All language subtitles for Dragnet S02E14 The Trial Board.DVDRip.NonHI.cc.en

This is the city, Los
Angeles, California.

For the taxes they pay,

Angelinos demand
certain services.

They want their
streets kept clean.

They want a fire department
that's ready for any emergency,

and they want to know their
security is being guarded

by a police department
dedicated to their protection.

In any good-sized group of men,

you're liable to find a
bad one once in a while,

but when that one
happens to be a policeman,

it reflects on every man in
the department, including me.

I carry a badge.

It was Tuesday, August 29th.

It was hot in Los Angeles.

We were working the day
watch out of Robbery Division.

The boss is Captain Howe.

My partner's Bill Gannon.

My name's Friday.

Bill and I reported in for work.

I was about to become involved

in a phase of police
work few officers ever do.

The story you are
about to see is true.

The names have been
changed to protect the innocent.

Officer by the
name of Phil Waverly

works a radio
unit out of Central.

- Yes, sir?
- He's being brought up

- before a Board of Rights.
- Is that so?

You know anything about
Trial Board procedure?

No, sir, not very much.

- Better bone up.
- Why's that?

He wants you to defend him.

Boy, look at these reports, Joe.

They're piling up pretty good.

Yeah, well, I'm afraid I'm
not gonna be much help.

- How come?
- I've been asked

to defend somebody
at a Trial Board.

Who's in trouble?

Some uniform guy,
name of Phil Waverly.

Waverly, I don't
think I know him.

Neither do I.

Well, he's got the right
to pick anybody he wants.

It's kind of a
compliment, isn't it?

I can live without it. I've
got no eyes to play lawyer.

Somebody's gotta defend him.

- Why pick me?
- Why not?

I'd make a lousy
lawyer. I'm prejudiced.

If the guy's guilty,

I'll help 'em throw
the book at him.

Maybe that's why he picked you.

- Huh?
- He knows if he's clean,

you'll work just as
hard to save his hide.

11:29 a.m. I called
Internal Affairs

and made an appointment
with Lieutenant Roger Mayers,

the Department Advocate.

He would be
representing the case

against Officer Philip Waverly.

Three charges against him, Joe:

improper association
with a known bookmaker,

accepting a bribe,

and failure to identify
himself as a police officer

when stopped by officers

conducting an
official investigation.

What have you got on him?

Eyeball witnesses
that saw them together

a couple of times,

and saw the money being passed,

and a statement from
the guy who bribed him.

Give me a rundown,
will you, Lieutenant?

Vice had the bookie,
name's Clover,

staked out for nearly two weeks.

During that time, he and Waverly

were seen having
dinner together twice.

Vice boys didn't know who
Waverly was at the time.

When they busted Clover,
they questioned Waverly.

He gave his name, but never
mentioned he was a police officer.

How'd you make him? By accident.

It was the first good look the
arresting officers got of him.

They thought he looked familiar,

ran his name
through personnel files

and found out he was a cop.

That made it our business.

The vice boys actually saw

Waverly take that
money, did they?

Yeah. The clincher
is the bookie, Clover.

He spilled it, said he was
lending Waverly some money.

Here's all the paperwork on him.

You're pretty sure he's guilty?

We wouldn't be asking
for a Board, if we weren't.

Yeah.

I'm not the DA, Joe.
I'm just a cop, like you.

There's only one thing I'd like.

What's that? You
prove I'm wrong.

3:33 p.m., Tuesday, August 29th.

Pending the hearing,

Officer Waverly had been
temporarily relieved of duty.

I got his home address
and drove over to talk to him.

Waverly lived in a new
apartment development

in the Los Feliz District.

The place appeared
neat and clean,

but it could've used furniture.

I'm buying the
furniture on time.

I guess the place
doesn't look like much yet.

How long you lived here?

Since I made the
job, a little over a year.

What, are you
sending money home?

How do you mean?

You earn enough
to have the place

pretty well furnished
by now, don't you?

I want to buy good stuff,

and I had some bills I
thought I'd better pay off.

Uh-huh.

You're just like all the
rest of them, aren't you?

What do you mean
by that, Waverly?

