"Tonight's episode:" "Johnny." "John." "Johnny." "Johnny?" "Operator." "Operator." "I need a-- This is an emergency." "I need an ambulance. 3717" "Police." "Police." "All units in Sunset District, 459 and 187 reported at 3717 Alston." "Suspect fled on motorcycle, believed headed north on Fairmont." "Male Caucasian, blond, wearing denim jacket and jeans." "That's our boy." "We're following a motorcycle described in murder-robbery at 3717 Alston." "Suspect fits description." "Will not respond." "Code 33." "Heading northeast now, on Twin Peaks Boulevard." "Crank her up, buddy-boy, he's heading right for us." "Inspectors 8-1 to headquarters." "Come in 8-1." "We're heading southwest on Twin Peaks Boulevard." "In a position to intercept 459 187." "You have the right to remain silent." "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." "You have the right to speak to an attorney and have him present during questioning." "If you so desire and cannot afford one, a lawyer will be appointed to you without any charge before questioning." "Do you understand these rights as I have told them to you?" "I didn't mean to hurt the kid." "He just got in the way and I shoved him that's all." "You hear me?" "I didn't mean to kill him." "I didn't mean to do it." "Get him out of here." "This is a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to bind the defendant," "Artis Pierce, over for trial." " Are the people ready?" " Ready, Your Honor." "Is the defense ready?" "Ready, Your Honor, but first we'd like to move to suppress evidence under section 1538.5 of the Penal Code of the State of California." "What is it the defense seeks to suppress?" "Any statements, admissions or confessions, written or oral allegedly made by the defendant during the time of the arrest." " What does that mean?" " I don't know, Mr. Hobbes." "Very well." "Proceed, gentlemen." "The people call Inspector Steve Keller." "You were the arresting officer then, Inspector Keller." "Yes, sir." "Now, after the arrest while you were still at the same Twin Peaks location where the defendant was apprehended, did you advise him of his constitutional rights?" "Yes, sir, I did." "And what, if anything, did he say after you had advised him?" "He said he didn't mean to kill the boy." "That the boy had just got in his way so he shoved him." "I have nothing further." "May I approach the witness, Your Honor?" "Yes, Mr. Courtney." "Inspector Keller, did you advise the defendant of his rights by reading from the Miranda card or from memory?" "By memory, but I can assure you I didn't leave anything out." " Do you want me to tell them to you?" " No, that won't be necessary." "I'm not questioning your memory or your integrity." "Now, did you tell Mr. Pierce that anything he said could be used against him?" "Yes, sir." "That's on the Miranda." "Just, yes or no, inspector, thank you." "Did the defendant tell you he wanted to talk to you?" "No." "Did he say anything to you at all during the entire course of your instructions to him?" "No." "Did you ask him whether or not he understood?" " Yes, sir." " Did he tell you he understood?" "No, he just said he didn't mean to kill the boy." "Thank you, inspector." "You may step down, inspector." "Mr. Prosecutor, do you have anything further?" "No, Your Honor." "The people rest." "Does the defense have any evidence to introduce at this time?" "Yes, Your Honor." "Call the defendant, Artis Pierce." "Raise your right hand, please." "Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God." " I do." " State your full name please." "Artis Pierce." "Be seated." "Mr. Pierce, do you remember being stopped by police officers on the day in question?" "Yeah." "Did the officers speak to you?" "I think so." "You think so, Mr. Pierce?" "What do you mean by that?" "Well, if they did, I couldn't hear them." "Why is that, Mr. Pierce?" "I wear a hearing aid and I can't hear without it." " You wear a hearing aid." " Yeah." " And you have one on now." " Yeah." "But you didn't have one on when the officers spoke to you?" "No." "Then you didn't hear or understand anything said to you by the officer who just testified." "Not a word." "And you are an otologist, Dr. Markman?" "That's correct." "How long have you known the defendant?" "Mr. Pierce has been a patient