08x18 - Stalker

[bunniefuu]

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.

(g*n f*ring ON TV)

Honey, come to bed.
We have to get up early.

Shh! In a minute.

WOMAN: Help! Help!

(WOMAN SCREAMING)

(TV TURNS OFF)

WOMAN: Leave me alone!
Get away from me!

(WOMAN SCREAMING)

(LOUD THUDDING)

BENNETT: Found this gold
chain right here, broken.

Probably what caused the
ligature marks on her neck.

Lucky for her it broke.

So what did the paramedics
say about her chances?

I wasn't here
when they took her out.

You could call the hospital.
They took her to Hudson Terrace.

All I heard was her shouting for
somebody to leave her alone,

then she comes crashing
down the stairs.

I come right out, and I
don't see anybody up there.

How do I know
it wasn't you?

My wife was with me.
She's inside, you can ask her.

I will.
You hear anything?

All I heard was an army of cops, and
paramedics invading my building.

Thanks for your help.

Did she have a husband?
A boyfriend?

Not that I know of.

Do you know of anybody
else in the building

who might want to throw
her down the stairs?

(SIGHING) It's a small
building. I got six units.

Three of 'em got
old ladies in 'em,

one's the guy you just
talked to, and one's mine.

Anybody with you tonight?

Yeah, the shrew I married.

Now, if I was gonna toss
anybody down the stairs...

Yeah. Yeah. This is Mr. Golavski,
he owns the building.

He's bending over
backwards to cooperate.

Victim's in surgery, it'll be a
while till we can talk to her.

Can you let us
into her apartment?

Yeah. Sure.

How would somebody
get into this building?

With a key, or if
somebody buzzed them in.

This guy here was Johnny-on-the-spot.
He didn't see anybody.

So how did the
assailant get out?

The roof door's unlocked.

You can only
get out that door.

You wanna get back in,
you gotta have a key.

So all we have to do
is find the invisible man,

and see if he's got
roof tar on his shoes.

CURTIS: This her?
GOLAVSKI: Yeah.

Woman who looks like this
usually has a boyfriend.

What would I know? She just
moved in a couple weeks ago.

She work?

I don't rent to deadbeats.

She's a nurse,
St. Mark's Hospital.

Where'd she live before?

I don't know.

You could
check her application.

She didn't fill one out.

Oh! How much
did she grease you?

I own the building.
I can run it how I want.

You wanna know where she
was before, ask her.

I will, if she lives.

Close the door
when you leave.

Lennie, e-mail.

They're all
signed "Giovanni."

Phone sex has been replaced
by e-mail sex? Who knew?

People don't usually
print out their e-mail.

Is she out of danger yet?

Doctors say they won't know
till the swelling goes down.

The dates run from last
March to a few weeks ago.

Do we have any idea
who Giovanni is?

Well, she lodged complaints with her
online company when the e-mail started.

They say they're trying to
track him down, but no luck.

She's changed her e-mail
address half a dozen times.

The messages
just keep coming.

"Slip into your
blue satin nightgown

"and wait for me on your new
queen-sized Sleepeze mattress.

"Does it squeak
when your naked hips

"bounce up and down on
it while you're..." Ooh!

There's a blue satin
nightgown in her closet,

and her mattress is
a Sleepeze.

He knows what kind of toothpaste she
uses, soap, floor wax, you name it.

Yeah, and he's thought up
new uses for all of them.

It just gets more and
more intense as it goes.

Any real threats, like "I'm coming
to push you down the stairs"?

No.

Let's find out
who he is anyway.

Changing her e-mail address
didn't do any good,

but it wasn't until
she started getting

phone calls that she
moved the first time.

The first time?

She keeps having to move, and
the guy keeps finding her.

You know what he said
in his phone calls?

He told her to stop trying to
avoid him, or he'd k*ll her.

I told her to
go to the police.

And did she?

They said there was
nothing they could do.

We put her on
the day shift

so she wouldn't have
to be out at night.

She moved again,
he found her again.

He threatened to come here, and take
out as many people as he could.

When was that?

About two weeks ago.

Did he ever show up?

Well, nobody
sh*t up the place yet.

The administration took
some new security precautions.

Maybe he got scared off.

She have any idea
who he is?

Poor Andrea.

Having to look over your
shoulder all the time,

that's no way to live.

No, I don't know
a damn thing about her.

She wouldn't even leave a forwarding
address when she moved out of here.

What'd you do with
her security deposit?

Put my kid through Harvard.

So how long
was she here?

Three or four months.

Here's her mail
I couldn't forward.

The security
deposit's on top.

Anything else?
Maybe later.

Hey, check
the return address.

"Detective Lloyd Fraker,
NYPD, 31st precinct."

He tried to k*ll her.
Man! She okay?

