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.
MAN ( over PA system ): Next stop, 14th Street.
Change for the Uptown local.
( singing nonsensically )
( brakes screeching )
¶ ...My man, Def Jeff ¶
¶ You want trouble? We got it ¶
¶ You hear a gun? We shot it ¶
¶ Wrecking and decking ¶
¶ And sucka ducks, we will jack you ¶
¶ Pocket crazy respecting and collecting money ¶
¶ We're checking ¶
¶ Dissing, dogging, microphone-hogging... ¶
¶ Radically speaking, climbing to the peak ¶
¶ And you get annoyed, worried... ¶
Next stop, 23rd Street.
( gunfire )
( gunfire and screaming )
Let me through!
Out of the way!
( overlapping screaming, shouting )
Station 45, we have a shooting in car number seven.
Captioning sponsored by NBC/Universal
I heard there was two.
One's still down there.
They got two detectives coming down right now.
How are you doing, fellas?
Where are we going, Joe?
He's right over there.
Looks like we're in here.
How's this one?
He's okay.
Guy doesn't look so good to me.
You're right, He'd look better dead.
One less jerk with a screwdriver.
You see the shooter?
WOMAN: I did.
Could you describe him for me?
Her.
Her?
What did she look like?
A ballerina.
LOGAN: Oh, yeah.
Talk about your nutcracker, huh?
You Jones?
How are you feeling?
I didn't do nothing.
Of course you didn't, Michael.
You're a newborn babe.
Well, then, what do you want with me?
Only your speedy recovery
so you might have a happy and productive life.
Actually... we're on your side, Michael.
Why did she shoot you?
I don't know, man.
The chick must be
going crazy or something.
Well, what did Darnell do, then?
Nothing.
Nothing?
We heard he was coming on to her pretty strong.
Well, whoever told you that is lying.
My partner asked her for some apple
and she shot him.
It's that simple.
Asked? Or demanded?
Asked.
Besides, why did she shoot me, huh?
I didn't do a damn thing to her.
I was just sitting down doing nothing, man.
Listen, Michael, now, listen real good.
If the lady popped you two
'cause you were mau-mauing her
and they put her on trial, I'll testify for her,
but if you're telling the truth,
if you're telling the truth, I'll haul her into that court
and nail her for attempted murder.
I am telling the truth.
And I got a real good chance of proving it.
Got a bleeder here-- hemostat.
MAN 2: Here you go Tie him off.
Come on, come on, get the lead out.
MAN: What's the hurry?
This guy won't be running a marathon.
WOMAN: Can you see all right?
MAN: Good.
Yeah, let's wrap it up.
( knocking )
CRAGEN: You recover a slug?
Two: one in the subway, one in Chenault's lower back.
Well, that's a start.
Any leads on the gunman?
Gunwoman.
Gunperson.
Lot of phone calls.
Uh-huh. Who from?
Bunch of psycho sisters
each one claiming to be the avenging angel.
Oh, great, that is great.
Who's calling her that?
It's already on the radio.
Why do you think we're getting all these volunteers?
Maybe they can relate to her.
Not to mention they'd like to peddle
their life story to the highest bidder.
I don't want the press going into a feeding frenzy.
You mean like, "Babe to Punks: Drop Dead?"
Maybe we should deputize her.
Just find her.
WOMAN: I'm positive.
He was grinding himself right in that woman's face.
LOGAN: What about the other one?
He was just as bad, but I kept my attention
on the one who was pushing on her.
Are you willing to testify in court to what you've told us?
Of course.
A lot of people develop short- term memory loss these days.
I'm not afraid of punks like that.
I've dealt with worse when I taught fifth grade.
Mrs. Hastings... the woman who did the shooting,
she's the one that we're looking for.
Well, you shouldn't be.
When you find her, I hope she gets a medal.
"Midtown Dance Club."
I think that's what it was.
Manhattan.
You have good eyes.
You've got to pay attention. Chas?
That's how come I seen the ice pick.
Ice pick? What ice pick?
The one with the Yankees Cap.
I'm a Mets fan; I hate the Yankees,
and he's waving an ice pick, and I'm thinking,
"What's this for? It's all automatic ice cubes now."
We heard it was a screwdriver.
I seen what I seen.
Look, you really think we like these two dirt bags?
So what's your problem?
