(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.
(all) Happy birthday, Jenna!
[energetic dance music]
(boy) Nice!
Smile, gorgeous. You're on camera.
Happy sweet 16, Jenna. Love ya.
Oh, yeah! Ha!
Daddy's pimpin' out the dough, Jenna.
You gonna miss your own party.
A girl's gotta look good, Zack.
Work it out! Work it out!
I love you!
Yo, man, you see that buffet inside?
It's, like, 50 feet of food.
Chow down, bro!
Jenna's pulling up. Come on.
[cheers and applause]
Dad exits the limo, looking sharp.
Here's Daddy's little girl.
[wild cheering]
[screams]
(Sgt. Saunders) Vic's name is Gary Howard, 54.
Bellevue pronounced him D.O.A.
Damn, he walked right up on 'em.
Can't see the suspect's face.
What about hotel surveillance?
Cameras only cover the entrance.
The shooting was just out of range.
Checking street surveillance now.
Can you voucher that as evidence?
And can you get your boys to do an area search
for the gun?
Maybe it was tossed.
Right.
White guy in his 20s.
About six foot. Wore a hoodie.
You got a good look at the guy?
Oh, yeah. He ran right by me.
I almost pissed in my shorts.
This job's usually a snooze. Go figure.
Someone actually needed security tonight.
We weren't hired for Mr. Howard,
if that's what you mean.
DJ Spin Art was gonna be performing.
Spin Art's doing kids' parties now?
Money talks.
Detective.
C.S.U.'s got something for ya.
Thanks, man.
[scoffs]
My sweet 16,
Dad wouldn't even loan me the Buick.
He obviously didn't love you.
I told him as much at the time.
This is your vic, right?
Well.
Front page of the business section.
Yeah, I found this stuff behind the planter.
I'm bagging some cigarette butts, too.
All right, cool.
He woulda had a good view of the limo
when it pulled up.
So he was staked out with a paper.
Shooter didn't know who Howard was?
Says here he's the CEO of Presidio Armor.
Never heard of it.
They make bulletproof vests.
Yeah, how's this gonna look for business?
I heard the gunshots
when I was getting out of the limo.
My dad squeezed my hand really hard.
(Cassady) Did you see the man who did it?
No, it happened too fast.
I don't even think my dad saw him.
He was looking at me, you know, when it happened.
Why don't we finish this later, okay?
(Mimi) Gary was out of town for Jenna's birthday last year.
He felt like he needed to make it up to her.
I can't believe he's gone.
Did she tell you anything?
She won't talk to me about it.
She's holding up, considering.
Look, Mrs. Howard.
I know this is difficult,
but any information you can give us--
enemies, threats, anybody that would've had a motive
to hurt your husband?
I'm not sure.
Uh, no, there was something.
He changed drivers this past week.
The new guy carried a gun.
Do you know why he needed the security?
No, we never discussed his business.
Bill Whitney might know.
He runs Presidio's day-to-day operations.
(Whitney) There was an incident the day after
the piece ran in the Times.
Some protesters outside our offices.
One of them threw a rock at Gary's Mercedes,
smashed the back window.
You can imagine he was upset.
God, we're all in shock he's dead.
The Times mentioned that large military contracts
were awarded to Presidio.
Is that what all these protests were about?
We're outfitting the Army with body armor.
These left-wing conspiracy nuts think
we're kicking back money to the White House
for taking us to war.
Any other incidents you know of?
Just the one.
Let me show you something.
We're developing new protection systems
for the next generation of soldier.
Our ballistics lab is state-of-the-art.
We can generate computer models,
run impact simulations,
amazing stuff.
Top of the line right here.
Level four ceramic armor. Full Kevlar.
Withstands up to six rounds
moving at 2,800 feet per second.
And this is what our soldiers are wearing over there?
It's the only reason they're coming home alive.
This was Gary's mission.
How well did you know him?
We were good friends.
Thursday night dinners were a ritual.
Did he ever mention anyone who had an ax to grind?
Business or otherwise?
He was a straight shooter.
People respected him.
He never would've agreed to an armed driver
if I hadn't insisted on it.
That's who he was.
This driver. Where'd he come from?
Our company has security in-house.
They handled it.
(Kohner) I drove Mr. Howard myself the past week.
