(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.
Mickey, where are you?
(Mickey) Tenth.
My grandmother woulda been up there by now.
I think I'm having a heart attack.
A little exercise'll do you some good.
Yeah, so would a beer.
(Giggs) When you get the damn thing running,
I'll buy the beer.
12, oh, my God.
Someone's damn purse is blocking the door.
Mr. Fix-It.
Okay, car's coming down.
Doorman said she came in around 11:15.
Super found her just after midnight.
Any traffic through the lobby?
Just a few tenants.
He said she was the last one
he saw in or out of the building tonight.
Her cash and credit cards are still here.
Serena Darby.
Darby Publishing.
I've heard of it.
The Super says she lives in 12-B.
Well, here you go.
Looks like she never even made it into the apartment.
Hmm.
[sighs]
I'll start looking around.
Looks like she kissed the wall half a dozen times.
Pieces of plaster in her nose and mouth.
And some teeth are missing.
Yeah, CSU found two over there.
Probably hit her as soon as she got off the elevator.
You think the assault killed her?
Took her halfway home at least.
But see the color?
Plethoric face from strangulation.
That's how she went.
I thought I recognized the name. She was just in the news.
Serena Darby's the publisher of J.P. Lange's new book.
Right.
About how he hypothetically woulda killed his wife.
Yeah, she's got stacks of 'em on the dining room table.
The picture alone looks guilty.
Well, the 12 people that mattered didn't think so.
Justice is blind.
I can't imagine anybody would read this book
even if it was free.
Well, from what I hear, they're not gonna get to anyway.
What do you mean?
So many people are pissed off,
stores are refusing to sell the book.
Even her company's dropping it.
Good.
Maybe somebody thought that wasn't good enough.
CSU got a couple dozen lifts from the stairwell and hallway.
Well, it's gonna take a few days to run all those.
What about this woman's family?
Just a brother.
He's coming down from Boston this afternoon.
Well, I'll sit with him.
Every tabloid in the city is sniffin' around this case.
I don't want you wasting time.
Well, they got the scent early.
They were parked outside her place at 8:00 AM this morning.
Any idea how our suspect slipped past the lobby surveillance?
Well, according to the Super,
there's some teenagers in the building
that sneak out the fire exit door to smoke cigarettes.
We checked the door. It was unlocked.
It woulda been an easy in and out.
And no one in the place saw anything?
We canvassed the entire building.
There were two tenants at home at the time of the murder.
One guy had his home theater cranked way up.
And the lady that lived at the end of the hall
thinks she heard a man and a woman arguing
and doors being slammed.
Which actually coulda been
the victim's face slamming against the wall.
Is there any chance this was a random attack?
I don't think so. Too much rage.
What about a boyfriend or ex?
Well, there was nothing in the apartment
that made me think she was in a relationship.
And the doorman said she just comes home to sleep, alone.
There wasn't much of anything
in her apartment except for copies
of J.P. Lange's book.
Well, that's a good place to start.
(Elaine Fowler) Lange's book is turning into
the publishing disaster of the year.
Maybe of the decade.
How so?
By pulling the book off the market, the company's
eating the advance, losing future royalties and rights.
Not to mention the 100,000 copies they already printed.
How much money are we talking about here?
Easily 5 or 6 million.
Oh, my God, I can't believe she's dead.
Look, all those people that were angry about Lange's book,
any specific threats towards Serena?
Just lawsuits.
How was Serena handling it?
She was angry.
Humiliated.
I stayed out of her way this week.
Tough boss?
You have no idea.
What time did she leave the office last night?
Around 9:00.
Did she say where she was going? Was she meeting anybody?
I don't know.
Was Serena seeing anyone? Dating?
Definitely not.
Most of her calls went through me.
Okay, so who did she talk to yesterday?
Uh, her lawyer. The CEO.
The company's general counsel.
J.P. Lange a few times.
What were the ones with Lange about?
It sounded pretty typical on her end.
Uh, except the last one.
I mean, she always yells on the phone,
but this was different.
Harsher.
After that, she wouldn't take his calls.
Hey, I wanted to write a memoir about my baseball career.
Writing about the murder, that was Serena's idea.
So what was that little argument
you had on the phone with her yesterday about?
She was talking about selling the book to another publisher.
I told her, "Forget it. I'm not interested."
You were just gonna walk away?
