' to make me
look bad to Hector.

Hector's smart enough to see
that Alex is just talkin' trash.

[Cluttering]
All due respect to Hector, I got my doubts.

Just once I'd like to come in here
without some jerkweed causing a dustup.

[Glass Shatters]
Yeah, this stuffs gettin' old.

[Woman Screaming]

[Man] Whoa!
This guy's hurt bad.

[Man #2] Get some help.
[Man #3] Somebody call 911!

Thirty-five years my family owns this place.
[Siren Wailing]

Plenty of fights,
but nobody ever got killed.

You see what happened?
I hear shouts.

I look over. I see one guy swing a
bottle, and the other guy goes down.

The guy who was swinging
what did he look like?

Kind of average.
Height, weight, age?

Middle-aged. Brown hair. An inch or two shy
of six feet, maybe. You know, average.

Any of you seen this average
dude in here before?
Nope.

First-timers, the two of them. The other
guy, the one who got his head cracked?

I could swear I seen him
somewhere before.
Me too.

[Green] But not in here?
Nah.

Anybody see how it started?
I... I... It was like all of a sudden,
out of the blue.

This one guy starts bashing
the other guy's head in.

I tried to tackle him, but...
[Briscoe] That's how you got the eye?

He was a lot stronger than he looked.
All right.

Be sure to give your home number
to the officer.

So, what do we got?
Depressed skull fracture.

Glass shards in the wound.
Victim was struck with a blunt object.

Yeah, a liquor bottle.
Your murder weapon.

Or what's left of it.
[Green] Maybe Latent can get a print anyway

Have C.S.U.gather as much
of that as they can.

You'd be better off with all the
king's horses and all the king's men.

Brendan Donner.
I thought he looked familiar.

Not to me. I'm drawin' a blank.
Who is he?

Public Enemy Number One,
at least in this city.

League Championship Series...
this dude goes for a foul ball

Cost us the game and the pennant.
We're talking about baseball?

Yeah. Instead of being the third out,
the batter draws a walk.

Next guy up hits a two-run homer,
and it's wait till next year, again.

- Looks like somebody was pissed off about waitin'.
- Wait a minute.

You're telling me this guy got killed
'cause he reached for a foul ball?

And the suspect list is
the Greater New York phone book.

I can't believe somebody killed him
over a stupid game.

We 're not sure yet that that's why
your husband was murdered Mrs. Donner.

But it's a pretty good bet, right?
I mean, what other reason could there be?

People treated Brendan
like he was Osama Bin Laden.

As if any one of them wouldn't
have tried to catch that damn ball.

Did you take any of those threats
more seriously than others?

I mean, is there anyone in particular
we should be looking at?

Just half of New York. [Sighs]
Poor Brendan. He was obsessed.

He read every letter,
surfed the Internet, uh,

watched all the talk shows.

I'm telling you something.
That game ruined our lives.

We'd like to look through
your husband's things, if we could.

Well, we separated four months ago.
He moved out.

Said there was no reason why I should
take the brunt for what he did.

Sorry.

We're gonna need
to get into his new place.

The papers should publish separate
listings for the soon-to-be divorced

Available, crappy studio apartment
with view of air shaft.

Emphasis on shaft.

Also excellent for sleepless nights
and drinking binges.

And reading your hate mail.

“Dear Jagoff, I've been replaying the game
in my mind, and I still don't know...

what the hell you were thinking,
you dumb-ass son of a bitch.“

- Oh, that's quality bedtime reading.
- His wife said he was obsessed.

There's no forwarding labels on these
They were sent here.

Wonder how they got
his new address so quick.

Hmm.
Maybe he can tell us.

“Special Agent Jeffrey Bowerman, F.B.I."

Donner was gettin' death threats
from all over the country.

People mailin' him dead rats,
dog crap, you name it.

When you care enough
to send the very worst.

The worst was the envelope
full of white powder.

Ah, we were wondering why
the F.B.I. was involved in this.

Standard procedure for all cases involving
a suspected biological contaminant.

Which this wasn't.
Baking soda isn't lethal.

Oh, you never met my ex-wife.

We went ahead and seized all the letters,
cards and packages anyway, cataloged 'em.

Wow. A lot of people
with too much time on their hands, huh?

We've got audio too. I tapped
Donner's phone just to be safe.

For a case like this?
I felt sorry for him.

Wanted to go the extra mile,
help the guy out.

You bet the other team.
Made out like a bandit.

Donner may have been a schmuck
to you guys, but he was a hero to us.

Sketch artist came up
with a composite of our suspect.

Could be anybody.
How are you doing?

I'm reading Donner's hate mail.
Ed's listening to it.

Anything interesting?

Ah, they either want to dump him in the
East River, throw him off a building...

or run him over with a car...
not much originality.

What would you have done to him?
Who, me?

Oh, please. I remember how mad
you were after that game.

And I don't recall any tears
from “Who, me"...

when the tabloids published
Donner's address and phone number.

Okay. Maybe that was
a little bit over the line.

