All language subtitles for Law and Order S23E02_Subtitles01.ENG

In the criminal justice system,

the people are represented

by two separate,
yet equally important groups:

the police,
who investigate crime,

and the district attorneys,
who prosecute the offenders.

These are their stories.

♪ Okay, stress me
on checkers or chess ♪

♪ I don't play by the rules
if you guessed it ♪

♪ We about to run it up,
run it up ♪

♪ We about to run it up,
run it up, run ♪

♪ We about to run it up,
run it up ♪

Hell of a way
to start your day, huh?

Yeah, I'm not sure it's
actually started yet.

Not a morning person?

Oh, I love a morning.

4:00 a.m.? Still last night.

What are we looking at?

Oh, DOA,
took one in the chest.

No wallet, no phone.

Bodega owner down the street
heard the shot around 2:00 a.m.

and called it in
but didn't see anything.

Okay.

Pricey clothes.

Bet he had
an expensive watch too.

Yeah.

Could be looking at
an old-fashioned robbery.

- Maybe.
- Detectives.

We found this
in the bushes over there.

- Thank you.
- Empty.

So the killer took the cash,
tossed the wallet.

Evan Marks.

- The tech guy.
- CEO of VenZip?

Damn, VenZip is how I pay
for everything these days.

You don't use it?
- No, man.

I'm not trusting my bank info
to an app.

Okay, so the headquarters
is across the street.

He's at the office late.

The guy's a billionaire,
bragging about the fact

that he's about to single-
handedly make cash obsolete.

So what's a guy like that
doing at an ATM

at 2:00 in the morning?

Bank records
confirm Evan Marks

made a withdrawal from the ATM
just before the shooting.

Thanks.

2 grand,
maximum amount allowed.

That's a lot of money
for that hour of night.

Mm.

We're agreeing
to call it night now.

Hey, does anyone know
who James Sawyer is?

Yeah, he's like a god
in the tech world.

Well, apparently,
he is also a co-founder

of our vic's company.

Evan Marks and James Sawyer
are like the dream team

of Silicon Valley--
or at least they were.

Well, Sawyer just posted this
on his social media.

"Evan Marks was one
of the greatest minds

"of our generation.
The NYPD should be ashamed.

"Violent street crime
is out of control,

and Evan's blood
is on their hands."

So Marks's murder
is somehow our fault now?

Well, apparently, according
to James Sawyer, it is.

And that guy has got
millions of followers

that worship him as a genius.

And every one of them
is reposting this nonsense.

Look, we gotta wrap this up.
What do we got?

We tried pinging
Marks's stolen phone,

but we didn't get anything.
Killer likely turned it off.

Still canvassing for video,
but so far, nothing.

But he still slipped up.

Techs were able to lift
a partial print

from Marks's wallet,
and I got a hit.

Blake Hughes,
also known as G-Ticket.

- G-Ticket?
- He's a rapper.

And it actually looks like he's
pretty popular on SoundCloud.

But what is of interest
is his list of priors--

possession with intent to sell,
aggravated assault,

robbery in the first degree.

Go, go.

That part was fire.

Yo, yo, yo. What's going on?
Can I help you?

Yeah, NYPD, my guy.

We need to talk
to your friend right there.

- Come on. Let's go.
- Oh, come on.

- Hey!
- Yo!

Get off me!

I ain't done nothing.
- Yeah?

Well, we both know
that's not true.

Just stop, all right? Stop.

Stop.

Give me your arm.
Give me your arm.

Well, this looks like
2,000 bucks.

Blake Hughes,
you're under arrest.

We know it was you.

Your cell phone data puts you
in the Meatpacking District

last night,
right around the area

Marks was murdered.

We got your fingerprints
on his wallet.

We caught you with his
phone and his watch.

Nah, man, that ain't it.

Look, I was there, but...

I knew the guy.
We were friends.

Oh, you and Evan Marks
were friends.

I gotta hear this one.

