(male announcer) 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.
I'm standing at the bar ordering a Red Bull and vodka,
and there he was, ten feet away.
You are kidding.
I mean, I hadn't seen him in five years.
So what happened?
I said hi, gave him a kiss on the cheek.
And he called me a selfish whore.
Seriously?
Some people just can't forgive.
I guess not. [giggles]
Then again, you did screw his best friend.
Okay--
Jesus.
Keep your mouth shut. And give me your cash now.
I said now.
Here.
Please don't shoot.
[shuddering]
(male officer) Go, go.
[tires screech]
Police! Freeze!
10-13! 10-13!
Officer shot! Corner of 23rd and 10th!
Name's Dan Flood. A career punk.
Is he gonna live?
They called the priest 10 minutes ago.
What about our guy, Hurlihy?
Looks like the Irish bastard's gonna make it, thank God.
(Fontana) We were hoping you would give us a statement
before you bid us all farewell.
[labored breathing]
You know, let me make it easier.
Dan, did you shoot a cop tonight?
And before that, you robbed two ladies on 8th Avenue?
Anything?
That's it.
All right.
[weakly] I killed Sara Dolan.
Excuse me?
Me and Johnny. [wheezes]
We raped her.
Then killed her.
What did you just say?
Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee...
You and Johnny raped and killed Sara Dolan?
Is that what you just said?
Holy Mary, Mother of God...
Johnny who?
And if you killed her, where was the body?
Upstairs? Downstairs?
In the basement? And how did you kill her?
Did you punch her?
You throw her up against the wall?
It was ten years ago!
Joe? Joe, you all right?
I'm all right.
I just don't like punks like this
lying about murders that they didn't commit.
I worked on the Sara Dolan case for two years.
This guy did not kill her.
Well, that's a strange thing to admit to if he didn't do it.
...as thy womb, Jesus...
(Fontana) Sara Dolan was a beautiful kid.
Just turned 12 years old.
(Green) You couldn't go five minutes without reading about her.
Or her million-dollar modeling contract.
You still think the father did it?
There was no forced entry.
He was the last person to see her alive
and the first person to find her dead with no real alibi.
And there was evidence of sexual abuse?
No DNA,
but strong physical evidence.
So why no arrest?
Well, according to the District Attorney's Office,
there was no probable cause.
So you think Flood's deathbed admission is a lie.
Absolutely.
Well, check it out anyway. Run Flood's priors.
See if the name Johnny pops up anywhere.
Mr. Flood, I'm afraid we have some bad news for you.
What, Steinbrenner didn't accept my bid to buy the Yankees?
Uh, sir, it's about your son, Dan?
He was killed in a shootout
with a New York City Police officer.
[sighs]
Anything else?
Uh, well, his body's at the Medical Examiner's office
on First Avenue if you want to make arrangements.
What happens, you know, if I don't?
Well, they'll bury him in Potters Field.
Do I have to pay for that?
No.
Then leave him where he is.
Putting him in a suit and tie ain't gonna change nothing.
Did your son have a friend named Johnny?
Johnny?
Only kid I can think of is Johnny Zona.
They ran around together in high school.
And this Johnny, a pretty good kid?
Not if he hung around with Danny.
Anything else?
Johnny Zona's rap sheet.
He's not exactly a Sunday School teacher.
Armed robbery, grand larceny, drug possession.
Look at that. Did five years in Greenhaven.
Beat up a 16-year-old girl, broke her nose and her jaw.
Real tough guy.
I'm calling his parole officer. See if I can get an address.
What's up, guys?
Getting ready for the PBA golf outing?
We're here to talk about Dan Flood.
Okay.
So you know him?
Yeah, what'd he do?
Now why do you ask that?
Same reason I would say two plus two is four.
Do you know someone named Sara Dolan?
No, I don't think so anyway.
That's not what your pal Flood says.
What are you talking about?
He says you knew her.
Knew her?
Actually he said you raped her, then killed her.
He can say I was the King of England.
That doesn't mean it's true.
Well, if he said so on his deathbed, it does.
He died this morning.
(Green) People don't just offer up lies before they die, man.
That ain't how it works.
I agree.
So Flood was telling the truth?
I didn't say that.
