NARRATOR: 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, I'm missing 30 minutes of commercial-free hip-hop
brought to you by Groove Master Milo on Hot Mix 98.
Yeah. And I'm missing my beauty rest. Where's this Beemer?
It's up here somewhere. Yeah. But you know what?
It's Miss Poletti. That's too bad 'cause she rocks my world.
Yo! Right here! Right here. Over here.
So why you gotta tow her?
Does it look like I make the executive decisions here?
Papers say snatch it, I snatch it.
I hope she don't got no alarm on this thing.
Too early in the morning to be screwing with...
Hey, kid!
Yo!
DAVIS: Damn.
He was killed right here. Blunt force trauma to the skull.
There's some blood on the wall.
Somebody played handball with his head.
Game time was between 10:00 and midnight.
Did he have a car up here?
No. The attendant's a blank. Payson's checking the license plates.
No wallet, no car keys. Just this in his pants pocket.
Looks like Arabic.
Yesterday's date, 3:45.
We got JFK in English. 903 could be a flight number.
Somebody he knew just flew in.
Yeah. Just in time for the funeral.
Beside the flight info looks like someone's initials. "I.N."
Anyone on flight 903 yesterday with those initials?
903. Cairo, New York, LA. Let's see.
Four passengers. Two booked to Kennedy.
Booked? Do we know if they actually got off the plane?
My system won't show that.
What would?
U.S. Customs.
Every foreign national fills out a Customs Declaration.
Length of visit. Local address. Business or personal.
That's all it takes to get in?
Well, if he came in from Cairo, he'd need a visa.
Egypt's not on our waiver list.
So where do we get to see these visas?
No, no, no. The visa's stamped right on his passport.
You'd have to go to the State Department to see the back-up paperwork.
Ivar Nabib.
Age 3.
Ismael Nasser.
Age 54. He's at The Wellman on 57th.
In the country two days. Says his trip here is personal.
A bald man with an accent?
BRISCOE: You tell us.
Mr. Nasser checked out this morning.
So he booked two nights and left after one?
How'd he pay? Credit card.
We'll need his number. Profaci can tag his plastic.
Hey, you wanna turn that thing off?
I need to turn over the room. A group from Texas is checking in.
One of those Broadway tour packages.
Hey, until the Crime Scene Unit finishes with this room,
one of the Texans can tour the lobby.
Leave your machine, too.
Is that his bill? Yeah.
Nasser made three local calls last night. All to the same place.
MARIO: Mr. Moussad?
Guess Mr. Moussad doesn't do much entertaining.
Immigrants. Every penny goes back to the old country.
So, where does he send his pennies?
Joe told me he was from Egypt.
Joe, huh?
He lived here alone?
As far as I know.
He's been here six years. He keeps up his rent.
He's our DOA.
You know these people?
Well, that's Joe. I don't know the woman.
Everything's in Arabic. These look like invoices.
Here's a letterhead. Moussad Imports.
Yeah. He was running some kind of business out of here.
Two messages on the machine.
(WOMAN SPEAKING ARABIC)
Mean anything to you?
I barely passed English.
Listen, we're gonna post an officer at his door.
Anybody comes looking for him,
you give us a call, all right?
Hey, Lennie, check this out. Preferred money market account.
Six hundred grand.
That's a lot of pennies.
So much for the folks in the old country.
Who's she? The new community affairs liaison?
No. What do you have?
Come on, LT. What's up?
Better you hear it from me. She's my lawyer.
I was up for Captain. One Police Plaza passed me over.
You're suing the department?
Title VII.
They promoted a white woman with the same score on the exam.
I have the seniority.
Sorry we asked.
Right. Your turn.
Victim's name is Josef Moussad.
He's got a '96 Caddy registered with the DMV.
It's not in the garage. We put out a bulletin.
Somebody killed him for his car?
Maybe not.
Here's Moussad's bank records.
Six hundred grand, lots of activity.
Wires back and forth to the Middle East.
And one of the wires was to our mystery man, Nasser.
Plus trips to Cairo, Beirut, and Rome just this year.
So am I the only one here thinking the T-word?
Before we jump to conclusions,
contact Anti-Terrorism and the Feds.
See if Moussad or Nasser have a profile.
Was there anything political in his apartment?
Most of the papers are in Arabic.
Same with the answering machine tape.
Well, midtown north has a guy who's fluent.
