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.
Mrs. Schwinger on the fourth floor's
been complaining three times a day.
So it's slow.
What's her rush, anyway?
It's not the controls.
Gears?
Or the brakes jamming.
It's probably kids.
Bozos call it elevator surfing.
Ride the tops, jump from one to the other.
Give me a flashlight, will you?
I just don't want any lawsuits.
I been here 12 years.
Never opened.
Going to have to take it down to the basement.
Lower it slow.
You Local 196?
Wouldn't work if I wasn't.
My brother-in-law, 20 years of dues.
Now he's in St. Thomas...
Oh, my God.
Stop the damn thing.
This is preliminary.
CERRETA: We're listening.
Death by strangulation.
Looks like a wire.
Premortem cuts and abrasions on the face.
She fought back.
I bagged her hands
in case there's anything under her nails.
She's partially out of rigor.
She's been dead 24 to 36 hours.
Monday night.
Mr. Hellman,
have you ever seen her before?
Yeah. Judy Bream, 3B.
She live alone?
Yeah. Alone.
you do-- Here's what
first, let those men into Judy's apartment
then later I'll have some questions for you.
Does this sound familiar?
Young woman, nude, strangled with wire
duct tape on her face, body tossed like garbage.
East River Park, six months ago.
Same guy?
Could be.
That would be number two in a series of...
Well, it depends on how late in his game we're coming in.
Captioning sponsored by NBC/UNIVERSAL
She was a grad student at Columbia.
Some kind of ancient history, I think.
Moved in about a year and a half ago.
Family lives in Hartford.
Old man cosigned the lease.
What kind of tenant was she?
A doll.
If they were all like her...
What about boyfriends?
I don't keep track.
Anyway, when you're young and beautiful,
who wants to be alone?
Tell me about this building, okay?
Anybody hanging around who didn't belong?
On the Upper West Side?
You want them all
or just the ones that talk to themselves?
No sign of forcible entry.
Must have been somebody she knew or expected.
There's nothing about it in here.
This whole week's marked off as being in Connecticut.
Her folks live in Hartford.
Last couple of months
two doctor's visits, a paper, three exams
one potluck dinner.
Found it on the floor near the bed.
Wrapper for a Polaroid cartridge.
She have a camera?
Didn't find one.
Think our boy's a shutterbug?
Some are.
Helps them to remember the good times.
Let's hope this is a coincidence.
I don't think so.
We turned up a third vic three months ago in Queens.
All three taped, strangled, tossed.
Rape?
No evidence of penetration.
Three kills in six months.
Slow but consistent.
Oh, man.
All right.
Nothing to encourage this guy to pick up the pace.
No press.
I want to keep this off the books.
Anything you need, you come directly to me.
Did he leave us anything at all to go on?
Autopsy report...
says digestion on her stomach contents
puts the time of death
between 7:00 and 8:00 Monday night.
Other than that, we got nada.
No prints, no fluids, no hairs.
Regular angel of death.
The last one-- Judy Bream--
he tossed down the elevator shaft.
And?
You need a special key.
Elevator repairmen, firemen, electricians.
Great. So, that narrows it down to, what?
About 100,000 suspects?
Hey, the guys in Brooklyn were lucky, huh?
They got the Son of Sam on parking tickets.
Yeah. Six months and six bodies later.
( phone buzzes )
What?
Yeah.
Thanks.
The Breams are outside.
You want to do it in here?
No.
Let's take an interrogation room.
I told her she'd be safer
in one of the university residences,
but, uh...
she knew better.
Had to have her own place.
( sighs )
Judy was never afraid of anything
not even as a child.
We know that Judy was supposed to spend the week with you.
Was there any reason that those plans were changed?
She got a call Sunday afternoon up at our house--
someone connected with the building.
MRS. BREAM: I heard...
I heard her call him Mr. Cook.
Um... some work had to be done.
Do you know what kind of work?
No.
Something electrical.
With the wiring.
They...
( sobbing )
They had to move the furniture.
At least that's what Judy said.
Would Judy have told the building manager
how to reach her up in Connecticut?
MR. BREAM: No. She didn't have to.
Her calls were forwarded.
Her phone, was it...?
Was it listed?
No.
I thought it would be safer.
( Mrs. Bream sobbing softly )
All three were killed in their apartments.