Shooting people you don't like is a big problem.
Unless you're defending
your own self.
You saying it was self-defense?
I seen what I seen.
Why do I get the feeling
we're on the wrong side here?
Because you're thinking like a civilian.
Oh, yeah, right,
I should have known better, huh?
Hey, don't worry, Max, next time I'll be a good little German.
You know, you've got a wise mouth.
Oh, yeah? Yeah.
You want every fruitcake on a BMT packing six on his hip?
Of course I don't want that; I just think that... Don't think!
The city ain't a free-fire zone.
Give me a...
Turn, turn, and port de bras.
Okay, let's take five.
Ms. Putterman? Mm-hmm.
I'm Detective Logan, I called you before.
Yes, I told you, it sounds like Laura Di Biasi.
You got her address?
What do I look like, a phone book?
In Manhattan.
Okay, everybody, let's take it again.
LOGAN: Yes, I am aware, okay?!
I'm aware it's unlisted.
Now, I told you, for the tenth time, I'm a police officer.
Let's get this straight.
Detective Mike Logan, Badge number nine...
Warrant, huh?
Warrant this, lady, all right?
I get a warrant, it's going to take me three hours.
Now you listen to me! You listen to me!
Hold on.
Hi. To whom am I speaking, please?
Hello, Miss Schweder.
This is Sergeant Greevey.
Could you connect me with your central office supervisor?
Maybe we can straighten some of this out.
Thank you so much.
GREEVEY: Chenault's got priors up the ying-yang.
Nothing on Jones. Nothing?
Computer came up
with 12 felons named Michael Jones--
Michael J., Michael Ray, Michael T.
I hate walk-ups.
No positive make on our own Michael,
no middle initial Jones.
Zippo.
( sighs )
Nobody home.
Down the stairs.
( latch clicks )
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
( clears throat )
Oh, excuse me.
It's all right, ma'am.
We're the police.
Do you know where the lady who lives there is?
Miss Di Biasi?
She works at Murray Hill Hospital.
MAN: I'm the chief administrator in this place,
and I've told you twice...
You don't discuss personnel.
And I'm telling you,
I'm not interested in a discussion!
I want to know where she is.
She's working in Radiology.
Ms. Di Biasi?
Sergeant Greevey, Detective Logan.
We'd like to ask you a few questions.
Yeah. I imagine you would.
I felt threatened.
GREEVEY: It's a threatening city.
I felt I had to defend myself.
Is that a crime?
That's what we're trying to determine.
Why did you run?
Because I was freaked out.
Okay, we can appreciate that.
But... where did you get the gun?
Somebody gave it to me. LOGAN: Boyfriend?
Somebody, I don't know, it was years ago.
Meaning it's probably unlicensed.
Okay, uh...
what did you do with it?
I guess I threw it. Guess?
I dropped it down there.
In the subway?
Yeah.
STONE: Listen, sure you don't want
to call your lawyer?
My lawyer?
Do I look like I could afford to have a personal lawyer?
Anyway, I don't need one.
I haven't done anything wrong.
I wouldn't count on that.
Are you arresting me?
Not at the present time, but if we do arrest you,
a lawyer will be provided for you at no cost.
Why are we busting her chops?
That the way you see it?
Hey, look, two kids jump her on the subway,
she defends herself, okay?
We're not talking about Squeaky Fromme here.
We don't know that. We don't?
Look, she did the shooting; that makes her the perp.
That's all I know.
What? you want to do her or something?
Hey, hey!
It's all that simple, huh?
When it comes to the law, it better be.
Jones doesn't even have a record.
He says he was sitting down when she shot him.
Oh, yeah, he's such an innocent-looking guy, Max.
Ah, that's terrific.
You're under arrest for looking guilty.
That's a cheap shot.
The hell it is.
That kind of thinking, you can't do the job.
When it comes to the law, everybody's the same.
That's when it works, when everybody's the same.
It's like football--
You hold somebody, you get caught, it's a penalty.
Doesn't matter whether you're Billy Sims
or some rookie for East Poduck State.
GREEVEY: She admitted that she did the shooting!
It's on videotape.
She also says, "Yes, I wanted to kill them to hurt them."
Isn't that enough?
You want to arrest her on the Sullivan?
The gun charge is pretty lame, don't you think?
It's still mandatory jail time.