I'll have them send him over.
(PHONE RINGS)
Van Buren. They're on their way. Forensics.
Looks like a geometry test.
The swab on that slide came from
the bathroom counter in Nasser's hotel room.
What is it?
Residue of sodium bicarbonate
suspended in an aqueous solution.
Hey, three airline meals, I'd be reaching for the Bromo, too.
Glad you're laughing.
Sodium bicarbonate can also be used as a stabilizing agent.
Home-made explosives?
You got it.
Thanks.
I'll alert ATF. Get everybody on the street.
A hit on Nasser's credit card.
He checked into The Markham an hour ago.
This Egyptian guy some kind of terrorist?
(SHUSHING) He's a professional surfer.
Nothing.
BRISCOE: Rodriguez, hit it.
Clear.
Clothes. This all he checked in with?
No. He had two bags. Where's the other one?
I don't know. He wouldn't let me near it.
What'd it look like? A satchel, and it was black.
Did you see him leave? I've been running around.
When he came in, he asked me about the Statue of Liberty.
He wanted to know how late the ferry ran.
I told him to see the concierge.
Rodriguez, call in a 10-45 to Battery Park.
Rapid deployment.
Make it a 47.
I've got 14 field trips over there this afternoon.
Tell your guy in the booth to stop selling tickets.
Tell him his boat just sprung a leak.
I'm not authorized to shut down.
Do it.
PROFACI: Got it. Got it.
Take that line.
Yeah.
Low key, all right?
Excuse me? Is this the ticket-holders line?
Yeah. It's... Over here, please.
Let go of me!
Police. Let's see what you got in the bag.
No! I'm an Egyptian citizen!
What's in the bag?
Let go before you hurt yourself.
No. There is nothing in here.
Look, it's...
BRISCOE: Medical equipment.
CURTIS: Where you going with this stuff, Mr. Nasser?
It's Dr. Nasser.
I'm not ignorant of your laws.
You are required to explain why you have detained me.
One of your countrymen is in the morgue.
He had your name and flight information in his pocket.
Has my representative from the Consulate arrived?
Traffic's murder at this hour.
I am running out of patience, Lieutenant.
He's on his way from central booking.
That's what you told me 20 minutes ago.
It's rush hour.
I'm about to make your life very unpleasant.
Josef Moussad was my friend. I came to New York to visit him.
Just to visit? With a medical bag?
He wanted me to examine him. He didn't like American doctors.
What was wrong with him?
His heart. He had a very bad heart.
Why did he wire you $5,000 last week?
Josef paid for my trip. He was a very generous man.
How did your generous friend come into so much money?
He was a businessman. He imported cotton from Egypt.
Now I must use the telephone.
CURTIS: Not yet.
We found traces of bicarbonate in your hotel.
People use that to make bombs.
And for upset stomach.
The food on the plane was very bad.
(KNOCKING AT DOOR)
Let's give these two a minute.
From what you've told me so far,
you can't even charge a misdemeanor.
Disorderly conduct.
These two were the ones that created the scene.
Dr. Nasser came 5,000 miles to make a house call.
Before he's here half a day, his patient turns up dead.
Then he switches hotels.
A felonious hotel check-out. Come on.
The Egyptian Consulate's all over us.
We let Nasser go back to Cairo, we'll never see him again.
(SIGHS) He came here to examine Mr. Moussad.
What kind of a visa does he have?
CURTIS: Tourist.
INS can detain him for violating his visa conditions.
It might not stick, but it'll keep him around for a while.
This is an outrage.
Dr. Nasser is not some peasant fleeing Cuba
with a Saint Christopher's medal and two goats.
VAN BUREN: I'm sure he's a respected member
of the medical community in Egypt,
but he'll have to be detained until his visa status is cleared up.
Are you suddenly a federal official, Lieutenant?
The INS is on their way over.
You can discuss Dr. Nasser's release with them.
Would you like some coffee, Doctor?
(WOMAN SPEAKING ARABIC ON TAPE)
First message sounds like a girlfriend.
"Hi, honey. Will you take me shopping tomorrow? Call me later."
That second message is a woman named Hamida.
"Hello, Josef. This is Hamida. Did Dr. Nasser arrive safely?"
"Call me to make arrangements."
No number?
I found a Hamida Wazir in his address book.
"Hamida Wazir. 555-0150. Apartment 3-B, 68 West 89th Street."
