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.
( garbled radio transmission )
OFFICER: So my brother-in-law
moves into Hell's Kitchen.
Doctor?
The genius.
Quarter-mil on 46th Street.
He says he's a pioneer.
Hope he's got a gun.
WOMAN: If I never see another off-record statement
it will be too soon.
I'm just happy for the overtime.
We do all the work.
They make all the bucks.
Come on, I called a cab.
I'll drop you.
I'm charging it to a client.
You live in Queens.
Where you gonna drop me?
We'll swing over to your place... No, that's okay.
I'm just gonna take a subway. It's the only exercise I get.
You sure?
Sure, I do it all the time.
DRIVER: Where to, lady?
Gooden's pitching. The kid should see it.
She never heard of negotiation?
You swap days.
Nope. By the book.
Every other weekend.
I got to call my damn lawyer
to take the kid to the freakin' zoo.
27 car for a signal 10-56. DISPATCH:
in the alley. Corner of Water and Vesey
27 Charlie, 10-4.
Central K, we have a female down.
Need ambulance on corner of Water and Vesey.
Roger, 27. DISPATCH:
( labored breathing )
I'll talk to them in five.
Call came in at 1:17.
We were around the corner.
A mugging?
Too hysterical to talk.
Where's the caller?
Joined the Silent Majority.
911 anonymous.
Probably used a pay phone around the corner.
Found it down the block. License says her name's Amy Newhouse.
453 West 45th.
I got ten bucks says she's taking self-defense
at the 92nd Street Y. You know, I wish
they'd teach these people it's not worth the fight.
Yeah, well, I doubt this one put up much of a fight.
What makes you say that?
She's preggo.
Out to here.
Tough town.
( whistles )
Captioning sponsored by NBC/UNIVERSAL
12 hours in E.R., you see everything.
Did you see Amy Newhouse?
Yeah, I admitted her around 2:00 a.m.
Roughed up, nothing's broken.
Scratches, scrapes, bruises.
That's a first for this rotation.
Looks like the patient will be just fine.
Paramedics said she was pregnant.
Yeah, maybe five, six months.
Well?
Some women sneeze too hard, it causes a miscarriage.
Others, they run a triathlon, everything's hunky-dory.
What's that, a medical term?
Partial abruption of the fetus.
The placenta starts to separate from the uterine wall.
We've got her hooked up to fetal monitors.
All we can do is wait and see.
You catch the guy?
Nope. Belongs in a cage.
Talk about your sociopaths.
This guy kicks her two, maybe three times right in the belly.
Can you tell us where can we find her?
Yeah, upstairs, 612 South.
I only had $20.
Credit cards?
I don't have any.
Amy...
can you remember anything about this man?
How tall he might have been or something he might have said?
It's okay.
It's all right.
He grabbed me from behind.
I never even saw him.
He took my bag.
The next thing, I was on the ground.
My baby...
He took your bag and then he kicked you?
What were you doing out at that hour?
My boss kept me late.
I work for a law firm-- Wood, Carlton, Troy.
Has anybody contacted
your husband?
I'm not married.
The father?
Chris.
He's at work.
He's a cabby.
You know, I would have given that man my money.
What about the baby?
So far, so good.
New York was Amy's idea.
Saw Working Girl one too many times.
You think that bunch of lawyers gives a damn about her
keeping her there till all hours?
She always walk to the subway that late?
She's a secretary of some hotshot partner.
Jerk thinks he owns her.
A million times, I asked her what she needed that job for
but she wanted the overtime.
Maybe now we can go back to Wisconsin.
Look, I've got to get to the hospital.
She's going to be okay.
The baby is a question mark.
Great, so for 20 bucks we might have a murder?
If he already had her bag
he didn't need to kick her.
This city is known for its mental health?
Or maybe somebody had something else in mind.
Like for instance?
Like causing a miscarriage.
That's a hell of a way to get your jollies.
We'll run the M.O. through the assault files.
Could be this started closer to home.
CRAGEN: All right.
Talk to the neighbor.
See if you can get a read on the boyfriend.
I'm sorry.
My hearing, you know.
The best thing about getting old is you only have to do it once.
