01x16 - Big Rock Mesa

[bunniefuu]

In the city of Los Angeles,

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.

Firefighters are battling

the blaze for a third day.

The fast-moving wildfire
began

just after 9:00 A.M. Sunday,

two miles north
of Big Rock Mesa.

As Santa ana winds continue
to fan the flames,

authorities have ordered
the evacuation

of dozens of homes.

- It, uh, looks like we got more
people than usual for breakfast.

- It's always like this
after a wildfire.

It's not just the homeowners

that get b*rned
out of the hills.

- Hey, Freddy,
aren't you gonna eat?

- He's a wreck.

Sick over Jenny.

- She's in the Canyon,
at the camp.

She's gonna get caught
in the fire.

- Well, didn't they evacuate
that area?

- Jenny wouldn't go.

Her cat just had kittens.

I'm gonna rescue her, David.

- No, I don't think that's
a such good idea, Freddy.

Why don't we call
the fire department?

- They wouldn't let me pass.

The road's barricaded.

Jenny's gonna burn.

- No, I don't want you going
up there by yourself.

We'll figure something out.

- Hey, hey, hey!

All right, folks,
you're gonna have to move back.

This is an emergency area.

- We need to protect our houses.

With the wind, the fire's
gonna jump over the break.

- We can't let you up there.
It's firefighters only.

- We want to save our homes!

- Please!
I don't have insurance!

- Look, ma'am, I'm sorry.
You're gonna have to move back.

- Come on.
- All of you!

- Finally some good news
for southland residents.

After five days of battling

one of the most difficult
wildfires in recent memory,

firefighters got a hand
from mother nature,

with intermittent
heavy rain showers

helping them put
this blaze under control.

Unfortunately,
some homes were lost.

The cause
is still undetermined,

but authorities
are suspecting arson.

- Dean, over here!

I got three bodies here.

Call it in.

Tell them to send
homicide detectives.

This one's got a b*llet hole
in his head.

- Two males, one female.

They were camping here?

- Some homeless people
obviously were,

but I don't know
about these three.

The main fire started
about two miles north of here.

We suspect arson.

But the second fire,
which started two days later,

had a point of origin
right in this area.

Now, if you can see this.

This is brake fluid,
often used as an accelerant.

We also found traces
of brake fluid

at the main fire's
point of origin.

- Same arsonist both times.

- That's what we're thinkin'.

You know what they say,

the bigger the fire,
the bigger his thrill.

- And these three
just happened to walk in on him?

- I hope he thinks the thrill
is worth a seat on death row.

Smoking and fire
weren't the consequences.

Jane Doe, blunt force trauma
to the posterior skull.

John Doe senior, penetrating
trauma to the anterior skull.

- From some kind
of heavy blade.

- My nine-year-old could've
guessed that.

Now that you're
back to being a cop,

you have to do better
than "heavy blade."

- Okay.

- John Doe junior,
b*llet wound.

Recovered a nine-millimeter slug
from his brain.

He also has a serrated-edge cut
to the posterior skull.

- No I.D. In their clothes.

You pull any prints
from the bodies?

- Not possible.

Dental records won't be
of much help for the first two.

From the looks of it,
it's been years

since they've seen a toothbrush,
let alone a dentist.

- Junior looks like he's
just come from the orthodontist.

- Not only that, he had
a titanium knee replacement

within the last year.

There's a serial number.
We should be able to trace it.

- New titanium knee.

Not standard issue
for the homeless.

- Maybe his hedge fund
went belly up.

- I'm not saying
that it never happens,

but arsonists
usually work alone.

- Well, say this one didn't.

What does
that say about his profile?

- Well, I guess you could
eliminate the sexual thrill,

because he's not gonna
want an audience for that.

Maybe a revenge arson.

- What can you say
about the arson method?

- The first fire
on Sunday morning,

the suspect used

a combination match-and-tin-foil
starter device

with brake fluid
as the accelerant, like this.

The second fire, though,
he just used matches.

- Can you show us
where the first fire was set?

- Yeah, right here,
ten miles up this road.

- The nearest outlet
off the road is Mulholland,

about a quarter mile
from the rock slide inn.

Pretty big
with Sunday morning bikers.

What?