of mine for almost three years now." "Can you tell us please, doctor, the extent of the damage to your patient's hearing." "Certainly." "Mr. Pierce has a hearing threshold of 35 decibels." "That is to say, he has total loss of hearing in his left ear and a 35 percent loss in his right." "Thirty five percent loss in his right." "Then he still has 65 percent hearing in one ear." "He must be able to hear something." "Only garbled sounds." "Well, then is it in your opinion, Dr. Markman, that the defendant could not have heard or understood the instructions spoken to him during the time of his arrest." "It isn't even a question of opinion, Mr. Courtney." "My patient couldn't have heard anything without that hearing aid." "Your witness, counsel." "No questions." "Mr. Prosecutor, do you have anything further concerning the motion." "No, Your Honor." "Then the court finds that the defendant, not having heard or been aware of his rights, the admission of guilt was illegally obtained and the motion to suppress is granted." "What does that mean?" "It means that what Pierce said about shoving Johnny can't be used as evidence." "You mean now?" "Or at the trial?" "Mr. Hobbes, we don't have any other evidence to offer." "No fingerprints, nothing left behind." "We can't even get to trial unless we put you on the stand to tell the court what you saw." "And your testimony has to be rock solid." "What do you mean he won't get to trial?" "He murdered my kid." "Mr. Prosecutor, do you have any other evidence to be presented for the purposes of this preliminary hearing or for purposes of trial at this time?" "Yes, Your Honor, and in view of the unexpected evidence just presented by the defense," "I'd ask the court's indulgence for a few moments." "All right." "Mr. Courtney." "He did it." "He said he did it." "He's guilty." "Mr. Hobbes, please try to stay calm." "What he said doesn't matter." "The only thing that matters is whether you can convince Judge Gerardi that you couldn't be wrong about who you saw in the house." "And you've got to do it while that attorney is trying to make you look as though you'd identify anybody just to get an eye for an eye." "What happens if he does that?" "I mean, if he makes me seem uncertain." "Well, then we can't get to trial." "We have to place him in the house." "You mean that man killed my grandson and he can go scot-free?" " What about a deal?" " Maybe." "A deal?" "What do you mean a deal?" "I think I can get him to plead guilty to burglary, second degree at least." "What's that?" "One to 14?" "One to 14?" "Listen, he killed my son." " Mr. O'Brien." " Yes, Your Honor." "Look, those are your choices, Mr. Hobbes." "We still got a shot with your testimony, but you've got to stay cool." "And he'll be coming after you with every trick in the book." "All right." "Put me on the stand." " Are you sure?" " Yeah." "The people call Robert Hobbes." "Raise your right hand please." "Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth" " and nothing but, so help you God?" " I do." " State your full name please." " Robert Allen Hobbes." "Be seated." "Mr. Hobbes, I call your attention to the defendant, Artis Pierce, and ask you to tell the court when you first saw him." "Mr. Hobbes." "There's been a mistake." "Mr. Hobbes, I don't think you understood my question." "I understand everything you saying, Mr. O'Brien." "But I've never seen that man in my life before." "Your father told us you were here." "He's worried about you." "He's a father." "We went by your office." "Mr. Parker said you'd quit." "Mr. Hobbes," "I can't tell you how sorry I am the way things turned out." "I know." "I appreciate you telling me." "I want to hope it all stops here." "The killing." "Does it?" "It stops with Artis Pierce, lieutenant." "That doesn't answer it." "You had a chance to identify him in court." "I'd appreciate it if you'd tell me why you didn't?" "Second-degree burglary?" "A year minimum sentence." "Seems so useless." "Artis Pierce is out in the streets." "We could have stopped that." "That year, maybe." "We could have spent this year finding information to try him for murder, Mr. Hobbes." "The judge said we could refile anytime we want to." "It's over." "Is it?" "Now, you're a bright man." "You knew he was guilty, you let