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.
Can't you hold it?
No, I can't.
Why the hell not?
See, you're just like my wife.
When we go to Jones Beach with the kids,
she stops six times along the way.
So I tell her, "Put a cork in it."
She says, "No, no, pull over. I have to go."
Maybe if you had put a cork in it,
she wouldn't have had six kids
and ruined her plumbing.
MAN: What's are you talking about?
WOMAN: What do you mean, what am I talking about?
MAN: What's going on? Why are you doing this?
WOMAN: Well, what did you think that I would do?
( man and woman continue arguing )
Would you do me a favor--
get me a cruller?
WOMAN: Why don't you just try to figure it out?
I have no idea why you're so upset, and that's why...
Come out of there this minute. Come out!
Hey, sister,
got some spare change?
Can I get a cruller and a coffee regular?
I want you to marry me.
Why would I...?
That will be a buck and a quarter.
You can't ask me to marry you
when five minutes before you're flirting...
Your change.
HOOKER: Keep your hands inside the police car.
OFFICER: I never moved my hands.
HOOKER: Keep your hands on the wheel.
WOMAN: This was supposed to be my night.
I don't think we can start all over again, Nathan.
Let's do it. Let's just do it.
We'll do it tonight.
Oh, God, stop bugging me.
"Bugging you"?
Is that what you call this?
Mimi!
HOMELESS MAN: Hey!
No, no bag.
Nathan?
Aw, damn it.
Nathan!
( screaming )
Help me!
Help!
Help! Help! Help!
RADIO DISPATCHER: Assistance requested at 74th and Columbus.
10-4, Central.
( turns on siren )
MIMI: Help!
Help me here!
Help!
Help me! Help!
Police!
Out of the way!
Move it! Move it!
MIMI: Honey, you're going to be all right.
It's okay, honey. You're going to be all right.
Just you hang in there.
Captioning sponsore by NBC/UNIVERSAL
( siren wails )
And night before last,
there was a naked man with a crossbow
running up and down west 74th Street.
Where did he keep the arrows?
How come every freak in the country
lives in New York?
Why don't some of you people move to Nebraska?
I'm from Nebraska, sweetie.
How do you think I got this way?
All right, did anybody see the actual stabbing?
The one we're talking about?
Let's get some names.
Elsie Hatch.
186 West 74.
Sal Violet.
V-i-o-l-e-t.
The Hampstead, Room 1220.
Murdoch.
Address?
The Sherry Netherland--
a little pied-a-terre for those gala Dumpster parties.
Riverside Park in 80s.
I got to go.
Hey, hey, hey, hey.
I didn't see anything.
CERRETA: Of course not.
Was she in the box?
I didn't see anybody in the box.
Okay, but you all did see Mr. Robbins fall to the ground?
You were all standing there.
There... was a guy.
LOGAN: Fine.
Describe him.
5'10".
Uh-uh. 6'2" at least.
Ma'am?
A man went running away.
He was well over six feet.
What was he wearing?
HATCH: a red parka.
A greasy red parka.
A parka?
I'm sitting here, I'm sweating like a pig,
and you're telling me this guy was in a ski parka?
No, no, no, no, no.
He was wearing overalls.
I've seen this slob before, sleeping in cardboard boxes.
Miss Murdoch?
It happened too fast.
Did you get a look at the man in the box?
I need new glasses.
They told me at Social Services I could get some, but...
I saw a red parka
with a torn pocket.
Okay.
The red parka, huh--
was he in the box?
No.
Running away.
Oh, man.
I just talked to the people in E.R.
The kid was D.O.A.
Isn't it funny how three bystanders
failed to notice a stabbing right under their noses?
Where was the girlfriend during all this?
She was inside the coffee shop.
Or just coming out. Whatever.
Everything everyone saw is contradictory.
Okay, it was a lovers' quarrel.
But she shivs him three witnesses?
Well, they were great witnesses.
Crime of passion could explain
why he still had the wallet on him.
Or a botched robbery.
Yeah, all right, forget the girlfriend.
Let's say it was a mugger.
He got scared off before he could get to the money.
Or maybe he just got mad
because somebody kicked his box.