What do you think, I went looking for this aggravation?
I think you went lookin' for cash.
So what?
All that money dried up, though,
since the book got pulled, right?
No, you got it wrong.
I got a civil judgment against me to the tune of 20 million.
Every penny I ever make is spoken for.
You didn't do that book for free.
The advance went straight into my daughter's trust.
And any profit was to go to charity.
So um, how much does this place cost a month?
My baseball pension
keeps the lights on.
That's all I got.
All right, man, look, where were you last night
between 11:00 and midnight?
Right here.
Watching the Knicks game. Alone.
I don't get out much.
With these paparazzi vultures you brought with you,
I'm probably not going anywhere anytime soon.
Well, this isn't exactly the prison you belong in,
though, is it?
Your partner's got some mouth on her.
You do have a history.
We can't pretend that didn't happen.
No, what happened was that some bad cops
tried to frame me for my wife's murder.
Now Serena gets killed
and I'm your first stop?
It's like déjà vu all over again.
Look, Serena and I were both being harassed.
And not just by the tabloids.
All right, Don raised holy hell.
He got my book buried.
He wanted Serena's head on a platter right next to mine.
Don Lampard?
Your father-in-law?
Former father-in-law.
I'd gone over to Jenny's apartment that morning.
We were gonna go jogging the park.
Five police cars out front, an ambulance.
I knew that son of a bitch had done something to her.
I'd just buried her mother three months before that.
Jenny was all I had left.
Well, I'm sure Lange writing about the murder didn't help.
That book is blood money.
My daughter's blood.
We heard the money wasn't going to him.
Right, that it was earmarked for some charity?
Baloney. The deal was a sham.
How do you mean "sham?"
Serena Darby's been paying Lange under the table.
Itemized under "research costs."
Over 200 grand so far.
You know this for a fact?
I'm filing a lawsuit with Virgil Publishing
and Darby Books because of it.
Did Serena Darby know you planned to sue?
The CEO of Virgil Publishing, Dean Savitsky knew.
I told him last week.
I assume he had words with her then.
And I assume that accounts
for why they've been trying to pay me to go away.
I take it you weren't interested?
I told them to go to hell.
And I wanted Serena fired.
On that point, he said it was done.
The advance came out of Serena's discretionary money.
I didn't know about the project
until we were so pregnant with it,
we had to see it through.
The book was in poor taste.
Now it's a public relations nightmare.
How did Serena take the bad news?
Actually, I was planning on firing her this afternoon.
At lunch.
You called Don Lampard last night and said it was done.
As good as done.
Serena had been trying to find a way
to fix things with Mr. Lampard.
You mean pay him off?
Apologize.
And offer a settlement if the lawsuit
and public fury went away.
She was making progress.
He was interested?
Interested in jerking us around.
Serena had arranged a dinner
at Cafe du Jardin for the two of them.
To settle things.
She called me last night and said he'd stood her up.
That's why I finally intervened and contacted him myself.
He was happy with your decision to fire Serena?
I'm not sure anything will satisfy his anger.
He's certainly not dropping the lawsuit.
Lampard never mentioned the sit-down
he was supposed to have with Serena Darby.
But he didn't show.
So if he was looking for a confrontation,
he missed his chance.
Virgil's CEO called him at home.
That argument could've set him off.
He meets up with Serena at her apartment.
Is she listed?
Yeah, her address was on the suit he filed
against Darby books.
Well, latents finished comparisons
on the lifts from the scene.
All but five come back to people
living in the building.
Lampard works for the city. They run his prints too?
His and Lange's.
Neither popped up.
Well, it was cold outside.
They could've been wearing gloves.
If I was him, she'd be the second person I'd want to kill.
LUDs from Lampard's home phone.
He got the call from Virgil's CEO
at 10:22 p.m. the night of the murder.
That still gives him time
to get uptown.
And I checked with the restaurant.
They confirmed Serena Darby was there last night,
but get this, her tab was 188 bucks.
Well, there's no way
she ran up a bill that high dining alone.
(man) Ms. Darby was here 9:30 to 11:00.
She insisted on a table in the back corner.
Thank you.
Here we go. Dinner, rack of lamb.
Then five drinks, two desserts.
Who was she with?
Some guy joined her near the end of her dinner.
They had a couple drinks.
I seated a couple at the next table.