him go." "Did you have a reason?" "You gonna kill him, Mr. Hobbes?" "Borelli.22, automatic weapon, clip fed." "Takes either long or short." "It's more than sufficient to frighten even your average prowler." "Here." "It's just" " It seems small." "Do you have something--?" "Something more powerful?" " Yeah." " Sure." "We got a.32,.38s,.45s." "Magnums." "Of course, your Magnum." "This is your most powerful weapon." "No, that's fine." "I'll" "I'll take that." "I'll need some bullets." " Six, or whatever it takes." " They come by the box, sir." "Do you want me to include a box also?" "Please." "That comes to 120, plus your state tax." "Will this be cash or card, sir?" "No, cash." "I'll pay cash." "Okay, we'll need your name, your address, your arrest record if any." "For the gun registration, sir." "It goes to Sacramento and the San Francisco P.D." "It's routine." "It's almost automatic." "You'll have your gun within five days." "I'll phone you if you like." " Five days?" " That's right." "Your Magnum will be yours in five days, sir." " Your name?" " Hobbes." "Robert Hobbes." "Dad." "Dad." "This box has all my papers in it." "The deed to the house, the pink slip on the car, insurance, receipts, everything." "Yep." "What can I do?" "I want you to get rid of them for me." "I want you to get rid of the house, the mortgage, the car, everything." "I don't quite think I get you, Robert." "Well, here's a card the real estate guy left after Mary died, in case I wanted to sell the house." "So give him a call, will you?" "That mean you're coming back up to Utah?" "Give an old man a hand on a sheep ranch?" "No, it just means I don't want any of these things anymore." "All right." "Okay." "As long as you know the door's open." "I know." "Robert, can I say something?" "Sure." "I know we had different ideas about things." "I maybe didn't understand everything the way I should have when you were a boy." "I couldn't understand why you didn't like ranching, that kind of thing." "I couldn't figure why all the time you" "You had your nose in books." "But, Robert, I'll be 70 next spring." "All we got is each other now." "I was thinking maybe we could do a few things together before you get too old to keep up." "I couldn't keep up with you at 14." "I'd hate to imagine what I'd do now." "Dad, look, there's" "There's something I have to do." "If it happens, I may not be able to come up for a while." "Robert, I'm just asking you to think about it." "I'm thinking about it." "I" " I just don't want you to plan on it that's all." "Shoot, why not plan?" "That's all you I've got to do." "Well, you gotta get rid of this house for me." " Give this guy a call, will you?" " Okay." "Robert, you bought a gun." "Yeah." "Whatever in the world for?" "Protection." "Then at 14 he was busted again for shoplifting." "It wasn't your usual kid stuff." "He had special pockets sewn in the linings of his coat." "He got busted with 200 bucks worth of merchandise and he drew suspension." "All right, let's see." "We got four, five, six sets of foster parents." "Six runaways." "Finally at 15, he drew reformatory." " How long?" " Three years." " Then?" " Then" " Then it gets heavy." "We got assault, attempted rape, burglary, resisting arrest, suspicion of burglary, suspicion of burglary." " A real pattern, huh?" " Yeah." "Well, with a record like his, all those arrests, he wasn't nailed every time." "No, there's gotta be some that were unsolved." "Right." "We check out everything we have against Pierce and see if one of them sticks." "All right, I'll put Lessing on it." " You know what's been bothering me." " What?" "The hearing aid." "We never found it." " He wasn't wearing it." " Why not?" "A guy who's ripped off as many houses as Pierce has needs all the help he can get." "So he was wearing a hearing aid in the house." "And that would put it in one of two places." "When he tangled with Hobbes" " or at Twin Peaks." " Right." "Those things have serial numbers like wristwatches." "And guns, they gotta be registered with the manufacturers." "If that hearing aid was in Hobbes's house" "Then we can prove he was there." "We don't need a confession." "We don't need Hobbes's testimony." "And that's enough evidence for O'Brien to take him to trial." " Mr. Hobbes." " What is