Well, wouldn't you?
Don't you kick my box.
Let's got find out if that girl's recovered.
All right, Mimi.
You were in the coffee shop.
Then you came out.
What's the first thing you saw?
I don't know.
I don't remember.
Did you see the guy in the box?
No.
Did you see a man in a red jacket?
All I saw were Nathan's feet--
his legs sticking out from under that box.
What were you and Nathan arguing about?
We weren't arguing.
We... we never fought, hardly ever.
We were just having a discussion, okay?
Okay.
What were you discussing?
It was private.
Miss Sternhagen,
I know it's a very rough time for you right now,
but this is a homicide investigation,
and from here on, very few things will be private.
Well, we weren't fighting.
You were animated?
Maybe.
All right, all right.
About anything in particular?
Um...
well, we were at a party,
and we were both kind of bombed.
I just...
I didn't want to be proposed to like that.
I always thought it would be
on a boat sailing to Paris or something,
not him waving a ring around, going
"Let's do it, let's do it."
Then what happened?
( sighs )
I walked into the coffee shop.
I walked out.
Nathan was gone.
Mimi, the ring-- the one he's waving-- what happened to it?
I don't know.
Did you ever see him with a knife?
If I say yes,
does that get him out of my doorway permanently?
Hey, listen, you help us, we'll help you, all right?
Tony, take this.
Look, the guy is crazy.
He thinks everybody he sees is a KGB agent.
I told him the Cold War was over, kaput,
so he thinks I'm a KGB agent,
trying to fake him out.
The knife?
I never saw a knife.
Okay, describe him.
5'10", crewcut.
That makes it a lot easier.
Color?
Yellow.
What do you mean, yellow, like Chinese?
Like jaundice.
A lot of these street people have hepatitis
and God knows what else.
Does he usually wear a red parka?
No, overalls.
Do you have any idea
where else he might hang out?
Actually, he told me one time
I should stay away from the lake in Central Park.
Did he say why?
Yeah.
It's CIA. Headquarters in New York.
Lemonhead.
Got to be.
'Cause his head looks like a lemon.
Does he have a last name?
Tyler.
No, no, Taters.
What?
Taters.
Lemonhead Taters?
MAN: Tatum.
Christian Tatum.
Drinking scotch.
That's right.
This doesn't look like the scotch and soda crowd to me.
Yeah, yeah, not too many social drinkers
sleeping in the park.
Son of a bitch wouldn't pass it around.
He's selfish?
He got up in my face.
He said he'd killed one guy already
and he'd do me two
if I didn't get my hands off of his booze. That's RIGHT.
You think he did?
Kill a guy?
Last week he said he cut the privates
off somebody from the CIA.
Mm-hmm. You have any idea where he is now?
He had a meeting with...
what's his name?
William Casey.
Down at the Dunsmore Arms.
( coughing )
What can I do for you?
You know a guy by the name of Christian Tatum?
Yeah.
Would you mind pointing him out to us?
He's not there.
Try room 40.
Mr. Tatum?
Lemonhead!
We have a warrant for your arrest.
LOGAN: Well, no lemonhead.
But we got a red jacket.
Torn pocket?
Yep.
CERRETA: Hey!
Are you Christian Tatum?
Answer me, yes or no.
Yep.
You have the right to remain silent
and refuse to answer any questions.
Do you understand that?
¶ Oh, the monkey wrapped his tail around the flagpole ¶
¶ 'Round the flagpole... ¶
Take your time.
I want the good-looking one-- bachelor number two.
Number two, step forward, please.
A romantic weekend in Miami.
All expenses paid.
Get her the hell out of here.
Number two, step back.
Number four, step back.
Earth to number four!
Step back.
For the record, I'd like it noted
that your witness
isn't exactly grounded either.
LOGAN: So noted, Miss Fahey.
All right, Sal.
Could you have them turn around?
Turn around and face the rear.
Number three.
I never forget a nice behind.
Was he or was he not
in the vicinity of the stabbing?
Well, no, but...
Next.
LOGAN: Okay, you can face forward.
No.
Are you sure?
Absolutely.
The one you saw running away--
the one in the red parka?
