Original subtitles

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.

I need to speak to Ray Biller. He ain't here.

You know where he is?

No.

When was the last time you saw him?

What does that mean? It means I don't know.

You got his phone number?

Yeah. Good.

Because you're going to call him. You're going to find out where the hell he is.

What do you mean I'm going to call him? Hey, just do it. Understand? Let's go.

Come on.

Nolan, it's Vince Riley.

I need to talk to you right away. Call me back.

Theo, it's me.

I'm headed to a bar at 8th and 12th. Something's cooking, man. Call me back

right away.

Hey, Ray.

NYPD, man. We got to talk.

Hey, I'm talking to you.

I know what you're up to, Ray.

I know where you're going.

On my TV.

Vince?

Hey.

Hey, come on, man.

Hey, come on, Vince.

Hey, it's me.

Hey, it's walking.

It's walking. That's good.

That's good. That's good. You got this, man.

10-13, police officer down.

Potential suspect was seen running north on 8th Avenue, heading towards 13th

Street. Male, white, hey, come on, man.

Average height, build, was wearing dark clothes and white Nike sneakers.

Vince, stay with me.

Hey, come on.

Hey, hey.

Hey, we got this.

You got to stay with me.

You got to stay away from me, man.

Because I'm begging you, brother.

I'm begging you, man.

Stay with me.

How did this happen?

Hey, Jess.

Look, I got a message from Vince. He said he was heading to a bar on 8th and

12th. He said that he had something cooking.

What does that mean?

I have no idea. So I got his voicemail maybe two or three minutes later, and I

rush over to this bar he's talking about, right?

I get there, jump out of my cab, and I see some guy running like hell, and he's

holding a gun.

So I started to run after him.

Then I hear some people yelling for help.

I turn around, I see all this commotion.

And it's Vince, Jess.

He's on the ground.

Bleeding.

Okay.

Did you call his wife?

I tried a few times.

She's not answering.

Come on, Vince. Come on, man.

We're on the southeast corner of 8th and 15th. No sign of the suspect.

What about that guy?

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Wrong sneaks.

Hey!

Excuse me.

Sir!

What the hell?

Sorry about that. Sorry.

That's it?

Come on, run.

Damn it.

Looks like this prick slipped through containment.

I'm sorry.

What do you mean?

We did everything we could, but... And?

We couldn't save him.

He, um, called to tell me he couldn't meet me for dinner.

Said he had to do some work.

And I had a headache, so I went to bed early.

I just saw the missed calls.

But, um... So he, um, he died at the hospital?

Yes.

The doctors did everything they could.

Theo was at the scene.

He rushed him immediately to the hospital. He knew you rode in the

ambulance with him.

I am so sorry, Tara.

I tried to... Mom?

Is everything okay?

Where's Daddy?

Okay, a couple of things.

One, we need a formal statement from you ASAP, and two, you are benched until

further notice.

What? Benched?

Boss, some punk just killed Vince.

There's no world possible that you can be involved.

You're his partner, Theo. Any evidence you discover, any witness statement you

take, it's going to be useless. The defense is going to tear it apart.

They're gonna say that you're vengeful. They're gonna say that you're biased.

They're gonna say that you weren't thinking straight. I just need you to go

back to the precinct, collect your thoughts, stay the hell away from the

case.

All we know is that Vince called Detective Walker and Nolan shortly

before the shooting. I have listened to his voicemail ten times. I still don't

understand him.

Nolan, it's Vince Riley.

I need to talk to you right away. Call me back.

Well, whatever you need, Jess, we're here for you. Yeah.

I appreciate it.

But let's make sure we do this the right way.

The right way, as opposed to what way? I know how angry everybody is, and I

understand the impulse to be aggressive.

to do this fast, but it's a lot more important to do it correctly.

Okay? Okay.

Lieutenant Brady.

Yeah.

Robert Calvino.

Oh, hi.