it?" "What happened?" "Nothing's happened, we're just gonna need your help." "Is this room pretty much the same as when your son fought with Pierce?" " Pretty much." " But someone has cleaned it up." "I did, yes." "Did you find a hearing aid?" " Hearing aid?" " Yeah." "You know, the kind that Pierce was wearing in the courtroom." "You think he lost it here?" "Well, if he did, it's evidence to prove that Pierce was here." "And if we could prove he was here?" "Then the DA can prove that he killed Johnny." "Do we have your permission to bring the lab team in to look for it?" "Well, I don't see why Robert would mind." "Where's Robert now?" "He had things to do." "You worried about him, Mr. Hobbes?" " I am." " What do you think he's gonna do?" "You better have a look at something." "Gun receipt." " Approved?" " Shouldn't be." "Well, that's one thing we can stop." " Lessing." " Lee, we ought to be getting a gun registration application from a Robert Hobbes." "Number 377." " I want that application killed." " Right." "One other thing, Lee." "I want a lab crew here at Hobbes's place." "We're looking for a hearing aid." "I'll get you the description and the serial number." "You want to hear back on the unsolveds?" "Yeah, go ahead." "Got a murder during commission of burglary last June." " James Posten." " Lockner handled it." "Lockner booked a guy named Jack Strand." "Mrs. Posten couldn't give us a sure ID." "He was released." "The other guy was never found." "All Mrs. Posten remembered was that he took off on a big chopper." "A motorcycle?" "Well, you call her in and have her take a look at those mug books." "Make sure she gets a good look at Pierce's ugly puss." "Will do." "No, it's none of these." "This only brings it all up again, you know." " Yes, ma'am, I know." " It's not as if I didn't do this before." "No, ma'am." " You people had one of them." " Yes." "His name was Strand." "I mean, you had him." "They told us at the lineup that the identification was inconclusive." "I was upset." "I'm still upset." "A year ago June." "I'm still upset." "I haven't" " I haven't remarried." "I hardly even go out." "Next page please, ma'am." " Mike." " Yeah." "Excuse me, please." " You stopped my gun permit." " That's right." "You can't do that." "That gun was for my protection." " And there's nothing in the law" " The law?" "You gave up on the law when you lied in court." "And if I have to bend every rule, I'm going to." "Come here." "Now, you listen to me." "We both know what you're up to, so let's lay the cards on the table." "You're gonna try to kill this punk, aren't you?" "Well, aren't you?" "It's stupid, it's illegal and you would be lousy at it." "Now, you're a nice guy, but this isn't your game." "Why don't you let me handle it?" "We think we've got a handle on him." "And if it comes through, the DA will refile." "We'll put him back in prison behind bars for life." " And that way you win and I win." " Win with what?" "A hearing aid?" "Forget it." "And I told your lab team to forget it too." "You told them to leave your house." "Look, lieutenant, you made a mistake, a big mistake." "All right." "Maybe you're not responsible for it technically." "But the fact is, the man who killed my son is walking the streets today because of you." "Well, that's the way you see it." "That's exactly the way I see it." "I see you wasting a lot of time looking for some needle in a haystack somewhere." "Well, that's not good enough for me." "No?" "What would you want?" "If Artis Pierce" " was wearing a hearing aid" " He was." "Then he could have lost it during the fight with me." "And your lab men didn't find it after Johnny was killed." " They weren't looking for it then." " My dad didn't find it." "Your dad's not a cop." "The point is, if he was wearing that hearing aid, he could have lost it anywhere." "Outside the house, down one of the streets where you chased him, the very place that you arrested him." "And so you may never find it." "Isn't that the truth?" "And your solution is to commit murder." "Lieutenant, you've got a whole big city here." "The switchboard down there's loaded with calls, your file cabinet's with complaints." "You take care of the city and you let me take care of Artis Pierce." "No, I won't." "I can't lay a hand on you