She fired into a crowded subway car, for God's sakes.
You want to go for attempted murder, you're going to need
a formal statement from the other vic, uh, Mr. Shen-wah.
That's Chenault.
Darnell Chenault.
Whatever.
Chenault's been upgraded-- Room 322.
Jones? Jones is in 324, but you'd better hurry.
Excuse me, ma'am.
WOMAN ( over PA system ): Dr. Garcia, pick up your messages in Receiving.
Yeah.
Dr. Garcia, check your messages...
Michael Jones?
Used to be.
DARNELL: I don't want a shot, sweetheart.
I want to get out of this damn bed.
NURSE: Well, that's not going to happen for a while, Darnell,
so take it easy.
DARNELL: Take it easy?
Hey, baby, give me some decent drugs
if you want me to take it easy.
Nicely, Darnell, nicely.
What are you so upset about?
Man, they say I'm going to be paralyzed, man.
Dumb mothers give me freaking aspirin with codeine.
You the new specialist?
Sergeant Greevey, Detective Logan.
Yeah, Darnell, just the facts, okay?
The facts is-- why did the bitch shoot me?
I didn't do nothing.
STONE: Reckless endangerment?
That tells the jury the girl was a little upset
but so long as no innocent bystanders were hit
there's no problem.
Well, there's something to that, isn't there?
I got a subway full of eyewitnesses
who claim they saw one of the victims
accost Miss Di Biasi, threaten her.
With his hand on his crotch?
With a screwdriver! Or with an ice pick
or a pickax?
It's funny what the eye can witness.
Attempted homicide.
Look, I know we're going to prosecute,
but do we have to hang her out to dry?
Why? So every loop head can blast away
when someone asks her
for the time? Oh, yeah, right, I forgot.
You guys in the DA's office are a regular bunch of Karnaks.
You ask me, the young gentlemen were not asking
for the time of day.
Let us suppose, just for the sake of argument,
that Miss Di Biasi has had a really horrendous day,
and someone jokingly says, "Stick 'em up."
She kills him.
It's not self-defense, right?
So she's liable for negligent homicide, only in this case...
( knocking )
In this case, the guy didn't die.
Okay, okay, so we go for attempted murder then,
if you're sure you can make it stick.
You'd better hope I can.
She walks, New York is Dodge City.
May I make a suggestion?
By all means.
Skip the legal beagling,
and go with plain vanilla murder two.
The coroner
is determining the C.O.D. on Mr. Jones
even as we speak.
Murder two?
Bring her in.
Wait a sec, huh?
Ooh.
( phone rings )
Sergeant Greevey!
Hold on.
Look, relax, relax.
Just tell me what happened, honey.
Well, why worry about it then, huh?
Yeah.
Of course.
We-We'll talk about it later tonight, okay?
I'll get home as soon as I possibly can, okay?
Yeah, me, too.
What?
It's nothing.
Oh, I thought it might have been something.
Eileen got roughed up at school.
Is she hurt?
No, you know, just some bruises.
Is that all?
Yeah. Yeah, that's all.
Come on, let's wrap this up.
Who did it?
Three guys from her basketball team.
She ignored them,
so they slammed her up against the lockers.
Bastards.
I wonder if Chenault and Jones were any good.
At what?
Basketball.
( hoarsely ): Don't touch me with that thing.
GREEVEY: Did you re-mirandize her?
Yeah, on the way in.
Where's my lawyer?
Why isn't she here yet?
Public defenders have a heavy caseload.
She told me she'd be here.
Well, maybe she's stuck in traffic.
Have a seat.
I really want a lawyer.
I don't want to talk to you.
You understand, Miss Di Biasi,
that you are charged with negligent homicide.
And when you appear before the judge,
he'll determine what the bail will be
if the court decides
that you're eligible...
Why is this woman handcuffed?
Sorry, there was an accident on the FDR.
You haven't said anything, I trust?
"Trust" and "lawyer" that's a pair of words that don't match.
How about "cop" and "I.Q. over 90"?
Shambala Green, I'm Miss Di Biasi's P.D.
So I gathered.
And I ask again,
why is she handcuffed?
Because she's an accused killer.
Look, Ms. Green, why don't you save your attitude
for the courtroom?
Do you have a toothbrush?
Because we have to take you over to the women's side
until you're arraigned.
