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.
You set the alarm?
Every night.
Doesn't hurt to ask.
Do I ever forget?
Twice. Twice you forgot.
Oh, twice in 15 years, and you never let me forget it.
Hey! Maniac!
(GLASS SHATTERING)
You got your cell phone? Call 911.
WOMAN: Oh, my God, that new building!
FIREMAN: Fire started near the elevator, spread down the hall.
Place went up like a Roman candle.
Miss Crispy Crunch, we found in one of the back bedrooms.
Crispy Crunch? You think that's funny?
Excuse me, Mr. Sensitive.
Male or female? Female.
Any idea what was she doing in the building?
That's not my area of expertise.
Thought is, she probably got trapped back there somehow.
Well, what about the windows?
Burglar bars, no safety release.
Isn't that illegal?
Yeah, so is arson. We'll write the contractor a citation.
Yeah, but since the building was still under construction?
Slap on the wrist.
Well, it's good it didn't spread to any other buildings.
My guys got here quick.
Are you sure it's arson?
Are you sure she's dead?
Okay, thanks. We'll be in touch.
Hey! The accelerant, what'd they use?
My nose tells me good old-fashioned regular unleaded.
Why spring for premium when regular'll do?
Point of origin was the ground floor hallway.
We found beads of an orange plastic material.
What do you make of them?
Probably the container that held the accelerant.
ED: Any significance to where it started?
Well, whoever set it wasn't an expert.
Simple splash down, but the spot was chosen carefully.
ED: What do you mean, "chosen"?
It's center of the building, setting the fire there
is the best way to contain it, prevent collateral damage.
Plus, it creates the fastest route of escape,
easiest access for firefighters.
Thoughtful arsonist.
Still, not exactly covering your tracks.
Well, he certainly wasn't trying to make it look like an accident.
I'm thinking more like maximum damage in a minimum amount of time.
Why did you say "he"?
Statistically, arson is predominantly a crime committed by men.
But in this case, I had another clue.
BRISCOE: What was that?
The female body they found? She was naked.
Naked? What are we talking about?
Twenty-five to 30-year-old female, Caucasian.
Rape-arson?
M.E.'s preliminary lists cause of death as smoke inhalation.
She was alive.
Yeah, but Forensics says her earrings were across the room.
ED: With whatever was left of her clothes.
So, what, Jane Doe breaks into a half-finished apartment,
takes off her earrings, folds her clothes,
alone? That's a little odd.
Any indication of violence?
The body was too badly burned.
Missing Persons still working on an ID.
So if it wasn't rape-arson, it's murder-arson.
Unless the fire bug didn't know she was there.
Then it's just more than he bargained for.
A list of people who had access to the site after hours.
Any on-site guards? Not until midnight.
What about cameras?
Hadn't been activated yet.
We're waiting for the tenants to move in.
Come on, Lennie, a tape of people coming and going.
You know that would've been too easy.
I guess I'm getting lazy in my old age.
So, when were the tenants scheduled to arrive?
Not for a couple of months.
They still had some punch list items that needed attending to.
ED: Like the burglar alarm?
That was already installed.
Well, who on this list might've known the code?
Last but not least, right?
I mean, you figure something like this happens,
you're gonna question the master electrician sooner or later.
So you did all the wiring?
The way I hear it, wiring has nothing to do with this fire.
BRISCOE: Oh, is that what you heard?
What I hear is that somebody was playing with matches without any clothes on.
Any news about who she might have been playing with?
No. ED: So, how'd she get in?
I mean, the burglar alarms were installed properly, right?
I tested 'em myself.
When? A week, week and a half ago.
ED: So what happened?
Obviously, somebody turned 'em off.
Yeah, that's exactly what we were thinking.
Question is, "Who?"
Yeah, you could see how your name might come to mind.
You guys think I'd set a fire using gasoline?
There's a lot of ways something like this can be done.
So, you put some thought into this.
Let's just say somebody setting a fire on that job,
it wasn't a big surprise.
BRISCOE: What does that mean?
Landlord lightning, that's why God invented insurance companies.
It strikes somewhere every five minutes.
First time the paychecks were late,
we made book on when it would hit.
How many other developers build affordable housing for working people?
I don't know, how many?
One bedroom, Pullman kitchen,
2,200 a month. You call that affordable?
KELLNER: In this city.
It's a mugging with a cappuccino.
Well, maybe in Nyack or wherever,
but on the Upper West Side, 2,200's a pretty good deal.
And I got bills to pay.
