(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.
Honey?
Oh, my God.
Philip?
[gasps]
[sobbing]
[glass breaking]
[screaming]
Help me! Help!
D.O.A.'s Philip Messick, 55.
Guy put up a good fight.
Who called it in? Upstairs neighbor.
Heard the wife screaming.
How is the wife? Stabbed multiple times.
Circling the drain at Roosevelt ICU.
They tossed the place pretty good.
Hey, did the neighbor hear anything past the screaming?
Yeah, a car screech away.
Robbery gone bad.
Our DOA kept some interesting company.
The guy he's with in this picture is Jack Vitale,
a made member of the Gambinos.
So we're looking for somebody stupid enough
to rip off a mob associate.
Or cover up a mob hit.
She was in acute hemorrhagic shock
when they wheeled her in.
Thought for sure we'd be calling it.
Did she say anything at all?
Not to me, but my concern was getting her on the table.
She was down a liter of blood
with eight deep, penetrating wounds.
But it was her lucky day.
Deep cuts missed the majors.
Well, whoever did this thought they were tying up
all the loose ends.
Well, they didn't. She's conscious.
Stabilized faster than I thought she would.
That's why I called.
Well, thank you, Doctor. We appreciate it.
Just take it easy. Room's getting crowded.
Who's in there? One of yours.
Got here 20 minutes ago.
Hey, fellas.
Bob Cerullo, friend of the family.
How you doing, man? You on the job?
Retired out of the Seven-Four.
Listen, if she's able,
we'd like to ask her a few questions.
So if you can give us some time.
Can he stay?
Okay. That's fine.
Mrs. Messick...
Do you know the men who did this to you?
No.
Did you get a good look at them?
White. 20s.
Did you get a good look at a face?
One of them... pretty good.
Would you recognize him if you saw him again?
Do you think that your husband may have known the men?
No.
Phil was everybody's friend.
They were married 15 years.
You know, maybe she's not up to this yet.
We have just one more question,
then we'll be on our way.
Does the name John Vitale mean anything to you?
They grew up together.
You mean her husband and John Vitale?
In Bensonhurst.
[groans] Johnny wouldn't do this.
Thank you, Mrs. Messick. We'll be in touch.
You looking at wiseguys for this?
No, we're just asking the question.
Phil Messick wasn't hooked up.
Then why do you suppose he's hanging around
with connected guys?
Like I said, he grew up with guys
who went in that direction.
Other guys went straight, like myself.
You two go way back?
Grade school.
And if you went down his block or mine,
at one house, everybody went to the police academy,
at the next, they're all criminals.
My life story.
What did Messick go into?
Accounting, C.P.A.
He was a square, a good guy.
A decent guy.
List of stolen goods from the insurance company,
household electronics: stereo, computer, flat panel TV.
Anything past theft for motive?
We're looking into some of his friends,
business associates.
He knew some very interesting people.
He was an accountant for Kenny Genovese
and John Vitale.
Gambino family, mid-level workers.
You thinking a possible hit?
With robbery as a cover-up, it's worth considering.
Or on the other hand,
Messick grew up with these dudes in Bensonhurst,
and he could have just been their accountant.
Did he live like a gangster?
He lived decent, not outrageous.
I mean, he's been married for 15 years,
and most mobsters don't leave witnesses behind.
Yeah, a witness they thought they killed.
Listen, go to Messick's funeral.
See who his friends were.
And take Ostrover from Organized Crime.
Ray Antonelli. He's with the Gambinos.
Used to handle some loan-sharking.
But he's out of the game to a large extent.
Pauly Wilson, does collections up in the Bronx
under guise of running a drycleaners.
It's quite a send-off for an accountant.
Messick and the Gambino crew seem to be pals.
Did you ever hear of him burning anybody,
anything like that?
(Ostrover) Nah, we were surprised by the murder.
There was no warning.
The guy in the pinstripes, on the top of the stairs...