A block from the garage where Moussad was killed.
He's my brother.
CURTIS: When was the last time you saw him?
Tuesday night. Josef had dinner here with us.
BRISCOE: Who's us?
My daughter, her husband, my granddaughter.
What time did he leave?
I don't know.
I wasn't feeling well. I went to bed early.
A little after 10:00. What are all these questions about?
Mr. Moussad was killed Tuesday night.
A block from your apartment.
(MOANS)
What happened?
CURTIS: Well, we think he was on his way back to his car.
He must have just left your building.
BRISCOE: He had a friend visiting from Cairo, a Dr. Nasser.
You left a message for your brother about him.
Dr. Nasser was invited to dinner.
I called Josef to see if Dr. Nasser would join us.
Dr. Nasser made other plans.
He said he was going to examine your brother.
He had a bad heart?
Yes. That's right. His heart.
Did he have any business problems or personal problems?
Nari.
I don't know.
CURTIS: A girlfriend?
He was seeing a woman named Farrah.
She lives in his neighborhood.
(SOBBING)
She killed him. I'm sure of it.
His niece?
Or her husband. The American.
What makes you so sure, Ms. Patel?
Josef was very rich. The husband was always asking for money.
Josef would give him some, then more. It was never enough.
What about Josef's sister?
He gave her money, too.
Did he give you any money?
I don't care about money.
Where were you Tuesday night, Ms. Patel?
At my friend's.
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
Why don't you write it down for us?
What?
Your friend's name and address.
I solved the case for you already.
Moussad's car just turned up.
Guy in the 23 spotted it this morning.
There were a bunch of citations on the windshield.
When was the first one issued?
It was Wednesday morning.
The day after the murder.
The keys are under the driver's seat.
I'll send them over to Latents.
CURTIS: You pop the trunk yet?
Yeah, there's nothing.
I did find this behind the visor.
Columbus Avenue Garage. Time stamped in 8:24 p.m.
Night of the murder.
If this is still here, how'd the car get out without paying?
Yeah, it's one of ours. Supposed to give that in when you pay.
How'd it get out?
I don't know.
Nothing gets by me.
(SCOFFS)
Yeah. Well, either you're sleeping on the job
or the dead guy's car flew out of here.
No chance. Boss can't match up
the other half of the stub, I get docked.
Unless they used a key card to get out.
The monthlies get cards and they got their own gate upstairs.
You got a list of the monthlies?
Yeah.
Eric Martin, the niece's husband.
He's been parking there for two years.
Moussad's girlfriend says Martin was hocking the old man for money.
Can we find out which key cards were used that night?
No. The system's not that sophisticated.
It's just a magnetically activated lock.
Well, maybe Martin doesn't know that.
Bring him down for a chat.
Money. Why would I possibly care about Josef's money?
He had it, you didn't.
Sol killed him?
We heard you got downsized out of your copy editor job two years ago.
You moved in with your mother-in-law.
I freelance now.
You invited Moussad over that night
to ask him for some financial assistance.
We had him over for dinner.
And after dinner you followed him to the garage.
What's the matter, Eric?
You couldn't ask for a handout in front of your mother-in-law?
This is ludicrous. I never left my apartment.
Somebody got his car out of your garage without paying cash.
We checked the read-out at the garage.
Your card was used just after Uncle Josef got his head bashed in.
The magnetic card system?
You can't get a read-out from that thing.
How long will my husband be here?
It could be a while.
Where's my daughter?
She's having a soda outside.
How long have you been married?
Thirteen years. We met in Egypt.
My husband was writing a travel book.
He's published?
No. He couldn't find an agent.
Your uncle's girlfriend says Eric relied on him for money.
(SCOFFS)
That's not true.
But he could have used a little help that way?
That's why I took a job.
I'm a secretary.
Did your uncle have any other family?
Just me and my mother.
My father died six years ago.
Mmm-hmm.
Wait here a minute.
Are you the one in charge?
I'm in charge of the detectives.
Can you show me where to get another soda?
Sure. It's this way.
Did you want to tell me something, Alison?
Is my father going to jail?
Well, we need to find out the truth about what happened.
Can I talk to him? Not now, honey.
They had a big fight.
Who did?
My mother and Uncle Josef.
What kind of fight?
A big argument.
Uncle Josef was screaming at her.
What was your uncle screaming about?
They speak Arabic. I can't really understand anything.