CURTIS: Don't know yet.

So I guess that guy
at Rikers got out.

At least you know
who to hang it on, right?

What guy at Rikers?

We talking about the
same thing?

Andrea Blake,
cyber-stalker, inmate.

We're with you
on the first two.

Okay, she comes by
a while ago,

shows me a stack of e-mail from
some creep who calls himself

Casanova, or Don Juan,
or something like that.

She got this letter that really
spooked the hell out of her.

What letter?

Told her I was sorry, there
was nothing I could do.

What did you
write to her about?

I was just following up, seeing
if she had any new info.

"This is to inform you that Peter
Morgan, an inmate at Rikers Island,

"filed a request with the Board of
Elections for your current address.

"The Freedom of Information Act requires
that we comply with such requests.

"Accordingly, we have provided
Mr. Morgan with your address."

Is this a great
country or what?

Did you talk to this
guy at Rikers? Morgan?

Hey, I got a load of real cases.

I told her she might want
to think about moving again,

and this time,
don't register to vote.

What about it?

BRISCOE: Why did you want
Andrea Blake's current address?

Guy named Lowery asked me to
sign some letter he'd written.

This looks like it.

You're an accommodating
fellow, aren't you?

For a carton of cigarettes
in this hellhole,

I'd accommodate Mike Tyson.

Is Lowery still here?

Got out early last week.

So why'd
he want her address?

I didn't ask him,
'cause I didn't care.

Hi. Can you tell us
where Russell Lowery is?

If you'll settle for a guess,
the Night Crawler.

It's a bar down the
street, toward Amsterdam.

You can't miss it.

Oh, when you find him, could you
send him back wherever he came from?

Why is that?

(SIGHING) I went
out with him once.

The man's an octopus with, like,
zero grasp of what "no" means.

Now he won't
leave me alone.

You know off-hand
if he owns a computer?

He used to. He put a notice up
downstairs trying to sell it.

You know why he wanted
to get rid of it?

Said he was gonna be gone
for a while. Some cruise.

Yeah, around
Rikers Island.

Sometimes when you meet a woman,
you just know immediately.

It's karma, fate, destiny.

Far as we can tell, it's pretty
much every woman you see.

(CHUCKLING) I like
to spread my bounty.

Andrea Blake.

Karma. We met at a bar,
we clicked.

When was that?

I don't know.
Three, four months ago.

Someplace on Eighth Avenue,
I don't remember the name.

She gave me her number.

Then why did you need the
Freedom of Information Act

to track her down?

Wrong number.

She must've accidentally
transposed some of the digits.

Yeah. Being with you
probably made her dizzy.

I have that
effect on women.

It's a gift.

So why did you have somebody
else sign the letter?

Pete. I felt sorry for him.

I figured this was a way
I could slip him some smokes

without hurting
his pride, you know?

You ever live in the same
building as Andrea Blake?

No. I'd have noticed her.

YOU got a job?

Used to.

Free Radicals. It's this
club teenagers go to,

slam into each other.
They call it dancing.

I stamped their hands when they went in.
Got fired when I got busted.

How about before that?

Before that, I was
living in Pennsylvania.

So what'd you do about Andrea
Blake when you got out of Rikers?

You went to the address you got
from the Board of Elections?

I was going to,
but I met somebody else.

Really? You went to all that trouble
to find her, then you just dropped it?

I have a very
short attention span.

There, it's in the e-mail.

"I like to spread my bounty, and
that's not all I like to spread."

Know a judge who'll issue a
search warrant based on this?

Well, that's
why we called you.

We want to hang onto him
while we investigate.

What makes you think
it's him?

Well, he went to a lot of trouble
to track down the victim,

and he recently got
rid of his computer.

But the guy who bought it installed
an eight-gig hard drive,

threw out the old one. No way
to trace what Lowery did.

It's not a crime
to sell a computer.

What was Lowery in Rikers for?

Raging hormones.

He grabbed
a woman on Riverside.

Wouldn't let go of her arm while he
told her what he wanted to do to her.

Well, the judge
released him conditionally.

If he screws up,
he goes back to Rikers.

This woman who
lives in his building?

What, the one who
called him the octopus?

If you can get her to make
a harassment complaint...

She seemed pretty interested
in getting rid of him.

Probably won't hold,
but it's worth a try.

(PHONE RINGING)

Van Buren.

Okay, thanks.
My men are on their way.

The victim's awake. Take
Lowery's mug sh*t with you.

I went out to throw my
garbage down the chute,

and somebody
grabbed me from behind.

We didn't find any garbage.

I'm... I'm sorry, I...

It was after
I dumped the garbage,

and I was on my way
back to my apartment.

Did he say anything?

I don't remember the
exact words.

He said that
he was Giovanni.

(SOBBING) See, last year I
started getting this e-mail...

