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, 'cause you're gonna call him.

You're gonna find out where the hell he is.

What do you mean I'm gonna call...

- 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 gotta talk.

Hey, I'm talking to you.

I know what you're up to, Ray.

I know where you're going.

- Help! Help! - That's the shooter.

Hey!

- Hey, stop! - Help! Help!

- Please! - Can someone help?

Can somebody help us, please!

Hey, move back!

Get out of the way! Get out of the way!

Move, move. Move back. Get out of the way. NYPD.

Vince?

Hey. Hey, come on, man.

Hey, come on, Vince.

Hey, it's me. Hey, it's Walker.

It's Walker. 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, headed towards 13th Street,

male, white.

Hey, come on, man!

Average height, build.

He was wearing dark clothes and white Nike sneakers.

Vince, stay with me.

Hey, come on. Hey, hey.

Hey, you got this.

You gotta stay awake.

You gotta stay awake for me, man.

Vince, Vince, I'm begging you, brother.

I'm begging you, man.

Stay with me!

Vince, stay with me, man! Come on!

How did this happen?

Hey, Jess.

Look, I got a message from Vince,

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... did you call his wife?

I tried a few times.

- She's not answering. - Okay.

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, whoa, whoa.

Wrong sneaks.

10-10, all units.

Suspect spotted heading east on 17th Street.

Hey!

Excuse me, sir!

What the hell?

Sorry about that.

Sorry. That's it?

Come on, man.

Damn it.

Looks like this prick slipped through the 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.

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

I just saw the missed calls.

But, um...

So he...

he died at the hospital?

Yes.

The doctors did everything they could.

Theo was at the scene.

He rushed him immediately to the hospital,

and he rode in the ambulance with him.

I am so sorry, Tara.

I tried.

Mom, is everything okay?

Where's Daddy?

Come here, guys.

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 gonna be useless.

The defense is gonna 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 listened to his voicemail ten times.

I still don't understand it.

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, hey. - Hey.

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

Long story short, I need you to run 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.

It looked like a gun, so I took notice.

Looked like a gun or 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 were at a bar, that's something we wanna know.

Right, sorry.

I was with a friend.

We... 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 he needed my help.

No matter how you try to spin this,

no matter who you were screwing,

no matter why you didn't pick up the damn phone,

it ain't on you, full stop.

Okay, let's put together a tight timeline for last night,

everything Vince did from 5:00 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 is Vince known to be a ladies' man?

- Hey, Lou? - 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...

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 wanna 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.

Thank you.

I feel for Riley's wife and the kids.

Yeah.

It's terrible.

I'm not entirely sure why you asked her about the affair.

Because it's relevant.

It's 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. - Right.

- People do things, you know? - It's just what happens.

But you just can't let it define them.

- Hold on. - Let me...

are you doing this for me?

What?

Protecting Vince's reputation?

Because to be honest with you, I don't care

if he was sleeping with someone else.

It 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-mm.

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 are 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 sent over

a few photos too.

Hey. 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 9:00 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's 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?

Um...

- 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.

Are you saying that Ray Biller

might have been looking for you?

Somehow Vince got in the way?

That is certainly possible.

Did we hear from the people that manage

- Price's apartment building? - Yes.

They are gonna send over the CCTV footage

from five days prior to the murder.

Okay, great, and did you confirm that

Biller's 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 Flannagan's

- in the West Village. - Flannagan's?

- Yes, sir. - Yeah, I know Flannagan's.

He must have just seen him hanging around the courthouse

- looking suspicious? - Yeah.

- Yeah, hi. - I'm looking for a 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.

- Get up. - Stay down.

I didn't do anything.

Ray Biller, you're 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?

And 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 didn'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,

I'm sure it 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. Maroun?

Your Honor, given the severity of the charge

and the potential sentence of life

without a possibility of parole,

the 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...

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!

Hear me? You're nothing but a punk.

And I'm gonna 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 gonna 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 Green Haven 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.

DA 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 what can I do for you?

Well, you could tell me we're gonna win, right?

You can tell me we're gonna 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?

That'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.

I know.

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 you that, 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 Ms. 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 was 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 Mills' 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.

There are none 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 the 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 are on me, all right?

Nah, I'm running a tab.

- Are 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 prick 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.

Nah, 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 the 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.

Yeah, you are.

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.

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

All right.

Okay.

Could you tell the jury where you were on the night

of August 12th around 9:45?

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

Why were you there?

My partner, Vince Riley, left me a voicemail,

told me to meet him there, said it was important.

And when you exited the vehicle,

what was the first thing you saw?

A man running north up 8th Avenue.

Can you describe what he looked like,

what he was holding?

He was white, average height, average build, dark hair.

And he was holding a gun in his right hand.

And 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...

That is something that will sit with you

for the rest of your life.

You're right.

But having that man walk free,

now, 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 gonna make that

abundantly clear to the jury.

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, Vince saved your damn life.

No, no, no, no, no.

There is nothing that I want more

than to convict Ray Biller.

But I wanna 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.

Though 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.