until you break the law, commit a crime." "You know it and I know it." "But the crime that you're about to commit, well, that crime's the worst crime of all." "That's right." "You're absolutely right." "But Artis Pierce committed it first." "Mrs. Posten has just made an ID." "All right." "Come on." "You know, I just don't know how I missed him before, lieutenant." " Steve was very patient." " Show me." "He's here." " Who is the guy?" " Willie Frankel." "He's doing 20-to-life in Arizona for armed robbery." "Did you show her the other guy?" "Nothing?" "Mrs. Posten, thank you." "Yeah, but if he's in prison, then he-- I mean, he couldn't" "Thank you for coming." "I" " I'm sorry." "Like I said, I'm still very upset." "It was only a year ago June." "We appreciate your coming, Mrs. Posten." "Well, he's going through with it." "He's gonna take a crack at Pierce." " You told him about the hearing aid?" " He won't buy it." "He told the lab team to leave the house." "Well, we'll get a search warrant." "A search warrant takes time, time we haven't got." "Yeah, Stone." "Markman?" "No, I didn't call a Markman." " I called him." " Just a moment." "Ear doctor." "Dr. Markman." "Yes, this is the doctor that testified on behalf of his patient Artis Pierce, is that correct?" "Fine." "Would you please give me the name and serial number of the hearing aid that Mr. Pierce lost." "Right." "Yes." "That's a Clarion." "Could you spell" "Right, C-L-A-R-I-O-N." "And the number is X13582." "And when you're interested in quick sale the open house is the best way to get the fastest play." "We'll" " We'll slap out a couple of signs." "Myself, I" " I kind of prefer the catchy ones." "Bright, say, fluorescent orange." "Oh, and like I told you, we've got to be prepared for the nut fringe." "The weirdoes that wanna go through the house simply because" "Well, you know, because of what happened to little Jimmy." "Johnny." "Oh, and speaking of that little league trophy there and that model airplane and the Erector set, things like that." "Can you kind of put them away somewhere?" "Why would I wanna do that?" "To make a sale, Mr. Hobbes." "You'd be amazed at the things that turn a buyer off." "Okay." "It's a deal then." "We'll put the signs out." "I'll move this place for you." "It's a lovely residence." "Got a lot of charm." "Oh, the" "The models and the trophy, Mr. Hobbes." "It would help a lot." "Okay, what's this all about?" "This a coincidence or what?" "Okay." "You know where I work, where I drink." "I also know about the Corona Hotel where you live and where you turned your bike in to get it rebuilt." "What for?" "What's it to you where I live, what I do?" "Now, you stay out of my tracks or you're just ordering yourself a box, man." "You had your chance, you could have put me away, but you buckled." "Now butt out, or they'll pick you off of the street with a broom and dustpan." "You never learn, do you?" "I told you to back off." "If you get creamed, it's nobody's fault but your own." "That's what you want, isn't it?" "I'll bash your brains in and I'm right before the judge again, huh?" "I'm gonna kill you if I have too." "But not right now." "Not here." "Look, I just can't do this, you know?" "No, I mean it." "You know, they'd have my head." "See, it's not me." "It's the law." "Everything that goes out of here has to be registered." "That's the law." "It's not me." "See, I can't do this." "I mean, I just can't do it." "I" " I can't do this." "Don't you understand?" "I mean, even if I wanted to, the old man who runs this place, he knows every piece of stock in here." "I mean, he'd know." "He'd..." "Listen..." "What do you want it for?" "Is that enough?" "It's not worth anything like this." "That's more money than I see in six months in this place." "I gotta know what" "Just take it and get out, okay?" "If the old man ask me about anything, I mean, I'm gonna have to tell him." " Bullets." "Magnum." " Okay." "Get out, okay?" "Warrant, Mr. Hobbes." "Hard to come by on a Saturday." " Robert in?" " No." "Maybe it's better that way." "All right, when you go in, everything in the room double checked." "Pull the carpet, the works." "Lieutenant, I wanna show you something." "Sure." " Steve, heating vent." " Right." "Those are Robert's." " Blood?" " Yeah." "These