But the idiot did earn himself
a little grief.

- He tried to catch a ball.
- Which was still in play!

Any real New York fan would've
kept his hands in his pockets.

Hey, I got something.
This is from two weeks ago.

[Man] You think I don't
know where you live, Donner?

You better be watching your back,
Donner, 'cause one day soon...

I'm comin' up behind you and bash your
thick head until you're dead, you moron.

- The F.B.I. traced that call to a Ted Enwright.
- Sounds promising.

And the genius called
from his home phone.

[Man] We lost half our pitchers
to free agency.

Then there's that whole steroid thing.
Who knows how that's gonna play out?

Nah, let's face it. Last year was
our best shot, and Donner blew it.

So, after stewing about this all winter,
you decided it was time for some payback.

All I did was get drunk one night and make a phone call.
And a couple nights later,

Donner gets drunk, and he gets his
head smashed in, as you promised.

- Come on. That was just talk.
- How did you get his phone number?

I read it in the papers.
No, his new number.

On the Net.
Everything's on the Net.

Come on. It's all up on that Web site:
www.getdonner.com.

[Van Buren] You've got to be kidding me.
[Briscoe ] We don't have that much imagination.

Six months after the fact, this Web
site still gets 30,000 hits a day

Most of this stuff is harmless, you know,
stupid Donner jokes and whatnot.

But check it out.
They have a message board.

[Van Buren]
“Hey fellow Donner haters.

"Think I just saw Donner shoving his stuff
in the back of a moving van.

Guess his old lady hates him
as much as the rest of us."

Now, this entry started a landslide. People started writin'
in whenever they saw Donner on the street or in the subway.

They call it “Donner Watch." Which is how they
knew where to keep sending all the hate mail.

I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but I'm
actually startin' to feel real sorry for this dude.

Hey, we were one out away from
the World Series. [Phone Rings]

Yo. All right.
All right, we'll be there.

It's the crime lab.
They got prints.

If I were you guys, I'd steer
clear of Latent for a while.

Why? They don't see the challenge
in lifting prints off a broken bottle?

Any prints shattered
along with the glass,

so they're fragmented
like a jigsaw puzzle.

You guys like jigsaw puzzles?
I love jigsaw puzzles.

Wanna know how I solved this one?
That is why we're here.

I bought a bottle
of the same brand of scotch,

filled it with plaster, then broke it,
leaving a perfect mold.

Then I took the glass from the crime
scene and glued it on that mold...

putting each piece in its proper place.

- Voilà.
- Just like a jigsaw puzzle.

With the bottle now reconstituted...
You could lift the prints.

Two sets.
I ran them through B.C.I.

The first belong to a Rooney, James.
[Green] The bartender.

And owner. His prints are on file from
when he applied for a liquor license.

What about the second set?
B.C.I. kicked back a Grimes, Walter.

Walter Grimes?
Mm-hmm. Here's the best part.

Yeah. Convicted of murder, second
degree, in the killing of a young girl.

Drew 25 to life at Green Haven.
Yeah. How'd you know?

He reads the front page of the Times.

Walter Grimes was released
from prison three months ago.

“Walter Grimes,
born Poughkeepsie,1964.

Arrested '83. Convicted '84.
Second-degree murder."

Victim was Leeanne Testa, 15.
Stabbed to death.

A year ago, when Grimes finally got
a court order to test the D.N.A.,

it turned out the blood that the cops found on the
knife in his apartment wasn't Leeanne Testa's.

- Property still had the evidence?
- M.E.'s office. This is pre-D.N.A.

They tested it for serology. After the
trial, it went to the medical examiner's...

and never made it back
to the police lab.

It's lucky for Grimes. Police lab would've
destroyed it after he got convicted.

So, Grimes didn't kill Testa.
Good for him.

Question is,
did he kill Brendan Donner?

Grimes's prints are a 12-point match
to the ones on that liquor bottle.

There are eight people in that bar
who I.D.'d him from a photo array.

They all saw him
bash Donner's skull in.

I'll get an arrest warrant.

We have any idea
where Mr. Grimes is now?

Department of Corrections can't
compel him to give an address...

because he was exonerated
and not paroled.

Grimes a jailhouse lawyer,
or did he have some help?

Rodney Fallon...
the New York Exoneration Project.

Well, I'm sure Mr. Fallon keeps in
touch with his success stories.

So far, the New York Exoneration Project
has gotten...

almost 50 innocent people released, and
we're looking at hundreds of other cases.

And I'll bet each and every
one of 'em didn't do it.

[Chuckles]
Obviously they're not all innocent.

But if even a single one is,
don't you think it's our obligation...

to see to it they don't spend
a minute longer in jail?

I bet you can count
the number of guys in jail ..

Who are genuinely innocent
on one hand.

You know how many felonies
the average criminal commits...

before he gets caught,
let alone convicted?

I'm well aware of the police statistics. It's
about the same as the number of times...

you speed on the thruway
without getting a ticket.