We met last year
at Coachella.

He was a fan of my music.

All right,
so what were you doing

outside his place of business
at 2:00 a.m. last night?

He asked me to come meet him.

He--he would buy
off of me sometimes.

Dude love to party.

I mean, party.

Like, he wanted ketamine,
acid, shrooms.

Okay, so you were there
to sell him drugs.

Just so we're clear,
I'm out of that game.

Clearly.

I would make
an exception for Evan.

That stuff you found,
I mean, I only had it

because I wanted to stay
on his good side, you know?

Look, I was hoping
he'd give me money to--

to produce my album.

Okay, so just help me out.

What went wrong?
Why did you shoot him?

I didn't.

When I got there,
he was already

arguing with some other guy.

So I didn't wanna get involved.

I hung back,
stayed out of sight.

They started yelling
at each other.

Next thing I knew,
there was a gunshot,

and the other dude ran off.

And how did you end up with
Marks's money and his watch?

After the guy ran away,
I went to go check on Evan,

see if he was okay.

But he was already dead.

So you're telling me
you robbed your dead friend?

Look, I'm not proud of it,
but studio time is expensive.

All right, in any event,

you didn't happen
to get a good look

at this other guy, did you?

No, but I did overhear
some of their conversation.

Their argument, they were--

They were fighting
over a woman.

What makes you say that?

The dude said,
"You turned her against me,"

or something like that.

And Marks was all,
"She doesn't need you anymore."

We found some
pretty raunchy texts

between you and Evan Marks.

What was the nature of
your relationship with him?

Oh, God.

I've known Evan forever.

We first met in Aspen, I think.

Were you two
romantically involved?

You mean,
were we sleeping together?

Yeah, sometimes.

But we weren't dating
or anything.

It was just two friends exploring,

finding joy together.

You know anybody who might
have been jealous of this joy?

Jealous of me and Evan
sleeping together?

No.

Hey, Lace.

I have to be
at the gallery till 3:00,

so I picked us up some lunch.

Afternoon.

What's going on?

Detective Riley.
This is Detective Shaw.

And you are?

Craig Walsh.

Is this about Evan?

It is.

How well do you know him?

Mm, well.

He officiated our wedding.

- You guys are married?
- Yeah.

Mr. Walsh, where were you
last night around 2:00 a.m.?

I want a lawyer.

Magic word, okay.
Call him to the precinct.

Spoke to your doorman.

According to him,
you and your wife

didn't get home last night
until after 4:00 a.m.

Which does not look good
since Marks

was killed around 2:00.

I would never kill Evan.

I loved the guy.

Bet you didn't love him

sleeping with your wife,
though, huh?

Lacy and I have
an open marriage.

Okay.

Then where were you last night?

It'll be fine.
Just tell them.

I was at the VenZip offices.
So was Lacy.

So you were
with him Evan Marks.

And a lot of other people.

There was a party.

Oh, yeah?
What kind of party was that?

There's an underground scene
for people

of a certain caliber.

It's called the Lifestyle.

- Lifestyle?
- I did not name it.

Evan was super into
the whole thing.

It was his idea to throw one
of the parties at his office.

You know, you really didn't
need a lawyer to tell us this.

We're talking about
an invite-only situation here.

And people that attend
these things are big time.

Guests have to sign
a non-disclosure agreement.

I wanted to make sure
I wouldn't get in trouble.

And what kind of things
are going on at this party

that people have
to sign an NDA?

Nothing bad.

It's just a way to create
safe space for powerful

and, you know,
famous people to relax,

expanding the mind
to break old paradigms.

And by expanding the mind,
you mean...

taking ketamine, mushrooms?

We're Homicide detectives, okay?

We're not here to bust you
for recreational drug use.

Yeah.

Everyone parties.

And at some point,
Evan got worried

supplies were running low,
so he left for a re-up.

But he never came back.

Then someone
looked down and saw

the police cars on the street.