( sobbing )
Here, Counselor.
Do something useful.
( typing )
What nuance!
I spelled it out for them in black and white.
Yep, and therein lies the rub.
What? The color angle?
Forget it, Ed.
And this isn't Selma.
Neither was Howard Beach, and you know what happened there.
You read the Times, Paul.
Blacks favor tougher sentences
for street crime than whites do.
Very good.
We still got to worry about the perception of racism.
Did she think these guys were a threat
because they were street toughs
or because they were black?
I can't answer that.
All I know is that self-defense requires
that the response be in direct proportion to the threat.
The threat as she reasonably perceives it.
If she thinks that she is about to be raped,
can she kill her attacker?
The law says yes, absolutely.
And what if her perception is wrong?
If we let her go, do you realize
what we are unleashing in this city?
There's always the weapons charge.
You can't be serious.
If we don't prosecute,
we're creating a city of vigilantes.
A man is dead.
I don't need a summation.
Now, what do you want?
Permission to file a murder indictment?
Want to ask for deniability?
I told you to file?
Since when do I dictate to you?
You don't have a problem?
It's not my problem to have.
ROBINETTE: No, ma'am, I'm not a policeman.
I work for the District Attorney's Office.
What do you want to know?
Is Miss Di Biasi an RN?
No, a technician.
She used to be a dancer.
She told you that?
We're friends, she told me about it .
She was performing with a modern dance company.
I don't know if she made a living at it.
But you do know what happened?
She was attacked down in the subway
by three, youthful offenders.
After she recovered, she came to work here.
And what was her reaction to the attack?
Same as anybody's.
She was fearful, resentful of all the little...
Little what?
Little black bastards?
You see some black teenagers on the train,
are you automatically afraid of them, Mrs. Maltese?
Aren't you?
Sometimes the stereotype fits.
Long as his story is true.
Cops have shot kids with screwdrivers before.
Why not a 90-pound woman?
How threatened could she have been?
She sat down right next to them.
She's got a right to sit where she wants.
So do the other passengers, but they moved away
because it seemed prudent.
Maybe she was tired of getting moved around
by the mugging class.
The mugging class?
What's that about?
You're an assistant district attorney.
You work for the people.
We follow the letter of the law here.
Go talk to Chenault.
( sports playing on TV )
My man tried... scared her
maybe with a screwdriver,
but we was just sitting there.
Cut the crap, Darnell.
You weren't sitting-- you were standing up in her face.
Everybody says so.
I'm sitting here now, ain't I?
I'm going to be sitting for the rest of my life.
So maybe you should lighten up on the 'tude.
Nobody likes a wiseass in a wheelchair.
Hey, whose side are you on, anyway?
Nobody's.
I just want the truth.
And I want a payback, man.
Like I said, that's up to you.
All right.
All right, we had the screwdrivers.
We were going to rob some lockers down at Grand Central,
but we was never, ever threatening to nobody,
especially no white... chick.
You unthreatening enough so everybody
was way down the other end of the train? Except her, man.
She came in and sat down right next to us.
Now, why do you think that was, huh?
WOMAN: Even with a court order, it'll take three working days.
I'm afraid I can't wait.
The wheels of justice are turning.
Don't you guys have your own files?
Hey, you're the paper of record.
GREEN: And if this were a Greek tragedy,
I'd be guilty of hubris.
Public sentiment on my side, witnesses on my side,
precedent on self-defense
going back to the days of knights bashing each other
over the head with them...
those, um, now, whatchamacallit,
those fight balls, those... Maces?
Maces. Thank you.
See what I mean?
Now, I am trying not to gloat,
but what have you got on your side, Stone?
Not very much, I agree.
Only the New York penal law.
I don't think we have to discuss the Sullivan statute.
Concealed weapons have been illegal for the past 70 years.
That code is also pretty clear
when it comes to self-defense,
and I'm afraid you have not convinced me
that your client acted in a way
that was proportional to an imminent attack.
Oh, come on.
The defendant must also act in a way
that is thwarting the attack,
not inflicting grave injury on the victim.
Let's get it down to single syllables, okay?
The penal law also clearly allows
for the use of deadly force to repel robbery, kidnapping,
forcible sodomy,
and/or forcible rape.
I don't see anything forcible about it;
he was only asking.