Other than the window, there were no other incidents.
Why didn't he have an armed escort
at the party last night?
The protest had broken up by then.
He said he didn't need me to cover.
Most anti-war activists, it's just grandstanding.
I was in the Bureau for 16 years.
Never seen anything like this.
Then that's your feeling,
that the shooting was done by one of the protesters?
Not the sidewalk variety,
but someone politically motivated, yeah.
You might want to take a look at this guy.
Lloyd Savitsky.
Fits our perp's description. Who is he?
Worked for us as a chemical engineer.
Till he sabotaged a batch of ceramic armor.
Turned it into peanut brittle.
I think he wanted to turn public opinion
against the war.
Look, when I got the phone call
that Mr. Howard had been shot,
Savitsky was definitely somebody I thought of.
(Dolan) How should I know where he is?
Try his apartment.
Mr. Dolan, you know he got evicted two months ago.
Let me tell you something.
He was evicted because Presidio's underhanded tactics
did serious harm to the man's reputation.
They took away his livelihood
because he expressed an opinion about an unjust war.
[Green sighs]
So now his livelihood is working lawsuits
for a payoff?
Mr. Savitsky's claims against Presidio
are absolutely legitimate.
He's done nothing wrong, and he's being persecuted.
All right, look.
If your boy turns up--
Yeah, you'll be the first to know.
Doin' laundry?
No, the meter maids are out to get me.
He's not going near Savitsky now.
Not with us looking for him.
Well, even if we wanted to trace a call
back to Savitsky, there's no way we're gonna get a subpoena
to dump a lawyer's phone.
Can I get two regular please?
Even an ambulance chaser like Dolan?
Just sayin'.
That phone is right outside his office.
Think all those quarters...?
You think he's that paranoid?
Hey.
You ever see a guy with a ponytail
call on that phone?
You mean the nut job who says his phones are tapped?
[jets passing overhead]
(Green) Lloyd Savitsky.
Open up.
[suspenseful music]
*
[ice bucket rattles]
Mr. Savitsky?
[grunting]
(Green) Damn, are you all right?
Yeah, yeah. I should have yelled for you.
No. It's all right. You got him.
Come on.
Damn, dude,
you got your ass kicked by a girl. Come on.
Number six.
(Dolan) You people had no probable cause
to make an arrest.
Her face tells me otherwise.
I'm talking about the murder, Lieutenant.
I don't see him.
Take your time.
I'm telling you, I got a good look at the shooter.
He ain't up there.
All right. We're done.
Your witness did not identify my client.
Number six, you're sure that--
Detective.
We're still holding him for assaulting a police officer.
Okay, book him.
But don't even think about talking to him.
Don't you ever talk out of turn
in front of a suspect's lawyer again.
It just came out of my mouth.
Then get a muzzle.
You look like hell, by the way.
Boss, the way it went down--
Just detail it in your report.
(Green) Hey, Lieu.
I just got off the phone with Mimi Howard.
Somebody delivered an unmarked package to her apartment.
Did you call Operations?
Bomb squad's en route.
Meet them there.
No explosive residue on the outside
of the box.
Might still be a rigged-up grenade.
(Green) How did it get in here?
Doorman was on break.
He never saw it.
Maid brought it in off the desk.
[tense music]
*
We're safe.
(Charlie) You guys wanna take a look at this?
It's a Purple Heart.
(Green) Medal was wiped clean. No latent prints.
But there's a name engraved on the back.
A Matt Garcia.
Army Reserve specialist with the 223rd Transport Battalion.
He was killed eight months ago in Iraq.
So is there a connection between Garcia and our D.O.A.?
Howard's widow didn't know who Garcia was,
but I don't think we're dealing with a personal motive.
Well, sending the Purple Heart, the killer must be
somehow blaming Howard for Garcia's death.
And we're sure this medal's for real?
It is, but not necessarily
the one given to Garcia's next of kin.
I found a dozen websites
selling authentic Purple Hearts,
some offering free engraving.
And all K.I.A. names are posted online.
You know, you're starting to bleed again.
You may need a stitch.
I'm fine.
Well, where's Garcia's next of kin?
His widow's up in Washington Heights.
See if she's got the original.
Right.
Matt's Purple Heart is at home on the mantel.
