NARRATOR: In the criminal justice system
the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups,
the police who investigate crime
and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.
These are their stories.
(SIREN WAILING)
(BARKING)
It came from down there, Officer. You call it in?
Yes, sir. On my cellular. I'm Russell Lehrman.
How many shots? Just one.
Scared the hell out of my dog. You see anybody run out?
No. Nobody.
(DOG BARKING)
(CRICKETS CHIRPING)
(WOMAN CHATTERING OVER POLICE RADIO)
Over here.
2-0, Peter to Central, signal 10-54.
We got a male down. Possible DOA. 80th and Riverside.
Oh, man, Wally.
Look at this.
OFFICER: The victim is Detective First Grade Bill Morino.
Worked sex crimes out of the third precinct.
We found his car parked half a block down on Riverside.
We'll want to look at it. Any witnesses?
Mr. Lehrman and his dog. That's all.
Get a team to canvas the buildings across the street.
Maybe somebody else was taking their dogs out for a squirt.
One hit. In the front, out the back. Powder burns on the face.
It's like he walked right into it.
CSU's looking for a shell casing and a weapon.
What about his?
Holster's empty. They left his wallet.
11 bucks? That's about right for a cop.
Anybody know what he was doing here?
Put a call in to his partner. He was home in bed.
Good place to be at 2:00 in the morning.
Mike? What's the matter?
Better call his wife.
What, you know this guy?
Yeah. Billy Boy Morino.
I grew up with him. Three stoops down.
WOMAN ON PA: Doctor Richards...
Yeah. Okay, that'll work. Thanks a lot.
Extension 25.
His partner will meet us at the third precinct.
Judy...
I'm sorry.
Can you talk to us a minute? Yeah.
How you holding up? Okay.
They said there were some forms I had to fill out.
A PBA person will come over, they'll walk you through it.
My partner, Lennie Briscoe.
Mrs. Morino.
We're trying to put together what Billy was doing in Riverside Park.
He was working. His partner will know.
We thought maybe your husband might've said something.
I was out with the kids.
I came home, there was a message on the machine from Billy
saying he was gonna work late.
Did he say what time he'd be home?
No. He just said not to wait up. I was used to that.
Look, I gotta get home before the kids wake up.
Thanks.
If he was working a case last night, he didn't check in with me.
Nothing in the command log, either.
Riverside Park's got to be a natural for your line of work.
Yeah. Rapes, muggings. In season, it gets busy.
But come wintertime, the perps look for warmer quarters.
Well, Morino was there. We'd like to know how he got there.
We're open to suggestion. I mean, a meet with a snitch, a bad habit to feed...
What? I said something wrong?
Only bad habit he had was his work.
We cleared 82% of our cases. Our conviction rate's 91%.
That holds up to anybody's record.
Anybody's.
His service piece hasn't turned up.
Zip for a shell casing. They're still looking for the slug.
In that park? Good luck. What about his car?
Nothing. Just his prints and his wife's.
We emptied his desk and his locker. We checked his notebooks.
Whatever he was up to, he didn't tell anybody about it.
A secret hobby he wasn't proud of?
Not according to his partner.
Not according to anybody Lennie. I knew the guy since kindergarten.
He made the tough calls. He was solid.
Mike. What?
You want to know about his hobbies? Work and family, family and work. Period.
Right. Right. Mr. 82% case clearance.
It's a nice average. Makes for a lot of angry defendants.
See if any of that 82% came back to visit.
(PHONE RINGING)
VAN BUREN: Yeah. Mike. I'll tell him.
Anti-corruption task force wants to talk. Cragen's office.
Yeah. I saw Morino take a bribe.
The counterman at Skouros' comped him a piece of pie.
You gonna dig him up and arrest him?
Just answer the question, Mike.
He worked sex crimes. That's not exactly a gold mine, okay?
And before that he worked narcotics at the 1-5.
A lot of guys at the 1-5 drive home in Corvettes.
Morino drove a five-year-old Dodge.
When was the last time you talked to him?
Couple of weeks ago. He called me.
Just like that, out of the blue?