[Green sighs]
You have no idea why he'd say
that you raped and killed this little kid?
None. On my mother.
(Green) He was pretty vivid in his description.
He said that you raped her,
and then you smashed her head in.
And then he tried to stop you,
but you were all whacked out on crack?
What else did he say, that I killed John Lennon?
Don't get smart.
Now Flood's dead, that puts you in the driver's seat.
So whatever you say went down, that's what went down.
Now, if Flood was the one
that killed and raped this little girl,
and you were just along for the ride,
maybe we can work something out.
Am I under arrest?
No.
Call me when you have more,
and I'll consider re-opening the grand jury.
But keep this quiet.
We don't need the press calling us stupid just yet.
At least until we know we really are stupid.
Or right.
(Green) So the father was the only real suspect.
(Fontana) To me.
What did your partner Salone think?
He liked him better than I did.
Talked about it until the day he died.
So why couldn't y'all make a case?
Like I said. We had no probable cause.
Well, what did you have?
A lot of little things. Like what?
The father finds her in the maid's room.
But rather than call the police,
he cleans the body,
and he carries her into another room
where he lays her on the floor.
Not a couch, not a rug,
the floor.
What kind of a father lays his dead daughter on the cold floor?
So did you think he was trying to contaminate the crime scene?
Not at first.
But when a fancy defense lawyer shows up ten minutes later,
I started doing the math.
That's how rich guys think.
Soon as something goes wrong, they immediately call a lawyer.
Not when you're innocent. Not when it's your own daughter.
You gotta see this.
When I stepped into the house, I sensed something was wrong.
I don't know why, but I just did.
I ran down the hall, calling her name,
opening door after door.
Then I went into the maid's room.
Turned on the light.
There she was.
My daughter.
On the floor.
So...
My daughter, her, she.
He never once said the name Sara.
Well, maybe he just couldn't bring himself to say it.
Or maybe he'd just killed her.
Dan Flood's on the interview list.
The only thing that I can think of...
Dolan had his Brownstone renovated
two months before the murder.
We talked to all the construction guys.
Electricians, plumbers...
You're telling me that there's a chance
that Flood actually worked in Dolan's house?
Possible.
You remember a kid name of Danny Flood?
Worked for you, maybe, ten years ago?
I don't remember what I had for breakfast.
Stevie, you, uh, you know a kid named Flood?
Uh, Danny Flood?
Yeah, that's him.
Yeah, worked for us, like, three months.
What happened? I fired him.
Clipping a sawbuck off a client's coffee table.
You remember the client?
Yeah, a Rob Dolan.
That rich stockbroker guy who killed his daughter?
The model?
You're sure about that?
You're absolutely sure about that?
Yeah, what I remember most, though? The wife.
Beyond hot. I mean...
Ridiculous.
She was good looking. No doubt.
Yeah, allergic to bras too.
She walked around in these tank tops all day...
All right. Thanks, gents.
(Steve) Yeah, sure.
So maybe Flood took more than $10 off that coffee table.
Like a key?
Well that would explain why there was no forced entry.
I don't know. Maybe, maybe.
Joe, the dude admits to a murder,
like, 20 seconds before he dies.
He worked at the victim's house.
Not to mention he's got a rap sheet
from here to Coney Island.
I mean... So what're you saying?
I'm just saying that you seem
to be rooting against the facts.
I mean, if you wanna get somebody else on this case--
Now, look, I've been wrong before, believe me.
So you're good? We can carry on?
I have to do it. I don't really have a choice.
I have to know.
This ain't exactly 67th and Madison.
Mr. Dolan? Yes.
I'm Detective Green. This is my--
Detective Fontana. I know.
(Green) Well, we came to say that we have
a new lead in Sara's case.
A new lead?
What does that mean?
We're investigating a man
who we think may have been involved in her murder.
That's good timing.
It's only been, what, a decade?
(woman) Rob?
Everything okay?
(Dolan) Everything's fine, sweetie. Really.
We just had some information
that we wanted to share with you.
Credible information about Sara's case.
As a courtesy.
A courtesy.
Is that a joke?
I had to get a court order to bury my own damn daughter.
A courtesy.
Here. Here's my courtesy.
So how did Dolan take the news?