Hey. I'm glad you're here. Me too.

Long story short, I need you to run a point with me.

Love it. What do we got so far?

Well, Detective Riley's partner Theo Walker arrived at the scene shortly

after the shooting and saw a possible suspect fleeing on foot.

That's a start. Yeah, so why don't you get a formal statement, then we'll go

from there?

Copy that. Great.

Theo. Hey.

Bobby Calvino.

Nice to meet you.

You mind? Please.

My condolences.

Thank you.

I never met Vince, but everyone says he was a great guy.

He really was.

According to Brady, you pulled up near the bar on 8th and 12th. You saw a

potential suspect fleeing on foot.

He was running north.

He was holding something in his hand that looked like a gun, so I took

notice. Looked like a gun or was a gun?

It was a gun.

It was a gun.

He was holding a gun in his right hand.

And can you describe what the man looked like?

White, average height, average build.

Clothing? Black jacket, black pants. And he was wearing white Nike sneakers.

So let's talk about this voicemail.

You got any idea what Vince was talking about?

No. It came out of the blue.

Where were you when he called?

Excuse me?

Where were you?

What does that have to do with anything?

Theo, if you're at a bar, that's something we want to know.

Right, sorry.

I was with a friend.

We weren't drinking. We were just hanging out.

All right.

I just wish I picked up when he called.

I mean, I saw it was Vince, but I didn't think anything of it. We were off the

clock.

And Vince didn't call a lot, so I...

I really should have known that something was up, that maybe you needed

my help.

No matter how you try to spend this, no matter who you were screwing, no matter

why I didn't pick up the damn phone, it ain't on you.

Full stop.

Let's put together a tight timeline for last night. Everything Vince did from 5

p.m. when he was technically off the clock until the time of the murder. Who

did he call? Why did he leave the messages for Walker and Price? Why did

he cancel dinner with his wife?

Et cetera.

LT, I got something.

His GPS puts him here for 15 minutes. This is three hours before the murder.

So was Vince known to be a ladies' man?

Hello?

Vince's wife is here. She wants to talk to you.

Last night, you asked if anything unusual had been going on.

And thank you.

I started thinking about it, and Vince had been withdrawing lots of cash for

the past six months or so.

$1,000 here, $2,000 there. It was unusual.

When I asked what it was for, he wouldn't say.

We got into a pretty big argument.

Was Vince a gambler?

Not that I know of.

But he had that kind of personality.

He was a drinker.

Worked really hard to stay sober.

There's no easy way to ask this, so I just want to apologize.

Is there any chance that Vince might have been having an affair?

I would find that hard to believe.

But anything's possible, I suppose.

Why do you ask?

No reason.

This is standard protocol.

Did you find something that suggests he was seeing someone else? No.

It's just a standard question.

But we really appreciate you coming down here and sharing this information with

us. It might be nothing, but... Vince always said there's no such thing as

meaningless information in a homicide investigation, so... Well, if there's

anything I can do to help, please just ask.

Feel for Riley's wife and the kids.

Yeah.

It's terrible.

Not entirely sure why you asked her about the affair.

Because it's relevant.

One more thing to think about. It's awful no matter what. It'd be so much

worse if he was cheating on her.

But, you know, Vince is a good guy. He's a good cop, regardless of what he may

have been doing with this woman.

People do things, you know, it's just what happens, but you just can't let it

define them. Wait, hold on. You doing this for me?

What?

Protecting Vince's reputation, because to be honest with you, I don't care if

you sleep with someone else.

Doesn't matter.

Not even a little bit.

Why are you showing me this?

Because the guy you're yelling at in the video got shot three hours later.

That's...

Horrible.

But what does that have to do with me? We just showed you the video.

You were screaming at him.

Mm-hmm.

Listen, is there any chance it has something to do with... Oh, you think

that... No.

No, this has nothing to do with him.