What kind of piggish attitude is that, Counselor?
Are you suggesting that my client
was asking for it?
Miss Green, this is not a personal attack,
nor an attack upon the species.
The fact is, there may have been some degree of threat,
but where that becomes attempted rape is a fine line.
Which all too many women of this city have been pushed across
while they've been wondering,
"Is this really happening to me?"
The law is our only defense
against the rapists and the shooters.
People break it, cops try to catch them,
and I try to cook them-- it's my job.
Sometimes I don't like it, but it's all we got.
Yeah.
See you in court, Stone.
Laura D-I-B, as in boy, I-A.
Uh...
Letter to the editor?
That's all you got?
That's it.
I owe you one.
"The police seemed to treat this vicious attack
"as just one of those things.
"The authorities don't want decent people
"carrying weapons to protect themselves.
"We agree to give up this right
"on the assumption the police will do the protecting for us.
"Obviously, this is no longer the case.
Laura Di Biasi, New York City."
( intercom buzzing )
The seeds of premeditation, way to go.
Yes?
WOMAN: Sergeant Greevey and Detective Logan are here.
Send them in.
Get a search warrant for her apartment.
There may be other letters.
Some people keep copies.
Want to run through it?
Sure.
Now, Detective Greevey, describe for the court
if you will, the accused's state of mind
when you questioned her.
She was upset.
She said she intended to blow their heads off,
if necessary.
Was that a question?
Are we in the same room, Max?
Look, we both know what went down.
She was scared half out of her wits
by those two perps.
Victims, Max! Victims!
What's going on?
Meaning what?
You were gung-ho about this before.
What's happened?
Michael Jones, the dead victim?
the one the computer boys said was so clean
you could eat off of him?
Yeah?
The coroner sent out his fingerprints
on a hunch, just to see what... you know, for the hell of it.
Turns out his real name's Michael Mosket.
Whoa, Mosquito Mosket?
Yeah, ring a bell?
Attempted murder, negligent homicide.
Two years at Spofford when he was 14 for manslaughter.
Real winner, this kid.
This is really going to win us points with the jury. Yeah.
They take one look at him, they figure the little bastard
got just what he deserved.
That's how you figure it, Max?
Well, I remember Mosket; that was all gang-related.
There was no sex involved.
Now, as far as I read it,
that girl was revenging the earlier attack,
and self-defense does not allow for revenge!
The law allowed Michael Mosket to walk free.
Until real justice was served down in the subway?
Do you have any other personal views on this subject
you'd like to air before we walk into court
and Ms. Shambala Green hands us our asses on a platter?
Nope, not a one.
I don't believe this.
The entire New York City Police Department
has lost its mind.
Do you have anything to say?
I go along with what my partner says.
Which is?
The accused stated that she intended
to harm the victims, absolutely.
STONE: The defense will prove that not only fear, but anger,
stemming from a previous incident
lead Miss Di Biasi to an act
not of self-defense, but of vengeance.
Armed with a deadly weapon,
she waited for the very next pretext.
In essence, she went looking
for Darnell Chenault and Michael Jones,
whose only offense against the accused
was that they appeared to be threatening.
If Miss Di Biasi is so threatened by urban life,
perhaps she could have avoided the subway.
Objection! Objection, Your Honor.
I trust there'll be nothing further
along that line, Counselor.
GREEN: Of course, I'm more than willing
to make a statement.
The behavior of the prosecution is totally inappropriate.
I find it incredible
that a city civil servant of this city could suggest
that a woman doesn't have the right
to ride the subway without fear. REPORTER: Mr. Stone...
did you mean to say that Laura Di Biasi
has no right to live in New York City?
You're being a bit literal, aren't you?
I don't think so.
I think your implication was pretty clear.
If a woman is afraid of rape, she has no right to live here.
Now, that's a curious position to take for a prosecutor.
Ballet books, poetry...
a couple of how-to books on achieving orgasm.
Oh, great. Now, what?
Did you find anything incriminating?
Small arms manual, Shoot to Kill,
Hand-to-hand Combat. So?
Unusual bedtime stories.
That's my business!
I assume you have a warrant?
Save it.
Excuse me.
I'm sorry to bother you, I really am.
I know you're going through a tough...
( laughs ) Yeah, right, you know.
I haven't slept a full hour
since this whole thing started.
