" Can I help you with something?" " ASA Anna Valdez." "You have a prisoner..." "Adrian Carrera." " That we do." "his defense attorney should be with him." " That he is." "Arnold Rifking..." "Total bottom feeder. escort ASA Valdez upstairs to the drunk tank." "Mr. Carrera was pretty loaded when they hauled him in this morning." " Thanks." " Mm-hmm." "Arnold." "Which do you want first?" " How bad's the bad?" " Very." "Alex." " Stone authorized a plea of 20 for Carrera today only." "Take it or leave it." " On a simple assault?" "We'll pass." " Brings us to the bad." "Mr. Carrera's victim in the barroom brawl died at Chicago Med." "We're filing murder charges." " I barely touched that guy." "Adrian." "Let me talk to my client." " Nothing to talk about." "And I need to get out of here." "And I need a shower." "Look!" "That punk ass puked all over me! I'm putting the case into the grand jury." "what do you have for Boozy the Clown here?" "Justin Wilkes... possession of a controlled substance?" " [groaning]" " You represent him too?" " It's a matter of time." "He took my card." "good luck with that." "Peter..." "Rifking called." "Carrera said we should shove it." "look on the upside." "You're first chair on a homicide." " Really?" " Why not?" "I'm eating." "[phone buzzes] it's Arnold Rifking." "you're too late." " Boozy the Clown..." "Kid in the cell... he died." " What?" " Yep." "I'm here as counsel to Mrs. Wilkes." "is my client." "Mrs. Wilkes." "Mrs. Wilkes." "Reverend Fitch." " I only pray that your office investigates." "Justin's death thoroughly." " Sir?" "Mr. Wilkes didn't die of natural causes." " He was in police custody." "he sustained fatal injuries." " I assure you we will look into the circumstances of his death." " You're going to investigate?" "A child..." "no older than my Justin." "[solemn music]" " Mrs. Wilkes simply means that we expect the maximum effort from your office." " Of course." "[knocking on door]" "♪" "Donna." "♪" " [sobbing]" "♪" " Tell Mark I'll be calling." "♪" " [sobbing]" " Wilkes was brought in on a drug charge with a side of resisting arrest." "he's dead in O.R. at Lady of Hope." "doctors..." "Any one of them could be responsible." " We can expect some sort of public reaction." " In the form of Reverend Fitch?" " Well..." "Anna?" " I've seen him on the news." "He was a bit... intimidating." " Like you're talking to some sort of prophet right out of the Old Testament?" " Nothing like the ambulance chaser representing Mrs. Wilkes." "William Fitch won't put up with that for long." " And he won't stop pushing either." " That's why you gotta get out in front of this immediately." "and work your way backwards. or... or a... sliver of it anyway." "Manubrium's part of the sternum." " So someone hit him in the chest?" " Someone or something." "Lot of this going around in fatal car accidents. causing an osseous pinch." "He bled to death." " Has the lab sent over tox screens? Mr. Wilkes here was a dead man walking." "I'm checking the homicide box." "[tense music] [distant siren wails]" "♪" "[police radio chatter] then a guy whose head was used for batting practice." " So that's why it took five hours for you to get to Mr. Wilkes?" " [sighs]" "This is a busy hospital." "Sometimes we're forced to do triage." "Passed out drunks aren't on the top of our list. how did you know he was drunk if nobody examined him?" " Some of our best customers are drunks." "that's what the paramedics said." " And you took their word for it?" " Are you sure you're with the SA's office?" "'Cause you sound like Slip and Fall Attorneys." " Probably the next knock on your door." "What killed him anyway?" "exsanguination." " Caused by?" " Not my department." " Thanks." " Call came in from the 21st." "We loaded Wilkes to the bus exactly 11 1/2 minutes later. and his pupils were reactive." " Any treatment on the way to the hospital?" " We administered a saline line." " And?" " And nothing." "we got a call about an eight-year-old kid from Hyde Park..." "Pulled from the lake." "No pulse." "Pupils were fixed and dilated." " Hold on." "You went to the lake with Wilkes still in the ambulance?" "and stinking of booze." " We figured he wasn't going anywhere." " Turns out you were wrong." " Remind me not to get sick." " Remind me not