Yeah, just like that. He found the cure for the common cold.
Look, I was busy. We talked maybe a couple of minutes. It was a nothing call.
What's going on here? Was Morino under investigation or what?
We're talking to anybody who ever hung a coat at the 1-5.
Well, does that include their friends?
Okay. What do you say you guys go sharpen a few pencils here, huh? Let's go.
(CLEARS THROAT)
Internal Affairs, Mike. They never heard of Dale Carnegie.
Look, I've been to Morino's house a couple of times a year. Okay?
I never saw anything that made me think twice.
Well, that's good. That confirms everything I saw in his file.
Then what am I doing here?
Because it's about to hit the fan at the 1-5.
Maybe somebody thought Morino'd be a liability.
Are you saying another cop whacked him?
My 14-year-old plays spin the bottle on a computer.
I'm telling you, anything's possible.
So we just step aside and let Internal Affairs get into it, huh?
Well, they would like that. But I can tell them to take a hike.
Now, listen, here's a list of the people we're looking at, at the 1-5.
Any of those names come up in connection with Morino, you let me know.
And Mikey, this could get hot and heavy.
So you keep that famous temper of yours in your pocket, huh?
See you.
This is a waste of time.
If Morino was having lunch with the old gang from the 1-5,
he wouldn't be stupid enough to put it in his date book.
He would've been stupid not to.
If I was being squeezed by those slime balls
I would have made a note of it in big letters.
Unless he had as much to hide as they do.
Hey, Lennie, for the last time, Morino was clean.
Got it.
I don't get this.
Morino's precinct command log for the last month.
Three times, he called in off duty to Riverside Park.
So he was either crazy about the neighborhood,
or he had something going on the side.
What on the side? Come on, just spit it out. Hey, Mike.
You want to write Morino's eulogy,
or you want to catch the guy who killed him?
Let's talk to the wife.
Billy never talked about what went on at the 1-5.
I know he wasn't happy there.
Maybe some familiar names came up over dinner?
No. He never mentioned anybody.
Judy, we noticed he was around Riverside Park a few times last month,
but his partner said it wasn't work-related.
On the West Side? We don't have any friends over there.
(CLEARS THROAT) Maybe your husband had a friend.
Now, look...
We're gonna have to ask you this. How was it going between you two?
Fine. Considering we were married 15 years.
You know, Billy had his moods.
What kind of mood lately?
Most nights he was up pacing. He was having nightmares.
I thought it was because of his work, you know, the kind of cases he was getting.
Really sick stuff.
The department has shrinks on the payroll. Could he have been talking to any of them?
I don't know.
I think he was talking to somebody else, though.
I took a message for him
about three weeks ago from a Father Joe.
You know Billy went back to the church after the kids started school.
He wanted me to convert, too.
Are you talking about a Father Joe Krolinsky?
Yeah. You know him?
Yeah.
He was our parish priest when Billy and I were kids.
Did he leave a number?
No. He said he'd try Billy at work.
I was just glad he was getting help.
K-R-Jo.-I-I-N-S-K-Y. Krolinsky.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
Joseph.
No, we already checked Queens.
Okay. Thank you.
Archdiocese doesn't have him.
Yes?
All right. Thank you very much, Sister.
He's not pounding the pulpit in New Jersey, either.
What do you want to do, call the Pope?
Gonna start with the DMV.
What? Priests don't drive?
Yes, this is Detective Briscoe of the 2-7.
The color of the day is aquamarine.
Right, I need an address on a Joseph Krolinsky, with a
No, no date of birth. Start with the locals.
Uh-huh.
Say that one again.
Thank you very much. We have a winner.
Joseph Krolinsky, 406 West 78th.
That'd be two blocks from where Morino was shot.
It's good to see you again, Mike.
Can I offer you some coffee?
We're okay, Father.
The only people who call me that are my kids.
I haven't been a priest in nearly 15 years.
Do you have a family?
No.
Well, don't wait too long. I nearly did.
And I take it you're not here for a social call.
You phoned Billy Morino a couple of weeks ago.
That's right.