You hardly walk in
the door and say hello,

and you're fish-eyeing me
like you don't believe me.

Well, now, you're a little
over-sensitive, aren't you?

All right if we sit
down and get started?

You already have.

I'll let that pass, Waverly.

You know what really gripes me?

Suppose you tell me.

I've got a near perfect record,

and the Department
takes the word

of a two-bit bookie over mine.

All right, sit down,
Waverly, and let's talk.

Now, let's you and me get one
thing entirely straight, Friday.

I am not guilty!

Not one of those
charges is true.

I should've played it smart

and got me an
attorney right off.

If it wasn't for
department procedure,

that's exactly
what I'd have done!

Is that clear?

Let me straighten you out
on a few things, Waverly.

I never laid eyes on you
before I walked in that door.

You weren't even a
badge number to me,

and you're not much more now.

You were told by IAD

you could have legal
representation right off,

if you wanted it,

but instead you picked up a
copy of the Department roster,

ran your finger down
as far as the F's,

and you quit. I didn't
ask for this mess,

and I'd just as soon
drop it right now.

You had 5,000 other
men you could've picked,

but for some reason,
known only to you,

you latched onto me.

I'm here to try to get to
the bottom of this thing,

and we're gonna do it my way.

You understand? If
you're telling the truth,

I'll sweat it all
the way with you

and try and get you cleared,

but if you think you're
gonna do any table pounding

to convince me you're
leveling, you're dead wrong!

Now, you just settle
back in that chair

and give it to me straight,
right from the beginning.

Not one of those charges
is true, I'm telling you.

No? Well, when you were
picked up with this bookie, Clover,

why didn't you identify
yourself as a police officer?

I guess I was afraid
of what would happen,

if they found out I
was with a bookmaker.

I thought you said you
didn't know he was a bookie.

Well, I didn't, not till
ten minutes before.

How about the money he's
supposed to have given you?

That's not true! I
never took a bribe!

All right, from the beginning.

About three weeks ago,
I was working in Elcar,

and I spotted Ted in the street.

We were in the
same outfit in Vietnam.

As a matter of fact,
we were pretty close.

- Yeah?
- Well, I hadn't seen him,

since we got out.

There wasn't much time to talk,

so I invited him
over to my place

for a drink the next
day, and he came.

- Go on.
- Well, it was kind of
like old home week.

We talked about the
outfit, guys we knew,

that type of thing.

You ask him what he was doing?

Sure, but he sloughed it off,

said he wasn't doing
anything right now,

but he wasn't hurtin', had
a little money saved up.

Go ahead.

That's about it. He had a date.

We had one drink,
swapped phone numbers,

and I figured that
was the end of it.

- Yeah?
- Three or four days later,

he called and said,
"Let's have dinner."

And you did.

No reason not to.
We got to talking,

and he asked me how
much money I made as a cop.

When I told him, he laughed,

said he always thought
I was smarter than that.

Did you pick up on it?

I thought he was kidding,
so I went along with it,

said anytime he
figured out a way

I could make money without
working, to let me know.

What'd he say to that?

He said he just might do that.

Go ahead.

Well, he called me
about a week later,

and we had dinner again.

And that was the
last time you saw him?

Yeah, that was when he
made his pitch, the bribe.

How'd he go about it?

First, he talked about
how close we used to be.

Then he reminded
me of what I said

about making money
without working.

Said if I really meant it, I
could do him a big favor

and make a good-sized bundle
for myself at the same time.

- Yeah.
- I asked him how.

He told me he was making book,

that he'd already
been busted once.

He said lately he
thought the vice boys

had been keeping an eye on him.

Well, what'd he think
you could do for him?

He said he was sure I must
know somebody working vice.

If I could keep
the heat off him,

I could make some
pretty good loot.

You go along with the idea?

Look, I told you I
never took a bribe!

I know what you told me.
What did you tell Clover?

I told him I couldn't help him,

that even if I
could, I wouldn't.

What'd he say to that?

He got mad, but he
gets mad in a funny way.

No blow up, no yelling.

He just looked at
me for a minute,

then called the waiter,
paid the check, and took off.