I hung up my colors,
not my bike.

- We had to close last Sunday
right after brunch.

The smoke was choking.

Anybody come in between 9:00
and 10:00, acting a little off?

Maybe two guys?

- Yeah. Just after 9:00,
two guys in a blue truck.

One of them had
his arm wrapped,

asked where the John was.

- His arm was injured?

- Well, I couldn't see,
'cause of the wrap,

but the hair on his hand
looked kind of singed.

I should have called the cops,
but my ex dumped off my kid.

- It's okay.

You notice anything else
about the truck, license plates?

- No, but--but the other guy,

when his buddy was in the John,
he ordered a beer.

I told him, no food, no beer,
so he got a burger.

He was short on cash,
so he charged it.

- Last Sunday,
you charged a meal Sunday

at the rock slide inn.

What were you doing up there?

- I was, uh, taking a drive.

- All by yourself?

- Yeah.

Clearing my head.

- Duane, the waitress
said you had a buddy with you.

- Right, uh,
that's not my buddy.

That's my brother-in-law.

That doesn't count.

- She also said your
brother-in-law b*rned his arm.

- I don't know
why she'd say that.

- This ointment,

maybe she meant
you b*rned yourself?

- No. I just dve.

Uh,

Blake, uh, b*rned himself
on the engine block,

checking the oil.

Engine was overheated.

- Well, I guess
we better talk to Blake.

- Hup.

- Yeah, so I b*rned myself.

So what?

- So you and Duane

in the vicinity
of the fire,

you with a burn on your arm,
just a coincidence?

- Hey, they happen.

- You studying
to be a firefighter?

- No, it's just an interest.

- Or another coincidence.

- It's tough
to make the cut.

Have to keep yourself
in shape.

But the exam,
hear it's hard to pass.

- Not if you have the aptitude.

- Oh, you took the exam?

- Aced it
as a matter of fact.

- But you're not a firefighter.

What happened,
they turn you down?

- No. I decided against it.

The money wasn't great,
okay?

Can I get back
to my workout now?

- Sure.
Don't forget to hydrate.

- Blake humphry.

Yeah, I remember him.

Took the exam last July.

- He told us he passed.

- He did.

Even passed the physical
with flying colors.

But no way was this guy gonna
get into the department.

- Psych profile?
- You got it.

Antisocial tendencies,

borderline personality,
impulse control issues,

fascination with fire.

All the red flags
for pyromania.

- It's not us saying this
about Blake.

It's the experts.

And now you're gonna
be lumped in with him.

- An antisocial pyromaniac.

- That's not me.

- Only way to prove that
is to tell the truth.

- I had nothing to do
with the fire.

It was Blake.

I only drove him up there.

He promised me 100 bucks,
which he didn't even pay.

- What about the second fire?

- What second fire?

- There was another arson
on Tuesday in Big Rock Mesa.

- Must have been Blake.

I--I was working.

He was bragging about showing up
the fire department,

proving he was smarter
than they were.

I told my sister
not to marry him.

- This is the starter
from the first fire.

And this is a photo
of a similar device

that we found in a manual
in your apartment.

You studied that design.

- And then
there's Duane's statement.

- Duane is a liar

and an idiot.

- Well, that part's true.

We couldn't figure
why a clever guy like you

needed him at all,
and then we realized,

it's no fun doing something
clever if no one knows.

And that fire on Sunday
was clever.

- But what the fire department's
really buzzing about

is the second arson,

the one on Tuesday.

Now, that one caused them
a lot of grief.

- That one was yours, too,
right?

- See, we assumed, because of
the complexity of the starter,

that you were the architect
of the second arson.

- Yeah.

Yeah, that one was me, too.

- Ah. The particular design
of the starter,

with the matches
in a circular pattern.

So much more sophisticated
than the diagram in the manual.

- I made a few improvements.

- Oh, it's very ingenious.

So, uh, how did you start it,

the, uh...The second fire?

- The starter's the same
as the first one.

But I used aluminum foil

to hold the matches together.

That really ignites
the accelerant.

Fire Department should have been
able to figure that one out.

- Excuse us.

- There was no aluminum foil
at the second fire.

- He's describing
a fire he didn't set.

- There was brake fluid
at the second fire,

same as the first.

