"Tier 4." "First bed." "Come on, move it." "Fear will kill you." "I"m not afraid." "Good." "Right after chapel." "It"s going down in the yard." "What"s happening?" "lt"s gonna go down." "Not in here, motherfucker!" "Face down!" "Don"t move!" "You, get down!" "Face down!" "Put that head down!" "Put that head down!" "Give me your arm." "Don"t move!" "Buddy, don"t move!" "Come on, move it!" "Move it!" "Just stay down!" "Keep the change." "I"m looking for where Mr. Edward J. Dodd is defending Mr. Nevins." "That"s the Edward J. Dodd." "That"s 1 73, room 1 1 1 3." "The room 1 1 1 3." "negotiated both to purchase and to sell this dangerous drug." "In a moment you will hear from the counsel for the defense." "As the People rest this case, I leave you with this word of warning:" "Edward Dodd is an inventive lawyer." "He"d like you to believe the pound of cocaine in his client"s apartment was intended for personal, recreational use." "But just bear in mind only you can ensure the defendant, who is, let"s be honest a vermin, a vulture, that he will pay a penalty." "Thank you." "Thank you, Mrs. Jessum." "Mr. Sweeney, may I have a word with you?" "Roger Baron." "Hi." "Sorry I"m late." "It"s such an honor and a thrill to meet you." "Really?" "Hi." "So, what are you accused of?" "Oh, all sorts of things." "How about you?" "No, I"m a lawyer." "I just got into town today." "I"m working with Mr. Dodd." "Mr. Dodd, would you care to make your closing argument?" "You"re in good hands with him." "I would, Your Honor." "Cocaine is evil." "Selling cocaine is evil." "Dislike this wicked merchant, if you will." "Loathe him if you must." "I do!" "But despise the tactics the police used to snare Brian Nevins because we mustn"t lose sight of what this trial is really about:" "Our most basic personal freedoms." "When we condone bugging of citizens" bedrooms when we allow the police to enter our homes without warrants or with specious warrants, at best when we invade privacy in a frenzied quest for a wicked white powder aren"t we, in fact, capitulating to the evil?" "Aren"t we surrendering to the drug?" "Aren"t we saying that cocaine is more powerful than the Constitution of the United States of America?" "!" "Wow, what a speech. lt was beautiful." "Amazing horseshit." "Amazing client." "Eddie Dodd." "Everybody should own one." "Sorry about the mix-up." "I never saw your photo." "l read every civil liberties..." "Nice meeting you. I have to get back." "...brief you ever filed in the "60s." "Roger Baron." "Oberlin undergrad, Michigan law." "None of this rings a bell?" "You hired me to clerk for you?" "Top 5%, Law Review, salary is no object?" "That"s right." "Yeah, yeah." "Let me help you with some of that." "Thanks." "You coming?" "Yeah." "I was a second-year student when I read your Chase Manhattan bombing case summation in the "7 1 Leftist Law Anthology." "I know this sounds dorky, but it changed my life." "So this is Greenwich Village?" "Yes, Roger, you"ve arrived." "I got ahold of a trial transcript." "Your cross-exam of the cops was like an indictment of the system." "You were my age then." "l was never your age." "This is Reggie, our new social conscience on Sheridan Square." "Eddie, what if we plead insanity?" "What, both of us?" "Okay, princess, you"re next." "Billy, what is this?" "A sculpture." "Now, what kind of pills were you busted with?" "Mr. Dodd needs to know." "is that an upper or a downer?" "Well, it makes a difference." "I"ll take care of it." "Just park it on the bench." "Park your ass on the bench." "Got a minute?" "I did before the hearing." "I couldn"t get you." "I believed the judge might have heard of a concept called ""entrapment.""" "He had three pounds of Methedrine." "Judge refused to exclude the evidence." "I"m disturbed by Detective Cedar." "I may demand an investigation." "Can you imagine the headlines?" "l drool:" """Undercover Cop Busts East Village Speed Factory.""" "You"re out of step." "Detective Cedar"s a hero." "Cedar is a scumbag, Gabe." "Detective Cedar went undercover?" "So did Judas." "Cedar used his wiles to insinuate himself into the bosom of Gruner..." "...his life, his home, his loved ones." "Can I take a piss?" "Cedar broke bread with Clyde Gruner." "He was a guest at his wedding." "And yes, Gabe, Detective Cedar used drugs with my client." "Not once, but many times." "You"ll say that with the jury?" "Only if I have to." "Gabe, hey be a mensch." "Brian Nevins stopped by." "It"s on your desk." "We pleaded Gruner to probation." "Score another point for truth and justice." "The last struggle for constitutional rights is being waged over drugs." "And we are in the ring, Roger, doing battle with Big Brother." "Where are you going?" "Edward Dodd, please." "Hi." "I"m Roger Baron, Mr. Dodd"s assistant." "May I help you?" "Mrs. Kim needs a lawyer." "Her son killed a man in self-defense. ln prison." "He didn"t belong there in the first place." "Eight years in jail for the murder he didn"t commit." "I"m her neighbor"s daughter." "Please, come in." "Hi, I"m Eddie Dodd." "What"s up?" "Her son didn"t shoot anybody." "He"s the wrong guy." "You meet and you see, he wouldn"t go around stabbing guys just for fun." "He shot a guy and stabbed a man?" "No." "He"s in jail for a murder he didn"t commit." "He"s a good boy." "And he comes from a fine home in Seoul, Korea." "Shu Kai Kim?" "That"s his name." "Shu Kai Kim." "I bet he is a wonderful boy." "I can"t take this case." "I have a specialty." "Lawyers specialize." "Mrs. Kim, see, in these days, I mostly do, like, drug" " Narc-- l couldn"t even go see your son without looking at the files." "It"s really out of the question-- Those are the files." "Great." "Okay." "How did you hear about me, anyway?" "She went to all the courthouses and they all say the same thing." "Well, what do they say?" "You do cases cheap." "My associate, Mr. Baron, and