Why the sudden inspiration?
JOE: He called me.
My company transferred me here last year. I ran into Bill's mother on the subway.
I used to counsel her when I was a priest.
Anyway, she told me how well Bill was doing.
Thought I'd like to hear from him.
Did you? Of course.
But I haven't talked to him. We traded phone calls.
Why, what happened?
Detective Morino was killed Tuesday night, a couple of blocks from here in the park.
Oh, my God.
Did he ever come by the house, maybe when you were out?
No. My wife would've told me.
KATE: Joe.
The kids want to say good night.
I'll be right there.
You'll excuse me.
BRISCOE: Yeah. Sure, go ahead.
One more thing, Father. Where were you Tuesday night?
I was right here with my family. Why? Am I a suspect?
It was just a question.
Father Joe was in charge of the altar boys.
He...
He had a reputation...
And?
Look, I...
I haven't even told Lennie about this.
Father Joe put the moves on me once.
Billy had some involvement, some of the other kids, too.
What? Nobody reported him?
No, we were just kids. I mean, he was a big deal. Our parents loved him.
What are kids gonna do against a parish priest?
CRAGEN: What're we saying here?
Morino heard Krolinsky's back in town. He knows he likes kids.
Then what? Fill in the blanks, Mike.
I can't.
Look, Mike, I'm here for you, and you know that.
But you are gonna have to bring in Lennie and Van Buren, okay?
Now, what does this Krolinsky do for a living?
Senior Accounts Supervisor at Dominion Life.
He's got the package deal. Nice job, nice home, nice family.
So it'd be a shame if somebody were to come along and upset that apple cart?
Especially if that somebody had their hand out.
We checked Krolinsky's IUDs.
Two calls from his office, one call to Morino, one call to his precinct.
And no calls to Krolinsky on Morino's IUDs.
It bears out what Krolinsky told you.
Well, don't put him up for sainthood yet. Because I called up his yellows.
One arrest in '68, third-degree sexual abuse. No disposition.
Sex abuse three. Catch-all for everything, including a pat on the ass.
Anything more recent?
Well, no.
We got... The archdiocese sent us stats.
1969, he was assigned to a parish in Ohio.
Then five more parishes over the next 12 years.
Last parish was in Buffalo.
Two years later, he hangs up his collar and moves to Jersey.
According to the computer, he kept his nose clean.
So this reputation could've been all talk.
Hey, I was there. I didn't imagine it and neither did Morino.
He was in Krolinsky's neighborhood for a reason.
Because of Krolinsky.
Yeah, but he's not around to tell us.
Maybe he told some of the others from the old parish.
He called me before he died. Maybe he called them.
Even after he said his name, it took me a while to make the connection.
Billy Boy Morino.
First kid on the block to grow a mustache.
I don't hear squat from him in 20 years, and all of a sudden he wants a sit-down.
Right off the bat, he gets into it. Father Joe.
One name I had no problem remembering.
Why is that?
Come on, Mike. You know what I'm talking about.
Pretend I don't.
Father Joe molested me when I was 11.
A lot of other kids, too. Billy was pretty worked up.
Said we should do something about what he did to us.
Take him to court, sue him.
That might not be a bad idea.
It happened a long time ago, Mike.
I had some problems in my marriage, but I got help.
I settled up with Father Joe in my head. I told Billy that's all I needed to do.
I can't get over it. I just talked to him a couple of weeks ago.
Yeah. Well, getting back to that conversation, Mr. Scully...
It was about that sick bastard, Father Joe,
whatever he calls himself these days.
Morino said he'd been keeping tabs on him.
Meaning what?
Meaning Morino's in the business of busting perverts.
Father Joe certainly qualifies.
Billy said he wanted to take him to court.
He told me he had a talk with Father Joe.
Son of a bitch offered him money to go away.
Billy asked me what I thought about it.
Well, what did you think?
Told him I'd get back to him.
I already know what I want to do to Father Joe,
taking his money isn't part of it.
Now that we got the death penalty back, I know who's got my vote
for the grand opening.
