(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.
(man on TV) Thank you very much.
Welcome, welcome.
Very exciting today. A new world record...
What?
Noise from downstairs.
I don't think he's totally moved out yet.
He comes for his boxes at 10:30 at night?
Maybe.
Or not.
Hey...
I'm just gonna peek in the window.
And that's all?
Nick!
[boxes rustling]
[beeping]
This is detective 720.
I need a 1085 forthwith.
Burglary in progress
at 307 East Fifth Street.
Freeze!
Ah!
No!
[screaming and crying]
Brad! No!
Lieutenant...
Mr. Woodlief lives across the street.
Saw the shooting out his window.
Did you see the shooter?
White kid, young.
Had a hat on, but looked familiar.
From the neighborhood? Maybe.
Well, we're gonna need you down at the station house
looking at mug shots right away.
Okay? Thank you, sir.
Perp was after something, but it obviously wasn't loot.
I mean, there's over $1,000 worth of cameras in here.
Who lived here?
Some dude named Gary Blanchard.
The neighbors thought he moved out two days ago.
I got his information. I'm gonna run it down.
Ah, the press will be all over this.
And you know who's starting in the squad today.
Yeah... Detective Beauty Queen.
Yeah, I talked to her captain.
He was cagey. Not very complimentary.
Well, you know what they say.
The better you are, the more trash they talk.
Detective Nina Cassidy.
Anita Van Buren.
Ed Green.
Hey.
Welcome to the 2-7.
Your transfer coming down as fast as it did,
I don't know much about you.
Except, of course, what I read in the papers.
That's tabloid stuff, Lieu.
I didn't seek any of that out.
And there was a lot that wasn't accurate.
You been to CIC
or taken the homicide investigator's course?
Next month.
You heard of BADS, NITRO, CARS, all that?
I know they're NYPD databases,
but I've never had to use them before.
Well, your assignment, until I tell you different,
is watch and learn.
Yes, ma'am.
I'm gonna go fill in Carvahal's C.O.
See if his wife is up to talking.
I want to be helpful,
but I don't know what to tell you.
He heard a noise, and then...
a minute later, he was shot.
Had you had any problems downstairs in the past?
We never saw or heard the tenant.
We kept opposite hours.
My brother Jimmy was in uniform
with your husband at the 9-7.
He always spoke very highly of Nick.
I saw your photos in the paper.
The shooting at the beauty salon.
You were very brave.
We're gonna find who did this, Mrs. Carvahal.
I promise you that.
Excuse us a minute. Detective.
[police radio chatters]
I said watch and learn.
You just promised to close this case.
I was only offering condolences.
Watch...and learn!
What are you gonna do if the case falls apart?
What are you gonna say to the widow then?
Lesson One. Come on.
I-I can't think
why anybody would want to rob my old place.
Do you think it could have been random?
Thief was after something.
Listen, what is it you do, exactly, Mr. Blanchard?
Snakeboy.net?
Yeah, I take shots at dance clubs
and I post them on my site.
It's subscriber-supported.
Right. Catering to whom?
Well, the kids. I shoot.
They see their photo on my page,
and it's like their 15 minutes of fame!
Yes! You are the beauty queen.
It's Detective Cassady.
No. Shh.
Actually...
Ho, ho, yes.
Detective Beauty Queen.
All right, sit your ass down!
Hey, come on!
We did mention that a police officer was killed, right?
I'm sorry about that. I am. I am.
Stop being a smartass. I'm sorry.
You know, but I thought I was the victim here.
We'll be in touch.
Hey! [camera clicking]
Smile, babe!
You're a star!
[camera clicking]
Hey, Lieu...
Ballistics ran the slugs that killed Detective Carvahal.
They're a match for an open nightclub shooting
that happened last year.
How many suspects? 40?
Yeah, something like that. But one of them stood out.
This guy, Jay Sitrick, he's a bouncer.
They didn't have enough to charge him,
and they never found the gun.
Anything further on Blanchard?
He doesn't have a record.
I take it he wasn't very helpful,
that it wasn't a pleasant interview?
He was a cocky little snot. Why?