Okay, why don't we start at the beginning? How did you two meet each

other? He killed my husband.

Excuse me?

Ran him over with his car.

Drove right through a construction site.

Yeah.

I remember that. It was terrible.

But it happened a while ago. What were you arguing about a few days ago?

Because I told him to stop sending me cash.

He was giving you money?

Because he felt guilty about what he did. And that made you upset?

It made me feel dirty.

So I told him to stop.

Okay. So after you two arguing about him giving you money, which isn't something

most people argue about, to be honest, where'd you go?

I went to my cousin's house.

It was her birthday.

We got any luck?

Yes, sir.

Cousin confirms her story, and she sends over a few photos, too.

Hey. Hey, man.

Oh, hey.

How's it going, man?

Really?

Hey, look, man, I'm just trying to work here, okay? So if you want information,

you go talk to Lieutenant Brady.

Do we got a problem?

Damn right we got a problem. I'm just trying to do my job. And I'm just trying

to help you do your job. Hey, what's going on?

Look, I'm just trying to help. You need to go home.

Now.

I owe this to Vince.

Lou? Yeah?

I got something.

I've been going through Vince's most recent searches, and it appears he was

really interested in a guy named Ray Biller.

And per his GPS, he parked his car two blocks from Biller's apartment 40

minutes before the murder.

When was the last time you saw Ray Biller?

This morning around 9 a.m.

Did you ever hear him mention someone by the name of Vincent Riley?

No, but we're not really friends. We just live together.

Why? Because he's dead.

And he's a cop.

This Riley guy, is he tall, thin?

Yeah, that's him.

What does that mean?

He was here the other night. He was looking for Ray. Had me call him.

Did you?

I didn't really have much of a choice. This Riley guy is all business. So,

yeah, I did what he asked.

And Ray picked up?

Yeah, he was at a bar having a few pops.

He said he was about to do something crazy.

Ray Biller.

No, I don't know anyone of that name, but I definitely know a Wayne Biller. I

tried him for murder three years ago.

You think they're related?

Oh. What is it?

Wayne Biller was stabbed to death in prison seven days ago.

And he has one brother, Ray.

Okay, so they're brothers, but what does any of this have to do with Vince? Was

he involved with the case?

No. And yet he was clearly suspicious of Ray Biller. Yeah, he canceled dinner

plans with his wife, drove over to his apartment, then he raced downtown to

this bar he was at.

Which is only two or three blocks from my apartment.

We're saying that Ray Biller might have been looking for you.

Somehow Vince got in the way.

That is certainly possible.

Do we hear from the people that manage Price's apartment building?

Yes. They are going to send over the CCTV footage from five days prior to the

murder. Okay, great. And did you confirm that Billings' physical description

matches what Walker told you?

White, male, average height.

There's a photo on Vince's phone. He took it two days before the shooting. It

meant nothing when I first saw it, but now that we have a suspect.

I just talked to the roommate.

Biller used to work at a bar called Flanagan's in the West Village.

Flanagan's? Yes, sir. Yeah, I know Flanagan's.

He must have just seen him hanging around the courthouse looking

suspicious. Yeah.

Yeah, hi, I'm looking for Ray Biller.

Oh, actually, yes, that's why I'm calling. See, I'm his cousin, I was

driving down from Boston, and I can't find the damn address anywhere. You

think you could help me out?

Those for whom we pour out our prayers shall obtain pardon for their sins

through your tender mercy.

May they rejoice together, be blessed in your sight, and... What the

hell's going on? Get up. What the hell are you doing? Get up!

I ain't going to stay here. I ain't doing anything.

Ray Biller, you are under arrest for the murder of Detective First Grade Vincent

Riley. Let's go.

How dare you walk into a church in the middle of my brother's funeral?

Hey, my parents were in that church saying goodbye to their son. Their son

that raped and killed a young girl. He didn't do a damn thing. No? What? He was

framed? Railroaded?