So what you're saying, Detective, we shouldn't try
to exonerate defendants who were wrongly convicted?

Yeah, sure we should try. But just
don't tell me they're all innocent.

Gentlemen, can we talk about
Walter Grimes, please?

An outright travesty of justice.

His lawyer was a 25-year-old
Legal Aid attorney trying his third case.

Well, he caught a bad break.
That alone should've got him a new trial.

D.N.A. proved he didn't kill
Leeanne Testa.

Which won't happen this time.
Look, we may not have D.N.A.,

but we got your client's fingerprints on the
bottle he used to fracture Brendan Donner's skull.

We don't know what happened that night.
Maybe Walter was defending himself.

- Why don't we ask him ourselves?
- Yeah, where can we find him?
We got a warrant for his arrest.

I'd rather you didn't speak to Walter
if I'm not present.

What, are you still his lawyer?
If you have a warrant, I am.

Then you know that you have an
obligation to surrender your client.

I know what my obligations are.

Then you won't mind
giving us his address.

Open up!

Hey, you hear that?
I don't hear nothin'.

Yeah, it sounded like a plaintive cry
for help coming from this apartment.

Open the door.
If you say so.

Mr. Grimes?

He ain't here.

Hey, Ed, you always leave
your phone book out?

Only if I've been using it.
Yeah.

There's an old P.I. trick. If you had it
open to a certain page, it bends the spine.

It'll open there.

Hotels. Some cheaper than others.

Where do we start?
[Sighs] At the bottom and work our way up, I guess.

[Man] Oh, yeah. I remember
this guy. He was here.

Uh, was?
Checked out earlier today.
About 4:00 this afternoon.

Six hours ago.
Now that's a hell of a coincidence.

No wonder Fallon gave up
Grimes's address so easy.

Yeah, he knew Grimes
wasn't gonna be home.

He drops a dime to his favorite client
as soon as we're out the door.

Lawyers.
This is me being surprised.

You asked me where Walter lived
I gave you his primary address.

Hey, man don't get smart with us!
I wouldn't dream of it. You couldn't keep up.

All right. Let's all just
take it down a notch.

Mr. Fallon, this is way past
zealous representation here.

I can't tell you where he went.
It's arguably privileged information.

Well, consider it negotiating
a fugitive's peaceful surrender.

- I'll get him to come in.
- Not a chance.

I have no idea what he's capable of
if he feels threatened.

I... I can do this. He trusts me.

All right. You've got two hours.

Either we're going to
arrest him for murder...

or you for hindering prosecution.

He'll be here. I promise.

Tell me you didn't just agree to
what I think you just agreed to.

Please.

[Green] I'm starting to get
a bad feeling about this.

[Briscoe]
How long's Fallon been in there?

Forty-five minutes.

That's long enough to either talk Grimes
down or book him a flight to Brazil.

That's right. Let's go.

[Beeps]
[Grunting, Groaning]

[Fallon, Muffled]
Someone, help!

Mr. Fallon, looks like you put up
a hell of a fight.

Yeah.
Where's your client?

And the first words out of your mouth
better not be “privileged.”

He's not here!
I can see that.

So where is he?
You said you weren't going to interfere.

You said you were gonna
bring Grimes in.

Looks like we both failed
on our promises.

I tried to convince him to surrender
to the authorities for his own good,

but he was in no mood
to go back to prison.

How long has he been gone?
About 10 minutes.

Did he say where he was going?
And don't forget what we said
about that word “privilege.”

He took my wallet.
Said he needed to get to
his cousin's in Providence.

[Man Over P.A. System, Indistinct]

Hey! Police! Don't move!

- Grimes, hold it right there!
- [Woman Screaming]

Stop right there! Grimes!
Take it easy.

- All right.
- I'm not going back there!
I'll die before I go back there.

Just let the lady go.

- Keep away from me.
- Let's talk this over. Look, no gun.

Okay? Look, I know
you were innocent before.

I just want to talk to you.
Let the lady go, please.

All right?
Just let her go and we can talk.

It's over, man.
Let her go, Grimes. Now.

I can't go back there.

I can't.

Judge Hinkle didn't think twice
about remanding Grimes.

After holding a woman hostage,
I should hope not.

Rodney Fallon.
Pleasure.

I don't think Mr. Grimes is eligible...

for the Exoneration Project's
services this time, Mr. Fallon.

Well, I don't see why he
wouldn't be. Walter is innocent.

Then can he explain his fingerprints
on the murder weapon
and the eyewitnesses at the bar?

Or his behavior when he saw
two N.Y.P.D. detectives?

Taking a hostage isn't exactly
consistent with innocence.

Well, that depends
on how you define innocence.

I define an innocent person as someone
who didn't commit the crime.

Or someone whom the law recognizes
should not be held responsible
for his actions.

A defendant can't be convicted
if he didn't act with mens rea...
criminal intent.

He brained a man
with a liquor bottle.

Walter Grimes was convicted
of a crime he didn't commit.

If he hadn't gone
to prison for 20 years,
as an innocent man,

he never would have
attacked Brendan Donner.

