All language subtitles for Raising the Bar s01e04 Richie Richer.eng

[sirens]

All rise. Court is back in session.
The Honorable Trudy Kessler presiding.

OK, docket ending 4265, People v.
Shaun Gaspie,

charged criminal possession of
stolen property, fifth degree.

Hey, Shaun. Back again?

Rosalind Whitman for office
of the public defender.

- Waive the readings, not the rights.
- Good evening. Working tonight?

- One case.
- [Marcus] The people's offer

is the docket and six months.

This defendant has nine stolen radio
cases and three bench warrants already.

Can't prove theft or
they'd charge larceny.

Screwdriver doesn't cut it as burglar's
tool. I've worked with Gaspie for years.

So how about a
disposition, Ms. Whitman?

Conditional discharge and drug program.
My office will find him treatment.

- Plead him. Get him treatment.
- His record falls under our

operation spotlight guidelines.
He's the kind of one-man crime wave

- our crackdown is supposed to stop.
- That may be,

but a dozen jail sentences
haven't done much good.

- Maybe they haven't been long enough.
- Or maybe Mr. Gaspie's problem

is something jail doesn't solve.

This time, we do it Ms.
Whitman's way.

Who knows? It might
make a difference.

[Kessler] Next case, please.

Damn, Roz. I figured I was
going to the island for sure.

Gotta come into the office on
Monday so we can talk programs.

- Yeah, a program is good.
- I thought we were done with radios.

I did, too, till I grabbed it.

- We can do this.
- I don't know.

It's been 11 years. I've been
nothin' but a disappointment.

I've got faith.

I'm gonna have a social worker
waiting in my office, 2:00.

Sure you can make it till then?

I'll be there.

Hey, Roz. You know I trust
you with my life, right?

Yeah. Seven or eight
times by my count.

Hold this for me. It's from my mom.

Nine hundred and thirty dollars?

It's what she had when she passed.

The guy from the bank, well, he
was gonna cash it for me, but...

But you were afraid
you'd just spend it.

I just didn't want that

to be the last thing
that she did for me.

- You want me to hold on to it?
- Be my personal Citibank.

[knocking on door]

Hi. - How did you
get in the building?

Don't talk to me through the
crack, blanco, for real.

- Hey...
- So... this is where you live?

- You can't just come in here.
- But I did.

And newsflash, the world is still spinning.
You need to unclench.

- This is muy sexy, papi.
- What we did was one night.

It ended there.
I don't like you, I...

Stalking me is not
gonna change anything.

Wait, wait, wait. Stalking?

You show up at my
work, at my place...

Sweetie, you need to think again.

- You helped me with the judge.
- I didn't.

I'm trying to give
a proper thank you.

You call it stalking,
I call it polite.

OK.

- What are you doing?
- Whatever you want.

A bus ticket, or a fix...

I don't care. Just take it and go.

Why are the pretty
ones always so stupid?

I'm not a freak. I'm a designer.

- You're a barista.
- I know guys twice as rich as you

who want to be my papi.
I could have my own line tomorrow.

But I'm not a sellout,
and I'm not a whore.

Fine. You're the next
Oscar de la Renta.

I still just want you
to leave me alone.

You should see the
way you look at me.

- Please...
- Look at me, blanco.

Look at me.

I came here

'cause I want to make you feel
the way you did the other night.

That's the only reason.

Now, you stand there,
and you look at me,

and you tell me you
don't want that.

[Richard] Gotta get
to arraignments, Dad.

[man] Let the huddled
masses stew a while.

I need you to sign some
updated trust documents.

- Keys to the kingdom?
- Not quite,

but this'll kick off some
interest income next month.

- I like interest.
- If you were really my son,

you would have said, "
I prefer principal."

I'm all about principle, not
the interest generating kind.

Exactly why I'm keeping the
big bucks out of your hands

until you outgrow the
urge to give it away.