( laughing )
Oh, that Amy, oh, she's a doll.
She brings me papers every day.
The stairs, you know.
They're such a nice young couple
and now a baby.
So Chris was happy about the baby?
He thought he was too young.
I was his age when I was already expecting my third.
Mrs. Fisher...
Hmm?
Listen... did you ever hear anything... you know, strange
coming from their apartment?
Well, since Sam died, I only turn these on for guests.
Are you kidding?
The walls are like toilet paper.
This isn't exactly Gramercy Park.
Ever hear anything out of the ordinary?
Put it this way--
every time he's in the mood, I know about it.
Couple of horny toads. Ought to be a law.
Any violence?
Yeah, the guy blew his top every now and again.
Did you ever see Chris actually hit Amy?
Last spring, she had a cast on her arm.
And you think
Chris caused that?
She said she fell.
Who am I to say otherwise?
In my opinion, the guy's a dip.
The fare wanted to go to Forest Hills
he took them to Forest Lawn.
You kept him on.
Almost a year.
Honest beats smart any time.
Was Chris on duty Tuesday night?
Uh, graveyard-- 12:00 to 8:00.
How much trouble could he get into after midnight?
Can you tell me where he was around 1:00?
Somewhere on the L.I.E.
Picked up a fare at 79th and Columbus.
Took them out to Kennedy.
37 bucks on the meter.
Another 40 coming home.
He was in the wrong borough
at the time of the attack.
So much for Ken popping Barbie.
That's no alibi.
Hey, summer of '82 I hacked part-time
to pay tuition.
Sometimes middle of the night, I'd get lonely.
I'd park my cab in front of Janie Meyer's house,
leave the meter running, go inside
take care of business, pay the fare myself.
Which would amount to what, about $2 or $3?
Like going to Jersey and back.
Let's go talk to the girl.
Back home we had the real thing-- 120 pounds.
His name was Regis.
He shouldn't have spent the money,
but that's Chris.
So Chris was happy about the baby?
Hmm. That's all he talked about.
All he wants out of life is a wife and half a dozen kids.
Amy, we know about your broken arm last spring.
You want to tell us how you got it?
I fell down.
In the middle of a fight?
No, I told you that...
Amy, there's no reason
to protect Chris if he did this to you.
What do you think-- Chris is an animal?
He wouldn't hurt me or his baby.
LOGAN: Look...
he hit her once.
He'd hit her again. This much is clear--
she is lying about the broken arm.
You think he wanted to nix the kid?
Wait a minute, wait a minute. Wife-beatings are spontaneous.
Are you saying he actually drove cross town then waited
outside her office in order to pop her? All right, a theory.
Chris wasn't as happy about fatherhood
as Amy would have us believe.
She wouldn't get an abortion, so it was a do-it-yourself job.
Okay, so he loses his temper now and then.
But beat her enough so she'll lose the baby?
Any way you look at it
the wheel stops at the boyfriend.
He's got buttons. Push them.
I know how it is, Chris.
She ticks you off
so maybe you lose your temper.
It happens all the time.
Maybe I hit her once,
but that was a long time ago, before she got pregnant.
I'd like to believe you
but whoever did this to Amy had one thing in mind.
You think I would hurt my baby?
Hey, I know how tough it is
raising a family. You're broke, you're young.
The last thing you need is someone...
We'd get by.
Chris, if you speak up now, maybe the D.A. will listen.
The D.A.?
Yeah.
Amy's pressing charges?
Nobody's under arrest.
She knows I couldn't have done this.
I love her. I love the baby.
( knock at door )
Amy had a miscarriage.
Oh, God.
If the fetus was less than 24 weeks old
there's no homicide, and all we've got is assault.
You've got to be kidding me.
That's the statute.
That's great. So, a bunch of lawyers decide
whether you're alive enough to be murdered.
Better yet, it could vary state to state.
Oh, that's wonderful. Good thing they weren't
traveling cross-country when he beat her.
Would've been like Tic-Tac-Toe-- here we charge you,
here we don't. Guys, what do you want me to tell you?
The law always makes sense?
Ours is not to question why; just pick up the garbage.