Where was your dad?
Just watching.
And your grandmother?
Grandma went to bed right after dinner.
What happened after the argument?
Uncle Josef left.
He was real angry.
His face was all red.
Now, this is very important, Alison.
Did your father leave the apartment right after Uncle Josef?
Alison?
Uh-uh.
My mother did.
Alison knows I didn't leave the apartment.
That's not what she says.
I don't believe you. My daughter doesn't lie.
What have you done to her?
I'm not making this up, Mrs. Martin.
I didn't leave the apartment.
Neither did Eric.
I'd like to talk to my daughter.
What's the matter?
You and your wife didn't coach her on the party line?
Neither of us left the apartment.
BRISCOE: So your kid's lying?
Am I under arrest? CURTIS: No.
But that could change.
Is my wife under arrest?
Not at the moment.
Then I'm taking my family home.
(SIGHS)
All they had was the little girl's statement
that her mother went out after the victim.
She smashed his head against the wall for money?
The victim was sitting on a pile,
the Martins could use some of it.
Says here, he had fifty pounds on her.
His friend Dr. Nasser said he was in poor health and had a bad heart.
I didn't see anything in the autopsy
about poor health or a bad heart.
Who said he had a bad heart?
His friend.
His heart could've kept on pumping for another 30 years
if somebody hadn't crushed his head.
His friend is a cardiologist.
Dr. Nasser?
You sure he's even a doctor?
He had a medical bag.
What was in it? Voodoo dolls and sheep entrails?
Here's the inventory.
These are surgical instruments.
So he did heart surgery.
Maybe on mice, not on humans.
And one other thing.
No heart specialist goes anywhere
without nitroglycerin pills in his bag.
If you want to know Dr. Nasser's specialty, why don't you ask him?
Your INS is detaining him at 26, Federal Plaza.
He won't talk to me.
He told the police he was a cardiologist.
Yes, Ms. Ross, we have cardiologists in Cairo.
He lied about Mr. Moussad's condition,
and the instruments he had with him were all wrong.
And what do you want from me?
Your cooperation. I want to know what kind of doctor he is.
We're moving in a circle. The question has been answered.
If you'll excuse me, I have a meeting with the Consul General.
TOBAK: What is going on here? ROSS: Mr. Tobak.
Did you know you owe $36,000 in unpaid parking tickets?
And you have no authority to compel payment.
You have heard of diplomatic immunity?
You have it. Your car doesn't.
We can have it towed. And towed. And towed.
Mr. Tobak assured me we're now number one on his to-do list.
You make one heck of a meter maid.
The victim was in perfect health.
Now where does that put us with Mrs. Martin?
I have a hard time believing she had the strength to kill him.
Then why would her own child implicate her?
Good question.
Go talk to their neighbors.
Is it true the Martins killed that man?
I was told Alison helps you out with errands.
Yes. She's very trustworthy.
How does she get along with her mother?
Mrs. Martin keeps both eyes on her, I know that.
Hard to blame her.
Even in small things.
Alison bought this little makeup kit
and asked Kim Buckner across the hall
to show her how to use it all.
Her mother found out.
She wasn't happy. Oh, no.
She came right out and yelled at Ms. Buckner.
Called her a slut.
She is, but that's not the point.
Did you ever see Mrs. Martin with her uncle?
The one who was killed?
No. And I didn't see him that night, either.
Did you see either of the Martins?
I saw Mr. Martin. It was late, about 11:00.
He was coming up the steps and into the building.
I want my father here.
He can't be here.
That's why we asked Mr. Wheeler.
He's a lawyer. He can look out for you.
Now please answer my question, Alison.
What happened after your uncle left?
My mother went out.
How long was she gone?
I don't know. I went into my room.
Do you get along with your mother, Alison?
Sure.
Even though she won't let you wear makeup?
She says I'm too young.
Do you get mad at her when she's like that?
Sometimes.
Is that why you told the police
she left your apartment that night?
Because you were a little mad at her? No.
Your dad says your mom never left.
And you know Mrs. Newman?
She says your dad was the one who left.
Well, he didn't.
ROSS: How can you be so sure?
Because I was watching TV with him.
ROSS: Where? In the living room.
Did you just tell Mr. McCoy that you went into your room?
Alison, it's time you start telling us the truth.
Mrs. Newman was right, wasn't she?
It was your father who went out after your Uncle Josef.
Alison?