I will review this as soon as possible and we will get back to you." "Thank you very much for stopping by." "Thank you for helping my son." "Talk about a hard sell." """Thank you for helping my son.""" "Attila the Hun had a mother, okay?" "Hit?" "That was close." "Almost defended somebody who wasn"t a dealer." "He might even have been innocent." "We have a full caseload, Roger." "I forgot." "We pledged to protect every midlevel dealer in the area." "It"s an awesome responsibility." "I don"t venerate drug dealers, Roger." "To the contrary." "Of course." "We check the government"s attempt to abridge our civil liberties." "I know that." "lnformants, eavesdropping, unreasonable searches and seizures." "Right." "You"re right." "Damn right I"m right." "Okay?" "It"s just that I left behind family and friends and a couple of good job offers in Chicago." "In three dizzying weeks, I"ve helped to acquit a coke dealer..." "...a speed dealer..." "l specialize, Roger." "...an angel dust dealer." "l"m not a kid anymore, I can"t...." "Get a job on Wall Street." "Your rich daddy can arrange it." "Don"t tell me where to work." "I came here to work for Edward Dodd." "I can"t believe that he has nothing better to do than invoke exalted legal issues to get off guilty little pricks." "You want to be a criminal defense attorney?" "Then know this going in:" "Everybody"s guilty." "Everybody." "You wouldn"t have said that 1 0 years ago." "Ten years is a long time." "I"m tired." "See you in the morning." "A long time." "Roger!" "We"re late, let"s go!" "Where?" "Ossining Correctional Facility." "Sing Sing." "Everybody"s innocent there, man." "Just ask them." "What was Kim in for?" "Killing a young Chinese gang leader, Jimmy Chin." "Prosecution said he did it to get into a rival gang, the Pell Street Dragons." "The gun was his." "He got 25 to life." "Thank you, officer." "Mr. Kim, my name is Eddie Dodd." "I"m a lawyer." "This is Roger Baron, my associate." "He"s also a lawyer." "My mother find you?" "That"s right." "Figures." "Want to tell me what went down?" "Racist pig came at me." "Exactly what happened then?" "I killed the motherfucker." "Let"s talk about what got you here." "Let"s talk about Chinatown." "Mr. Kim, the night Jimmy Chin was shot to death, you were where?" "At the trial you said you were at your apartment that night." "Alone." "Remember?" "That was eight years ago." "Long time." "A real long time." "Eddie, I feel like I"ve been mugged." "That guy was so cold." "He"s a killer." "What do we claim, he stabbed a Nazi in self-defense?" "With knives taped to his hands?" "We"ll take the other case." "What case?" "Chinatown, eight years ago." "Great." "He gets wasted in front of tourists." "The cops pressure the Pell Street Dragons, and they give up Kim:" "The kid who"s been trying to get in." "You think that"s what happened?" "lt"ll make a great opening statement." "Yeah, easy as that?" "Easy, no." "We gotta find some buried piece of evidence to open this up." "But if the guy"s really guilty" "Only God and Shu know, and neither of them is talking." "The guiltier he is, the more he needs us." "He"s a victim, Roger." "He deserves to see the sun again, breathe the air." "He"s been in prison too damn long." "Okay, come on." "Come on, man." "So this was Shu back in "79." "Jesus." "It"s the murder weapon." "Alleged murder weapon." "They found Shu"s fingerprints on it." "When did you start moonlighting for the D.A.?" "I don"t know about this." "Neither do I." "Wait, listen." "Thanks." "November 5th, 1 979." """Cecil Skell walked into 5th Precinct." "Said he witnessed Chin"s shooting." "Saw suspect"s picture in Post." "Said Shu Kai Kim is wrong man.""" "Cecil Skell?" "I didn"t see his name on any of the affidavits." "How could they"ve missed this guy?" """Also says he knows who killed Kennedy.""" "Keep looking." "Something will turn up." "Boys." "Cleanup time." "Jesus." "Ten minutes, Tom, okay?" "That DD5...." "What?" "The one about the maniac who" "Yeah, Cecil Skell." "Find it." "Hi, Eddie." "Hi, Kitty." "Roger Baron, Kitty Greer, private investigator." "He"s my new associate." "Top of his class." "Eddie"s Chase Manhattan bombing summation kind of changed your life?" "You told her about that?" "Yeah." "So, what have you got?" "My skip-trace turned up two Cecil Skells." "One"s in Butte, Montana the other"s at the Veteran"s Psychiatric." "I take odds on Cecil two." "What"d he do anyway?" "Snitch off a dealer?" "A murder witness." "You"re doing a murder case?" "It hasn"t been that long." "Skell is one of three eyewitnesses." "You gotta start looking for the other two now." "l"m not working on this case." "Yes, you are." "You have fun. I have business back on Planet Earth." "Some corporate VP is banging his secretary and you gotta focus your camera." "Beats getting paid by slime selling angel dust to kids." "Where do you plant your mike to get the most incriminating moans?" "A degree is terrible to waste." "Do your parents know you"re here?" "You can"t pick on him, against the rules." "You"ve blown your chance to participate in this case." "Oh, no. I"m kicking myself right out of here." "We got her." "The head nurse said that you guys needed to talk to me." "Cecil?" "Cecil." "I"m Eddie Dodd. I"m a lawyer." "This is Roger Baron, also a lawyer." "Why don"t you sit down." "Mr. Skell, a young man named Jimmy Chin was shot and killed eight years ago in Chinatown." "Do you remember talking to the police?" "That guy that they arrested, he was the wrong guy." "Cecil, we want to reopen this case but we can"t do it without your testimony." "And I want to use what you have to say so badly." "But I must add, my friend, I think you"re fucking full of shit." "Oh, I think what Eddie means to say is...." "They got the wrong guy. I saw it." "The killer wasn"t Chinese." "Come on, Cecil, not Chinese?" "What" "The Chinese have an energy