Maybe our victims walked
in on a copycat arsonist.

- Or they were k*lled
for a different reason

and the K*llers set a copycat
fire to cover their tracks.

- So who'd want to k*ll
three homeless people?

- That's way
above my pay grade, okay?

But for this,
I owe you one.

Thanks.

- One arsonist down,

one m*rder*r to go.

Our son, David...

- Are you sure?
- The serial number on the titanium knee

traced back to him
at this address.

- He had his knee replaced
last summer.

He injured it in high school.

Oh, God!

We're very sorry
for your loss.

Where did you find him?

Near Big Rock Mesa
after the fire.

He was sh*t,
we think m*rder*d.

- That makes no sense.

- When was the last time
you spoke to David?

- Sunday night.

He's a law student
at pepperdine.

We didn't even know
he was missing.

- He was found in
a homeless camp in the canyon.

- He worked with the homeless.

He got a d.U.I. Last year.

And he did
his community service

at a soup kitchen
in Santa Monica.

He kept at it ever since.

- Said he liked the guys.

Said they each
had their own story to tell.

- Sounds like David
was a good person.

- Someone sh*t David?

The world's gone to hell
in a hand basket.

He was one
of our nicest volunteers.

- When was the last time
he worked here?

- Tuesday morning.

- Anybody
you haven't seen lately?

- Freddy roga.

Uh, uh...

50-something,
about yea tall,

African-American,
missing front teeth.

Oh, bad news
about Freddy, huh?

- Someone matching that
description was with David.

Do you know what they were doing
up there during the fire?

- Freddy wanted to go rescue
his girlfriend, Jenny.

She stayed behind
at the camp.

- Jenny wear a silver charm
around her neck?

- Oh, dear!

Freddy kept pestering David
all morning to go get her.

- The access roads
were closed.

You have any idea how they
might have gotten up there?

- David drove an old jeep.

God. Some people are too nice
for their own good.

- I don't know why anyone would
want to live up here.

It's like the apocalypse.

Mudslides, fires.

- It's the California spirit.

You know, going toe to toe
with nature.

- Looks like nature's winning.

Give me the flats
of Beverly hills any day.

- Coward.

We're all gonna end up
under water anyway.

If it's not the big quake,
it's the superstorm.

- You're a real optimist,
aren't you?

- I still live here.

- Cozy little subdivision.

Looks like the fire missed it.

- Pull up over here.

Landscaping gravel--
colored glass.

Freddy roga had colored glass
in the treads of his boots.

Maybe they were here
that day,

lost or looking for shelter.

- We can always ask
the locals.

- Help you?

- L.A.P.D., Mr...?

- Patrick denton.

- See your property
made it through the fire.

- Yeah, we did all right.

Touch and go.

- You see anybody
up here Tuesday, Mr. laight?

- Nah, we were
all gone by then.

Fire department
evacuated us on Monday.

We didn't get back up here
till yesterday.

Why?
What's all this about?

- We think there
may have been some transients

up here during the fire.

- Well,
we were gone by then.

- You notice any disturbance

to your property
when you came back?

I mean, aside
from the fire damage?

- Uh, screen on the side door
was ripped.

I think it was animals.

- There's a campsite
for the homeless

about a quarter mile away.

You had
any contact with them?

- Some.

They've been up here,
fighting over garbage,

making a mess.

- You recognize
any of these people?

- Uh, yeah.

I caught her going
through my recycling bin

about a month ago.

- These run-ins
with the homeless,

you ever file a police report?

- Sure.
Doesn't do any good.

There's a no-camping ordinance,
it's never enforced.

It's always something
with these guys, you know?

Fightin', drinkin'.

- You ever see any of them
with a g*n?

- No.

Listen, I...
I gotta clean my pool.

- Sure.

If you think of anything,
give us a call.

Not fans
of their homeless brethren.

- I'm sure
the feeling's mutual.

- That couldn't be me.
I'm live and let live, you know.

- You don't remember being cited
for disturbing the peace?

It's right here
in the police report.

The homeowners said you
and Freddy were fighting.

- I loved Freddy,
rest his soul.

It was those people,

they were always
making trouble for us.

- Who, the homeowners?

- Yeah.

Chasing us off with a hose
like we were dogs.