Which, apparently, you don't always pay.
Look, are you accusing me of something, Detective?
Because if you are, I will phone my attorney... Easy.
Just trying to get the lay of the land.
Last month, we had a cash crunch.
It was a temporary situation. Doesn't make me an arsonist.
Every time I think of that girl...
Look, I build, I don't burn.
Especially not after what I went through getting approval for that place.
What was the problem?
Neighborhood didn't like me building over a community garden.
Yeah, I read about that. Giuliani sold off city-owned lots.
Yeah, that property paid no real estate taxes at all,
but you know New Yorkers.
Against it, no matter what it is. On principle.
That's why you included the low-income housing,
to get past the community board?
It helped.
Couldn't have helped your profit margin much.
Look, in the first place,
I burn this building down, the approval process only gets more brutal the next time.
BRISCOE: And in the second place?
My insurance policy sucked.
The builder came up short a couple of times, couldn't make the payroll.
According to a broker, he's been trying to flip the property, unsuccessfully.
Neighborhood activists gave him a hard time.
Yeah, they wanted to raise carrots. He wanted to raise money.
So, you think the long fuse reaches back to his office?
The guy was just trying to make ends meet,
but the insurance money wasn't there.
And everyone who had access to the site after hours?
Has an alibi.
Well, the arson report says the service entrance and back entrance of the site
were locked and the alarms were set.
Yeah, no sign of B and E through any of the windows or from the roof.
So whoever set the torch...
Probably snuck in during the day,
hid out in the basement until closing time,
lit up the joint, and then made it out through the lobby doors.
Or beat the system.
Hey, Missing Persons. Female Caucasian.
Right age, right height. Parents are from out of town,
they reported their daughter missing a few days ago.
We're gonna have to do dental records or DNA for a positive ID.
Well, make sure you've got that before you talk to them.
The last thing I want is to tell the wrong people
their daughter burned to death in a fire.
But she lived here alone?
No one else on the lease.
She have a boyfriend? I wouldn't know.
It's not a doorman building.
(ANSWERING MACHINE BEEPS) Hi. It's Mom. It's about 7:00.
Dad and I will be up till 10:00 or so. Love you.
Breakfast dishes in the sink. Oh, that's her.
Hey, Ed, remember those earrings they found?
(ANSWERING MACHINE BEEPS) Melanie. It's Mom. Are you there?
I'm home. Call us whenever.
Bed's made. No sign of struggle.
(ANSWERING MACHINE BEEPS) Melanie, please, call me as soon as you get this.
I tried you at the school, but none of the other teachers had seen you.
Dad and I are very worried, honey.
It wasn't like Melanie to just not show up.
She's a really dedicated teacher.
How long have you known her?
About two years. Our classrooms are next to each other.
Is there any place she might go?
Somebody she might be staying with?
You mean, is she with someone?
I don't think so. Not seriously.
What about casually?
Melanie's not like that.
There was this one guy she had crush on.
He used to come by sometimes after work.
I don't think she really wanted to advertise it, though.
BRISCOE: Why's that?
He's a student's father. A boy in the fifth grade, I think.
You know his name?
His first name's Eric.
I met him once. You could probably get the last name in the office.
How often did this Eric come around?
Every couple of weeks, I guess.
BRISCOE: When's the last time you saw him?
Actually, the day she disappeared. About 5:00.
Thank you.
Careful. That's a hand-inked reproduction.
First issue. I got it off eBay. How it all started.
How what all started?
X-Men. Hmm, you never read these.
Afraid I'm gonna have to sell this to put my kid through college one day.
Uh, can we get back to talking about Melanie Fried, Mr. Shollar?
Uh, yeah, sure. BRISCOE: So, you did know her?
Yeah. Just to say hi.
My kid goes to PS260,
so I'd see her at drop-off sometimes, you know. Stuff like that.
What about after school?
After school? Yeah.
You know, say around 5:00.
I don't know. I'm usually working around 5:00.
Can I get either of you some coffee? Tea, maybe?
No, thanks, we're fine.
Uh, Mr. Shollar, what kind of work do you do?
I do construction. Dry walling, plastering.
You ever do any work for Kellner Construction?
Eric just finished a job for Kellner not two weeks ago.
Is that right?
Yeah.
You didn't happen to work on the building that burned down, did you?
MRS. SHOLLAR: As a matter of fact, he did.
Is that what this is all about?
Mr. Shollar, maybe it'd be better if we talked to you downtown.
You know, we can show you some pictures, maybe jog your memory.