Hey, you want to get even with Krolinsky,
put him in the shower room at Ossining for five minutes.
Yeah, it's Logan.
You beeped me.
Anyway, it sounds like Morino was looking for a more rewarding payback.
Krolinsky offered him the money. I didn't hear that Billy took it.
Well, maybe he never got the chance.
Maybe Krolinsky figured he's gonna be on the hook to this guy forever.
And he solves his problems with one bullet.
Yeah, where? Okay.
Speaking of, they got the slug.
CSU found it on the ground with a metal detector.
70 yards from where Morino was shot.
We're lucky it didn't catch the uptown bus.
A .38 semi-wad cutter.
Are you ready for this?
I matched it to Morino's service revolver. We had his lands and grooves on file.
That can't be right.
There's the microscope. Help yourself.
Did anybody check Morino's gloves for powder residue?
Let me look.
The answer's no. The gloves were in his pocket.
Well, just for the hell of it, check them anyway.
You read our report. It's all there in black and white.
Well, my reading skills aren't
what they used to be. Why don't you walk us through it?
We came down the hill, found him lying there.
His gloves, were they on or off?
He wasn't wearing any. They were in his pocket.
We can't figure out how powder residue got on his right glove.
It's all here in the report, fellows, in black and white.
(SIGHING)
Those lab guys are amazing.
They found a slug and matched it up to Morino's piece.
Now either they're wrong, or your report isn't what I would call comprehensive.
Maybe you'd like to pencil in a few adjustments?
Look, we were just trying to do right by the guy's family.
Just try doing right by regulations.
We found him with his service piece in his right hand.
He was a suicide, no question. We ditched the gun, took his gloves off.
What in hell crossed your mind to do something like that?
He goes on the books as a suicide, the widow gets what,
a lousy 50 grand payout?
If he gets written up as "killed in the line of duty,"
it rates a couple of hundred grand, minimum.
Yeah, I mean, come on, guys, he was a cop.
We gotta take care of each other, am I right?
I talked to McCoy. We won't be pressing charges against the officers.
The department'll handle it. At most, they'll draw a 30-day suspension.
Great. They can use the time to raise money for the widows and orphans' fund.
I don't get it. Billy just wasn't the type.
Yeah, well, we'll save the post-game wrap-up for the shrinks.
Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
We talked to four people who were molested by Krolinsky.
And those are just the ones we know about.
Thirty-year-old crimes, Mike.
That's 25 years past the expiration date.
He left the state.
Doesn't that stop the clock on the statute of limitations?
Only for five years. Krolinsky's in the clear.
And Morino might be dead
because of what he did to him. You're gonna let him walk?
We don't have a choice. His record's clean.
Except for a sex abuse arrest in '68.
Which was never prosecuted.
Claire, the guy belongs in a box.
You know what, Mike? Talk to the sex-abuse victim. Find out what really happened.
I was 10 years old.
My dad sold plumbing supplies so he was on the road a lot.
Father Joe picked up the slack, you know.
And he got me into the choir.
He helped me with my homework, stuff like that.
My mother thought he walked on water.
She didn't catch on, right?
Nah. Neither did I.
It wasn't like he was sending a dozen roses every day.
Well, after the big build-up, what happened?
(CLEARS THROAT)
He asked me to stay after choir practice one Saturday.
It was this little room at the school.
He started asking me a lot of questions like,
you know, did I have a girlfriend. And they got more and more personal,
and then it was, "Show me yours and I'll show you mine."
It's okay, Mr. Waller. You're doing just fine.
(CLEARS THROAT)
He put his hand in my pants.
Gray flannel pants I got for Christmas.
And when it was over, he...
He made a mess on my new pants.
(EXHALES)
He started crying and he said that we'd sinned and if I told anybody,
God would punish both of us.
But you did tell somebody?
Because of the pants.
I hid them in the basement, and my dad found them.
At that time, did you tell the police what you just told us?
No.
My mother was very pious. She burned the pants.
My father wanted to kill him.
And they had a big argument.
And I was told that all I was allowed to say was,
Father Joe touched me through my clothes.
And what happened after he got arrested?