They act like
they're the kings up there,

but the mountains
belong to God.

Hey, sir, can you spare
a dollar for a vet?

- Ray?

Tuesday, you go up
the canyon with Freddy?

- No. Too scary.

I got out
of there Sunday night.

You could see the flames

lighting up the sky from
the other side of the hills.

But the people
in the houses?

They were
having a pool party

while they watched
the world burn.

- A pool party, you're sure?
- Yeah.

We could hear them,
splashing around,

the kids were hootin'
and hollerin'.

No common sense.
- Here.

- This morning, the pools
I saw were drained.

- If the fire department
re-routed

the residential water supply
to fight the fire,

maybe the homeowners
used the pool water

to wet down their roofs.

- But when?
They were evacuated Monday.

- The fire marshal confirmed

water to the houses
was cut off Monday at noon.

So in theory, if everybody
was evacuated Monday,

the houses must
have sat empty until Friday

when the evacuation order
was lifted.

- Then what
do you make of this?

The houses at Big Rock Mesa are
equipped with smart meters.

D.W.P. Can remote-access
the day-by-day use

of electricity
in all the houses.

This is the last week
at Patrick denton's house.

Sunday,
before they were evacuated,

normal
electricity consumption.

Monday,
when they were evacuated,

consumption drops 90%.

Then it spikes
back up on Tuesday.

- When the houses
were supposed to be empty.

- Right. Then it goes
back down on Wednesday

until Friday when they were
allowed back in the houses.

Same story
with Joe laight

and the other eight neighbors.

- Somebody was in there Tuesday,
burning electricity.

- Using an electric pump

to pump water from their pools
onto their roofs.

- They snuck past
the police lines

to get back into their houses.

- Ran into our victims,
got into a fight.

- First, we gotta prove
they were there.

- I know
this news camerawoman,

always hanging
off of a chopper.

Maybe she got footage
of these guys,

standing on their roofs.

- No one got any footage.

It was a no-fly zone.

- You gonna let a little rule
scare you away?

You're getting soft,
Brittany.

- You can check me
for soft spots later, tj.

The fire department choppers
kept chasing us away.

I got no residential footage,

nothing in Big Rock Mesa,

nobody on their roof, heroically
trying to save their homes.

- Except our homeowners
don't know that.

- Hi. Thanks for meeting me.

- Yeah. Joe.

- Brittany.
- Patrick.

- Like I told you
on the phone,

we have footage of you

on the roof of your homes
last Tuesday,

with your hoses,
fire coming up the hill.

Terrific visuals.

But we need you to sign
a release form

before we can use it.

So I have the papers
right here.

- Thing is, miss rust,

uh, we were hoping
we could buy the footage.

- I don't understand.

- We don't want the attention.

- You're heroes.

Don't be modest.

- Look, it was
an evacuated area.

We weren't
supposed to be there.

- We don't want our faces
plastered all over the news,

so if we could
just buy the footage...

- Okay.

- Thanks.

- Will that work?

- Ought to be enough
for a search warrant.

- This isn't right.
We haven't done anything wrong.

- You lied to us,
Mr. denton.

You ignored
an evacuation order

and knowingly re-entered
an emergency zone,

which is a crime.

- Now you're here.

Where were you when we were
alone up here--

- Anna, it's okay.
Don't talk to them.

- Detectives, I think
we have something here.

This area was washed down with
bleach within the last week.

- Hmm.

Maybe to clean up blood
after a g*nsh*t wound?

- Well, if David holloway
was sh*t here,

he fell down,

hit his head.

That look
like a match to you?

- Mr. denton, we're placing
you under arrest for m*rder.

- Put your hands
behind your back.

- My husband is innocent.
- Anna!

- Those homeless people
got k*lled by their own--

- Anna, listen to me.

Call Paul roth,
tell him what's happening.

Nobody say anything
to the police!

Nobody say anything!

They've already
made up their minds!

Don't help them hurt us!
- Let's go.

- Call Paul Roth!

$USD 50000 bail?

Who was the judge,
Dirty Harry?

- Don't blame him.

At this point, our evidence
against denton is paper thin.

He must've been
on his hands and knees

with a toothbrush
and a bucket of bleach

to clean that floor.