What happened then?

Maybe I shouldn't
have, but I ran after him.

I wanted him to
know why I said it.

I mean, he was right. We
were good friends once.

But he wouldn't listen to me.

That's the whole story.

- All right.
- Sergeant?

- Yeah?
- I know I'm edgy,

and maybe I was a little
salty when you first walked in,

but this thing's
ripping my guts out.

I'm being hung out
to dry, and by a guy

I once trusted as a friend.

But I want to tell you
something, Sergeant.

What's that?

I didn't just pick you to
defend me by accident.

I want you to know,
it wasn't like you said.

- Yeah.
- The guys in the field

say you've got a reputation.

They say you're one guy
who'll always back a guy

- to the limit, if he's right.
- Maybe.

They say you're one of the best.

I don't know about that,
but one thing's sure, isn't it?

What's that?

You've got yourself a
king-sized mess here, boy.

Yeah, I know that for sure.

You don't need me, pal.
You need Clarence Darrow.

Wednesday, August 30th,
I called Lieutenant Mayers

and told him that
Officer Phil Waverly and I

were ready to pick a Board.

10:47 a.m.

Joe, Waverly,
this is Miss Larsen.

All right, let's get on with it.

You ever been
through this before?

No, sir, I haven't.

All right, here's how it works.

We have a complete
roster here of all officers,

from Captains up.

Everybody's here,
except the Chief.

The City Charter exempts him
from serving as a Board Member.

Now, I've removed
all the tags of anyone

who will be on vacation
during the hearing.

The rest are available to serve.

Now, first, we'll
pull all the tags off

and put them in this box.

You'll pick six
names out of the box.

From those six,
you'll select any three,

and those three will
sit as Board Members.

- Got it?
- Yes, sir, I think so.

Miss Larsen will give
you a copy of the names.

You and Friday can talk it over
and let me know who you pick.

Yes, sir.

You know most of
the brass, Sergeant.

I don't know any of them.

Don't let it worry you.
What do you mean?

By the time this is over,
you'll get to know 'em.

Thursday, August 31st.
I asked Captain Howe

if I could use Bill Gannon
to help in the investigation

concerning Phil Waverly.

He agreed to assign
him to the case

until the hearing was over.

9:17 a.m. We drove
to Waverly's apartment.

We wound up with two
damaging pieces of evidence

we couldn't get around:

Clover's statement
that he'd bribed Phil

and the eyewitness evidence
of the two vice officers

who saw the money being passed.

I'll say it again!

I never took a bribe,
and that's the truth!

Why would the vice boys lie?

I don't know, but
I'm telling the truth!

One thing's sure.

- What's that?
- Somebody's lying.

Friday, September 1st.

We were notified that
Chief of Police, Tom Redden,

had set Waverly's hearing
for September the 8th.

It didn't leave much time.

We decided to talk to
the bookie, Ted Clover.

1:10 p.m. Clover lived

in one of the new high
rise apartment buildings

going up in West Hollywood.

At the rentals
they were getting,

it looked like he was
running a profitable book.

- Yeah?
- Ted Clover?

- Yeah.
- Police officers.

This is Bill Gannon.

My name's Friday.
We'd like to talk to you.

- What about?
- Phil Waverly.

- You got a warrant?
- All we want's conversation.

Come on in.

You guys like bullfights?

I never bothered to rate 'em.

That's because you don't
know anything about 'em.

Now, take that Hemmingway cat.

He knew what it was all about.

Most Americans think of
Veronica as the name of an actress.

- Is that so?
- Yeah, I'm an aficionado.

Anything you want to
know about bullfights,

I've got the answer.

I'm sure, but that isn't
what we came to talk about.

You know what this is?
No, of course, you don't.

It's a bull's ear.

Ortega himself
gave this to me...

One of the greatest
matadors in the business,

maybe the greatest.

Let's talk about Phil Waverly.

What's to talk?

I told those investigators
everything I know.

You copped out on the
bookmaking charge, didn't you?

Why not? They take me
in, I plead guilty, pay my fine.

I'm on the street in
an hour, no sweat.