We found it.

Anyway, he started saying
what he was going to do to me,

like in the e-mail.

And I screamed, and I struggled,
and I shouted, and...

Anyway, I guess he got mad, and
he threw me down the stairs.

How do you think Giovanni
knew all about you?

What soap you use,
stuff like that?

I don't know.

It's like somebody was
watching me all the time.

And you don't know
what it's like.

You don't know
who it is like,

is it a neighbor, is it
somebody you work with?

This guy says he met you in a bar
on Eighth Avenue a few months ago.

I don't go to bars.

BRISCOE: Not ever?

I don't like the
atmosphere. Why go?

You make it sound like my
daughter did something wrong.

No, no.
We have to check.

BLAKE: How can
this be Giovanni?

I don't know this man, how
can he know so much about me?

Okay, if it's not him,
who's your candidate?

You have no idea how much
time I have spent on this,

and the only name that I have
ever been able to come up with

was Louis Dutton.

Who is he?

He lived in my building where I was
when the e-mail first started.

CURTIS: Why him?

I would be at the supermarket,
and he'd be there.

I would be at
the dry cleaner,

and he would be in
line right behind me.

Did you tell
Detective Fraker about him?

He said that
he would look into it,

but I never
heard anything.

I mean, first the e-mail,
and now the phone calls,

and now he tries to k*ll me.
Please help me.

Please, make him stop!

Let me know if we can reciprocate.
Thanks.

Philadelphia PD says
Lowery was incarcerated

at the Rawling Correctional
Facility in Brownsville

from January to
September of last year.

What for?
Computer fraud.

He was hacking into people's bank
accounts, and helping himself.

So he knows
how to send e-mail.

Cons got computers?

The officer I spoke to didn't
know, but said he doubted it.

Rawling is a private
prison run for profit.

What'd you do with Lowery?

He's back at Rikers on a harassment
complaint from one of his neighbors.

Any other suspects?
One.

Louis Dutton. No record.

Find out if we want
to change that.

Louis Dutton?
Yeah.

We're investigating
a complaint.

Where were you two nights ago
around 1:00 a.m.?

First, unless you can connect me with
the objective of your investigation,

you have no right to
question my whereabouts.

Oh, good, a constitutional scholar.
Do you know Andrea Blake?

And second,
I'm under no obligation

to answer your questions
under any circumstances.

Maybe he'd like to repeat all
this down at the precinct.

Third, I'm not going
anywhere with you

unless you arrest me, and I'm waiting
to hear what the charge would be.

That's a nice camera
you got in there.

What size lens is
that, 500 millimeter?

And a scenic view.

BRISCOE: Yeah. You get a nice
close-up of the pigeon crap

on the windowsill
across the way.

Or the person who lives
in that apartment.

You're wasting my time.

And here's a tip,
you're wasting yours, too.

SEBASTIAN: Yeah,
I remember Andrea Blake.

Nice lady, friendly,
good tipper.

Which apartment she live in?
WOMAN: Sebastian.

TH-.

7H? Would that be across the
airshaft from Louis Dutton in TB?

Yeah.
Who's in there now?

A 19-year-old girl
from Toadsuck, Arkansas,

who thinks she's gonna
be the new Betty Buckley.

Yeah, I'm not making that up.
Toadsuck, Arkansas.

You know if Dutton has his
own darkroom equipment?

I don't know. He gets a lot
of mail from a photo lab.

Yeah. You remember
the name of the place?

Sure. Imagine Photo Lab. I
think it's on Third Avenue.

Who processes these?
The guys in the back.

Didn't anybody think
to notify the police?

I know it looks like he's
invading people's privacy...

Looks like?

These people obviously have no
idea they're being photographed.

Nude women in their own apartments,
sh*ts up women's dresses.

No, no. He always sends signed
releases with the film.

We keep 'em on file.

(CHUCKLES)

Did you ever notice the handwriting's
the same on all these signatures?

What does he
do with these?

Look up this address

on the net.

PROFACI: This guy takes
pictures of naked women.

They don't know he's doing it, and
this is what he does with them?

CURTIS: He puts himself in the
pictures, and has virtual sex.

Is that him?
Yeah.

He should keep
his clothes on.

Candid Camera
for the '90s?

Louis Dutton's website.

(SCOFFS) Who's the girl?

The new Betty Buckley.

That's the apartment Andrea Blake
lived in when the e-mail started.

Dutton live there at the time?
Yep.

In this one picture,
I can see a box of Wheaties,

a can of Pledge,
a Dominos pizza box.

Yeah. You look through
that window long enough,

you'll see everything she owns,
and every brand name she uses.

Mmm. Get a search warrant.

And tell the new Betty
Buckley to close her blinds.

CURTIS: We're seizing
your computer, your camera,

and 16 rolls of exposed,
but unprocessed film.