to be a black male." " Hey..." "that kid from the lake..." "He made it." "[phone buzzes]" "Thanks for asking." " [sighs]" " What?" " Stone got us the name of the arresting officer." "This won't be fun." " How you doing?" " Hey." "[laughs]" "Look what the cat dragged in." "huh?" "How's the SA's office treating you?" "how much caviar can you eat?" "tell me about it." " We're looking for Atwater." "You better be going to gym to work on that three. if I had one guard that knew how to make it to the bucket." " Yeah." "This place still smells the same. my condolences for having to ride with Mr. Salami For Lunch right here. you can hardly tell." "you're a better man than me." "what's the occasion?" " Justin Wilkes." "I-I pinched him." " Yeah?" " Yeah. 7:00 in the morning." "I know his mom from back when I was in uniform." "She's real good people." "I'll give him a warning." "Next time I catch you serving... blah. and he takes off running." " And you chased him down?" "I'm... he was running pretty good too." "it took me about a block before I took him down." " Hard?" "is he?" " What happened?" "and that's it. bro." "Kev." " [sighs]" "Damn." "you don't... you don't think you should've opened up with that?" " Hey... nobody's blaming you." " [sighs] I'm... but I-I just feel like you just kind've worked me a little bit." " We had to ask." "[tense music]" " Then ask." "did you kill Justin Wilkes?" "I didn't kill Justin Wilkes." "See how easy that is?" "♪ [chuckles]" "Antonio?" " Was the prisoner properly restrained inside the vehicle?" "♪ right?" "♪" "The suspect resisted lawful arrest." "I subdued him using reasonable physical force." "♪" "End of story." "[locker door slams shut]" " There's no way Atwater wanted to hurt the guy." " What about the ride to the District?" "Dawson." "I'm not naive." "I know about the so-called rough ride when a guy mouths off." "Did Atwater say he strapped Wilkes in?" " I asked him." " And?" " He didn't answer." " Because it was an insult to even ask." " She's just doing her job." " Routine." "Cops are trained to do the same thing every time to establish a routine." "you cuff your man." "safety on." "you strap him in. you don't have to think when you answer. because you did it the same away a thousand times before." "[phone buzzes]" " Valdez?" "We'll meet you there." " [clears throat]" "Mr. Carrera has something he thinks might help with your search for Mr. Wilkes's killer." " Right." "In exchange for what? and then tell me how you want to play it." "he..." "He might've said something about a cop hitting him." " Might have?" " Depends." "What do you got for me?" " Wh... what my client means is that in exchange for your empathy he'd be willing to testify against the police officer who killed Mr. Wilkes." " Pass." " Like that? and you get a seven-figure civil verdict against the city." "Arnold." "I am protecting you from a feeble attempt to suborn perjury." " [murmurs indistinctly] we both end up in orange pajamas." " Alongside Atwater." " Tell me again why you can't go through proper channels. the videos are magically drawn into a big black hole." " Sound like you're not gonna like what we find." " I don't know what the hell we'll find." "But I do know I gotta get ahead of it before the big guys throw Atwater to the wolves just to keep the peace." " What you need exactly?" " Any and all footage CPD recovered that morning." "it's between you and me." "I swear." " [sighs]" "Give me a couple hours." "Mrs. Wilkes." "The loss of a child..." "I can't even imagine it." "sir." " How can I help you?" " Actually..." "Mark." "I have what some might call a unique relationship with the community." " No one appreciates that more than I. I have often been privy to certain information and confidences." "Cell phone videos made by members of the community who might have otherwise been reluctant to come forward." " I suppose we're lucky nobody posted them on the Internet." " These are good people." "They just don't want to get mixed up with the cops." " Meaning the cops aren't good people?" " The videos speak for themselves." "Mark." " [sobbing]" "I'm sorry." "[sobbing] [somber music]" "♪" " So this footage is from Atwater's dash cam." " How did we get... ♪" " Wilkes doing the hand-to-hand." "♪" " I can't tell what