field that vibrates at a particular frequency." "Oh, right." "What is this about the Kennedy assassination?" "You." "You"re from the company." "I should have known." "Cecil" "What, cia?" "No, man." "The telephone." "What?" "I suppose you don"t know the phone company killed Kennedy?" "He was trying to break it up, and they"ll never let that happen." "They control everything." "What you say in the mouthpiece is never exactly what comes out the other end." "The phone company was broken up." "Oh, and you believe that?" "They were broken up in 1 981 ." "I can get an issue of Business Week." "Excuse me, fellas." "What, are you kidding?" "Are you what heroes are made of?" "I did two tours in Nam." "Are you willing to testify that the man you saw shoot Jimmy Chin was not the man the police arrested?" "They" " They got the wrong guy." "That"s right." "When the D.A. hears this, he"ll send somebody claiming to be a journalist or maybe a phone company representative." "He"s going to ask you a lot of questions." "You just be truthful." "Okay?" "To all of us." "I always tell the truth." "That"s why I"m here." "Very good." "And you told the desk sergeant you were certain that Shu Kai Kim wasn"t the killer?" "It"s important to give a vocal response." "Yes, sir." "You left your telephone number?" "Yes." "Now, did the police attempt to phone you or to follow up in any way?" "No." "No, sir." "Thank you, Mr. Skell." "You may cross-examine." "How long have you been a patient--?" "Objection." "That he"s a patient at any hospital is immaterial." "Sustained." "All right." "How long have you resided--?" "This is the same question in sheep"s clothing." "Mr. Rabin, you"re out of line." "Next question." "Thank you." "You"re under oath to tell the truth, Mr. Skell and nothing but the truth." "Who killed President Kennedy?" "Objection!" "This witness is not an expert" "The question relates" "He wasn"t on the Warren Commission!" "You think he was on the grassy knoll?" "I would like to answer the question." "We"re talking about competency!" "He has no right" "Eight years ago!" "Don"t answer it, Cecil!" "Don"t!" "Lee Harvey Oswald." "Never mind, Your Honor." "Objection withdrawn, Your Honor." "The judge has ordered a retrial in the Chinatown murder case." "If we can prove reasonable doubt on your imprisonment we"re sure the D.A. will drop the prison-knifing charge." "Do I have to be in the courtroom?" "There probably won"t be a trial." "The state won"t retry an 8-year-old case." "Neither are we." "At the pretrial, an offer"ll be made." "Odds are, we"ll cut a deal." "Maybe, just maybe, we"ll get you out of here much sooner." "You"ve done enough time." "Mr. Dodd would like to help you in such a case, but" "Kitty!" "Hi, Billy." "What are you doing here?" "l"m not entirely sure." "Oh, excuse me." "The cops tell their experts, ""Three people saw this guy fire the gun.""" "Meanwhile they tell their witnesses, ""Don"t doubt your l.D." "Our experts can tie the suspect to the gun.""" "Thanks." "What do you got?" "One of the prosecution"s three eyewitnesses passed away." "Another moved to Canada." "Same thing." "They still have Laura Gayley, the computer programmer." "She was the closest one, like 21 feet from the killer." "Do you have to do that?" "Do you?" "Have to?" "No." "Look into Shu"s gang." "The Pell Street Dragons?" "Billy!" "Yo, babe!" "Billy!" "See what rank did the hits back in "79." "Your extensive law enforcement contacts should help." "I wasn"t politically correct enough for Comrade Dodd." "Yeah." "Law offices of Edward J. Dodd." "Who?" "Yeah, put him through." "Yes?" "Yes." "Yes, I can." "Okay." "Thank you." "That was Robert Reynard." "Robert Reynard?" "The Manhattan D.A.?" "May I help you, sir?" "Robert Reynard, please." "Would you like to check the coat?" "No, it"s fine." "Right this way." "What do we make?" "Lawyers." "You think that"s the root?" "Sure, it all boils down to goods versus services." "Excuse me, Mr. Reynard." "Edward J. Dodd." "Robert Reynard." "Thank you, George." "Of course you know Dean Rabin, one of my assistant D.A.s." "Dean generally handles the nuisance cases like the...." "What"s the man"s name?" "Shu Kai Kim." "His name is Shu Kai Kim." "You won"t remember this but in "72, I was one of the prosecutors assigned to the police Black Panther shootout." "You walked into court by yourself and kicked our collective butt." "What have you been up to?" "This and that." "My staff tells me it"s mostly been drug-pushers." "I said, that can"t be the same E. Dodd." "In narcotics, the government tramples on the Fourth Amendment." "Well, let"s not drag the Constitution into this." "You used the testimony of a paranoid schizophrenic to overturn a murder conviction that"s withstood over eight years." "Until the death penalty"s reinstated we depend on our ability to make long sentences stick." "And the hell with Kim"s rights?" "Your client is guilty." "I know a little something about street gangs, Ed." "I spent years putting away kingpins in a Colombian crime syndicate." "If we can"t protect this city from incorrigible street assassins my office isn"t worth a damn." "What"s on your wish list, Ed?" "Pleading Kim out to man one in both homicides?" "What are you looking for?" "Concurrent sentences." "Fifteen to life, both counts." "Fifteen"s insulting." "Friday"s the drop-dead date on the offer." "Don"t bullshit me, okay?" "You got witness problems, proof problems." "You"re my only problem, Ed." "What will it take to make you go away?" "Eight, both counts run concurrent, credit for time served." "Yeah, and your man walks out next month." "What are you doing, you joking?" "I never joke about waiving a client"s Sixth Amendment right to trial." "You"re starting to piss me off." "Sorry if I"ve ruined your day my client"s had a tough eight years behind bars." "Why don"t you sleep on that, then make me an offer." "After