I keep it in a case right next to his picture.
Christopher's gotta know who his father was, you know?
Of course.
Mrs. Garcia, did any of Matt's friends
from the service contact you recently?
A few guys came by to offer condolences.
Did any of them seem particularly upset?
Like upset enough to avenge Matt's death?
They were all upset.
He was well liked.
But no one stood out.
Did anybody mention Howard?
No, and I don't even think Matt was wearing body armor
when he died.
How do you know?
Because Matt wrote
and asked me to send him some.
But it cost so much that by the time
I'd saved up, he'd already been killed.
Christopher. It's time to go.
Just one more question, ma'am.
Did the Army tell you how your husband was killed?
I know he was shot and killed in Tal Afar.
I didn't want to hear details.
Dying someplace like that.
One of his buddies who came by
said to call if I wanted to know more.
Alan Crockett.
He left a number.
I wasn't with Garcia on that patrol.
But, uh, I heard a AK round
ripped straight through his chest plate.
His wife said he didn't have any armor.
We went eight weeks in the country without it
before Army supply finally caught up.
Time, we thought them vests were a godsend.
Turns out they were worthless.
Anybody say anything about making things right
once you got stateside?
When it comes to stateside, all we talk about
is cold beer.
Hot showers.
Fine young ladies like yourself.
Yeah.
Except we got a man dead
and a Purple Heart with Garcia's name on it
that was delivered to the victim's apartment.
Now, that didn't come out of the blue.
Yeah, TV said the guy you're looking for is white.
So, uh, didn't come from me, either.
Yo, Ty. Give me another.
Well, do you know who it came from, Alan?
He was the first guy in our platoon to get killed.
You know?
And we all took it hard.
But no one said, "Kill this Howard guy."
Did the Army know that the bullet
went through Garcia's vest?
Yeah, that's why they exchanged our vests out
for new ones.
Some group tried to kick up some stink
about Garcia's death, but nothing came of it.
What's the name of this group?
American Shield or something.
Yo, Ty!
We're a soldiers' advocacy group.
We write Congress, send direct mail.
Any issue in support of our troops.
Like equipment upgrades or failures.
Then you wrote letters on behalf of Specialist Garcia?
We contacted the Army and the vest manufacturer.
Everybody said they'd look into the allegations
surrounding his death.
Did they? No.
They swept it under the rug.
Garcia's vest was missing. No proof.
What could we do?
I can't imagine Garcia's buddies
were too pleased.
I received a phone call about a week ago.
Man claimed he was an Army investigator
looking into the case.
He wanted to know who I'd written to at Presidio.
And you gave them Gary Howard's name?
Yes.
Did the guy give his own name?
Well, I was so surprised
they were taking the case seriously,
I forgot to ask.
Now, in light of Howard's murder...
Here.
This came.
Couple of months ago.
Right after we stopped our letter campaign
on Garcia's death.
It's unsigned.
"You let them kill our friend."
(Stoneman) "This crap armor is worse than nothing.
"They are getting men killed.
They must stop sending Presidio vests NOW."
Can you tell us where it came from?
Look at what's imbedded in the paper.
(Cassady) What is it? Some kind of red powder?
Iraqi dust.
They get these storms over there.
The dust gets into everything.
Okay, puts us in the ballpark.
Latents pulled seven prints of value.
The Army IDs them all from the same unit.
The 223rd.
You got it.
And guess who made the list?
Got passed around the barracks for approval.
Lots of hands touched it.
Mine, too, I guess. So what?
We got Kenny Ellis' prints from that letter, too.
Tell us about Kenny.
He was in our platoon.
(Green) Don't be stupid.
We checked your cell phone records.
You called him ten times.
One of the times was an hour before the murder.
Now, what the hell were y'all talking about?
I been partying so much since coming home.
I coulda made that call. Don't remember.
We spoke to your battalion commander.
Ellis was there when Garcia got shot.
Drove the Humvee that brought him back to base.
And when you guys first got to Iraq,
Garcia saved Ellis' life.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Their Humvee hit an I.E.D., caught fire.
Garcia pulled Ellis to safety. So what?
All right, so Ellis watches the guy
that saved his life die because of a bad vest.
Now, how did he take that?
Hard, like all of us did.