Yeah, maybe that would be better.
Jog his memory about who?
A woman died in the fire. We're just trying to get an ID.
ERIC: Yeah, I'm just gonna take a look.
Probably never even seen her before.
ED: We'll have him back home in a couple of hours.
Keep him as long as you like.
One of the teachers in Melanie's school saw you pick her up that day.
And Kellner confirmed that they gave you a key to the place.
A key you never returned, Eric.
You sure you didn't take her to the site that night, Eric,
maybe show her some of your handiwork?
How good you are with spackle?
Come on, man. We got a witness who saw
somebody fitting your description running from the building.
Her parents need to know if it's their daughter for sure.
Look, I don't want to screw up my marriage.
If my wife finds out that I...
What? That you slept with her, or that you killed her?
All I did was take her there.
ED: And what happened?
We would flirt at the school.
I'd see her in the morning sometimes when I dropped my kid off.
BRISCOE: And what about that day?
I saw her that morning.
She mentioned before how she was thinking about getting a bigger place.
I told her about the place I'm working at and offered to show her around.
Anyway, we're alone, one thing leads to the next,
and pretty soon I got her clothes off.
Wait. What part of the building was this?
Uh, one of the apartments.
They had just put the carpet down.
Anyway, that's when I realized I didn't have any condoms,
so I ran to the store to get some.
Safe sex, very responsible.
Look, I wasn't gone 10 minutes. I come back, the building's on fire.
So you ran away?
I couldn't get back in. The fire was in the hallway.
I tried to call 911.
What do you mean, you tried to call 911?
At the pay phone on the corner.
There was a girl on the phone. She said she already called.
What did this girl look like?
Uh, blonde, ponytail, blue ski hat, jeans.
Anything else?
Height, weight, age?
Would you recognize her if you saw her again?
I might. I don't know.
But you didn't stick around to see how Melanie was.
I got nervous when I heard the sirens.
I figured she'd be okay.
You figured wrong.
You gonna tell my wife?
Oh, trust me, pal. She already knows.
The drugstore manager ID'd Shollar.
Said he ran in and bought a pack of condoms.
Like he had a hot date. His words.
They see anyone at the pay phone?
Not a soul. No Shollar, no ponytail.
So, we can't confirm Shollar's story.
That he wanted to call 911? Maybe he wanted to.
But according to the IUDs, nobody did.
But at about the same time,
there was a three-minute call from that phone to a number in Inwood.
Yeah, a Mr. Kent Quigley.
All right. You know the drill. Talk to this Quigley
see if we can't find the girl.
Maybe Shollar'll get lucky and get a little backup for his story,
or maybe we'll get a little lucky and come up with a material witness
to testify against this son of a bitch.
Last Monday? A phone call?
Yeah, around 8:00 p.m.
I don't really remember. I get a lot of phone calls.
Do you remember all the phone calls you get?
ED: It was from a pay phone.
How would I know that? You got caller ID.
Monday night, I'm not even sure I was home from work by then.
Look, you're a little slow on the pick-up, man.
Somebody answered the phone.
Maybe it was a wrong number.
Do you remember getting a wrong number?
Yeah. I think I do.
Who was it from? Man, woman, young, old?
A man. Old. Older.
What'd you talk about?
Nothing, you know.
Nobody here by that name. He misdialed.
Phone records indicate the call lasted almost three minutes.
Maybe I didn't hang it up right or something.
ED: You live alone? Yes.
You having your period, Mr. Quigley?
I told you all I know.
I think you guys should just leave.
Well, thanks, Mr. Quigley, you've really been a tremendous help.
How many blonde ponytails call this guy, you think?
Not so often you wouldn't remember.
Didn't hang up right, my ass.
Excuse me.
Hey, how you doing, man?
Do you know the tenant in 3B?
Quigley? Yeah, sure. Real quiet guy. Why, what'd he do?
Well, actually, we're trying to locate a young lady.
Uh, blonde, ponytail...
She might've had on a ski cap.
Recently, right? I thought she might be family or something.
ED: Why do you say that? She had a key.
Came and went. Only here a few days through.
Her and two other guys. Visiting, it seemed to me.
What'd these two other guys look like?
SUPER: You know, kids. Nothing special.
When was the last time you saw 'em?
Maybe a day or so ago.
They, uh, left real early in the morning.
They had backpacks and such.
Hey, do you know where Quigley works?
Food co-op on 116th Street.
It's always the quiet guys, huh?
Monday? Kent was here all day.