It shows.
He emailed the squad contact address.
He was being disrespectful.
And we don't have time for it.
Not with this case.
So handle it better.
Talk to Sitrick.
Nina.
Come on.
Last night I was bouncing at the Beirut.
11th Street, First Ave.
10:00 p. to 4:00 a. Check it out if you want.
Oh, we will, and that doesn't mean you couldn't have
provided the gun for this robbery, Mr. Sitrick.
A gun that never proved was mine
in a shooting I wasn't a part of.
Yeah, but you were the only one interviewed
with gunpowder residue on your hands.
That test was inconclusive.
Guys, look, I understand.
[motor runs] When one of yours gets killed,
you gotta be out there and you have to--
[motor dies]
Sorry. Couldn't hear you.
[sighs]
I had nothing to do with the robbery.
And I had nothing to do with shooting that cop.
You got anything to do with Blanchard?
[scoffs] He's a dirt bag.
A guy did time because of him.
Did time for what?
Him and Blanchard got drunk
at a SoHo-ey art show and they stole a painting.
The D.A. put one deal on the table.
Blanchard flipped first.
The guy who got sent up just got out.
I'd be talking to him.
You know this ex-con's name?
Teddy Gullo.
He threw that painting in the river!
I saw him do it!
Look, we don't think
that you went by his place to kill anybody, Teddy.
I didn't go to his place.
So where were you, 10:30 last night?
Here!
You checked in at 11:15.
I was copping, all right?
Which is a parole violation. Surprise, surprise.
Name of your dealer?
I didn't kill anybody!
So why'd you nearly take Blanchard's head off
at the Bowery Pool Hall?
He owed me some money for a job I did.
He threatened to welch, so I convinced him to pay.
What kind of job?
He's getting into selling stalkerazzi photos
for the tabloids.
Pictures of stars with their hair in curlers,
scratching their ass?
The job was to sit outside Chelsea Palace
and follow Sky Sweet.
The actress?
The Holy Grail being if she came out with her little baby.
Which she did. So I called him.
He tailed her and offered 10% off of any photo sale.
So how come he didn't want to give you the money?
Because she put an injunction against him
selling the photos.
I didn't care. I wanted my 10 grand.
Well...so the photos were worth 100 grand?
Photos doing what?
Something she didn't want in the papers, I guess.
Those photos are confidential.
That's why we got the injunction.
Do you understand that they may have led
to a police officer being killed?
Yeah.
Well, do I need to explain the importance of that to you?
I was taking Sophia for a walk in the park.
She threw her noony.
When I bent down to pick it up, she slipped.
She was fine.
Right. Blanchard caught that on film?
I looked up and there he was, blasting away.
She needs a change. Yes, ma'am.
Am I right?
There have been other photos in the press
concerning your parenting?
Yeah, a scumbag in L.A. got pictures of her
in my car alone five minutes,
while I went for a Frappuccino.
It was, like, 60 degrees, and the windows were cracked.
Right, and we understand that that led to questioning
from Child Services in Los Angeles?
So what?
Ever occur to you
that another public incident
might lead to an interview from Child Services
here in New York? A pointless one, yeah.
That's why I wanted the pictures.
They were out of context.
Was Blanchard willing to sell?
We're negotiating.
How high's the number?
You accusing me of something? Look here...
You and your baby daddy
been running around town like you're Bonnie and Clyde.
Hanging out with hard core rappers.
Now, some of them... are real thugs.
They have real history.
Including robbery.
Blanchard wanted 400 grand,
which is about what I spent this year on sweatpants.
So it was the principle.
Not the money. I didn't need them stolen.
Now, I'm exhausted.
The baby's kept me up all night this week.
Page Six has you partying all over the city this week.
I liked it better when you didn't talk.
Well, since the floodgates are open,
you got an infant in the room.
[whispering] No smoking.
No...no...no.
No, they're not the guy. Not even close.
Mind if I hit the head?
Down the hall.
Nina...
We got nothing on that recanvass.
Ditto for Mr. Woodlief.
Right.
And, um... I know I lost my temper
with Little Miss Superstar.