Did he buy a Purple Heart with Garcia's name on it?
He wore it under his vest.
Said that Garcia's spirit would protect him.
Did you know he was gonna kill Howard?
I didn't know nothin' about nothin'!
All right, man, I'm gonna say this one more time.
You talked to him an hour before he shot down Howard
in front of his daughter at her 16th birthday party.
Now, if you knew anything about this,
you need to come clean with us now,
because you 'bout this close
to being charged with conspiracy.
You got all this respect for your fellow soldiers.
You need to help us bring him in peacefully.
Otherwise, we're gonna go out there
and hunt him down like a dog.
Detective, over here!
Kenny.
My name's Ed, man.
Mind if we talk for a minute?
[strained voice] It's all good, bro.
Look, man.
Why don't you put that gun down
and tell me what's wrong?
Look, man, I know you got a lot on your mind.
You just got back from Iraq.
And God knows what horrible things you saw over there.
Look.
We know about Garcia's vest.
We know that Howard might have had
something to do with it.
[whimpering]
The only way the rest of the world's gonna know
about your friend Garcia
and how he died
is if you tell 'em.
Okay?
Put that gun down.
Tell me about your friend.
Come on. Put it down.
[gasping]
Come on.
There you go. That's good.
All right.
Oh, God.
People vs. Kenneth Dale Ellis.
Charge is murder in the second degree.
My client pleads not guilty.
(Judge Metzelder) The People on bail?
Remand, Your Honor.
Mr. Ellis is a war veteran
who used his military training
to commit a brazen murder.
If released, he poses an extreme danger
to the community.
It's offensive the People would use
my client's service to his country against him.
I want to discuss evidence, Ms. Schatzberg,
not politics.
The gun found in the possession
of the defendant during his arrest
matches the gun used in the homicide.
He was also identified as the shooter
in a photo array by several eyewitnesses.
Okay, Counselor. I get the picture.
Mr. Ellis.
On behalf of the citizens of New York,
thank you for your service.
You're remanded.
[bangs gavel]
I can prove my client was acting
under an extreme emotional disturbance.
Call it whatever you want.
The facts of the crime say otherwise.
And you wouldn't be here unless you thought
we had a compelling case.
He stalked Gary Howard.
The murder was clearly premeditated.
Weigh that against the horror of war.
I have multiple experts
who'll testify that my client's
post-traumatic stress disorder is very real.
My sympathies are with Mr. Howard's wife
and his daughter.
Except your victim was a greedy profiteer, Jack.
It's irrelevant.
(McCoy) The Murder Two charge still stands.
Twenty to life, we avoid a trial.
Garcia'd still be alive
if his vest had stopped that bullet.
Doesn't that matter to you people?
You gunned down a man in front of his daughter.
Keep making these claims, Mr. Ellis.
True or not, they make a compelling motive
to commit murder.
You people never would have made that son of a bitch
account for what he did.
None of which justifies what you did.
You ever seen a man shot to death?
Your best friend?
C.O. Let me out.
[door buzzer]
(Schatzberg) Jury finds it's emotional disturbance,
it's Man One.
He does ten years in a psychiatric hospital.
We have a strong case.
Have your shrink examine my client.
See if she agrees.
(Ellis) I don't sleep much anymore,
'cause I get headaches real bad.
Why did you attempt suicide?
I don't know.
I feel like I'm always in pain.
Did you kill anyone in combat
when you were in Iraq?
It was kill or be killed over there.
We were on patrol.
And this Iraqi woman came walking towards us.
And she wouldn't stop when we told her to.
Our captain gave us the order.
We lit her up.
You mean you shot her?
Do you think your captain made the right decision?
Oh, I'm not gonna question his call.
You know, if she'd been a suicide bomber...
You were with Garcia when he died.
I had to lift him out of the truck.
So the medics could work on him.
Saw his skin change color.
There was so much blood.
After seeing that, were you afraid to die as well?
Nah.
I had no one to come back to here.
Unlike Garcia.
With a wife and kid.
How he died, you know...
that wasn't supposed to happen.
(Olivet) Ellis shows all the symptoms of PTSD.
His suicide attempt speaks to his guilt
that he survived when Garcia and the others didn't.
His combat experience involved constant traumatic events.