That why you've been spending so much time following Nolan Price around

because your brother got a raw deal?

My parents have a right to sit through their son's funeral in peace. What you

did is not acceptable.

You know what's not acceptable?

Shooting a cop.

I don't know what you're talking about. I ain't shoot nobody.

Why you been spending so much time around the courthouse these past few

days? And the DA's office.

And Nolan Price's apartment building.

We know what happened.

Yeah? Then why are we even here? Because I'm giving you a chance to explain it.

Okay. I'm good.

But thanks.

You're good.

Look, losing your brother that way, sure was very painful.

I mean, you... wanted to kill Nolan Price because he's the guy that's

responsible for putting your brother in jail. And if your brother wasn't in

jail, he wouldn't have gotten stabbed.

You wanted payback. I get it.

But Vince Riley got in the way, and so you shot him.

And then you let him die on the street.

You got nothing to say?

Vince was my friend He had a wife and two kids

and you are going to pay for what you did

And if there's any justice in the world You're gonna end up just like your

brother lying dead in a pool of blood on the concrete floor of some crappy state

prison I want a lawyer. Yeah

I think that's a really good idea.

We have substantial GPS data and video surveillance which suggests Biller was

in proximity to the courthouse, the DA's office, and Nolan's apartment in the

days prior to the murder. So you're confident your initial hunch as to

motive was accurate?

Yes. Did we recover the murder weapon?

No. But, as I said, we do have evidence that can prove he was following Nolan

and that he was near the crime scene at the time of the murder, and we also have

Detective Walker.

Meaning what?

Walker arrived at the crime scene a few minutes after the shooting, and he saw

the suspect fleeing, and his description of the suspect matches Biller in terms

of height, build, skin color, and he noticed that he was wearing a white pair

of Nike sneakers, which we recovered when we searched Biller's apartment

building.

Sounds good.

Let's charge the bastard with murder one.

The people versus Ray Biller.

Ms. Maroon. Your Honor, given the severity of the charge and the potential

sentence of a life without a possibility of parole, people request remand. Mr.

Lee. We request reasonable bail, Your Honor. The evidence here is highly

circumstantial. Moreover, the defendant has deep ties to the city and is

prepared to wear a monitoring device.

The defendant is hereby remanded. Mr.

Biller is entitled to a presumption of innocence. As the Supreme Court held in

Salerno, there is... I don't need a history lesson, Mr. Lee. Your client is

charged with killing a cop. That means he is a flight risk and poses a

legitimate threat to the general public.

He is hereby remanded. Hey, you're a punk, Biller. You hear me?

You're nothing but a punk, and I'm going to tell my friends on the inside all

about you, yeah?

I hope you're ready to have a little fun.

I feel for Riley's brother.

I don't blame him.

Given the facts in the case and the likelihood that you'll be called to

testify, you're going to need to sit this one out. I assumed as much. Who is

going to try the case?

Me.

On August 8th...

The defendant's older brother was stabbed and killed in the Greenhaven

State Prison, where he was serving a life sentence for the rape and murder of

a young woman named Allison Whitney.

Shortly thereafter, the defendant began to follow the man who prosecuted that

case, Nolan Price.

We have substantial video evidence showing the defendant outside the

courthouse, the DA's office, and Mr.

Price's personal residence.

We also have text messages in that time frame from the defendant to various

family members blaming that evil prosecutor for his brother's death.

Detective Vincent Riley became aware of the defendant's plan to exact revenge

because he was one of the finest detectives the New York Police

Department has ever known.

And he tried to intervene.

He tried to stop the defendant from executing his revenge.

And in the process, the defendant shot and killed Detective Riley.

Vince Riley was a good man.

He was a good husband.

He was a good father.

And unfortunately, we can't bring Vince back

to life.

But we can get justice for him and his family.

And that's why we're here.

And that is what we intend to do.

D.I. Baxter just gave a wonderful and impassioned opening argument.