What time did he leave?
Around 6:30. We walked out together.
That leaves enough time.
Enough time for what?
Did you ever see him with a blonde, ponytail, in her 20s?
Kent?
Why, Quigley doesn't date women?
Kent doesn't date, period.
Hey, you ever see Kent with a date?
There's a concept.
Kent's too wrapped up in his work.
What? Here? Bagging barley?
His causes.
What causes would these be?
Environment. Kent's pretty intense.
Wait. What about that woman last week?
They said a date. She came here with two other guys.
What woman is this?
Oh, they stopped by, I don't know, around 3:00, 4:00 in the afternoon,
looking for Kent. But that was Thursday.
BRISCOE: Friends of his?
Actually, now that you mention it,
it didn't seem like they even really knew each other.
That's why I didn't think of it right off.
Quigley, Kent. Date of birth 3-21-76.
Cohoes, New York. It's up near Albany.
Let me guess. Some penny-ante priors.
Two speeding tickets, jaywalking,
and throwing paint on some rich lady's fur in Chappaqua.
Close. One speeding ticket, Columbia county.
Columbia county, everybody gets speeding tickets.
How else do they pay for the roads to get plowed in the winter?
And a disorderly beef a year ago at, uh,
you're so good at guessing, Dionne Warwick, you tell me where.
Community gardens protest against Kellner Real Estate.
Credit cards off the subpoena,
10 bucks at a convenience store,
20 bucks for Chinese takeout, and ready for this?
Day of the fire, 1:55 p.m., 12 bucks from a gas station in the Bronx.
A, I thought he was at work all day,
and B, I'll give you odds our Mr. Greenjeans doesn't even own a car.
MANAGER: You said Monday afternoon?
Yeah. Around 2:00. How often do you tape over these things?
Every two weeks.
We're supposed to hold them for a month,
but I got better things to spend money on.
Hey, credit authorization was for 1:55 p.m., so this should be it.
Here's a guy that knows what he's looking for.
You remember anything they said?
Sorry.
How about if they had a girl with them?
Five days ago? Couldn't tell you who was here five minutes ago.
Lennie, you remember those orange plastic beads?
Melt this down, I bet you get a match.
Wait, there she is By the door.
ED: Ski cap, ponytail.
We get somebody at the food co-op to ID these jokers,
we got enough for a warrant.
We're gonna need this tape.
I lost my credit card. Did you report it?
I figured it would turn up.
Why would I be buying gas? I don't even own a car.
You know, that's exactly what we said.
The gas station security camera taped two kids using your card.
Then I suppose I'm not responsible for the charges, am I?
Well, look at this. Hey, Lennie. Lost in plain sight.
BRISCOE: "Greens builders square off.
"West Side Garden no Eden.
"Five arrested in garden protest."
Now, this garden wouldn't happen to be the lot
where they put up that building that was torched, would it?
I wouldn't know anything about that.
Do you always keep clippings of things you don't know anything about?
And that lot wasn't empty.
It was a community garden that had been lovingly maintained
by the people of that neighborhood for over 20 years!
ED: It was bought by Kellner Real Estate.
It was public land, the city had no right to sell it.
ED: Now, what would you be doing with a disassembled alarm system?
You want to give me odds that it matches the system
in that building you don't know anything about?
You been doing a little homework on how to bypass alarms?
You're under arrest,
but I guess you wouldn't know anything about that either.
We are losing our wetlands, our wilderness.
Every day, we are paving over nature.
Oh, you think Manhattan's a wasteland?
Wait until you see Rikers Island.
Three people, two male, one female,
used Quigley's credit card at the gas station.
We're sure it's the same girl from the pay phone?
The victim's boyfriend positively ID'd her from the gas station video.
What's their connection to Quigley?
We don't know that yet.
But a co-worker says that the three stopped by the food co-op last week,
and the super confirms that they were staying with him.
Which probably means they're from out of town.
How close are we to identifying them?
Quigley hasn't given up any names.
He's prepared to take the fall for this alone?
Well, the guy sees himself as some kind of martyr.
Easy to do when you're not looking through the eyes of your victim.
Are we checking the connection between
the fire and the original protest at the building site?
I'm going down to the community board today.
When we do find them, arson, murder two.
I'm not saying the mayor shouldn't have unloaded the community garden.
The city sold 30, maybe 40 empty lots
over a four-year period.
Most of them abandoned.
People objected, though.
Tough call. A community garden,
or another apartment building? Which would you rather have?