Mmm, now that seemed justified.
Yeah, but I get it if the boss has to know.
If you knew me a day longer, and you were a dude,
I'd pop you in the mouth for saying that.
If I have a disagreement with you,
I'm gonna say it to your face.
You're not gonna hear about it through the lieutenant.
That's lesson number two.
How many lessons are there, exactly?
There are 740. Exactly.
Excuse me, but this was in the bathroom.
You can leave it there.
No, I think the cover photo
is the man who shot the policeman.
J-Train Smolka?
That's Sky Sweet's husband.
Estranged, till recently.
Yeah.
Are you sure?
Absolutely.
J-Train.
Real name's Justin. They've been married two years.
His hard-partying ways have forced a separation,
but only as far as the guest house
of her Bel-Air mansion.
But if you sniff around online,
there's talk of a reconciliation.
Fabulous.
I was getting a little worried.
[laughs]
I mention it because they were spotted at a restaurant
in the city, so he's in town.
All of which you know from the tabloids.
But, Lieu, J-Train matches the general description
the witness gave at the crime scene.
Young, white male. Right.
But Mr. Woodlief came to this photo on his own.
He--he was sure about it.
And you take the celebrity part out of it,
it's a husband standing up for his wife, right?
All right, what do you know about this J-Train?
He has a reputation as a hothead and street thug.
Does his sheet support that?
The only collar he got was driving 150
in his Bugatti in Miami.
Is there any connection
between him and Blanchard?
Blanchard said he'd gotten emails.
All right.
DCPI said word's out that you talked with Sky Sweet.
So...press is gonna be camped out wherever
this J-Train is.
Cassady...
Do me a favor.
Keep your face out of the press.
[hip-hop music]
* J-Train up in this joint
Yo, cut the track, G.
Got it. [music stops]
Yeah, I wrote Blanchard this email.
So you threatened to "cap his bitch ass."
[chuckles] That's just talk, you know what I'm sayin'?
No.
Not when a police officer's been murdered, no.
I don't know what you're saying.
How's that on me?
Stealing photos from Blanchard
might have bolstered your street cred.
That rep was invented by a publicist.
I'm from Orlando.
Yeah, well, there's all these rumors
about gunplay with you.
Smashing up hotel rooms.
I got no gun.
And trashing that hotel was staged.
I'm trying to sell records.
Well, if everything's staged,
why'd you get an injunction to freeze photos of your wife
dropping your baby?
Because that wasn't staged.
That was some scumbag taking advantage.
But we get it. He's just looking to earn.
Everybody knows it's a game.
It's a game.
So why were you seen
leaving Blanchard's place
last night after the shooting?
[scoffs]
Whoever saw that, I wouldn't trust 'em.
I was working last night.
You better hope you're on the security cameras.
No, I wasn't here.
I was with our girl who runs the fan site
and handles the mail, Beth Swailes.
[chuckles]
And any more for me?
You can talk to our lawyer.
But I'm sorry about your homey, yo!
You might as well turn around.
You've got someone to talk to.
Justin Smolka's cell records
show a bunch of text messages
to a Michael Whalen.
He's got a sheet a mile long.
Junkie dealer-- I know him from my foot patrol
on the Lower East Side.
Yeah, well, it turns out
he was also questioned
at the nightclub shooting last year,
where a murder weapon was used.
He could be the source of the gun.
He could be the shooter.
Beth Swailes backed up Justin's alibi.
I don't know.
A long-time employee as an alibi witness...
She had her story straight.
Well, stick a pin in it.
[police siren]
I'll have uniformed backup
meet you at Whalen's apartment,
just in case.
You're staying here.
Boss, I know this Whalen.
I know his big Rottweiler. We got rapport.
If he's the shooter,
I don't want you going through that door.
I'll hang back.
You'll hang here.
How's that fit in with watch and learn?
Ed, they'll be waiting for you.
Watch out for the dog.
All right.
Lieutenant...
Look, I'm sure you had a hand-picked replacement
for when Detective Fontana retired.
You're absolutely right. First grader.
A lot of years on the job.