He's not there.
Although...
Yes?
Number four.
He was there, too.
Too?
Two guys.
Two different guys.
Yeah.
What can you tell us about the ring?
When is Mr. Rehnquist getting here?
Oh, listen, he's caught up in a Supreme Court thing.
Hang tight.
Miss Fahey.
Crosstown traffic. I'm sorry.
We were just about to extract a confession from your client.
Extract this, Logan.
Miss Fahey's a hell of a lawyer.
You don't have to say anything
you don't want to.
Don't worry.
He hasn't.
Uh, all right, Christian,
your attorney is here now.
So what about it, hmm?
Hmm?
It was in your jacket--
the ring.
It's not my jacket.
You were wearing it.
James put it over me.
Would you explain that?
I was safeguarding it till I saw him again.
Okay.
You told your friends in the park
you stabbed a man.
Was James in on that?
You should know.
But, uh, I don't know.
I didn't stab anybody.
James did.
But I... helped him.
How?
I was a lookout.
In your box?
In my box.
Problem?
Maybe.
Look, this other guy theory...
I thought that was solid based on the old lady with the dog.
Yeah, Miss Hatch.
But the second guy, coming from Lemonhead,
it sounds like a kid's imaginary playmate.
You know, "my friend James who lives in the park"?
Or outer space.
Well, see if you can find out
whether "friend James" is real or not.
If that doesn't work, call Dr. Olivet.
I didn't stab anybody.
Well, you told your friends in the park you did.
That's for protection.
Oh.
You mean you made it up?
Anything's possible.
What about that CIA agent last week?
You told your friends that you chopped off his...
Stop that!
Sorry.
I've killed lots of people.
Including Nathan Robbins?
Word out is, there's a reward.
I wouldn't know about that.
You in a position to claim it?
¶ Maybe yes, maybe no ¶
¶ Anything is possible. ¶
I know you don't want to hear this,
but I don't believe he stabbed Robbins.
You think he's capable of it?
He told me he's killed 17 people,
give or take a few.
Well, so he exaggerates.
He's delusional.
He sees and hears things that aren't there.
He remembers things that never happened.
What about all the stuff
with the red parka and the imaginary homeboy?
That sounds on the level.
The way he described wearing that red jacket--
it's... it's like a badge of honor with him.
There is honor among these people, you know.
CRAGEN: Fine. Great. I'll accept that.
So, what happened is, he's a psychopath,
and he thought Robbins was attacking him
when he started kicking his box, so he comes out,
flies into a rage.
He's psychotic.
He's not psychopathic.
What's the difference?
Psychotic is when you believe
the doorman was sent from Planet X
to put mind control devices in your teeth.
Psychopathic is when you blow the doorman away
and take out 20 other people while you're at it.
Now, come on, you guys.
You're making me late.
And remember, in a moment of lucidity,
he told me James lives under a big tree
near the Bridle Path.
And she said, she said, "What about Tuesday?"
And then she said, you said, "What about Thursday?"
( chuckling )
And then she said, she said,
( imitating sound of crowd ): "Da-ryl, da-ryl, da-ryl..."
( imitating announcer ): Security in section three,
row 12, seat five-a, seat five-a, seat...
I want the reward.
I thought this guy James was your friend.
I'm flexible.
Crazy, but not stupid.
Yeah, okay, listen.
You help us find James, and he's guilty,
you'll get your reward, okay? How's that?
( chuckles )
CERRETA: Well, somebody lives here.
Maybe you?
James.
I told you.
Ugh!
Oh. Aha.
Social Services I.D.
James Joseph Polesky.
Good.
Well, he's got 28 bucks in a savings account
at Manufacturers Hanover.
Well, well, well, what have we here?
It's a match.
Blood on the handle is B-neg.
Chest hair, hair samples match Robbins'.
The size of the wound is consistent.
That's all?
Would Polesky's prints be overkill?
CERRETA: No. One thing I'm not really clear on, Lem... Christian?
If this was a robbery,
then how come your friend James
didn't take Mr. Robbins' wallet?
He didn't see the wallet.
He saw the ring.
( laughs )
If only he'd given James what he wanted,
then everything would have been fine.