Sounded like Ms. Darby and her friend were getting into it.
Arguing?
They struggled to keep their voices down.
She was upset.
And then he stuck her with the bill.
No class.
Was this an older guy?
Around 60?
Grey hair?
No, younger than that.
Sort of looked like that guy who killed his wife,
the baseball player.
[grunting]
Oh, my two favorite cops.
What was your best average, J.P.?
339? 340?
347, the year we won the Series.
You can remember some number from ten years ago,
but you don't remember having dinner with Serena
the night she was killed?
You ever eat there?
It's pretty forgettable.
Look man, why don't you come down to our place,
clear up some misunderstandings?
We'll have you back here in a minute.
You got nothing to hide, right, J.P.?
This better not take long.
You lied to us about seeing Serena Darby that night.
It was none of your business.
Here.
You got in an argument, an hour later she gets killed.
It's pretty obvious how that looks.
We had a conversation about a personal matter.
That's it.
That personal matter have anything to do with money?
Kickbacks from that book?
We know she was paying you under the table.
Don Lampard found out about it, and he came after you both
for violating the civil judgment.
That's why you argued.
I didn't kill her.
You been using that line for four years,
since you murdered your wife.
I didn't do that either.
Man, everybody knows about your legendary temper.
All those dugouts that got cleared
because you started a fight.
Then you retire, you start beatin' on your wife
and she ends up dead.
Now, Serena's pissed you off.
And this isn't hypothetical like your book, J.P.
I saw you workin' that heavy bag.
Tell me...
How'd Serena like your right hook?
There's that mouth again.
Am I under arrest?
No, you can leave.
We ain't done with you yet, though.
All right.
I'll tell you since you're gonna find out anyway.
Serena and I were seeing each other.
Strictly sex, not a relationship.
Last few times we got together,
she started to get...
Clingy.
Attached.
Started talking about going to St. Bart's.
Can you imagine being alone on an island
with that crazy bitch?
Anyway, once the publisher decided to cancel my book,
I figured I should cut bait with Serena as well.
You broke it off with her?
Yeah, I tried.
Serena wasn't the type of girl
who's used to getting dumped.
That's why we argued.
So how'd you end it?
She had a copy of my book in her bag.
I signed it and gave it back to her.
Kinda like a good-bye present.
Then I walked outta the restaurant
and I never saw her again.
You signed the book?
What'd you write?
"Screw you."
I figured I couldn't have made it any clearer
how I felt.
If Serena and Lange were getting it on,
he coulda known about using that fire door
to get into the building.
Well, then they were keeping that affair a secret,
'cause nobody had a clue about it.
Well, can we confirm anything about his story?
The secretary said she did have a copy of Lange's book
in her bag when she left the office that night.
(Green) But we didn't find one at the scene.
So the killer walked away with it?
Unless Lange wasn't telling us the real story.
Well, we can't arrest him if that's all you got.
Well, that's all we got. What about Lampard?
Well, we haven't ruled him out completely.
But if what Lange is saying is true,
I don't see Lampard taking the book with him.
Well, you need to verify Lange's version one way or the other.
That book could be
on a trash barge halfway up the Hudson by now.
Look, even I would've pulled it out of the garbage.
Stolen copies are popping up on eBay for 1,000 bucks.
Needle in a haystack.
So go shopping.
See what you can find.
(Stubbs) So I posted an ad looking to buy
an autographed copy of Lange's book.
Somebody hit?
Good news and bad news.
Got about 60 responses.
Obviously, most of them are fakes.
How much did you offer?
100,000. [laughs]
Figured you were good for it.
(Cassady) What about that one?
It says they can authenticate the signature.
You want me to write back?
Yeah.
Hey, tell 'em we gotta see the book in person
before we buy it.
I compared the signature to some of Lange's sports autographs.
Looked the same to me.
Where'd you get it?
Some dude contacted me through my website.
"Deathjunky.com."
Can't say I've heard of it.
Oh, I collect stuff, you know?
Related to serial killers, famous murders.
I get the idea.
Yeah, well,
I paid 4,000 bucks for the book.
That's like three Manson letters or a Gacy painting, easy.
I cracked it, by the way.
Reads like a real confession.
So I'm not getting the 100,000?
Uh, no.
And we can't give you the book back either, sorry.
Well, looks like Lange's telling the truth about something.