Not bad.
Be straight with me, guys.
Can we make a case out of this, or not?
Well, I think so. Fontana?
Definitely.
Okay, then. Keep at it.
Why don't you talk to Zona's prison buddies?
See if they know anything.
We lived in the same cell together,
but that don't mean we're friends.
What was the problem?
I don't like punks who beat up girls.
We're not too crazy about them either.
Listen, did Zona ever talk about his past?
You know, brag about any murders or anything?
No, he knew better than to play bad ass with me.
I'd have kicked his head in.
Did he get roughed up a lot?
Yeah, 'til he found some black dude to look after him.
To look after him?
Exactly. Became homeboy's personal Maytag,
if you know what I mean.
We get the point.
You remember homeboy's name?
Did Johnny Zona ever mention the name Sara Dolan to you?
No.
Did he say he ever killed anyone?
Uh-uh.
(Green) You sure about that?
Positive.
Look, Kenny, you're not gonna get out of here
until the day that you die.
There's no way around that.
So, I'm proposing that you make the best out of this situation.
What are you suggest, that I hire a feng shui master?
No, I'm suggesting that you work with us,
and we can hook you up with some extra privileges.
A better job. Some more visitations.
(Fontana) Assuming that you can remember
something that your boy Johnny said about a murder.
I want a private cell.
And a TV.
We'll talk to the warden.
[clears throat]
He was in a bad mood one day. Real depressed.
So we started talking, and he told me
that he murdered a little rich girl.
(Fontana) Did he mention her name? Where it happened?
When it happened? Who he was with?
No, he just said that he messed up real bad a long time ago,
and he was using, and that he strangled a young girl.
Strangled?
That's what he said.
It says right here the cause of death
was blunt force trauma, not strangulation.
M.E.s don't make mistakes?
You're asking me to exhume the body.
I am.
Will the parents consent?
Not a chance in hell.
(Borgia) Section 4210 of the Health Code provides
that the District Attorney can exhume a body
in the course of a criminal investigation, if necessary.
An autopsy was conducted ten years ago, right? Yes.
But we have a witness who claims that Mr. Zona,
the primary suspect,
confessed to strangling a young girl.
This is absurd, Your Honor.
There is no substantive evidence here.
We're talking about a vague statement
of a man serving a life sentence for multiple murders.
To dig up Sara's corpse in furtherance of a whim
is unconscionable.
The District Attorney has broad latitude
in determining when disinterment is necessary
to ascertain cause of death.
There has to be a substantial reason,
or a compelling public necessity.
Sounds like a pretty substantial reason to me, Mr. Goidell.
So you're just going to let the police
ruin my clients' lives all over again?
I understand the obvious pain this will cause,
but I don't have a choice-- Was your daughter murdered, Your Honor?
Excuse me?
I'm just trying to clarify what you said about
understanding my pain.
How the hell can you understand what my family's endured
unless you've been falsely accused
of raping and killing your daughter?
I apologize. Poor word choice.
Nonetheless, my order stands. The body may be exhumed.
[bangs gavel]
I reviewed the original autopsy report,
[sighs] photos, and tissue slides.
There was so much edema and hemorrhage in the brain,
he probably didn't even consider strangulation.
Especially since there was barely any external bruising
and the hyoid bone was intact.
And you're sure that she was strangled
even though there were no marks?
Positive.
The petichial hemorrhaging in the brain,
plus that brown bruise equals strangulation.
It is good news, we just need more.
McCoy wants a slam dunk.
And I want a beach house in Southampton.
Yeah, and I wanna keep my damn job.
If this case falls apart at trial,
somebody's gonna pay.
And it ain't gonna be me. I promise.
Okay, we'll keep nosing around.
Talk to Zona's family.
If he talked to a prison buddy,
he probably talked to his mama.
Just follow the facts.
And what does that mean?
Look, I think I know what you're going through.
All I'm saying is just follow the facts.
Johnny lost his way
a few years after his father died.
Took it real tough.
Well, it's not easy when you lose a parent
at such a young age.
Yeah, but you can't go on bitching about it
for the rest of your life either.
Truth is, things would've been much better
if my, uh, my oldest son Nick would've found his father.
He's much smarter. He's tougher.
