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In the criminal justice system,
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00:00:03,632 --> 00:00:07,607
the people are represented by two separate
yet equally important groups-
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the police who investigate crime,
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and the district attorneys,
who prosecute the offenders.
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These are their stories.
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It's like she expects me to read
her mind, for crying out loud
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Well, you're supposed to do it
without her having to ask.
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You know, it shows
you're considerate or something.
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Shows you're psychic. And by some
miracle, I figure out what she wants,
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two seconds later
she changes her mind.
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Take last night.
Where do we eat?
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She says, “You choose. I don't
care." So I say, “Patsy's.“
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And suddenly she does care
and says, “Anyplace but Patsy's."
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Am I boring you?
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That guy.
What about him?
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The weenie-waver Sarge
was talking about?
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Likes to flash the old Chinese ladies while
they're doing their morning tai chi Jackie Chan.
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Could be.
Hey, pal, talk to you?
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Hey, you, stop!
Police.'
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Stop! Get back here!
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Police! Stop!
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Hey, get back here!
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Whoa!
What's the matter with you?
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Why'd you run, dirtball, huh?
You was chasing me!
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Stay down!
C-pop to Central
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We have an apparent D.O.A.
at Roosevelt Park.
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I tackled him, Richie, not killed him.
Not him. Look.
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10-4, C-pop.
Bus is on the way
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White male, mid-20s,
looks like he was homeless.
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Sure he's not just
sleeping it off?
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Nobody smells this bad. I don't
care how many showers they miss.
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Found these in his pockets.
A locker key and some loose change.
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Thanks.
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What, are you burning the midnight oil?
Man, I was catching up on my DD-5's.
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I didn't get home till
almost 2:00 in the morning.
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Plus I think I'm coming down with
whatever's going around.
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Ms. Malchiodi, to what
do we owe the pleasure?
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Facial contusions, broken bones,
two days' worth of decomp.
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Factor in the cold weather,
I'd say he's been dead a week.
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How do you get a week?
Bugs don't lie. Don't know how.
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Check it out.
Maggots, pupa beetles.
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Who was on the buffet line when gives
you your approximate time of death.
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Plus, fluid seepage--
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Yeah, yeah, we get the picture.
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There's no way he's been lying here
a week without somebody noticing.
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He was on ice somewhere. So that
means the body was dumped here...
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either late last night
or early this morning.
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Damn, he took a beating.
Of a vehicular variety.
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Safety glass, like from a
windshield, and paint flakes.
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And he's got tib-fib breaks
in both legs.
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Bumper fractures.
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And you thought
you were feeling run down.
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It's definitely a hit-and-run. C.S.U. confirmed
that the glass and the paint are from a car.
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Beck's working on both.
I've never seen him happier.
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You know what would make me happy?
A name to go with our victim.
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What-- “John Doe"
doesn't do it for you?
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You ran his prints
through B.C.I.?
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First thing we did. No soap.
So no I.D. on the vic,
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no lead on the car, no witnesses.
They can't all be gimmes.
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The vic had 26 cents and a key from
one of those coin-operated lockers.
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He was homeless,
but he had a locker.
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It's a safe place to keep his stuff.
It's better than a shopping cart.
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After 9/11, how many public
lockers are left in this city?
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I mean, uh, Port Authority, Penn
Station, Grand Central took 'em all out.
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What about a gym?
A place to shower and change.
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He didn't do either. I doubt if he had a membership
to the New York Health and Racquet Club.
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00:04:04,925 --> 00:04:08,878
How about the Y.M.C.A.? They're,
what, Sixth and Manhattan?
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Start with those.
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You feeling lucky?
Eh, I was the first three or four places.
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Now I'm starting to feel
like one of the Village People.
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Next we should buy a lottery ticket.
You gotta have faith.
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Yeah, especially if you're a Knicks fan.
Pocketknife, wallet.
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Nope. No license.
Why am I not surprised?
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Family snaps, maybe.
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Hey, I guess this is him. He must
have aged 30 years on the street.
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“For Alan, Happy Birthday. Hope you
like this as much as I do. Love, Gina."
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We don't know that book is his. He
could have picked it up somewhere.
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Well, somebody had a doctor's
appointment, two years ago last March.
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I wonder if they kept it.
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Two years I've been waiting
for this knock on the door.
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That looks nice, honey.
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I just have to talk
to these men for a minute.
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How'd you find me?
We talked to Alan's psychiatrist.
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He told us that your brother
was a schizophrenic.
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It started manifesting
his first year of college-
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voices, hallucinations.
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He had what they call
“suicidal ideation."
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He talked about
killing himself.
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If he took his meds,
he could function, but--
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He stopped taking them?
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They made him numb.
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Our father had stomach cancer.
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We had to sit here
and watch him die in stages.
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Alan said he couldn't
feel anything.
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Said he wanted to be able
to mourn Daddy's death,
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feel something
when he said good-bye.
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After the funeral,
we all went home to sit shivah.
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Alan never showed up.
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Next day, I filed
a Missing Persons report.
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Nothing happened.
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So I started looking
for him myself.
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Did you ever find him?
I saw him once.
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A few months ago--
Tompkins Square Park.
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My little brother, looking like someone I
would normally cross the street to avoid.
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I couldn't get him to come home.
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He was so far gone, I'm not
even sure he recognized me.
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His name is Alan Fisher.
You know him?
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What happened to him?
He got hit by a car.
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Well, why didn't you say so? I got
my BMW parked right over here.
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Man, that ain't funny.
Sorry.
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He okay?
He died.
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Oh.
I know this guy.
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Got in my face a couple times
at the mission.
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- Got in your face?
- Yelling about this and that.
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Spitting and screaming.
Scary dude.
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When was the last time you saw him?
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Hey, Beck, what's up?
I don't know. Couple weeks ago, maybe.
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All right, thanks.
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Hope that's good news.
It's Beck. He's got a line on the car.
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The paint's a shade of green.
Uh, Pentland Green, specifically.
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But I couldn't match it
to an assembly line model.
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Must be a custom job.
How 'bout the glass?
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A garden-variety automotive,
not unique to manufacturer.
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Thanks for bringing us all the way down here.
It was a lovely trip.
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Let me finish.
Now, the high-end automakers...
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use lasers to microscopically etch
the VIN number on the windshield
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How cool is that?
Now this is just a partial,
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but it's enough for the D.M V.
to I.D. the car that it came from...
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as an Aston Martin V12 Vanquish.
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00:07:35,919 --> 00:07:37,867
An Aston Martin who?
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Vanquish, man.
James Bond's car.
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You know, in the last one,
Die Another Day?
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Sorry. I haven't seen a Bond movie
since Sean Connery hung up his rug.
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So if James Bond lived in New York and
wanted to buy a Vanquish, where would he go?
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The V12 retails for $236,000
plus options.
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More than my last house.
But that includes delivery to your door.
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And you get to pick your color just
bring us a chip, and we'll match it.
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So, it's a custom paint job.
No two alike.
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It's a must buy.
You got an installment plan?
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My great-grandchildren
can pay it off.
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00:08:09,691 --> 00:08:13,143
Yeah, that and the national debt. At a
price like that, you can't sell that many.
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We're targeting a select clientèle.
You wanna give me a number?
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Mm, this model year, roughly 50 in the
tristate area, 10 or 12 in Manhattan.
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I don't suppose one of them
was in Pentland Green.
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Quarter of a mil is a little
extravagant, I know, but trust me,
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imagewise, it's a bargain.
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And how much does image
go for these days?
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My time goes out
at $500 an hour.
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Damn, you must be
one hell of a publicist.
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“Publicity” is just what's on the letterhead,
but you know what I'm really selling. Image?
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That's why you guys are the detectives.
Speaking of which--
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I certainly haven't been
in an accident.
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Do you have any idea
how much I pay for collision?
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Believe me, I get the teeniest little
door ding, and I wear black for a week.
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Well, I guess you won't mind us
taking a look at your car.
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Be my guest.
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00:09:05,079 --> 00:09:09,795
Parking level three.