You don't have to leave a limb in the battlefield
to be wounded.
The psychological toll of war
is no less debilitating.
This killing wasn't some random act, Liz.
Ellis claims that Garcia's armor failed to protect him.
If that's true, it's a strong motive
to settle the score.
It cuts both ways.
Betrayal of trust is often at the heart of this condition.
Betrayed by a faulty vest?
You could look at it that way.
I know he believes it.
Not everyone gets to be the victim here.
You're off the hook.
You don't have to testify. Thank you.
[McCoy sighs]
Can we corroborate anything
in Ellis' story?
The official report didn't mention any problems
with Garcia's armor.
But two days after he was killed,
the Army recalled 400 vests that had been issued
to that battalion.
I don't think the timing is coincidental.
What happened to the vests?
They were sent back to the company.
The Army pulled the production lot
because soldiers were worried.
Someone was spreading rumors the armor was weak.
We retested the vests on our range.
Every one of them passed.
I'll show you our ballistics analysis.
So they went back into circulation?
Of course not.
We were contractually required to destroy the armor.
Why, if there was nothing wrong?
We have never once recorded a fatality
due to equipment failure.
And the claim about Specialist Garcia's vest?
Never once.
Not Garcia's death or anyone else's.
We would not stand for it.
You see, Ms. Rubirosa,
this is not just a construction site for us.
Being at Ground Zero means something to this company.
According to Presidio's internal reports,
the vests passed all ballistics tests.
Any outside verification? None.
The Army signed off on the analysis
without doing one of their own.
And the record of the vests being destroyed?
Seems to be legit.
So do you think Ellis is making this story up?
Wanna ask me what my take on Whitney is first?
Okay, what's your take on Whitney?
You'd think he'd bend over backwards
to help us make our case.
He just met me with a lot of attitude.
He seems nervous.
Hiding something?
I pulled his LUDs.
He called Garcia's widow two days ago.
Feeling guilty.
Or something else.
Talk to her.
Mr. Whitney came by
and basically just offered his condolences.
Did he mention anything about a lawsuit?
Ask if you want to sue?
No, he was just real nice.
Did he seem guilty about your husband's death?
Just kinda sad.
Look, my break is over.
You need anything else?
Did Whitney give you money?
I had nothing to do with it.
How much did he give you?
Please don't make me give it back.
Only if you are honest with me.
He gave me $20,000.
Out of the blue? Mm-mm.
I don't buy that.
Alan said he'd arranged it.
That I should just take it.
Alan who?
Crockett.
I wasn't involved in any extortion.
The 20,000 Whitney gave Garcia's widow disputes that.
I never been in contact with the man.
Alan, we know you called his office from a pay phone
outside your apartment.
It's a public phone.
You're not a very good liar, Mr. Crockett.
Let's say I believed you were trying
to do the right thing by Garcia's wife and son.
Maybe I'd be persuaded to drop the charges against you.
I want the truth.
The money was for Garcia's family.
That's all this ever was about.
Did you know Ellis was gonna kill Howard?
No, I swear.
I didn't know until I saw it on the news.
Why'd Ellis say he did it?
Because Howard wouldn't admit the wrong he'd done.
Meaning the faulty vests.
Howard wouldn't pay us nothin'.
Next thing I know, Ellis kills the guy.
And when he gets caught, I just--
I just tried to do the right thing
for Garcia's wife and his kid.
So you threatened Whitney's life.
No.
Whitney paid, because he knew that we were right
about Garcia's vest.
How?
Me and Ellis smuggled Garcia's vest out of Iraq.
You've got the vest and an extortion scheme.
There's the motive for Ellis killing Howard.
It's not that simple anymore, Arthur.
Forensic analysis shows severe deficiencies
in the armor's integrity.
Any bullet would have penetrated
that ceramic plate.
Which is why Whitney was willing
to pay to get the vest back.
So he had an interest
in protecting Presidio's reputation.
I don't agree with the way he handled it,
but where's the crime?
That is Lloyd Savitsky.
He's a former Presidio employee.
He was fired for allegedly sabotaging a batch
of ceramic armor.
Allegedly?
The incident coincided
with the production date of Garcia's vest.
The sabotage should have set their production back by weeks.
But the Pentagon said they still made their quota
for that month.