he's actually doing." "Atwater must have had a better view." "man." "Wilkes takes off running." "Atwater gives chase." "Security camera picks them up in the intersection." "This is footage from one of the cell phones turned in." " Stop!" " And then this is the corner store security camera footage." " I don't see any signs of Wilkes tossing dope bags." "you won't. but not in any of the recorded footage. which caught the tackle. it's like a movie missing a reel or two." "[both grunting]" "♪" "More cell phone footage from across the street." " [grunts]" " Atwater heads back to his truck." " I'm not gonna ask where this came from." "♪ walking towards Atwater's truck." "♪" "A civilian caught the grand finale from their apartment window." " I can't see if he put Wilkes in a seatbelt." " Can't see if he didn't." "♪" "Ronnie." "♪" " You know what would be nice?" "If I was on the same page as my partner. you work with me now." "[train zooming]" "huh?" "you know?" "Antonio." "bro." " You follow the drill?" " [sighs] Usually. you strapped a seatbelt on him." "you got a solid reputation that'd be hard to get around." "huh?" "[sighs]" "I didn't have to do anything. poison somebody's kid." "♪ 26. and misdemeanor theft." " Atwater spots him." "He runs. who then take him to Lady of Hope. dies six hours later in the O.R." " Does he have a history of resisting arrest?" " Not once in 22 stops. he resisted?" "he runs." "Most of them do." "especially those with pockets full of heroin bags." " Allegedly." "None of that was caught on video." " You know Atwater." "You worked with him." " I also know Voight's unit." "I wouldn't exactly call them shrinking violets." " That's bull." " Hey. especially a cop like Kevin Atwater." "then drop it." " My obligation is to the victim and his family." "I can't just drop it." " Then I don't have to be a part of it." "[elevator bell dings] just the man I wanted to see." "You okay?" " [sighs]" "What do you think?" "I'm doing everything I can." "I know that." "What'd the video show?" "I would've done the same thing." "it's not good." " Jesus." " [sighs] What if..." " What if Kev killed him?" " Yeah. that son of a bitch needed killing." "doctors..." "Lots of fingers will be pointing." " Ending in a textbook case of reasonable doubt for any and all of them." "we don't have enough evidence to convict any one of them alone. but we don't know who."" " Because of Reverend Fitch? but the man has a voice that people listen to." " We'll conduct a thorough grand jury investigation with named targets." " Which ones?" " All of 'em." "We'll seek indictments on everyone involved. and the doctors who let him bleed to death in a waiting room. and see what sticks?" " Why not? and deserved all the protection the State has to offer. he was just a subhuman whose life wasn't worth saving." "what is he?" " He's a murder victim." "[rock music playing] you have to prove they all agreed to kill Wilkes." " That's why I never said anything about a conspiracy. contributed to his death." "Wilkes would still be alive." "Anna." "The people have lost all their faith in our institutions." "the government?" "Nobody trusts any of them anymore." " And you're going to change their minds?" "but I'm gonna argue that our little corner of the world is well and doing fine." "those responsible will go to prison." " You are aware that contributory negligence doesn't exist in the criminal code? you never get anywhere new." "I heard that somewhere before." " Hey." " Peter." "I..." "I think it's time you called me Paul." "this is Mr...." "Paul." "He served for my dad at the DA's office in New York." " Good to meet you." " Yeah." " Have a seat." " His dad used to brag non-stop about that right arm." " I haven't touched a baseball in years." "uh..." "what have you been up to?" " Defense work." "I got what you might call a sub-specialty..." "Defending cops." " So this isn't a happy coincidence?" "afraid not." "I've been retained by Officer Atwater." "Turns out my sub-specialty has been in the news of late. and here I am." "And so here we are." "[laughs]" "And since my mom taught me a guest should never show up without a gift..." " A motion to preclude grand jury action." "right?" "I think you've got your jurisdictions confused." "but it's DOA in Cook