There wasn't
a speck of blood left.

Well, what about the cut
found on Holloway's head?

Can't the police match
that to the saw blade?

- The saw blade was new.

Denton must've replaced it.

- Well, we have one thing
going for us.

Denton didn't act alone.

Somebody else helped him carry
them to the campsite

and set the fire.

- I vote for the neighbors.

- The one who tried to buy
the news footage with denton,

we start with him.

- It's not fair
what you're doing to Patrick.

He's a good guy.

- Yeah, so was
the boy he sh*t.

A 22-year-old law student.

- It's a shame what happened,

but we had nothing
to do with that.

We snuck up there
to save our homes.

We didn't see anybody.

- We know those people
were on your property.

- Well, it must have happened
after we left.

Patrick's house
was broken into.

- Mr. laight, you and Mr. denton
lied to the police,

you and Mr. denton
both tried to buy evidence.

You better start telling us
the truth now,

before somebody else does,
trying to save his own skin!

- We came back,

we pumped out our pools,
we soaked down the roofs,

we cleared the brush,
and then we left,

all of us.

- All of you.
How many is that?

- I'm gonna tell you,
so you can go after them, too?

I don't think so.

- Next one.

- I only wanted
to keep my house from burning.

After my divorce,
this is all I got.

I couldn't even keep up
with the insurance premiums.

- You hosed off the roof
with water from your pool.

That's a big job.
- Yeah.

Joe and Patrick helped me.

And then we left
before we saw any homeless.

And when we got back,
Patrick's house--

The screen on the side door
was ripped open.

There must've been
people up here trying to loot.

- Right. The looters
who broke in

and didn't steal anything.

Those scratches on your arm,
Mrs. Burt,

how'd you get them?

- From my cat.
- Must be a big cat.

Where is he now?
I love cats.

- He ran off during the fire.
Excuse me.

There's a lot to do
in the house.

- The homeless woman
had a fractured pinky.

There was a splint.

See? Pinky is taped
to the ring finger.

- So if she scratched,
she would've left three marks,

not four.
- Mm-hmm.

- The homeless man,
Freddy roga,

he had a cut
to his anterior skull.

- Yes.
It penetrated the bone.

- Maybe a blade tool
used to clear brush?

- I use all kinds of tools
to clear brush.

I even used to keep goats.

- Yeah, but machetes
and sling blades

won't leave crap
all over your lawn.

- I haven't used those
for years.

Had a blade
skip off a tree trunk.

Almost took my leg off. See?

- Doesn't answer what tool
you were using Tuesday.

- Okay, you know,
this is really not fair.

I mean, I used to give
a couple of bucks

to the homeless, you know,
especially the vets.

- This brush axe
in the photo...

Where is it?

- Uh, I got rid of it.

Months ago.

- We've got
one victim k*lled

with a cutting wound
to the head,

and one neighbor
with a missing axe.

There's another neighbor
with scratches consistent

with the second victim,
who was k*lled

by a blow
to the back of the head.

Then there's David holloway,

sh*t inside
Patrick denton's garage.

- Three suspects.

No weapons, no blood,
no forensics worth a damn.

We need to offer
denton a deal.

- Denton sh*t David holloway
in the head.

How does that rate a deal?

- Denton can argue he found
an intruder in his home,

felt threatened,
and sh*t him in self-defense.

- Holloway was in the garage.

- Yeah.
Welcome to California.

Home includes the garage.

- Holloway
was a law student.

He was a volunteer
in a soup kitchen.

He's hardly a thr*at.
- Yeah, says you.

As denton's lawyer will
no doubt point out to a jury

that holloway was also
a kid with a d.U.I.

- I don't care about
denton's lawyer right now.

You're proposing
giving a pass

to someone who k*lled
some college kid in cold blood.

- No, I'm proposing
giving a deal to someone

who has a defense

that a California jury
would likely agree with.

- Or you would agree with.

- Don't come inside of my house
without an invitation.

Call denton's lawyer.

- This isn't right.
Joe and Diana stuck up for me.

- Well, that may not last.

They know that we're
investigating them for m*rder.

The moment we charge them,

their lawyers are gonna be
fishing for a deal.

- My client has a legitimate
case of self-defense.