He worked O.C. for two years.
(Green) That's Bob Cerullo.
He said he was a friend of the family.
How friendly do you think he was with the Gambinos?
He grew up with a lot of guys that got made,
gave him an inside edge when we were tracking dirt.
(Fontana) Hey, do you have any Gambino associates on the arm?
We're looking for an interaction between Messick
and the Gambino family.
Greg Muggio.
He just got nailed for running a Ponzi scheme,
cost 1,000 retirees their life savings.
Where's he locked up?
He's out on bail awaiting trial.
But he's inclined to be chatty.
Anything to reduce the time he knows he's gonna do.
I'm in the rag trade, legit.
When Messick did my returns, the IRS audits stopped.
Guy was a genius.
A genius at what, cleaning dirty money?
Messick was on the up and up.
That's why me and the guys went to him.
And he didn't make any mistakes
that would lead to him getting carved up?
Messick didn't screw up.
He didn't take anybody's money.
He didn't bang the wrong girl.
Didn't rat anybody out.
His murder was a tragedy.
Whoever did it,
you cops better hope you get to them first.
Hey, hey, don't take off your coats.
Messick's stolen property showed up
at a pawn shop on Rivington,
and they found a clean set of bloody prints
that came back to a Darrell Dennehy.
He's got a long sheet, but it's mostly burglaries
and trespassing-- there's nothing violent.
He stepped up his game.
You have an address?
Bogus, but his P.O.'s waiting to see you.
All right.
Dennehy's been been regular to his report day
the last two weeks,
failed his drug screen both times.
No record of employment or proof of applying for same.
Hey, when's his next visit?
Uh...four hours?
My guess, he'll show.
He knows he has to pass his drug test.
Three failures means a bus back upstate.
[phone rings]
[coughs]
Darrell Dennehy, come here.
What, what? Come here!
What did I do? Legs!
We'll talk about it at the station.
Guys, if this is about the drug test,
you know, I got another shot.
You think we came here because you failed a piss test?
Where were you Thursday night
at 7:00?
Ow!
Did you hear him?
Or was that question too tough for you?
I don't remember where I was this morning,
let alone Thursday.
Were you on the Upper West Side?
I can't remember that.
Do you know a man named Philip Messick,
or his wife Valerie?
Can't say that I do, no.
Interesting, so how did your bloody fingerprint
end up on their stereo receiver?
In Messick's blood, no less.
Now, how the hell would a thing like that happen?
I picked that stereo up off the street.
[both laugh]
That's a good answer, so maybe you can explain to us
how your shoeprint ended up all over their brownstone?
Was that your evil twin?
You don't have the sheet of a killer,
and you don't have that killer look in your eye.
And we know that there were two of you in that brownstone.
And since we got to you first,
we gonna give you first crack at a deal.
And don't tell us any lies, because that lady
that you slashed eight times survived.
I didn't touch her. And I didn't touch the guy.
I was just there to help carry the heavy stuff.
It was just a robbery. TVs, stereos, and drive the van.
Okay, so what happened?
We started going through the house,
and this guy comes out of the bathroom.
And, uh, Jay, he goes nuts.
He goes off on him.
Jay?
Fleckner. That's the guy who brought me in on this.
But a robbery-- it was just a robbery.
How much cash?
Five grand.
And now he's out there spending it without you.
That's a damn shame.
Where do we find Jay?
[hair dryer running]
[hair dryer stops]
Cheap piece of garbage.
(Fontana) Blink, I'll put your brains on the bed.
(Green) Put your hands up!
Now get up!
There's an awful lot of blood in that water.
Cut myself shaving.
We're gonna give you plenty of time
to work on that story.
I got nothing to say. I want a lawyer.
(Fontana) Get him the hell out of here.
(Green) Take your time, Mrs. Messick.
(Fontana) Do you recognize any of these men
as the man who attacked you
in your apartment that night?
(Green) Do you need to sit down, ma'am?