Who sold you this?
Here you go.
I paid the money into an online account to Gerald Stockwell.
This is the address he listed on the account.
Well, it's a different name on the buzzer.
Maybe a roommate?
How long you wanna wait?
My day's open.
[laughs]
Hey, man.
You live here?
You know Gerald Stockwell, 4B?
Oh, damn it.
Get your ass back here.
What?
What're you doing? Your hands.
Oh, what do you know, Gerald Stockwell.
Well, I don't money, okay?
I can't pay you right now, man.
Who do you think we are?
What, you're cops?
Homicide.
Homicide, what? I didn't do anything.
"I didn't do anything."
They always say that when they run.
Gerald Stockwell's the ghostwriter on Lange's book.
Serena Darby fired him after his first draft.
I hear firing writers was her hobby.
According to the assistant, Serena also promised
to publish his novel.
Two months ago, she backed out of the deal.
And that set him off?
That's a long lead up to murder.
Yeah, but then she wouldn't give it back.
Owned it, but refused to publish it.
So she killed his novel, he might've returned the favor.
The M.E. didn't find any foreign DNA under her nails.
But the blood spatter from the book he sold
leads right to Serena Darby.
Okay, let's see what he has to say about it.
Sit down, Jerry.
I swear to God, I didn't kill anybody.
Then why'd you run?
I borrowed some money from some people.
They've been after me.
I thought that's who you were.
Where were you the night Serena Darby was killed?
I'm home every night. Writing.
Alone?
Yeah, I was alone.
Where'd you get the book? What book?
J.P. Lange's,
with the autograph inside the cover.
The one you sold to the website.
It showed up on my doorstep.
I figured Serena messengered it to me.
Why'd he write "screw you" in the book?
'Cause he hates my guts.
He had Serena fire me off the project.
I thought it was one last dig
after the book blew up in his face.
Sounds pretty thin, Jerry.
I'm telling you the truth!
Sit your ass down!
Why'd you sell the book?
'Cause I needed to eat this month.
You needed money because Serena Darby
wouldn't publish your novel, then she wouldn't give it back.
I bet that set you off.
Yeah, but that doesn't mean that I killed her!
We found your fingerprints at the crime scene.
What?
You heard what I said. We found your fingerprints
at the crime scene where she was beaten to death.
You went to her apartment that night.
No, I didn't. Then explain these.
I--I do not know.
I went to her place a couple times to drop off revisions.
That's it.
We have your fingerprints at the crime scene.
And the victim's blood on the book you sold.
That book didn't just drop out of the sky.
Gerald!
You got one shot to be straight with us.
Yeah, and I'm telling you the truth.
You got the wrong guy.
All right, now you can stand up.
Gerald Stockwell, you're under arrest
for the murder of Serena Darby.
What?
You know, for a writer, you're a hell of an actor.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law.
You have the right to an attorney.
If you cannot afford one...
Docket number 84213. People v. Gerald Stockwell.
Charge is murder in the second degree.
I'll take your plea, Mr. Stockwell.
Not guilty.
The People ask for remand.
We request ROR, Your Honor.
How 'bout some middle ground, counselors?
Judge, they barely have a case against my client.
We can tie the defendant to the scene of the crime.
He broke into the victim's building
where he beat and strangled her to death.
Not exactly the type of fellow
we want running around, Ms. Bocanegra.
Your Honor, my client lacks the means
to make even the lowest bail.
Then it's easy.
We'll let him stay put.
I'm remanding the defendant.
(Bocanegra) If you had a better case, Jack,
you wouldn't be here.
I've proven harder cases with less.
We are here to listen.
Maybe Mr. Stockwell wants to share his side of the story.
I didn't kill Serena.
I swear.
As you've heard, my client maintains he's innocent.
He's a writer, he makes things up.
Well, he's not interested in a deal.
And I don't think he should plead.
He sold a book spattered with Serena Darby's blood
two days after her murder.
He knew where she lived
and doesn't have an alibi to say he didn't stop by.
Call it "opportunity and motive."
I told you, someone dropped that book at my door.
I don't believe this.
Taking some things into consideration,
if Mr. Stockwell went there that night
without the intention of committing murder,
but the argument escalated...
I think Man One, 15 years, is fair.
15?
Are you kidding?
The alternative with a conviction, Mr. Stockwell,
is 25 to life.