When was the last time you saw Johnny?
Years ago. Before he went to prison.
Did he ever mention a girl named Sara Dolan?
No.
Look, I apologize if Johnny's done something wrong,
but it's not my fault.
He's his own man.
And where can we find Nick, Johnny's brother?
In Brooklyn.
Runs a sandwich shop called Café Zona.
You Nick?
Who's asking?
Johnny?
What did he do?
Killed a 12-year-old girl.
What? Sara Dolan. Do you remember her?
What, you think Johnny--
We have his fingerprints and DNA, he did it.
So why are you talking to me? [cell phone rings]
We're just doing our job. Double checking a few things.
Hello? Yeah, hold on.
It's the Lieutenant. I'll be right back.
What kind of food you sell here?
Italian mostly.
But clean, you know? No heavy sauces.
Sort of Italian/Californian.
Californian? Very fancy.
Yeah, and I've never been west of Jersey City.
So how you doing? How's business?
Uh, not too bad, considering we can't sell booze.
That's where the action is.
My cousin Louie has a joint back in Chicago,
he told me that 68% of his business is liquor.
So you see what I'm saying. Absolutely.
So Johnny never mentioned this Sara Dolan thing, huh?
No. We're not that close.
You're his brother, his blood.
If you could see what he did to that kid--
rape, sodomy...
Listen, Detective, I'm a businessman.
This, uh, boy scout, do the right thing crap
doesn't really play for me.
It doesn't work for me either.
So what do you say we start all over again?
Zona's brother is willing to testify that he confessed
to killing Sara Dolan?
(Fontana) Yes, he is.
And you believe him?
Yes, I do. He seems like a decent guy.
Record?
He did two months for an assault charge
nine years ago.
Assault?
I thought he was a decent guy.
He beat up some two-bit dealers
who were trying to hustle him for his brother's debts.
And our other credible witness
is serving a life sentence in Greenhaven?
It's not a slam dunk, but it's solid.
Arrest him.
A ten-year-old case, no eyewitnesses,
and no physical evidence.
Other than that, it's a great case.
It had better be, because this office
can't afford to look dumb twice.
I know.
The press is gonna crucify us regardless of what we do.
Price of doing business when you make a mistake.
The problem is, Jack, I didn't make the mistake.
What's your point?
I don't like picking up the tab
unless I've had a few bourbons myself.
I know it's an election year.
I'm not gonna take the fall for a ten-year-old debacle.
So if you indict this punk Zona, make sure you could win.
I'll do my best.
Not the right answer.
I understand the delicacy of your situation, Arthur,
but I have an obligation with regard to Sara Dolan.
Noble sentiments, Jack,
but I don't think you're listening to me.
I'll win the case!
See, that wasn't so hard.
(reporter) Is it true that the Dolan family asked you
to refrain from prosecuting this case?
(Branch) I'm not going to discuss the contents
of any private conversation.
As for prosecuting the case,
I have an obligation with regard to Sara Dolan.
To do everything that I can to make sure the monster
that killed this beautiful little girl
spends the rest of his life in prison.
Do you think your decision to prosecute
had anything to do with Mrs. Dolan's death?
I was not aware she had passed away.
She died, early this morning.
I'm sorry to hear that.
(reporter) It's pretty ironic that she died
the day after you indicted Johnny Zona, don't you think?
I'm not gonna comment on that.
Did you apologize to Rob Dolan for ruining his life?
[clears throat] Thank you all for coming.
Motion to suppress Zona's jailhouse confession.
Based on what?
The fact that Kenny Mohammed is a Muslim cleric.
You're kidding.
That's what they're claiming anyway.
Is it credible?
It's not preposterous.
I'll cancel my date.
You sure?
He's kind of annoying anyway.
(Heller) He is an ordained cleric.
From an Internet ministry.
Send us $85 and you too can be a priest,
a cleric, or a reverend.
Mr. Mohammed is serving a life sentence.
Attending Yale Divinity School was not an option.
Keep moving, Mr. Heller.
The applicable legal test distills to a simple inquiry.
Was the relevant communication made in confidence
and for the purpose of spiritual guidance?
People v. Carmona.
Let's call this what it is.