CERRETA: But he didn't do that, huh?
He held on to it.
And then?
And then James stabbed him.
Is that a yes?
( snickering )
FAHEY: Christian?
Yes, yes, yes.
I think, uh...
I'm going to get an arrest warrant.
CERRETA: James J. Polesky!
What's going on? What's going on?
I got him Phil, you see him?
Yeah.
There he is!
Guys!
You ain't going anywhere.
Get your hands behind...!
You're under arrest.
You have the right to remain silent
and to refuse to answer questions.
Anything you do say may be used against you in a court of law.
If we put you in a lineup,
we're gonna get a positive make, James.
So why don't you just help yourself out, okay?
Is there a deal on the table?
No.
You want me to sign this?
Yes.
Go pee up a rope. ( chuckles )
I will, and then I'm going to wrap it
around your scrawny little neck.
If this guy hits me, I'm off the hook, right?
We've got irrefutable physical evidence,
we've got an eyewitness.
You tell me, why would I want to make a deal?
My client was drunk,
and he has a history of impulsiveness.
If you can sell that to a jury, try, Mr. Scoler,
but I think they'll see it as I do:
an opportunistic, cold-blooded killer.
No deal.
See you in court, then.
He's going to turn this
into a forum on the rights of the homeless.
So let him. What's wrong with that?
I'm seeing editorials in my head--
"Power of state v. Victim of Society, " that kind of thing.
We're going to get it from the other side, too.
"Homeless lunatics-- they kill innocent citizens.
Is the State powerless to protect us?"
Let's stop worrying about the ink we're getting, all right?
I'm not, but the public's perception of us.
We could have made a deal, saved a lot of bad feelings.
I'm flexible on Lemonhead-- he's crazy--
but Polesky, he killed a man in cold blood,
and homeless or not, we get a conviction,
the public will see us
in a very kindly light, believe me.
The charge is murder in the second degree.
How does the defendant plead?
Not guilty, Your Honor.
Do the People wish to set bail?
Mr. Polesky is a transient, Your Honor.
He has no ties to the community
and given the viciousness of this crime...
JUDGE: Bail is denied; defendant is remanded.
In the case of People v. Christian Tatum,
charge is murder in the second degree,
conspiracy and larceny.
Your honor, the People have turned nothing over to us.
No bonds or disclosure forums, no...
JUDGE: Mr. Robinette?
The People were never asked for V.D.F.s, Judge.
Statement, witness I.D., arrest warrant...
No search warrant?
So, what happened?
The judge had a problem with no search warrant.
Come on, Paul!
We took him where we found him.
Look, I told him all that, Mike. He didn't buy it.
We were concerned about securing the area,
not worrying about some search warrant.
For all we knew, that guy was in a closet with a hunting knife.
I understand. I need one of you guys
to testify at the suppression hearing.
I'll do it.
As I was saying,
the desk clerk directed us to a vacant room.
Lemonhead was not there.
The jacket was in plain sight...
I understand, Detective.
Nevertheless, I am going to grant the motion to suppress
on the illegal search of the defendant's jacket.
The ring belonging to the victim
is hereby ruled inadmissible as evidence
in The People v. Christian Tatum.
No ring, no case.
I don't understand why you're being so obstinate.
I'm not allowed to plea down that far.
Besides, he confessed.
The man's non compos mentis.
There's no way he understood his rights.
Your client is an accomplice to murder.
How about attempt rob two?
Rob two.
He testifies against Polesky, he can get whatever help
the system still has left to offer him.
All right. Deal.
In writing.
He was losing it.
I thought I'd better get him out of sight.
Hello, Mr. Tatum. ( gasps )
I saw James out there.
I saw him!
You didn't tell me James was gonna be here.
James is the one who's on trial, Mr. Tatum.
Where do you think he'd be?
Maybe I could, uh, just get the reward
and... and leave now, huh?
James has a knife, you know that.
I don't want him to see me.
James doesn't have the knife anymore-- we have it.
You just tell the court what you saw James...
He's going to kill me! Don't you understand?
He's going to slice me!
He's going to feed me to the pigeons!