(Valerie) Number two.
He's the man who cut me.
(Fontana) Okay.
Jay Fleckner was remanded.
His lawyer says he's not interested in a deal.
He forget Valerie Messick I.D.'d him?
Or the sink full of Messick's bloody cash
in his hotel room?
The lawyer says Fleckner's very volatile.
He doesn't care. He wants to take his chances.
How we doing with his accomplice, Darrell Dennehy?
As far testifying,
he's questionable credibility-wise.
Still, he was there in the house with Fleckner,
and hopefully he's been around the block enough
[cell phone rings] to know when to deal.
It's Lieutenant Van Buren.
The bloody money in Fleckner's hotel room
showed trace marks our lab techs couldn't identify.
So they passed the bills over to Treasury for analysis.
What did they find?
Well, the bills have been serialized,
watermarked, and floated by the Feds
to track a money laundering stream.
Well, how did the cash wind up at Messick's apartment?
The feds said it was first used to buy ecstasy
from a drug dealer who had ties to the Gambino organization.
But more than likely it wound up with Messick for laundering.
Can we prove that?
Well, it's a good guess right now,
but either way, the money ties Jay Fleckner to the victims.
The problem is, the Feds won't return it.
That money plays into an investigation.
What kind?
One I'm not at liberty to discuss.
Then let's talk about our investigation.
That money is key physical evidence
tying Jay Fleckner to a heinous crime,
and we need to produce it in court.
I'm sure you've got more than our money to make your case.
(Borgia) Your money?
We recovered it during our investigation.
There might be some movement on the case in the next year.
We can talk then.
You could potentially be helping a man get away with murder.
This cash has been filtering through drug rings,
sex slave operations, and laundering outfits.
Shutting those down could prevent 20 murders.
I won't jeopardize that.
(Judge Grayson) The prosecution found the bills on your client.
Prosecution alleges that the bills
were found on my client and that blood traces on them
belong to the victim.
I've read the memo, Mr. Wellman.
It doesn't sound like trace blood.
The money was described as in a bloody bath when it was found.
Our experts need the opportunity
to challenge the findings.
Mr. McCoy, where is the actual evidence itself?
It's in federal hands.
We've written letters to the U.S. Attorney
and the chief judge to mandate its return.
Any time frame as to when that might happen?
A year? 10?
We haven't had any response yet, Your Honor.
When they're good and ready.
That's the response you can expect.
Which doesn't serve the defendant's right
to a speedy trial.
Unless you can provide access
to at least one bill in a timely fashion,
the money's out.
(Borgia) With your confession
and the physical evidence tying you to the crime scene,
if this goes to trial, you could expect 25 years.
Or you testify against Jay Fleckner,
and we're prepared to offer 20.
What's not computing, Mr. Dennehy?
I don't think I'm interested in testifying against Jay.
Why?
I think I've said enough already.
It's one thing to say it to the cops,
but on the stand, him lookin' at me...
What is this,
some sort of ham-fisted attempt at negotiation?
I don't want any more to do with puttin' him away.
Fifteen years, that's the basement offer.
Nobody told me Messick was hooked up with the mob!
That's got nothing to do with your testimony.
I'd be testifying, front and center,
in a courtroom filled with Gambino button men.
We'll shield your identity when you testify.
Yeah, what happens when it hits the papers?
You can't stop that.
We're talking about ten years of your life, Mr. Dennehy.
I spent two-thirds of my life locked up.
I can do the time.
But I sure ain't interested in dyin'.
C.O.!
[door buzzer]
Unbelievable.
Valerie Messick came within a sliver of losing her life
at Fleckner's hands.
She'll have the jury's sympathy.
If she holds up physically. What's her condition?
On the mend.
She's got some awful scars on her face and neck.
Still, a one-witness ID...
A witness who is a victim and a grieving widow.
Let's make sure her scars are visible to the jury.
If she's all we've got, let's make it count.