County." "and those who always know where they're going... huh?" "Peter." " Yeah." " Ms. Valdez... dragging my client in front of the grand jury at this point and hinder his chance for advancement in the Department." " Defendant's proper remedy is a motion to quash the grand jury subpoena. but the culture's made it necessary to nip this in the bud as soon as possible." "the regard in which police officers are held in society today." "Is there really any question what a grand jury will decide?" "I'm curious. an hour. could you please have your office deliver a copy of all issued subpoenas to my chambers ASAP? I thought she was gonna toss you out on your butt." "Thank you." " [laughs] but it was worth a shot." "[chuckles] [both sigh]" "Officer Atwater takes care of his sister and two brothers?" " Character evidence isn't admissible until after a verdict." "I know that." "My question is why?" " Because we're looking into the truth about what happened to Wilkes." " You even sound like your old man." "it lands in the shade of the oak." "It could be stifling." " [chuckles] my dad has nothing to do with how I practice law." " Hm. just to say I'm sorry." " For what? whatever." "You should try it." "but you don't know..." "I think I do." " I congratulate you on making" "Mr. Robinette. a grand jury has very broad investigative powers." "I understand your concern about the negative impact I must deny your motion." "Your Honor." "plural?" "Did he catch it?" " Paul's a very good lawyer." " Is he good enough to bring a frivolous motion just to trick a judge into tipping our hand?" "Then he's got all the reasonable doubt he needs." "he doesn't." "[knocking on door]" " The grand jury just returned a single indictment against officer Kevin Atwater for first-degree murder." " What about the others?" " Nothing." " [sighs]" " So much for getting somewhere new. and executed immediately thereafter." " I'm sure Atwater will surrender himself." " You just worry about how you're gonna counter all the reasonable doubt you just handed Mr. Robinette." "[tense music]" "♪" "♪" "This action by the grand jury today is a strong mandate to this office to pursue the charges against officer Kevin Atwater to the fullest extent the law allows." "And this is just an example without the unnecessary civil unrest we've seen in too many other cities." "Now it truly saddens me to bring the weight of this office down but Mr. Wilkes and his family deserve nothing less. they dial 911." "Who shows up?" " You really want to do this?" " I'll tell you what." "It's not a lawyer." "We show up." "And we don't know what we're gonna find." "Let's say Atwater didn't tackle that punk." "I saw you selling illegal narcotics on a street corner. so I can lock you up for the next 30 years?" "You know what happens then? and that's all she wrote for Atwater." "you are no longer CPD." "♪" "I won't." "♪ you know." "maybe... but better than most." "what kind of prick goes out of his way to ruin a man like that?" "the victim suffered blunt force trauma causing it to splinter. causing slow but steady bleeding." " Could this have caused the trauma?" "if the victim had landed on a rock or something like that." " Or this?" " [grunting]" " That's a lot bigger than a rock... yes." " Thank you." " How long after such a nick of the aorta would it take for Mr. Wilkes to die?" "depending on how... Mr. Wilkes's Certificate of Death." "What time does it say he died?" " 4:06 p.m." "according to the time stamp Officer Atwater's last so-called act of violence occurred at 7:10 a.m. he should've been dead..." "At the latest... 2:10." "Isn't that correct?" " It's possible that..." " Yes or no?" "so it's possible." "it's scientifically probable that neither of the events involving Officer Atwater caused Mr. Wilkes's death." "Dr. Fletcher?" "Doctor?" " Yes." " I suppose that's why Mr. Stone tried to indict the EMTs that brought Mr. Wilkes to the hospital." " Objection." " And the doctors who..." " Objection." " Does counsel deny they were all targets of the grand jury?" " Your Honor..." " Do I have to put you" "Mr. Robinette." "The jury will ignore any mention of the grand jury." " No more questions." "Your Honor?" " Go ahead." " How precise was your estimation of six or seven hours? I would have said that