Quiet, okay? Mr. Tatum...
knock it off!
Stand up.
Your psychiatrist tells me
that you have moments of rational thought.
Now, we're going to go back in there
and we'll take care of you
and you are going to have one of those moments.
Mr. Tatum, were you offered a plea bargain
in exchange for today's testimony?
Yes.
And you have admitted your part
in the robbery of Nathan Robbins.
Is that correct?
Yes, I was standing out front of the coffee shop,
looking for somebody to rob.
Somebody easy.
STONE: Would you explain that?
Well, somebody, you know, who was drunk or high,
you know, so they... weren't thinking straight.
Was this plan your idea?
No.
It was... was James'.
Is James in this courtroom?
STONE: Let the record indicate that the witness is pointing
at the defendant, James Polesky.
What was James doing the night
of the murder?
He was hanging out.
I saw this guy and this girl.
They... they... weren't paying attention,
so I go up to James-- "That's them."
Then I went inside for a while.
Inside the cardboard box?
Then I see James going for the guy.
And he went after him why?
Well, the guy had a ring
he wanted to give to his girlfriend.
Is this the ring?
Your Honor, I offer into evidence
People's Exhibit Number 25.
Objection: inadmissible.
Sustained.
Your Honor, may we approach?
This ring was suppressed re Tatum, not...
I'm well aware of that.
I made the ruling. Anything else?
Then it's perfectly admissible against Polesky.
I'll make that determination, Mr. Stone.
Thank you, your witness.
( whispering ): What an idiot.
Would you describe what happened
after Mr. Polesky approached Mr. Robbins?
He pulled out his knife and he pig-stuck him!
( wheezing laughter )
would you describe the knife, please?
Yeah!
Like the one you showed me, the one you got on the table.
And then he pulled the knife right out.
No more questions of this witness, Your Honor.
Mr. Tatum.
Has the CIA
ever tried to assassinate you?
Yes.
And when was the last attempt on your life?
Tuesday.
Objection, Your Honor.
SCOLER: Now, why would the CIA want to kill you, Mr. Tatum?
Eastern Europe.
I briefed Mikhail Gorbachev several times last year
before... it all happened.
So you, um...
you made them look bad.
Yes. They don't like that.
Thank you, Mr. Tatum.
No further questions.
How old are you, Miss Hatch?
Objection: relevance.
Eyesight fades as we grow older, Your Honor.
Overruled.
SCOLER: How is your eyesight, Miss Hatch?
I need glasses to read.
Otherwise, it's fine.
This is your sworn statement to the police
in which you claim to have seen the defendant
in from of Ezra's coffee shop.
So?
Do you see the same man in court today?
SCOLER: I'm impressed.
There's a mural behind me, Miss Hatch.
Will you describe it for the court?
Staten Island and the narrows.
You're, uh...
you're familiar with the Staten Island
of the 19th century, Miss Hatch?
I can read the legend.
I hope your eyesight
is better than your manners, young man.
It was in the clearing under a mattress
where Mr. Polesky sleeps.
What did you do with the knife, Sergeant?
I bagged it
and took it to the lab.
STONE: Did you read the lab report?
Yes, of course. The blood matched, the hair matched,
and the size of the knife was consistent with the wound.
There were fingerprints on the knife?
One set-- those of the defendant.
Thank you, Sergeant.
Upon your conviction,
of the crime of murder in the second degree,
the court sentences you to a maximum term of imprisonment
of 25 years to life.
( gavel bangs )
ROBINETTE: Victim was assaulted with a copper saucepan.
STONE: His wife? A sous chef.
The guy complained of too much salt in the bechamel-- bam!
Notice of appeal on Polesky.
Give me a break.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
Everybody appeals everything.
Why come way down all the way down here?
I just wanted to see your faces.
So what is it?
The appeal is based on the Fourth Amendment.
You didn't have a warrant
when you searched the appellant's place of abode.
Place of abode, huh?
It was in the damn bushes.
"...based on an illegal search
of appellant's non-traditional place of residence."
Got to hand it to Scoler.
That's pretty good.
It wasn't Scoler.
Norman Ackerman, ACLU.
His brief in Skokie was 120 pages.