Friday, no deal." "The Japanese shellac us because they make cars" "Excuse me." "Daily News." "You"ve wriggled up Reynard"s ass." "Sorry, no comment." "It wasn"t a conspiracy, exactly." "Law enforcement is too disorganized." "I suspect sloth is the culprit." "Lassitude." """E. Dodd, retained to defend Kim disclosed that a witness will corroborate Kim"s alibi.""" "I embellished." """Dodd also reports that his team of private investigators... I embroidered." "...are close to naming the man they believe killed Jimmy Chin.""" "I lied." "You should have said he"s Mother Teresa"s bastard son." "I actually like that idea." "Okay." "I"m tired. I"m gonna go home and go to bed." "Thanks for the drinks, kids." "Good night." "Good night, Denny, thank you." "Hey, bro." "Spare a quarter?" "Yeah, a quarter?" "Yeah, sure." "I"m real hungry." "Gook lover!" "Race traitor!" "Enemy of the Aryan people!" "Commie faggot!" "Motherfucker!" "Jew!" "Only half." "Aryan Army say, Chink go to trial you die." "You take on a client who wasted a Nazi in prison you gotta expect the Nazis will come at you." "Eddie deserved this?" "And rape victims want to be laid at gunpoint?" "It"s a fact of life." "These folks just don"t spray swastikas on synagogues." "They take care of their own." "Those teardrop tattoos they"re like notches on a gun." "One for every enemy they kill." "Listen, I"m...." "l think I"m gonna look some more tomorrow." "I"m seeing double here." "God!" "Sorry." "His name is Chuckie Loeder." "Something"s very weird." "You saw his mug shot?" "Yeah." "Those tears weren"t real." "I can"t believe that we"re going to see a bunch of Nazis." "At night!" "The tattoos are phony." "No member of the Aryan Army would paint them on." "They take those teardrops very seriously." "They"re badges of honor, of courage." "Only their most vicious, cruel killer elite get to wear them." "I feel much better now." "Clyde Gruner sold them crystal meth at cost." "We"re Clyde"s buddies. lt"s cool." "Hi. ls your daddy home?" "We"re friends of Clyde Gruner." "You"re the race traitor who"s defending that gook, Duane"s murderer." "You got balls coming here." "What the hell do you want?" "I"m real sorry about Duane." "I got jumped by a man tonight." "He said he was Aryan Army." "His name"s Chuckie Loeder." """Chuck"" rhymes with ""suck.""" "Chuckie Loeder"s no longer a brother in the resurrection of our nation." "We expelled him a year ago." "Do you know where he is?" "Hanging with his tongue out and a sign saying, ""l betrayed my race"" along with society"s scum, on the Great Day of the Rope." "Prior to the Great Day of the Rope, where can he be found?" "Mixing with mongrel races." "Anything along the lines of an address or a job?" "Art supplies, right?" "Now get the fuck out of here." "I want to hear it real clear." "Chuckie Loeder is not Aryan Army and you guys aren"t behind this." "is that right?" "If we were, you wouldn"t be standing here." "Eddie we can go in now." "Who did that to you?" "A soldier in the Aryan Army with black teardrops painted on his face." "Painted?" "That wasn"t an Aryan soldier." "Why would a guy do that?" "Paint black teardrops on his face?" "He wanted you to think he was somebody he wasn"t." "But why?" "Maybe because someone"s afraid." "Afraid of what?" "I don"t know." "The truth, maybe." "The truth about what?" "About Chinatown." "What went down." "What went down, Shu?" "What happened in Chinatown?" "You tell me." "No, you tell me, Shu." "Tell me." "How can I tell you what I don"t know?" "So tell me what you do know." "Come on!" "I don"t know shit, man." "Quit lying!" "I know that you"re innocent, Shu." "Even if you"ve forgotten." "The D.A."s talking a deal." "With negotiating I can get you out in five years." "Five years?" "Maybe." "With a little luck, we take the deal, that"s it." "I don"t find the guy who did this to me, who put him up to it who did the crime and let you do the time." "We take this deal, we walk away." "Never find out what really happened." "Never get a shot at nailing some guilty bastard"s balls to the wall." "No." "No what?" "I gotta hear you say it." "Fuck the D.A."s deal." "Get out of here." "Jimmy Chin crossed north on Pell." "At the last instant, he must have sensed something because he turned and he was shot dead, right here." "Laura Gayley stood where you"re standing right now." "No telephone booth, bus stop or stop sign was in the way." "She had a perfect view of the killer"s face." "But she couldn"t have, could she?" "Because she thinks she saw Shu." "We know now she didn"t see Shu." "I"m stalking you." "I"m right behind you." "There"s a rage in the air." "You can feel it, like an electrical charge." "You turn, time contracts, space explodes perceptions can"t be trusted as I pull out a loaded gun and" "Guys in the field will bullshit that comparison microscopy is exact." "Powder residues, grease stains, skin fragments." "It"s subject to interpretation, you know what I mean?" "Not exactly." "We need to finesse a little" "Howard, I told you, we don"t need to finesse this one." "That"s Shu"s gun." "Shu didn"t commit the crime." "No finessing." "Jesus!" "Jump back." "You want to hang out?" "I"ll have a preliminary in an hour." "No, my associate"ll wait. I got some good news of my own to deliver." "Excuse me." "Edward J. Dodd to see Mr. Reynard." "Could you wait a moment, please?" "Yes, I"m sorry but it"s policy that Mr. Reynard not attend political fundraisers." "Well, thank you." "Thank you very much." "Excuse me, is he expecting you?" "This"ll only take a minute." "I"m sorry." "He"s running an hour behind schedule." "Just tell him Mr. Dodd and Mr. Kim plan to proceed with trial." "Ed." "Did my girl hear your message correctly?" "I guess so, or you wouldn"t be standing there." "Why did I think that I could deal reasonably with a man who defends coke-pushers for free?" "No, coke-pushers