Pretty circumstantial.
Presidio was under pressure to deliver.
They have $100 million in defense contracts at stake.
And one bad vest is gonna jeopardize that?
(McCoy) How do we know there was just one?
Whitney knew there were problems with the armor.
His reckless conduct created a grave risk of death.
That's depraved indifference murder.
You're gonna need Ellis to make the case.
You willing to flip him?
If it means holding Whitney responsible
for everything he set in motion...
This guy Whitney is responsible for those vests?
We believe he is.
Why don't you just come out and say
we have a hell of a defense?
It's no justification for the murder of Gary Howard.
Still.
In light of the malfeasance, we're prepared
to offer Mr. Ellis 15 years.
15 years, and you want him to testify?
I don't think so.
I'm offering you a chance to tell a jury what happened.
Whitney will have to answer.
Don't act like you're doing him the favor.
I'll do it.
We have to discuss this, Kenny.
No, there's nothing to discuss.
I'll do the 15,
so long as I get to nail that bastard.
[all shouting]
Bill Whitney.
You're under arrest for the murder of Matt Garcia.
What are you doing? I didn't kill anybody.
Smile for your fans.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law.
You have a right to an attorney...
(Ellis) I had the wheel of the Humvee.
Garcia was my gunner.
We were headed back to base.
All of a sudden, he kinda slumped down.
Sniper'd shot him in the chest.
He was pretty much gone by the time
the medics got to him.
Do you recognize this?
Yes, sir.
That's the armored vest Garcia was wearing
when he was hit.
And this is where Specialist Garcia was shot?
Yes, sir.
That's the bullet hole right through the ceramic plate
over the chest.
It just went right through it.
Can you show us the ceramic plate?
Nothing further.
You're testifying here today as part of a plea deal.
Correct?
15 years for the murder of Gary Howard.
Yes, sir, but I shot him
because I knew other guys out there had bad armor.
I thought it might wake people up
to what was going on.
So it had nothing to do with the $100,000
you attempted to extort from Mr. Howard?
Or the $20,000 that you and your partner
managed to extort from my client?
(Ellis) That money was for Garcia's wife and kid.
Not us.
Did you wear an armored vest
made by Presidio during your tour in Iraq?
Yes, sir.
Even after Garcia's death?
Yes, sir, but I made sure my armor was solid.
You and every other soldier in your platoon, correct?
Yes, sir.
And did anyone ever find any problems?
No.
So you would characterize the incident
with Garcia's vest as a tragic,
but an isolated incident?
That doesn't make it right.
Or that it doesn't matter.
An isolated incident.
Yes or no, Mr. Ellis.
Yes.
Nothing further.
We were ambushed on Route Irish by insurgents.
An RPG had hit my truck, and I was dragging my guy
out of the cab and pulling him to cover
when I was hit by ground fire.
Hit where?
Left leg and torso. Five rounds.
Were you wearing Presidio body armor at the time?
Yes, sir.
That's why I just lost my leg.
The armor did its job.
On the battlefield,
is there such a thing as an acceptable loss of life?
Whether I choose to accept it or not, sir,
it's a reality of war.
According to the defense,
Mr. Whitney had to send over a vest
he knew was faulty.
Would you order a soldier into combat
with armor you knew would not protect him?
Sometimes in battle, sir,
we need to improvise and make do with what we have.
Uh, you're not answering my question, Sergeant.
If I had to give the order, sir,
I would give it.
But it wouldn't be an easy decision.
And what if it was you?
Would you have gone on your mission that day
on Route Irish
wearing a vest you knew would not protect you?
When our country went to war,
not all our soldiers were equipped
with life-saving body armor.
Military supply has been playing catch-up
since we invaded Iraq.
So we tripled production to output 3,000 units a month.
Why push production so hard?
Because soldiers' lives are on the line.
The longer we take, the longer they have to wait.
To date, how many armored vests have you supplied
to the Army?
60,000.
And out of all of those,
how many vests didn't perform?
Just Garcia's, that I know of.
Which is not to say that his death isn't tragic.
It is.
But this is not a zero-sum game.
If we have 90% success, it means we're doing our job.
But you knew there were problems
with a batch of ceramic armor.
And you didn't delay the production lot
to weed out those faulty vests, correct?