Everyone freaked out.

So we left out the back exit
of the building.

Well, the point is,
my client and his wife

were in the VenZip offices
on the 27th floor

when Evan Marks was shot.

No, the point is, Counselor,
your client has to prove it.

The planet is gonna run
out of water, like, soon.

That's something
everyone needs to survive.

Whoever figures that out
is gonna make a lot of money.

- And change the world.
- And change the world.

That's the video
Craig Walsh shot at the party.

People are higher than

the Chrysler Building
in that thing.

Maybe so,
but the time stamp proves

that they were at the party
when Marks was shot.

So if Marks was killed over a
woman, it wasn't Lacy Stevens.

Doesn't look like it.

Yeah, but those Lifestyle
parties are basically just

orgies for tech nerds, right?

Odds are Lacy
wasn't the only one

he was
romantically involved with.

Hey.

I scrubbed through
Marks's phone and email

like you asked, looking for
other possible girlfriends,

and I might have something.

I found several references
to a woman named Eva,

messages that he sent
to friends saying

he couldn't wait
to introduce them to her.

- You get a last name?
- Negative.

And I also couldn't find
any Eva in his contact lists.

What's the over/under
this Eva also has a husband?

You know, Craig Walsh
did eventually give up

the contact info for the woman
who runs the invite list

for those Lifestyle parties.

Let's go talk to her.

If she made up the guest list,
maybe she knows who Eva is.

Never heard of her.

But you're the one who puts
these parties together, right?

I'm not a party promoter.

I'm a psychedelic doula.

And that entails what, exactly?

I curate bespoke experiences
for high-end clients

interested in exploring
the psychological

and intellectual benefits
of psychotropic substances.

You do realize
that those substances

are against the law?

I neither provide
nor partake myself.

Everything I do
is perfectly legal.

Clients come to me, and I
coordinate groups whose auras

are a good match and make
arrangements for them

to exchange energies and ideas.

This aura matching, it never
involved a woman named Eva?

No.

What about any men
that might have had an issue

with Marks's relationships
with other women?

Evan did mention
that earlier that day

he'd gotten into a
big fight with James,

his business partner.

- You mean James Sawyer?
- Yeah.

Evan said the fight
was intense.

Apparently, James was so upset
he punched a hole in the wall.

Did Evan ever tell you
what the fight was about?

No, but I do know
that James does not

approve of the Lifestyle.

He's very uptight--

much more the type to be
territorial over a woman.

I'm sorry, Mr. Sawyer,
but your plane's been grounded,

and I'm being told to wait.

I wanna talk
to your manager.

You can talk to us.

Hi. Detective Riley.
This is Detective Shaw.

We tried stopping
by your office,

and your assistant
told us were making

a little unexpected trip.

Did you ground my plane?

It seems like
you're in a rush.

Where you headed?
- Why does that matter?

Let's go have
a little talk over here, okay?

Word on the street is
that you and Evan Marks

had quite the fight last night.

We had an argument.
It's not uncommon.

We're both passionate people.

You guys argue about a woman?

A woman? No.

If word got out that
the C-suite is throwing

drug-fueled sex parties
at corporate HQ,

it's gonna be a problem.

Marks didn't agree?

Evan didn't care that his
Burning Man nonsense

doesn't exactly fly
with investors.

But if you think
I had anything to do

with what happened,
you're crazy.

Evan wasn't just
my business partner.

He was my best friend.

If you had nothing to do
with his murder, why skip town?

I'm not skipping town.

I'm flying to San Francisco
to meet with a crisis PR team.

Evan's death sent the
company's stock into a spiral.

I'm gonna go
mitigate the fallout.

All right,
where were you last night?

D.C. Flew back this morning.

Look, Evan was like
a brother to me,

which meant sometimes
we fought like brothers too.

You guys ever fight over Eva?

Eva?

No, that was completely
under Evan's purview.

I didn't really get involved.

What does Eva have to do
with any of this?