He was threatened
in his own home by an intruder.

- Well, he still has to worry
about the arson charge.

He and his accomplices
set a fire

to cover up the killings.

- And although a jury
may be sympathetic

to him defending his home,

they will not like him
burning down

the Santa Monica mountains.

- All right,
so what's your offer?

- We won't contest his claim
of self-defense,

but he serves two years
for the arson.

If he refuses,

he'll be charged
with aggravated arson

and serve nine years
in prison.

- Tell him what happened.

- You have to understand,

we had been working all day,
trying to protect our houses.

We heard that people
were setting fires--looters.

We were scared.
I was carrying a g*n in my belt.

I heard a noise
in the garage...

And I went in...

And there they were,
three of them.

All dirty.

And all I could think
is my wife is in that house.

I told them to get out,

and one of them
made a move toward me...

And I sh*t him.

The other two took off.

Joe and Diana saw them.
I told them they were looters.

We chased them.

The man turned on Joe.

Joe hit him with an axe.

The woman
was going crazy on Diana.

And then she turned to run,

and Joe said,
"don't let her get away."

Diana hit her with a brick.

Finish it, Mr. denton.

We panicked.

We thought nobody'd
believe it was...

Us defending ourselves.

And then somebody--

and I don't remember who--

said to just start a fire.

We heard about the arson,
the brake fluid,

so that's what we did.

Those people

should've stayed away
from our homes.

k*ll someone in your garage,
you get a walk.

k*ll someone a few feet away,
they throw the book at you.

- Shades of gray.
Even in sunny California.

My client's know that
every trial is a risky proposition.

They'd plead
involuntary manslaughter...

two years,
paroled in 12 months.

I might feel
more charitable

if they hadn't tried
to burn down half the county.

That was Patrick's idea.

- I'll agree to a plea
of voluntary manslaughter--

11 years.

- Then off to trial we go.

I do know a thing or two
about juries--

they don't like victims
with records of dr*gs,

D.U.I., thievery,
v*olence.

They do like underdogs--
a blue-collar homeowner

taking a stand
against years of provocation

and lawsuits to get them
out of their house.

Joe and Diana are poster kids
for citizens' rights.

We'll see you in court.

- Citizens' rights.

Nice buzz word.

Too bad it's often used
by one citizen

to deny the rights
of another.

- The homeowners
in Big Rock Mesa are being sued

by a group called "citizens
for responsible taxation."

They claim protecting
a home in a fire zone

is an unfair burden
on taxpayers.

- It's got nothing to do
with this case.

- Maybe not, but one of
the lawyers behind the lawsuit

has an email address
at pepperdine.

David holloway
was a law student at pepperdine.

- David was a student of mine.

He came to me
with some concerns

about a group of homeowners
in Big Rock Mesa.

- What kind of concerns?

- He felt that they were waging
a campaign of terror

against some homeless
living in the canyon--

turning hoses on them,
blocking paths,

pouring quicklime
on the garbage

to keep them
from scavenging.

- So David asked you
to draft this lawsuit

for what, revenge?

- He just wanted
to push back a little.

And the suit
does have merit.

People shouldn't
be allowed to build

in high-risk fire zones.

It costs the county millions
just to protect a few homes.

- Were the homeowners aware

that David
was behind this lawsuit?

- I don't see how.

He kept his participation
off the record

to protect
his homeless friends.

I'm sorry.
My class is waiting.

- Does it strike you as odd

that denton
never mentioned this lawsuit?

- Well, of course we were
worried about the lawsuit.

It was costing us
thousands of dollars

for a lawyer.

Even if we won,
we could still lose the house.

- Mrs. denton,
when you were here that Tuesday,

did you hear your husband
in the garage?

- Yes. I heard him
tell someone to get out.

- Did you hear
the other person?

- Yes, a man's voice.

- And what did he say?

- He said he was gonna run us
out of the canyon.

- And what did your husband
say to that?

- I don't think
I can help you.

- Mrs. denton, I will put you
on the stand under oath

and make you tell the truth.

- Patrick is my husband!

- He knew, didn't he?

He knew that David holloway
was behind that lawsuit!

- Anna. What is going on?

- Mr. denton, you withheld
material information

about what happened
inside of your garage.