But the first two were dumped at least half mile away,
while Judy Bream was left in her building.
Why?
He's in a rush.
Couldn't get her out of the building.
It doesn't make sense.
It would be easier to leave them in their apartments.
He does it, Phil.
It's got to mean something, Phil.
What? Power? Degradation?
A sense of finality?
Okay, thanks.
If this guy knew these girls,
it wasn't because he changed their fuses.
Their buildings were serviced
by three different electrical contractors.
There's got to be a connection.
He picks these girls.
Volunteer work--
Judy Bream did three hours a week
at the Stuart Counseling Center in the Bronx.
Debra Beckett did United Way every Christmas.
A couple of times a year at a soup kitchen.
Sandy Markham, no charity work.
Lots of political.
Canvassed for Senator Peppino in '90.
Registered "not interested."
State politics in Connecticut.
Sport club membership, Columbia athletic.
Racquetball every day.
Mine goes to the Downtown Y.
Not a jock.
Repeated visits
to Dr. Phillip Banks, OB-GYN.
Who?
Phillip Banks.
You got, uh...
you got Bream's
appointment book?
She was seeing a doctor.
In November.
November 24, Dr. P. Banks, 9:00 A.M.
What about your Queens lady?
He... Crap.
It's not a match.
Dr. Charles Cohen, Forest Hills.
Still, we got two out of three.
It's worth a look.
Well, Marcus Welby he's not.
One assault charge three years ago.
He pleaded down to a misdemeanor.
Complainant was his ex-wife. Dig this.
Broke her jaw during a marriage counseling session.
This man is a lover and a fighter.
The AMA has received
over a dozen complaints against Banks.
Former patients, their husbands--
the doc likes to play around
while his patients are in the stirrups.
He still has a license?
Protect thine own.
The AMA refused to pursue.
I just know what I read in the papers.
The city's going straight to hell.
She'd been your patient for long?
First appointment was, uh, February.
Routine pelvic.
You ever ask her out?
CERRETA: Debra Beckett--
she was your patient, too, right?
What the hell are you getting at?
Two of your patients
have been murdered in the last three months.
CERRETA: Did you ever examine Sandy Markham?
No.
Do you mind if we check your records?
Sure, be my guest. My nurse will help you.
Thanks. By the way,
did you happen to have a date last Monday night?
Yes.
Emily Feist, nine pounds, three ounces.
Born Monday, 7:16 P.M., after three hours of labor.
Yeah.
What do you got?
Okay. Thanks a lot.
Hospital has him signing in at 4:16,
signing out at ten to 8:00.
It would take him at least 20 minutes
to get to Judy Bream's place.
The M.E. puts the time of death between 7:00 and 8:00.
But M.E.'s have been known to be off by an hour or so.
We still have to connect Sandy Markham.
She never saw Dr. Banks.
Maybe he's lying.
Maybe she did see him under a different name.
Let's go talk to Dr. Cohen.
No.
Sandy Markham was referred by Dr. Rosen on Park Avenue.
Had she ever been treated by Dr. Banks?
We can get a subpoena.
If she had been,
I think she would have told me.
Why?
He's a disgrace.
I wouldn't send my schnauzer to see Phillip Banks.
You don't like his bedside manner?
The guy's a walking lawsuit.
Malpractice?
Now he's branching out.
My bookkeeper tells they're after him for insurance fraud.
You and Banks have the same bookkeeper?
Yes.
You mind giving us his name?
Albert Lawrence Cheney.
Spent five years in Attica.
Cheating on his taxes?
He got Man Two, paroled in '89...
He killed a girl in Queens.
Strangulation? Tape?
Rest of the file will be in tomorrow.
You want to wait?
Not on your life. Risk losing another one? No.
Hello?
Hello.
Does Albert Cheney live here?
Yes.
Is he here
because we'd like to talk to him.
I'm Mrs. Cheney.
Is there a problem?
No, it's not a problem.
Just want to talk to him.
He's in the other room.
He's busy working.
Excuse me.
Are you Albert Lawrence Cheney?
Yes.
Do you mind if we talk?
I'm in the middle...
LOGAN: I think it will keep.
Don't you think we'd be more comfortable at the station?
Look, I'm not trying to outrun my past.
I did the time.
LOGAN: So you're rehabilitated.
I didn't do the crime.
CERRETA: Aren't you bitter
having spent five years in Attica for something
you didn't do?