You tell us.
We don't even know who she is.

Eva isn't a woman.

She's a software program,

specifically
artificial intelligence.

She's the most advanced AI
ever achieved.

Allow me to introduce you
to EVA,

short for Electronic Virtual Assistant.

She's artificial intelligence
on a level

no one's ever seen before.

You and Evan Marks
ever have any disagreements

about her or it?

Research shows
that people prefer

giving artificial intelligence
a female name and pronouns.

Makes it less creepy.

You still didn't
answer my question.

No, I didn't have
any problems with Evan

wanting to implement EVA.

Honestly,
I think it's exciting.

But it was controversial.

There are definitely people
who felt differently.

What was Evan Marks doing
that was so controversial?

As the name implies,
EVA was initially designed

to assist our engineers
and programmers.

But she's self-learning.

And within months,
she advanced exponentially

beyond her initial capabilities.

The program is self-iterative,
and its processes operate

in a kind of black box.

There's no real way for us
to track what algorithms

she's using to evolve.

Not my area of expertise, but
doesn't that seem concerning?

Hence the controversy.

Aren't there regulations
in place

around this kind of thing?
- Not really.

Evan was a big proponent
of seeing

how far EVA could go
on her own.

The goal is for her to assist
the engineers and programmers,

but she can actually
do their jobs.

Except faster.

And for free.

That must have pissed off
a lot of employees.

Yeah, about 200 of them.

Last week,
Evan Marks fired over half

of his company's engineers
and replaced them

with the EVA AI system.

So you're saying that
when our witness

overheard Marks's killer say,

"You're turning her
against me,"

he was talking about
a computer program?

That's what we're thinking.

And according to Kevin Wu,
the operations manager,

Marks was ruthless about
the layoffs, right?

He kicked out 200 employees
on their asses

just like that without warning.

According to him, the future
left these people behind.

All that mind expanding
he had done

led him to innovating
beyond human empathy.

That's a lot of suspects
to sort through.

It is.

However, we can
put one of those suspects

at the crime scene.

So Wu gave us
all the data he had

on all the fired employees,
and it turns out,

the former chief programmer
Ben Stafford

used his key card
at the VenZip offices

the night Marks was murdered.

We checked with our
psychedelic doula friend too.

She confirmed
he definitely was not

on the list for the
Lifestyle party that night.

I can do you one better.
Listen to this.

Stafford posted this
on his social media

the day before the murder.

"Evan Marks will be
the downfall of humanity

"as we know it.

He's a plague that needs to be
eradicated immediately."

That's enough
for a search warrant.

Why don't you see
what you can turn up?

No, no, no,
don't touch that.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Back up. All right?

Just stay where you are.

This is insane.

I was just blowing off steam.

I wasn't saying I was
actually gonna kill him.

Then what were you doing
at the VenZip offices

the night of the murder?

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

- Right.
- Detectives?

We found this in the dumpster
behind the building.

- 9 millimeter.
- Yep.

That means we're gonna finish
this little conversation

of ours downtown, okay?

Let's go.

Ballistic tests prove
that the gun that we found

was the one used to kill Marks,
the guy who had just fired you.

We know you were there.
Just tell us what happened.

Any chance I could get
some of my medication?

Medication?
You mean the, uh,

the Adderall that we found when
we searched your apartment?

You're gonna have to produce
a doctor's prescription,

because the bottle
that we found

had no pharmacist label on it.

I don't have a prescription.

Then you don't
get the Adderall.

It helps me think straight.

How about this?

I'm happy to get you
an aspirin,

but until you start
telling us the truth,

it's the best I can do.

Ben, come on.

I'm looking at you,
and I can tell

that this is not easy to keep
this all bottled up inside.

You're not a bad guy, are you?

I brought the gun
to scare him.

I just wanted him to give
everyone their jobs back.

Guy like that,
he wouldn't listen, would he?

No.

The only people he cares about
are his rich friends.