This is a clear violation
of the Fourth Amendment.

Yeah. Well, the judge
didn't think so.

Rey. You got a lot of pictures
of Andrea Blake here.

But she's got her clothes
on in all of them.

Must've been quite
a disappointment, huh?

CURTIS: And
we're arresting you.

Now, I know
you're a stickler, so,

violation of penal law
235.21, and 240.20 sub 7,

that's disseminating
indecent material to minors,

and creating a physically
offensive condition by any act

which serves no
legitimate purpose.

240.20 sub 7 is
unconstitutionally vague,

and will never
survive an appeal.

You probably already know you
have the right to remain silent.

Why don't you use it?

The last I heard, bad
taste is not a crime.

If it was, Louis
here would be facing life.

It's bad enough I have to listen to
these Neanderthals denigrate my art,

don't you do it, too.

Bouncing breasts are art?

Troglodyte.

Where were you at
1:00 a.m. last Saturday?

What does that have
to do with the charge?

We're investigating
him for attempted m*rder.

They're railroading me.

They're desperate
to shut down my website.

Don't say anything.

Give me some details.

Well, somebody shoved Andrea
Blake down a flight of stairs.

Where were you
last Saturday night?

Does the name Giovanni
mean anything to you?

You have no right to pry
into any area of my life.

Look, we have
your computer.

If there's any evidence on the
hard drive, we're gonna find it.

Evidence of what? I have no
idea what you're talking about.

You're fishing.
End of discussion.

You can make bail after the arraignment.
And keep your mouth shut.

Mr. Sanchez is leaving.

Mr. Dutton will be
enjoying our hospitality.

(SIGHING) Maybe we could
take a picture of Dutton

over to Miss Blake's
current address.

See if anybody noticed
him hanging around.

Is there one of him
with his clothes on?

I vote for a mug sh*t.

You ever see this
guy hanging around?

If I say I've seen
him, will you leave me

and my building
out of this mess?

You're a real ray of
sunshine, aren't you?

You guys have brought
me nothing but trouble.

Now I got to fumigate. I never
seen so many cockroaches.

Well, you run a roach
motel, that's your problem.

You seen this guy or not?

I run a clean building.

It's that girl,
that Andrea Blake.

It's her stinking, rotten garbage
sitting there the whole time

with the heat on
while she was gone.

She's back?

Her and her roach colony.

I never seen this guy.

She told us
she took her garbage out.

I don't understand why
you had me come down here.

You're just asking me more
questions about Louis Dutton.

We're trying to find out if
he's linked to the e-mail

you say
somebody sent you.

I say?

What's this all about?

Well, you told us
you took out the garbage

the night you were
att*cked, right?

I took out half of it.

There's only one trash
can in your kitchen.

You let your
garbage pile up?

Sometimes.

Your place is so clean
you could eat off the floor.

Miss Blake,
you're a nurse, right?

So you know about
people coming in

with phony ailments,
looking for attention.

Oh, God,
you don't believe me.

We get the same
thing sometimes.

People making up stories
about being victimized,

confessing to crimes
they didn't commit,

saying they witnessed
an incident they didn't.

This is a nightmare.
He is real.

He tormented me with the
phone calls and the e-mail.

He tried to k*ll me.
You have to listen.

Miss Blake, there's
absolutely no evidence

that anybody pushed
you down those stairs.

Now, we think you started
getting e-mail that scared you.

You went to the police,

they told you they couldn't do anything
until there was a crime committed,

so you faked a crime.

He's real.

You threw yourself down
those stairs, didn't you?

He is out there. Please!

Look, we really do want to help you,
but you got to tell us the truth.

The truth is he tried to k*ll me!
I am dead unless you help me!

And you don't even
believe that I need help.

We believe you
about the e-mail.

If it was Dutton,
he won't be doing it again.

He's going to k*ll me.

Look, these guys that hide
behind computer screens,

they usually
aren't even dangerous.

It's like
obscene phone calls.

Your guy'd probably faint if he had
to be in the same room with you.

So she filed
a false police report.

Yeah. But we don't
want to charge her.

How do you want to proceed on those
other charges against Dutton?

Should we spring him?
No. Leave him where he is.

What about the other one, Lowery?
The octopus.

Oh, he's out. The judge took one
look at our charge and released him.

Miss Ross?

The hospital where
Miss Blake works...

Thanks. I got a request from their
attorney for the police report,

and the disposition
on the alleged att*ck.

Why?

She cost them a lot of
money in added security.

If she made the story up, they'll
probably sue her to recover their costs.

And fire her.

Would that surprise you?

What's the guy's name?
Her lawyer?

I'll take care of it. Thanks.

BRISCOE: So I asked 'em,
"Was it the same old problem?"