the time needed according to the individual's particular circulatory system." " So it could've taken longer than seven hours for him to die?" " Yes." " Thank you." " I saw the police officer arrest Mr. Wilkes." " You're referring to Officer Atwater?" " That's him over there." "He nearly knocked me over when he ran past me." "I was carrying my groceries. he brought Justin back in handcuffs." " Did Mr. Wilkes appear injured to you?" " He was kind've bent over." "It looked like he was in a lot of pain..." "Like he was having trouble walking on his own." " Thank you." " Sounds like you knew Mr. Wilkes from the neighborhood." " We say hi." "you knew that he was a drug dealer?" " He didn't need to die for it." " Non-responsive..." "Motion to strike?" " Granted." "The jury will disregard the witness's last remark." "Ms. Davis?" "Your Honor?" " I'll allow it." "I've never been arrested." " Has anyone in your immediate family ever been arrested?" " Objection." " Overruled." "James." "He was sitting on the L." " Hm." "Why was he arrested?" " They said he was disturbing the peace." "He was on his way to the United Center." "His teacher gave him a ticket to see the Bulls." "I guess being black on the L disturbs some people. is that your testimony in this case may in fact be prejudiced by your general dislike for the police force?" " Objection." " Sustained." " No more questions." " We shouldn't be talking." " I'll arrest myself." " What do you want me say?" "It's okay"?" "Antonio"?" "Antonio." " I did what I could." "huh?" "Too bad it wasn't good enough." "[laughs]" "Antonio?" "Look at you." "You moved on." "Got a bigger and better house. the vibe around the SA's office is your lawyer's kicking ass." " You know that doesn't mean anything." "I got a badge." "I'm guilty." "Case closed." " You don't know." " I know I watched a black woman and look at me like I'm turning my back lynched." "Why does your boss have to look at me like I'm the one doing the lynching?" " I see a guy doing his job." "I see my brothers and my sister because we got death threats." "Antonio." " Why didn't you say something?" "They're moving in with me." "After you're cleared..." " It's too late." "Stone's taking something from me" "I'm not gonna be able to get back." "So forget it." "you might be right." "Maybe I did rough up Wilkes a little bit more than I should have." "Maybe I did kill Wilkes." "it's not." "Because how many times have you grabbed a bad guy a little tighter than you should have?" "Hit him harder than you should have?" "I mean..." "[laughs]" "This is what we do." "This is payback." "it's..." "What we did..." "What we do..." "We do it for the right reasons." "[solemn music]" "♪ huh?" "♪" " What?" " You ever think about the power we have as prosecutors? I can drag you in front of a grand jury for something." "Anything." "And so what if it gets no-billed?" "The mere act of accusing you can destroy your life." " It's a little late in your career for a crisis of conscience." " Robinette was right in court today." "I had plenty of other targets." " But the people of Cook County indicted only one of 'em." "I just got off the phone with Reverend Fitch." "He feels things aren't going our way." "How much of what I told him was a lie? and I'm out of witnesses." " What about the jailhouse snitch?" "Carrera?" " I'm not sure he's credible." "not yours." "[sighs]" "Do you know for a fact the man's lying?" " No." " Then talk to him." " I was in the next cell over." "The guy looked all busted up." " You're referring to Mr. Wilkes?" "that's right." "Mr. Wilkes was moaning and groaning like I don't know what." "I asked him if he was okay." " Did he respond?" " Yeah." "He puked all over me." " Did he say anything?" " He said that the cop that arrested him beat the hell out of him." "[indistinct murmuring]" " And you're testifying here today as part of a plea deal." "Isn't that right?" " Yeah." "I was in a barroom fight." "The guy died." "I-I didn't mean for that to happen." "You knocked down the..." "The charges to involuntary manslaughter..." "Mr. Carrera." " That's enough for today." "You can begin your cross-examination" "Mr. Robinette." "[knocking on door]" " Yeah?" " How about we talk? did you believe a word Carrera said?" "Peter." "We're talking about a