A prison girlfriend telling a prison boyfriend
about a past crime.
I'm fairly certain, Your Honor,
that's not what the courts had in mind
when carving out this particular privilege.
Mr. Zona confided in Mr. Mohammed
in an attempt to elicit guidance and absolution.
Their relationship was based on protection
and homosexual sex.
What facts do you have to support the claim
that the confession was made in a religious
or spiritual context?
Mr. Mohammed's affidavit speaks for itself, Your Honor.
"One day, Johnny came to me looking for advice
"about how to cleanse his soul.
"How to make sense of this terrible thing he'd done.
"So I asked him what he was talking about,
and he said he strangled a little girl."
(McCoy) Sounds like two friends or lovers talking about the past.
It's a long road from a man in a confessional
baring his soul to his priest.
Perhaps, but the definition of "cleric"
has expanded considerably over the years, Mr. McCoy.
Not that much.
I disagree. Motion granted.
You can't be serious.
I beg your pardon.
So all you have to do is claim
that a potentially incriminating witness
is a spiritual advisor and he can't testify?
Whether or not he knows the Koran from the Yellow Pages?
Is that what your saying?
I'm saying Mohammed's testimony is not coming in.
Just got off the phone with Rob Dolan.
And?
He called me a miserable cow.
Guess that means he won't be sitting in the gallery.
Don't think so.
If there still is a trial.
What do you mean?
Maybe we should think about a plea.
Because we lost a motion?
Because it's not fair
to drag this guy through hell again and lose.
I agree.
Unfortunately,
I can't worry about every father of every victim.
The man was wrongfully accused of murdering his own daughter.
You don't think we owe him a little something?
Of course we do, but pleading out the killer ain't it.
Neither is a not guilty verdict.
When did you talk to Arthur?
An hour ago.
He told you to take a plea?
He told me to talk to you.
Re-evaluate the evidence,
and do what's best for the office.
The office, or Arthur?
I don't wanna get involved.
You already are.
So you might as well tell me what you really think.
I just did.
As long as Zona does time and admits to murdering Sara,
I couldn't care less what he's charged with.
I'm not taking a plea, Arthur.
You can take me off the case if you want to.
But I'm not cutting a deal with this guy
for anything short of murder two.
Fine, go to trial, but--
I know.
We were at my cousin's funeral,
and Johnny was a little drunk.
And he pulled me aside
and said he wanted to talk about something.
So we went outside, and we had a smoke.
And, um, he told me all about this Sara Dolan thing.
What did he say?
He said that he and some friend were all screwed up on drugs.
And, uh, killed her.
Did he say who killed her?
No. No, he just said they.
Did he mention the rape?
No.
Why did you wait ten years to talk to the police?
[scoffs] He's my brother.
He still is.
Yeah, I know, I just, um--
Look, the police already had all this evidence against him,
so I figured it was time to come clean.
(McCoy) But why now?
I'm tired of living with the guilt?
Is that a question or an answer?
Look, I'm not sure what the hell you guys want me to say here.
We want you to tell the truth.
What, you mean about the liquor license thing?
Yeah, about the liquor license thing.
Okay.
That cop, uh, Fontana,
told me if I came clean about Johnny,
he'd get me a liquor license.
What the hell do you think you're doing, Detective?
'Scuse me?
You promised Nick Zona a liquor license?
And you didn't tell me about it?
First of all, watch your tone.
It's a little over-the-top for my liking.
And as far as Nick Zona is concerned,
I promised him nothing.
That's not what he thinks.
I don't control what he thinks.
What did you tell him?
I told him that if he told the truth,
that I would help him out down the line.
I also specifically said,
"I can't make promises."
You know I'm required to notify the defense
with respect to any promises or inducements.
Hey, if I say it's not a promise,
how the hell is it a promise?
Was Detective Green present?
He was on the phone.
Congratulations, Detective.
You just destroyed the credibility of our key witness!
Hey, don't lay this crap off on me.
I did my job. And I did it well.
If you blow this case over some self-imagined,
half-assed favor, that's your problem, pal, not mine.
If I disclose Fontana's arrangement,
our key witness goes from being a moralistic brother
to opportunistic hustler in search of a liquor license.
Then keep your mouth shut,
and put your witness on the stand.