- Not gonna happen.
- Nothing like turning 40

and having a kid to beat the
philanthropic urge out of you.

- Keep dreaming.
- What I'm dreaming of is the day

my eldest son decides to get
a real job in the real world.

- Your eldest son has a real job.
- Oh, please.

Low-end criminal defense
isn't law, it's butchery.

- Then I'm a damn fine butcher.
- You ought to be a damn fine lawyer.

How about you stick with your
reprobates, I'll stick with mine.

You're gonna figure out that you can't
change the world one person at a time.

I can do more good in the 35 seconds
it takes me to write a check

- than you can do in a year.
- My office needs money.

If you believe that, you'd put
your money where your mouth is.

Well, maybe I will.

[door slamming]

I know I'm gonna
have to do some time.

And I know this looks bad.

I just want to be able to care
for my wife... before she goes.

Any idea what I'm lookin' at here?

Sentence depends on a lot of things:
um, evidence, which judge we draw...

I'd have been better off if
I turned the gun on myself.

Don't give up on yourself, Danny.
We haven't even started fighting.

I'm out of work, I can't afford
my wife's pain medication,

my daughter's about to drop out
of college to spare me telling her

I don't got money.
I don't got fight left.

How you getting by?

I work here and there
as a freelance mechanic.

- And before that?
- I was a doorman for 23 years.

Eighteen months from retirement,
Shawcross in 3-D gets me fired.

- What'd you do?
- She was banging the dog walker

while her husband was at work.
He came home and caught 'em.

She accused me of rattin' her out.
He gets the divorce,

she gets the apartment,
I get the boot.

Six months later, I can
barely feed my family.

Those tools are the only
things I have to make a living.

- The guy was trying to steal them?
- I saw him casing the truck.

- I tried to chase him off.
- So why not just call the cops?

I've been broken into before.

So this time you decided to
take care of it yourself.

I grabbed the rifle
from out of the closet

and I ran down there
to chase him off.

At first, I just was gonna
scare him, and then he turns.

He already had popped
the lock on the truck,

and he had this sharpened
screwdriver which he points at me.

This big shank and he shrugs like,
"Hey, what are you gonna do about it?"

And I just snapped!

I... I got no excuse here.

I'm a bad guy, I did a bad thing.

No. You're a good guy
that did a bad thing.

That makes all the difference.

The endangering charge is based
on the condition of the home.

But my house is clean. Ask my kids!

The complaint says there were
vermin, rats, and roaches visible.

I live in the projects. Every apartment
in my damn building got rats and bugs.

They can arrest me and take my babies
for living where the city made me live?

It sucks, but yes, they can.

When Eric was three, he fell down.
I was using then.

He was in the ICU for three days.
I thought I might lose him.

I ain't never used since.

I done been through too
much and come too far

- to have them be in foster care.
- I promise you,

we will fight in family court, but we
have to focus on the criminal case.

- A bunch of trumped up nonsense.
- Trumped up how?

To make me say I saw a
murder when I didn't. See...

...two months ago, these
hookers turn up dead

on the landing outside my door.

- And you were a witness?
- Hell, no!

Which is what I told them then.
But then yesterday they back,

saying someone says
I saw everything,

so I better start
tellin' 'em the truth.

- Did you give them a statement?
- I said I don't know nothing,

and to please leave my house.

Then the fat one talkin' 'bout rats
and bugs and how he got discretion

to overlook certain things, but
if I ain't helping him then...

And that's how they arrested you?

Eric got a clinic appointment
on Thursday for his asthma.

If Melissa don't practice
for the talent show,

she gonna make a damn fool
of herself. Please, mister.

They need me. OK?
I got to be with my babies.

Please.

- You're avoiding me.
- Interviewing clients.

- And you've been avoiding me.
- You wanted to take a break.

During the Rodriguez
trial, which is over.

You promised to buy
drinks after you beat me.

Yeah. Well, that was before...