There wasn't time.
Only a handful of the vests were questionable.
So playing Russian roulette with a soldier's life
was an acceptable risk.
If I'd delayed supply, we might be talking
about more deaths than just Garcia's.
You also didn't notify the Army
that some armor was compromised, did you?
Of course we did.
This is Presidio's third quarter production report
that you signed off on, correct?
Yes, it was sent to the GAO
and the Army chief at the Pentagon.
Please show the court
where the risk of failure with some armor was mentioned.
Your Honor, please.
It's on page 319, Mr. Whitney.
One page.
Buried in a report that's over 400 pages long.
Presidio's contract with the Pentagon
is worth about $100 million, correct?
I don't look at Garcia's death
as the cost of doing business, Mr. McCoy.
You didn't notify the Army,
because delays in production would have jeopardized
that contract, correct?
Delays would have meant more troops
without body armor that could save their lives.
That was my concern.
Then why the cover-up, Mr. Whitney?
You suspected an employee of sabotage.
But you didn't press charges.
You paid extortion money in an attempt
to retrieve Garcia's vest,
the one piece of evidence that proved your malfeasance.
The money I gave Garcia's wife was a gesture.
I was not trying to buy the vest back.
Your concern was with being caught.
Because you knew some armor would fail.
A decision had to be made, Mr. McCoy.
Who said sacrificing Garcia's life
was your decision to make?
[ominous music]
*
Jack, you got a moment?
This is General Don Barrett up from Washington.
You're here about the Presidio case, I presume.
It's garnered quite a bit of attention,
you can imagine.
Congress is already making noise about hearings.
What can I do for you, General?
We're being asked to plead the case out, Jack.
We already went down that road. They said no.
Well, General Barrett's met with Whitney's attorneys,
and they've agreed to take five years.
Five years?
Understand...
when soldiers are in harm's way,
morale is of vital interest.
The sooner this goes away, the better.
We want to minimize publicity.
Let the story vanish with the news cycle.
And what's the Pentagon's spin gonna be?
This isn't about spin, Mr. McCoy.
This is about the soldiers who are still out there
fighting for this country.
And they need all the confidence
we can give them.
And, I would have thought, all the protection.
What happened with Specialist Garcia's vest
was an isolated incident.
Rest assured, the situation is being dealt with,
and the error won't happen again.
Now.
We'd like you to make this deal.
All this isn't about one vest.
You know about more, don't you?
More armor failures, more deaths.
That's what this is all about.
What I know is that Presidio
will not be producing any more faulty vests.
So you wanna step over the bodies
and not look back?
If it's in the best interests
of the ones still standing, absolutely.
Perhaps you can explain things more...explicitly
to Mr. McCoy.
I'll see myself out. Good day, gentlemen.
I'm not doing it, Arthur.
They're not backing us in court, Jack.
So what? We don't need them to make our case.
Well, the defense does.
And if we don't make the deal,
the General has made it very clear
that they're gonna help Whitney.
Now, it's over. We're doing it.
And you're okay with that?
I think the General makes a point.
The point being that the truth
is the first casualty in a war?
Come on, Arthur.
There are larger considerations here.
Namely, the men and women who are volunteering
to risk their lives.
Whitney thought a soldier's life was expendable.
Now we're doing the same thing?
Five years is real time.
Not for a murder.
Not for all the other deaths out there like Garcia's.
You take the justice you get.
[scoffs]
We're letting justice get lost in the fog of war.
He allocutes to the charges.
He does five years.
I think we're in agreement on that.
Mr. Whitney?
Yeah, I'll take the deal.
(Solomon) You'll have your office draw up the offer.
We can do the allocution right away.
How many bad vests did you let slip through,
Mr. Whitney?
That's not relevant, Jack.
It is to me.
I want to know how many soldiers died
because of what you did.
I don't know what you're talking about.
When did you decide that men like Garcia
weren't as important as a contract
or a quarterly earnings statement
or your own bank account?
How did you convince yourself
that the blood wouldn't be on your hands, Mr. Whitney?
You're wrong.
Keep on telling yourself.
It was for the greater good.
Your conscience isn't clean!
I hope five years is enough to make you face it.
I know what I did, Mr. McCoy.
I saved lives.
[dramatic music]
*