And you gotta feel I was shoved down your throat
because of all the press around me.
You know, my only issue with you
is that you're green.
The promotion was a fluke.
Okay? I cop to it.
I was in the wrong salon at the right time.
But I did hold my gun straight, and I'm here now.
You know, it's something that takes a police officer
years to achieve.
Homicide is not about writing summonses
or keeping the peace; it's a skill.
A skill learned from experience.
Which I'm hungry to get. Fast.
Isn't that what you came in with?
Oh, much more.
Five years in the bag. Seven undercover in narcotics.
That's where you got your street chops.
I'm getting mine here.
And until you get those chops,
you're a liability to yourself and your partner.
You don't go through doors.
[pounding on a door]
Whalen!
It's the police!
Hey, listen! [dog barking]
Just let me walk out of here, or I'm gonna sic him on you!
You do that, and I'll blow his brains out.
Now call him off. I didn't do nothin'!
You got two seconds to call him off.
One...two...
Bubba! Bubba, come here.
[dog whimpers]
Clear.
Come out with your hands up, Whalen!
Can I just say good-bye to him, please?
All right, get up.
Get up!
Up against the wall.
Detective!
Gun.
Come on.
Hey, Lieu.
The lab confirmed that it is the gun
that killed Carvahal.
Crime Scene's running prints now.
What do you know about him?
Dad was a drunk. Beat him.
When Mike was 10, he found the old man
hanging from a shower rod.
Then his older sister took care of him.
She died two years ago of ovarian cancer,
and the mom's in a state mental home in Albany.
Well, boss?
Just take it slow.
Listen, Whalen...
I'll put in a call to Mrs. Strasnik
and ask if she can take Bubba
till you can sort this through.
But only if you are completely honest,
and stop acting like a baby.
My mom called.
She said she saw you in the paper,
and that she's real proud of you.
How proud would she be knowing where you're at right now?
Hmm?
How about Lorraine?
[crying] Lorraine is dead.
Would she be proud after spending all that time
teaching you right from wrong?
But I didn't do anything wrong.
Then why is a police officer--
like me, your friend-- murdered,
and the gun that killed him in your apartment?
I don't know. I don't know.
Mike...
All that time I spent with you...
Buying you food when you had nothing to eat.
Peeling you off the sidewalk and getting you home.
You gotta stand up now, Mike.
Do the right thing.
Earn all that kindness.
Or else you and Bubba, you're done.
[sniffles]
His name is Smolka.
He's famous.
Why was it so hard to admit?
Because I was at the robbery.
You were in the apartment?
No, down the block.
Driving getaway.
And you got the gun?
No, he asked me for a gun,
and I had one, so I lent it to him.
Wait, hold up.
How do you know him?
I met him at a club,
and he parties with meth sometimes.
Did you know who you were ripping off?
No, I swear.
He just said that he needed a piece
and a wheel man.
And I needed the $50.
Please don't tell my mom.
[sobbing]
[knock on door]
Crime Scene lifted Smolka's prints
off the murder weapon.
Go get him.
Go.
[hip-hop music]
* My drink is Hennessy on ice *
* I call it Henny Diamond
* Girls that try to keep up end up losing hymen *
All right. Yo. What's up?
[music stops] You're under arrest for the murder of Nick Carvahal.
[laughs] You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law.
[crowd shouting]
Back it up! Back it up!
Out of the way.
Out of the way! I want my lawyer.
You'll get your lawyer.
Hey, yo, it's a frame-up, yo!
Shut your mouth!
Docket number 101672.
People vs. Justin Anthony Smolka.
Charge is murder in the First Degree.
How do you plead, Mr. Smolka?
Absolutely not guilty.
ADA Rubirosa, light a fire under it.
Your Honor, the defendant was burglarizing an apartment.
And in the course of the burglary,
he killed a New York City police officer.
If that doesn't earn remand, I don't know what does.
Except there's no physical evidence
connecting my client to the scene--
There is an eyewitness who puts Smolka at the scene.
There is also an alibi witness
who puts him three miles away.
His prints are on the murder weapon,
he had motive, and his wife has more money than God.