Come to order. Court is back in session.
Judge Trudy Kessler presiding.

Find me later, Jerry.
We need to talk.

Docket ending 6472, People v.
Douglass Rennard,

- trespassing, third degree.
- [Michelle] Third arrest this year.

- People recommend 90 days jail.
- You kidding?

My client lives next door
to where he was arrested.

He was on his way to see his friend,
James Pearson, in apartment 12-F.

According to officers,
no one home in 12-F.

Mr. Pearson doesn't have a phone.
He does have a social life.

- Fine. Time served.
- Done.

- Guilty?
- To trespass.

- Waive allocution for sentence.
- Time served. Surcharges waived. Next!

Get you home. Call if you need me.

[man] Docket ending 6556, People v.
Sabrina Watson,

endangering the welfare of a child.

Waive the reading, not
the rights. - No offer.

- My file says $5,000 bail.
- Five thousand?

- You looked at this?
- Police responded

to the defendant's apartment, where
they found a dirty home with rats.

In their judgment, these
conditions constituted a danger

- to the defendant's children.
- [Jerry] A homicide detective

making a misdemeanor arrest?
This whole thing is a farce designed

to squeeze Ms. Watson for
information about a murder.

People's request is high.

Is there any validity to what Mr.
Kellerman alleges?

Yes, judge. The detectives believe that Ms.
Watson has critical information

regarding a double-homicide
in her building.

The size of the bail request is based
on her status as a material witness?

- Correct.
- Can't strong-arm a witness

by fabricating a case
and exorbitant bail!

Whatever their intention,
the arrest is legitimate,

but it is also not
deserving of bail.

[Kessler] If you have a case to
make, make it the old-fashioned way.

Defendant is released
on her own recognizance.

Call me early. We need to hook up
with a family court lawyer pronto.

Sit in the front row,
wait for your paperwork.

[woman] Next case, please.

[man] Docket ending 5627,

People v. Brandon Radley,
possession.

[man] Adam Curson, officer was
in his car, Brandon Radley...

Cop just followed your girl out.

- [woman] Your Honor...
- Damn it.

- Hey, hey! Detective!
- Counselor.

- What are you doing?
- None of your business.

- It is. This is my client.
- Not on this case.

On every case, detective. Back off.

T'quan Randolph's 13 years old.

You know T'quan, right,
little paralyzed kid?

Slings crack from his wheelchair.

Keeps two packs of
red-tops under his cushion.

Guess who put him in that chair?
Same guy he's sellin' for today.

Same guy tagged him with a
stray bullet when he was 11.

Same guy put those hookers
in the garbage bags.

- She doesn't know about it.
- Sure, she does.

Because she won't help, this
psycho's gonna run the building,

- and that is a threat to everyone.
- Then nail him, not her.

She's not the threat. But you want
to talk to her, you go through me.

You public defenders make me sick.

You're the first to call crying
when Uncle Jimmy gets mugged,

but won't lift a finger
for the greater good.

Me? I got a responsibility
to protect the decent people

from the animals you represent.

Your girl here, she saw what
happened and she's gonna say so.

Not on my watch, detective.

It ain't up to you, counselor.

You don't have to talk to this guy.

Not now, not ever. OK?

I want you to go home. Go home.

Docket ending 6540, People v.
Daniel Lugano,

charged with attempted
murder in second degree.

Richard Woolsley, office of
public defender for Mr. Lugano.

Waive the readings, not the rights.

This is an attempted murder case.

Defendant shot the victim
three times, one in the back.

- People are asking $50,000 bail.
- My client had a permit.

He's worked as a doorman for
25 years without receiving

so much as a ticket. He's been
elected to neighborhood council,

put three kids through school and half
his building is here to support him.

Firearm was used unlawfully,
doesn't matter if it's registered.

- Lawfully in self-defense.
- Self-defense is a jury question.

Reciprocal 19050 notice that my client
intends to testify in the grand jury.