I'll be re-filing charges
against you.

Our deal is off.

- Your honor, for the record,

I renew my objection
to the witness

on the grounds
of marital privilege.

- And, again,
for the record,

marital privilege
doesn't apply here.

The witness is being asked

about statements
her husband made

to a third party.

- The objection is overruled.
Continue, Mr. dekker.

- Mrs. denton,
I'll ask you again.

What did you hear
this other person say

to your husband?

Permission to treat
the witness as hostile?

- Go ahead, Mr. dekker.

- Mrs. denton,
isn't it a fact

that you heard
this other person

tell your husband
in the garage

that he was going to run
you and your husband

out of the canyon?

- Answer the question,
Mrs. denton.

- Yes, that's what I heard.

- And how did
your husband respond?

- Patrick,
my husband, said,

"it's you.
You're the punk suing us."

- Then what did you hear?

- I heard other people yelling
I don't know what.

And then I heard a sh*t.

- Then what did you do?

- I ran out to the garage.

I saw someone lying
on the ground.

Patrick told me
to get back inside the house

and lock the door.

- Thank you.
No more questions.

- Mrs. denton,
how long have there been

homeless camping illegally
in your canyon?

- Uh, eight years.

It's gotten worse
the last three years.

- How does that make you feel?
Does that frighten you?

- Objection. Relevance.

The witness
is not a defendant.

- Your honor,
her state of mind

is relevant
to her husband's actions.

- Overruled.

Answer the question.

- Yes, it does frighten me.

About a month before the fire,
I was home alone,

working in the yard,
and I turned around,

and there was a man,

drunk, dirty,
just standing there.

He wanted money for beer.

I screamed,
and he ran off.

The day of the fire,

when it was getting dark,
and there were flames

and smoke surrounding us,

we were terrified.

You can't imagine.

And I'm sorry
those people got k*lled.

What my husband did,

he was protecting me.

I love my husband.
I'm proud of him.

- Sure. I saw
the pepperdine t-shirt.

I assumed he stole it.

I just wanted him
and his buddies

out of my garage.

- What did you do?

- I pulled out my g*n,

and I told him again
to leave.

And then the younger one,
holloway, he got real angry.

He said he was gonna run us
out of the canyon,

and that's when
I made the connection

that he was the one
suing us.

I told him he'd better
get out of the garage.

And then, the stupid kid,
he came at me,

he reached for the g*n,
and I sh*t him.

The other two ran off.
They att*cked Joe and Diana,

and Joe and Diana
k*lled them.

- We've heard testimony

that you and your neighbors
tried to cover up these deaths.

- Well, I admit,

it was stupid.

We were out of our minds.

Even if we were
in the right,

it still felt wrong
to take a life.

We'd already broken the law

going up there
to save our homes.

We were afraid
we were gonna lose everything.

- Your house?
- Yes.

My father bought
that house in 1962.

When they d*ed,
they passed it on to me,

and I finished
paying it off.

We've had close calls
with fires and mudslides.

We've sweated and bled
to keep this place.

We can't afford to live
anywhere else.

And why should we?

I feel sorry
for homeless people.

It's terrible
to lose your home,

but Anna and I
and our neighbors

have earned the right
to live where we live

and feel safe in our homes.

- Mr. denton...

Do you know why

David holloway and his friends
were inside your garage?

- No.
- They spent the day

climbing out of that canyon,

trying to escape
the fire and the smoke.

Did you ever stop
to think that maybe

they were just desperate
for some water?

- I told you no.

- You didn't ask them,
did you?

- It wasn't my business.
- No, the truth is...

You just didn't care.

- It's not that.
They were intruders.

- Intruders. You mean
like the homeless man

that had frightened your wife
a month earlier.

- Yes, that's right.

- Or the ones who emptied out
your garbage cans

and were staggering around,
drunk, along your road.

Sure.

- It must've made you
pretty angry

when you found them
in your garage.

- Angry?
I was frightened.

- Frightened?

Well, why didn't you
back out of the garage?

- What? Back out of
my own garage?

- I mean,
if you felt threatened.

- It wouldn't have mattered.
They came at me.

- You were standing
between them and the doorway.

Maybe they were just
trying to get out.

- No, that's not where
I was standing.