Fellas, just try to find out how far along this girl was.
Without the trauma
she would have had a healthy boy.
Can you tell us if the fetus was 24 weeks old?
The B.P.D. is 5.8 centimeters.
Femur lengths 4.4.
In my opinion, probably about 25 weeks.
In other words, there's no way to tell for sure?
Did you check with her regular O.B.?
She said she didn't have one.
Look, I don't know what to tell you.
We take amnios, we run sonograms
but the best story is the old way--
counting backwards.
Amy, the D.A. does not like hostile witnesses.
There's always a chance
that he's going to charge you with obstruction.
You don't really want
to go to jail for Chris, do you?
Okay.
Chris did hit me once.
But it was a long time ago.
He...
he found out I was cheating.
With who?
My boss.
Your current boss,
Mr. Alcott?
It was his baby.
Chris didn't know that.
Chris thought he was the father.
Was Mr. Alcott in the office on Tuesday night?
Yeah. He left ten minutes before I did.
I'm sorry about the mess.
It's been 15-hour days since November
with the takeover.
Amy said you were with her the night of the attack.
Yeah.
I heard about the baby.
Look, I, uh, feel responsible.
I'd kept her here late that night.
We had to be at the printer at 8:00 a.m.
I had the temp send her flowers.
What time did you leave?
Oh, must have been about a quarter of 1:00.
I asked her to finish typing
an opinion letter and fax it to our clients in Houston.
I just told her she could go home.
I knew she liked to walk, but, you know, at that hour...
See anybody hanging around outside the building?
No, sorry. Grabbed a cab, went off to my club.
At 1:00 in the morning?
I live in Mamaroneck.
If I were to go home, I'd just have to
hop right back on the train and come back to the city.
I always stay at the club when I'm forced to work late.
Is that often?
Law isn't 9:00 to 5:00.
So your relationship with Amy was purely professional, right?
My wife was Summa at Bryn Mawr.
Amy is a sweet young girl.
She's not my type.
CERRETA: So this is the place for the other woman, huh?
BARTENDER: Members have their own rules.
Wives-- they take to the Yale Club
Knickerbocker--
but here, it's strictly extracurricular.
What about Mr. Alcott?
Nice guy.
Drinks Johnny black, straight up.
Does he drink it alone?
Look, last year I picked up an extra ten grand in stock tips
in a down market.
keeping quiet. A big part of the job's
Yeah, right.
I can get very long-winded
when I pull people in for questioning.
Sometimes it can go
into the middle of the evening.
And then if I don't happen to tell my partner
what I asked you, that could go... what..?
At least another day. Oh, yeah.
All right.
Off the record...
Yeah.
Alcott has a good time now and then.
Ah.
With her?
Yeah.
Miss Meyers and tonic.
Tuesday night-- was he here?
Came in around 1:00.
I'm supposed to close the place, but what the hell?
He's a regular. Belted down a couple, hit the rooms upstairs.
Chris isn't my type.
A little too rough around the edges.
But Amy must have seen something in him.
They get along?
Used to be pretty rocky.
When Amy got pregnant, Chris was all lovey-dovey.
What about her boss, Alcott?
Well, a lawyer.
Enough said.
Amy told us she was seeing him.
She said the baby was his.
Set up an appointment for her
at some fancy Park Avenue ob-gyn.
He was going to pay for the whole thing
and send her on a cruise off to St. Thomas-- real sport.
But she didn't want an abortion, right?
She didn't want to go through with it.
Alcott exploded. The door was closed,
but you could hear him down the hall.
What now? The security guard saw us together?
Actually, the bartender at your club.
I told you-- when I work late at the office
I spend the night at the club.
Sometimes Amy brings me papers from the office.
I bought her a drink. That doesn't mean we're lovers
and it certainly doesn't mean that I beat her up.
She says she was carrying your baby.
She's very convincing.
Yeah? Well, my daughter swears there's a Tooth Fairy
but that doesn't make it so.
I have clients waiting. If you don't mind.
Of course he denied it.
I've been a legal secretary for four years.
They're all risk-adverse.
to submit to a blood test? You ever ask him
He never questioned that it was his baby.