Ah, God knows, the city can use the revenue.
And no one's objecting to more rental units.
Especially since the developer negotiated
a set-aside for low-income families.
Were there any hearings, any kind of forum?
Where you can get a transcript?
Find out who objected to the development?
This isn't a First Amendment issue, it's a murder case.
No. There was nothing official.
Newspapers... I've gone through the press coverage.
If I have to come back with a subpoena, I will, Ms. Malone.
There was no transcript.
But I saved the flyers.
Just in case we ever have to reach out to some of the protest groups.
Which we do, on a regular basis.
Always something to get up in arms about, huh?
Two dozen different flyers. Three dozen different groups.
Ah, the Left. Two people, three opinions.
(CHUCKLES) Most of the groups were pretty ad-hoc.
Phones have been disconnected.
What about the websites?
Two are still online, one's a local democratic club.
Well, I've been burned by them, but arsonists?
The other group calls itself "Coyote."
Usual villains, NAFTA, the World Bank.
NAFTA? How do you get from that
to burning down a building in Manhattan?
"Save the community gardens.
"Stop the rape of our environment."
Well, I guess a garden is as close as we come to nature around here, huh?
"Come up with your own plan."
You know, I have a friend on a special task force at the Bureau,
see what he can tell you about them.
Coyote first surfaced in Seattle at these WTO protests.
Until recently, they were pretty much a Pacific Northwest operation.
Most of them look like kids.
Yeah. We're not talking FBI's most wanted.
Still, they have done a substantial amount of property damage.
$14 million arson at a Utah ski resort.
Two million dollars' worth at an Idaho lumber mill.
So far, we've attributed over $50 million damage to them nationally.
What's their record on violence?
They've been very careful about that.
You set fires, there's gonna be a fatality sooner or later.
I'm surprised the FBI hasn't done more to prosecute them.
You understand the people I work for,
they're used to a certain leadership structure.
FBI likes to see a group like this
on a nice, little flow chart.
That way, we line our ducks up.
Only these people aren't organized that way.
TROST: These people are not organized at all.
Basically, these kids jump in a car, hop on a bus, a train,
burn something down and leave.
Says here they've been quick to claim responsibility.
A lack of any statement would seem to be at odds with their MO.
Well, maybe the girl's death explains why they haven't taken credit.
Well, the profile's young, affluent.
Dead girl could hurt recruitment.
How do they claim credit?
On a website. Run by who?
An organic farmer in upstate New York.
Paul Rochet.
He's been subpoenaed before.
Oh, we've dragged Mr. Rochet in front of a dozen Grand Juries.
Claims he doesn't know anyone in the movement.
Simply posts information on a website.
And lets the Internet do the rest.
TROST: Certainly provides distance.
What about the faces from the gas station video?
The local database came up empty.
We're running them national as we speak.
TECH: The photo recognition system's the same one used at airports and on the Chunnel.
You know, between London and Paris.
And at the Superbowl. I read about it in Newsweek.
What's your database?
Right now, it's mostly criminal records and DMV.
Eventually, we'll get the ATM cameras, department stores...
You know how many hotels have surveillance? How many malls?
Makes me want to wear a mask.
Wouldn't do any good.
Infrared, thermo... Masks, clothes, we see right through.
You'd think more people would object, but nobody bats an eye.
Here we go. See? She's in the databank.
Just like the rest of America pretty soon.
Emily Hoyt, 18. Pullman, Washington.
Freshman at Washington State University.
Not anymore. She dropped out.
Arrested protesting the WTO in Seattle.
Do we know where she is?
I spoke with her parents in Washington.
They say she was traveling to New York with friends.
Did she tell them with who?
She didn't give any names Just a number where she could be reached.
I never heard of any Emily Hoyt.
She gave her parents your phone number, Mr. Quigley.
Her father is very sick.
She wanted to keep in touch. They haven't heard from her.
These are serious charges.
Arson, second-degree murder.
Fifteen years, minimum. 15 years?
If you won't help us find the people who set this fire,
I'll have no choice but to hold you responsible.
What are we talking about?
If we make an arrest pursuant to your client's information,
I'd be willing to reduce the top charge from murder two to man one.
He'd serve five years.
Five years?
You entered a conspiracy, Mr. Quigley.
A conspiracy that cost a young woman's life.
We were just trying to make a statement.
Nobody was supposed to get hurt.
Yes or no, Mr. Geary?
I met Emily online.
We wrote back and forth about a lot of things. Mostly politics.
Environmental justice, things like that.