(Valerie) My husband Phil was lying on the floor.
He was covered in blood.
(McCoy) Was he alive?
Barely.
I went to his side.
He pointed past me,
and then...he died.
What was he pointing at?
Two men down the hallway.
I tried to yell for help, but that man saw me
and attacked me.
(McCoy) Can you tell me who you're pointing to?
The defendant, Jay Fleckner.
Can you describe how he attacked you?
He...pounced on me.
He pinned me down.
He had a knife in his hand,
and he began slashing...
at me.
I...
don't remember much else.
I blacked out and woke up in the hospital.
No further questions.
Mrs. Messick...
that's a horrible ordeal you've just described.
But I'm afraid I'm going to have to take you back to it
just a little while longer.
How would you describe your emotional state
when you first entered your house that night?
When you saw your front door ajar?
You were nervous, weren't you?
Yes, I was a little nervous.
(Wellman) Wasn't like your husband
to leave the door open like that?
No, Phil never left the door open.
When you came in,
you saw your husband covered in blood.
What would you say your emotional state was then?
Terrified?
Yes.
Panicked?
Yes.
You came in,
you saw your husband in a pool of blood.
Were you crying at that time the way you are now?
Yes, I was.
(Wellman) Crying.
In a state of grief and panic,
tears filling your eyes,
and yet you were able to get a good look
at the man who wielded the knife against you?
A good enough look that you can say
with absolute certainty that your assailant
was the man you identified?
Yes, I think so.
You think so, or you know so?
There is a significant difference.
I'm as certain as I could have been
under the circumstances.
With your vision hampered by your tears, you mean?
With your husband of 15 years lying brutally murdered
by your side?
Is that what you mean?
Mrs. Messick...
Please.
I will ask you again.
Are you 100% positive
that the suspect you identified
is the man who attacked you?
I'm...
not 100%.
Yes or no, please.
No.
It all just came rushing back.
Phil is on the ground, all the blood on him.
I was as confused up there as I was that night.
But the I.D.--were you certain it was Fleckner
when you saw him in the police station?
My husband was dying on the floor in front of me,
covered in all that blood!
[scoffs]
And then that man was on top of me.
I only got a look at his face for a second.
Did I ruin the case?
You were strong on direct, but...
your I.D. was the only thing that put Fleckner at the scene.
Without that...
In the matter of The People vs. Jay Fleckner,
on the count of Murder in the Second Degree,
how do you find?
We find the defendant...
not guilty.
D.O.A.'s got one to the chest.
Jay Fleckner.
Well, what do you know? There is justice in the world.
The guy who called it in is the one who shot him.
Where is the shooter?
(Kruhulik) My client went to meet Jay Fleckner
with absolutely no intention of doing him any harm.
Then why don't you tell us why he did go meet him?
To discuss intimidation directed toward Valerie Messick
that had gone on during the trial,
and to make sure it wouldn't continue.
What kind of intimidation?
You know what, Ernie?
Let me do this, okay?
You ever work a case where you
damn well knew you had the perp,
but it just wouldn't make... did you?
Of course.
What'd you do about it?
We're not talking about us here, Bob.
We're talking about you.
Did you go visit the guy and tell him to watch his ass?
'Cause if he so much as sniffed in the wrong direction
you'd be there to lock him up?
So he just agreed to meet up with you, no problem?
I told Fleckner that this had to be put to bed,
face to face,
and that the only problem he'd have with me
is if he didn't show.
So what went wrong?
Fleckner.
He started to freak out.
He started saying, "This is a set-up.
This is an ambush."
Like--like he was high or...
maybe just crazy, I don't know.
And who pulled their gun first?
He did.
He put his gun up in my face,
which I talked him into lowering down.
And when he did, I punched him as hard as I could,
and I made to run.
But he chased me, and I fell down the stairs.
And when I was on the ground,
I freed my ankle piece and I told him
to back the hell off.