(SCOFFS)
You know, I'm really not sure. Man, I was young.
Father Joe left the parish, and my parents never brought it up again.
I was a happy kid.
And I loved my parents.
That scum took all that away from me.
So the man's a criminal.
How does that get us past the statute of limitations?
We can re-file the charge as a felony and still be within the limits.
He was charged with a misdemeanor.
Only because the police were never told what actually happened.
You know it's a stretch.
Jack, Mr. Waller never had his day in court.
Pick up Krolinsky.
Mike, what's going on?
You mind stepping outside, Mr. Krolinsky?
Joseph Krolinsky, you're under arrest for aggravated sexual abuse.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
Joe? You understand that?
Get back inside, Kate.
You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be...
Thirty-year-old misdemeanor, and you puff it up into a felony arrest.
He's lucky the statutes keep me from bringing more charges.
Based on what? Stewart Waller's book of fairy-tales?
They believed him 30 years ago.
And they didn't prosecute because they saw it for what it was,
the imaginings of a vindictive child.
I told Stewart he couldn't be
in the choir anymore. He wasn't good enough.
He ran home and told his parents this crazy story.
A lot of other people tell similar stories. Are they all being vindictive?
Neighborhood gossip. That's your case?
Let me spare you the egg facial. Motion to dismiss.
Pleasant reading.
Even if you attach credence to Mr. Waller's accusations,
the boat sailed 25 years ago, Your Honor.
The People are doing an end run around the statute of limitations.
Mr. McCoy, this offense was filed as a misdemeanor when I was in high school.
Why bring it back as a felony now?
We believe it's only the tip of the iceberg.
That's nonsense. This case sat in someone's drawer for 30 years.
It was dismissed once.
To let Mr. McCoy proceed now
not only violates the spirit of the statute of limitations,
it violates my client's right to a speedy trial.
He violated Stewart Waller in the most heinous manner imaginable.
The People had their bite at the apple 30 years ago, Mr. McCoy.
I don't see how stretching the statute serves the interest of justice.
The charges are dismissed.
Well, it was a noble effort.
I called Stewart Waller to tell him. It wasn't easy. He had his hopes up.
He's suffered plenty.
The statute of limitations doesn't help him.
Long as Mr. Krolinsky's been behaving himself all these years.
He just hasn't been caught.
I've prosecuted pedophiles before, Adam. They defy rehabilitation.
Even golfers retire. Is there any evidence that he's still active?
No. But he moved from parish to parish the last 30 years.
Makes you wonder why.
Let's ask the people who moved him.
I pulled together Mr. Krolinsky's personnel file, works and all.
It doesn't say very much for our success in dealing with his problem.
The church knew what he was doing?
Yes. We had reports from other priests, from parents, starting in the late '60s.
Well, what were you waiting for? Polaroids?
Of course not. Mr. Krolinsky was relieved of his duties.
He was ordered to seek medical care.
Once the doctors pronounced him cured, he was sent to a new parish.
How often was he pronounced cured?
The church tried everything, Mr. McCoy. We sent him to our treatment centers.
We thought faith and prayer would be enough to rehabilitate him.
We were wrong.
The church had him for 20 years.
I'm amazed you allowed him to slip through the cracks for so long.
We dealt with him as best we could,
based on what we knew then about his sickness.
Now we put people like Mr. Krolinsky in your hands.
It's incredible. There must be 100 reports of molestation in here.
And only one of them ends up on a police blotter.
When Krolinsky was sent to a parish in Buffalo in 1980,
nobody even bothered to warn them. They made him supervisor of the altar boys.
Krolinsky's last documented victims were in '81. Still puts him out of our range.
Hand me the police interviews with Detective Morino's friends.
One of them mentions a conversation between Krolinsky and Morino.
Here.
Krolinsky offered him money to leave him alone.
And Morino was a police officer.
Do you want to arrest Krolinsky for attempted bribery?
Say money did change hands. Bribery is an element of a conspiracy.
A conspiracy to do what?
To molest children.
It extends from the time he molested the kids in the '60s,
right up to the present where he bribed Morino.