They said, "Yeah, he wanted
to have sex twice a day,

"she wanted to have it
twice a year."

So what'd you do?

I wrote 'em
a summons which said,

"You must have sex once a
week, and only once a week."

And they bought it?

BRISCOE: Yeah.
I'm the police!

(ALL CHUCKLING)

Beaten and stabbed,
broken neck.

At least she can't
say "I told you so."

(SIGHS)

BLAKE: (ON TAPE) It's Giovanni!
It's the man in the picture!

OPERATOR:
Ma'am, can you hear me?

He's on the fire escape!
(GLASS SHATTERING)

Oh, my God!
He's coming in!

Ma'am, can you get
out of the apartment?

Please help me!
Get away from me!

(BLAKE SCREAMING)

What does she mean,
"The man in the picture"?

We showed her
Lowery's mug sh*t.

ROSS: What about Dutton?

She knew him, she would've
just said, "It's Dutton."

We checked on him anyway.
He's still at Rikers.

This is all we have?

Let's get a search warrant
for Lowery's apartment.

Try Judge Livingston,
he has lower standards.

How did you get this?

You got nothing to connect me
to the m*rder, I didn't do it.

You better hope so, 'cause
if I find out you did,

I'm gonna push your face
through the back of your head.

You heard that.

Say what? You'll
have to speak up.

You'll see
I like classical music.

I'm particularly fond
of Mozart.

Hey, Lennie,
look at this, and this.

How many recordings of
Don Giovanni do you own?

All but two.
I don't think it's a crime.

Briscoe and Curtis searched
Lowery's apartment.

They found 25 recordings
of Don Giovanni.

They deduced
he's an opera fan.

That's helpful.

Have you read the file?
Yeah.

Lowery was in prison in Pennsylvania
when the e-mail started.

If he's Giovanni then he must've
had access to an online computer.

Have they checked that out?
No.

How sure are they
about Lowery?

They dropped the ball,
somebody got k*lled.

They're sure,
and they want him.

Send them
to Pennsylvania.

Our philosophy is, you keep 'em
busy, they won't make any trouble.

Lowery was one
of our best workers.

Doing what?
(DOOR BUZZING)

Well, we have contracts
with several companies.

Lowery worked for Homebody.

What's Homebody?

It's a catalog company.

These men are taking
orders from customers.

Can they send e-mail
from these computers?

No. Only the supervisor.

(INMATES CHATTERING)

WILSON: I'm not a prisoner.
I work for Homebody.

We specialize in mid-range
home furnishings.

Your callers know they're
talking to prisoners?

Computers are set up so the worker
never sees the information.

He's inputting
your credit card number,

but all he's seeing
is a row of X's.

I knew one con could memorize 70
digits from hearing 'em once.

We screen them carefully
before we hire them.

Russell Lowery, he an example
of your careful screening?

A hacker who's in prison
for computer crime.

Russell Lowery?
Ring a bell?

Sure, I think I remember him.

You let him use your
computer, didn't you?

How'd you work it?

Did he tell you that?
He's a liar.

He's a better liar
than you are.

I have the only key. Nobody
gets in here but me.

I ordered a desk for Katie
from Homebody last year.

I gave my name, address, phone, and
credit card numbers to a convict?

Yeah. The prisoners
make $350 an hour.

They get to
keep half of it.

The rest goes into a
victim's restitution fund.

Now, we don't know how much the
prison makes out of the contract,

nobody will tell us.

But we went back over
Andrea Blake's records.

Now, she ordered an end table from Homebody,
about a month before the e-mail started.

She calls to order some
stuff, she gets Lowery.

She used to be
outgoing, friendly.

They chat, she triggers
something in him.

Once he had her
credit card number,

he could find out anything
he wanted to know about her.

CURTIS: He logs
onto the Internet.

BRISCOE: You let your
fingers do the stalking.

The databases give
him e-mail address,

social security number,
bank accounts, credit report,

everything she
ever ordered by phone.

Yeah. But who orders toothpaste
and soap over the phone?

I mean, this guy knew what brand
of frozen waffles she ate.

She had a supermarket
discount card.

You mean every time they scan my
discount card at the market...

Everything you buy goes into
their computer under your name.

Even if they don't sell the data to
other companies, a hacker can find it.

Like Lowery did.

We're getting
ahead of ourselves here.

We haven't tied
him to Andrea Blake.

The only way we can do
that is this supervisor

who says Lowery
never used his computer.

He was lying.

All right.

Let's see if we can prove
any of this.

Get a subpoena for Homebody's
Pennsylvania phone records,

and a subpoena
for this supervisor.

And arrest Russell Lowery.

Not guilty.

Your Honor,
the case against Mr. Lowery

is a figment of the District
Attorney's imagination.

Then the trial should be
mercifully short, Counselor.