But he raised up to shoot.
So I fired.
Did Valerie know about you meeting up with Fleckner?
No.
You realize we're gonna have to look into this.
Yeah.
I know.
And you're gonna find it's a good shoot.
I had no idea Bob planned to go meet Fleckner.
And if I had,
it is not something I would have encouraged.
Where'd he get the idea from?
From being a cop, I guess.
And my friend and Phil's friend.
Was there any reason for you to believe
that Fleckner was a threat?
He'd stare at me during the trial.
He mouthed something once.
What about after the trial?
He passed me the hallway and chuckled.
Whispered that he'd see me again.
Did you tell Bob Cerullo what Fleckner was doing?
Bob sat with me half the weekend
because I couldn't stop crying.
And he didn't say anything about contacting Fleckner?
Nothing.
So Bob Cerullo killed Fleckner out of noble revenge
or self-defense?
Arranging a meet with the man
who just got off for murdering your friend?
What did Cerullo expect would happen?
What, cops don't warn perps off the radar all the time?
That's harassment, not a bullet to the chest.
I was trying to piece together
Fleckner's timeline after the verdict.
So I checked his visitor's log at Rikers
for a friend or relative.
Bob Cerullo visited Fleckner during the trial.
Why would he visit Fleckner in jail?
Maybe he was warning him to stop eyeballing
Valerie Messick.
Or threatening his life.
And we have proof of neither.
Except that Jay Fleckner had a gun on him
two days after being exonerated for murder--why?
'Cause he was a psychopath and a career criminal.
Or he thought that a dirty cop was gunning for him.
A decorated cop, Jack.
Whose best friend was a mob associate.
That dirties him in my mind.
Well, if you're gonna have the police do some digging,
you better tell 'em not to stop until they hit gold.
'Cause that's what it's gonna take to get an indictment.
We looked into any possible motive
other than self-defense for Cerullo shooting Fleckner.
We got nothing.
There any phone calls between them
besides the one before Fleckner was killed?
No, just that one.
We dug into the gun that Fleckner had on him
when he was shot.
It only makes Fleckner dirtier.
Ballistics pulled a matching slug
from an apartment wall of an unsolved home invasion
five years ago.
Was Fleckner a suspect?
The victim gave a description
of a perpetrator that he fits generally.
Who worked the case?
Detective Dumar. We looked for him, he's dead.
Any connection between Dumar and Cerullo?
They never worked together. Dumar was in the Bronx.
Cerullo worked in Queens.
Show the home invasion victim a photo array.
Make sure Jay Fleckner's in it.
I don't recognize any of these men.
Did you get a good look at the man who robbed you?
Mmm, generally.
I was experimentally medicated.
Excuse me?
I was smoking marijuana to alleviate my glaucoma.
Would you like some tea?
No, thank you.
That's the wall where the bullet went.
(Green) Now, was he shooting at you?
I think he just got scared, and the gun went off.
Thank God I was tied up.
Tell me, why the questions and the photos?
We're just following up
on a few leads we have on a suspect.
But the man was caught.
No, ma'am, the case is still active.
Well, that's not what Detective Dumar told me.
He said the man confessed.
Someone confessed?
Did he mention a name?
I don't recall.
But he said the man confessed and was going to jail.
Ms. Best, did you ever recover your stolen property?
Detective Dumar said that the money had been spent,
and my ring was sold to someone who had left the country.
How much money did you lose?
$17,000 in cash.
And the ring was worth at least 15.
You should really talk to Detective Dumar about this.
Wayne Dumar... Not my most eager detective.
Died cleaning his gun.
Suicide.
Unofficially, but, yeah.
He was an old-school drunk.
Wasn't a surprise.
Well, would it surprise you to hear
that he ripped off a robbery suspect of 30 Gs?
A few guys here were filling their pockets
when I transferred in.
All of them are gone now.
Do you know if he had any dealings with this guy?
His name is Jay Fleckner.