His buddies on Wall Street do his research
out of the goodness of their hearts.
Wall Street lawyers doing pro bono?
Makes them feel good.
I don't care who wrote the brief.
No way the court can extend Fourth Amendment protection
to a bush in the park.
Thought it was a shack.
Makes their argument more compelling.
Actually, a cardboard box in a clearing.
The question is,
can we take the temperature of the appellate court?
Well, the U.S. Supreme Court
has gone pell-mell to the right,
and the local magistrates
haven't been overly sympathetic to the indigent,
but the Manhattan appellate judges
may be the last liberal activists
sitting on any bench anywhere.
Ackerman wrote a hell of a brief,
but case history is on our side.
That's encouraging.
All the way back to 18th century England. Blackstone.
An open field is not private property
and is not protected.
What's Ackerman relying on?
Sympathy and the 1967 Supreme Court decision,
Katz v. U.S.
The majority held
that the police could not tap a public phone
without a warrant.
"The Fourth Amendment
protects people, not places."
I quoted Potter Stewart in law school and won an argument.
but things change.
Schiff may be right about this court.
The press says they're looking to make a case.
Mr. Polesky stabbed an innocent victim
for no other reason than greed.
This is the wrong case to make a point, isn't it?
( reporters clamoring )
Mr. Stone, given the extent of homelessness,
don't you think the court will jump at the chance
to write new law in this case?
Homelessness may be the greatest tragedy of our time,
but I don't think the cure is allowing a convicted felon
to wander the streets,
and I'm sure the court will agree with me.
You've got a tough job
defending a patently unconstitutional search.
Nothing is patently anything until the appeals court says so,
and my job is to preserve a solid murder conviction.
Thank you. REPORTER: What about the rights of the homeless?
ROBINETTE: The Times called Ackerman the modern Clarence Darrow.
I'm sure Darrow had his off days.
Ben.
Oh, hi, Norman.
It's been what, four, five years.
At least.
You've stopped attending our fund raiser.
Defending the Nazis at Skokie didn't sit right with me.
Our only client is the U.S. Constitution, you know that.
In theory, but there are practical consequences
to every one of your crusades; people get hurt-- real people.
Ah. You don't want the great unwashed camping on your doorstep.
Norman, this is about James Polesky
and, no, I don't want him
hanging around my lobby at night.
ACKERMAN: In Katz, Mr. Justice Stewart wrote
that "Whatever a person seeks to preserve as private,
"even in an area accessible to the public,
may be constitutionally protected."
The defendant here did everything in his power
to preserve his private space.
JUDGE: Excuse me, Mr. Ackerman,
but the issue in Katz was whether public telephones
could be tapped without a warrant.
JUDGE #2: And the same court in Oliver
specifically refused to extend Fourth Amendment protection
to open fields.
I'm well aware of Oliver, Your Honor.
But I'm also aware that at that time
of that decision, there weren't a million homeless people
wandering this country.
JUDGE #3: You would have us
afford the same protection
to a man sleeping in Central Park
as we would to a man in the comfort of his home?
Central Park is his home, Your Honor.
It is also
public ground, paid for by local taxes.
The same taxes that were supposed
to build shelters to house these people
and hospitals to care for them.
Once the state abdicated
its responsibility to care for the homeless,
the public parks, the alleys and the streets
became their homes.
Just as we wouldn't allow
governmental intrusion into your bedrooms,
we shouldn't allow intrusion
into the private corner of the world
James Polesky calls home
even if it is the dirt, bushes, and rubble of Central Park.
Thank you, Your Honors.
Whether or not the state is responsible
for the homeless...
Mr. Stone? You don't think it is,
What I think is not at issue here.
What is at issue is the scope the Constitution affords.
You don't think it reaches Mr. Polesky?
Balanced against the People's interest
in seeing a killer put behind bars, no.
Suppose it wasn't a knife
found under that mattress, Mr. Stone.
Suppose it was Mr. Polesky's personal diary.
Should the police be allowed
to invade what is clearly private,
or do only those who can afford a home
have the expectation of privacy?
Mr. Justice Harlan wrote in his concurring opinion on Katz
that the expectation of privacy must be one
that society is prepared to recognize as reasonable.