pay cash." "That subsidizes the pot possession cases." "They"re free." "But now you"ve strayed from your area of expertise, dope into street assassins." "A subject of which you are dangerously ignorant." "Yeah, but I"m a quick study." "I"ll see your assistant D.A., Rabin, in court." "No, Mr. Dodd." "You"ll see me in court." "I"m prosecuting this case." "Why am I surprised?" "Colombians, Koreans, what"s the difference?" "You built your career on putting nonwhites behind bars." "I"ll prosecute anyone who fucks up." "And if that makes me look racist it"s a tradeoff that I"ll live with, Ed." "That"s big of you, Bob." "See you in court." "Ed." "You should"ve taken the deal." "Excuse me." "You"re probably right." "Thanks." "That was the ballistics guy." "His test showed that Shu"s gun fired the bullet that killed Chin." "Howard"s a fucking burnout case." "I wouldn"t put him on the stand." "Get more names from Billy." "There"s a sociology professor at Columbia." "He"s an expert on New York gangs." "l talked to him." "Doing a hit was the way to get into the Dragons." "There goes your theory about them fingering Shu." "I like that theory." "Since the professor won"t be on the stand and I don"t have another, I"ll use it." "And I wouldn"t need a goddamn theory if you could find Chuckie Loeder." "I have phoned every art supply in a 1 00-mile radius." "No one has heard of Chuckie Loeder." "Maybe he"s not calling himself Chuckie Loeder these days." "Maybe he"s got an alias." "Biff Loeder." "Can you just stop being the prophets of doom?" "Every time I ask a question, I get the wrong answer." "You"re on the bus or you"re off." "I can do this shit myself." "Eddie, that"s not fair." "We"re all committed." "We all believe it"s a good fight." "Good fight?" "You think I"m going into court to make a statement?" "You think Shu gives a shit if we go down, but go down nobly?" "This is a man looking at 40 years of hard time!" "He could have had a deal and been out in five, but he bet on me!" "Don"t give me liberal yuppie shit about a good fight." "This isn"t fucking Yale." "A good fight is one you win!" "So you want to bail out now, Eddie?" "The door"s over there." "Yeah, Kitty and I have work to do." "We"re going to court." "In the matter of the People versus Shu Kai Kim the Honorable Justice Marcus Quealy presiding." "All rise." "Be seated." "Where"s Eddie?" "He"ll be here." "You will hear the classic tale of the immigrant in New York." "It"s the tale of a young Sicilian in Little Italy who slits a merchant"s throat as an entrée to the Mafia." "Or the Russian Jew who reaches Brooklyn and bludgeons a witness on behalf of Murder Incorporated." "Shu Kai Kim is a part of that ugly tradition." "A stranger, looking for his place in a new world would turn the American dream into an American nightmare." "Why did Mr. Kim fire a bullet through the brain of Jimmy Chin, a boy he never even knew?" "To get into a gang." "Eight years ago, gang war raged in Chinatown." "No one felt safe." "Tourism was down." "Local businessmen pleaded with the mayor." "The mayor pressured the police commissioner and the police commissioner told his men, ""This time arrest somebody.""" "But whom?" "Well, the outsider, of course." "The stranger." "The immigrant." "So what that he"s not in a gang?" "So what that he"s not even Chinese?" "I mean, who can tell one Asian face from the next?" "So what that he didn"t even commit the crime?" "This time, arrest somebody." "Anybody." "And so, Detective Montell, having brought in Mr. Kim for booking..." "And so, Detective Montell, having brought in Mr. Kim for booking you arranged for a lineup with six other Asian males." "That"s right." "We brought in six other Asian males of the same approximate age and had the eyewitnesses view them from every angle." "And the results of that lineup?" "All the eyewitnesses picked Kim." "But isn"t it true that the six other Asian males were of the classic Mongoloid type whereas Kim has the distinctive facial bone structure of a Korean?" "Objection." "The witness is not an expert in racial classification." "Sustained." "This banner headline appeared in the Daily News, October 25, 1 979 one week before Jimmy Chin"s murder." """Mayor Rips Police Commish Fed Up With Chinatown Violence.""" "You were aware of the pressure, weren"t you, Detective Montell?" "I"m sorry, Mr. Dodd, but I read the Post." "Detective Sklaroff what information led you to arrest my client two and a half hours after the shooting?" "We had a description of the suspect." "A description." "Asian, male, 1 8 to 30 black hair, brown eyes?" "Argumentative." "Overruled." "We had intelligence." "You had intelligence." "We had information on Kim"s desire to gain admission into the Pell Street Dragons by assassinating a member of a rival gang." "Didn"t that come from the Dragons?" "Didn"t the Pell Street Dragons, a Chinese gang, all but hand you Shu Kai Kim, a Korean" "Objection, Your Honor, this isn"t a cross-examination." "It"s Mr. Dodd"s opening statement again, and it"s pure fabrication." "Didn"t they?" "Sustained." "Please continue, Detective Sklaroff." "We proceeded to the suspect"s address and discovered him there." "While my partner restrained and arrested Mr. Kim I made a search of the premises and recovered a .38 caliber handgun." "Isn"t it unusual for a murderer to bring the weapon to his apartment?" "Calls for speculation." "Sustained." "Are you implying that I planted a gun?" "The jury will decide." "Kim"s prints were all over it." "Your Honor!" "He said it was his gun." "The witness"s answer is nonresponsive." "I ask you to strike it from the record, please." "You opened this line of questioning, Mr. Dodd." "The testimony will remain in the record." "No more questions." "You may step down, Detective Sklaroff." "l"m dying out there." "lt"s okay, Eddie." "The People call retired Detective Vincent