Yeah. Look, I should be going,
and I'm sorry, but I have to take these.
It's not enough you hang me,
I have to buy you the rope, too, huh?
What have you got against me?
I'm sorry?
I don't understand why you hate me.
Look, I'm not free to dis...
I don't. Of course, I don't.
Then why are you...
We really shouldn't be having this conversation Miss Di Biasi.
I wouldn't shoot you!
Don't you understand?
It all became unreal.
It wasn't happening to me.
All I could feel was fear.
I was afraid of them.
I was terrified!
Not because they were black,
but because of who they were.
I didn't mean to kill him.
I couldn't make it stop.
They wouldn't... it wouldn't...
Please, that's enough.
What if you were on a train,
and a bunch of rednecks started hassling you?
Wouldn't you be afraid?
Wouldn't you?!
Miss Di Biasi, please.
I'm sorry, I can't comment.
I can't stay.
I came by to give you my unconditional support, only...
Number one, tone it down a little.
Number two, try a little damage control.
PR is not my job.
You seen the papers?
The DA, she was looking for it.
They're having a field day out there.
I can't help that.
Our whole strategy
is sandbagging the self-defense scenario.
Even if she comes off
as a revenge-seeker with a hair-trigger?
She pulled off five shots in three seconds. Excellent.
But it would be nice, real nice
if we could have a concrete piece of evidence
to support your revenge theory.
D.A. Schiff, Paul.
Shoot to Kill?
Damage control.
I found all this in her bedroom.
Check the dates.
The first one was six months ago.
She's improving.
Wow.
What were the extent of those injuries?
They were fairly extensive.
Could you describe them for me?
They were tall, muscular.
One had an afro with a goatee.
No, no, Miss Di Biasi,
I'll rephrase.
Could you please explain and describe for the court
the injuries?
Oh.
I had a shattered disc in my back,
some broken ribs,
torn cartilage in the right knee.
And these injuries required several operations didn't they?
Yes, several. Three?
Five?
Four, I think.
Five.
I don't know.
They hurt me. Isn't that enough?
Yes, of course.
And no one blames you for being resentful.
These injuries finished you as a dancer,
didn't they?
Yes.
Does that seem fair to you?
I object, Your Honor. What's the relevancy?
I'll allow it.
No.
No, it wasn't fair.
I think it's grossly unfair.
I'm sure if I were in your position,
I'd carry a nine-millimeter, too.
Objection! Withdrawn.
Miss Di Biasi,
in your dreams, in your fantasies,
did you ever wish
you'd gotten back at those youths?
Objection! Objection!
Your Honor, this is unbelievable.
She was defending herself
against a man who's been accused of multiple homicides.
Mr. Mosket's priors have no bearing on this case, Judge,
nor of course, could she have known about them.
Overruled.
Besides, he wasn't the only threat, was he?
Who else did you find threatening
Miss Di Biasi?
Mr. Chenault?
What exactly did he say?
He said...
"How about a taste for my friend?"
Which you took as an overture to rape?
He was crowding me; he was right up against me.
Who, Mr. Chenault? Mr. Mosket?
Both of them?
Yes. No. I don't know.
At least one.
And you tried to get away?
Yes. Of course.
The second time, too?
Yes.
That's why you shot him the second time, to get away?
Objection, Your Honor.
Why did you shoot Darnell Chenault
a second time, Miss Di Biasi?
I was petrified.
I wanted to make sure.
So you said, "Here's your taste"?
You said, "Here's your taste."
Sounds rather cool.
GREEN: Objection, Your Honor. STONE: No further questions.
Miss Di Biasi, you say you didn't have time to think.
Nor should anyone be required to think
when faced with grave bodily harm.
The human response
is not to think, but to react.
Miss Green, get on with it.
"Detached reflection cannot be demanded
in the presence of an uplifted knife."
Or screwdriver.
Objection, Your Honor, this has no bearing
on why Miss Di Biasi was waiting...
This has all the bearing in the world,
a lot more bearing than the Jesuitical casuistry
offered by the district attorney.
May we approach the bench, Your Honor?
If you can be brief.
Your Honor, the speed of the events
the time frame of my client's reaction
is crucial to my defense.
I'd like permission
to stage a demonstration of the incident.
If it please the court.
Isn't this enough of a circus, Your Honor?