At this point he denies ever having slept with you.
Unfortunately, it comes down to your word against his.
How appropriate.
He loved to dictate.
The law wasn't the only thing
on his mind.
I thought I might need it sometime for protection.
With the marital deduction trust ALCOTT:
to the next generation the after-tax savings
will be $280,000.
in the shower. I love to see you naked
Slut.
She's the one who wanted me to make that tape, you know.
She asked me to do it, said it made her hot.
Doesn't sound like she's the only one.
Come on, it was a Christmas party.
It was the first one I'd been to in years.
I had a little too much to drink.
And she was your present?
All right, so I slept with her.
It's been five or six months.
Once she got pregnant?
I put on the brakes once she got pregnant.
I begged her to get an abortion.
So it was your baby?
She said she'd stopped sleeping with her boyfriend.
You believe that?
It's a 50-50 shot. What am I gonna do?!
I can't afford a paternity suit. I said I'd help her out
financially-- I could live with that.
True or false--
your life is much easier if she miscarries?
Hold on now.
No, the boyfriend knew that she was sleeping around.
He probably did it.
She's lucky he didn't have a shotgun.
Yes, Chris knew it was David's baby.
Yeah, so how did he react when he found out?
He was mad, but...
he didn't hit me.
He didn't do this.
Listen, you been jerking us around
since day one.
Look... Chris thought
this baby
would make us rich.
He said Alcott would have to pay for his mistake.
Are you telling us you blackmailed Alcott?
I didn't want to do it at first, but Chris said I was entitled.
And did he pay?
$2,000.
We figured
it was like a security blanket
in case he tried to fire me.
But Chris kept saying
that this baby was our meal ticket.
And he was sure
that Alcott would pay big money
to keep us quiet.
I didn't say anything before because...
will we have to go to jail?
They're a couple of hayseeds who thought
they'd squeeze Alcott for the big bucks.
Alcott had a lot to lose--
money, wife, kids...
Partnership... CRAGEN: The other secretary?
Beverly Kern.
...said he has one hell of a temper.
Alcott left the office
knowing Amy would be down in a few minutes.
He knew her route home.
He waited in the alley, and bingo.
Witnesses?
One. Reported the attack, disappeared.
and opportunity. So you got motive
It's all circumstantial.
Come on, Paul-- the guy's a lawyer.
He's going to be talking deal before we slap the cuffs on him.
I'd hock the house on it.
Assault's a possibility.
Murder may still be a stretch with the 24-week statute.
I'm game if you are.
Go.
Excuse me. You just can't walk in
without an appointment...
David Alcott, you are under arrest for the murder
of the unborn son of Amy Newhouse.
You have the right
to remain silent.
If you choose to not exercise that right, anything you say
can and will be used against you in
a court of law. You have the right to...
BAILIFF: Docket # 1422, People v. David M. Alcott.
The charges are murder in the second degree
assault in the first degree.
JUDGE: How does the defendant plead?
This is absurd, Your Honor. These char...
This is not a board room, Mr. Alcott.
plan to enter a plea? Mr. Manley, does your client
Not guilty, Your Honor.
Applications.
$250,000 bail, Your Honor.
What?
That is unconscionable.
My client is an esteemed bar member.
Aren't we all, Mr. Manley?
It would be court-sanctioned extortion, Your Honor.
The people's case hardly rises
to the level of frivolity.
Your regard for our judicial system is admirable.
The bail is set at $100,000.
No way is it murder.
I just talked with Alcott.
You can read minds?
I can read a calendar.
The first time they slept together?
The Christmas party.
That's 20 weeks before the attack.
Good theory. Only she says they started
sleeping together in early December.
Who do you think the jury will believe?
Come on! No witnesses. No evidence.
Even assault is a stretch.
Do everyone a favor.
Menacing.
Under the carpet, quick and easy.
No time.
A "B" misdemeanor? Yeah.
Try man one.
He attacked her with intent.
He is innocent, Paul.
Come on.
He has a family
a reputation.
Fine. Tell his family they get visiting days.
I need Chris and Amy to convict Alcott.
Why not plead him down to petty larceny?
Probation.