Never seen the face.
Could he have been an informant of Dumar's?
Dumar didn't care enough about the job
to recruit informants.
He was a bum.
Let me ask you this.
Do you know if he had any connections
to a detective out of the Seven-Four, name of Cerullo?
Cerullo and Dumar were associated.
Cerullo is who found Dumar with his brains blown out.
Is it possible Cerullo killed Dumar?
The police and M.E. reports are spotty.
Everyone involved thought they were covering up a cop suicide.
How dirty was Dumar as a cop?
Four I.A.B. investigations,
all centered around shaking down robbery suspects.
So detective Dumar steals money and a gun
from a robbery suspect,
which then turns up in the cold, dead hand of Jay Fleckner.
Except there's no connection between Wayne Dumar
and Jay Fleckner.
There's only a connection
between Dumar and Cerullo.
So Cerullo killed Jay Fleckner,
planted the gun on him to call it a self-defense.
Let's see what he has to say for himself.
It was self-defense!
Do you plan to try
selling that to the grand jury, Mr. Cerullo?
You're opening a grand jury on me?
They won't indict, Bob.
They'll indict anybody, Ernie!
This is what I get for 25 years service on the force?
That doesn't buy anybody a murder!
I have commendations, a Medal of Valor.
Cop to the homicide, and I'll get you Man One, 20 years.
Don't dignify that.
You know how many cases I've worked in my career?
How many homicides I've cleared?
How many multiple homicides?
We've been over your record.
You're gonna have to go over it again.
Because if I'm indicted,
you may have to revisit every one of them.
What does that mean?
If I'm on the stand, Mr. McCoy,
my conscience may just start to eat at me.
I may just feel the need to purge myself
of evidence I may have planted in those cases.
And suspects I may have flaked.
You'd lie about tainting cases?
I'll come clean, as it were.
And you expect me to drop this case
because of that threat?
40-some cases could go down the toilet--
40 stone-cold killers back on the street--
because you wanna lock me up
for taking care of a rat bastard like Jay Fleckner.
We're moving forward, Mr. Cerullo.
Be prepared.
Justice at any cost. That it, McCoy?
Go after me.
It's gonna cost you plenty.
So how many cases are we talking about?
Cerullo has 41 homicide collars,
and he got a lot of confessions.
Which he can claim he coerced.
Well, is there any indication that there was coercion
or proof that he really did taint cases?
His record on the job is spotless.
And how does a detective phony evidence
on 41 homicide suspects and not draw attention
even once?
That's not possible.
Cerullo is lying to back us into a corner.
And it's gonna cause every defense lawyer
that he ever faced to file a motion for a new trial.
We'll waste hundreds of hours reprosecuting.
Which is unfortunate, but...
unless he did a murder,
why throw up a smoke screen?
He planted the gun on Fleckner
to claim self-defense.
Do you have enough for a conviction?
We'll need more.
Bob has been with me every second of this nightmare.
I don't understand why you think I'd speak ill of him.
What if you thought he had committed a murder?
This gun you're talking about--
sounds like Fleckner could have gotten it
any number of ways.
The only way was from Bob Cerullo,
who planted it.
If you make a statement,
he may be more inclined to make a deal.
That could save him ten years in jail.
Whatever you feel about his intentions, Mrs. Messick,
Bob Cerullo had no right to dole out justice to Jay Fleckner.
You know what?
I don't think I should talk to you anymore.
Understand, it's not you we're looking to incriminate.
I'm sorry, but on the advice of my lawyer,
I'm gonna invoke my right to the Fifth Amendment.
Valerie's husband rubbed elbows with the mob.
She might know things.
Testifying could put her in a vulnerable position.
I don't think it was just self-preservation.
If she knows Cerullo murdered Fleckner...
She's stonewalling to protect him.
Well, either way, history has taught us
we can't rely on her to make a case.
We won't.
We didn't have a reason to search Messick's house before.
We do now.