Don't forget to lock it up.
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Mama, I'm home.
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00:09:11,861 --> 00:09:13,809
Looks in pretty good shape.
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00:09:13,865 --> 00:09:16,941
Hurting a car this fine,
that should be a felony.
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00:09:17,941 --> 00:09:20,892
Wanna take it for a spin?
Yeah, I can just see the headline:
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“Cops Take $200,000 Joyride."
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I got a home address--
Bank Street.
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That's not so far from where
the body was dumped.
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Well, it's not so close either.
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There's not a scratch
on this puppy.
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00:09:33,508 --> 00:09:37,358
So how many body shops do you think
are authorized to repair this puppy?
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Actually, we're the only certified Aston
Martin bodyshop in the entire Northeast.
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00:09:43,964 --> 00:09:46,607
And the only one with the Blackhawk
Korek body alignment system.
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Don't leave home without it.
Mock all you like.
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Sure beats entrusting
your most prized possession...
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to a couple of neighborhood
knuckleheads with a ball-peen hammer.
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True. No question.
So this Blackhawk Korek gizmo--
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did you use one on a Vanquish
owned by a Carrie Salter?
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00:09:59,231 --> 00:10:02,444
Carrie Salter? Sure. Yeah, she
hit a deer up in Connecticut.
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We replaced the windshield pounded out
the hood repainted the whole thing.
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00:10:09,821 --> 00:10:12,668
Oh, that's convenient.
Hey, it's open. I'm going in.
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Detective,
was there something else?
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00:10:15,599 --> 00:10:18,082
Well, there's a few
“somethings” actually.
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00:10:18,138 --> 00:10:20,087
I thought we covered
everything.
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00:10:20,143 --> 00:10:23,320
Well, why don't we talk about it
down at the precinct?
Hey, Lennie.
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00:10:24,853 --> 00:10:26,802
That ain't motor oil.
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00:10:26,858 --> 00:10:30,070
Well, well, well,
a garage in mid-November.
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00:10:30,132 --> 00:10:32,307
It must be, what,
about 45 degrees up in here?
185
00:10:32,370 --> 00:10:35,149
A natural refrigerator.
What the hell is going on?
186
00:10:35,210 --> 00:10:38,422
We'll talk about it downtown.
What about my car?
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00:10:38,483 --> 00:10:40,864
I'm gonna call a tow truck.
They're gonna take it to Impound.
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00:10:40,921 --> 00:10:42,904
Impound?
A tow truck?
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00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:45,603
Oh, don't worry.
He slows down for deer.
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00:10:47,703 --> 00:10:50,312
I was turning
onto my street.
191
00:10:50,375 --> 00:10:54,727
Hey, don't I have the right not to worry about
some drunken bum stumbling in front of my car?
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00:10:54,786 --> 00:10:56,734
Scaring me half to death.
193
00:10:56,790 --> 00:11:00,173
Oh, yeah, how dare they
wander into your neighborhood.
194
00:11:06,645 --> 00:11:09,424
It was an accident.
195
00:11:09,484 --> 00:11:12,935
He just-- It was late,
and he just--
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00:11:12,991 --> 00:11:15,304
he just stepped out
right in front of me.
197
00:11:15,363 --> 00:11:18,245
He just came out of nowhere,
and I hit the brake,
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00:11:18,303 --> 00:11:22,017
but he just flew
into my windshield.
199
00:11:22,078 --> 00:11:25,256
And he was just hanging there like...
200
00:11:25,319 --> 00:11:28,303
half in and half out.
201
00:11:28,358 --> 00:11:34,247
I just-- I panicked, so I-- I just turned
the car into the garage.
202
00:11:34,304 --> 00:11:39,384
And I don't suppose calling an ambulance for
the poor bastard ever crossed your mind
203
00:11:39,449 --> 00:11:41,898
It wasn't like that. Was he
still alive when you pulled in?
204
00:11:43,625 --> 00:11:46,735
He was moaning and--
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00:11:46,798 --> 00:11:51,218
I just-- I went inside for a few minutes
to calm down because I was so scared.
206
00:11:51,275 --> 00:11:54,853
And I just-- I sat there trying
to figure out what to do.
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00:11:54,917 --> 00:11:58,368
And I could... I could hear him
calling for help.
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00:11:59,560 --> 00:12:02,134
You heard him calling for help.
209
00:12:04,237 --> 00:12:10,195
Yeah. When I went back
to check on him...
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00:12:10,250 --> 00:12:13,234
Oh, God.
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00:12:13,290 --> 00:12:15,238
He was dead.
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00:12:18,100 --> 00:12:20,845
Carrie, stop talking right now.
213
00:12:20,907 --> 00:12:23,287
Sanford Remz,
Ms. Salter's lawyer.
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00:12:23,345 --> 00:12:26,296
Oh, what a shame. If you'd have
come in 30 seconds earlier,
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00:12:26,352 --> 00:12:28,493
you could have heard
your client's confession.
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00:12:28,557 --> 00:12:30,539
Then I have my work
cut out for me, don't I?
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00:12:30,594 --> 00:12:34,341
In the meantime, I want Ms. Salter processed
through Central Booking immediately.
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00:12:34,402 --> 00:12:37,148
On the way, you don't
say one word to her.
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00:12:37,209 --> 00:12:40,159
Don't even ask her what her favorite color is.
We already know...
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00:12:40,215 --> 00:12:42,630
Pentland Green.
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00:12:43,689 --> 00:12:47,369
It was dark. It was late.
She was tired
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00:12:47,431 --> 00:12:51,042
She didn't expect some deranged
vagrant, who, by the way,
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00:12:51,105 --> 00:12:56,151
had a well-documented history of suicidal
tendencies, to jump out in front of her car.
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00:12:56,216 --> 00:12:59,394
And I'm sure the four apple martinis
she drank that evening...
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00:12:59,457 --> 00:13:01,405
had no effect
on her expectations.
226
00:13:01,461 --> 00:13:04,275
Fine. Suspend her license.
She does some community service,
227
00:13:04,334 --> 00:13:07,181
and you get to go back
to prosecuting real criminals.
228
00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:10,782
Like people who commit vehicular
homicide, tamper with evidence.
229
00:13:10,849 --> 00:13:14,391
And let their fatally wounded victims
die a slow death in the garage,
230
00:13:14,457 --> 00:13:16,700
while they sit in their living room
and have another drink.
231
00:13:16,762 --> 00:13:18,710
See, this is
what I was afraid of
232
00:13:18,766 --> 00:13:23,585
You 're twisting an unfortunate accident
into an act of cold-blooded murder.
233
00:13:23,643 --> 00:13:26,490
Leaving a man to suffer and die
is cold-blooded, Sandy.
234
00:13:26,549 --> 00:13:29,557
No question. But did he suffer?
I really don't know.
235
00:13:29,623 --> 00:13:33,370
And neither do you, because
there hasn't been an autopsy.
236
00:13:33,431 --> 00:13:35,675
But let's rectify that, shall we?
237
00:13:35,736 --> 00:13:38,652
My motion to disinter
Mr. Fisher's corpse.
238
00:13:38,710 --> 00:13:40,658
You want the body?
239
00:13:40,714 --> 00:13:43,129
Well, it'd certainly be
difficult for my expert...
240
00:13:43,186 --> 00:13:45,829
to conduct an independent
autopsy without it.
241
00:13:50,869 --> 00:13:53,284
This was a car accident,
not a suspicious death.
242
00:13:53,341 --> 00:13:58,091
Moreover, the family's Jewish.
They're observant. They don't want an autopsy.
243
00:13:58,152 --> 00:14:02,070
And when necessary, religious doctrine
should be trumped by the law.
244
00:14:02,127 --> 00:14:06,239
Bringing me to my next point. There's
no precedent allowing a defendant...
245
00:14:06,303 --> 00:14:08,912
to conduct her own autopsy
of the victim.
246
00:14:08,975 --> 00:14:12,085
Maybe not, but there's no
precedent prohibiting it either.