From extortion?
Already admitted to blackmailing him.
They're kids, Adam.
A jury will acquit on sympathy alone.
Even with them, it's rough sailing.
No physical evidence.
The only eyewitness vanished.
Alcott's going into that courtroom
with a suitcase of respect.
That's no defense.
That's reasonable doubt.
Maybe if you want to make an assault case
but murder...
The statute says 24 weeks.
Manley's got an expert.
He's got his expert.
I've got mine.
You pay enough, they'll say anything.
AMY: Chris worked nights.
I worked days.
I was lonely.
David didn't force me.
I wanted to go.
When did you first start sleeping with Mr. Alcott?
I don't know.
We started working late on a takeover deal.
It must have been early December.
And how long had this been going on?
Maybe a month.
Until I got pregnant.
STONE: What happened when you got pregnant?
He told me I had to get an abortion.
He told me it was the right thing.
What was your response to that?
I couldn't do it.
And how did Mr. Alcott react to that?
He threatened to fire me.
But I told him that I would go to the .
In other words, you thought you would blackmail the defendant.
He owed us.
He got her pregnant.
He should pay.
What should he pay?
He gave us 2,000.
I told Amy to ask for ten.
And what if he refused?
We'd go to his wife
and then we'd sue the partnership
for sex discrimination.
He threw her out of his office.
What did you do?
I went to see him.
I said the price went up to 20,000.
He said it would be a cold day in hell
before some white trash screwed up his life.
He wouldn't give a nickel.
I measured the biparietal diameter
and the femur lengths of the fetus.
Indicating what, Doctor?
That the fetus was 25 weeks old.
Thank you.
There are several ways of determining the age of a fetus.
Isn't that true, Dr. Mishon?
B.P.D. measurements can be taken interuterally by sonogram
or in a post-rejection fetus autopsy.
When did you take these measurements?
In an autopsy.
That certainly is the more accurate
of the methods.
Ah.
And what is the margin of error
for post-rejection B.P.D. measurements?
Well, that can vary with the equipment and...
What is the accepted margin of error?
Plus or minus two to three weeks.
So...
Ms. Newhouse's fetus could have been 22 weeks old.
Isn't that correct?
Yes.
Thank you, Doctor.
Your Honor, considering the fact
that not even the prosecution's expert can say with confidence
is at least 24 weeks of age that the fetus in question
I move that the charge
of murder in the second degree be dismissed immediately.
Your Honor, Dr. Mishon has testified...
In my chambers, gentlemen.
Mr. Stone knows he should not have brought those charges.
It's obvious he's only trying to back in
to the lesser-charged felony.
He should have raised this issue in pretrial motions.
Oh, be serious, Ben.
I can parade a dozen experts through that courtroom.
You only tacked on murder to outrage the jury.
Now they'd convict him for killing J.F.K.
for God's sakes. The age of the fetus
is a question of fact for the jury.
of law for me. it's a question No, Mr. Stone,
The defendant's motion is granted.
There's nothing we can do?
The statute is clear.
But medical science, unfortunately, is not.
You mean if it happened two weeks later
he'd go to jail?
The assault charges weren't dismissed.
He can serve five to 15.
Five years for a life?
We heard the heart beat.
We felt the kicks.
I'm sorry, Amy.
Manley's smart.
Get an assault conviction, and he claims any evidence
relating to the loss of the fetus was improper.
ROBINETTE: That's why he didn't object
to the charge prior to trial.
If it's a mistrial, Alcott walks away untouched.
( phone rings )
Yes?
Thank you.
Not quite untouched.
Chris and Amy just filed
a $10-million lawsuit against Alcott.
Retained council, Jacob Bloom.
The King of Torts?
The Prince of Darkness.
The woman miscarried.
We're talking major league suffering.
Not to mention the lifetime earnings potential
of a healthy white male.
You win the criminal side.
Cuts my work in half.
I'm rooting for you.
Mr. Alcott is bucking
for a mistrial.
This kind of publicity won't hurt his cause.
You've got no limitations problem.
You could have waited.
Is this jealousy I'm hearing?
It's nausea.
Ambulance-chasing brings that out in me.