And, if anybody's interested,
Detective Carvahal's widow
gave birth to a healthy baby boy this morning.
Defendant's remanded.
[pounds gavel]
[hip-hop music]
* I'm comin' hard from the prison yard *
* With a untouchable squad
* The way that I roll
Maybe it's generational, Connie,
but this is incomprehensible to me.
It's incomprehensible to anyone without a lobotomy.
But he's famous? You know who he is?
Just from what I've read in the checkout lines.
He's a, uh, failed actor. Failed singer.
They actually met when he was doing a bit part
in one of her films.
She, on the other hand,
makes $7 million a picture.
So they could easily buy the photos of Sky Sweet
dropping her baby.
Why steal them?
The real question is, why keep them from the press?
Those pictures of her leaving her kid in the car,
they made headlines for weeks.
Will the accomplice stand up, Mike Whalen?
A lifetime drug addict with a lot to lose?
I know I'd tear him apart on the stand.
You may need a deal for his testimony regardless.
Now, you've got a decent eyewitness
and Smolka's prints on the gun.
But Smolka's got an alibi
and a Howitzer in his back pocket.
You try any profile cases in C.C.?
Just workaday career criminals.
But no skeletons in my closet. No arrests, no drugs.
Straight "As" since first grade.
Yeah, me too.
I didn't shoot anybody.
I wasn't at that apartment.
And we have a very plausible alternative theory of the crime.
Yeah, Mike Whalen did this.
On his own.
Explain your prints on the murder weapon.
Mr. Whalen showed up
at a recording studio where my client was working
and asked to see him privately.
Yeah, he handed me a gun.
And asked me to hide it for him.
I said no way, gave it back, and told him to go to hell.
Mike Whalen, a drug addict,
approaches a world-famous celebrity
to hold his gun?
[scoffs]
I bought drugs from him in the past.
I used to abuse methamphetamine.
I'm in recovery now,
but he threatened to take that to the press.
Is there anyone who can corroborate
this meeting took place?
No, he called me out to the street.
Alone.
Is there anything about this story that can be proved?
Mike Whalen thought Blanchard
had photos in his apartment worth $5 million.
Photos of what?
Katie Holmes giving silent birth.
Shot from some remote pinhole camera
that Blanchard bribed a nurse
to bring into the delivery room in L.A.
Nonsense. Yeah, exactly.
But two weeks ago, Blanchard got drunk
at this dump called Boardner's...
and bragged he was moving up to the big time.
I heard it. So did Whalen.
I dismissed it like you, but...
[chuckles]
I mean, Mike's not so smart.
Blanchard confirms that the conversation took place,
and that he said he had the photos.
Which he doesn't.
Well, five million's awfully good motive to do burglary.
Especially if you're a broke drug addict.
Feels like a smokescreen.
Well, now it's he said, he said.
And it destroys any deal that you might have made
for Mike Whalen's testimony.
It'll look like that you dismissed
Whalen's direct involvement out of hand,
and that Smolka's prosecution was personal.
So we try Mike Whalen alongside Justin Smolka.
No whiff
of preferential treatment.
They both killed a cop.
Now, crack Smolka's alibi witness.
Or find something to crack her with.
Mr. McCoy, over this way please.
Smile, Jack. Say cheese.
Is this case politically motivated?
How long are you gonna hold J-Train?
At what time did Mr. Smolka arrive
the night of the shooting, Ms. Swailes?
About 7:30.
He stayed until midnight.
Doing what?
We were working on Sky's website.
J-Train is good on content,
not so good on design.
That's where I come in.
Did anyone else, um, see him here?
Oh, I don't let people in when he's here.
Could cause a riot.
There's a lot of photos of this person with Sky.
Who is she? That's me.
From a few years ago.
Gained a few since.
I should get back to work now.
You--you worked with Sky, what, six years?
That's right.
But, Beth...
you wouldn't lie for her, would you?
Or J-Train?
Or course not.
'Cause, you know,
I do see this kind of thing a lot in criminal cases.
People think they're helping,
but what they're really doing is committing perjury.