What are you saying?
Prison made him do it?

It certainly changed him.
Profoundly.

He absolutely wasn't the same man
when he came out.

I'm sorry the system
failed you, Mr. Grimes,

but a wrongful conviction
does not earn anyone
a free pass on murder.

You're sorry?

How about before rushing
to judgment again you at least
have your shrink evaluate him?

There's no reason to be anxious.
We're just having a conversation.

I ain't anxious.
What makes you think I'm anxious?

Do you know why you're here?

My lawyer says because of what
happened to me in prison.

I lose control.

What do you think?

I spent 20 years in prison
for something that I didn't do!
I don't have control over nothin'!

How can I lose what I don't have?

You're talking about
Leeanne Testa's murder.

Of course that's what I'm taikin' about.
The police said I killed that girl.
I'd never even met her.

They found a bloody knife
in your apartment
with your fingerprints on it.

They planted that knife.

The police?
Yeah, the police.

I had an alibi.
They didn't believe me.

But this time,
you did kill someone.

You killed Brendan Donner.

He laid hands on me.

And that justified killing him?

I bumped into him, by accident.

But this guy, he gets all freaky on me.

In my face, tellin' me
the whole world's against him.

And you thought
hitting him with a bottle
was an appropriate response?

I didn't think about it.
He grabbed me.

A guy comes at you,
you don't think twice.
You just put him down.

You stop to think about what to do,
you're dead.

Walter Grimes is legally sane.
But?

But I'm sure his lawyer can find experts
who will say that his experience in prison...

so programmed him
that he lacked the ability...

to appreciate
that his conduct was wrong.

It turned him into a killer?
Well, they'll argue that
he couldn't differentiate...

between his old environment
and his new one.

He couldn't tell the difference
between Rooney's Tavern...

and the exercise yard at Green Haven?

Exactly. The defense will get
a gaggle of psychiatrists...

to say that Grimes lacked the ability
to curtail a lethal instinct...

developed by two decades in prison.

I'd feel sorry for a man
who lost that much of his life
on a wrongful conviction.

If Fallon gets this in front of a jury,
you could have a problem.

You 're moving to preclude
this defense, Mr. McCoy?

Your Honor, it's ridiculous.
Under Mr. Fallon's theory, every ex-con
would have a defense for murder.

But we 're not talking about men
who were criminals before going to prison.

We're talking about a man
who was completely innocent
before being sent to Green Haven,

and was profoundly
and irrevocably changed...

and not for the better
by the experience.

And prison erased
his sense of right and wrong?

In a manner of speaking, yes.
It maimed him. It dehumanized him.

It replaced traditional notions
of right and wrong...

with a kill-or-be-killed reflex that led,
tragically, to Brendan Donner's death.

That doesn't meet
the New York standard, Your Honor.

Either Mr. Grimes didn't know
what he was doing was wrong,

or he didn't understand
the nature of his behavior.

Simply reacting to a perceived threat...

because he thought he was in
a hostile environment doesn't cut it.

He wasn't in prison.
He was in a bar, Your Honor.
He completely overreacted.

Exactly Walter Grimes
completely overreacted...

Because of how
his prison experience shaped him.

You have an expert who will
back your theory, Mr. Fallon?

I've got five of them, Your Honor.
Fax their C.V.'s over to me.

If they're credible,
I'm inclined to let this go to a jury.

You don't think that there might be
something to Grimes's defense?

People adapt to their environment,
in or out of prison.

He knew where he was
and how he was supposed to act.

How do we know he wasn't a bad apple
before rotting in prison for 20 years?

Fallon's already conceded
this defense only applies...

if Grimes was a law-abiding citizen
before being shipped off to Green Haven.

Leeanne Testa's murder was his first arrest.

How old was he at that time?
Nineteen.

If he had committed any prior crimes
they might have been as a juvenile.

And those records would be sealed.

I'm sure that under the circumstances
you could convince a judge
to unseal those records,

if there are any.

What prosecutor wouldn't love
a peek at a defendant's juvie record?

But if I unsealed it in every case,
the seal would have no meaning.

This isn't a typical case.

Mr. Grimes's defense puts
his juvenile record directly at issue.

He claims he had no criminal tendencies
before he went to prison.

So, you want to look
at his juvenile record,
assuming that he has one,

to determine if that's true.

I'll tell you what.
I'll review the file in camera.

If I find anything relevant,
I'll make it available to you.
Agreed?

Thank you, Your Honor.

Jackpot. Grimes fits the textbook
definition of a bad seed.

Arrests for school ground assault, menacing,

auto stripping,
possession of stolen property.

But no convictions.
The system kept cutting him loose.

The closest he ever came
was a liquor store robbery
when he was 15.

He threatened the owner with a gun.
Why did the A.D.A. kick it?

I don't know.
But it makes one thing pretty clear.

Even if Grimes
didn't kill Leeanne Testa...

He was hardly an innocent man.