Whoa, better check your playbill, Mr. Robinette.
Your friends came to me
the day after she got out of the hospital.
I had a hell of a time
convincing her to wait for the criminal case to begin.
That was a pretty short period of mourning.
When my secretary's cat died
she took a week off from work.
A million-dollar damages.
It's the American dream, I guess
but some people will make it any way they can.
There's always the chance that she's suing on principle.
What do we know about Amy Newhouse anyway?
Some firms have switched to H.M.O.s
but we still stand by your basic health coverage.
So checkups aren't covered?
Not unless they find something wrong.
Here we go... Amy Newhouse put in a claim February 3.
The company reimbursed her on the 18th.
There was something wrong?
Well, for most people, pregnancy is a blessing.
Insurance companies call it a disability.
Do you have her doctor's name?
Bernard Gluck.
36th and 3rd.
Amy Newhouse.
Healthy young girl.
Everything was fine.
On February 3, you told her she was pregnant?
That was the checkup.
I told her she was pregnant back in December-- the 19th.
That boyfriend of hers-- he nearly jumped for joy.
I haven't seen her since. How's she doing?
Not too well.
Letter read Barsky family trust. ALCOTT:
As per my prior communication
will benefit two generations the tax savings
of the generation-skipping tax. without running afoul
Last night was spectacular.
You were right.
It was worth the wait.
Better than I ever imagined.
The first sight of you naked...
( stops tape )
So, what? We admit it; he had the affair.
It sounds like you dictated that letter
the day after your first night with Amy.
There is a point to this?
It was dated the 23rd of December.
The day after the Christmas party.
How many times do I have to tell you?
I told you she was lying.
There is no way the baby was 24 weeks.
You made me jump through hoops for nothing.
Save the theatrics, Jerry. The murder charges were dismissed.
The point is her doctor
says she was already pregnant on the 19th of December.
That little...
I want this case dropped immediately
and I want a public apology.
So the baby couldn't have been mine.
They knew all along Chris was the father.
They set Alcott up for blackmail.
Doesn't affect his guilt. What's important is
that he thought the baby was his.
The creeps manipulate this office, the police, Alcott from the start.
All right, they're liars.
Doesn't make them killers.
Maybe the blackmail was camouflage.
Maybe their ultimate goal
is a civil suit.
There may be more to Chris than we originally thought.
He practiced law in Wisconsin.
And now
he's driving a cab?
Disbarred in '89.
What are you going to do, Ben?
Well, straightforward won't work.
We got to hit him from behind.
If the light at the end of that tunnel was a civil suit
why not seal up the tunnel?
Judge Burton owes you a favor.
Call one in.
Get me a continuance.
What the hell is his wife's... Sally.
Your husband may be guilty of many things, Mrs. Alcott,
but we're not convinced one of them
is attacking a pregnant woman.
You're not required to help them.
No, you're not, but I'm sure your attorney
has told you that cause has no bearing on the property distribution.
In books, Mr. Robinette.
In real life, it goes a long way.
You'll get your divorce.
You'll get his money
but the penalties for adultery
do not include 25 years behind bars.
Maybe they should.
Maybe then they would keep their pants on.
David will pay for this, Mr. Robinette.
Fine.
If he goes to jail
Chris and Amy's civil suit against him is a sure winner
and in that case there will be a lot less
to divide up after the divorce.
What are you proposing?
I'm sure it doesn't surprise you
that Mrs. Alcott has commenced a divorce proceeding
against her husband.
You want Amy to testify?
As a matter of fact, no. I want you to drop the civil suit.
Why in the world would we...
For a million dollars. That's why.
We're suing for ten million.
First of all, let me assure you Mr. Alcott's net worth
is barely $2,000,000
half of which I'm claiming for Mrs. Alcott
in her divorce.
Fraudulent conveyance.
We'll recapture the funds.
Very good, Chris,
but I want you to know
I can tie up his assets
for years pending the divorce settlement.
I've got a restraining order on his bank accounts.
His partnership draw is being garnished
and tomorrow, we start
on maintenance and child support.
I wouldn't mess with me if I were you, Chris.
By the time you see a dime, it won't be worth a nickel.