Because of him,
hundreds of people

aren't gonna be able
to support their families.

Meanwhile, he's just up in
his office, throwing a party.

He wouldn't even have a company

if it wasn't for the work
we all did.

Okay, good.

So, you had an argument.

Uh...

I was so angry.

It just wasn't fair.

Next thing I knew...

I followed him to the ATM,
and I--

I shot him.

Okay.

I'm so sorry.

I didn't mean to.

Come in.

Don't say another word.

I'm Mr. Stafford's attorney.
This interview is over.

Ben Stafford,
you are under arrest

for the murder of Evan Marks.

You have the right
to remain silent

and refuse to answer questions,
do you understand?

People v. Benjamin Stafford,

charging murder
in the second degree.

How does the defendant plea?

Not guilty, Your Honor.

Tyrone,
I'll hear you on bail.

Your Honor, Ben Stafford
shot and killed Evan Marks

as retribution
for Marks firing him.

We cannot only place the
defendant near the crime scene

around the time of the murder

and tie the murder weapon
to him,

but Stafford himself
confessed to detectives.

Stafford lacks deep ties
to the community

and is facing a potential
25-year sentence,

making him a serious
flight risk.

We ask for remand.

Police coerced
a false confession

from an innocent man
under extreme duress,

an innocent man with no
criminal history, I might add.

We are confident
that Mr. Stafford

will be fully exonerated
and ask that he be released

on his own recognizance.

Bail set at 1 million.

Next case.

The jury is never gonna hear
that confession.

Look, how about this?

I'm happy to get you
an aspirin,

but until you start
telling us the truth,

that's the best I can do.

Ben Stafford developed
a physical dependency

on Adderall as a result
of the grueling hours

and high performance expectations

of his job at VenZip.

During the interrogation, he
was suffering from withdrawal.

He made multiple requests
for the drug.

In the course
of an interrogation,

the suspect requested
an illegally procured

controlled substance and
detectives, following protocol,

denied the request.

Police capitalized on my
client's compromised state

by dangling a promise
of access to the pills

in exchange for a confession.

He would have confessed
to anything in that moment

if it meant he'd get a fix,
and Detective Riley knew it.

Riley made no such promise.

"Until you tell us the truth,
that's the best I can do."

It was heavily implied.

That is a wild distortion
of Detective Riley's words.

I understand that
the detective may not

have intended to imply
a quid pro quo,

but there's sufficient evidence

to support the argument
that the defendant--

in his altered state--

interpreted it as such,
making the confession

involuntarily coerced
and inherently unreliable.

- Your Honor--
- The confession is out.

So you have a defendant
who confessed to the crime,

but the jury doesn't
get to know that.

Can we get a conviction
without the confession?

I think so.

Stafford's key card puts him
at the VenZip offices

right after midnight
on the night of the murder.

Marks was shot right
outside the building.

And Stafford had already
cleared out his office

the week before.

They're gonna have
trouble coming up

with a viable explanation
for him being there

other than confronting Marks,
especially at that hour.

Plus, the murder weapon was
recovered in his dumpster,

and you add to that
the clear-cut motive.

Yes, I still think we can win.

Just be careful.

The motive, in this case,
has the potential

to hurt as much as help.

Fear of losing one's livelihood
to AI is pervasive these days.

All I'm saying, Nolan, is,
it's gonna be easier

to sympathize
with the defendant

than the billionaire who
fired hundreds of employees.

Humanize the victim,
and remind them

Ben Stafford is the villain
in this story.

Mr. Sawyer, you were present
when Evan Marks notified

the defendant that the company
was letting him go,

is that correct?
- I was.

As co-founders, Evan and I
took our responsibilities

to our employees
very seriously.

We wanted to deliver the news
as humanely as possible.

And how did
the defendant react?

He was furious.

He threw a fit,
screaming, making threats.

It was a lot to take given that
it was his fault that

it was happening
in the first place.

How so?