(McCoy) Quite a writer's retreat.
I don't think it took Tolstoy
half that long to crank out War and Peace.
Okay, so what if I knew something?
Something serious?
Maybe we could work things out if I told you?
Is there room here to trade, Jack?
Some.
I'd need to hear it.
I've got interviews I did for the book.
On one of 'em, Lange admits to killing his wife.
And not hypothetically "if he killed her."
The real thing.
A confession.
His voice, his words.
He can shout it from the Empire State Building.
He was acquitted.
I can't do anything about it, and it's no use to you.
Even if he bribed a juror to beat the charge?
Excuse me?
He told me off the record.
He said he bought his walk by bribing a juror.
Double jeopardy aside, Jack.
I can't believe you're not gonna touch this one.
Lange was your case.
Could there be anything to this bribery claim?
I'd like to think I didn't lose the trial completely on my own.
But nothing happened at the time
to cause you to think twice about the verdict?
We took some hits.
The defense insinuated that the detectives
on the case set him up.
I thought I addressed it in my closing, but then...
You don't know.
From what I remember reading,
the jury deadlocked three times, right?
Could mean someone was holding out.
(Branch) It doesn't take tampering to get the wrong verdict
out of a jury.
Well, let's say it turns out to be true.
What's our recourse?
Lange's protected by double jeopardy on the murder.
Even an acquittal based on fraud
wouldn't get past an appeal.
I'm not gonna let it go
if he cheated his way out the door.
Between jury tampering
and bribery, he could get solid prison time.
Where he belongs.
If you can make a case.
You might want to see
if the rest of Stockwell's story holds up too.
That someone framed him with the book?
We'll look into it.
(Todd Dawson) To this day, my brother calls me a friggin' idiot
for lettin' that guy off the hook.
Girl broke up with me once
'cause I told her I was on that jury.
Why did you think Lange was innocent?
What can I say, in hindsight we were obviously wrong.
Did anyone approach you about the trial
while you were being sequestered?
No way.
They had us locked down 24/7.
When we weren't stuck in that fleabag hotel,
they had us chained to the table in the jury room.
So what were deliberations like?
Ugh, misery.
Anyone in particular argue for an acquittal?
Yeah, there was one woman.
Lydia. She was a piece of work.
She was the holdout from the get-go.
Lydia Neville. Juror number seven.
Yeah, that's her.
Yeah, she was always coming back around
to the cops who investigated.
Insisted they planted evidence.
And then convinced everybody else it was true.
More like wore us down.
I mean, we were tired of being there.
Judge kept sending us back when we were deadlocked.
We were stuck in that room eight days.
I missed my kids.
Whether or not J.P. Lange killed his wife,
you people didn't prove it.
Simple as that.
Some of the other jurors I spoke with
said you persuaded them to acquit.
That's what a deliberation's about.
I read the trial transcripts, Lydia.
Saying the detectives planted evidence
is stretching the facts.
What's your point?
There's been an allegation that one of the jurors
at the trial was bribed.
Bribed?
And you think it was me?
According to the others,
you were the reason for the deadlock.
I don't remember it that way.
Really?
What I remember is Jack McCoy got his pants pulled down.
'Cause the detective practically admitted to framing Lange.
My fellow jurors agreed.
Look, I have a class to teach.
We're done.
I remember Lydia Neville.
Smart. PhD.
With the DNA evidence,
I figured she'd be an asset on the jury.
That PhD put her 75 grand in the hole with student loans,
which, by the way, she paid off shortly after the trial ended.
Did the money come from Lange?
I don't think so.
I spoke with Virgil Publishing's general counsel.
He recognized Lydia Neville's name.
Serena Darby?
From a book contract.
Drawn up when?
Well, her advance was paid after the trial ended.
But the lawyers drafted her contract
even before defense rested their case.
Anything to confirm she was acting on behalf of Lange?
Serena Darby already had a deal
in place with him.
If you think about it,
if he were convicted, what incentive would he have
to follow through with the book?
Son of Sam laws would've prevented any personal profit.
Darby had to get him a walk.
I want Ms. Neville picked up first thing in the morning.
Serena approached me about doing a book
after the trial ended.
She paid me the advance,
but the project fell apart after that.
Look, I didn't do anything wrong.
Don't lie to me, Ms. Neville.