Did you ever mention the community garden protests?
I grew vegetables in that garden. I had a real connection to it.
I live in this city, and I wanted her to know how active I was.
That I wasn't, you know, a dilettante.
Who are the two people who came with her?
They only used first names,
Clark and Noah.
They said it was better if I didn't know who they were.
I agreed to give them a place to stay.
I lent them a credit card. But that is all I did.
You lent them a credit card to buy gasoline.
I'd say you did plenty.
Where are they, Mr. Quigley?
I'm not sure. I'm telling you all I know.
They were gonna stay somewhere else once the fire was set.
Stick around a couple of days to put out some stuff on Coyote's website.
How are they traveling?
By bus.
We downloaded e-mails from Quigley's computer.
Yeah, we were able to locate a number of them
through a variety of internet service providers.
JACK: The e-mails were sent from dial-up numbers in Washington state.
Emily Hoyt.
And a week before the fire, there was another e-mail.
This time from a motel in Dayton, Ohio.
We have the motel's records? Yeah.
Three people. Two men and a woman.
They paid cash. Registered under assumed names.
One of them made a collect call to Oregon.
The Mohrs of Bend, Oregon.
The Mohrs have one son, Clark, 19. Attends Washington State.
JACK: Same as Hoyt.
We have terrorists who are phoning their parents from the road?
Generation next.
So, do we know where Hoyt and Mohr are now?
Well, Quigley doesn't think they've left the city yet.
Thinks they're traveling by bus.
Airlines require a photo ID.
I put the Port Authority on full alert.
And there is sort of a spokesman for them.
LEWIN: Well, he's local.
Mmm-hmm. He runs a farm in upstate New York.
Can we connect him to this fire?
Not with anything that would hold up in court.
Well, he sells produce to Quigley's food co-op.
And when I called the Mohrs,
they said their son was coming east
for a conference on the environment.
The keynote speaker was Rochet.
And the topic?
The destruction of greenery in our cities.
LEWIN: And where is Mr. Rochet now?
He comes to the city every other Tuesday.
Well, the next time he does,
why don't we ask him over for a conversation,
and let's see how he takes the heat.
I'm not under arrest?
JACK: What for? Just checking.
Do you run a website for a group known as Coyote, Mr. Rochet?
To anticipate, yes, I run the Coyote website.
Yes, Coyote, a very amorphous group
has taken direct action to defend the environment.
Yes, I support those actions.
But, no, I do not instigate them,
I do not incite them, I do not facilitate them in any way.
I merely disseminate information and promote the free exchange
of ideas, neither of which is illegal.
I did some checking, Mr. Rochet.
You post information about oil drilling in the Alaskan wilderness.
Three weeks later, the drilling company's bulldozers
are destroyed by vandals.
The same thing with the ski resort in Utah.
I post the truth. I fail to see the harm in that.
This last speech you gave at a conference in New Paltz,
you targeted community gardens.
Targeted? Uh-huh.
You saying you don't intend these kids to take their lead from your information?
I'll comment on just about anything but my intent.
But I will say this, fires have been set
and fires will continue to be set because it is the right thing
that they be set.
Emily Hoyt, Clark Mohr.
Do you know them, Mr. Rochet?
I make it a point not to familiarize myself with anyone.
Well, you must have at least read about the woman killed in this fire.
If you're asking if I regret
the loss of a life, I do.
Just as I regret the loss of open space,
and the degradation of urban life for the enrichment of
the few at the expense of many.
That the best you can do, Mr. Rochet? Rhetoric?
Is that the best you can do, Mr. McCoy? Sanctimony?
I'm free to go, right?
I don't regret anything I've done, Mr. McCoy.
I hope you never have cause to regret anything you do.
Letting that guy walk out the door's a start.
(PHONE RINGING)
Yeah? When?
Thank you.
Emily Hoyt was just spotted at the Port Authority bus station.
Clerk says three individuals matching our descriptions
just bought tickets for a bus to Chicago.
Where? Platform 64. They're holding the bus.
Hey, trail mix. Keep your hands where I can see 'em.
Up against the bus.
Now that's disappointing. Don't you know smoking's bad for you?
Come here.
You know, other than some protests, disorderly conduct,
all political stuff, they really don't have records.
Which doesn't mean they haven't set other fires.
Say we prosecute them for murder.
You really think some other kid's gonna blow out his match
because of what we did?
Deterrence is one goal. Punishment's another.
So you'd draw no distinction between arson for profit and arson for an ideal?