He was the one
who created EVA.

That's the artificial
intelligence program

that the company is now using?

Yes, we discovered that
he had essentially

designed the software
to do his job for him.

He thought he was clever,
that he could just sit around

and do nothing while
collecting a big fat paycheck.

The defendant wasn't
the only employee

that you and Marks
replaced with EVA.

Unfortunately,
the software did

make a number of jobs
at the company redundant,

and we struggled
with what to do with that,

Evan more than me, even.

But ultimately, he felt
we had a responsibility

to push the boundaries
of science and technology

that through innovation,
some sort of utopia

could be reached.

When you say
that the defendant

made threats to Marks,
what did he say, exactly?

He got right up
in Evan's face

and said he was gonna pay
for what he'd done.

Thank you.

No further questions.

Mr. Sawyer,
how would you characterize

your relationship
with Evan Marks?

He was my best friend.

And on the business side,

things between you two
were good?

We had the perfect complement
of skill sets.

Evan excelled
at the big picture stuff,

while I'm good at executing.

Mr. Sawyer, do you
recognize these emails?

It looks like
correspondences between myself

and some of our
company board members.

Objection, relevance.

These emails establish that
Mr. Sawyer is not being honest

with the court
about the state of affairs

between him and Evan Marks.

Overruled.

What was the nature
of these exchanges?

I reached out to some
of our board members

to see if I could
rely on their support.

Because Evan Marks
was trying

to push you out of the company?

Yes.

He'd discussed that
with a few people.

He felt like you
were holding him back,

squelching his creative genius,
isn't that correct?

We were in the process
of sorting it all out.

What did you discover in your
communication with the board?

That I--

I didn't have the support
I'd imagined.

Meaning Marks
could effectively

fire you at any time?

Yes.

But now that he's dead,

you've been appointed
sole CEO, correct?

If you're trying to imply

that I'm the one
who killed Evan,

you're wasting your time.

I was in D.C.
the night he was shot.

That doesn't mean you
couldn't pay somebody

to do your dirty work.
- Objection, Your Honor.

The defense is trying
to suggest--

She's not suggesting,
she's asserting.

James Sawyer killed Evan Marks.

- Objection.
- Sustained.

Please disregard
defense counsel's statement.

You hung me out
to dry up there.

I had no way of knowing
they were coming for you.

Because you didn't tell us
what was really going on.

How did the defense know
about Marks's power grab?

Great question.

I have no idea.

Those were all company emails.

Do you think Stafford
hacked your server?

For all I know,
he had EVA do it for him.

They're trying to make it
look like I killed Evan.

That's insane.

He's gonna get away
with murder.

Tell Detective Riley

we're calling him
first thing tomorrow.

We need to refocus the jury.

Remind them
who the real killer is.

Like it or not, Nolan,
the defense just offered up

a perfectly plausible
alternative suspect.

Detective Riley, in the
course of your investigation,

you discovered
that the defendant

had been present
at the VenZip offices

the night Evan Marks
was murdered, is that correct?

Yes, he entered the building
at 12:14 a.m.

And Evan Marks was shot
right outside of there

not long after that.

Which is why
the defendant immediately

became a person of interest.

We then uncovered
a series of threats

that he had made against Marks,
so we executed

a search warrant
of his apartment.

And what did you find?

We found
a 9-millimeter pistol

in the dumpster
behind his building.

Is this the gun
that you found?

That's the one.

And did you run
ballistic tests on this gun?

We did.

They confirmed that it was,
in fact,

the weapon used to kill Marks.

Thank you.
No further questions.

Is there any evidence--
other than the keycard data--

that my client was
in the office that night?

For example, security video?

No, Evan Marks
had turned off

the security cameras
that night.

So that there would be
no evidence

of his illicit sex party
filled with illegal drugs?

Objection,
calls for speculation.

Sustained.

Were Ben Stafford's
fingerprints

on the gun that you found?

No, it had been wiped clean.