Sure, I remember. Guy sticks a gun
in my face, I'm gonna forget that?

According to his juvenile records,
the police arrested a young man
named Walter Grimes.

You're talking about
that white kid, right?

He would've been
about 15 at the time.
He didn't do it.

As far as I know,
they never caught the kid that did.
But the police arrested him.

I told the officer...
Daniels, his name was Daniels...

I told Daniels the little pachuco
who held me up was Hispanic.

Daniels didn't believe me
But I saw what I saw.

Are you sure?
Sure, I'm sure.

How come Officer Daniels didn't believe you?
How come he arrested Walter Grimes?

You're gonna have to ask him.

You're talking about a case
that was, like, 25 years ago.

I know cops who remember
every suspect they ever interrogated.

Walter Grimes?
Yeah, that's right.

Real punk.
Absolute white trash.

Is this about that guy he killed in a bar?
That's right.

[Chuckles]
See, that's what you get when you let
a guy like Grimes loose on society.

He was exonerated.
Whatever.

I'm looking into all of his priors.
If Grimes did this liquor store robbery,

it would actually help the case
that we're prosecuting.

But the store owner
says that he didn't.

What can I tell you?
The old guy was wrong.

But Grimes is white.
The store owner said
that the robber was Latino.

Look, the old man was so scared,
he pissed himself.

All he saw was the gun, if that.

Grimes's the guy
who held him up.
I have no doubt.

Except your gut
isn't admissible, Detective.

Which is why the D.A.
kicked the robbery charge.

Grimes did it.
And it wasn't his first stickup either.

That kid was born to go to jail.
Have a good day.

So, we know Grimes
wasn't the choirboy...

his lawyer's been saying he was,
but we can't prove it?

That's what it looks like.

What about the knife?
The one found at Grimes's apartment?

D.N.A. confirmed that the blood
on it wasn't Leeanne Testa's.

But it was someone's.
Let's see if we can find out whose.

I'll have Briscoe and Green contact
the primary on the Testa case.

[Man] We got an anonymous tip
about the Testa case.

Judge signed the search warrant.
Off an anonymous tip?

Back in '84, we had a couple
political appointees...

they let us take a few more procedural
shortcuts than they do now.

Ah, the Reagan years.

Anyway, I went in with my partner
and a team of five blues.

We searched from ceiling to cellar.
Yeah, you found the knife.

Wrapped in a dishrag. It was hidden under
a loose floorboard in his closet.

But the blood on the knife
wasn't Leeanne Testa's.

Hell of a thing. This Fallon guy...
Yeah, the Exoneration Project.

Got a court order,
did family D.N.A. against the knife,
proved it wasn't Testa's.

Grimes always said
that the knife was planted.

Well, of course he'd say that.

Who knows?
He probably killed somebody else.

Yeah thats why we need
to run that knife past forensics,
see if it matches any open cases.

Well, after Fallon had it tested,
it went back to the M.E.'s office.
Ought to still be there.

So, that day,
when you found the knife
in Grimes's apartment,

anything strike you as fishy?

Well, I didn't actually find it. Some
uniform, got his shield a few years back.

Reynolds, Daniels, something like that.
Not Kenny Daniels?

Yeah, Kenny Daniels.
That's it. You know him?

We were at the same house
for a while, the 29.
I ain't seen him in years.

He the kind of cop
that would plant evidence?

Not the Kenny Daniels I knew.
He was a stickler. By the book.

He drove me crazy.
Thought I was a cowboy.

He'd always say
“dot your i's, cross your t's."

People change.

This is great, Ed. What is it, uh,
eight or 10 years since I seen you?
Not even a phone call.

Now you're on my doorstep
making accusations?

Just questions, Kenny.
Not accusations, just questions.

These the sort of questions I should
have my P.B.A. delegate present for?

Look, I spoke to the D.A.'s office.

You arrested Grimes
for a liquor store robbery...

that the owner swears up and down
that the kid didn't commit.

[Chuckles] Mr. Magoo?

That old man was so blind,
he couldn't tell his ass from his elbow.

Grimes did the robbery, Ed. Trust me.
Okay.

But then you find a knife
that puts the same guy away...

for a murder that
he absolutely did not commit.

He goes to jail for 20 years.

What? What is it, man?
You couldn't get him on
the liquor store robbery,

so you framed him
for Leeanne Testa's murder?

Liquor store had nothing
to do with it.

How do you think Grimes's prints
got on that knife? What, do you think
I'm some kind of magician?

I don't know, man. You tell me.

[Sighs]

Her name was Julie Sayer.

She was 16, going on 12.

You know, innocent.

The knife I found
in Grimes's apartment...

it was his, all right,
but he didn't use it on Leeanne Testa.

He used it on Julie Sayer.

He slit her throat with it.

There was no
D.N.A. testing back then.

Same type... "O" positive.

So, everyone assumed
it was Leeanne's blood.

Well, if Grimes killed Julie Sayer,
why didn't you collar him for that?

I did. Grimes was a creep.

I had witnesses who put him
with the girl that morning.