It's not gonna be
that easy for Waverly.

That fink. We used to be
buddies, you know that?

- He told us.
- He did?

- That's right.
- Sure.

And then it came time to put
his money where his mouth is.

You mean, when he said he
couldn't keep the heat off of you?

Don't play games with me, chum.

Perry Mason you're
not. You know my story.

You stick to that, fella,
and there's a good chance

Phil's not only gonna
be kicked off the job,

he's gonna go to prison.

Now, taking a bribe
is a criminal offense.

Did you know that?
How about that?

You ought to be
glad to get rid of him.

- Should we?
- Sure!

I'll tell you, I'm a
civic-minded citizen.

I hate to see cops
hustling bribes.

What's the real reason
you're putting it to him?

Because you think he
wouldn't go to bat for you

- with the vice boys?
- My friend Phil?

You must be talking
about the wrong guy.

He'd do anything for a friend.

Ask him. He'll tell ya,
just like he told me.

He didn't blow the whistle
on you, and you know it.

He didn't even know
you were making book

until the night you were busted.

Oh, come on, Friday! You
must've read my statement.

Phil knew what I
was doing all right.

That's not what he says.

- He's lying.
- Why would he lie?

Well, you know how it is.

A guy gets in a bind,
he's gonna scramble.

You're really out to shoot
him down, aren't you?

Well, you want
the truth, don't you?

Yeah, but we're sure
not gonna get it here, fella.

Oh, hey, Friday.

About getting my buddy
kicked off the force?

Maybe I did old Phil a favor.

How do you figure?

Why would anybody
want to be a cop?

Oh, I don't know.

Why would anybody
want a dead bull's ear?

Friday, September 8th.
The Board of Rights hearing

for Officer Phil Waverly
started at 9:30 a.m.

The Board consisted
of Deputy Chief Simon,

Senior Officer and
Chairman of the Board;

Inspector McAllister,
Patrol Bureau;

Captain Mack,
Burglary-Auto Theft.

Mayer's Secretary, Eva
Larsen, was sworn in,

and Waverly was
advised of his rights.

Lieutenant Mayers
called a roll of witnesses,

and the Chairman
administered the oath.

I do.

Please be seated.

Officer Waverly, you are charged
with three counts in a complaint,

which I will now read to you,

and ask you to plead guilty
or not guilty on each count.

Count 1: "On two occasions,

during a period from
August 9 to August 18, 1967,

in the Los Angeles
area, while off duty,

you improperly associated
yourself with Ted Clover,

a known bookmaker."

How do you plead on this?

Not guilty, sir.

Count 2: "On July 30, 1967,

you, while in the
company of Ted Clover,

accepted from him a bribe,

for which you promised to
attempt to prevent officers,

working Central
Vice, from interfering

with Ted Clover's
bookmaking activities."

How do you plead?

Not guilty.

Count 3:

"On August 18, 1967,
at 432 West Broadway,

while off duty, when
stopped and questioned

by officers of this department,

who were conducting
an official investigation,

you failed and neglected
to identify yourself

as a police officer."

How do you plead?

Guilty, sir.

10:36 a.m.

Mayers' first witnesses
were the vice officers

who had made the arrest,
Sergeants Ward and Vaughn.

They both told
exactly the same story.

They'd seen Waverly
with Ted Clover twice.

They saw Clover give
Waverly some money.

Their testimony was deadly.

2:46 p.m. Ted Clover
was the first witness,

when the hearing
reconvened after lunch.

He was impressive.

Mr. Clover, why would you
tell him you were a bookmaker?

You knew he was
a police officer.

Well, that's the
reason I did it.

Phil and I are old friends.

I figured he'd
find out eventually,

so I thought I might as
well level with him right off.

That way, he could
make up his own mind

about me continuing
as a friend of his.

And that's when he
said he could help you

with the vice officers?

If I loaned him
some money, yes, sir.

That's what he said, "If I
loaned him some money."

Did you lend him the money?

Yes, sir, $50 worth.

Let's get that
straight, Mr. Clover.

You paid Officer
Waverly... I'm sorry,

you loaned Officer Waverly
$50, in return for his promise

to help keep the vice
officers away from you.