No further questions.

Detective, was the dumpster
where you recovered the gun

accessible to just anyone?

It was not.
It was behind a locked gate.

Well, who had a key
to that gate?

Only the tenants.

Do any of the tenants--
other than Ben Stafford--

have any ties to Evan Marks?

None that we could ascertain.

Thank you.

The prosecution rests.

You may call your first
witness, Ms. Greenough.

Your Honor, the defense calls
Ben Stafford to the stand.

I had nothing to do
with what happened to Evan.

Then how do you explain
all of the evidence

that the prosecution
has laid out?

I'M being set up
by James Sawyer again.

What do you mean again?

Well, about six months ago,

James and Evan called me
into a meeting.

They were frustrated
that the company's

engineers and programmers
weren't working fast enough.

It was absurd.

Everyone was working 16 hours
a day, seven days a week.

I had to take Adderall
just to keep up.

What did they
wanna discuss?

They wanted me
to create an AI program

to carry some of the workload,
make things go faster.

And what did you say?

I had real reservations
about the idea.

There were obvious
ethical implications,

but also, I didn't
want to be responsible

for putting my coworkers' jobs
in jeopardy.

But James and Evan made clear

they'd fire me
if I didn't do it.

So you did
what they demanded.

And they ended up
firing me anyway.

And then when
they fired everyone else,

they told them
that it was my fault,

that I created EVA on my own
so I didn't have to work.

- They made you the fall guy.
- Exactly.

And now James Sawyer
is doing it again.

I was at home,
asleep in my bed that night.

I've never fired a gun
in my life.

But your key card--

Easiest thing
in the world to clone.

My ten-year-old niece
could do it.

Well, what about the gun?

It was found behind
your apartment building.

James has access
to my personnel files.

He knows where I live.

But according
to the detective,

you need a key
to access the dumpster.

Half the time nobody
remembers to lock that gate,

and even if it's locked,
it's not hard to bypass.

I swear, I'm being set up here.

I'm innocent.

No further questions.

So...

By your own admission,

you had plenty of reason
to want Evan Marks dead.

He fired you and made you

the fall guy
for all the other layoffs.

And, in fact, you made
multiple threats against him,

both online and in person,
isn't that true?

Which is how James knew
I'd be the perfect patsy.

So we're to believe
that James Sawyer,

one of the most respected

and accomplished businessmen
of our time,

somehow arranged the murder

of his closest friend
and business partner

and then created some
elaborate scheme to frame you?

That's who these people are.

Evan Marks and James Sawyer,
they're all monsters.

They use honest,
hard-working people as pawns.

I'm just one more
meaningless no one

easily sacrificed so that
James Sawyer

can gain more power
and more profit.

And the thing is,
guys like him,

they always
get away with it too.

That was a hell
of a performance.

If I hadn't seen Stafford's
confession with my own eyes--

I know.

- Good, caught you.
- What's going on?

There's something
I need you to see.

Is there an office
we can go to?

Our offices were in the process

of upgrading
our security system

right before Evan was murdered.

So I took a look at one
of the new cameras

on the exterior
of the building.

There's a direct shot of the
ATM where Evan was murdered.

How the hell did police miss
that in their initial canvass?

Camera's so tiny,
you can't even see it

unless you to look for it.

But it was operational
that night

even though it wasn't
on the mainframe,

meaning that it wasn't
logged into the system.

That's Ben Stafford,
clear as day.

Oh, my God.

We got him.

Hey. You're in early.

Yeah, I couldn't sleep.

Something was bugging me.

Look at this.

What am I missing?

Well, this entire trial,

Stafford has been taking
meticulous notes

as people testify, you noticed?

Yeah.
Just figured he was--

Oh.

Stafford is left-handed.

But the shooter in this video
is using his right hand.

So what, you're worried
the video isn't real?

The defense blaming
James Sawyer for Marks's murder

is the top headline in news
outlets across the country.