I'll get a warrant.
Philip Messick was a very smart man.
He kept an insurance policy, a black file
that somebody buried in his backyard flowerbed.
Information on his associates?
Yep, and all the dirt bags he worked with,
including his friend Bob Cerullo.
Now, our forensic accountant is just getting into this,
but so far we know that Cerullo sold guns
and stolen property to the mob.
Messick was the go-between.
This guy kept track of everything--
guns, jewelry, electronics,
prices, dates, who sold what.
Is Cerullo identified by name in here?
Name and badge number.
Right next to another name...
Wayne Dumar.
So Dumar and Cerullo were business partners,
selling stolen property.
Exactly, and you'll notice that Cerullo's income doubled
when Dumar went toes-up.
Well, it doesn't prove he killed him.
Make a convincing argument in court.
What we can establish is that Dumar
was criminally linked to Cerullo.
And Dumar ties to the gun found on Jay Fleckner.
Right, which leads right back to Cerullo.
It's the best evidence we have so far
that he planted the gun.
What's this?
Trying to coax us into a plea?
This book ties Cerullo to the gun found on Fleckner.
No one's gonna believe it's self-defense.
A lot of wiggle room between Dumar and that gun.
Juries aren't stupid.
Really?
We must be working different courtrooms.
No way they hang my guy
for killing that piece of crap.
And my client won't bite on your offer.
[book hits desk]
Now you really wanna talk?
I'm calling your bluff, Mr. Kruhulik.
You don't think he's serious?
All of your cases come undone.
And you'll be suborning perjury.
We both know the charges are bogus.
It'll take a full-scale investigation
to bear that out.
Pending new trials, of course.
In lieu, I'll take my client at his word.
We're prepared to go to trial.
If your client gets on the stand
and lies about his old cases,
prepare to go to jail with him.
Your shaky case just became your major headache.
Was I scared?
Of course.
A guy like Fleckner...
killed Phil Messick,
almost took his wife Valerie too.
And why did you go pay him a visit?
I only went over there to tell him to leave Valerie alone.
A stupid thing to do, now that I think about it.
I just figured I could make an impression,
and that'd be that.
I thank the good Lord I had my gun.
When Fleckner was coming at me,
I'm telling you, I was fighting for my life.
And what did you do then?
I defended myself.
I did not pull my gun until Fleckner pulled his.
Thank you.
Did you know Detective Wayne Dumar?
I did.
In fact, you found Detective Dumar
after his apparent suicide, correct?
It was a bad day. Wayne was a good friend.
So you were aware that he was the focus
of an investigation involving stolen guns?
There was never anything to those accusations
and they never proved that there was.
Your Honor, what's the relevance here?
Get to the point, Mr. McCoy.
People's 19.
This is a ballistics report
that ties the gun found on the victim
to a robbery investigation by Detective Dumar.
There is no link between the gun
and the victim.
There is, however,
a link to your good friend Wayne Dumar.
Mr. McCoy,
in my experience, weapons pass through a lot of hands.
3417.
Does that number mean anything to you?
Yeah, it was my shield number when I was a police officer.
People's 20.
This is an accounting ledger...
found in the Messick house...
which identifies you
by your badge number, 3417,
and by name.
Do you have an explanation as to why Philip Messick
accounted you as selling
illegally obtained property and guns?
Like the gun stolen by Wayne Dumar
and then planted on Fleckner
to corroborate your self-defense story?
I don't know who made up that book,
but what you're describing never happened.
Mr. Cerullo, did you execute a man
to avenge Philip Messick's death,
and then cover it up?
Objection!
Overruled.
The only covering up I see is from you.
You let Fleckner walk,
and now you want me to go down for it.
Or did Fleckner walk,
and you believed that justice had to be done?
Isn't that the truth here, Mr. Cerullo?
I killed him to save my own life.
How can that make any sense...
when all the weapons at the crime scene were yours?
You got it wrong.