I'm at peace with it now.
I was unlucky enough to be at the wrong place
at the wrong time.
My lawyer said
the best thing was to deal.
"Five was better than 15," he said.
You work
with Dr. Banks and Dr. Cohen.
And Burton and Scarlon and Schuman.
How long you been keeping books?
Two years, since I got out.
And before that?
Master electrician.
Manhattan Power doesn't like ex-cons.
Last Monday night, you remember what you did?
My wife and I went to dinner and a movie.
It was an early show, 5:00.
You know a woman named Judy Bream?
Why? What happened to her?
She was murdered.
We had pizza at Julio's in Astoria.
What time did you leave the restaurant?
Around 8:00, although I'm not exactly certain.
Where did you go?
I drove Albert home.
I went to work, the Post Office. night shift.
I punched in at 9:00.
Have you been married a long time?
A year.
Seven years ago, I saw his picture in the paper.
He had such gentle eyes.
I wrote him and he wrote me back.
And when he was released?
He joined our church group, St. Eligius Baptist.
He's a good man, Detective.
Phil.
It was in the bottom drawer.
There's no film,
but it's the same type to fit the wrapper we found.
My son has the same one.
Look at this.
Duct tape.
Your son got one of these--
a Manhattan Power Company employee I.D.?
Expires June, 1985.
Think Albert kept it as a souvenir?
The fibers from his washer-dryer--
beige with a wool/acrylic weave--
matched the carpeting in Judy Bream's apartment.
Must have been on Cheney's clothes
when he washed them.
Puts him at the scene.
Or in my apartment or 10,000 others.
It's not what you'd call unique.
Had better luck with the duct tape.
The roll from Cheney's apartment,
same as the tape recovered from the body.
We pieced together the tape on the roll
with the tape on the girl.
The tears at the end were ragged enough to make a match.
So, please tell me this is conclusive.
Probable.
Sorry.
CRAGEN: Duct tape
carpet fibers, I.D. card, prior conviction--
it adds up, Paul.
To a weak indictment.
The prior bad act is inadmissible,
the rest, circumstantial.
What about Cheney's phone?
Brick wall-- the LUD's show
no telephone calls to any of the victims.
Alibi?
His wife punched in to work at 9:00.
Before that, nobody remembers him at the movies or restaurant.
An alibi that can't be verified.
Or refuted.
It's possible we're wrong about Cheney.
Guilty people call their lawyers-- he hasn't.
And innocent people kick and scream.
I haven't seen him do that either.
You guys want to indict him
then have it just die?
Fine.
Get Cheney into interrogation.
Look at it, Albert.
You're the only one.
No one else appears here three times.
You want to explain that to me?
It's a fluke.
Fine.
Maybe you can help me because we're a little stumped.
Who else has total access to these women's lives?
You look at their files every day.
You look at their charts, their billing statements.
Do the doctors you work for,
do they know you snoop through patients' files?
I don't do that.
I just do the accounting.
Maybe so, Albert, maybe so,
but we know you did Judy Bream.
We know that.
I never met those girls.
I told you.
Okay...
You recognize this?
It's a picture of your electrician's I.D.
I worked there for five years.
That was eight years ago.
How come you kept it so long?
We know how you got into those girls' apartments.
We know all about your electrician's routine.
You're a pretty smart guy, Albert--
like the way you opened those elevator doors
to toss Judy Bream's body down there.
Boy, that had us going.
Till we figured out you were using
one of those elevator access keys.
All you electricians have those access keys, don't you?
I don't know about any key.
Oh, sure you do.
We checked with Manhattan Power. They told us that you do.
They told us that after you were fired,
you didn't turn in the key.
That's not true.
It's true.
Albert.
Albert, don't fight us on this.
We know that you didn't turn it in. They told us.
He was fired eight years ago.
Manhattan Power keeps records of their keys?
They don't even know if he really had one.
Look, I just don't think that's true.
I can't remember having one.
See you in a while, pal.
This was next to Judy's bed on the floor.
It's the exact same kind of film your camera uses.
She doesn't even have a camera like that.
How did it get there?
When did you take the pictures, Albert?
Before you killed her?
Be much more gruesome after, though, wouldn't it?
It's your work.
You could see what you've done.
I've never even been in her place.