And what's in it for you?
Mrs. Alcott will drop the divorce proceeding.
I'll let the son of a bitch rot in jail
while I spend whatever money he has left.
LAWYER: Take a million now.
and everybody's happy. Drop the civil suit
It was hardly worth the trouble. AMY:
So much for suing on principle.
These two are unbelievable.
LAWYER: for you tomorrow.k
and get out of here. Let's just take the money AMY:
The grieving mother.
Does that constitute proof?
Couldn't they say they got over it quickly?
Chris was the father, not Alcott.
Chris and Amy knew that, but made Alcott think it was his.
In order to blackmail him.
In order to file a civil suit. They weren't going for singles.
These people were going for the long ball-- extra bases.
Staging this whole thing.
That's a hell of a couple.
So this whole thing was a scam-- the beating, the affair?
My guess--
Chris was the anonymous caller.
We need you to break his alibi.
You're the ex-cabby.
Get me the book.
For insurance purpose
we check the odometer of every cab
when it comes in, when it goes out.
Every cab every day, huh?
You screw up the insurance
they take away your medallion like that.
Cab 34. Be my guest.
Guess what. He's only half as smart as we thought.
The kid paid off the meter, but he didn't know
they check the mileage every day.
The only way he trekked out to Kennedy Airport
is if they moved it to Times Square.
The odometer's 40 miles short.
Then so is his alibi.
Read them their rights.
We've already pled them out on blackmail.
Experts cannot establish the age of the fetus
so murder's out of the question, too.
Is this true or false--
Amy and Chris intended to cause a miscarriage.
True, only what they did wasn't a crime.
But they didn't know that.
Famous law school hypothetical.
I shoot a bullet into the heart of a man
who appears to be sleeping
only he wasn't sleeping
he was dead.
Am I guilty?
Not of murder.
But I didn't know he was already dead.
I thought I was committing a crime.
Chris and Amy thought they were committing a crime.
So they had a guilty mind.
If not for murder, for...?
Attempted murder.
Learn from your past mistakes, Stone.
The fetus wasn't legally alive,
ergo you can't make it legally dead,
ergo you can't convict on murder.
No one is disagreeing with you, Miss Bayliss,
but if you read the indictment, your clients are charged with attempted murder.
Same difference.
I don't think so.
A man buys a pound of sugar, thinking it's heroin.
We all know it's no crime to buy a pound of sugar
but Miss Bayliss, in every jurisdiction in the country,
the man is convicted of attempted possession of illegal narcotics.
CHRIS: Yes, Mr. Stone.
But if your man knew for a fact it was sugar
he's as free as a bird.
AMY: I hate to spoil your fun, Mr. Stone,
but I assure you, after three years of law school
Chris knows how to read a murder statute
and I certainly knew how long I'd been pregnant.
She sat there and admitted she killed her own baby.
I swear her pulse didn't rise above 60. They knew both the age
of the fetus and the law. No murder, no attempt.
They have proof? She had an O.B. confirm her home pregnancy test
plus our young hero Chris's statement that he knew the statute.
Are you telling me that a woman that smart
would willingly sacrifice her body?
That's hard to believe.
Bed and brains
are not mutually exclusive.
Maybe she was abused
but she was part of this from the start.
If she couldn't form the intent, if she was acting under Chris's will?
Well, you saw her.
That baby was no more important to her
than a watch, something she could hock for a quick buck.
We got to go forward with this.
You fire an unloaded gun at me, it's attempt.
You know that the gun is not loaded, it's nothing.
But to be acquitted, I'd have to prove
to a jury that I knew the gun wasn't loaded.
Chris and Amy will have to prove that they knew they weren't
committing a crime, and they'll have to take the stand.
Credibility is a question for the jury.
Exactly. I open up the slightest hole in their story,
I give the jury the opportunity, they'll do the right thing.
You want them to ignore evidence?
No. Chris and Amy want the jury to look at the law.
I'll get the jury to look at Chris and Amy.
The law's supposed to be a shield, not a sword.
They're despicable, yes, but by letter of the law
they're not guilty.