I brought him in.
He started runnin' his mouth,
talkin' trash.

He even took a swing at me.

You didn't beat the dude down,
did you?

Only time I ever lost it like that.

All I could see was that dead girl
lying there with her throat cut.

- Did Grimes give it up?
- Yeah, he told me how he killed Juiie.

Told me how he hid the knife
in a storm drain.

Told me exactly where to find it.

But what, the bust wasn't any good?

Lieu took one look at him,
one look at my knuckles.
He told me I had to kick him loose.

He told you to 86 the arrest.

Try to find another way
to make the case.

But if the confession was inadmissible then...
The knife was too.

There wasn't gonna be
any justice for Julie Sayer.

I let Grimes go, fished the knife
out of the storm drain...

saved it for a rainy day.

Then Leeanne Testa gets stabbed.

Wound patterns were consistent
with Grimes's knife.

Blood type the same as Julie's.
Pieces fell into place.

You call in an anonymous tip...

and then you "find" the knife
in Grimes's apartment?

Why not? Grimes was guilty.

He was a murderer!

He was gonna walk
on the murder of Julie Sayer.

He was gonna walk
because of me!

It was eating me up, Ed.

I had to make it right.
I had to balance the scales.

At least he didn't frame an innocent man.

No, he framed a guilty one.

The way he sees it,
he kept Grimes from falling
through the cracks in the system.

Well, somebody should tell him
not to do the system any more favors.

Regardless of his motivation,
this is the worst kind of police misconduct.

Now, any appellate court
would find that this shocks
the conscience, and so should we.

- Agreed, but he's all we've got.
- Where's this lieutenant of his now?

In the cemetery.
He died of a heart attack
six years ago.

So no one but Daniels can say
that Grimes killed Julie Sayer.

No, but if we could prove he did!

Fallon's defense strategy
on the Donner murder
goes out the window.

Grimes was a murderer
before he was ever
shipped off to Green Haven.

All right. We'll try him
on the Sayer murder first.

Only Grimes is confession
is no more admissible today
than it was 20 years ago.

But today, D. N.A. analysis will confirm...

that the blood on the knife
is Julie Sayer's.

You know what Fallon's
gonna say about that.

People versus Walter Grimes.
Murder in the second degree.

- How do you plead, Mr. Grimes?
- My client pleads not guilty, Your Honor.

[Judge] People on bail?
The People seek remand

Mr. Grimes is accused
of murdering a teenage girl,
stabbing her to death.

Your Honor, this crime took place
more than 20 years ago.

Mr. Grimes is also a suspect
in a recent bar killing.

Let the State try him on that charge then.
We intend to.

Their physical evidence
in this matter, Your Honor,
the murder of Julie Sayer,

the State has already used to convict
my client of another crime for which
he's subsequently been exonerated.

- Is this true, Miss Southerlyn?
- That same D.N.A. evidence, Your Honor,

now accurately identifies
which victim Mr. Grimes killed.

Their star witness is the officer
who planted the knife
and framed my client in the first case.

Enough. Someone else can sort
through the evidentiary issues,
thank God.

Since the People seem to have
an ongoing interest...

in Mr. Grimes's whereabouts
after this matter is concluded,
I'm gonna remand the defendant.

- Your Honor...
- That's it. Sorry, Mr. Fallon.

Better luck next time.
Next case.

The knife was planted
in my client's apartment.

By a police officer.
The chain of custody remained intact.

This is outrageous.
I can't believe you can stand there
and say that to me with a straight face.

You're forgetting how that officer
found the knife in the storm drain
in the first place.

Your client told him where it was.
He beat it out of him.

An improperly obtained confession.
The knife is poisonous fruit.

You're assuming that the police
wouldn't have found it
without Grimes's confession.

They canvassed all over the city.
They would have never found it.
And you know it.

Let's see what a judge thinks.
In the meantime, consider this
your notice of our lab work.

We exhumed her body
and extracted D.N.A. from her bones.

The blood on the knife
was Julie Sayer's.

D.N.A.'s a double-edged sword, counselor.

D.N.A.'s persuasive
only if it's admissible.

My motion to suppress the knife.

- Is he right?
- About the D.N.A.?

About the search. Fallon just said the
police looked high and low for the knife.

That's right.

Let's get the case's primary
on the phone.

Julie Sayer was 16, pretty.

On the front page of the Post
for weeks.

Bet your ass we tore the city apart.

Do you remember
searching on 190th Street
between Audubon and Amsterdam?

Where it happened.
We turned that neighborhood
upside down.

Storm drains?
We searched them all.

From Washington Heights to Inwood.
Would you be willing to sign an affidavit?

What? That we searched
the storm drains?

Every one in the area.

With a flashlight
and a fine-tooth comb.

And didn't find a thing.

First, the People concede
that Detective Daniels,
who was then Officer Daniels...

questioned my client without
counsel present in clear violation
of his Sixth Amendment rights.