And yet, your duct tape was there,
there were carpet fibers on your clothes,
you got her address from Dr. Banks's files
and you have an electrician's badge!
You like looking at those pictures,
don't you, Albert?
Takes you back.
You got a special place for them?
I don't have any pictures.
CRAGEN: These are ligature marks, Albert.
You see, when you strangle someone,
you leave marks
like fingerprints.
This is...
Sally Kessler, the girl you killed eight years ago.
See those ligature marks way up high?
Just like the ones on Judy's neck.
You like to get them up high, don't you?
They take longer to suffocate that way, right?
CRAGEN: Is that when you get your knee in their back
and give it a yank?
You know what I want to know?
Why did you switch from ties to electrical cord?
Is that better?
You get more control that way?
Maybe the ties were a little too risky, huh?
A couple wind up damaged or missing.
The wife starts wondering, thinking, asking questions.
"Is the man I sit next to in church every Sunday
really what he says he is?"
I...
I'm tired.
You want to talk to a lawyer?
Get it off your chest.
It will be privileged.
No.
It's just that I'm tired, that's all.
I want to go lie down.
Yeah, okay, soon, very soon.
I just want to go over
a couple more things here, all right?
CERRETA: These are the keys we found in your apartment.
Which one is the elevator key?
I don't know if I have one.
They say you did.
You kept it like you kept your I.D.
Is it this one here, huh?
No, that's uh, uh...
Sara's old place in the Bronx.
How about this one?
That's for the garage.
What about this?
Sara's bicycle.
The lock.
This one?
Is that an elevator access key?
No. It's for the storage.
You're lying, Albert.
Your building has no storage.
Not there.
I mean on Sutphin.
One of those rental places?
What do you keep there, Albert?
Just, uh...
junk.
The pictures.
I'll get working on a search warrant.
According to this,
the guy came in about once a week
usually in the evenings.
LOGAN: Phil!
Some people collect
baseball cards.
BAILIFF: Case number 750127,
People v. Albert Lawrence Cheney.
Three counts of murder in the second degree.
Talk to me.
Counselor?
Not guilty, Your Honor.
Mr. Robinette?
Your Honor, as far as the State is concerned,
the heinous nature of the crimes charged
mandates that the defendant be held without bail.
My client has rights.
And so do the rest of women in this city.
I think that's...
Save it, Carl.
Court orders defendant held without bail.
All right, you behave yourself.
The police repeatedly told Albert Cheney
he had a right to an attorney.
He waived that right?
Several times.
Miranda.
Waiver's got to be made
voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently.
Carl, this guy's been there before.
He's well aware of his rights.
But after 12 hours, guy would forget his name.
Come again?
They battered
my client for 12 hours.
Of course he broke.
And gave us a box full of photographs of his victims.
BERG: Supreme Court says
we should look at the totality of the circumstances--
length of detention, prolonged questioning,
mental exhaustion.
Carl, this guy is a serial killer.
He'll do it again.
You get the stake, I've got the match.
What is it, Ben, huh?
Charge a guy
with killing three girls,
he loses his rights against self-incrimination?
The Supreme Court never set hard and fast rules
about length of interrogations.
It is a judgment call.
In my judgment,
the more heinous the crime,
the more protective we must be of the rights
of the accused.
Police overstepped their bounds.
I'm excluding the photos.
We had a warrant.
Without the browbeating, you wouldn't have known
where to search.
As the photos
were wrongfully presented to the grand jury,
this entire indictment should be dismissed.
We have physical evidence
linking him to the crime scene--
a false electrician's I.D.
It's all on the Bream girl.
What about the others?
Zippo.
Ben?
We drop the charges
on the first two girls.
Try it only on Judy Bream.
Remember, Ben, he's being tried for the Bream murder alone.
Any mention of any priors, we return to "go."
I've watched Berg's work for years.
He doesn't try a case.
He charms the jury.
When he's done, they'll give Cheney a Nobel prize.
So much for victims' rights.
Dead people don't have any, my boy.
What do we got here?
What we don't have is one iota of direct evidence.
Cheney can't be that good.
He's had practice.
Two priors, no evidence whatsoever.
But they caught him once, right?
ROBINETTE: Man Two.
He only spent five years in Attica.
Berg represent him?
Who prosecuted?
Fleischman.
In Brooklyn.
In this business, lightning does strike twice.