Miss Ross,
People on bail?

The People request the defendant
be remanded without bail.

Your Honor, the prosecution's entire case
is based on my client's love of opera.

Our case is, he stalked
and k*lled the victim.

Given the seriousness of
the charge, bail is denied.

The defendant is remanded.
Next case.

BAILIFF: "Docket
number 026797..."

I hope we have more than
Mozart to take to trial.

The Brownsville D.A.
issue the subpoenas yet?

The prison's the big
employer in the area.

The D.A.'s
giving me the runaround.

I've got nothing
to thr*aten them with.

The catalog company's
based here. thr*aten them.

This is up to the local authorities
in Brownsville, Miss Ross.

And Mr. Wilson is
a free individual,

I can't force
him to do anything.

I'm sure you must
have some influence.

How do you think
the public would react

if they found out they were giving their
credit card numbers to criminals?

Every precaution is taken.

The arrangement actually
benefits the customers

by keeping
the costs down.

And the prisoners
learn a marketable skill.

And you don't care that your
policies have resulted in a m*rder?

No. I see no reason
to think that's true.

You may change your mind when you're
facing charges of obstruction of justice.

If you think you can
make that stick.

I don't think I can.

But I do know how this will play
out on the Six O'Clock News.

I like talking to reporters.

They're so eager.

I'll bring your proposal to
the attention of my superiors.

Who makes the best workers?
Murderers? Rapists?

Child molesters?

(DOOR CLOSING)

I told the police
I have the only key.

I can't help your case. Why
would you want me to testify?

The police don't believe you.

Neither do I.

If you had given
your key to an inmate,

would you lose your job?

(SCOFFS)
Of course I would.

So you're between a rock and a
hard place here, aren't you?

I would be if I'd
given anybody the key.

Are you aware somebody
used your computer

to send obscene
and harassing e-mail

to a young woman who was
subsequently m*rder*d?

That's what I was told.

Where were you on the night of February 2nd?
That was a Friday.

At my cabin
in the Poconos.

Alone?

Yes.
Did anybody see you?

You're making it sound
like I k*lled her.

The phone records prove the e-mail
was sent from your computer.

I guess so.

Well, if you're the only one
with access to the computer,

then you must've sent
the e-mail.

I'm ready to
amend the indictment

against Mr. Lowery to include you as an
accomplice, unless you tell me the truth.

Did Russell Lowery have access to
your computer at Rawling prison?

Mr. Wilson?

Yeah.

Should we tell Homebody Wilson's been
siphoning money from the company?

Lowery found evidence, and
used it to blackmail Wilson.

Poetic justice.

The defense is moving
to suppress the 911 tape.

BLAKE: (ON TAPE)
Get away from me!

(BLAKE SCREAMING)

The victim,
in a state of panic,

is describing a man
breaking into her apartment.

She identifies the intruder
as "Giovanni."

And you're seeking to introduce
this as an identification

of the defendant, Mr. Lowery?

Yes, sir. Miss Blake had previously
seen Mr. Lowery's mug sh*t.

The police believed that he was the
Giovanni who was stalking her.

So what if the police
believed it?

Miss Blake couldn't ID
the photo.

The police never told Miss Blake the
real name of the man in the picture.

To her he was Giovanni.

So when she identified
her m*rder*r by that name,

it was as if she had said,
"Russell Lowery is k*lling me."

The problem is
the tape is hearsay.

This is a clear exception
to the hearsay rule.

Her statements are admissible
as excited utterances.

This does seem to be an
exception, Mr. Minetti.

The victim had no
earthly reason to lie.

I see no bar to
admitting the tape.

Mr. McCoy is leaving out
one salient point, sir.

Two weeks
before she d*ed,

Miss Blake fabricated
an att*ck on herself,

and told the police
that Giovanni did it.

Is that true, Mr. McCoy?

The police reports are
attached to my papers, Judge.

She threw herself
down a flight of stairs?

And she destroyed her own veracity
by making the false accusation.

The police concluded
that she was desperate.

No one would take
her plight seriously.

Everywhere
she turned for help,

she was sent away with a pat on the
head and a "Don't worry about it."

But she falsely
accused Mr. Lowery?

She didn't know Mr. Lowery.

She accused Giovanni.

It was only later that she
was able to link the two,

as she clearly
did on the 911 tape,

at a time when, as Your Honor says,
she had no earthly reason to lie.

Unfortunately, Mr. McCoy,
the young woman is not here

to clarify
her state of mind.

All we know is,
she lied once,

so we can no longer make a
presumption of credibility.

The tape
is inadmissible.

MINETTI: Thank you, Judge.

I don't understand.

It's a technicality,
Mrs. Blake.

The accused has the right
to cross-examine his accuser,

and in this case, he can't.