That is right.

I have no further questions.

Cross.

Mr. Clover, you're
quite positive

about the amount of
this loan, as you call it.

No chance it could've
been more than $50 or less?

No chance, got it all
down in my account book.

Oh, you mean, you have
this transaction in writing?

Oh, I like to keep track
of where my money goes.

I wonder if I could see your
account book, Mr. Clover.

I don't think so. It's
personal property.

Mr. Chairman, the witness
claims to have written proof

of an act for which
Officer Waverly

may be dismissed from his job.

Now, if that's true,

the defense has every
right to see that proof.

We agree, Sergeant.

Mr. Clover, will you give
the book you spoke about

to Sergeant Friday?

No chance. It belongs to me,

and it's got nothing
to do with this case.

And besides, it won't do
you or Waverly any good.

Mr. Clover, this
Board is interested

in one thing and one
thing only: the truth.

As long as there's a
chance that book will help us

get that truth, you're
directed to produce it.

It's in code.

I told you it wouldn't
do any good.

I don't know what
you expect to gain

by these tactics, Mr. Clover,

but this Board insists
on your cooperation.

You made me give him the book,

but you can't make me
remember how the code works.

I just forgot.

Sergeant Friday, if the
Board will agree to recess now,

maybe you and Lieutenant
Mayers can assist Mr. Clover

by breaking his code. Yes, sir.

Advise the Board when
you're ready to resume.

Yes, sir. We'd like an hour.

This hearing is recessed
and will reconvene in one hour.

We returned to
Lieutenant Mayer's office.

We called in an expert,
Sergeant Hugh Binyon

of the Administrative
Vice Division,

a specialist in bookmakers
and their operations.

Looks familiar. I'd
guess it's some kind

of number-letter
transposition code.

That's what I figured.

You just write down
the alphabet from A to Z,

then number each
letter from 1 to 26.

When you want to
write down a number,

you change it to the
corresponding letter

and change the letters you
want to put in code into numbers.

Simple.

This marker here shows
the action Clover was taking.

The bets seem to
be written in clear.

For the rest of it, we
switch the numbers to letters

and letters to numbers,

and that should give us
the names of his clients,

the horses, tracks, and races.

That KN at the top could
mean 11/14 or November 14th.

What do you mean by could?

Well, if Clover was being cute,

he might have
added or subtracted

a key number in transposing.

For example, say he was
using a key of some kind,

then the letter A would
be 1, plus his key number.

Well, how do we
work that out, Hugh?

Trial and error. I've
got an idea, though.

You say Clover claims
he gave Waverly 50 bucks.

That's right.

Now let's see if we
can find that entry

and work backwards, right?

Here's something might
be on his weekly O sheet.

- This is kind of interesting.
- What's that?

Found an entry, 50 bucks
even, only one in here.

Thing is, Clover's
taken it off his net take,

- instead of his gross.
- What's that mean?

Don't know, but if
it's juice or bribe,

it seems more likely he'd take
it off his gross, wouldn't he?

Could be some
kind of personal item.

What kind of personal item?

Look here, right
after this $50 entry,

two initials, PW.

Phil Waverly.

While Binyon and Mayers continued
working on the code in Clover's book,

Bill and I met with Waverly
in an interrogation room

on the third floor.

Well, have you
got any explanation

for that $50 item
in Clover's book?

How could I?

Now, look, Waverly,
don't ask us how we know.

Just write it down as a hunch.

You sometimes get
'em in this racket.

I've got one now that
says you're holding back.

You're not telling us
everything you know about this.

Look, I don't know
anything about his book

or his lousy code.

That's not what
we're asking you!

We're asking you if a $50
personal item in that book

means anything to you, does it?

Look, it wasn't a
bribe. I swear to you.

He was just paying
back what he owed me.

He owed you $50?

Come on, spit it out!

The night we were
discharged from the service,

we had a crap
game in the barracks.

I won a couple of hundred bucks.

Ted was tapped out,

so I loaned him 50 to get home.

I forgot all about it
till just the other night,

- when he paid it back.
- Why didn't you
tell us this before?