Find out how the hell Berg did it.
How could I forget?
Sally Kessler, 18 years old.
An Hermes tie wrapped around her neck.
Dumped naked into a recycling bin
behind Nathan's out at Coney island.
He's using wire now.
Times is hard.
It's scary.
Cheney sat there and smiled while he told us about it.
Wait a minute.
He confessed?
That was the only way
we were going to touch that guy.
But he only served five for Man Two.
We're questioning Cheney,
nice and polite, getting nowhere.
Soon he asked to see his shrink.
We ignore him, keep on pressing.
After an hour or so
we hit a sore spot and Cheney spills his guts.
What's the problem?
He goes and hires Carl Berg.
Berg hears about this shrink thing,
starts doing a song and dance,
screaming and yelling about Fare v. Michael C.
The case where the kid asked for his parole officer?
Supreme Court said it's not the same thing
as asking for a lawyer.
Only at that time,
the Supreme Court had heard arguments,
but hadn't yet handed down its opinion.
Parole officer, shrink-- could have gone either way.
So you cut a deal.
I got him off the streets
for five to 15.
Usually I take all bets,
but the chance that Cheney goes free?
I'm sorry.
Those stakes were just too high.
And he served the minimum?
Warden said he was a model prisoner.
Parole Board agreed.
( telephone rings )
Robinette.
Yeah?
Thanks.
The Breams are in your office.
They're not alone.
A lawyer, Jack O'Connell
from the Connecticut D.A.'s office, is with them.
So the Brooklyn D.A. screws up
and this psycho is free to kill again.
Nobody screwed up.
They had to cut a deal.
My daughter is dead because of a technicality!
I regret it,
but the Supreme Court decided a long time ago
that when the system errs,
of individual rights. it will be on the side
If my daughter had been hit by a car,
we could sue the driver.
Can we sue the Supreme Court, Mr. Stone?
I assure you, Mrs. Bream, we'll do the best we can.
Maybe I can do you one better.
Cheney lured Judy from Connecticut into New York,
where he ultimately held her captive and killed her.
With your assistance, we can prosecute him
in Connecticut for kidnapping.
He never abducted her.
Kidnapping by pretense.
STONE: When Cheney phoned with this electrician's story,
he had no idea the call was forwarded to Connecticut.
He thought she was home.
He had no intent
of luring her anywhere.
Oh, no. I was there when the call came.
Judy told him that she was
at our house.
O'CONNELL: With death being
the ultimate result of the kidnapping,
we can toss in felony murder.
I don't understand.
It's simple.
In Connecticut, we have the death penalty.
Yeah, it's like Chicago in the '20s.
You don't like someone,
hire a couple of out-of-state thugs to rub him out.
They don't want justice, Adam.
They want vengeance.
An eye for an eye worked for thousands of years.
What are you going to do, Ben?
I said thanks, but no thanks.
They can have Cheney after we're through with him.
If we lose, double jeopardy prevents anyone
from retrying him on the murder.
O'Connell says he has a good shot
at admitting evidence from the prior murders
to show that Cheney had the requisite intent to kidnap.
But their case is bogus, Paul.
You saw the mother. She's lying.
Her daughter never told Cheney she was in Connecticut.
What jury won't believe a grieving mother?
STONE: Cheney is an animal.
Yes, he should be tried and convicted,
but, no, we shouldn't subvert the legal system to do it.
And if Mrs. Bream is telling the truth?
He committed a crime in New York.
Our law says he should be convicted, not executed.
What about his alibi?
ROBINETTE: It plays, as far as I can tell.
Sara Cheney punched into work at 9:00 P.M.
Don't coworkers scratch each other's backs?
She drives to work, doesn't she?
Civil service.
Can't be fired.
Bennies up the ying yang.
Should've taken the exam.
All the postal workers park here?
Half-price.
Uncle Sam picks up the rest.
We keep the receipts.
The Feds don't trust anybody.
Here we go.
Cheney, green Metro.
Punched in 9:45.
She covered for him.
ROBINETTE: Her friend admitted
she punched her time card for her at 9:00.
Even if Cheney gave her a play-by-play,
we can't put her on the stand.
Spousal privilege.
No way Cheney waives it.
Oh, the Breams are playing hardball now.
The Connecticut D.A.'s motion to have Cheney extradited.
So we'll stop it.
We'll get an injunction.