247
00:14:12,149 --> 00:14:14,428
On the contrary,
I submit an independent autopsy...
248
00:14:14,487 --> 00:14:16,560
is perfectly acceptable
pretrial discovery.
249
00:14:16,625 --> 00:14:19,108
When the evidence
is arguably relevant.
250
00:14:19,164 --> 00:14:21,670
You seem to forget
that your client confessed.
251
00:14:21,736 --> 00:14:24,880
And you're looking to paint her
as an uncaring, callous bitch,
252
00:14:24,943 --> 00:14:27,722
who allowed
this poor soul to suffer.
253
00:14:27,783 --> 00:14:30,095
Well, that sounds like
a pretty accurate portrait to me.
254
00:14:30,154 --> 00:14:32,296
Just what I'm talking about.
And to rebut this,
255
00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:35,641
I need the opportunity to conduct
an independent autopsy.
256
00:14:35,700 --> 00:14:37,979
You have the medical examiner's report.
257
00:14:38,039 --> 00:14:40,682
And the medical examiner
is employed by the city.
258
00:14:40,745 --> 00:14:46,064
I'm sorry. When I said “independent
autopsy," was I being too oblique?
259
00:14:46,123 --> 00:14:48,231
Has your M.E.
finished her examination?
260
00:14:48,295 --> 00:14:50,402
That's the point.
She's not my M.E.
261
00:14:50,465 --> 00:14:53,507
But she's done with the body, right?
262
00:14:53,572 --> 00:14:58,652
Then I don't see the prejudice to the People by
allowing the defendant access to the victim.
263
00:14:58,717 --> 00:15:01,166
Defense motion granted
264
00:15:02,659 --> 00:15:06,942
You gotta admit, it's a brand-new spin on the
time-honored defense strategy of beating up on the victim.
265
00:15:07,002 --> 00:15:10,180
Remz had a very compelling argument.
He's a good lawyer, Jack.
266
00:15:10,242 --> 00:15:12,246
The best that money can buy.
267
00:15:12,313 --> 00:15:14,421
Poor victim, rich defendant?
268
00:15:14,485 --> 00:15:18,734
Well, Lady Justice may be blind, but
nobody ever said the old broad was fair.
269
00:15:22,770 --> 00:15:24,718
Branch.
270
00:15:24,774 --> 00:15:27,816
When? Thanks.
271
00:15:27,881 --> 00:15:31,560
Well, that expert must have found something,
'cause Remz is moving to dismiss.
272
00:15:31,622 --> 00:15:35,871
Judge has scheduled an evidentiary
hearing for 10:00 in the morning.
273
00:15:39,372 --> 00:15:43,086
I began by pickling the deceased's
brain in a formalin solution.
274
00:15:43,148 --> 00:15:45,096
This was done to harden the brain,
275
00:15:45,152 --> 00:15:47,362
like boiling an egg,
so it could be dissected.
276
00:15:47,424 --> 00:15:50,408
And when you dissected it,
what did you find?
277
00:15:50,463 --> 00:15:54,416
A subdural hematoma. The decedent had bled
into his brain from the sagital sinus.
278
00:15:54,472 --> 00:15:58,219
What happens when one
incurs a subdural hematoma?
279
00:15:58,281 --> 00:16:02,256
Blood slowly seeps into the brain
eventually killing the subject.
280
00:16:02,322 --> 00:16:04,532
It can take hours, even days.
281
00:16:04,594 --> 00:16:06,907
Often, the victim doesn't
even know he's dying.
282
00:16:06,966 --> 00:16:09,813
He wouldn't feel sick enough
to get medical attention?
283
00:16:09,872 --> 00:16:14,053
He might feel woozy,
sleepy, nauseous, unwell.
284
00:16:14,114 --> 00:16:18,090
To a homeless person like Mr. Fisher,
who's probably already in poor health,
285
00:16:18,157 --> 00:16:21,574
possibly intoxicated,
this would be a familiar feeling.
286
00:16:21,631 --> 00:16:27,179
Fair enough. But Mr. Fisher was struck
at 2:00 a.m. and dead by 3:00.
287
00:16:27,244 --> 00:16:31,162
Isn't it reasonable to assume,
as the medical examiner has,
288
00:16:31,219 --> 00:16:34,226
that this accident
caused Mr. Fisher's hematoma?
289
00:16:34,292 --> 00:16:37,869
Reasonable, but in this case
mistaken. May I?
290
00:16:37,933 --> 00:16:42,979
Your Honor, if I may,
defense exhibits “A” and "B"
291
00:16:45,049 --> 00:16:47,293
Given the size
of the ruptured vessel,
292
00:16:47,354 --> 00:16:49,302
an hour between
trauma and death...
293
00:16:49,358 --> 00:16:52,900
would have produced bleeding in the
brain of, at most, 10 c.c.'s of blood.
294
00:16:52,966 --> 00:16:55,006
Approximately this much fluid.
295
00:16:55,071 --> 00:16:58,716
However, I siphoned five times that
amount from the decedent's brain.
296
00:16:58,779 --> 00:17:03,632
Fifty c.c.'s. There's simply no way this much
bleeding could have occurred in only an hour.
297
00:17:03,690 --> 00:17:06,800
So, what you're saying is...
298
00:17:06,864 --> 00:17:09,871
Ms. Salter hit someone with her car
who was already fatally injured.
299
00:17:11,807 --> 00:17:14,313
But if the car crash
didn't kill him, what did?
300
00:17:14,380 --> 00:17:18,161
Judging by the three contrecoup injuries
he sustained to the back of his brain,
301
00:17:18,221 --> 00:17:20,169
he was beaten.
302
00:17:21,662 --> 00:17:25,444
I want to see Rodgers
in my office.
303
00:17:25,504 --> 00:17:28,681
Damn.
That doesn't sound very encouraging.
304
00:17:28,745 --> 00:17:30,954
It's not meant to be.
305
00:17:31,016 --> 00:17:33,967
Now I wish I'd insisted
on an autopsy.
306
00:17:34,023 --> 00:17:36,005
Sounds even less encouraging.
307
00:17:36,060 --> 00:17:38,703
The family didn't want one. And I wasn't about
to waste the city's time and money on--
308
00:17:38,766 --> 00:17:40,715
On a homeless person?
309
00:17:40,771 --> 00:17:44,313
On someone who obviously died
from head trauma,
310
00:17:44,378 --> 00:17:48,525
which I assumed he sustained when he
was struck by Carrie Salter's car.
311
00:17:48,588 --> 00:17:50,501
So what's your expert opinion?
312
00:17:50,558 --> 00:17:52,563
I'm afraid I have to
agree with Geller.
313
00:17:52,630 --> 00:17:56,013
The car didn't kill him.
314
00:17:56,071 --> 00:17:58,019
It doesn't matter.
Doctrine of intervening causation.
315
00:17:58,075 --> 00:18:01,994
A man leaps off a building, gets hit by a bullet
on the way down, it's homicide, not suicide.
316
00:18:02,050 --> 00:18:04,795
Except in this case, it wasn't
the bullet that killed him.
317
00:18:04,856 --> 00:18:07,135
The car accident
didn't cause the hematoma.
318
00:18:07,195 --> 00:18:09,576
Hell, it didn't even exacerbate it.
319
00:18:09,633 --> 00:18:11,581
Expert testimony
is for a jury to evaluate.
320
00:18:11,638 --> 00:18:14,714
Except I can't let it go
to a jury on these facts.
321
00:18:14,778 --> 00:18:16,885
Come on, Jack.
Give me something to work with.
322
00:18:16,950 --> 00:18:19,957
The defendant left this man
in her garage to die.
323
00:18:20,023 --> 00:18:21,971
If she'd gotten him
medical attention
324
00:18:22,028 --> 00:18:24,875
the doctors might have detected the hematoma,
stopped the bleeding, saved his life.
325
00:18:24,933 --> 00:18:27,542
I count at least
three "maybes” in there.
326
00:18:27,606 --> 00:18:30,614
My client is prepared
to plead out on tampering,
327
00:18:30,679 --> 00:18:33,060
obstruction, failing to report an accident...