Yes.
(CRYING)
Half a million dollars bail is way out of my client's reach.
If you file for a bail reduction,
you'll have a fight on your hands.
I need to be with my family.
It's not gonna happen, Mr. Martin.
Now if you want to talk about a plea...
He's not interested if it keeps him in jail.
Is he kidding? We have a witness, his daughter's statements,
his fingerprints in the garage stairwell.
You don't get house arrest for murder for profit.
It had nothing to do with money. That bastard...
Eric.
If there's mitigation, we're here to listen.
I'll save it for the jury.
Whatever happened, my client had ample justification.
You're arguing self-defense?
Come to court. You'll find out.
Self-defense? The dead man imported cotton.
What did he attack Martin with, cotton balls?
There was no weapon at the scene.
I just talked to Moussad's accountant.
In his will, he put almost all his estate
in a trust for the Martins' daughter.
He says the Martins knew about the will.
So much for your motive.
And Mr. Tobak finally came through.
Dr. Nasser's resumé. Turns out he's an OB/GYN.
That's a few organs south of cardiology.
Impressive.
University of Cairo, Royal Academy of Medicine.
A six-week seminar at Lenox Hill in '95.
"New laser techniques in the removal of uterine fibroids."
Hard to believe the victim had uterine fibroids.
I'd like to know why Dr. Nasser lied to us.
Maybe for the same reason his friend got killed.
A Dr. Austin at Lenox Hill sponsored him for the seminar.
He'd read an article I wrote in The Lancet.
He called and asked me to sponsor him for the seminar.
So he's a reputable physician?
My wife and I went to Egypt in '96.
I called Dr. Nasser. He invited us to his clinic.
There were a few young girls in the waiting room,
too young to be needing OB/GYN.
Are you familiar with clitoridectomy, Ms. Ross?
The surgical removal of the external female genitalia.
I know what it is.
I thought I did, too.
Until I went to the Sudan in '94.
I was working with a relief organization in a refugee camp.
I heard horrible screaming, and went to see what was happening.
It was a girl, eight years old, naked,
covered in blood up to her chest.
Three women were holding her down.
A man was using a piece of broken glass on her.
What did you do?
Anesthesia, suturing, antibiotics.
I can still hear that scream in my head.
So you're saying Dr. Nasser...
Well, apparently,
female circumcision accounts for
a substantial part of his practice.
Now, I'm sure he uses a scalpel instead of broken glass,
but I still have a hard time reconciling it with the word "reputable."
ROSS: It's common in much of northern Africa,
the Middle East, parts of Asia.
The thought behind it is, if a woman can't experience sexual pleasure,
she'll remain a virgin until she marries and won't stray afterwards.
What is this, a religious practice?
No religion sanctions it. It's cultural.
And Mr. Moussad wanted the doctor
to do this to the Martin girl?
Moussad wired him $5,000, paid his way here.
The kindly uncle.
ROSS: It explains why the doctor lied.
The procedure violates State and Federal statutes.
The uncle was going to kidnap the girl,
take her to the doctor's hotel and have her...
Martin might've been afraid it would happen.
What might've happened doesn't justify homicide.
There was a plan in motion to butcher his daughter.
Well, was Moussad standing over her with a scalpel in his hand?
He might have had other recourse.
From what we know so far, it might have been premeditated.
A jury will look the other way.
If it gets that far, he'll have to convince them
there was imminent danger to his daughter.
He wouldn't have far to go to convince me.
We're not insensitive to your situation, Mr. Martin,
but I need a full account of what happened that night.
Where are we going with this?
If I'm convinced he acted under extreme emotional disturbance,
I can offer first degree manslaughter.
Twelve and a half-to-25?
Seven and a half-to-15.
I can't go to jail.
You killed a man.
So what happens to Alison?
ROSS: She's out of danger.
Moussad's dead, Dr. Nasser's in federal custody.
ERIC: Don't you get it? My mother-in-law wants this.
My wife is doing nothing to stop her.
Alison is not safe.
You could file for an order of protection.
CAHILL: We already have. It's temporary.
It's a piece of paper. They know it's against the law. They don't care.
You can file for divorce. You can petition for immediate custody.
What judge would grant custody to a man facing prison time?
I gave you your options.
If the grand jury indicts, all bets are off.
We don't like your options.
Mr. Martin wants to testify before the grand jury.
Martin wants a free ride.