We can get him for everything.
It takes two to commit conspiracy. Who did he conspire with?
The Roman Catholic Church.
What've you been inhaling?
You want to name the Catholic Church as a co-conspirator?
An unindicted co-conspirator. I see.
We don't charge them with conspiring to molest kids, we just say they did.
That's gonna be a great relief to the Archbishop.
We don't even have to go that far.
Under People v. Villetto, we can convict Krolinsky
even though the church never intended to conspire with him,
nor commit the underlying crime.
That's very slick.
But you still need an overt act by the co-conspirator.
The church played a shell game with Krolinsky.
They foisted him on one unsuspecting parish after another.
Adam, this isn't an indictment of the church.
It wasn't a priest who did this, it was a pedophile.
If we want to get him, this is the only way.
All right. I'll talk to the Archbishop. I'll let him know what's coming.
And we still have to prove Krolinsky bribed Morino.
Start with the financial records.
Unindicted co-conspirators.
My aunt who says the rosary every morning's gonna have a conniption.
The church should've dropped a dime on this guy 30 years ago.
Oh, yeah. Right.
Because they're the only people in the world who scratch each other's backs.
Unlike politicians and cops, just to name two.
If it's any comfort to your aunt, we have the Archbishop's blessing.
Hey, unless Krolinsky's supporting his local bookie, I think I have something.
$50,000 cash withdrawal. The week before Morino died.
If it turns up on Morino's account...
The corruption task force already went through Morino's books.
We're not gonna find anything they didn't.
Has anyone bothered to look into his wife's finances?
It's bad enough what Billy did to himself.
Now you want to say that he was taking a bribe?
You bought T-bills a couple of weeks ago, Mrs. Morino.
$50,000 worth in your children's names.
Judy, we have to know where that money came from.
If it came from Krolinsky, we got him. That's what Billy wanted.
I found the money in an envelope a week after Billy died.
Was there anything else in the envelope?
Yes. A note.
Billy said I was supposed to use the money to take care of the kids.
I didn't give him a dime. I told you, I never talked to him.
Then what did you do with the money?
Take some Boy Scouts on a field trip?
Mr. McCoy, unless you have actual questions for him, we're done here.
He can start by answering for 30 years of sexual abuse.
We have all the names and dates and locations.
Where did you get this?
The archdiocese. They want him behind bars as much as we do.
LOGAN: Where do you want to start, Father?
At the top of the pile or the bottom?
That won't be necessary. ZINNS: Joe...
No, I want to do this.
I was a very sick man. That's why I left the priesthood.
You're blaming the church? They didn't molest kids. You did.
I'm a different man now, Mike.
You should be happy how I've turned out. I have a wonderful family...
No. No. I can't listen to this crap.
I don't think a jury will be very much interested, either.
You'll never prove where Morino's money came from.
I'll let 12 mothers and fathers make the connection.
Give us a minute, Mr. McCoy.
That son of a bitch is lucky I didn't smack him.
So are we.
There's people like him in every neighborhood.
Could be the little league coach, your kid's favorite teacher.
It's too bad they don't glow in the dark.
It's a matter of law that a payment between accomplices
isn't an element of a conspiracy.
Meaning such payment does not extend the life of the conspiracy.
Meaning you have no case.
What accomplice are you talking about?
Back when I had my illness,
Billy Morino used to invite boys to visit with me.
ZINNS: To put it bluntly, Morino was his pimp.
My client gave him the $50,000 as a belated gratuity.
He's unbelievable. He molested these kids.
And now he's trying to blame one of his own victims.
Unfortunately, it may work.
If they prove Morino was getting boys for Krolinsky 25 years ago,
the jury can infer that the payment was for services rendered.
Therefore your case ended back in the '70s somewhere.
Krolinsky can put whatever spin on the facts he wants.
A jury won't take the word of an admitted child molester.
Unless his victims confirm Morino's involvement.
I spoke to them. They say that Morino was not part of the equation.
And of course, they wouldn't lie just to convict Krolinsky.
But you remind them that we still put people in jail for perjury.