I doubt Melanie Fried would, and the law clearly doesn't.
Have you talked to any of them yet?
They're being arraigned.
Good. Maybe a night at Rikers will loosen their tongues.
About Rochet?
It's common sense. I mean, someone put Quigley in touch with those kids.
If you're so hell bent on handing out punishment,
let's mete it out to somebody old enough to appreciate it.
If Rochet was involved, it was in cyberspace.
Common sense doesn't apply there.
The fire was started in his neighborhood,
not clear across the country.
Maybe he wanted to do something more than type this time.
I always tell my clients, "Beware D.A.'s bearing gifts.
"They generally demand more than they offer."
What I'm offering is a decade of their lives.
Out of the goodness of your heart.
My boss has no interest in punishing your clients
and letting others responsible for this fire go free.
I suspect your primary interest is winning a high-profile media case.
We're not the ones who've spent the last 30 years
using radical causes to grandstand with the press.
Well, my record speaks for itself.
A record which includes defending cop killers.
I love it when young D.A.'s claim the system's rigged.
This isn't about ideology, counselor.
This is about three young lives and what we, in this room,
are going to do to see that they aren't wasted.
What is it you want?
Your clients attended a conference in New Paltz
a couple of weeks before the fire was set.
One of the speakers there was Paul Rochet.
Rochet? Uh, what does he have to do with this?
We know about the website, Mr. Stadler.
And the speech.
How he encouraged you to burn down that building.
That's not what he said.
I assume we're off the record?
You think Rochet tells us what to do?
"Come up with your own plan."
I think Rochet identifies targets
and avoids criminal liability by hiding behind this website.
Dude, you are so far out of touch.
The last six areas mentioned on Rochet's website fell victim to arson.
Do you expect me to believe that's a coincidence?
They're poisoning our water, our food.
I mean, Rochet just wants people to know what's happening.
He's up on that farm pulling the strings,
and you three are too young or too stupid to realize it.
I'm not sure insulting them's the best way to gain their confidence.
JACK: This time a woman died.
McCoy.
It's time they grew up, counselor.
You call it growing up. We call it giving up.
You can't answer that with slogans, Mr. Stadler.
EMILY: Oh, my God.
She was a school teacher. Devoted to children.
That's the end of this conversation. Let's go.
JACK: She was 24 years old.
Only a year or so older than you, Ms. Hoyt.
I said, that's enough.
Think they allow organic produce in prison?
They fell on their swords.
I'm not sure they ever had Rochet to give us.
So we make examples of them?
They've made examples of themselves.
You can't protest and demand accountability of others, and then not accept your own.
No movement was ever stopped by making martyrs of the foot soldiers, Jack.
I don't intend to let them go down that nobly.
What makes us so stupid when we're 20.
KENT: I knew Emily... Uh, Ms. Hoyt, from the Internet.
Uh, Mr. Mohr and Mr. Stadler, I didn't know their names.
They came to New York with Emily.
They crashed with me
when they came to New York to burn down that building.
Objection.
Sustained.
Did they discuss with you the purpose of their visit to New York?
Objection.
JUDGE: Overruled.
They said they were here to commit an action.
To burn down the building that
had been built over the community garden.
That's the word they used? An action?
That's what they called it.
And to your knowledge, did the defendants carry out this action?
They bought a jug of gas and
two alarm systems.
People's "A" and "B", Your Honor.
And on the night in question, did you see the defendants?
They left my apartment about 6:30...
They came back, maybe, 9:00-9:30. I'm not sure.
There was a lot going on.
JACK: A lot going on?
They had heard on the news that some woman
had been killed in the fire, and they were pretty upset.
Everyone talking at once.
What were they saying?
Noah was yelling at Clark.
Saying Clark was supposed to check the building.
Uh, Clark said no one was supposed to be there.
Things like that.
And Emily...
Emily was crying.
She kept saying, over and over,
"Nobody was supposed to die."
Nothing further.
Mr. Quigley, the evening in question,
when they left your apartment,
were you with the defendants?
No, sir.
So you don't really know who did what that night, do you?
No.
WHITTEN: And when they came back,
it was your impression my clients were upset
about the death of Ms. Fried?
They were very upset.
WHITTEN: Because the taking of human life
wasn't at all the purpose of this fire, was it?
Objection.
Defendants are charged with an intentional crime, Your Honor.
They're lives hang in the balance.
I'll allow it. And watch your step, counselor.
Mr. Quigley?
There was a beautiful garden on that lot.