He's hoping to convince the grand jury
to give him a pat on the head.
"I did a bad thing for a good reason." It's worked before.
It could work again if you go easy on Martin's cross.
What are you suggesting, Jamie?
Probation? For murder?
I don't know. What if the grand jury
asks for instructions on murder two?
I'll give it to them.
He better have a hell of a story to tell.
I'll need copies of both Martin's statements to the police for my cross.
They'll be on your desk first thing.
While you're wrestling with Eric Martin,
I'm gonna go see what I can do for his daughter.
The night this happened, I was supposed to go to a hockey game.
When I got home, Uncle Josef was there.
I found out he and Alison's grandmother had paid a doctor
to come from Egypt to do this operation.
They were going to cut out Alison's clitoris the next day.
I couldn't believe it.
We started screaming at each other.
They told me it wasn't any of my business,
that this was how things were done in their culture.
The worst part was, my wife just sat there.
She was just gonna let them do it.
Uncle Josef left even though nothing had been resolved.
I went out after him.
I knew where he parked.
He wouldn't listen to me.
He said it was his duty to see that Alison became a proper woman.
When I heard that, I just lost it.
I grabbed him and threw him down against the wall, hard.
I had to stop him.
It was either that or let him destroy
an important part of Alison's life.
My wife had this thing done to her when she was a little girl,
so I know about the effect.
She's always been too embarrassed to talk about it, even to me,
but I can tell.
She worries that
I'm not satisfied with our sex life,
and there is a sadness in her
that never really goes away.
Mr. Martin,
when you confronted Mr. Moussad,
did he have your daughter with him?
No.
She was at home, wasn't she,
in no immediate danger?
Yes.
When you heard what Mr. Moussad
and your wife's mother had in mind for Alison,
why didn't you go to the police?
I didn't know it was against the law.
I didn't know what my rights were.
Then why didn't you just take her to a safe place?
Where?
You don't know how determined they were.
So, when you followed Mr. Moussad, you intended to stop him
from harming Alison forever?
I don't know what was in my mind.
I had to make him understand
they were not going to mutilate my daughter.
(BELL RINGING)
True bill, first degree manslaughter.
Make sense to talk about a plea?
Can't do it, Jack.
My client's gotta go for broke.
Martin doesn't blink, we're going to trial.
Sometimes you don't get to wear the white hat.
Ms. Ross has filed a petition in family court
to have Alison Martin removed from her mother's custody.
Foster care?
Mr. Martin's parents. They're in their late 60s,
own a farm in Pennsylvania.
She's working pro bono on their behalf.
O'Hara. Who's her judge?
The one who gave those two kids back to their crackhead mother?
Who later beat one of them to death. Yes, that's O'Hara.
She's got her work cut out for her.
So do you.
I'm a professor of African Studies at Columbia University,
specializing in cultural rituals of Northern Africa,
including female circumcision.
Could you describe the procedure, please?
DR. ARMENTA: It varies.
At its mildest, a licensed surgeon, working in a hospital,
slices away the hood of the clitoris.
In other cases, Sierra Leone is a good example,
the mutilation is carried out in horrific fashion.
ROSS: Can you be more specific?
Your honor, we're not in Sierra Leone.
Well, I want to hear it. Go ahead, Doctor.
The girl is held down.
There's no anesthesia,
no sterile instruments,
nor is there any post-operative care.
The entire clitoris and surrounding tissue are removed.
And then the genital area is sewn together,
leaving a small hole for urination and menstruation.
Doctor, do you have any first-hand knowledge
of what this mother intended to do to her daughter?
No, sir.
Well, this whole thing sounds ridiculous to me.
We're in the United States.
All the little girl had to do was run to the police.
Your Honor, you can't expect an 11-year-old child
to defy her mother and grandmother.
JUDGE O'HARA: I see that every day, Ms. Ross,
children full of defiance, and worse.
And some of them are a lot younger than 11.
"In small, closed societies, order and harmony"
"are more important than individual desires or fulfillment."
"Promiscuity and infidelity are considered destructive forces."
"Female circumcision is seen as a stabilizing factor."
"When done humanely, there is no pain, no complications."
How's that for a counter argument?
This case is a piece of crap, Adam.
Then drop the charge. You have absolute prosecutorial discretion.
You know I can't do that. He killed somebody.
And somebody has to remind the public it's still wrong to do that.
I know.