Contracts in your name were drawn up
even before closing arguments.
I don't know anything about that.
Accepting a bribe is a D felony, Lydia.
Seven years in state prison.
We have more than enough to prosecute.
And I intend to do it.
Unless you tell me everything.
It was supposed to be a hung jury.
A mistrial.
Serena said if I was the lone hold-out,
I could have a best-selling book.
She talked big. I needed the money.
I didn't think that we would actually acquit him.
Did Lange know the fix was in?
Before the verdict, I don't know.
After the trial, yeah.
Did you have contact with him?
A couple of months ago, I sent him a letter.
I asked for money or I said I'd go public about the bribe.
You blackmailed Lange?
He was paid a lot for his book.
I didn't think it was fair. I have bills.
I risked a lot to help him out.
Did he pay you?
Some.
So I sent him another letter.
Right before Serena died.
Does he know who you are?
No.
No, the letters were sent anonymously.
I had him leave the money at a bus stop
so he wouldn't see me pick it up.
Only Serena knew my name.
(McCoy) We think Lange wanted
the name of the juror blackmailing him,
and Serena Darby refused to give it up.
They argued at dinner.
He confronted her when she went home.
It escalated to murder.
Why would she hold out on the name?
Both their necks were on the line.
My guess is she told him to pay the money.
And the affair?
There's no evidence they were having one.
Nothing in her date book.
Not even one email.
Well, you already have one guy sitting in Rikers
for her murder.
I think you oughta figure out who you wanna charge on this
and do it fast.
My bet's on Lange.
Okay.
Reassure me that this is not
colored by your history with him.
I want to convict him, Arthur.
It happens to coincide nicely with the fact that he's guilty.
Can you prove that he framed this other fella?
Gerald Stockwell lives in Flatbush.
Green and Cassady went back to his neighborhood
and did a full canvass.
Those are from the school surveillance camera
across the street from his building.
That is Lange the morning after Serena's murder.
Stockwell says the book with her blood on it
was dropped at his door.
I take it that Lange doesn't get out to Brooklyn that often.
I'm guessing no.
I think he's learned a few things
since the last time he killed someone.
Like how to manufacture reasonable doubt.
The good news is this time he won't have Serena Darby
to bribe a juror on his behalf.
Bribery, blackmail, and a patsy.
This guy Lange is a tabloid's dream.
Here he comes right now.
He's in there. He's in there on the other side.
[overlapping chatter]
Please move to the side.
Move to the side. Hands behind your back.
J.P., did you kill Serena Darby?
Are you guilty of this crime, J.P.?
Please, everybody, move to the side.
Move. Move. Move.
Mr. Carsley.
Mr. Carsley, is your client gonna fight these charges?
He's looking forward to clearing his name again.
Thank you. So you're saying there's no basis?
There's no foundation. There's no evidence.
This is a vendetta by ADA Jack McCoy against my client.
It's a personal vendetta.
Mr. Lange is absolutely, 100% not guilty.
Now if you'll excuse me.
There's no foundation. There's no evidence.
This is a vendetta by ADA Jack McCoy
against my client.
It's a personal vendetta.
Mr. Lange is absolutely, 100% not guilty.
Now if you'll excuse me.
Spin it hard, spin it early.
Carsley obviously called the press about the arrest.
And got the first shot across our bow.
Well, this isn't a vendetta.
Any missteps, Carsley won't have
any trouble making it look like one.
Most people have been dying to see J.P. Lange
back on the hot seat.
Yourself among them.
I know the difference
between vengeance and justice, Arthur.
We have a solid case.
Nobody wants to see that S.O.B. walk out of court again.
But if Carsley ropes you in to a personal fight,
he wins. [knocking at the door]
$2 million bail.
Lange posted an hour ago.
And his attorney didn't waste any time either.
What have we got?
Motion to exclude Lydia Neville's testimony.
(Carsley) It's totally irrelevant to the case at bar.
Mr. McCoy is alleging
that my client bribed Ms. Neville
in a trial which is legal ancient history.
It goes squarely to motive in the murder, Your Honor.
(Carsley) More like fabricating motive.
The People allege guilt in a case
for which my client was already acquitted.
Because they can't find any solid evidence in this one.
Stop grandstanding, Counselor.
I don't see any cameras in here.
I apologize, Judge.