Dennehy." "A fucking wheelchair." "Detective Dennehy you were the first officer at the murder scene." "Correct?" "Yes, sir. I was the first one there." "And what did you do then?" "I secured the scene re-routed traffic and searched the area for physical evidence." "There was a lot of confusion down there that night." "And after that I questioned all the eyewitnesses who remained at the murder site." "At 10:30 p.m., I proceeded with the decedent"s body to the office of the County Coroner." "I left the crime scene about 10:30." "Thank you." "No further questions." "Detective, you reached the morgue and delivered Jimmy Chin"s body when?" "1 1 :30." "1 1 :30?" "Now you expect us to believe that from 1 0" "From 1 0:1 0 to 1 1 :30, that you had the time" "You okay?" "l got this pain." "You" "No more questions." "That"s fine." "Mr. Dodd has yet to successfully challenge any of the testimony that"s been given so far." "A wheelchair?" "l didn"t put him in it." "Reynard did." "Spinal injury." "He only needs a cane." "It was in Kitty"s report." "I don"t have time to read every line in every report." "I"m too busy getting pulverized in the courtroom." "And my investigator can"t find the art store where Chuckie Loeder works!" "I"d chat but a cop"s bringing me the Pell Street Dragons" mug book, circa 1 979." "And I need a Dragon I can put on the stand!" "Eddie, stick this up your ass." "Tall order." """Art"s Supplies.""" """Everything for the Plumber.""" "Hi." "is Art around?" "ls he expecting you?" "Yes, he is." "I"m Maraquilla Esparza, Art"s wife." "Maraquilla." "That"s a lovely name." "Thank you." "He"s probably back here." "You can"t go in there." "I know, but we called and he said-- We want to talk about PVC tubing." "He just said to come back." "We"ll just be a minute." "Excuse me." "Art Esparza, what can I do for you?" "Eddie Dodd." "Roger Baron." "You can"t come back here." "We"re lawyers renovating our firm." "There"s metal grinding" "You see a toilet here that"s me?" "We were considering the lowboy." "Do you have a demo of one?" "We"re not a store or a showroom." "Didn"t l read that it"s healthier if you sit lower on the toilet then get your knees up?" "Makes a smooth move?" "Where"s your friend?" "Loeder!" "Loeder!" "I just want to talk to you!" "Hey, move, man!" "Move!" "Damn!" "Loeder!" "Damn it!" "Get him off!" "Get him off me!" "It"s all right, fellas. I got him." "It"s cool." "Sorry." "Didn"t l tell you not to come back here?" "Come with me." "Talk to me." "Nice meeting you." "l"m a lawyer" "That gives you the right to run wild in my business?" "Every man here has done hard prison time." "These people need to know I can protect them." "What gives you a perfect understanding?" "Five years in Attica." "And I met a lot of cons I trusted, but I never met a lawyer I trusted." "Art"s is founded on trust." "Art"s is for ex-cons." "Not lawyers." "Look, this Chuckie Loeder is a material witness in a murder trial." "I need to get him on the stand." "If you"d been straight, I could have helped." "But you probably scared him off for good." "And you"re leaving now, aren"t you?" "You okay?" "Fine." "I lost Chuckie, got a lecture from the jailhouse saint and where were you?" "1 050 Amsterdam Avenue." "What?" "Chuckie"s address." "I sneaked a peek at the Rolodex." "You sneaked a peek at the Rolodex, counselor?" "Nice." "Kitty, Chuckie Loeder"s most recent address just happens to be a hole in the ground." "When a residential hotel"s demolished, the city relocates the tenants." "Housing Authority will have records of" "You taught me that?" "So why am I wasting my breath?" "Get on it." "Loeder?" "Loeder?" "Jesus Christ." "So, I guess you found him after all, didn"t you?" "You know, he had no family." "I have to l.D. him." "I"m his family." "So, you won"t be able to use him now, will you?" "Eddie, let"s go." "It"s goddamn tragic, ain"t it?" "Ain"t it?" "Get out of here, Dodd!" "Loeder was murdered." "It"s as simple as that." "Chuckie Loeder OD"d." "He was a junkie." "The coroner found 1 20 track marks on him." "And isn"t it possible he beat you up on his own?" "To get back in good with the Aryans." "No." "Wrong." "I heard from the last ballistics expert." "All 1 0 say Shu"s gun killed Jimmy Chin." "That"s why I hate experts." "We have to go to Reynard and cut a deal." "Right. I"ll fall on my knees before that stooge of the ruling class." "This isn"t about you." "This is about Shu." "lf we plead him out" "You plead out guilty people!" "Shu"s innocent." "Only Shu and God know that." "I know it!" "Know how?" "Because Reynard says he"s guilty and he"s full of shit." "Look." "It"s not the face of a killer." "You"re carrying it like it"s a picture of your girlfriend." "I don"t want your heart to break when this crashes." "That won"t happen." "Ballistics says it"s his gun." "All the facts-- -""All the facts.""" "I"m going to put the facts on trial!" "Without Loeder what do we have?" "We don"t have a single witness." "Then go find me one." "There"s Chinatown." "I pictured the morgue being uptown." "Come on, Roger, will you?" "Jesus." "And that is the fatal bullet fired that night in Chinatown?" "Yes, sir." "According to your analysis can this bullet be linked to Mr. Kim"s weapon?" "Bearing in mind the fact that every gun barrel leaves a distinctive mark on the bullet it fires we must conclude this bullet was fired from Kim"s .38 caliber handgun." "Thank you, sir." "No more questions." "Forensic ballistics is not really an exact science, is it?" "No, it most certainly is, Mr. Dodd." "Like tarot cards or astrology?" "Mr. Dodd, tarot cards and astrology are not sciences." "Ballistics is a science." "lt has a 1 0 percent margin of error." "Absolutely not." "No more than seven percent." "Seven percent." "Out of every 1 00 cases, based on your testimony seven innocent men go to prison." "That the