McCoy says Morino took a bribe. The other side says he was a pimp.
Well, that's a hell of a choice. So what is it, column A or column B?
It's just two friends talking, Mikey.
When I was 12, Billy tried to recruit me for a matinee with Father Joe.
What, do you think less of him because of it?
Come on, Mike. You know how guys like Krolinsky operate.
They manipulate these kids. They know what buttons to push.
Kid's got no father,
the mother works two jobs, the kid's small for his age.
Yeah, I know. I know.
So, you gonna let McCoy in on this secret?
He's not calling me in as a witness. I begged off.
What, was I supposed to get up in court and put another bullet through Billy's head?
Oh, good. So you're off the hook. So long as nobody asks you the question.
Maybe I won't remember.
Krolinsky goes to prison, I wouldn't exactly cry about it, Don.
So you might as well toss that badge of yours in the garbage.
Thanks for the help.
I'm not gonna run to teacher, Mike. You do what you gotta do.
I'm just telling you, you don't owe Morino a thing.
Oh, the hell I don't.
When he tried to recruit me that day, you know what I did?
I decked him. Instead of running to the nearest cop.
The other week when he called me, I had a feeling what it was about, you know?
(SIGHS)
I did the same thing I've been doing for 25 years. I avoided the subject.
I couldn't handle it.
My take? Neither could he. Seeing Krolinsky brought it all back.
Imagine the guilt about all the kids he fed that pervert.
The only problem is, he shot the wrong guy.
Come on, Mike, he never even realized he was the victim.
Billy mentioned this money Krolinsky offered him to leave him alone.
Billy didn't know what to do about it. Neither did I.
And that was the last time I talked to him.
No more questions.
You were friends with Detective Morino when you were kids, isn't that right?
SCULLY: Yes.
ZINNS: You went to ball games together?
Sure, sometimes.
Did you ever sit behind the dugout at Shea?
A couple of times.
At 7 bucks a seat, that's a lot of money for a working-class kid.
Where'd you get those tickets?
I can't remember.
Didn't Billy Morino arrange for you to get them from Mr. Krolinsky?
I don't know. In fact,
didn't Billy Morino tell you, you could get those tickets if you visited Mr. Krolinsky?
No. Billy Morino had nothing to do with it. That bastard abused me...
Move to strike, Your Honor.
Yes. The jury will disregard the witness's last comment.
No more questions.
So I'll call impound and see if the convertible turned up.
Detective Michael Logan?
Yes.
Have a nice day.
A subpoena. What'd you do, run over somebody's toes?
It's from Krolinsky's lawyer. I'm gonna have to call McCoy.
Damn!
Billy was a year older than me. I guess we were good friends.
He lived on the same block, and we went to the same school.
Same church.
And did he make a proposition to you involving Mr. Krolinsky?
I don't understand the question.
ZINNS: Do you want me to speak more slowly, Detective?
Do you want me to answer that?
Your Honor, permission to treat as hostile?
Go ahead.
Detective Logan, did Billy Morino suggest
you have sex with Mr. Krolinsky
in return for baseball tickets?
You're under oath, Detective.
Yes, he did.
Billy was just a kid. No more questions.
Mr. Krolinsky manipulated him...
NOVAK: Mr. McCoy.
No questions at this time. The People reserve the right to recall.
NOVAK: You're excused, Detective.
I remind you you're still under oath, not to discuss your testimony with anybody.
My client has been vindicated.
JACK: All that was missing was the platter from Tiffany's.
Get off my back. This is between me and Morino.
And the District Attorney's Office.
You had an obligation to tell us before the trial.
Wait a minute. Are you telling me that what one scared young kid did
can compare to what that freak did to 100 kids?
My friend's name just got dragged through the mud up there, and for what?
That's a hell of a system you got, Counselor.
Well, I think that was both barrels.
His friend's character's not the issue. Krolinsky's is.
Starting tomorrow, we get to hear from his coworkers
what a fine human being he's become.
Except we won't be hearing from his wife. She hasn't been added to the witness list.
I haven't seen her in the court for the last few days, either.