328
00:18:33,118 --> 00:18:35,066
the crime she actually committed.
329
00:18:35,122 --> 00:18:37,401
What do you have in mind?
First offense?
330
00:18:37,461 --> 00:18:39,409
I think probation's warranted.
331
00:18:39,465 --> 00:18:42,278
Three years,
plus community service.
332
00:18:42,338 --> 00:18:44,684
Your Honor!
I'm sympathetic, Ms. Southerlyn
333
00:18:44,743 --> 00:18:47,249
but as much as I'd like to,
I can't order jail time.
334
00:18:47,315 --> 00:18:50,927
The criminally negligent
homicide charge is dismissed
335
00:18:50,990 --> 00:18:55,307
I'm accepting the defendant's pleas
on obstruction and tampering.
336
00:18:55,367 --> 00:19:00,186
Mr. Remz, have your client see
Probation, then she's free to go.
337
00:19:04,219 --> 00:19:07,170
Dead man walking. Just when you
thought you'd seen everything.
338
00:19:07,226 --> 00:19:09,641
We still have a victim
in search of a suspect.
339
00:19:09,698 --> 00:19:11,646
Salter's expert give us
anything new to go on?
340
00:19:11,702 --> 00:19:16,019
He said someone beat Fisher up about seven
hours before Salter struck him with her car.
341
00:19:16,078 --> 00:19:18,652
So, 2:00 a.m.?
Which would mean he took a beating...
342
00:19:18,718 --> 00:19:20,757
around 7:00
the night before.
343
00:19:20,822 --> 00:19:24,205
Well, beyond that, we still got
a grand total of zero leads.
344
00:19:24,263 --> 00:19:28,979
So, we start with square one.
Tompkins Square.
345
00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:30,988
I already told you.
I didn't know him.
346
00:19:31,044 --> 00:19:33,687
We're just trying to figure out
who beat on this guy.
347
00:19:33,750 --> 00:19:35,699
I thought you said
he was hit by a car.
348
00:19:35,755 --> 00:19:38,067
He did, but he got beat down first.
You ever see a boxing match?
349
00:19:38,127 --> 00:19:41,908
The dude takes one too many hits. He walks
out of the ring, and two days later he dies.
350
00:19:41,968 --> 00:19:44,577
Is that what happened to him?
351
00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:48,182
Huh. I'm sorry.
I don't know anything.
352
00:19:53,025 --> 00:19:54,973
But I can make a guess.
353
00:19:55,030 --> 00:19:56,978
See, all you had to do
was concentrate.
354
00:19:57,034 --> 00:19:59,984
Yeah, I seen, uh--
What'd you say his name was?
355
00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:02,045
Alan.
Yeah. Yeah.
356
00:20:02,112 --> 00:20:06,532
I seen this Alan guy bumming spare
change outside a bodega on Avenue
357
00:20:06,588 --> 00:20:09,037
And?
Really pissed the owner off.
358
00:20:09,094 --> 00:20:11,042
And how do you know that?
359
00:20:11,099 --> 00:20:13,844
'Cause I saw the dude run him off
with a baseball bat.
360
00:20:13,904 --> 00:20:16,547
Threatened to bash his brains in.
361
00:20:19,416 --> 00:20:21,865
Ever since this clinic opened
362
00:20:21,921 --> 00:20:24,564
this block has been crawling
with all “wackjobs.“
363
00:20:24,628 --> 00:20:28,603
Well, we're interested in the “wackjob"
that you threatened with a baseball bat--
364
00:20:28,670 --> 00:20:31,347
skinny white kid.
Why? Did he complain?
365
00:20:31,410 --> 00:20:35,590
I never touched him, huh? Uh,just waved
it around a little. Told him to get lost.
366
00:20:35,652 --> 00:20:38,157
Is it possible he didn't get
the message and came back?
367
00:20:38,224 --> 00:20:41,766
I'll tell you what. Just for fun, why don't you
tell us where you spend your Thursday nights.
368
00:20:41,832 --> 00:20:46,217
Thursday night? Right here. All
night, every night. Ask anyone.
369
00:20:46,275 --> 00:20:50,092
We will. Meanwhile, just keep
that baseball bat in the dugout.
370
00:20:50,150 --> 00:20:53,191
Huh?
All right. so I'm Alan Fisher-
371
00:20:53,256 --> 00:20:55,637
schizophrenic, homeless,
wandering the streets.
372
00:20:55,695 --> 00:20:59,044
Persona non grata at the local bodega.
Where would I go?
373
00:20:59,103 --> 00:21:03,113
I might get a warmer reception
at my friendly neighborhood clinic.
374
00:21:04,882 --> 00:21:06,956
Alan was one of those guys-
loving family,
375
00:21:07,020 --> 00:21:09,697
plenty of money,
smart, good education.
376
00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:12,073
All the support in the world,
how did he end up on the street?
377
00:21:12,132 --> 00:21:14,080
Schizophrenia
does not discriminate.
378
00:21:14,136 --> 00:21:16,175
Did he come here a lot?
Yeah, time to time.
379
00:21:16,241 --> 00:21:18,553
We worked like hell
to get him back on his medication.
380
00:21:18,612 --> 00:21:20,595
And when he did,
he felt so much better,
381
00:21:20,650 --> 00:21:22,598
he'd think he didn't
need them anymore.
382
00:21:22,654 --> 00:21:26,436
See, that's the Catch-22 of modern meds. They
work so well, patients stop taking them.
383
00:21:26,496 --> 00:21:29,412
On the night of November 13,
was he here?
384
00:21:32,509 --> 00:21:35,425
Yeah. Stopped in around 6:00,
just as I was getting ready to leave.
385
00:21:35,482 --> 00:21:39,230
Hit me up for a couple of bucks for food.
I did my usual song and dance.
386
00:21:39,291 --> 00:21:41,569
Tried to get him back on his regimen.
Fat chance.
387
00:21:41,629 --> 00:21:43,941
You know where
he went after here?
388
00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:46,279
Yeah, Gerald came by. They went off together.
Probably a liquor store.
389
00:21:46,339 --> 00:21:49,084
And where can we find him?
Gerald?
390
00:21:49,145 --> 00:21:53,394
He lives with a couple other homeless guys
over in Stuyvesant Town, 15th and First.
391
00:21:53,455 --> 00:21:56,667
Yeah, I know Fish.
That's what we call him-- Fish.
392
00:21:56,728 --> 00:22:00,408
I do, anyway.
He got that fish-eye look.
393
00:22:00,470 --> 00:22:04,251
Me? I got the 1,000-yard stare.
What you got?
394
00:22:04,311 --> 00:22:06,692
We got a dead friend
of yours, Gerald. Huh?
395
00:22:06,750 --> 00:22:08,699
Fish.
Fish died?
396
00:22:08,755 --> 00:22:11,762
Somebody killed him. Killed him?
Somebody killed Fish.
397
00:22:11,828 --> 00:22:14,107
Yeah, and you were
the last person seen with him.
398
00:22:14,166 --> 00:22:17,549
Dr. Emmerich said he saw y'all
leaving the clinic together.
399
00:22:17,607 --> 00:22:20,181
Yeah, I remember that.
400
00:22:20,246 --> 00:22:23,493
We bought us a Mickey, went to
the park and passed it around.
401
00:22:23,553 --> 00:22:25,934
Yeah, right after that,
he got his head bashed in.
402
00:22:25,992 --> 00:22:29,637
I know. I saw it go down.
403
00:22:30,703 --> 00:22:32,707
You saw what happened?
404
00:22:32,774 --> 00:22:34,916
Guy comes up to Fish.
They trade words.
405
00:22:34,979 --> 00:22:37,393
Start wrestling around,
arguing about something.
406
00:22:37,451 --> 00:22:40,401
Next thing you know, they duking it out.
Guy gets Fish down.
407
00:22:40,457 --> 00:22:43,202
He's bashing his head
into the sidewalk.