I would never do that.
Because it's not in your nature, or because...
you know you would go to jail for committing perjury?
J-Train was here from 7:30 until midnight.
Forgive me, but...
I don't believe a word that you're saying.
We're done, right?
[crying] What people don't understand
is that all of the photographers
and press, it... destroys our life.
[sniffling] No one gets it that we're people, too.
Don't watch too much of that; it'll rot your brain.
I think I found something to impeach Beth Swailes.
She's a pathologically obsessed fan.
Seven years ago, she went on a game show
called I Want To Look Like a Star.
She had plastic surgery to look like Sky Sweet.
They look nothing alike.
Well, that's after
she had nine more procedures.
She had her face sliced to ribbons
to look like Sky Sweet.
Lying on the stand's gonna be a walk in the park.
Did you, um... catch the Ledger today?
Adam Stein's gossip column?
"An industry insider says prosecutors don't have a clue
as to the actual motive in the case."
You should, uh, skip down to the last paragraph.
"With such rocky evidence, we only hope the prosecution
"isn't bulldogging the Smolka-Sweet family
"for their lifestyle and non-traditional parenting.
"What's worse, we ask, a short stay alone in Mom's car
"or nine years of neglect, which is how long
"it's been since Jack McCoy...
has spoken to his only daughter."
They're trying to poison the jury pool.
It's a very low blow.
If we don't have a clue about the actual motive,
I wonder what it was.
Maybe he can help us
with our case.
Let's talk to Stein.
Get the source.
Would you walk up to a New York Times reporter
asking for sources-- I don't think so.
All due respect, you're not a reporter.
All due respect--I write facts, they write facts.
What's the diff?
Gravity. Importance.
I was writing about a murder case.
And if it's so unimportant, what brought you to Midtown?
Are you willing to go to jail to protect this source?
Have you ever heard of the Shield Law?
It protects journalists.
You're a gossip columnist.
It's the newspaper equivalent of a flesh peddler.
God, you're nasty.
What they say about Latina women is so--
This isn't a joke, Mr. Stein.
If you know something about our murder case,
let's hear it, or I guarantee you'll be
in a contempt hearing within a day.
You're just miffed about that whole daughter thing.
(reporters) There she is. Sky!
[reporters clamoring]
All right, people, let's keep it back.
Your source. I won't divulge.
See you in court.
Yeah, promises, promises.
Hey, do you like sangria?
Your tie? Really, really stupid.
Is gossip news?
The Shield Law defines "news"
as information concerning local, national,
or worldwide events,
or other matters of public concern.
So absolutely, yes.
Lindsay Lohan spotted at Bungalow 8.
Or an Olsen twin at Starbucks.
Is that really news, Your Honor?
Judging by the column inches
devoted, it's presently more relevant
to this country than a war we're fighting.
But is information of prurient interest
what the Shield Law was designed to protect?
If he's hired by a newspaper,
and paid by it to gather news,
then Mr. Stein is protected from contempt.
Where did this conversation between Mr. Stein
and this source take place?
It was in a nightclub, Your Honor.
And how was this confidential information discussed
between reporter and source?
Screamed out over the dance music?
It was discussed in a lavatory.
(McCoy) How can that possibly be considered confidential?
Because the source
explicitly stated his desire to be kept confidential.
Then he should have held the conversation
at a private location.
We stand by Mr. Stein's First Amendment rights
to trample the privacy of celebrities.
But...
a conversation in a nightclub toilet
is not Deep Throat's parking garage.
(Judge) Now, I'm a staunch defender of the press.
Even the gossip pages, God bless them.
But if you report news, act like a journalist,
Mr. Stein.
To me, this is party conversation.
Refuse to divulge the name of this source,
I'll find you in contempt.
I'm sorry, Your Honor.
You'll just have to throw me in jail.
So be it.
[gavel banging]
I bet you'd hold out six hours.
Yet, here we are in four.
I am a journalist.
I deserve the rights of every journalist.
Put that in your prison memoir.
Gary Blanchard.
That's the guy who told me you had the wrong motive.
Why?