idea?" "Objection." "Sustained." "Withdrawn." "Miss Gayley, tell the court what you remember seeing on that evening?" "I don"t think I"ll ever forget it." "I was walking East on Pell Street." "I had come from dinner with friends and I noticed a man walk past me." "I noticed him for two reasons." "He was walking fast and his hand was shoved inside his jacket." "Something told me to turn." "And the man whom you saw murder Jimmy Chin is he in this courtroom?" "That"s him sitting over there." "Let the record show that Miss Gayley indicated Shu Kai Kim." "Your witness, Mr. Dodd." "You know, Miss Gayley I looked at these photos, diagrams I visited the murder scene, heard your testimony I look at the distance between us and I come to the same conclusion." "I hate to say this." "I don"t understand how you could have seen the gun." "Does Mr. Dodd have a question?" "l do." "Did you see the gun?" "Yes. I can describe it." "Really?" "Yes." "It was silver, with a stubby barrel." """Snub-nosed"" l believe they call it." "It was not an automatic, it had one of those cylinders." "After eight years, how can you remember that?" "I can see the hammer. it was cocked." "How could you remember this?" "I never took my eyes off it." "She never took her eyes off the gun." "Thank you, Miss Gayley." "Not the entire time" "No further questions." "l would like to" "No further questions, thank you." "You may step down, Miss Gayley." "The People wish to call a witness who does not appear in the list." "Objection." "Trial by ambush!" "We just found him." "He occupies the cell adjacent to the defendant." "This has nothing to do with events at prison." "Your Honor, I assure you the witness has information specific to the case." "Mr. Dodd, you will be granted time to prepare your cross-examination." "In the absence of prejudice to your client I will permit the witness to testify." "With objection, Your Honor." "So noted." "Thank you." "As their final witness, the People wish to call Richard Ortega." "Who"s Richard Ortega?" "Who is Richard Ortega?" "Mr. Ortega what is La Fraternidad?" "A Cubano prison gang, basically." "And its purpose?" "Fighting the Aryan Army and the Black Avengers, basically." "Fighting?" "For what?" "To live, we protect our own." "I understand." "And in protecting your own, is it sometimes necessary to commit murder?" "Objection." "The witness is asked to incriminate himself." "The witness has been granted immunity for any criminal activities he may disclose." "You must answer the question, Mr. Ortega." "Mr. Ortega are members of La Fraternidad ever called upon to commit murder?" "Yeah, sometimes." "All right." "Now isn"t Shu Kai Kim, who is Asian a member of La Fraternidad?" "Objection. irrelevant." "Overruled." "Answer the question." "Yes, Shu"s a member." "Why?" "Why was Shu Kai Kim recruited by La Fraternidad?" "I can"t answer that." "lf Your Honor will instruct-- -lt"s a secret. I ain"t no snitch." "Mr. Ortega, you must answer under threat of contempt." "Why was Mr. Kim, an Asian, recruited by a Cubano prison gang?" "Fuck you." "Mr." "Ortega I can sentence you to more years than you"ve already served." "I repeat why was Kim recruited by La Fraternidad?" "Chinatown." "Chinatown?" "And how do you know what Mr. Kim did in Chinatown?" "Did Shu Kai Kim tell members of La Fraternidad he murdered Jimmy Chin?" "They got me all fucked up!" "Mr." "Ortega." "Did Mr. Kim confess to you that he killed Jimmy Chin?" "He mentioned it!" "He mentioned it." "Or did he, in fact, boast about it to any inmate who would listen?" "Objection." "Sustained." "Withdrawn." "The People rest." "Mr. Dodd, how much time will you require to prepare your cross?" "We move that the witness"s testimony be stricken." "He"s been manipulated by the prosecution." "Mr. Baron, you are not the attorney of record here." "Mr. Dodd do you wish to cross-examine?" "Ask for 72 hours." "The court is hereby adjourned until 1 0 a.m. tomorrow." "Eddie...." "Listen to me." "Eddie." "Eddie, where are you going?" "Look, I heard Ortega say that Shu confessed." "I didn"t see any evidence." "We"ll ask for a continuance of 48 hours and we"ll find an inmate to testify that Shu said he didn"t do it." "Goddamn it!" "The guiltier he is, the more he needs us." "You said that!" "Get lost." "There was quite a bit you didn"t tell me." "When I joined, I took an oath of secrecy. I told you what you needed." "Not that you bragged about killing Jimmy Chin?" "And knifing the guy, the Aryan Army cutting into your crack trade?" "lt was self-defense." "Jimmy Chin, was that self-defense?" "I"m sorry, it"s just" "For a while I thought there was this...." "You"ll laugh, but I thought we were two sorry assholes who needed each other." "Who could help each other." "How could I help you?" "By trusting me." "I got my face kicked in because I trusted you." "I couldn"t find an expert to say it wasn"t your gun, but it didn"t matter." "I went up against the D.A., but I didn"t care because I trusted you." "Because I believed in you." "Because I thought there was a bond between us." "You"re out there and I"m in here." "My bond my trust is with the guys in here that cover my back." "When you leave this place you go out to dinner, see a movie, get laid." "I"m going back to my cell and wait to die." "So you tell me where is our bond?" "For a while we had this dream we were innocent." "That was our bond." "Then we woke up." "I want to hear everything." "What do you mean?" "The truth." "Tell me about Chinatown, Shu." "Tell me the truth!" "Shu!" "Shu!" "Shu!" "Just tell me the truth!" "Yeah?" "You"re not sleeping, are you?" "You know, I haven"t gotten stoned once since this trial started?" "Come in." "We"ll talk in the morning." "Meantime, you can get some sleep." "l don"t need sleep." "Do you believe in luck, Kitty?" "Luck?" "No." "Why?" "Because after 1 0 years of defending nothing but scumbags this kid, this