- Would you have believed me?
- You didn't give us a chance.

I'm telling you the truth now,
whether you believe it or not!

So help me, I'm
telling you the truth!

- You know something, Waverly?
- Yeah?

You're beginning to
sound like a broken record.

4:05 p.m. The
hearing reconvened.

Ted Clover was recalled
for cross examination.

I'd like to remind you,
you're still under oath.

Sergeant Friday.

Now, Mr. Clover, I'm
gonna ask you once more

if you'll tell us how the
code in this notebook reads.

I still don't remember.

But you do remember that
you bribed Officer Waverly.

Don't put words in my mouth.

I said I loaned him $50.
Isn't that what I said?

I know what you said,
but Officer Waverly

is being charged
with accepting a bribe.

That's his problem.

All right.

Will you identify this notebook

as the same one you
gave me an hour ago?

It's mine.

Will you tell us if anything
in it has been changed,

any erasures,
additions, deletions?

Looks all right.

Bill.

Gentlemen, with the assistance
of Sergeant Binyon of Ad Vice,

Mr. Clover's code
is now readable.

It seems that Clover gave

each letter of the
alphabet a number,

then he added 3 as a key number.

I call your attention
to the blackboard.

You will see a single entry
copied from his betting marker

for August 11th this year.

Officer Gannon will
indicate the various points.

By decoding, we find
that someone named Pat

made a $10 bet to
win on horse number 4

in the third race at
Aqueduct on August 11th.

Later, in Mr. Clover's notes,
we find that Pat, whoever he is,

was paid off on
this particular bet.

I have here the racing
results for August 11th.

It shows Red Fox, the horse
in post position number 4,

won the third race at
Aqueduct on that day.

Now, am I right
so far, Mr. Clover?

It's your blackboard.

And it's your code,
Clover, and you're lying

when you say you
bribed Officer Waverly.

Can you prove the witness
is lying, Sergeant Friday?

Yes, sir, I think I can.

Now, on this page is an entry

involving Officer
Waverly and $50.

That's what I said.
I gave him $50!

No, not exactly.

The actual text of the entry
is PW 50 21-19-7/15-17.

Now, this particular
entry translates as follows.

PW 50 RPD/LN, or Phil
Waverly, $50 repaid loan.

Now, I submit that there
was no bribe involved here,

but rather repayment of
money owed to Officer Waverly,

money lost in a dice game
by this witness, Ted Clover,

while he was in service with
the accused, Phil Waverly.

Isn't that correct, Mr. Clover?

Mr. Clover, is that correct?

I never should've
given you that book.

You had no right.

Is this Board to assume,
from your last statement,

that Sergeant Friday's
analysis is correct?

Answer the question, Mr. Clover.

All right, all right!
That's correct.

You cops really stick together

and protect one
another, don't you?

We're going to go further
than that, Mr. Clover.

Lieutenant Mayers, I direct you

to forward an entire
transcript of this hearing,

together with this
Board's findings,

to the District Attorney of
the County of Los Angeles.

This Board will recommend
that office institute

and press charges
against this witness

for the felonious
offense of perjury.

- One last thing, Mr. Clover.
- Yeah, what's that?

You made a remark about
policemen sticking together

to protect one another.

It's true. You do!

Yes, that seems to be the
generally accepted myth

by those whose main
energies are spent

defying constituted
law and authority,

but your statement
is only a half truth.

We're also sworn
to protect the citizen,

even to the point of placing
our lives on the line to do it.

I'm one of those citizens
that pays your salary, Mister.

In your case,
Mr. Clover, I promise you,

I'm gonna earn it.

The Board found the accused

not guilty of counts 1 and 2:

associating with a
known bookmaker

and accepting a bribe from same.

The Board found the accused
guilty on the third count:

failure to identify
himself as a police officer.

Philip Waverly was suspended
from his position as policeman

for a period of 45 days,

with a total loss of pay
amounting to $1,000.

Ted Clover was
subsequently tried

and convicted on
a charge of perjury.

Perjury is punishable by
imprisonment in the state prison

for not less than one
nor more than 14 years.