Under the facts of this case,

no way he's indicted
for attempted murder.

I'm asking you to release him.

Actually, I'm advised that
the complainant, Mr. Gaspie,

died of his injuries about ten
minutes ago at Harlem Hospital.

- Shaun Gaspie?
- Yes.

[Michelle] I'm instructing court
and counsel that the People intend

to upgrade the charges to
murder in the second degree,

- and we're now requesting remand.
- It was 50,000 ten seconds ago.

It wasn't a mandatory
life sentence.

Enough. Under the circumstances,
bail is set as a $150,000, cash.

[Kessler] Next case, please.

Hey.

- Can I, uh...
- Yeah.

What's up?

Shaun Gaspie's dead.

What?

He was shot.

153rd and Lenox.
He died this morning.

Oh, my God.

- I'm so sorry.
- It's my fault.

- No, it's not.
- Yes, it is.

I shouldn't have taken his money.

I should've gotten a social worker.

No. You did everything right.

He wanted to be free,
you got him out.

He needed help and you got it for him.
Not just this time.

You've been there for him ever
since I joined this office.

How did you hear?

I got the shooter.

I didn't realize it
when I picked it up.

Sorry, I'll get off
it this afternoon.

No, whoa...

Have you arraigned
him yet? - Yeah.

- Keep the case.
- What?

No. No. I'll just ask Kessler
to assign a panel attorney.

No.

I've been doing this 17 years.
Seventeen years of explaining myself

at cocktail parties and never going out
on a date without justifying my job

to someone who'd look at me
straight in the face and say,

"You wouldn't do it if it
happened to someone you loved."

This is what we do, Richard.
This is when we tell them all,

"It's happened to someone I love...

...and it doesn't change a thing."

Take the case. Tell your
client about the conflict,

and if he still wants you, then...

...you swing for the fences.

OK, I will.

[knocking]

What's up?

I want to keep the
homicide from this morning.

Which? The vigilante doorman?
You don't want it.

Yeah, I do. - The dead
guy's a skel with a rap sheet

the length of the Ganges. It's a PR
nightmare and it probably comes out

of the grand jury
as man one anyway.

Slow down, this is New York City.

- Murders grow on trees.
- But if I put it in as a murder two,

and submit both intentional
and depraved...

Look, all a jury's gonna see here is a
decent citizen versus a hard-core crook.

Justification for shooting is weak,

- they'll cut the guy a break.
- Shouldn't be a popularity contest.

- I think I can get a murder out of it.
- In your last murder case,

- Jerry Kellerman ate your lunch.
- I pushed too hard there.

No. You didn't push hard enough.

One more chance. But if this thing
looks like it's going south,

you get out in front
of it and plead it.

Don't get caught with your skirt
up like you did last time.

- I am not pleading it.
- Come on, look at the facts.

Like he was ten feet away
when he pulled the trigger?

Or he's got a hunting
rifle in New York City?

How about he's facing a guy
trying to steal the only thing

that'll put his kid through college
or pay for his wife's medications?

I'm sympathetic.
It's not rationale for murder.

Self defense is.
Dead guy had a weapon.

Cops have shot people for less.

Is he gonna throw it at your guy?

Don't you guys have a conflict?

Shaun's dead and client consented
to having our office do the case,

so we're OK. - Damn, I
feel a trial comin' on.

- Just make me a fair offer.
- Somehow I don't think you guys

- are gonna agree on what's fair.
- I don't know. OK.

I'll give you murder two,
with the minimum, 15 to life.

- Like I said.
- [cellphone ringing]

Excuse me. Hello? It's Jerry.

Yeah. OK.

Gotta go.

[sirens]

I thought you said
it was the side door.

- You got me confused. I told you...
- Sabrina! Not another word!

- You do not have to talk to them.
- What the hell are you doing?

I'm walking her out of here.
Where the hell do you get off...?

Investigating a double homicide and I
don't need some lawyer interfering.