Find out why.
Logan was in an impossible position. I won't push for disciplinary action.
In the meantime, he jammed a stick in your spokes.
Technically, Morino was Krolinsky's accomplice.
The money was not a bribe.
There is no act to extend the life of the conspiracy.
The jury will acquit.
Not if we can convince them that Morino couldn't consent to be an accomplice.
How do you intend to do that?
Every study on pedophilia bears it out.
The adult is always in control. The child can never consent.
Morino was 13. Sounds old enough to me to know right from wrong.
We're talking about a neglected child. Easy pickings for a pedophile.
They know how to play on those weaknesses.
They become the authority figure in the child's life.
Right and wrong doesn't mean anything. All the kid wants is to please the adult.
He doesn't know he's being used as a Judas goat.
So you present our expert here in rebuttal,
and you're sure that the jury draws the right conclusion?
Time to pull your pecans out of the fire and give Krolinsky's lawyer a call.
(KNOCKING AT DOOR)
Yes.
We may be on to something.
Mrs. Krolinsky moved back to New Jersey with her kids three days into the trial.
(SCOFFS)
There you go.
I wanted to get my boys away from all the publicity.
I had to take them out of school. I mean, the things people say, you can't imagine.
You've already heard them said in court, under oath.
It's all lies.
Mrs. Krolinsky, if we could just come in. Go away.
Mrs. Krolinsky...
Please, I'm just trying to protect my boys.
What does she think she's protecting them from?
Now, her neighbors read the same papers we do.
It must've been pretty upsetting hearing those things said about her husband.
She's been married to him 12 years. That's the man she knows.
Maybe that's why she moved out.
But we checked the New Jersey records, no complaints, no charges.
If you had a family matter you wanted handled discreetly,
would you run to the local precinct?
No. But I might go to Family Services.
Mrs. Krolinsky came to my office three years ago. She was in tears.
What did she tell you? The night before,
she walked in on her husband and their nine-year-old son.
Doing something God didn't intend. Her words, not mine.
I started a file, scheduled an interview with the boy.
Did he confirm the story?
Never got a chance to find out.
The next day, Mrs. Krolinsky was back, apologizing to everyone in sight.
You believed her?
Without her cooperation,
an investigation would've been a waste of time.
I kept her file, in case she changed her mind.
I'm gonna need a copy of that. Sure.
I was wondering when you people'd get back to me on this.
Excuse me?
A couple of months ago, I got a phone call from one of your sex crimes investigators.
A Detective Morino.
He said he was doing a work-up on Mr. Krolinsky.
I sent him a copy of the file. Never heard back.
This is wrong. Kate was mistaken. She told them that.
Right or wrong, I don't care. And neither will the jury.
They'll never see it. It's irrelevant.
Not as a motive for bribery.
Detective Morino had this report. That's what he was holding over your head.
That's why you paid him off.
You set aside the conspiracy and bribery.
We're open to a plea of sex abuse one on all the remaining counts,
to serve concurrently.
Two-and-a-half to seven years?
Your client is facing conviction on 19 counts of aggravated sex abuse one.
Tack them together, they'll be planting tomatoes on Mars by the time he gets out.
For God's sake, Mr. McCoy, I have a family.
I feel sorry for them.
No, listen. I want to get help. I'm a sick man, I want to get help...
You're an adult. Your victims are children.
There's nothing you could say that would make me feel sorry for you.
Let's split the difference, Mr. McCoy.
Knock it down to a C felony with concurrent sentences.
He serves the maximum, 15 years.
Consider it a gift.
Before I impose sentence, does the defendant wish
to make a statement?
Yes, Your Honor.
I just wanna say from deep in my heart,
how sorry I am to all those people I've offended.
I'm very sorry.
The defendant has met the conditions of the plea agreement.
In accordance, the court sentences Joseph Krolinsky to a term of 15 years.
The facility to be determined by the Department of Correction.
Court is adjourned.
(GAVEL BANGS)
We called you Father.
How could you do that to us?
You even did it to your own kid.
How could you do that?
They're ready to take him.