408
00:22:43,263 --> 00:22:45,212
You didn't try to stop it?
409
00:22:45,268 --> 00:22:47,307
Are you crazy?
410
00:22:47,372 --> 00:22:49,878
Besides, cops broke it up.
411
00:22:50,947 --> 00:22:53,556
This other guy have a name?
412
00:22:53,620 --> 00:22:56,433
I'm sure his mama give him one,
but I'd be damned if I know.
413
00:23:00,601 --> 00:23:04,611
Another homeless guy, I've seen him around.
Big white guy.
414
00:23:06,514 --> 00:23:08,793
When we got there, one guy had
the other guy in a headlock.
415
00:23:08,853 --> 00:23:11,894
Broke it up, asked who started it,
they pointed fingers at each other.
416
00:23:11,959 --> 00:23:14,637
And you didn't do anything?
We got a call on a domestic.
417
00:23:14,699 --> 00:23:17,581
Guy using his girlfriend for a punching bag.
What are we supposed to do?
418
00:23:17,638 --> 00:23:21,146
Tell 'em flag on the play while we process
a couple of skells through the system?
419
00:23:21,212 --> 00:23:24,026
God forbid, the girl gets hurt.
We're dealing with these lice-heads.
420
00:23:24,086 --> 00:23:27,936
Come on. You know what it's like. Triage.
Taxpayers first. So sue us.
421
00:23:27,994 --> 00:23:31,036
- And only taxpayers get a ride to the E.R.?
- Those guys?
422
00:23:31,101 --> 00:23:33,049
Not in my car.
Never get the stink out.
423
00:23:33,105 --> 00:23:35,714
They weren't hurt.
No harm, no foul.
424
00:23:35,778 --> 00:23:38,387
Actually, one of them was. He died
later that night. A tall white kid.
425
00:23:38,451 --> 00:23:41,298
- No kidding?
- What 'd the other guy look like?
426
00:23:41,357 --> 00:23:43,305
None the worse for wear.
427
00:23:43,360 --> 00:23:45,570
A description, genius.
428
00:23:46,634 --> 00:23:51,180
On, six feet, 6 '2", uh, old
raincoat, orange wool cap.
429
00:23:51,245 --> 00:23:53,524
We didn't take any names.
430
00:23:53,584 --> 00:23:56,227
Lucky for you,
I think we've met the guy.
431
00:23:58,260 --> 00:24:00,539
Now, just take your time, Gerald
432
00:24:00,599 --> 00:24:05,452
What if he gets off?
You know, gets out? Comes after me.
433
00:24:05,510 --> 00:24:09,462
Don't worry. He can't see you.
That's one-way glass.
434
00:24:10,454 --> 00:24:12,402
Neat.
435
00:24:12,458 --> 00:24:14,633
Come on, Gerald, focus.
436
00:24:16,500 --> 00:24:18,675
That guy, five.
437
00:24:18,738 --> 00:24:21,244
Number five.
438
00:24:24,050 --> 00:24:28,025
Uh, sorry, Max.
I got bad news and worse news.
439
00:24:28,091 --> 00:24:32,807
A witness identifies you
as the one who introduced
Alan Fisher's face to the sidewalk.
440
00:24:32,869 --> 00:24:35,648
And two cops picked you out
as the one who'd been
fighting with him.
441
00:24:35,708 --> 00:24:38,214
Now I know that math's
probably not your strong suit,
442
00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:41,163
but even you can see
how this adds up against you.
443
00:24:41,221 --> 00:24:43,602
Only question is which story
is the judge gonna hear,
our version or yours?
444
00:24:43,659 --> 00:24:46,472
Now our version is
that you attacked some
poor defenseless kid,
445
00:24:46,532 --> 00:24:48,776
who was a little touched
in the head.
446
00:24:48,837 --> 00:24:52,584
Shut up!
J-Just shut up!
447
00:24:52,645 --> 00:24:55,493
Let me think.
448
00:24:55,552 --> 00:24:59,733
You don't get it.
You don't get it.
You just don't get it.
449
00:24:59,794 --> 00:25:02,003
Why don't you explain it
to us, Max?
450
00:25:02,066 --> 00:25:05,016
Tell us why you killed this kid.
I can't.
451
00:25:05,072 --> 00:25:07,989
- I can't explain it to you.
- Why?
452
00:25:08,046 --> 00:25:10,586
Because you don't know
what it's like out there.
453
00:25:10,652 --> 00:25:13,499
All right?
You don't get it.
454
00:25:13,558 --> 00:25:16,167
You-- You think that you do,
but you don't.
455
00:25:16,230 --> 00:25:21,846
What I don't get is why you killed
some poor guy who's just as down
on his luck as you are.
456
00:25:21,909 --> 00:25:24,825
He wasn't like me!
He was a selfish bastard!
457
00:25:24,883 --> 00:25:27,867
He wouldn't share!
458
00:25:27,922 --> 00:25:33,402
He... wouldn't share.
459
00:25:34,437 --> 00:25:38,253
All I wanted was a piece,
just one little piece.
460
00:25:38,311 --> 00:25:40,260
And I asked him nice.
461
00:25:41,953 --> 00:25:43,901
Piece of what, Max?
462
00:25:45,260 --> 00:25:47,333
An orange.
463
00:25:47,398 --> 00:25:51,408
One little crappy orange.
464
00:25:55,950 --> 00:25:59,869
You have to appreciate the irony
One defendant hits a man
with her car,
465
00:25:59,925 --> 00:26:02,670
while another defendant
hits the same man
with his fists.
466
00:26:02,731 --> 00:26:05,408
Defendant Number One
gets off with the help
of a blue-chip mouthpiece,
467
00:26:05,471 --> 00:26:09,925
while Defendant Number Two--
Gets the assistance of the Director
of the Urban Justice Center,
468
00:26:09,981 --> 00:26:12,794
which beats a funding-challenged
public defender any day.
469
00:26:12,853 --> 00:26:14,927
Agreed. But it still
begs the question...
470
00:26:14,992 --> 00:26:18,671
how there can possibly
be equal justice, when defendants
aren't treated equally.
471
00:26:18,733 --> 00:26:21,911
Carrie Salter didn't kill Alan Fisher.
Your client did.
472
00:26:21,973 --> 00:26:24,479
Have you ever gone for months
without a shower?
473
00:26:24,546 --> 00:26:28,658
Scrounged for dinner
in a garbage can or begged
for change on the street?
474
00:26:28,722 --> 00:26:32,333
Life on the street is tough.
So that gives your client
the right to commit murder?
475
00:26:32,396 --> 00:26:34,811
No, his fundamental right
to survive does.
476
00:26:34,868 --> 00:26:37,147
Thankfully, the law says otherwise.
Oh, did they change it?
477
00:26:37,207 --> 00:26:39,520
I haven't been keeping up
with my reading. Is the necessity
defense still on the books?
478
00:26:39,579 --> 00:26:43,156
Not when the necessity is an orange.
So you say.
479
00:26:43,220 --> 00:26:45,726
Let's see what a judge says.
480
00:26:45,792 --> 00:26:49,073
It's black letter law.
To make out a necessity defense,
481
00:26:49,133 --> 00:26:52,175
the defendant has to be able to show
that the need outweighed the wrong.
482
00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:56,216
Which it does if you're homeless,
and you do whatever you have to do
to survive in their world.
483
00:26:56,282 --> 00:26:58,457
So it's survival of the fittest
Go ahead, scoff.
484
00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:00,799
It only illustrates
how ignorant all of you are.
485
00:27:00,858 --> 00:27:05,107
Fortunately we have laws
to pre vent society from descending
into Darwinian anarchy
486
00:27:05,168 --> 00:27:09,884
Except we've evicted
the homeless from society.
We've made them outcasts.
487
00:27:09,945 --> 00:27:12,223
We look at them
as less than human.
488
00:27:12,284 --> 00:27:16,327
We shun them from society,
then tum around and hold them
accountable to society's laws,
489
00:27:16,392 --> 00:27:19,309
not the laws they have to live by.