Don't talk to her and you
won't have to deal with me.

She was on her stoop and refused
to move when ordered to.

That's disorderly
conduct, counselor.

New case, no lawyer necessary.

Get the hell out of my squad room.

Second grade detective writing
a violation in homicide unit

sounds like the punch line
of a civil suit to me.

- You look, you mother...
- What?! You gonna hit a lawyer?!

- Get out.
- She comes with me.

- No, she stays.
- Then arrest her.

But I'll have her out and have
you down in corp counsel's office

trying to explain
away the false arrest.

Let's go, sweetie.

And for the last time, you
want to talk with her?

You call this number.

Twenty-seven is all I have.
Don't suppose you'd wait...

Not me, not tonight.

They ain't never gonna
leave me alone, are they?

Twenty of them saw those cops
roll up on me. Them cops...

Cops is playing project pool.

Making it look like I'm
talking when I'm not.

I'm gonna do everything I can to
make that stop. You're not alone.

All right, go get some sleep.
Lock the doors. Don't answer to anyone.

Call me first thing
tomorrow. - Thanks.

Hey, hey. You gonna be all right?

Yeah. I'm good.

How you doing, brother?

Hey.

Hey. How you holding up?

I'm good. Did you get an
offer on the homicide?

[sighs] No.

She won't budge.
Top count or trial.

- You try Balco?
- He says her case, her call.

- Can't say I'm surprised.
- I'd like to go to the press with this.

This guy's the poster child for
sympathetic clients and I...

I think they'll eat it up.
I need to put the pressure on.

He did the shooting.
On merits, it's probably a murder.

True, but client plays as hard-working
guy caught in a desperate situation.

Humanize him, demonize Shaun.

You told me to swing for
the fences. - Yes, I did.

- You OK with this?
- Make sure it's not a hatchet job.

No problem. A friend at the
Daily News owes me one.

Oh, listen. I'd like you
to come to dinner tonight

at the club... with my dad.

I'm not sure I'm much of a
Woolsley club kind of girl.

It's not a date, Roz.
It's a business dinner.

My father's interested in
what goes on in this office.

We're always scraping for cash.
Having him as a benefactor

wouldn't be such a bad thing.
It'll be good for this office

and it might even be fun.

At least think about it.

- Think about what?
- Do some work, Kellerman.

[chuckles]

Sabrina. What the hell happened?

They spray painted
my door last night.

"Stop snitching." In blood red.

In my world, that's a death threat.

All right. Have a seat.
I'm gonna grab a social worker.

We'll make calls about
emergency shelter.

I don't want no damn social worker.

I want to talk to the DA.

I'm gonna tell them what I saw.

I thought you didn't see anything.

I didn't want to get involved.

Sit down. Sit.

Listen, there's no advantage
for you in talking now, OK?

We're gonna beat these cases
whether you talk or not.

I live my whole life in them projects.
I keep my head down,

I don't make no trouble for nobody.

But ain't nobody gonna
push me around neither.

I want what's in your own interest.
I'm not sure talking to the DA is.

If I don't say something, whoever
did this think they own me.

I'll tell 'em what I saw,

but I'm gonna need a new
place to live, a safe one.

- And I need my kids back.
- I'll do it if you want,

but two years from now,
when life is settled

and you've forgotten, the
case will go to trial

and you'll get dragged back
into it all over again.

Yeah, well, better that than
be the bitch of the building.

You tell the DA he better
get me outta my house,

outta my building, outta
my whole damn complex,

or he gonna have one dead witness.

OK.

- Sabrina Watson wants to talk.
- Thought you said she had nothing?

I was wrong. I want her moved.

I want criminal charges gone and
I want those kids back. Today.

Come on. I'll consider
an ACD in the cases,

but witness isn't a
get-out-of-jail-free card.

She should testify because she's
a citizen doing her civic duty.

Civic duty... Your detectives
fabricated a case, took her children

and tried to circumvent her lawyer.
Don't talk about duty.