And it's your position that society would be unreasonable
in allowing the defendant
to call a dirty mattress his home?
One of the attributes of private property
is the right to exclude others.
And Mr. Polesky cannot exclude others from his home
since his home is by definition public property.
Really, Councelor, would it have been so difficult
for the police to obtain a warrant?
GREEN: Thank you, Mr. Stone.
No, I can't say
that I'm at all surprised by the decision.
Mr. Ackerman, will your victory affect the problem of the homeless?
Wait a second.
This is not my victory.
It is a victory
for the Constitution of the United States.
The opinion is good.
There was nothing you could have done.
The court was predisposed against it.
Still, we got a three-two decision.
I thought the Constitution was supposed protect society.
And the rights of individuals; sometimes they clash.
It's a sad commentary, isn't it? It's as if the court is saying
you have a right to a wretched existence.
What are you going to do?
We could appeal to Albany, but...
What about a retrial?
Without the murder weapon, we ain't got a prayer.
We still have the ring.
O'Malley excluded it, remember?
I know, and he's still wrong about it.
Polesky has no standing
to challenge the warrant ??seizure of the parka.
I cannot believe how O'Malley have been so out to lunch?
You think you can engineer a change of heart?
If not mind.
I'll handle it.
New trial.
Lemonhead testifies
that he got the ring from Polesky and...
It's circumstantial, but it should be enough.
If we find Lemonhead.
( man mumbling )
( mumbling )
FBI.
CIA.
MAN: Yesterday he was screaming for his lawyer.
Something about habeas corpus.
What the hell is that?
It means you can't hold him against his will.
Every nut case has his day in court, I guess.
ROBINETTE: I doubt he even knows his own name.
No way we can put him on the stand.
He was competent the first time.
I saw him, Ben.
Believe me, it's over.
Maybe Olivet can snap him out of it.
You got my message?
Yes.
You saw Lemonhead?
I saw Christian Tatum.
We didn't...
It wasn't much of a conversation.
I know the man's in trouble...
The man's on anti-psychotics, did you know that?
Which leaves him nauseous, listing to one side
and in danger of choking to death on his own tongue.
I feel sorry for Mr. Tatum's condition,
but his testimony is crucial, and what I need to know from you
is, will he be able to take the stand
for just a few minutes?
Will he be able to say a simple yes or no?
Nothing is that simple.
Last time he was in the court, he was terrified of James,
and you pushed him into taking the stand.
Now wait a minute. I pushed him into telling the truth
in a murder trial in which he entered into a plea bargain.
He may be on some other planet, Ben,
but the guy's hurting,
and I don't think he can survive another circus.
You asked for my opinion.
I understand.
Did you read the People's bench memo, Your Honor?
I did.
And?
You're right. I was in error in excluding the ring.
Getting back to the issue at hand, Judge,
the Sixth Amendment guarantees my client
the right to confront all witnesses against him.
Mr. Stone?
"Testimony given by a witness at a prior trial
"may be received into evidence
"when the witness is unable to attend
by reason of death, illness or incapacity."
C.P.L., Article 670.
And your witness is incapacitated?
He's institutionalized, Your Honor.
He's psychotic.
His testimony in court was practically hallucinatory.
He was competent then and as you recall,
Mr. Scoler made no objection to his testifying at the time.
I'm going to grant Mr. Stone's motion.
Mr. Tatum's prior testimony
will be read into evidence.
Your objection
is duly noted for the record, Mr. Scoler.
Feel free to have another go with the five wise men uptown
if you like.
I'm thinking... man two.
I'm thinking murder two.
He gets 25 to life.
I'll appeal.
We'll start over.
I'll be here.
Manslaughter one.
All right, but Mr. Polesky does the max.
My client won't be very happy,
but at least he'll have a roof over his head
for the next 25 years.
So does Lemonhead-- a rubber cell at Bellevue.
And then there's Nathan Robbins.
He's got six feet of dirt over his head.
So what's happy got to do with it?
Captioning sponsore by NBC/UNIVERSAL
Captioned by access.wgbh.or roup at WGBH