The only problem is, he's wrong.

Ray Biller did not.

kill Vincent Riley.

He's never even met or seen Vincent Riley.

In short, the DA is trying the wrong person for this murder.

And the reason why he's doing this is because Ray Biller had the audacity to

open a wrongful conviction inquiry into his brother's prior murder case.

Ray Biller was about to expose the rampant corruption in the DA's office.

The DA's objective is not justice.

It is to destroy Ray Biller so Ray Biller can't destroy him.

So, uh, what can I do for you?

Well, you can tell me we're gonna win.

Right?

You tell me we're going to convict this guy? I'm not directly involved in the

case, but from what I hear, the evidence is strong. The only negative is we don't

have the murder weapon.

What?

It's a pretty big negative, no? It would obviously be better if we had it, but

like I said, the evidence is strong.

Man, guys like Vince shouldn't die young.

He was a good man.

I owe him a lot.

Yeah, you're damn right you do.

At least he went out like a hero, right?

I mean, that's gotta count for something, right?

All right, so we're gonna win this thing, right?

I can't promise.

but I can assure you we are doing everything in our power to get justice

for Vince.

You're doing everything you can?

Are you kidding me?

You got no balls.

You know that?

Vince died trying to save your ass. You can't even look me in the eye and tell

me we're gonna win.

It's not right, bro.

The evidence against the defendant's brother, Wayne Biller, was significant.

It was clear to the police and to the prosecutors and ultimately to the jury

that he raped and killed Allison Whitney.

Can you give us a quick overview of this significant evidence?

His DNA was found on the victim's thigh and under her fingernails.

We also had eyewitness testimony from a patrol officer who saw him near the

abandoned warehouse where Miss Whitney's body was found.

You've tried a lot.

of murder cases, how would you characterize this one in terms of its

complexity? I'd say this is one of the more simple, straightforward cases I

have ever tried.

Nothing further.

The case was simplistic and straightforward because your key

eyewitness was corrupt, correct?

No, that's not true.

Isn't it true that in Officer Mill's initial statement, he said he didn't see

Wayne Biller's face, and then a few weeks later, he picked Wayne Biller out

of a photo array?

Yes, but that doesn't mean he was lying. He saw the photo and it jogged his

memory. This is quite typical.

There's a difference between memory and recall.

It's much easier to recognize someone that you've seen than describe what you

may have seen. It's a known scientific fact.

Known by corrupt cops and prosecutors, no doubt.

Objection. Sustained.

Nothing further.

Detective Calvino, did you execute a search warrant on the defendant's

residence?

Yes. And what evidence did you recover?

We recovered a black jacket and a pair of black jeans in his closet. We also

recovered a pair of white Nike sneakers, size 11, in the dumpster inside the

apartment building. And did you find any other shoes in the defendant's closet?

Yes, we did. What size were they?

Size 11.

Nothing further.

You found a black jacket and a pair of black jeans in his apartment.

That's correct. There was no blood on any of these articles of clothing,

correct? No.

And the Nike sneakers that you found in the community dumpster, there was no

blood on those either, correct?

That's correct.

So let's talk about the evidence you didn't recover. Like the gun used

to kill Detective Riley.

The police never found the weapon, correct?

Yeah. And Mr. Biller doesn't own any firearms, correct?

I have no idea how many he owns.

They're not registered in his name, correct? Yes, but we all know that

people can buy guns. So what you're actually saying, Detective, is that you

can't prove that Mr. Biller was the shooter.

No, I'm saying we didn't find the gun. I'm not saying we can't prove it. But

you don't have a gun.

And we all know it's impossible to tie a specific round of ammunition without the

actual weapon used to fire that ammunition. So I say again, it is

impossible to prove that Mr. Biller was the shooter.

Correct? There's other ways to prove it.

Your Honor, please direct the witness to answer the question.

Yes or no, Detective?