People grew things.
Kids had a chance to put their hands in the dirt.
Then... Then this developer comes,
bulldozes the whole thing, paves it over like it had never been there at all.
That was the purpose.
To tell the world we cared.
SERENA: Kids playing in the sun.
At the end there, it felt more like an Earth Day celebration
than a murder trial.
Whitten doesn't get cop killers off by accident.
Well, at least we still have Shollar.
He can put Hoyt at the scene.
Whitten will portray Shollar as a cheating spouse,
who abandoned his lover in her time of need.
Won't help his credibility much.
What about flipping one of them?
Divide and conquer? Over Whitten's dead body.
Motion to sever?
I don't feel like losing three trials.
So, the law lets these kids try and bury the truth
about this case in a little garden?
Eventually, you reap what you sow.
This was a gasoline-based fire.
It burned very quickly and produced an intense heat.
Your arson report indicates four firemen were overcome by smoke.
LEY: Yes, there was a tremendous amount of smoke.
Apparently, they were laying the carpets in the common areas,
so the padding was in rolls.
And once that went up...
Looking at People's exhibit "C,"
the apartment where Melanie Fried's body was found,
what was her chance of surviving?
Objection.
Judge, a great deal has been made of the precision of this fire,
how it was intended to avoid injury.
I think it's only fair for the jury,
to be afforded some insight into what chance Melanie Fried had to escape.
You did open the door to intent, Mr. Whitten.
You can answer the question.
In my opinion, Melanie Fried had no chance of escape.
Why not?
Well, within a matter of seconds,
the room would have been filled with smoke.
Her last moments would have been in total blackness,
struggling for air.
If you can imagine a person drowning in smoke.
What about the fact
that the fire was set in the center of the hallway?
LEY: Very good for letting firemen in.
Not so good for letting other people out.
What about the heat?
Searing.
As the fire spread, the room would have been like an oven.
So before Melanie Fried mercifully passed out,
she would have been cooking to death.
WHITTEN: Your Honor...
JUDGE: Mr. McCoy.
Nothing further.
You understand the consequences of pleading guilty?
I just want this to be over.
Emily is prepared to implicate her co-defendants.
What's she expecting in return?
I can't be a party to those negotiations, Mr. McCoy.
At this point, I'm recusing myself as her counsel.
Nonetheless, I thought I had an obligation
as an officer of the court to advise you of my client's wishes.
We appreciate your position, Mr. Whitten.
SERENA: What about the other two?
They understand once she testifies,
a plea won't be re-offered?
My clients are at an age when ideals still mean something.
So what happens now?
New counsel will be appointed to discuss a plea bargain.
Jail time will be involved.
I understand.
You're asking me to get on my website and tell everybody to stop.
Not protests, Mr. Rochet. Just the violence.
And in return you'll make a reasonable sentencing
recommendations for Stadler and Mohr?
I'm no lawyer, Mr. McCoy, but that doesn't sound kosher.
Yes or no?
What makes you think they would listen?
Right or wrong, these kids read your website.
They read about Coyote burning down resorts and attacking laboratories.
They want to emulate your actions.
If you were to denounce them...
They'd call me a turncoat, and they'd go somewhere else.
You support terrorism.
I have blood on my hands? Is that what you're saying?
Why not prosecute me then?
There's legal and moral guilt.
And all those people with emphysema who suffocate because of pollution
the same way that woman suffocated in that fire?
Or drink toxic water because of the chemicals leeching into the watershed?
Spare me. I know the speech.
Young people believe the world can change.
I won't tell them it can't.
So teach them how to really change it.
They're kids, Mr. Rochet.
Every war has its casualties.
When Kent... JACK: Mr. Quigley.
Told me about the fight over the community gardens,
that's when we...
Clark and Noah, Mr. Mohr and Mr. Stadler...
That's when we decided to do it.
To do what?
Set the fire.
To burn down the apartment building.
But as a protest.
Cities are so crowded, so messed up,
and they keep building big skyscrapers that block out the sun.
People don't have any access to green, to the earth.
They don't even know what they're missing.
We're destroying this planet.
It gets worse every year, and nobody does anything about it.
And we just thought, "Shouldn't somebody put a stop to it?"
Shouldn't we do everything we can to stop that?
We didn't know there was anyone inside.
Top count conviction.
Emily Hoyt's testimony.
What's she getting?
Five years. Same as Quigley.
And the other defendants?
They were given every chance.
Two coyotes turned into sacrificial lambs.
(SIGHS)