I advanced him 20 grand for 50 photos
I guaranteed would get printed.
All this went down in the middle of a murder case?
His info was current, juicy.
And the 50 credits would make his name.
He struck while the iron was hot.
That's the way the game is played.
What did Blanchard say was the right motive?
[laugh] You'll, uh...
You'll wanna see that for yourself.
(Rubirosa) Pictures from Blanchard's computer.
Stein was right. We didn't have a clue.
Sky Sweet doing drugs.
At the Formosa Club.
Look at the background.
New Year's Eve decorations from last year.
Club said they were only up for two days.
Time that out with the birth of her baby,
and that's a picture of Sky Sweet snorting cocaine,
five months pregnant.
This is the first I've seen them.
I find that hard to believe.
The only photos I thought Blanchard had
were of me and Sophia in the park.
Those hitting the papers
would have made for a routine embarrassment,
but it's safe to call these a career-ender.
What do you want from me?
Did your husband
break into Blanchard's apartment
and steal these photos?
I don't think he knew about them.
Is that what Blanchard is saying?
He's saying he told no one but Adam Stein.
He's not very trustworthy.
Well, I've never seen these before.
And I don't think Justin has either.
I think the jury will disagree.
Wait a minute.
These are gonna be used as evidence?
Against Justin?
Blown up on a widescreen in the courtroom.
Oh, my God.
I can't believe this is happening.
We understand if you're trying to protect your husband.
But a police officer was murdered.
So you'll destroy my career?
And send Child Services?
I have no intention of sending them.
Oh, but they'll sure take an interest,
won't they? They may.
Look. I know this looks bad.
But Sophia has been tested
against every possible abnormality.
She's not small for dates, she had a normal APGAR.
Please don't take my baby.
I think you should leave.
(female lawyer) Justin, why do you record under the name "J-Train?"
I know it'll be a headline tomorrow,
but in real life, I'm a boring guy.
But J-Train is a street thug, who takes what he wants
when he wants it.
Parties day and night, and can't keep his...
[small laugh] He's a player.
(lawyer) Isn't it conceivable that a player
would want revenge against the man who'd shot
compromising photographs of his wife?
(Smolka) Except the J-Train
persona is complete fiction.
Is the line ever blurred between you and the persona?
In real life, I'm a husband, a father,
an artist, and a businessman.
I don't have time for anything else.
Is there any reason
that you would break in to Gary Blanchard's apartment?
No.
Where were you
the night his apartment was burglarized
and Detective Carvahal was murdered?
I was with Beth Swailes,
at her apartment in Chelsea,
updating my wife's website.
On the night of the burglary,
you needed someone with a gun, didn't you?
I had nothing to do with the burglary.
I was with Beth Swailes that night.
(McCoy) You recruited your ex-drug dealer
to drive you
to Mr. Blanchard's apartment,
where you intended to break in
and steal these photographs,
didn't you?
No.
Would these photographs
constitute a reason
to break into the apartment?
I had no idea those photos existed until a few days ago.
(McCoy) You were aware of other, less incriminating, pictures?
You were negotiating for them.
But you didn't know about the most incendiary of all?
Maybe Blanchard was saving them for a rainy day.
I don't know.
You went to commit a robbery,
to steal these photographs of your wife,
but you were interrupted by a neighbor
who was a police officer, and you shot him, didn't you?
We struggled with drugs.
That doesn't make her evil,
or me a killer.
(judge) Mr. Smolka--
Look, I didn't rob or kill anyone!
Mike Whalen killed that cop,
and he's blaming it on me
because I stopped buying his drugs.
His money supply got cut off,
and he got desperate to score,
and stole from
his sister's medical insurance-- That's a lie!
And it killed her!
He's a liar! That's enough.
(judge) Get him out of here.
We're in recess till tomorrow morning.
I'm telling you flat out.
Mike Whalen did not spend
his sister's insurance money on dope.
We both know how desperate junkies get.
He didn't eat for two weeks after she passed.
He nearly died of grief.
Or guilt.
It's not in his nature.
I'm 1,000% positive.
(McCoy) It only matters
if Detective Cassady can prove Smolka lied on the stand.