are torn." "He took them off last night." " What happened?" " I don't know." "My guess is he tangled with Pierce." " Where's Robert now?" " I don't know that either." "I heard him come in last night, come up here." "I came to the door." "I was gonna tell him you were on your way over with the warrant and all." "It was locked." "I heard the water running in there, so I went back to my room." "The next thing I heard was the door closing downstairs, but by the time I got there, he was in his car and driving off." "Then I came right back up here and I found these." "And the first aid kit was open in there." " You've gotta pick him up, lieutenant." " He hasn't broken any laws." "He's going to." "He's going to kill a man." "A buddy of mine, Pierce, is staying here, Artis Pierce." "He told me about the rates." "I thought it'd be a good place for me to stay." "Yeah?" "How long would you be staying?" "Few months anyway." "A couple in advance be all right?" "Yeah, yeah, sure, sure." "Yeah, thanks." "That's fine." "Hang on, I'll get you a receipt." "Later'll be all right." "Can I get a room anywhere close to Artis?" "Right next-door close enough?" " Terrific." " Okay." " May I have the key?" " Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, sure." "I'm sorry." "There you go." "I don't know." "I think we're kidding ourselves." "It's crazy to take such a long shot." "Nothing's crazy, buddy-boy, if we can save a man's life." "Say, the rest of the trash, is it still here?" "Still here." "I just picked up." "I didn't throw anything away." "Andy, I want you to check the trash, piece by piece." "Vince, you made a picture of the kid, didn't you?" " Yeah." " You got them with you?" " In the truck." " I'll get them." "I don't have to look at those, do I?" "We just wanna check it with the rest of the room." "See if anything is missing." "The only thing missing is Robert." "I keep hearing him say he had something to do." "Funny how life goes." "I tried to get Robert to go on the hunt with me every year he was at home." "But just the thought of killing a buck turned his stomach." "And now he's out stalking a man." "Maybe not." "We've got a tail on Pierce." "They haven't seen him anywhere around." "You know what he's doing, lieutenant." "And I know what he's doing." "I just wish he did." "If he starts anything, the boys will stop him." "Mr. Hobbes, where's the Ferris wheel?" " The Ferris wheel?" " Yeah, the" " The Erector set." "Looks like it was right" "Right here on the floor." "Oh, the" " The real estate people asked me to get it out of here." " Where is it now?" " In the garage." "Come on." "Right out there." "Inspectors 35 to headquarters." "Go ahead, 35." "We're 10-20 at 8249 Front Street." "The Corona Hotel." "Pierce just went inside." "No sign of Hobbes." "Hey, thanks." " What for?" " Your buddy." "Business being the way it's been, we sure appreciate you talking up the place that way." " My buddy?" " Yeah, Roberts." "Roberts." "Six-feet tall, light hair and brown eyes, easy going?" "Yeah, that's the guy." "That's him." " Where did you put him?" " Right next-door, 205." "Thanks." "Pierce." "Pierce." "Go ahead, use it." "I would have on you." "I got more respect for the law than you, Hobbes." "They're not gonna find you in here with a bullet in you." "They're gonna find you in your place, where you slipped in the tub." "No, not this time, Pierce." " You're gonna pay one way." " Stay back." "One way or another." "Hold it." "Drop it." "Hey, hey, it's not mine." "It's his." "He tried to kill me with it." " I just took it away from him." " Against the wall, let's go." "Let's go." " Is that true?" " Yeah." "You're gonna have to answer to that, Mr. Hobbes." "Hey, wait a minute, I told you, it's not me!" "It was you Pierce." " Well, what's the charge?" " Murder of Johnny Hobbes." "You guys blew that already once." "Sometimes you get a second chance." "I still can't believe you found it, you know." "Got a little tight, all right." "Of all places to find it, in your house." "The serial number tied it right to your tail." "Did you hear that?" "I'm saying nothing without my lawyer." "We wouldn't want it any other way, would we, Mr. Hobbes?" "You have the right to remain silent." "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."