man's liberty here." "Your father..." " My father?" "Screw my father." "Maybe he can live with one foot in heaven." " And you can't?" " And neither can you." "Paul." "I'm not the only acorn under the damn tree." " [sighs] you know..." "To make everyone around him take note of their own imperfections." "isn't it?" "A murderer has more credibility than a cop." " [scoffs]" " Let's end this." "that's pretty drastic." " Atwater pleas to aggravated assault." "Six months probation." " Involuntary man." "He does a year." " Fine." " Atwater's okay with that?" " He knows the alternative." "♪" " Do you understand the terms of the plea?" "♪" " I do." " Please state in your own words what happened." "♪" " I observed Mr. Wilkes in what appeared to be a narcotics sale." "I got out of my car." "He saw me and fled." "I chased him down." "♪ but I guess I was too rough with him." "♪" "He died." "considering." " I don't want to talk about it." "'cause I do." "identical twins. or Dougie..." "I can't remember which one... and they start pounding on each other." "the teacher breaks it up." "he asks me who started it." "I don't want to pick sides..." "I don't know." "I can't tell 'em apart." " That's a nice story." "I think so." "Only they both got suspended." "I knew it was Dougie that started the fight." "I know the right thing to do was to pick a side and stick with it." "I'm happy to have you as my partner." " [chuckles softly]" "right?" " Yeah." " There's no blood tox report here." "[sighs] I play ball with Atwater." "I can barely keep up with him." "How does a drunk take him on a run around the block before getting caught?" " The only person who didn't say Wilkes was drunk was Atwater." " How did Stone not look for the tox report?" " Wilkes was a victim." "It didn't matter to his case if he was drunk." " There's nothing in his booking report saying that Wilkes was covered in puke. but he wasn't when the paramedics picked him up..." " I'm thinking a punch hard enough to crack a rib might make me nauseous." " And the only place that could've happened was lockup." "Carerra..." "He testified Wilkes vomited on him." " He also testified he was in another cell." " You called this meeting." "What can we do for you fine people?" " We're here to offer you a deal." " We already have a deal." " That one's null and void." " It was contingent upon your client telling us the truth." "We have reason to believe he's lying through his teeth." " About what?" " Everything." " Police records show you and Wilkes were in the same cell." " That son of a bitch was drunk." "He puked on me." "I asked the guard to move me." "I still heard what I heard." "Wilkes didn't have any alcohol in his system." " I didn't know about any of this." "that's neither here nor there." "I would explain to my client the consequences of his lie." "we can't hold them to the deal." " And?" " Perjury will get you five years." " And?" " The murder charge in the barroom killing carries a minimum 20-year sentence." " Very good." "It pays to keep up." "Now tell him the difference between concurrent and consecutive sentences." " I know that." " The choice is yours." "and I almost forgot." "I'm charging you with killing Justin Wilkes." "Mr. Carrera?" "Concurrent or consecutive?" " Two murders and perjury?" "I'm sure I can think of something else." " That punk ass should've given me a smoke." " You killed him for a cigarette?" " Look..." "I didn't know that guy was gonna die." " So... let's make a deal?" "[solemn music]" "♪ and dismiss all charges against him." "Mr. Robinette?" " The defense has no objection." "Your Honor?" " Go ahead." "[stirring music]" " Part of what we do as prosecutors is to make decisions that might destroy the lives of innocent people." "We do our best to make those decisions without prejudice or pride." "Sometimes... we get it wrong." "♪ on behalf of the State's Attorney's Office I'm sorry." "[indistinct murmuring]" "♪" " [sighs]" "♪" " I think he'd be proud." " Of both of us." "♪ the truth emerged victorious." "[knocking on door]" "[TV silences]" " I figure I owe you an apology." " Forget about it." "I was pissed at the world." "I took it out on you." " I probably deserved it." "anyway..." " Yeah." "[poignant music]" "♪" "[line trilling]" "♪" "Pop?" "It's me." "♪"