Can she? No.
So maybe Whalen's a patsy, but unless she can prove it,
it's a character reference.
Not helpful at the moment.
Well, the Sky Sweet photos
are all over the Net.
The blogs say jail her,
and they're talking about boycotting her films.
It's fallout. It'll dissipate.
Still, you got her pretty good.
It was motive evidence.
Oh, is that what it was, Jack?
Or, uh... was it revenge
because your daughter was mentioned in the press?
Is that what they're saying on the news magazines?
Oh, I...know it's a sore subject.
(Rubirosa) One less witness.
Defense camp just called.
Beth Swailes is off their list.
Really.
(Beth) I'm going to Connecticut
to see my sister-- I'll miss my train.
Was Justin really with you the night of the shooting?
Yes. At the times you said?
Maybe a little later.
I don't know, I didn't check my clock.
And that's why you won't testify for him?
I don't buy that.
Does this have anything to do
with the photographs that were taken?
They made me sick to my stomach.
It's awful, Sky having to endure that.
But why stop protecting Justin?
Because he did it to her.
He made her a drug addict?
She never got high before him.
And seeing those pictures?
Did Justin say anything to you about where he had been
before going to your apartment the night of the shooting?
No, he just sat in the corner.
But what I don't understand is,
there were only two or three people
that knew Sky would be at that New Year's Eve party.
When the photos were taken.
And there was security like crazy.
You'd have to be awful lucky
to be in that bathroom at that time.
Unless Sky was being set up.
You think it was Justin that set her up?
I have to go.
Beth...
(McCoy) The obstruction of justice
will get you two years, Mr. Blanchard.
But blackmail? Extortion?
For what?
Were the photographs of Sky Sweet
at the Formosa Club part of a business arrangement
between you and Justin Smolka?
[nervous laugh]
Where are you getting this from?
If a photographer
got into the women's bathroom,
someone let him in.
And knew to let him in
when Sky was going to be doing drugs.
Security was bulletproof at the Formosa that night.
Did Justin Smolka let you in?
Did you conspire with him
to blackmail his wife?
We say that's the case.
You could spend the next decade in jail.
No ti--no, I don't want to do any time.
All right, I'll testify against Justin, but no time.
I'll even give you a gift.
Adam Stein over at The New York Ledger
says that there is a lot of response
to that bit about your daughter.
Now, I went up to Maine,
and I took some photos.
You can have 'em.
Keep the photographs.
What do you know?
Justin Smolka hired me
to hide in a bathroom of the Formosa Club
and get shots of his wife doing drugs.
(McCoy) He knew that she'd be doing drugs?
He planned on giving them to her that night,
because he knew that she had been trying to kick.
So she wouldn't be able to resist.
She...was vulnerable.
(McCoy) What was your arrangement with Mr. Smolka?
He was gonna give me 100 grand for my shots.
For what purpose?
He said he needed them for insurance.
In their divorce settlement.
He signed a pre-nup
which gave him nothing.
But what happened with your business arrangement
with Mr. Smolka?
When I actually got the shots, I decided to up my price
to $1,000,000.
When did you tell Mr. Smolka this?
The day before
my apartment got broke into...
and that cop got shot.
(reporter) Ms. Sweet, can we get a statement from you?
[crowd murmurs]
You have one bargaining chip, Mr. Smolka.
The truth about
Mike Whalen's involvement.
(lawyer) What's it buy?
(McCoy) 5 off. 20 years.
We're out.
Sit!
You too?
All I wanted was you to love me.
I gave you everything.
You gave me orgasms.
Did he give you drugs that night?
Yes.
You asked for 'em!
I asked you to watch out for me,
and you set me up!
My career is over.
I never killed any cop.
Yes, you did.
And you told me you did.
Keep fighting this. It's on your dime.
Mike Whalen took eight years.
Been reading the Internet?
Sky Sweet is going into rehab.
She hopes her fans forgive her, and it looks like they have.
There's clamor for a biopic.
Guess it's true there's no such thing as bad ink.
Oh, uh, these came for you.
[sighs]
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