Have you seen the civil calendar lately?
Cheney will be tried and dead six months
before we get a judge looks at our papers.
We'll get a temporary restraining order,
we'll do the papers tonight,
and we'll be at 9:30 calendar call tomorrow.
You got other plans?
I don't know.
Representing Cheney in civil court
just so we can prosecute him?
I am not representing Cheney.
I am representing the people of the State of New York.
Your Honor, I'm sure
I needn't remind this court
of the full faith and credit clause
of the U.S. Constitution, which mandates
that sister states honor each other's laws.
Albert Cheney broke the laws of the State of New York.
He was arrested within its boundaries.
It would be a miscarriage
to allow another state to usurp its jurisdiction.
The issue in this motion is not jurisdiction, Your Honor.
It is the inadequacy, no, the complete inability of New York
to deal with violent criminals.
And you believe that Connecticut is more able?
New York has tried to deal with Albert Lawrence Cheney,
Your Honor, and at least four young women are dead.
Was he rehabilitated, and did his five years
in prison prevent recidivism?
Obviously not.
So the only thing left is revenge.
You tell me.
You had your turn, Mr. Stone.
And let's do without the rhetoric, Counselor.
If you grant Mr. Stone's motion
and if he tries the defendant and loses,
we are then precluded from prosecuting him
for the murder of Judy Bream.
Bottom line, Your Honor,
Albert Cheney is of no use to anyone alive.
Is this forum shopping?
This is a criminal case.
Yes, I know, Mr. Stone, and this is civil court.
Why you want to keep Mr. Cheney alive is beyond me.
I, for one, wouldn't lose any sleep
if they flipped the switch.
That's not relevant, Your Honor.
I know.
Unfortunately, Mr. Stone has met the burden
required by law for a restraining order.
As such, I am forced to grant his motion.
The case against Albert Cheney stays put.
May God help both of us if you lose that trial, Mr. Stone.
The M.E.'s report?
Paul, are you with me, here?
We've taken flyers before, but...
You would prefer that I let O'Connell try this case?
The courts are not your personal soapbox.
Have you heard me preach?
Better we bend the system than risk letting him walk
because of some unfounded morality.
Who's preaching now?
You're not talking about convicting him,
you're talking about killing him.
I think my tax dollars can be put to better use
than clothing, housing and feeding Albert Cheney.
Now maybe I'm just pragmatic.
The cost to the state of a capital trial
is roughly $1.8 million--
that is twice the cost of an average life imprisonment.
Now who's being pragmatic?
Maybe the Breams are entitled to a little vengeance.
Oh, "do unto others as they did unto you"?
We burn the homes of arsonists?
We sexually abuse those who rape?
You're rationalizing.
Maybe, but the New York State Court of Appeals
says the death penalty is cruel and inhuman.
And what do you say?
And I say
we uphold the laws of this state.
LOGAN: There was a toolbox
and in it, we found duct tape, electrical wire
and a Manhattan Power Company employee I.D.
issued to Mr. Cheney.
We also found a Polaroid camera in a desk.
And the cumulative effect of this evidence
was sufficient to arrest Mr. Cheney?
Yes, that and the fact
that he worked for her gynecologist.
Thank you, Detective.
The duct tape that was used on the victim...
is there anything special about it?
No.
It could be purchased at any hardware store, correct?
That's correct.
Good.
That narrows it down to, what-- eight million suspects,
assuming the culprit lived in New York City.
Judy Bream had an unlisted number.
Whoever killed her had to get that number
from somewhere, sir.
Uh-huh.
Can you identify this, Detective?
That's the victim's address book.
We found it in her apartment.
Would you...?
Please.
Tell me, what do you see in the back portion of the book?
Names, addresses, phone numbers.
And how many names-- roughly--
would you say appear there?
Roughly? Uh...
I would say roughly a hundred.
Would it be fair to say that these hundred people,
who were kind enough to give Judy their phone numbers,
were also lucky enough to receive hers?
Objection.
BERG: Withdrawn.
Detective, you don't have any evidence at all
against my client, do you?
Your Honor?
That's enough, Mr. Berg.
I have no further questions.
MRS. BREAM: She spent the weekend with us.
She was off for the holidays.
She was planning on staying the entire week.
Why did Judy return to the city?
She got a telephone call.
Something about her electricity.