Do you hear yourself?

This person gets away with k*lling
my daughter because he k*lled her.

They really brainwash you people
in law school, don't they?

The protections
are there for everyone.

Sometimes it makes it harder
for us to get a conviction.

Andrea worked with
Nurses Without Borders.

She worked on
her vacations,

she worked to save children
all around the world.

But you don't give a
damn about that, do you?

All you care about is
protecting the so-called rights

of a maniac
who k*lled her.

(SIGHING)

Why didn't anybody
protect her rights?

We're not giving up,
Mrs. Blake.

If you can't use the
only evidence you have,

what exactly
are you planning to do?

I don't disagree with her.

Sometimes we're so intent
on a grain of sand,

we lose sight of the beach.

Without the 911 tape,
can you convince a jury

that Lowery was the man
coming through the window?

There was no skin
under her fingernails,

and nobody's blood
but hers at the scene.

Whatever he did with
his clothes and the Kn*fe,

the police
haven't found them.

We can prove he's Giovanni, he's the
cyber-stalker, that's about it.

The tape was the only
piece of evidence

which identified
Lowery as the k*ller.

Without the connection,
there is no case.

I hear some judge
threw out the tape.

We're waiting for the
other shoe to drop.

Which is?

Motion to dismiss.
Which we're gonna lose.

The tape's out 'cause she
lied about the first att*ck?

Yes.

I don't think she lied.

I think the guy pushed
her down the stairs.

Did it occur to you
to mention this sooner?

I didn't know there
was gonna be a problem.

Do you have anything besides
an opinion based on hindsight?

BRISCOE: Twenty-eight
years experience.

Why'd you change your mind?

You saw the crime scene photos
and you have to ask me that?

We made a mistake
and she paid for it.

You understand
the implications?

Yeah, the defense
has a police report

that says the opposite
of what I'm saying.

Minetti will tear you to shreds
on the stand, I can't stop it.

I can make the case.

Under oath?

You set it up.
I'll be there.

We're indicting Lowery
for attempted m*rder.

For the incident on
the stairs?

I'm not sending Briscoe
to the lions without backup.

What about
the police report?

You heard the man.

The police made a mistake.

And there were injuries other
than the ones from the fall.

Miss Blake's neck was scratched,
bleeding from where she'd been choked.

Is there anything else to support
your conclusion, Detective?

The gold necklace used to
choke her was totally m*nled.

Now, if you were gonna
do that to yourself,

you'd use a piece of
cheap costume jewelry,

not something
that costs 300 bucks.

My goodness, isn't this convenient
for the prosecution's case?

How am I supposed to
answer that?

Why don't you give us your
opinion, Detective Briscoe?

That seems to be
all you have to offer.

Can we have less sarcasm, and
more elucidation, Mr. Minetti?

Detective Briscoe, did you
really change your mind,

or did you, in your zeal
to convict my client,

decide to commit perjury?

JACK: Your Honor.

I'd like to hear
the answer, Mr. McCoy.

I reinterpreted the evidence
based on subsequent events.

"Reinterpreted"?

Is that the way you talk,
Detective Briscoe?

Have you been coached?

Your Honor, Detective Briscoe approached
the D.A.'s office, he was not coached.

You're accusing a police
detective of lying under oath,

and two Assistant D.A.s
of suborning perjury.

Do you have anything
to back up your charges?

Yeah. His opinion.

All right. That'll do,
Detective Briscoe.

Move on, Mr. Minetti.

Detective Briscoe,
didn't the landlord state

that there was no way for an
intruder to enter the building?

I went back to the building, and
rang several buzzers at random.

An old lady buzzed me in. She thought
I was the pizza she ordered.

Did she buzz anyone in on the night
of the first incident? Did anybody?

Nobody admitted it.

So the answer to
that question is no.

The answer is, he got
in the building somehow.

No. Not if the
att*ck was faked.

Didn't Miss Blake acknowledge by her
behavior that she made this story up?

No.

The official police report
says she did. I quote,

"When he asked Miss Blake
if she made up the story,

"she burst into tears."

Who wouldn't?
She was terrified.

And there we were accusing
her instead of helping her.

By ..we'..
you mean yourself,

and your partner,
Detective Curtis?

Yes.

Does Detective Curtis concur
with your revised conclusion?

As far as I know.

Let's have a yes
or no, Detective.

Sure he does.

She didn't s*ab herself six
times and break her own neck.

Nor did my client do that,
Judge.

Mr. McCoy,

you've amended the indictment to
include the attempted m*rder charge?

Yes.

MINETTI: Judge,
that's a blatant attempt

to give credence to Detective
Briscoe's flip-flop.

All right, Mr. Minetti,
that's enough.

You can bring this up again
in front of the jury.

I'm going to let them decide
the victim's credibility.