- Mr. denton, we've heard
expert testimony

that when David holloway
was sh*t,

he fell into the garage
away from the door.

And the g*nsh*t was fired

from someone standing
in the doorway.

- I don't remember.

All I know
is that they came at me.

- No, no. The truth is,
you wanted this confrontation,

didn't you?

- No, that's
the last thing I wanted.

- Oh, the moment
that you found out

that he was the one
behind that lawsuit,

you made up your mind then.

- No, not until he
came at me.

- He came at you because
he knew what you were gonna do.

He knew you were gonna
try and sh**t them.

- That's not true.
- The same way

you made up your mind
when you found them.

There was no retreat.
There was no questions.

There was nothing
stopping you

from venting your anger
and indignation at these bums,

these freeloaders who were
trying to move you and your wife

out of your home.
- What was I supposed to do?

Wait until
they were inside my house

and raping my wife?

- Mr. denton,
look at your floor plan.

You were in the doorway,
sh**ting into your house

into the direction
where you said your wife was.

Were you really concerned
for her safety?

Or were you too focused
on your anger to even care?

No more questions.

- Forensic science can't show us
beyond a reasonable doubt

what was said and done
that Tuesday afternoon

when Big Rock Mesa
was burning,

when decent, hardworking people
defending their homes

confronted two homeless people
and one of their advocates

trespassing
on their property.

Put yourself
in my clients' shoes.

What would you,
as reasonable people,

have done?

Freddy roga and Jenny Pratt

were part of an occupying army
of 48,000 homeless.

The Big Rock Mesa story
is the story

of every neighborhood
in our city.

So again, what would you,
as reasonable people,

have done?

Your answer to that question
can lead you

to only one verdict,

a verdict which will return
my clients to their homes

and to their families.

- Now, Mr. miklin

keeps talking about
this figure of 48,000 homeless.

He wants to scare you
with this image

of a horde of demented,
substance-abusing maniacs.

But who are these homeless?

In Los Angeles county,

over 17,000 of them
are veterans,

men and women
who have served our country,

many of whom still bear
the physical and mental scars

from that service.

Tens of thousands of them
are children.

Women running
from abusive husbands.

People who, through misfortune
or their own demons,

have found themselves

caught in the tentacles
of circumstance

and have lost their homes.

And if the last three years
have taught us anything,

it's that it can happen
to literally any one of us.

Now, Mr. miklin asked you

to put yourself
in his clients' shoes.

Go ahead and do that.

Remember the last time

you passed by
your favorite park

and found it overrun
with homeless people

getting high, fighting,
and carrying on?

That made you pretty mad,
didn't it?

How about when you
came out of a restaurant

after a nice meal
with your family

and was hit up
by some homeless person

for some spare change?

Or when you were walking
to the store with your child,

and in the alley
there's a homeless person

relieving himself
without any decency.

Infuriating.

Got you pretty angry,
didn't it?

Even now, thinking back,

you can feel that anger
and helplessness welling up,

just like it was
for Mr. miklin's clients.

Now you're in their shoes.

Now you feel
what they felt that Tuesday.

Anger. Red-hot anger.

But ladies and gentlemen,
before the law,

k*lling in anger
is not a substitute

for k*lling in self-defense.

- Madame foreperson,
has the jury reached a verdict?

- We have, your honor.

- Will the defendants
please rise?

As to defendant
Diana Burt,

on the count of m*rder,
how do you find?

- We find the defendant
not guilty.

- As to defendant
Joe laight,

on the count of m*rder,
how do you find?

- We find the defendant
not guilty.

- As to defendant
Patrick denton,

on the count of m*rder,
how do you find?

- We find the defendant
not guilty.

- For the defendants,

on the count of arson,
how do you find?

- Your honor, we're unable
to reach a unanimous verdict

on the arson count.
We're deadlocked.

- Thank you very much
for your service.

- Retrying them
on the arson'll

just seem
like sour grapes.

- It was a tragedy,
what happened.

But, you know,
it's tough enough out there.

We're entitled to feel safe
in our own homes.

Maybe our politicians
will get the idea

they need to do something

about getting the homeless
off our streets.

I asked 12 people

to put their conscience
before their anger.

I failed.

- We failed.