Your Honor.
490
00:27:19,365 --> 00:27:23,341
Don't judge a man
until you've walked a mile
in his shoes, Mr. McCoy.
491
00:27:23,408 --> 00:27:27,360
I don't see any problem
with letting the jury
take a little stroll.
492
00:27:27,416 --> 00:27:31,563
She was basically arguing that as a matter
of law, the homeless are less than human.
493
00:27:31,625 --> 00:27:34,337
Fido takes a bite out of Joe Citizen--
he gets put down.
494
00:27:34,398 --> 00:27:37,382
Fido bites another dog--
that's just life in the urban jungle.
495
00:27:37,438 --> 00:27:39,978
Well, let's face it.
We all say the right things,
but at the end of the day,
496
00:27:40,043 --> 00:27:43,655
we see them as scary,
smelly, subhuman people
we'd rather not deal with.
497
00:27:43,719 --> 00:27:46,259
That's exactly the guilt
Gardner is leveraging.
498
00:27:46,324 --> 00:27:48,363
Well, don't let her.
Plead this out.
499
00:27:48,428 --> 00:27:50,604
When I've got a confession
and two witnesses?
500
00:27:50,667 --> 00:27:53,709
And a defense attorney
turning the courtroom
into a soapbox.
501
00:27:53,774 --> 00:27:56,154
For the money we'll end up
spending on this trial,
502
00:27:56,212 --> 00:27:58,217
we'll be able to build
our own soup kitchen.
503
00:27:58,284 --> 00:28:00,528
But we won't, will we?
504
00:28:07,570 --> 00:28:09,574
Ms. Gardner, where's your client?
505
00:28:09,641 --> 00:28:11,590
On his way, Your Honor.
506
00:28:17,258 --> 00:28:20,141
Jack.
507
00:28:20,198 --> 00:28:22,271
Sidebar, Your Honor.
508
00:28:23,572 --> 00:28:25,520
What is this?
The defendant is dressed like--
509
00:28:25,576 --> 00:28:27,525
A homeless person.
Imagine that.
510
00:28:27,581 --> 00:28:31,397
His appearance violates
basic standards of courtroom decorum.
511
00:28:31,456 --> 00:28:33,404
Which aren't codified anywhere in the C.P.I.
512
00:28:33,461 --> 00:28:36,172
The defendant can dress for court
any way that he wants.
513
00:28:36,233 --> 00:28:39,217
You mean, how his attorney wants.
This is a transparent ploy...
514
00:28:39,273 --> 00:28:42,554
to get the jury
to see him as homeless first
and as a human being second.
515
00:28:42,613 --> 00:28:45,325
Actually, it's about letting
the jury see him as he truly is.
516
00:28:46,389 --> 00:28:49,704
Either way, I'm not inclined
to order a wardrobe change.
517
00:28:49,762 --> 00:28:51,766
Now step back
and let's get on with this.
518
00:28:55,374 --> 00:28:59,795
You say the defendant
was banging the victim's head
against the sidewalk
519
00:28:59,851 --> 00:29:03,200
That's right.
Why didn't you arrest him?
520
00:29:03,259 --> 00:29:05,708
Wasn't clear who started it.
521
00:29:05,764 --> 00:29:08,213
We just sent the parties
on their way.
522
00:29:08,270 --> 00:29:12,222
But I suppose, in hindsight,
maybe we should have
picked the defendant up.
523
00:29:12,278 --> 00:29:16,493
What about medical attention?
Why didn't you take Mr. Fisher
to the emergency room?
524
00:29:16,554 --> 00:29:20,598
I asked him if he wanted to go.
He said "Hospitals are where
they brain wash you. ”
525
00:29:20,663 --> 00:29:23,409
And besides, he looked okay.
526
00:29:27,511 --> 00:29:32,023
Is that your usual practice--
no arrests, no trip to the hospital,
527
00:29:32,088 --> 00:29:34,833
so long as everyone's looks okay?
I don't have a usual practice.
528
00:29:34,894 --> 00:29:37,571
It's case by case.
I use my judgment.
529
00:29:37,633 --> 00:29:39,673
Then let's chat
about your judgment.
530
00:29:39,738 --> 00:29:42,585
The past year, you've handled...
531
00:29:42,644 --> 00:29:45,891
domestic disturbances,
bar fights, traffic disputes.
532
00:29:45,951 --> 00:29:47,934
And in many cases,
you've made arrests,
533
00:29:47,990 --> 00:29:50,803
and/or requested medical attention
for the parties involved
534
00:29:50,862 --> 00:29:53,607
- If counsel could ask a question.
- My question:
535
00:29:53,668 --> 00:29:56,846
What made those cases
different from this one?
536
00:29:57,911 --> 00:29:59,916
I'll give you a hint.
537
00:29:59,982 --> 00:30:01,861
The parties weren't homeless.
538
00:30:01,919 --> 00:30:05,097
I don't treat them any different.
Really?
539
00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:08,144
Because it seems the only time
you do arrest a homeless man or woman...
540
00:30:08,201 --> 00:30:12,712
is for vagrancy, public intoxication
or when they bother a citizen.
541
00:30:12,777 --> 00:30:15,522
But as long as they're just
beating up on one another-
542
00:30:15,583 --> 00:30:17,964
I didn't think an arrest
was warranted in this case.
543
00:30:18,021 --> 00:30:20,129
Didn't matter
if they were homeless or not.
544
00:30:20,193 --> 00:30:23,474
Homeless.
Is that what you call them?
545
00:30:23,534 --> 00:30:25,880
What else should I call them?
546
00:30:25,939 --> 00:30:29,720
It just when you were speaking
to Detectives Briscoe and Green,
547
00:30:29,780 --> 00:30:31,922
you used other terms.
548
00:30:31,986 --> 00:30:34,731
That was just--
We use a lot of slang
on the street.
549
00:30:34,791 --> 00:30:37,570
It doesn't mean anything
Then you won't mind telling us...
550
00:30:37,630 --> 00:30:40,581
what those slang terms are.
551
00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:44,955
One of them was "skells. ”
552
00:30:45,014 --> 00:30:46,962
What was the other?
553
00:30:48,021 --> 00:30:50,937
Lice-heads.
554
00:30:52,463 --> 00:30:57,214
And to think you're
a duly sworn representative of the law.
555
00:31:02,652 --> 00:31:05,865
They were pushin ' and shovin'
First, Fish gave as good
as he got.
556
00:31:05,926 --> 00:31:10,311
But when he got him by the neck
and threw him on the ground,
it was game over.
557
00:31:10,369 --> 00:31:12,317
Game over?
Game over.
558
00:31:12,373 --> 00:31:15,187
He was bashing his head
into the sidewalk.
559
00:31:15,246 --> 00:31:17,593
And Mr. Fisher
couldn't fight back?
560
00:31:18,854 --> 00:31:20,802
That guy was too big.
561
00:31:20,858 --> 00:31:25,836
Which makes me wonder
why he started yelling
at Mr. Edgars in the first place.
562
00:31:25,902 --> 00:31:29,787
He couldn't help it.
It was the way his brain worked
563
00:31:29,845 --> 00:31:33,456
See, Fish would talk tough and such,
but he wouldn't hurt nobody.
564
00:31:33,519 --> 00:31:37,666
In your opinion, did Mr. Fisher
pose any type of threat to the defendant?
565
00:31:37,728 --> 00:31:39,677
Hardly.
566
00:31:39,733 --> 00:31:43,184
Worse Fish could do to anybody
was spit at 'em a little.
567
00:31:48,519 --> 00:31:51,766
So if the fight was so one-sided,
568
00:31:51,826 --> 00:31:54,571
why didn't you try to stop it?
Two guys in a beef?
569
00:31:54,632 --> 00:31:57,081
You don't get up
in the middle of it.
570
00:31:57,137 --> 00:32:00,885
You stand back and watch.
just the way it is.
571
00:32:00,946 --> 00:32:04,090
In your world.
Right.
572
00:32:04,153 --> 00:32:07,194
Then let's talk a little bit
about your world.