Tape's back in.

Where the hell do you get off
pulling a stunt like this?

They were gonna
dismiss the charges.

So you lie to a judge?
I didn't lie.

I'm looking at the transcript, Lennie.
You're an inch away from perjury!

More like a foot,
foot and a half.

I am not laughing.

How dare you go behind my
back on something like this?

We owe this
girl something.

We called her a liar and we sent
her straight into Lowery's arms.

Well, I don't think she lied,
and that's what I said.

And thanks to you,
Lowery's gonna walk.

What the hell is that supposed to mean?
I stopped him from walking.

What, for a couple
of minutes?

His lawyer just subpoenaed
me to testify at the trial.

For the defense!

Fine. So back me up.

One of my detectives lying under
oath is more than enough.

Thank you.

That's it!

I don't like
being submarined.

I got a right to my opinion.

No. What you got is
a lot of nerve, Lennie,

making it sound like I
agree with you, partner.

It never occurred to me
that you wouldn't, partner.

What, you wanna
see this scum bounce?

I want to see him strapped
down with a needle in his arm,

but I'm not gonna perjure
myself to make it happen!

(SCOFFS)

Curtis is standing by
the original report.

Briscoe said
Curtis agreed with him.

Another mistake?

St Mark's Hospital wanted a copy of the
police report after the first incident.

They were gonna fire
Blake if she made it up.

And?
Curtis said he'd handle it.

And?

She didn't get fired.

I make notes of all
my meetings, Miss Ross.

I'll make notes of this
one right after you leave.

Here it is.

"Detective Curtis,
re: Andrea Blake."

Did you ask him for a copy
of the police report?

Yes. As I told you,

if Andrea Blake had made
up these stalking stories,

we would have fired her,

and probably sued her for the cost
of the extra security measures.

Did Detective Curtis
give you the report? No.

He said the report would
be available in litigation,

but he didn't think
we had cause to sue her.

Did he say why?

He said she was being stalked, and she
did have reason to fear for her safety.

Did he mention her
tumble down the stairs?

He told me the police had
no incontrovertible evidence

to show she made it up.

Is Detective Briscoe
telling us the truth?

All he said was he
changed his opinion.

After the tape
was suppressed.

We'll never know when
he changed his mind.

I've got to go
with what we've got.

What you've got is two cops
making us look like morons.

Who are both trying
to do the right thing.

Their good intentions
could cost us a conviction.

Offer Lowery a plea.

I did.
Minetti turned it down.

Then do something else.

I only have one move left.

Hang Rey Curtis out to dry.

MINETTI: Detective Curtis,
when you investigated

what the prosecution
calls the attempted m*rder,

what evidence did you find that my client
had ever been in Miss Blake's building?

None.

Did you find any evidence that my client
had pushed Miss Blake down the stairs?

No.

Did you find any evidence that anybody
pushed Miss Blake down the stairs?

Well, the situation lent itself
to various interpretations.

I see. Your Honor,
defense's number eight.

Is this your report of the
incident, Detective Curtis?

Yes.
And you concluded that

Andrea Blake faked the
att*ck in the building?

I did.

Do you still
stand by your report?

Yes, I do.

Thank you, Detective Curtis.
Nothing further, Judge.

Did your investigation
conclude

that Miss Blake was being stalked
by a man using the name Giovanni?

Yes.
Did your investigation

conclude that Russell Lowery and
Giovanni were the same person?

Yes.

Did your investigation
conclude

that Miss Blake was in lethal, and
immediate danger from her stalker?

Not at first.

At what point did you reach
that conclusion, Detective?

When you saw her
lying dead on the ground

of multiple s*ab wounds,
and a broken neck?

Did you make a mistake

that cost the victim
her life?

Look, the police
investigate crimes.

Once we concluded there
was no attempted m*rder,

there was nothing to
investigate.

No. You concluded that
no crime had been committed,

and that she faced no serious
thr*at from Mr. Lowery?

Yes.

But you told her employer that
she was in danger from Giovanni?

Yes.

Did you lie?

Look, I felt sorry for her.

I didn't think that she should
get fired from her job.

Is that a yes? You lied?

Yes.

Are you lying now?

No.

I'm finished
with this witness.

Will the defendant
please rise?

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
have you reached a verdict?

FOREWOMAN: Yes, Your Honor.

On the charge of attempted
m*rder, how do you find?

We find
the defendant guilty.

On the charge of m*rder in the
second degree, how do you find?

We find
the defendant guilty.

I hope he stays in
prison for a long time.

We'll be asking for
life without parole.

Perhaps that's
not much comfort.

It helps.

Beautiful day, huh?

No hard feelings, Rey.

I'm glad
Lowery went down.

You okay?

I'm okay with what I did.

I just hope you're okay, Lennie.