I tend to get upset about overzealous D.A.s
with a score to settle.
We can prove that Serena Darby
paid Lydia Neville to secure a verdict
other than a conviction.
That bribery led to blackmail,
which led to Ms. Darby's murder by the defendant.
(Carsley) If the bribery allegation is not irrelevant,
it's certainly prejudicial.
And they can't connect any of it back to my client.
It's a question of who benefited from the scheme.
(Carsley) Ms. Darby certainly did.
And she acted without Mr. Lange's knowledge.
It's evidence the jury should weigh.
It goes to the foundation of the crime.
Now which murder does Mr. McCoy
want us to believe that he's talking about?
All right, enough.
I'll review the briefs.
You'll have my answer by the end of the day.
The bribery's out?
Along with any mention of the first trial.
Which means the contents of the book are also excluded,
I assume?
Anything to suggest that Lange got away with murder
the first time around is out.
Then you're gonna have a tough time
proving his motive in this one.
Every member of that jury knows about that book.
They think he's a killer already.
And when they convict him on bias alone,
don't be surprised when Judge Emerton sets aside the verdict
because you failed to meet your burden of proof.
The blood on Darby's copy
is still solid physical evidence.
It ties Lange to the crime.
After it changed hands three times.
We can tie him to the scene, show consciousness of guilt
in framing Stockwell.
And the defense will say that you declined to prosecute
the real killer just to get
a second bite of the apple with Lange.
Which isn't true.
But it's gonna look like it is.
Lange's the second person
that you've indicted for this murder, Jack.
You know it's gotta help him.
I'm not going to plead this out, Arthur.
Your case is falling apart.
I don't wanna see Lange
walk away from a murder again scot-free.
I want to see him do some real time.
And what's that?
Well, considering the state of things,
I think ten years would be a godsend.
And if this were any other case,
you'd agree with me.
But it's not, not for me.
Make the deal, Jack.
(McCoy) Mr. Lange pleads to Man One.
We'd recommend no more than 15 years.
Don't waste our time.
You don't have the leverage to offer half of that.
If it were up to me, we wouldn't be here at all.
Sure, Branch is forcing your hand
because he knows your case doesn't have a leg to stand on.
Any rookie attorney can throw
reasonable doubt at every shred
of evidence you got.
We didn't call this meeting looking for a critique.
No, you took stock.
This is the only option you've got.
Don't think your client began this trial
with a presumption of innocence, either.
Well, I'm not sure either of us
are making up a lot of ground in this trial so far.
Our offer's on the table.
Mr. Lange is willing to take an Alford plea.
For a reduced charge.
He'll do five years in prison.
No more than five years.
Plead no contest to the crime, with no admission of guilt?
I didn't kill Serena.
I'm not gonna say I did.
You're not a very good liar, Mr. Lange.
Even after four years of practice.
Any plea comes with a full allocution.
Hey, what do you wanna hear from me, McCoy?
That I killed my wife?
That I cut her throat?
That I gutted her?
I read your book, I heard it already.
Yeah, and you're pissed off you can't do anything about it.
Contrary to what your attorney says, Mr. Lange,
that's not why you're on trial here.
I'm not gonna say I killed Serena either.
(Carsley) Alford plea is still
justice served, Jack. It's win-win.
It's still 15 years too light.
Forget it, we'll finish the trial.
You know all that talk in the press about a vendetta?
It was just that, it was talk.
But I wasn't far off the mark, was I?
Show yourselves out.
Serena and I were having an affair.
I broke it off with her that night over dinner.
She wasn't happy about it.
Before I got up to leave,
I pulled the book out of her bag
and I wrote those words.
It was a stupid thing to do.
And I feel bad that things
were left that way before she died.
According to the prosecution,
you were in Flatbush the morning after her murder.
That's ridiculous. I've never been in Flatbush
in my entire life.
Then, um...
How do you explain this--
this photo?
It's payback, obviously.
You're saying that the police
and the district attorney
fabricated evidence
because they couldn't convict you last time.
Look, did anybody see me out there?
No.
I'm a pretty recognizable guy.
Did anybody see me at Serena's apartment that night?
Of course not.
'Cause I wasn't there.
Did you kill Serena Darby?
Absolutely not.
Thank you.
Mr. Stockwell is a convenient scapegoat.
He ghostwrites your book.