Nothing further.
Redirect, Your Honor?
Go ahead.
In your years as a police officer,
did your paths ever cross with Jay Fleckner?
No, but I knew him by reputation.
Which was?
A bad guy.
And how did you come to know this?
I had arrested some of Fleckner's associates.
People Fleckner pulled crimes with.
Yeah.
Did you believe that Fleckner knew of you?
He definitely did.
Why did you believe this?
You see...
I framed one of Fleckner's buddies on a drug murder.
A lowlife named Anton Brady.
Another guy he ran with, Jimmy Mills,
I sent him up on a rape beef.
Objection! Relevance!
(Judge Burns) Overruled.
You...framed these men?
I framed a lot of bad guys in my day.
You see...
I'm being honest now about everything in my past.
I wanna cop to every wrong deed in my career
so you'll know I'm telling the truth--
that Fleckner was out to kill me.
I didn't realize until now,
that's why he didn't even hesitate to pull a gun.
That's why I had to defend myself.
I think I might have something
to leverage Valerie Messick to testify.
I showed a copy of Philip Messick's black file
to Andrew Semel in the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The Feds' money laundering case
leads to an illegal corporate account
in a bank in Panama City.
It's administered by Valerie Messick.
He kept his own wife in the file?
She's hidden 12 different ways,
but their forensic accountant did the math,
and she's tied in.
Are the Feds planning to indict?
Valerie could be facing 20 years,
but they're willing to work with us
on any deal we wanna make her.
Pitch it to her.
Testimony against Cerullo or 20 years in the pen.
My God, how could this be happening?
The Feds are willing to work with us,
but they won't wait forever.
How hard are they willing to work?
How good's the deal?
Five years for the money laundering.
No.
If you want her, immunize her.
I want to hear what she has to say.
(Loftus) She'll talk when she's on the stand.
Full immunity. She doesn't do a day in jail.
If you want Bob,
that's what you've gotta live with.
(McCoy) Mrs. Messick, would you please describe
your relationship with Bob Cerullo?
Good friends.
Can you describe your husband's relationship
with Mr. Cerullo?
My husband and Bob knew each other since they were kids.
Your husband
was a conduit for stolen good and weapons
between suspects in criminal cases
and members of organized crime families, correct?
Objection! Leading.
She's a hostile witness, Your Honor.
You got some room, Mr. McCoy.
You can answer that, Mrs. Messick.
As far as I know, that was the business, yes.
(McCoy) Mr. Cerullo made a great deal of money
from this relationship, didn't he?
Yes, he did.
A money stream that was totally turned off
after your husband was murdered, correct?
As far as I know.
Do you know Mr. Cerullo's motive
for killing Jay Fleckner?
Was it revenge for the killing that turned off his money?
Can you answer that question, Mrs. Messick?
That wasn't his motive.
What was?
He did it because I asked him to kill Jay Fleckner!
You asked him to?
In the hospital, after I was attacked.
What was Mr. Cerullo's response?
He said he'd take care of it.
That he'd kill Fleckner.
(McCoy) In the event Mr. Fleckner
was exonerated at trial, correct?
Yes.
Which...I made sure happened.
What do you mean by that?
I threw my testimony during the trial
so Fleckner could go free so Bob could kill him.
The bastard killed my husband.
He ruined my life. I just wanted him dead.
I'm sorry, Bobby. I'm so sorry.
In the matter of The People vs. Robert Cerullo,
on the count of Murder in the Second Degree,
how do you find?
We find the defendant Robert Cerullo guilty.
Have fun the next five years, McCoy.
It's gonna be miserable.
Valerie Messick won't have to answer
for her role in the murder.
She made good use of that immunity blanket
we handed her.
Without her, we couldn't convict.
A dozen motions for new trials
have been filed off Cerullo's old cases.
Up to our eyeballs in ancient history.
The price of justice.
Captioning by Brian at CaptionMax www.captionmax.com