Then they concede he assaulted my client
to obtain a confession in violation
of his Fifth Amendment rights,

used that illegal confession to seize
the knife in violation of
my client's Fourth Amendment rights.

And, as if that wasn't enough,
they freely admit
he then planted the knife...

to frame my client for a crime
he didn't commit,

in violation of, at the very least,
his 14th Amendment rights.

Are there any amendments
the People haven't violated?

Now, in what has to be
the single greatest demonstration
of legal chutzpah...

in the history of jurisprudence,
he contends the knife
shouldn't be suppressed.

Mr. McCoy, is this true?
Every word, Your Honor.

Then how can you argue in support
of the knife's admission?

Because of the
“inevitable discovery” doctrine

the knife is admissible if the police
would have eventually discovered it
without the impropriety.

How is that possible?
They only found the knife...

because Officer Daniels
planted it in my client's home.

You said it yourself:
The police canvassed the area
where the knife was originally hidden.

I have an affidavit
from Detective Johnson,

the primary on the case,
who searched the storm drain
where Grimes had hidden the knife.

- But it wasn't there to be found.
- Because Officer Daniels
had already removed it.

Under inevitable discovery
the issue is,

what would have happened but for
Officer Daniels's wrongful conduct?

The knife would have been in
that storm drain
for Detective Johnson to find.

Exactly
Oh, this is outrageous.

You're basically saying
that Daniele's illegal conduct
makes the knife admissible.

It isn't that I don't see the irony,
but the evidence is admissible.

He's got you, Mr. Fallon.
Look, Mr. Grimes's confession remains
inadmissible, but the knife comes in.

Don't pop
those champagne corks yet.

No amount of fancy footwork
is gonna change the fact...

that your sponsoring witness
is Kenny Daniels.

I hate using him,
but what choice do we have?

A cop who admits he framed
a guilty man for another crime
which he didn't commit.

In service of the greater good.
That's what you'll tell the jury.

What Fallon will tell them
is that Daniels is a vigilante
with an ax to grind.

Which is exactly
what we need to prepare him for.

If I hadn't done what I did,
Grimes was gonna walk.

Why are you making me out
to be the bad guy?

Because you crossed
the line, Detective.

And because that's what Rodney Fallon
will do when you take the stand.

He's not the first shyster I've taken on.
I can handle him.

Let's hope he's the only one
whose client's been framed by you.

Okay. I deserve that.

Grimes killed Julie Sayer.
He admitted it.

And because I screwed up,
he was gonna walk.

That's a mistake I couldn't live with,
and I'm not gonna apologize for fixin' it!

If you don't, he may walk on
Julie's murder a second time.

If the jury sees you
as some kind of a vigilante...

with no qualms about framing
someone or planting evidence,

they won't listen
to a word you say!

I screwed up 20 years ago.
But by making it right,
it's the best thing I've ever done.

You really want me to say
I feel sorry when I don't?

You're a police officer.
And you put yourself above the law.

I can't believe you have
no regrets about that.

Yeah, I have some regrets,
that I gave him a beating
and I screwed up the case.

What, do you want me to lie?
I want you to acknowledge...

what it is I know
you must be feeling!

And that's what?
Guilt.

Guilt about what?
Guilt at having been so arrogant...

as to put yourself above the law!

[Daniels]
Planting the knife was wrong.

What I did was wrong.

I was trying to do right,
but now I see the ends
didn't justify the means.

I'm sure you understand
people may view...

whatever testimony you'd offer
against Walter Grimes...

with a certain amount of skepticism.

I made one mistake 20 years ago.

Since then?
I've told the truth and played by the rules.

Have you?
Yes.

“One mistake."

You admit you framed my client
for the murder of Leeanne Testa.

I admit to framing him for one murder
because he committed another,
the one he's on trial for here.

[Fallon] You don't get to be judge
and jury this time, Mr. Daniels.

He confessed to me
that he killed Julie Sayer.

A confession you beat out of him.
Which mistake do you regret,

beating my client,
or planting evidence against him?

Both.
So that's two mistakes.

Tell me, is there anyone who can
corroborate your story?
Just your client.

My client maintains his innocence.
Which means we're left with your word.

Then you're left with my word,
and I'm telling the truth.
But I don't believe you.

You've been obsessed
with getting my client for decades,

since he was a kid, haven't you?
No.

- You arrested him for a liquor store
robbery that was committed by someone else.
- I stand by that arrest.

[Fallon] Even though the owner said
the robber was Latino.

And then, on another occasion,
you assaulted Mr. Grimes.

He was a suspect.
He attacked me, counselor,
and I defended myself.

He was in your custody
and you beat him bloody.

- Like I said, I regret that.
- Then you framed him
for Leeanne Testa's murder.

And I've got nothin' to gain
by admittin' it.

In fact, I'm throwing away
my career and my pension...

Your career and pension
mean nothing to you, do they?

Not compared to your vendetta
against Walter Grimes.

Enjoy the show?
You held up okay.

What're you doing here?
It's my case.

I thought maybe
you came to gloat.

Why would I do that?
We're friends.