We can prove that he's guilty, but I suppose we cannot prove that he's the

shooter. If you can't prove that he's a shooter, then how on earth

can he prove that he's guilty?

Nothing further.

Hey.

Hey, Detective Walker. How you doing, man? Sir.

Hey, drinks around me, all right? No, I'm under the tab. You sure?

Mm-hmm.

Jack on the rocks for me, please.

You good?

Can I be honest with you, man?

I'm worried, you know?

I mean, this Craig defense attorney's actually doing a good job.

I haven't been able to watch since I'm a witness.

From what I hear, it sounds like we're doing okay.

I don't know, man.

If he gets off, I'm worried I might kill this guy.

You've been drinking.

Oh, man, I'm serious.

I know what I'm capable of. I know who I am.

If this son of a bitch walks out of this courtroom a free man... Hopefully we

never get there.

Hopefully ain't good enough, man.

I get it.

All right?

Sometimes hopefully is all there is. All right, so you said before that you saw a

shooter leave the scene, right?

But you didn't see his face.

Is that still the case?

I'm not sure what you're asking.

You need to step up, Theo.

Not for me, for Vince.

For his wife.

For his little kids.

They need this.

Hey, Theo. Hey. Thanks for coming down.

Just wanted to go over your statement, do a little prep.

Right.

Okay.

Could you tell the jury where you were on the night of August 12th around 9.45?

It was on the corner of 8th and 12th.

Why were you there?

A partner, Vince Riley, left me a voicemail, told me the medium there said

it was important.

And when you exited the vehicle, what was the first thing you saw?

A man running north of Pate Avenue.

Can you describe what he looked like, what he was holding?

He was white.

Average height, average build, dark hair, and he's holding a gun in his

right hand.

Did you see his face?

Yes.

Wait, you're saying that you saw Biller's face?

Yes.

Okay, since when?

Excuse me? In your statement, you said you didn't get a good look at the

suspect's face.

Right, yeah.

I didn't get a good look, but I got a look.

When they arrested Biller, it was clear that he was the man I saw running away

from the scene, holding a gun in his right hand.

Theo, I understand what you're doing.

And I get it, I do.

But lying on the stand is...

It is something that will sit with you for the rest of your life.

But having that man walk free?

That would be even worse.

But luckily, I'm not lying.

I know what I saw.

You don't buy his story?

No. I'm not sure that really matters.

I'm sorry.

If Walker is willing to testify that he saw Ray Biller fleeing the scene, that

he now remembers seeing his face... He's lying.

Can you prove it?

No. But in his original statement, he said that he didn't get a good look at

the suspect's face. And Biller's defense lawyer is going to make that abundantly

clear to the jury.

But Walker's a cop.

He's good at this. They are going to believe his story.

If it's actually a story, there is a big difference between describing someone's

face in the moment... and recalling someone's face down the road with a

visual reference. You just said the exact same thing on the stand. Yeah, I

know, but that is not what is happening here. In your opinion.

I appreciate your principles, I really do.

I mean, Vin saved your damn life. No, no, no, no, no. There is nothing that I

want more than to convict Ray Biller.

But I want to do it the right way.

I am putting Walker on the stand. End of story.

And he is going to put the final nail into Ray Biller's coffin.

Has the jury reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor.

How does the jury find?

On the charge of murder in the first degree, we the jury find the defendant

guilty.

Members of the jury we thank you for your service.

We are adjourned.

So Vince is no longer with us.

His courage, his humor, and his inherent sense of

decency will live on through all of us, especially his two beautiful children,

Bridget and Spencer.

In many ways, it's fitting that Vince died trying to help someone else, in

this case, someone he wasn't even particularly fond of.

But Vince didn't pick and choose when to be a hero or

when to do the right thing. That's just who he was and how he was.

So, in my humble opinion, there's never been someone more

deserving to have his name and legacy memorialized here at the NYPD Wall of

Honor.