What are the chances
that Sawyer just happens

to be the one to find
the perfect piece of evidence,

evidence that nails Stafford
and clears his name?

I get what you're saying.

He is the CEO.

They got all kinds
of security cameras.

But he didn't find
the video until yesterday?

I know the timing
is convenient,

but it doesn't prove anything.

No.

But given Sawyer's access
to advanced technology,

a deepfake video
of this caliber

isn't outside
the realm of possibility.

So what do you wanna do?

I am going to ask
for a continuance

while you get clarity
on the video's authenticity.

ITB used every tool they
have to analyze this thing,

but the results
were inconclusive.

So they can't tell
if it's real or fake.

I mean, the biggest giveaway
would be here.

For whatever reason,
even the most advanced AI

still struggles to render human
hands and fingers correctly.

But from this far away
and at this resolution,

it's impossible
to zoom in enough

to see Stafford's hands
in detail.

That could be by design
to avoid detection.

It could be.

It could also just be
a coincidence

that the camera
is that far away.

Yeah, well,
the problem is,

the coincidences
are really piling up here.

If this is a deepfake,
it is one

of the best ones I've seen.

But we just can't
say conclusively

one way or the other.

Hey.

So, um, Riley and Shaw
went back out

to the VenZip offices.

They confirmed that
there is, in fact,

a camera on the exterior
of the building facing the ATM.

Is there any way to verify
how long that camera

has actually been there?

There is documentation
alleging when it was installed,

but that would be easier
to manufacture

than a video, so--

- So no.
- Correct.

Which means we don't actually
know that it's false.

We don't know that
it's real, either.

If we don't present
the video, can we win?

I'm not sure.

It's a circumstantial case
with an unlikable victim.

And a likable defendant
who acts like he's the victim.

If the defense wants
to challenge the video,

they can call an expert
and debunk it.

Jack, we don't know
if it's actually real.

It's up to the judge.

He can deny its admission,

or he can leave it
up to the jury.

But by presenting it,
we're vouching for it.

We are telling the jury
we believe it's real.

I know Stafford is guilty.

He confessed, for God's sake,
but if we don't start drawing

the line between what's real
and what's not,

we'll be contributing to the
very problem that could--

hell, if every deepfake video
is admissible,

we'll never get
another conviction.

All the defense has to do is
show some perfectly credible

video that disproves our case.

We have a duty here.

Our duty is to the truth,
and the truth, in this case,

is that Ben Stafford
murdered Evan Marks.

Use the video.

End of the day,
it's up to the jury

to determine what the truth is.

That's--that's not me.

That's--no, I don't--

Sorry, you're--you're saying
that's not you in the video?

Right there.

No, I can see it's me.

It must be a deepfake.

So it is you, but what,
it's the video that's not real?

First off, I'm left-handed.

But your right hand
is functional.

You can certainly shoot
with that hand as well.

Maybe, but I don't,
and I didn't.

So this video that we are
all looking at with our eyes,

you're saying, well,
that's not real.

Objection,
asked and answered.

Sustained.

You're trying
to make it sound crazy,

but with AI these days,

you can make something
like this.

You don't even need
to doctor existing video.

You could just
make it whole cloth.

So you'd have us believe
that your key card was cloned,

that the murder weapon
was planted,

and now actual security footage
was created from thin air

using technology more advanced
than anyone here has ever seen,

all to frame you
when the simpler,

the more obvious answer is
that you murdered Evan Marks.

Please,
you have to believe me.

Mr. Stafford,
why should we believe you

over what we can see
with our own eyes?

Mr. Foreperson, has the jury
reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor.

In the charge of murder
in the second degree,

we find the defendant,
Benjamin Stafford, guilty.

Ladies and gentlemen
of the jury,

thank you for your service.

It was the right verdict,
put away a guilty man.

Yeah.

But what happens the next time
or the time after that?

This job was hard enough
when we knew the difference

between real and fake.

But now?