573
00:32:07,259 --> 00:32:09,640
Have you ever been attacked
on the street?
574
00:32:09,698 --> 00:32:13,981
When I was a newbie.
That's when you're new
to the street.
575
00:32:14,041 --> 00:32:17,892
Guys come by,
beat me with a pipe.
576
00:32:17,950 --> 00:32:20,331
Take my stuff
And when did that stop?
577
00:32:20,388 --> 00:32:22,336
When I fought back.
See, when you hit back,
578
00:32:22,392 --> 00:32:25,707
they look for somebody else
who won't.
579
00:32:25,766 --> 00:32:29,149
You look nice today.
580
00:32:29,207 --> 00:32:32,989
Do you dress like that
on the street?
No.
581
00:32:33,049 --> 00:32:36,762
New coat, new tie.
Courtesy of Mr. McCoy?
582
00:32:36,824 --> 00:32:39,968
Yeah.
Where'd you sleep last night?
583
00:32:40,031 --> 00:32:42,810
At the Clinton Hotel.
Where do you usually sleep?
584
00:32:42,870 --> 00:32:45,878
Heating vent.
Did you have a shower this morning?
585
00:32:45,944 --> 00:32:49,521
Yeah. It felt good.
586
00:32:49,585 --> 00:32:53,800
I bet. Before that,
when was the last time
you had a shower?
587
00:32:53,861 --> 00:32:57,336
Don't remember.
Must be nice, living in a hotel,
588
00:32:57,403 --> 00:32:59,510
not on the street.
589
00:32:59,574 --> 00:33:01,523
It was heaven.
590
00:33:01,579 --> 00:33:05,053
So when you're
living on the street,
591
00:33:05,119 --> 00:33:08,696
not in a hotel,
what do you do when you
have to go to the bathroom?
592
00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:13,374
Wherever I can.
Sometimes behind a car,
in a doorway,
593
00:33:13,438 --> 00:33:15,386
In the park.
Like a clog.
594
00:33:15,442 --> 00:33:20,089
- Your Honor.
- Look behind you, Ms. Gardner.
There's the line.
595
00:33:20,152 --> 00:33:22,795
My apologies.
And I apologize to you, sir.
596
00:33:22,858 --> 00:33:26,902
I'm sorry if I embarrassed you.
I ain't embarrassed.
597
00:33:26,967 --> 00:33:31,478
Living on the street,
I done a lot of things
I never thought I'd do.
598
00:33:37,156 --> 00:33:39,229
Why is this mess
still on your docket?
599
00:33:39,293 --> 00:33:41,367
Because Gardner thinks
she can get him off...
600
00:33:41,432 --> 00:33:43,744
and wants to make
a statement doing so.
601
00:33:43,804 --> 00:33:46,047
And you don't think
she has a point?
602
00:33:46,108 --> 00:33:50,357
That the homeless are animals
and don't have to follow
the same rules we do.
603
00:33:50,418 --> 00:33:52,697
They don't live the same lives we live.
We've turned our backs on them.
604
00:33:52,756 --> 00:33:55,069
I think that's
overstating things a touch.
605
00:33:55,128 --> 00:33:57,702
I mean, there are shelters
and soup kitchens.
606
00:33:57,767 --> 00:34:01,480
And all these so-called solutions
just hide the problem
instead of solving it.
607
00:34:01,542 --> 00:34:03,786
Nobody wants a shelter
in their neighborhood
608
00:34:03,847 --> 00:34:06,490
When's the last time
you picked up a ladle
at a soup kitchen?
609
00:34:06,553 --> 00:34:08,729
Every Thanksgiving,
as a matter of fact.
610
00:34:08,791 --> 00:34:13,405
One day a year.
You and all the other
limousine liberals...
611
00:34:13,469 --> 00:34:15,417
so you can look at yourself
in the mirror.
612
00:34:15,473 --> 00:34:18,047
The sad fact is a lot of these people
aren't gonna get any better,
613
00:34:18,112 --> 00:34:21,154
no matter how much time and money
we throw at the problem.
614
00:34:21,219 --> 00:34:24,670
You might as well try
sweeping sand off the beach.
615
00:34:24,726 --> 00:34:27,767
Careful, Arthur. You'll make
Gardner's case for her.
616
00:34:27,833 --> 00:34:31,341
She shouldn't have a case at all
Make a deal.
617
00:34:32,777 --> 00:34:35,283
Perhaps you haven 't been
paying attention, but this case
isn't just about Max Edgars.
618
00:34:35,349 --> 00:34:38,197
It's about every homeless man,
woman and child in this city.
619
00:34:38,256 --> 00:34:40,363
Depicting your client
as an animal?
620
00:34:40,426 --> 00:34:43,411
Locked in a savage dog-eat-dog
daily struggle for existence?
621
00:34:43,467 --> 00:34:45,415
This is how you advocate
for the homeless?
622
00:34:45,471 --> 00:34:47,420
I never once said homeless people
were animals.
623
00:34:47,476 --> 00:34:51,486
I said society
treats them like animals,
forces them to live like animals.
624
00:34:51,552 --> 00:34:53,966
They still have choice,
free will.
625
00:34:54,024 --> 00:34:56,769
Oh, do they?
After we cast them
into the outer darkness.
626
00:34:56,830 --> 00:35:00,977
Relegate them to a world
that's more Lord of the Flies
than the civilized one we live in.
627
00:35:01,039 --> 00:35:05,049
Believe me. I'm not denying
any of man's darker instincts,
which is why--
628
00:35:05,114 --> 00:35:08,656
We have laws. I know.
Brings us right back
to where we started, doesn't it?
629
00:35:08,722 --> 00:35:13,142
The homeless, shunned
from the very society
that makes those laws.
630
00:35:13,198 --> 00:35:17,710
People need to realize
we are all just two steps away
from becoming Max Edgars.
631
00:35:20,715 --> 00:35:23,130
I used to work construction.
632
00:35:23,187 --> 00:35:25,135
High steel.
633
00:35:25,191 --> 00:35:29,372
I got hurt on the job,
and I blew through all my savings.
634
00:35:29,433 --> 00:35:35,083
And by the time I was back
on my feet again, I was broke,
behind on the mortgage.
635
00:35:35,146 --> 00:35:39,897
And eventually I lost
my house, my family.
636
00:35:39,957 --> 00:35:41,939
Then where did you live?
637
00:35:43,198 --> 00:35:46,341
For a little while, in my car.
638
00:35:46,404 --> 00:35:50,357
But then I sold it, to eat.
639
00:35:50,413 --> 00:35:54,093
Then I started living
in doorways.
640
00:35:54,155 --> 00:35:58,472
A.T.M. vestibules were the best.
Then the mayor started cracking down.
641
00:35:58,531 --> 00:36:00,912
So where did you go?
For a few months,
642
00:36:00,970 --> 00:36:04,717
I lived in this
empty subway tunnel.
643
00:36:04,777 --> 00:36:08,024
There were a lot
of other homeless there.
And rats.
644
00:36:08,085 --> 00:36:13,165
If you didn't wear gloves,
they would nibble on your fingers
while you slept.
645
00:36:13,229 --> 00:36:16,077
Sounds awful.
You got all these people...
646
00:36:16,136 --> 00:36:19,485
living in their own filth.
647
00:36:19,543 --> 00:36:24,156
You-- You go in there,
the stench would knock you back,
like three feet.
648
00:36:24,220 --> 00:36:27,535
And you couldn't go to a shelter.
They're not safe.
649
00:36:27,594 --> 00:36:33,574
A lot of people,
crazies and junkies, looking to
steal your stuff, or do worse.
650
00:36:33,640 --> 00:36:36,021
Did that happen to you--
people steal your things?
651
00:36:36,079 --> 00:36:38,028
Yeah. I've been mugged.
652
00:36:38,084 --> 00:36:40,966
I lost count how many times.
653
00:36:41,023 --> 00:36:44,201
One time, these-- these two guys
rolled me for my shoes...