Dismissal doesn't look
good when she testifies.

Neither does
blackmailing a witness.

She's more at risk not helping us
make the case than if she cooperates.

In Queens. I want her at least
three stops deep on the E train.

- We can't bind family court, anyway.
- Outright dismissal,

relocation and we both
go down to family court

with a joint recommendation for
the return of those children.

OK. I'll bring in
Ortiz, run it by Balco.

- Bring her in at, uh, 10:00 tomorrow.
- 10:00 tomorrow.

Hey.

You said find me. Here I am.

You wanna go somewhere?
I can take this to go.

- We can't do this here?
- "Do this"?

Talk.

I've been meaning to find you.

I was just pissed off, all right?

And I wanted to make
sure I was past that.

Yeah, I know the Rodriguez
trial was tough...

You had my witness deported to pin a
bad murder conviction on my client.

- I was trying to do my job.
- Ignoring the truth?

Ruining people's lives
for the sake of a win?

That's really the job, Michelle?

- It's not that simple.
- Well, it is to me, all right?

What we have, it exists
despite our jobs.

That's the way it's always been.
And I don't want to lose it.

But I'm not gonna beg here.

If... if you want us to
be done, then we're done.

OK. Well, then I guess
I'll see you around.

So at 82, Eunice takes
her grand-nephew in.

He's family, he needs a hand,
she doesn't think twice.

The grand-nephew decides to
sell crack out of the apartment

- when Eunice is at church.
- Arrest the kid, evict the family

- from the apartment, including Eunice.
- Was the kid even on the lease?

Doesn't matter. The apartment
was an instrument of the crime.

Eunice, who's lived in that
apartment for almost 50 years...

A pillar of the community.

...is about to be on the street,
she doesn't have an advocate.

The city pays for
the criminal side,

so the kid gets great
representation, but Eunice...

...has to stand up for
herself in housing court.

- That's awful.
- It happens all the time.

That's why Roz is creating
a civil actions unit.

So, in addition to criminal work,
we can defend the housing cases,

do immigration work,
help with benefits...

One-stop legal
shopping for the poor.

[Richard] The city
won't pay for it,

so we're looking for private
sources that are equipped

and inclined to support this initiative.
I thought it would fit,

since the firm is looking to
expand its philanthropic reach.

I have to check with my partners,

but it sounds exactly
like the kind of thing

we want to be involved with.
It's very impressive, Richard.

Meanwhile...

...here's a personal contribution

to, um, get you started.

- That's very generous.
- It's my pleasure.

You know, Roz,

someone as bright and
accomplished as you

could have a great career
in the private sector.

- Thank you.
- I mean it.

Strong leader, innovative thinker,
know your way around a courtroom.

Any firm would be
lucky to have you.

May I give you my card?

She's got a job.

And I'm just offering
her a better one.

Roz?

- Tell me you were being polite.
- I told him I'd think about it.

- That's what I'll do.
- You're entertaining the idea

of using your skills to represent
asbestos manufacturers and banks?

- Everybody deserves representation.
- Is this about Shaun Gaspie?

No, it's not.

He's not the first client I've lost.
He's the fifth.

I've been doing this for 17 years.

Seventeen years of great work

that no lawyer in my father's
firm could have done.

Maybe, but it seems like it'd be nice
to have something to show for it.

And I'm sorry if that
disappoints you, but I'm 42.

I have to think about what I'm
doing with the rest of my life.

OK, so let's see if I got this.

It's about 11:20 and
you're in your living room.

- Yes.
- You hear a thumping noise.

Yeah. - Like something
heavy's dragged

- down the stairs.
- Right.

So you jump up, turn out the lights
and you peer out the side door,

the one by Eric's room,
into that back landing.

Yeah, that's where I peeked out.

That's when you saw
him dragging the body.

Right. - And is
this the guy you saw?

Yeah. That's him. That's the guy.