Arthur-- If Fontana said he didn't make a promise,
he didn't make a promise.
Is there anything else?
No.
Did your brother ever mention a girl named Sara Dolan to you?
Yes.
What did he say?
He told me that he killed her.
(McCoy) Could you be more specific?
Yeah, it was after my cousin's funeral.
And, uh, we were at dinner.
He said he wanted to talk about something.
So we went into this empty room.
And he told me he strangled a girl named Sara Dolan.
May we have a quick recess, Your Honor?
The other day, it was you and Johnny at the funeral
outside, smoking cigarettes,
and he said, "We killed Sara Dolan."
Today, it's after the funeral, at dinner, and he said
"I strangled Sara Dolan."
I got confused.
Because you're lying. Lying?
Did your brother confess to killing Sara Dolan or not?
You think I'd be here selling him out if he didn't?
I know why you're here, Mr. Zona.
So spare me the self-righteous rhetoric.
It was ten years ago, all right?
I don't remember if it happened at the funeral,
after the funeral, if we were smoking, drinking,
doing the hula.
But this much I know.
He told me he killed someone.
Someone, or Sara Dolan?
Someone, okay? Someone.
He never said the name Sara Dolan?
No.
I'd like to notify the court and defense counsel
of statements made by prosecution witness Nick Zona
in response to certain questions
regarding his testimony this afternoon.
Nick is a bigger liar than I thought.
Mr. Heller can obviously use this information
for impeachment purposes.
I understand.
Sure you don't wanna dismiss this case
before it gets even more embarrassing?
You can impeach him all you want, Mr. Heller.
He still took the stand
and called his brother a murderer.
What the hell happened in there today?
Your witness lied on the stand.
Why, because he said after the funeral
and not at the funeral?
You gotta be kidding me.
Did he ever tell the truth, Detective?
Or did he just say what he thought you wanted to hear?
Or what you told him to say.
You calling me a liar, Mr. McCoy?
If it's bad news, keep walking.
Johnny Zona's mug shot from ten years ago.
Early 20s, acne, ponytail.
So?
So in his first interview after the murder,
Dolan told Fontana's partner
that he saw a strange guy near his brownstone, about 20--
bad acne and a ponytail.
But since Zona wasn't a suspect, it didn't mean a damn thing.
It still doesn't unless Dolan
can pick him out of a photo array.
You don't think he can?
I don't think he'll even try.
You looking for some homeowners insurance, Mr. McCoy?
I'm looking for some help.
You came to the wrong agency, pal.
No help for sale here.
I'd like you to look at a photo array.
Why?
To identify the man you saw outside your home
the day Sara was killed.
If you could pick him out--
I told you I'm not getting involved in this.
All you'd have to do-- I said,
I'm not getting involved.
I can subpoena you, force you to make an ID on the stand.
And if I don't, what are you gonna do?
Arrest me? Send me to jail?
Ruin my life?
If I were you, Mr. Dolan, I'd hate the police too.
The D.A.'s office, the press, me.
But I'd hate the man who killed my daughter too.
If your wife were alive,
do you think she'd allow you to keep your mouth shut,
and help the monster
who killed your daughter walk free?
Get the hell out.
Why would we even consider a plea?
Because your client is guilty.
Just for kicks, what are we talking about?
Man two, 5 to 15.
Not even in the right zip code, Jack.
Mr. Dolan told Detective Salone
that he saw a young man with acne,
and a ponytail near his home
moments after the murder.
Johnny wasn't the only guy in the city with long hair
and pimples ten years ago.
But he was the only one on 67th street that day.
According to the father
who hasn't even looked at a photo array
which means you asked, and he told you to go to hell.
I can subpoena him.
Come on, Jack.
Fathers do strange things on the stand
when staring at the man who murdered their daughter.
A ten-year-old ID from a guy with a self-serving agenda.
It means nothing. Maybe.
On the other hand, maybe the jury will eat it up.
Accessory, two to six.
Three to nine, if I like what I hear.
He can't use this at trial,
so just tell the truth.
[sighs]
First off, Mr. McCoy, you need to know,
I was a lot different back then.
Using drugs.
I had lots of anger.
What happened, Mr. Zona?