654
00:36:44,264 --> 00:36:48,217
and-- and gave me smileys
all over my body.
655
00:36:48,273 --> 00:36:51,781
Th-That's when they hit you
with a chain and a padlock,
656
00:36:51,847 --> 00:36:56,893
and the lock leaves a bruise
like a smiley face.
657
00:36:59,597 --> 00:37:04,677
I want to turn your attention
to the night of your altercation
with Mr. Fisher.
658
00:37:04,742 --> 00:37:08,319
He was crazy.
I just asked for
a piece of his orange,
659
00:37:08,382 --> 00:37:09,829
and he just started
screaming at me.
660
00:37:09,886 --> 00:37:15,103
And I told him to back off
And he pushed me.
661
00:37:15,164 --> 00:37:19,083
And-- And kept putting
his hands on me.
He was a lunatic.
662
00:37:19,139 --> 00:37:21,986
So why didn't you just walk away?
663
00:37:22,046 --> 00:37:23,994
I couldn't.
664
00:37:24,050 --> 00:37:28,299
Word got out that I'd backed off,
I would be fair game.
665
00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:30,741
Fair game for who?
666
00:37:31,801 --> 00:37:34,148
Anybody.
667
00:37:34,206 --> 00:37:36,313
That's how it works.
668
00:37:36,378 --> 00:37:40,923
If you're vulnerable,
if you're weak, you're a target.
669
00:37:40,987 --> 00:37:45,441
And I wasn't gonna be
a target ever again.
670
00:37:51,978 --> 00:37:56,022
So, you admit...
671
00:37:56,087 --> 00:37:58,900
assaulting another man,
672
00:37:58,960 --> 00:38:02,207
because he refused
to share his orange.
673
00:38:02,267 --> 00:38:04,215
It's not that simple.
674
00:38:05,741 --> 00:38:07,724
The law of the jungle.
675
00:38:07,779 --> 00:38:10,729
That's right.
And your lawyer suggested...
676
00:38:10,785 --> 00:38:14,168
that you live like an animal
in that jungle.
677
00:38:14,226 --> 00:38:16,835
Yeah, well, maybe she's right.
678
00:38:16,899 --> 00:38:19,178
Then what are we doing here?
679
00:38:19,237 --> 00:38:22,848
We don't put animals
on trial, Mr. Edgars.
680
00:38:22,913 --> 00:38:24,861
We put them down.
681
00:38:24,917 --> 00:38:29,234
Fine. Put me down.
You'll be doing me a favor.
682
00:38:29,293 --> 00:38:31,799
Tired of living
in the street, are you?
683
00:38:31,865 --> 00:38:34,212
You think I chose this
for my life?
684
00:38:34,270 --> 00:38:39,385
I think you have more choices
than Alan Fisher did, don't you?
685
00:38:39,448 --> 00:38:42,899
He was held hostage
to his own delusions.
686
00:38:42,955 --> 00:38:45,268
But you could control yourself.
687
00:38:45,328 --> 00:38:47,504
You could have looked for a job.
688
00:38:47,566 --> 00:38:48,841
I had a job. I told you.
689
00:38:48,902 --> 00:38:50,542
And a house.
Yeah.
690
00:38:50,606 --> 00:38:51,848
And a car.
That's right.
691
00:38:51,909 --> 00:38:54,483
Friends, family, possessions.
692
00:38:54,548 --> 00:38:57,361
And I lost them!
693
00:38:57,420 --> 00:39:00,928
I lost it all!
694
00:39:00,996 --> 00:39:05,541
You don't know
what that feels like,
to be a failure.
695
00:39:06,607 --> 00:39:09,592
To go to bed
on a piece of wet cardboard
every friggin' night,
696
00:39:09,648 --> 00:39:13,065
wondering,
“How did this happen to me?”
697
00:39:16,329 --> 00:39:19,803
I didn't want this.
698
00:39:21,039 --> 00:39:24,617
I didn't choose this life.
699
00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:27,892
This is something
that happened to me.
700
00:39:27,953 --> 00:39:31,963
And it's like this thing in my chest
that's killing me.
701
00:39:34,168 --> 00:39:36,947
It gets me right here.
702
00:39:43,087 --> 00:39:45,502
Sounds...
703
00:39:47,229 --> 00:39:49,178
human...
704
00:39:50,770 --> 00:39:53,185
to me, Mr. Edgars.
705
00:40:04,501 --> 00:40:06,710
Most of us woke up this morning
706
00:40:06,771 --> 00:40:10,314
punched the snooze button
of our clock radios,
707
00:40:10,380 --> 00:40:14,697
before eventually willing ourselves
out of our nice warm beds...
708
00:40:14,756 --> 00:40:20,405
and stumbling into the kitchen
for an English muffin
and a hot cup of coffee.
709
00:40:22,005 --> 00:40:24,386
But others,
710
00:40:26,047 --> 00:40:29,658
people who most of us
will never know,
711
00:40:29,721 --> 00:40:32,170
woke up in a subway tunnel,
712
00:40:32,227 --> 00:40:36,875
surrounded by rats
and human excrement.
713
00:40:36,938 --> 00:40:39,581
We all pay lip service.
714
00:40:39,643 --> 00:40:42,320
We all say the right things
about the homeless,
715
00:40:42,382 --> 00:40:44,956
as long as we don't have to
get too close to them.
716
00:40:45,022 --> 00:40:46,970
We blame them
for their own misfortune...
717
00:40:47,026 --> 00:40:51,605
and say we cannot understand
why they live the way they do.
718
00:40:51,669 --> 00:40:56,215
We can't comprehend
their existence.
719
00:40:56,280 --> 00:41:00,461
We can't possibly ever know
the fear and desperation...
720
00:41:00,523 --> 00:41:04,499
that drove Max Edgars
to kill Alan Fisher that night
721
00:41:04,565 --> 00:41:08,574
We cant'. So we should
all go home tonight,
722
00:41:08,641 --> 00:41:11,921
crawl back into our nice warm beds...
723
00:41:11,980 --> 00:41:14,863
and thank our lucky stars...
724
00:41:14,921 --> 00:41:17,336
we don't have to.
725
00:41:31,156 --> 00:41:36,077
The law exists to protect,
726
00:41:36,133 --> 00:41:38,081
as well as to punish.
727
00:41:38,137 --> 00:41:41,281
So, if you say...
728
00:41:41,345 --> 00:41:44,228
that society's laws don't apply...
729
00:41:44,285 --> 00:41:46,825
to defendants like Max Edgars,
730
00:41:46,890 --> 00:41:50,808
you're also saying
that society's justice...
731
00:41:50,865 --> 00:41:56,720
doesn't apply to victims
like Alan Fisher.
732
00:41:56,778 --> 00:41:59,091
If that's your verdict,
733
00:41:59,150 --> 00:42:05,130
then society truly has turned
its back on these people.
734
00:42:07,068 --> 00:42:09,016
They have no food.
735
00:42:09,072 --> 00:42:12,387
No shelter.
736
00:42:13,448 --> 00:42:15,453
No money.
737
00:42:18,125 --> 00:42:21,702
Don't deny them justice as well.
738
00:42:37,333 --> 00:42:40,784
Jury foreman, have you
reached a verdict?
739
00:42:40,842 --> 00:42:42,790
We have, Your Honor.
740
00:42:42,846 --> 00:42:47,493
On the sole count of the indictment,
manslaughter in the first degree,
741
00:42:47,555 --> 00:42:51,167
we find the defendant... guilty.
742
00:43:14,214 --> 00:43:16,697
Twelve years in Ossining.
743
00:43:16,753 --> 00:43:19,761
At least he'll have
plenty of food and shelter.
744
00:43:19,826 --> 00:43:22,309
Careful, Jack. That almost
sounded like sympathy.
745
00:43:22,365 --> 00:43:24,438
Don't get me wrong.
He killed a man for an orange.
746
00:43:24,503 --> 00:43:28,080
He deserves to be in prison.
But?
747
00:43:28,144 --> 00:43:31,527
We just moved him
from one jungle to another.