You give him credit for the murder you commit.
I didn't kill anybody.
Look, everybody knows why
you're accusing me of this, Mr. McCoy.
If you were having an affair with Serena Darby,
why isn't there any evidence of it?
Because Serena didn't want people to know about it.
Except for the night in question?
When she chose to have dinner with you
in a popular restaurant?
And you chose
a public place to break things off?
That's right.
So this relationship that you claim
you had with her,
this...grew out of working together?
Writing the book, yeah.
Would it be accurate to say that Ms. Darby knew you well?
As well as anybody, I guess.
And she never expressed concern
about having a relationship with you?
[scoffs]
Why would she?
Well, she was your publisher,
isn't that right?
For this.
There's nothing in that book
that she needed to be concerned about.
Really?
Don't you confess to the murder of your wife?
That's-- (Carsley) Objection.
(Judge) Approach.
You ruled on this, Your Honor.
Mr. McCoy, I made it clear that the content of that book
was out of bounds.
Mr. Lange opened the door.
He stepped in your trap.
Then I withdraw the question.
No, your cross-exam is over.
I want to redirect my client.
Fine. Step back.
(Carsley) Mr. Lange...
Mr. Lange, this book--
this book is purely a work of fiction, correct?
Yes, it is.
Absolutely.
(Carsley) Thank you.
The defense rests, Your Honor.
Your Honor, the People wish to call a rebuttal witness,
Gerald Stockwell.
That-- (Carsley) Chambers, Your Honor.
Let's go.
Your Honor, Mr. McCoy plans to impeach my client
on excluded material.
The defense chose to redirect
on the basis of that material.
The testimony given was patently false.
This is a dirty trick--
It goes to credibility, Your Honor.
Mr. Stockwell will testify that the defendant
made a willing confession to him
about killing his wife.
This doesn't matter.
You already ruled that the content
of that book is off limits during this trial.
It certainly didn't stop you
from going there with your question.
This was a deliberate set-up, Your Honor.
Mr. McCoy is just trying to find a way to say
that my client got away with his wife's murder.
Be that as it may, the People have a right
to impeach the witness based on his prior testimony.
Excuse me?
You heard me, Mr. Carsley.
A lie is a lie in my courtroom.
And saying that book is fiction,
I think your client just told a big one.
You can call Mr. Stockwell.
What was your involvement in the writing of this book?
(Stockwell) I was the ghostwriter on the project.
And what did that entail?
Extensive interviews with Mr. Lange.
Then I outlined and wrote a draft of the manuscript.
Was this book a work of fiction?
Absolutely not.
In these interviews, did Mr. Lange
discuss the murder of his wife?
Yes.
What did he say?
Quite a lot.
That's why I recorded our sessions.
(McCoy) Your Honor, at this time
the People would like to offer into evidence
a recording of one such interview.
Marked exhibit 18.
Objection, Your Honor.
These interviews are being taken out of context.
(McCoy) We can rebut
direct testimony of the defendant.
Who better to do that than the defendant himself?
I'll allow it.
(Stockwell on recording) You were angry?
(Lange) I was tired of the disrespect.
And she'd go out with her girlfriends
and act like some street whore.
I knew what she was doing.
(Stockwell) What set things off that night?
(Lange) I could tell she'd been
with someone before I showed up.
I called her on it and she just got...
you know, hysterical.
(Stockwell) Can you describe what happened?
(Lange) She lunged at me.
And I had the knife in my hand.
And...that was it.
(Stockwell) You cut her throat?
[Lange chuckles] I almost took her head off.
And all that blood, man...
Oh, you have no idea.
Don't look at me like that, Jerry.
You said you wanted to know what happened,
I ain't gonna lie to you.
I'm a free man.
I don't have to lie to anyone anymore.
Has the jury reached a verdict?
(woman) We have, Your Honor.
On the charge of Murder in the Second Degree,
for the killing of Serena Darby,
how do you find?
We find the defendant,
James Paul Lange,
guilty.
[judge bangs gavel]
It doesn't sound like Judge Emerton
was totally unsympathetic to your position.
Maybe not.
Or maybe I beat Lange at his own game.
Sounds like your taking this victory a tad personally.
Damn right, I am.
So what do you think,
did the jury convict Lange for the right murder?
(McCoy) That we'll probably never know.
Till one of them writes a book about it.