Good. I just need you
to write that down,

just like that, and sign it.

[police whistles, horn honks]

You didn't see a thing, did you?
He led you through that whole story.

- I need my kids back.
- OK.

Well, then let's go to family
court and get 'em back.

Charlie!

- Yeah?
- Look at this.

Someone released Shaun
Gaspie's rap sheet.

B1, above the fold.
"Vigilante victim's troubled past."

I heard Vince talking
about this on the way in.

My doorman gave me an earful.
My driver, too. It's a puff piece.

The defense is talking to
their jury pool. Effectively.

OK, so not great, but it's not our
case anymore so it's not our problem.

It will be when some politician
yells about "revolving door justice"

and demands an investigation into
why Gaspie was on the street.

And since you released him,
you look soft on crime.

What do we do?

Short circuit the whole thing.

No indictment yet.
I'll go by Hobson's

and pull the papers.
You work your magic, we re-calendar

for this afternoon. Once it's in front
of us, we can do whatever we want.

- You're beginning to sound judicial.
- I'm at the feet of the master.

Not often enough.

I've already broached the subject
of an early disposition here.

Ms. Ernhardt? - I don't
think a plea is appropriate.

- Why not? Read the newspaper?
- Yes, but we haven't fully presented

our case to the grand jury.
And while my office strongly supports

pre-indictment dispositions,
this is a murder case.

I know that your office has sought early
dispositions of homicide cases before.

I'm not inclined to accept
anything less than murder two.

There's a strong
self-defense claim.

Gaspie was no threat
to your client.

Mr. Gaspie was a threat to the
neighborhood, not to mention armed.

Which suggests this case might not even
emerge from the grand jury as murder.

- I'm not even sure she gets man one.
- What are you looking for?

- Man two and probation.
- You're kidding.

Probation is ambitious.

But given the rather unusual
nature of the defendant

and the decedent here, what's
your bottom line, Ms. Ernhardt?

- I'd go man one and 22.
- Don't be an ideologue.

This isn't about ideology.

It's about responsibility
to the victim, judge.

Charlie, call Mr. Balco for me.

Tell him I'd appreciate it
if he'd join us in chambers.

Certainly, judge.

That'll be all, Ms. Ernhardt.

Thank you.

While 22 is clearly excessive,
it still should be man one

- and a prison sentence, Your Honor.
- What it should be is over.

I'm not averse to getting
it over, Your Honor...

- Did you read the papers?
- Of course.

So did my doorman. He wants to know

how a do-nothing
criminal justice system

could treat a guy like this.
And the court officers?

They're only sorry that he didn't keep
firing. In the popular imagination,

the defendant has
become the victim.

I am well aware of the coverage.

Is it your sense the district
attorney's office will look forward

to the follow-up if this
continues? - Clearly not.

I think we all want the same thing.

The fact of the death requires...

Balancing, Mr. Balco.
That's what I'm counting on you for.

Mr. Woolsley here is not averse
to his client going to prison.

He's reasonably offered to
plead his client at man two

and accept a sentence
of two-to-six years.

I didn't anticipate a
state prison sentence.

Mr. Woolsley understands that
if his client can't post bail,

he's gonna be waiting at Rikers Island
for two years just waiting for trial.

Isn't that right, Mr.
Woolsley? - Yes, Your Honor.

Meantime, your office can walk
away with a manslaughter conviction

and what you can spin as a
six year prison sentence.

We can all close the books on what
clearly has been a tragic incident

for everyone involved.

I understand we have a
disposition of this matter?

Yes, Your Honor. The people's offer
is manslaughter in the second degree

with a prison sentence
of two-to-six years.

- Is that right, Mr. Woolsley?
- Yes, Your Honor.

I extend my congratulations
to both parties.

This case has been an excellent example
of the system getting it right.

The parties have skillfully
balanced both punishment and mercy

in what has been a
very difficult case.

How could you, Nick?
That was a murder, plain and simple.