I just don't like being the messenger in this case.
Look on the bright side.
You go to court, you lose, Eric Martin goes home,
you still made your point.
The public school in town is very good.
We've checked it out thoroughly.
Alison could transfer any time.
What other activities would be available to her?
MRS. MARTIN, SR.: There's hiking. We have a couple of horses.
There's a pool in town.
Why do you think Alison would be better off with you and your husband?
Well, we don't plan to mutilate her.
ZAKARIAN: How old are you and your husband?
MRS. MARTIN, SR.: I'm 67. Harry's 71.
Both of you are in good health?
Reasonably so.
Harry does chores every morning.
I do aerobic exercises and yoga.
Didn't your husband have an angioplasty eight months ago
to remove a 70% arterial blockage?
Yes. The blockage has not recurred.
And isn't it true, Mrs. Martin,
that you have a family history of Parkinson's Disease?
Yes. I don't have it.
But you might? ROSS: Your Honor,
she might get hit by a bus. It's irrelevant.
The age and health of these people are not irrelevant, Ms. Ross.
We're talking about who's best suited
to care for an active 11-year-old.
I look out for Alison. I make sure no harm comes to her.
ROSS: When you found out Alison had a boyfriend and was using makeup,
you were concerned, weren't you?
NARI: Yes, of course.
She's too young.
Like any good mother, you were worried
that she might become promiscuous?
Yes.
And you think Alison should remain a virgin until she marries?
Yes.
Is she aware of your concerns?
I have talked to her.
So, you rely on her good judgment.
You trust she'll listen to you.
Yes.
What about your mother? Does she trust your daughter's judgment?
My mother is from a different culture.
And she wanted Alison to have this operation?
Yes.
Did you object?
My mother says
it is the only way we can protect her
and the family honor.
Did your mother protect you when you were a little girl?
Yes.
When I was eight.
ROSS: In a hospital?
No.
Was anesthesia used?
No.
Did you want to have this done?
They don't ask the child.
Then somebody must've held you down.
Who did that?
My mother
and my aunt.
ROSS: And who performed the surgery?
A man in the village.
Did they explain to you that they were doing this
because they couldn't trust your judgment?
They said it was a passage into womanhood.
And this is what you were willing
to have done to your daughter?
Everything here,
the magazines, the television,
it's all sex.
Little girls dressing like prostitutes.
School girls having babies. Where are the parents?
I was afraid for her.
What gives you the right to tell us how to live?
What gives you the right to ignore the law?
And you pretend this is a free country.
Why don't we go in here?
In this country, your children turn out no better than animals.
In this country, you abuse a child, you risk the penalty.
This is not abuse. It is a family matter.
We are saving Alison. By maiming her?
Alison is none of your business.
You Americans think you are better and smarter than we are.
Mother, she is only trying to help Alison.
She is not helping. She will bring disgrace to our family.
This woman will never understand.
But you know it is true.
All I know is what I have lived with since I was eight years old.
How could you love me
and do this to me?
I wouldn't stake anything on Nari Martin's emotional state.
And Judge O'Hara is a real piece of work. He'd award custody to Medea.
When's he handing down his decision?
Tomorrow.
I have to set a trial date tomorrow.
Let's see if we can pull a rabbit out of the hat.
ROSS: You cede custody to Eric's parents, temporarily.
You plead guilty to manslaughter.
Six-to-12. It's a generous offer.
And while I'm in prison, Alison lives with my family.
I'm her mother.
You could still visit her, you could have a say in how she's raised.
I'm not sure I want my wife to have a say.
I promise.
I will never let this thing be done to Alison.
I don't want your mother near her.
You have to move
somewhere where she can't poison you.
Will you give up custody?
We can revisit the issue every six months.
Do I get a vote every six months?
Yes.
Then it's okay with me.
Mrs. Martin?
Can I visit her?
Supervised visits, yes.
I must be supervised with my own daughter?
Until we're all satisfied that she's safe with you, yes.
And if my husband didn't go to jail, would we be able to keep her?
I'm sorry, Mrs. Martin, this is the best we can offer.
Will you let her go?
And the plea?
I accept my responsibility.
It doesn't mean I wouldn't do it again, if I had to.
Rough day?
Hold your heads up.
You looked a 3,000-year-old abomination in the face
and you beat it back.
Only because we heard about it.
How many more out there we don't know about?
ADAM: Pick a number.