I thought we were.

Don't try to turn this around on me, Kenny.
You put yourself in this circus.

D.A.'s could've made their case
on that barroom fight...

without dredging this up
and dragging me into the middle of it.

We had no choice.
You did.

You could've let it go, Ed.

You don't want justice
for Julie Sayer?

I already had justice
for Julie Sayer.

[Grimes] I don't know what I ever did to him,

but he's had it in for me since I was a kid.

He was the cop on the beat
in our neighborhood,
and he always hated me.

He's had it in for me since day one.

Detective Daniels seems to think
you were an incorrigible criminal
who should be taken off the street.

Look, I never said I was a saint.

But the things he said I did,
I didn't do.

But in respect to Julie Sayer's murder,

your fingerprints are on the knife
along with her blood.

It's... It's my knife.
I never denied that.

Of course it's gonna have
my prints on it.

And Julie Sayer's blood?

Daniels is police, right?

He could get as much
of her blood as he wanted.

There's nothin' this guy
won't do to burn me. Nothin'

You sound paranoid, Mr. Grimes.

It ain't paranoia if someone's
really out to get you.
This Daniels is.

Yet you admit
you don't know why.

- You'd have to ask him.
- No, I'm asking you.

I don't know. Maybe he's crazy

So you're saying Detective Daniels
somehow manufactured...

the bloody knife evidence in this case?

Come on. He framed me before.

I spent 20 years in prison
for killing a person
I never even laid eyes on.

That's irrelevant, Mr. Grimes.

Twenty years of my life
is irrelevant?

Your fingerprints are on the knife.
Julie Sayer's blood is on the knife.

How did all that get there?
Objection!

- Daniels put it there.
- How did Detective Daniels get your knife?

It is not incumbent upon the defendant to
prove how Detective Daniels did anything.

He's making all these assertions.
He must have some idea.

I don't know how!
He framed me, okay?
I never killed anybody!

You didn't kill Brendan Donner...

three months after being released from prison...
Objection, Your Honor! Objection!

By smashing his head in
with a liquor bottle?

[Fallon] This is outrageous.
Accusing him of murder?

The defendant denied it.
I have every right
to attack his credibility.

He hasn't been convicted in that case.
He hasn't even been tried.

But he did raise
a “not responsible" defense.

Which is an admission
that he killed Brendan Donner.

And if the defendant denies that,
I'll put Dr. Olivet on the stand
to impeach him.

You goaded him into that denial
so you could bring in the other case
to poison the minds of the jury.

They call that cross-examination,
Mr. Fallon.

Sorry, counsel.
Your client opened the door
and put out the welcome mat.

If I were you, I'd talk to
Mr. McCoy about a plea.

Forget it, McCoy.
I'll argue that Grimes killed Donner...

because Daniele's vendetta against him
turned him into a murderer.

You don't have to posture, Mr. Fallon.
Your client's not here.

I don't have to posture because
I still have Kenny Daniels to vilify.

Which means nothing
unless you can paint Grimes
as the victim here.

A victim is exactly what he is.
A victim of police misconduct.
A victim of the entire criminal justice system.

The jury's not here either,
so let's not pretend
we don't know the crimes...

your client committed
as a juvenile.

Let's not pretend
he didn't kill Julie Sayer.

And let's not pretend
Daniels wasn't out there
playing judge and jury.

Detective Daniels
is not on trial here.
Grimes is.

And Grimes is the one
who slit a woman's throat.

Grimes is the one
who crushed a man's head.

You seem to forget that.
But I'm going to make sure
the jury remembers.

They're going to want someone to pay.
Trust me, it won't be Kenny Daniels.

Twenty years in prison
almost killed Walter Grimes.

I'll give him credit
for those 20 years.

If he allocutes.

I killed Julie Sayer.

I knew her from around.
I had the hots for her.

But she...

Doesn't matter why I did it.

I just...

I followed her one night.
I grabbed her. She said no.
I stabbed her. That's it.

There's nothing more to say.

[Judge Mellon]
Mr. Grimes, since you're pleading guilty...

to murder in the second degree
with a sentence of 25 years to life,

and since the terms
of your plea agreement...

are that in exchange
for this allocution...

you are to be given credit
for the 20 years you served
in Green Haven,

your remaining sentence
on the murder of Julie Sayer
is five years.

I understand, Your Honor.

And the parties have also
reached a plea with respect
to the murder of Brendan Donner?

We have. The defendant
has waived his right to trial...

and will plead guilty
to first-degree manslaughter.

I'm accepting the defendant's plea
and imposing a sentence...

of seven and a half to 15 years
to be served consecutively...

with the aforementioned five.

[Gavel Raps]

I don't need company.
[Chuckles]

Maybe I do.
Irish, rocks on the side.

He pled out.

All's well that ends well.

So, how's it end for you?

I've been encouraged
to take an early retirement.

[Sighs]

I'm sorry.

Don't be.
I did what I had to do.

[Door Opens]

[Door Closes]

[Howling]