Danny told me about some fancy house we could break into.
Said it would be the easiest score ever.
He even had a key.
So we go inside,
and there's a girl on the couch reading.
She got all scared.
But Danny, he's crazy on coke and meth.
And before you know what, he's having sex with her.
She starts screaming.
He punches her, slams her into a wall.
And I'm--I'm freaking out.
I mean, all I wanted was to steal some cash and get high.
What then?
The girl was in lots of pain, almost unconscious.
So I go over to see how she's doing.
She's looking at me with these eyes,
these...big sad eyes.
And I choked her.
I don't know why,
but I did.
We need to talk. Now.
Dolan just picked Zona out of an array.
What?
He called me about an hour ago.
He said he wanted to look at pictures.
He told me to meet him at some café on 20th street.
Where is he?
Conference room.
I come all the way down here,
pick out the son of a bitch who killed Sara,
and now you don't want me to testify.
Is that what you're saying?
I'm simply informing you that the defendant
is willing to plead guilty to accessory.
How many years?
Three to nine.
Three to nine, for killing my daughter!
I know it's not perfect,
but at least people will finally know the truth
about what happened.
That means nothing to me.
Maybe not today, but down the road--
Down the road?
I stopped driving ten years ago, Mr. McCoy.
There's no road to drive down anymore.
I'd prefer to put Mr. Zona in prison
for the rest of his damn life.
But I'm not sure I can win, even with your cooperation.
Which means-- He walks...
and my so-called...friends
continue to assume I raped and murdered my daughter.
Trust me, I get it.
I owe it to Sara and Amy to at least try.
(McCoy) Is this the man you saw near your home
on East 67th Street,
June 8, 1995, the day your daughter was killed?
Yes.
Is the same man here today?
Yes, the man in the blue shirt.
Mr. Dolan,
were you a suspect in Sara's murder?
Yes.
Did you kill her?
Of course not.
I loved Sara more than anything in the world.
More than I could ever describe.
I'd never do anything to hurt her.
Never.
When that man strangled Sara,
he murdered my daughter, my wife, and me.
I may still be breathing,
but I've been dead for ten years,
three weeks, and four days.
Thank you. Nothing further.
Are you sure this is the man
you saw on 67th Street ten years ago?
Yes.
Really? After more than ten years?
Wow.
You must have a hell of a memory.
Do you remember seeing anyone else on 67th Street that day?
I'm sure I did, but I don't remember.
Hmm. Of course not.
It was ten years ago.
How long did you make eye contact
with the man with acne and a ponytail?
I don't know. A few seconds.
A few seconds? Yes.
A few seconds.
So what you're saying is, you really have no idea
if the man you saw was Johnny Zona.
Some things,
some faces, you never forget.
You hired a lawyer within hours
of your daughter's murder, correct?
Yes.
And you refused to talk to the police.
Objection. (judge) Overruled.
Answer the question.
Yes.
You and your wife went on a vacation to Acapulco
seven days after the murder.
It wasn't a vacation.
We were just trying to get away from the press, the pain--
You mean the police.
You were trying to impede the investigation
since you were the prime suspect.
I was, but that's not my fault.
Really? Whose is it?
The lying, press-hungry, detectives
in charge of the investigation.
And based on their investigation,
their intensive, exhaustive, investigation,
they determined that you were the primary suspect.
Not Mr. Zona, you.
Which means they believed you,
not Mr. Zona, murdered your daughter.
Objection! (judge) Sustained.
(Heller) Be honest, Mr. Dolan.
The only reason you're here today
is so that you can blame someone else for the vicious
rape and murder that you committed.
(McCoy) Objection!
Withdrawn.
Nothing further.
Yeah. Already?
Okay, thanks.
Hey, man, the jury just hooked Zona.
Murder two.
Oh, that's great.
What's wrong?
Nothing, I'm fine. Oh, come on, bro.
You didn't have a deathbed confession ten years ago.
I mean, sometimes you just catch a break.
You know what, you're right. You're exactly right.
Well, I'm gonna get out of here. I'll see you tomorrow.
Thank you.
I wanted to say that I'm...
I'm really sorry.
[door closes]
Captioning by Peter at CaptionMax www.captionmax.com