Did she typically leave the door to her apartment unlocked?
No. She had three chains on her door.
Her father insisted.
You'd ring the bell
and then she'd double-check, you know, through the peephole.
When was the last time you spoke to Judy?
It was that night.
I had her on the phone.
The doorbell rang
and she went to answer it.
Did she put you on hold?
No. She had a portable phone.
What, if anything, did you hear then, Mrs. Bream?
I heard her call
to the man through the door.
Did you hear his response?
STONE: Mrs. Bream?
Mrs. Bream, did you hear
his response?
Yes.
What did he say?
Calls for hearsay, Your Honor.
Statement against penal interest, Your Honor.
Not if my client didn't say it.
Sustained.
No more questions.
I'm truly sorry about your daughter, Mrs. Bream.
I'll try to make this short.
The voice that you said you heard...
I heard it.
And do you think
that you could, uh, recognize the voice?
No.
Because it was through the door, isn't that right?
So...
all you're sure of
is that it was a man at the door.
Would you consider that you and Judy were fairly close?
She was my daughter.
She ever tell you
about any of her friends?
Do you recall her ever mentioning...
someone by the name of Finkel?
Robert, I think it was.
Was he one of her friends?
Ahem. Yes.
And Michael Schwartz?
Yes.
And Steve Eidler?
Yes, but...
And Brian Sherman,
Peter Brav, and Alan Sklar?
Now, tell me, Mrs. Bream.
Isn't it possible that it was Robert Finkel
or Michael Schwartz,
Steve Eidler, Peter Brav,
Brian Sherman, or Alan Sklar
who was at the door that night?
Why are you doing this?
Sh... sh... she was my daughter.
No further questions, Your Honor.
He took her from me.
Berg's got them eating out of his hand.
Yeah. I had a professor in law school
who said the case is won by an attorney
who is better liked by the jury.
Laws, facts, truth-- nothing to do with it.
Maybe in a contract case, but this is a serial killer.
The jury doesn't know that.
What do you got left?
C.S.U. tech will testify
to the duct tape and carpet fibers
found in Cheney's dryer.
Circumstantial evidence.
Berg will have a field day.
We don't have anything direct other than the wife
and her testimony's privileged.
If she's an accomplice, it's broken.
Establishing a false alibi
does not make her an accomplice to murder.
But destroying evidence does.
Who do you think washed Cheney's clothes?
Wake up a judge.
Get an arrest warrant and notify Legal Aid on this.
I want her to have a lawyer.
I already told the police.
We went to the movies, had dinner,
I drove Albert home, and then I was at work by 9:00.
That's not true, Mrs. Cheney, and we both know it.
We spoke to a coworker, Barbara Livingston.
She said she punched you in at 9:00.
You didn't get to work until close to 10:00.
So she stopped for a cup of coffee on the way.
It doesn't prove anything.
You're going to have to do better than that, Mrs. Cheney.
Accomplice to Murder Two--
that's a lot of years in jail.
Wing and a prayer.
Silly putty doesn't stretch that far.
I don't think so, Ms. Melton.
Your client washed her husband's clothes.
That's tampering, accessory after the fact.
You can't prove a thing.
Take a good look, Mrs. Cheney.
That's how your husband gets his kicks.
( stifled sobs )
That morning...
we read to each other.
Corinthians.
MRS. CHENEY: He came home at 8:30 and he was frantic.
He, uh...
His shoulder had some blood on it over here
and he said he'd been in a fight--
that someone had tried to mug him.
Was he carrying anything, Mrs. Cheney?
His toolbox.
Anything else?
His camera.
What, if anything, did he say to you?
He said that he was afraid he may have hurt the man
and he said he needed an alibi
and then he told me to, uh...
hide the toolbox and the camera.
And then... then I washed the blood off his shirt.
Why did you help him, Mrs. Cheney?
He was my husband.
He was on parole.
I don't know.
Did you believe his story about the mugging?
Objection.
Sustained.
I loved him.
I prayed for him.
I didn't know.
Didn't know what?
I didn't know that he was an animal.
Objection!
Thank you, Mrs. Cheney.
Oh, I don't know.
25 years to life is a long time.
I know two people who consider it a gift.
Then you might enjoy this.
The obituaries?
Richard Speck, killed eight nurses in '66.
Died in prison.
He was 49. Cheney's 42.
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