No, it was second degree manslaughter,
and I've got the plea to prove it.

You decided the victim
wasn't worth fighting for.

One victim per case.
This time the community believed

- it was the defendant.
- You don't mean the community.

- You mean the newspapers.
- What I did saved this office

from some bad press and saved
you from taking another beating.

Instead of questioning my judgment, you
should be showing me some gratitude.

So you'll hit the parole
board in about 16 months.

And since I know you'll
do well on the inside,

I can't imagine you won't
make your first board.

I... I wanna thank you.

- No need.
- Oh, yeah. There's big need.

You did good by me.
I owe you my life.

You don't owe me anything.

You know, you could
be a private lawyer.

- You think so?
- Oh, yeah. You're that good.

Thank you.

Your Honor, we filed this
petition to alert the court

that all charges have now
been dismissed and sealed.

In criminal court? - Yes.
The district attorney's office

and I are jointly recommending the
return of Ms. Watson's children.

- Speaking for the DA's office?
- I have a signed stipulation

- from the ADA assigned to the case.
- This isn't criminal court.

I am not bound by
what happens there.

The standard of proof
is different here.

I am obligated to do what is in the
best interests of the children.

She's a cooperating
witness in a homicide.

That is in the best
interests of the children?

[woman] I have before me a woman
who is perennially in trouble.

She has a petty larceny conviction.

I was hungry.
That was for my kids...

A drug possession
case from before that.

While I am not averse to
returning her children,

this scrape with the law gives
concerns about backsliding.

There was no scrape.
She was pressured into cooperating.

As soon as she did, the
case was dismissed.

I want her drug tested and enrolled
in a parenting skills program.

- That's no problem, Your Honor.
- I want her firmly on the right road

before I return the kids.

We'll adjourn for six months
and see how she's doing.

Keeping her children will only
compound the injustice she's suffered.

Weekly supervised visitation

will remain in effect
per my original order.

Next case, please.

- I wanna take back my statement.
- It's too late.

But I was supposed
to get my kids back.

OK, that was the deal.
I got screwed!

- Yes, you did.
- Tell 'em I lied.

- Tell 'em the statement ain't true.
- Try to take it back now,

they'll charge you with perjury,

with obstructing
governmental administration,

with filing a false report.
It'll be worse than if we did nothing.

So there's nothing I can do?

Don't let this defeat you.

OK. You're gonna move to a safer place,
see your kids. We'll get them back.

You can do this.

Marcus, give me a break!
These guys fabricated a case,

- perverted justice, traumatized kids.
- A killer is off the street,

a building liberated
from his reign of terror

and a neighborhood is safer.
It is a win.

No. Not when you get a crackhead
street snitch to spray-paint her door

to make her cooperate.
Not police work, that's terrorism.

- You don't know that.
- [Jerry] I may not be able to prove it,

but I damn well know it. And just admit
it, it's not for her or for the kids.

In a perfect world, I get
my guy, she gets her kids.

And I did try, Jerry. Still, if I could
choose, I would take the result we got.

On a fabricated statement?
You know as well as I do

- they fed her every single word of it.
- I know no such thing.

Excuse me. I know I'm the
new kid on the block here.

What if the detective got it wrong?
What if the guy you've gone

all this trouble to
nail didn't do it?

Result would be a
fabricated statement,

by a coerced witness, used to
convict an innocent man of murder.

Which makes her and all you guys
parties to a wrongful conviction.

- Thank you, Bobbi from Brooklyn.
- Oh, please.

It's over. Let it go.

You and Kessler should be
ashamed of what happened today.

Don't shoot the messenger.

I'm sorry. I've gotta go.

[siren in distance]

[car alarm blaring]

[knocking on door]

Yeah?

- Hey.
- Hey.

- You OK?
- No.

I got the crap beaten
out of me today.

You wanna talk about it?

Actually, I'd love it if
we didn't talk at all.

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