The legislature couldn't have conceived
anything like this, but wrong should not win
by technicalities, you know that yourself.
Get these bastards off the street.
CHRIS: went wrongat if everything
and Amy miscarried
we couldn't be tried for murder.
We knew Amy had been pregnant less than 24 weeks.
But you're not charged with murder, Chris.
You're charged with attempt.
It's a joke.
You think we would go through all this
and not be sure?
I knew it wasn't a crime.
How's that?
Three years
University of Wisconsin School of Law
two years practicing in Fond Du Lac.
Thank you.
As an attorney, you are aware
that the definition of murder varies from state to state. Sure.
What constitutes murder in Wisconsin
may be different in New York.
That's right.
Did you attend law school in New York?
No, but I...
Yes or no, sir.
No.
But you claim to know the law
in New York.
I can read, Mr. Stone.
Well then, maybe you can tell us, Mr. Baylor,
what happened to your license to practice law.
Objection. Irrelevant.
Goes to credibility, Your Honor.
Answer the question.
It was revoked.
You mean, you were disbarred?
Sir?
I made a terrible mistake, but we didn't break any laws.
But you testified that Chris intentionally hit you.
You said it was all part of your plan.
We never meant to hurt it.
I am so sorry about the baby.
I wish I could take it back.
And what about Mr. Alcott?
Does he deserve any sympathy?
I take it
you don't care for him.
He cheated on his wife.
He cheats the government
for a living.
He deserves whatever happens to him.
Amy, have you been examined by a doctor recently?
Yes.
And what did he say?
As a result of the kicks
there was severe damage to my uterine wall.
Which means?
I'll never have another child.
Objection.
Relevance.
Sustained.
Thank you, Amy.
Miss Newhouse, you testified
that you didn't intend to have a miscarriage.
Yet you meticulously planned the attack
to assure that the fetus would be under 24 weeks of age.
Chris said it was a failsafe
just in case something went wrong.
Can you tell us why Chris was disbarred
in the state of Wisconsin?
Answer the question, please.
Um... subornation of perjury.
STONE: You know what that means?
He encouraged a witness to lie on the stand.
Do you think
Chris could be at it again?
Objection.
Sustained.
Miss Newhouse, do you know what it means
if you can't prove
that you and Chris knew the law prior
to committing the acts
that resulted in the death of your baby?
Objection!
The witness is not an attorney, Your Honor.
She is not competent to determine this.
On the contrary, Your Honor.
Miss Newhouse's entire defense is based
upon the fact that she knew the law.
She cannot now argue
that she is incompetent to testify as to its meaning.
Answer the question, young lady.
What would it mean
Miss Newhouse, if you didn't know the law?
We would be guilty.
Of what?
Of attempted murder.
Of trying to kill your own baby.
We committed no crime.
Nobody got hurt.
STONE: No crime?
What do you call the plan
that Christopher Baylor and Amy Newhouse concocted?
They lured her own employer, David Alcott,
into having an affair with her.
They convinced him that their own pregnancy was his
and then, they did the unimaginable.
They staged an attack--
an attack in which Christopher Baylor
savagely kicked the mother of his own child
in the belly
and they say it's no crime.
They killed their own child for greed.
No crime?
The only possible way that this is not a crime
is if you can manage to convince yourself
that couple had specific knowledge
of an obscure penal code.
I, however, believe that if you review the evidence
you will find
that when they came up with this heinous plan
they were unaware of the 24-week statute
and that they are guilty of the crime
that was in their hearts all along--
the crime of attempted murder.
Have you reached a verdict?
We have, Your Honor.
We find the defendants,
Amy Newhouse and Christopher Baylor,
guilty of attempt to commit murder in the second degree.
Motion to set aside the verdict.
Denied.
Gillion should have set aside the verdict. The only basis was horror.
The public is all over us
when a known criminal walks on a technicality.
I just flipped the coin-- I let the people use a technicality to convict.
I'm sure they'll appeal.
The jury disbelieved their testimony.
Last time I looked, that is not reviewable on appeal.
But they were telling the truth.
I won't lose sleep over it, and I don't think the jurors will, either.
There's another bit of justice.
What's that?
She'll never reproduce.
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