I'll decide that.
All right, but I warn you, Miss Green,
I don't want to see any undue theatrics.
Thank you, Your Honor.
JUDGE: Ladies and gentlemen, the court has agreed
to allow the defense
to stage a reenactment of the occurrence in question.
( widespread murmuring )
Crimestoppers! Your Honor, these people are on record
as supporting the vigilante tactics...
If that's an objection,
you're overruled.
JUDGE: Proceed, Miss Green.
How about a taste, baby?
CHENAULT: Oh, man.
What the homeboys doing
narcing for the white folks?
Order! Order!
Huh! Come on, punks!
Get over here! Come on!
Bunch of queers!
( overlapping chatter )
JUDGE: Order! Order!
ROBINETTE: If the Crimestoppers didn't do it,
Darnell sure as hell did.
How much worse can it get?
Not much-- I want you up there for the rest of the day.
What, an antidote to brother Darnell?
The name on everyone's lips.
I got a woman down the hall
who can't stop talking about him.
I'll sign a complaint, point the finger,
you name it.
You recognized Mr. Chenault how, from seeing him on the news?
Mm-hmm, that's right.
And, uh, the other one... the one that died.
Mosquito Mosket.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Too bad.
I mean, he's...
he's the one that tried to rape me.
That I'm sure of.
And I'm pretty sure
the guy in the wheelchair held me down.
How sure is pretty sure, Miss Diamond?
Like I said, I'm positive of the one that died.
Adam, I need to twist Darnell.
I need your permission.
Yeah, what are you talking about?
Well, there's a woman right now with Stevenson,
swearing out a complaint about Chenault.
What's that got to do with anything?
Well, maybe nothing, maybe everything,
but if those two are rape- happy, I want to know that
before I go tearing into Laura Di Biasi again.
Can't anyone around here
stay on the same side of the street for ten seconds?
Well?
If we change our tune now,
we're facing a public relations disaster.
I know that, you don't have to tell me that.
I know that.
But if I don't listen to my reasonable doubt...
I thought Mosket was a gang member, violent,
but no history of sexual crimes.
But with what I know now,
the defendant's perceptions may be accurate.
I can't prosecute on that level.
All right, fine, but we've got to consider...
I won't do it.
What the hell. Go for it.
I'll ask Leon for a continuance.
Damn, cuz, slow down!
What do you want, man? The truth.
Look, I was sitting down, man
just like I'm sitting down now.
I didn't even move a muscle.
Damn, man, Mosquito's the one
who's into biting on white chicks.
JUDGE: This is rather unbelievable, Mr. Stone.
The defense has an obligation to defend its client
vigorously, even if it does know the client is guilty.
The prosecutor's job is much more restrictive.
I have to drop the charges
if I believe the accused is innocent,
and with the new information on Mosket, I have no choice.
There is reasonable doubt on murder two.
So what are you looking for?
That she pleads on the gun charge
and the reckless endangerment.
Chenault was shot sitting down
according to an eyewitness.
Miss Green?
Forget it, Judge.
Mr. Stone is hardly in a position to negotiate.
Why don't we just go back in there,
tell the jury the truth about Mosket,
and let them decide how to deal with my client?
You are a public defender.
Try defending the public.
If this goes to a jury,
they won't convict on a gun charge.
She's innocent.
Miss Laura Di Biasi is not innocent
of carrying and discharging a lethal weapon
in a closed and crowded subway car.
And if we acquit her on this,
we will be inviting nine million people
to arm themselves.
This is not a question of win or lose.
It's a question of justice.
We're both paid by the people.
We're both part of the system.
Let's let it work the way it's supposed to.
Are you flexible on sentencing for the Sullivan violation?
One year suspended, three years probation
2,000 hours of community service
on the Sullivan.
Five years suspended on the reckless endangerment.
Plus, she must submit to a psyche profile test
and whatever care mandated by the hospital
during probation.
Deal?
Naturally, my client is gratified
that justice has been served.
We also look upon this
not only as a personal vindication but also a victory
for every woman and man that rides the subways
or walks the streets of New York.
And I want to thank the district attorneys
for having the courage of their convictions.
It's not a perfect world,
but at least we can walk away
from this one feeling we did the right thing.
Really? It feels to me like all we did
was make a wrong seem like a right.