Roger, came along out of nowhere." "Suddenly, I find myself fighting to free an innocent man." "An innocent man, Kitty." "I don"t find too many of those in my line of work." "And for a minute, I thought the kid brought me luck." "And it felt good." "Oh, it felt good." "Yeah, well, my minute is up." "Come on." "A guilty client"s not the end of the world." "Exactly." "It"s a new beginning." "See, I"m going back to defending scumbags." "Not just dope peddlers anymore." "No." "Porno merchants." "Child molesters." "Repeat drunk drivers. I"ll get them all off." "Hit men. ""Hey, send Eddie Dodd your contract killers.""" "And none of them ever does time again." "Eddie, just go home." "Get some sleep." "Mrs. Esparza?" "What do you want?" "My name is Roger Baron." "I work with Eddie Dodd." "What were you doing at Shu"s trial?" "What trial?" "I followed you home from the courthouse." "I knew Jimmy Chin, the boy that was shot." "And you were concerned that Shu would go free." "That"s right." "Now, did you have Chuckie Loeder try to scare Eddie off the case?" "Why don"t you ask Chuckie?" "He OD"d." "He"s dead." "Art didn"t tell you?" "Look, Mr...." "Roger." "You must not talk to Art or tell him that you saw me at the trial." "You had a right to be there if you and Jimmy were friends." "Friends?" "Oh, my God." "You don"t know anything." "Why are you around?" "Go home." "Take your job on Wall Street." "lt wasn"t a Chinatown gang hit." "Right." "Art Esparza"s wife and Jimmy Chin were lovers." "She just about told me." "That"s great." "You phoned Esparza"s wife?" "Are you nuts?" "No, I followed her from the courthouse." "Esparza"s wife was at Shu"s trial?" "Yeah, and she was scared to death that I"d tell Art." "Art Esparza." "What do we know about that son of a bitch?" "Dodd, you got 1 5 minutes." "Right." "Check this out." "The man"s a prince." """Queens businessman honored for his efforts to employ ex-convicts.""" "Security clearance for Esparza to go into jails for parole board hearings." "Wonderful work this man does." "Now skipping two years back." "His real work is watched by Narco. ""Suspected of using his warehouse as drug drop." "Surveillance terminated.""" "Going back four years." """Arthur Esparza charged with assault." "Dismissed." "Accessory to extortion." "Dismissed.""" "You get the feeling he"s protected?" "I"m out of here." "You owe me one, Dodd." """Dismissed." "Dismissed for lack of evidence." "Dismissed.""" "Shit!" "Jesus Christ." "What?" "I"ve seen this picture." "No wonder the eyewitnesses picked Shu." "They could have been brothers." "Esparza killed Jimmy Chin." "Man." "The killer wasn"t Chinese." "Skell was right!" "Everybody else was wrong." "The one fucking lunatic was right." "Come on." "This mean the phone company killed Kennedy?" "Shu"s gun is an absolute match." "How could it be?" "Not here, Roger." "Jesus." "At least we"d already be at the morgue." "Goddamn." "Look, we"ll make a citizen"s arrest of Esparza." "But we"ll need backup." "Who"s the meanest fucker you got off?" "Just give me a name." "Anyone who owns a Magnum." "Roger, the broken-down detective in the wheelchair?" "Dennehy." "He said he left Chinatown with the body at 1 0:30." "And reached the morgue an hour later." "That"s why I thought it was uptown." "l need you to fill for me in court." "What?" "I need you in court." "Who the hell is it?" "Come on, open up." "Sorry to bother you. I"m Edward Dodd." "Are you Mrs. Dennehy?" "Ms. Dennehy." "Vin"s sister." "I know you." "l have to talk to him." "No way." "You got to be crazy at this hour." "Can you step back?" "Why should I?" "Just step back from the door." "Where are you going?" "Stay." "Dennehy." "Do I know you?" "I"m Eddie Dodd. I cross-examined you." "But not very well." "What did you do with Chin"s body?" "Please, I need to sleep." "What did you do with Chin"s body?" "l brought it to the coroner." "An hour after you got it." "Yeah, an hour later." "From Chinatown, down the street from the morgue?" "What did you do with Jimmy Chin"s body?" "You don"t know shit." "I know about Art Esparza." "It wasn"t Vin"s idea." "Connie, go back to bed." "This is official business." "You were pressured." "Tell the man." "Connie go back to bed." "Talk to me." "We thought it would work if it was a thru-and-thru." "What"s a ""thru-and-thru""?" "l get this chronic pain." "Vinnie what is a ""thru-and-thru""?" "You know eight years I"ve been waiting for some genius to notice it took me an hour to drive seven blocks." "I drove Chin"s body to the Manhattan Bridge." "Under the bridge Montell and Sklaroff were already there with Shu Kai Kim"s gun." "We only had three hours." "After that, with the body cooling and clotting, it wouldn"t look right to the pathologist." "Chin had been hit once in the forehead by Esparza"s .32." "The bullet exited clean." "That"s a thru-and-thru." "So all Sklaroff had to worry about was aiming Kim"s .38" "at the same angle." "We pulled the bullet out of the mattress and that was it." "An airtight case." "Why?" "All this to protect Art Esparza?" "A nasty little bastard." "He steps in shit, we got to lick his boots clean." "He was your snitch." "The Colombian Connection." "Colombian?" "Three years of ball-busting detective work." "We put a lot of bad guys in jail." "And one good guy." "Demerol?" "What is your problem?" "You want to die?" "l am dead." "No." "We"re both dead." "Nobody dies until I hear the truth!" "Vinnie!" "Who put the frame on Shu?" "Vinnie!" "Stay awake, Dennehy." "Shit." "Come on!" "Talk to me, man!" "I didn"t say snort. I said talk." "l need you to live." "Where are we going?" "Thattaboy." "We"re going to the hospital." "Shit." "Why did you have to come here, you hippie fuck?" "Vinnie"s sick." "He needs a hospital." "Yeah, that makes two of you." "Move it, you piece of shit!" "Get back in the car!" "Just give me a second!" "Get back in the fucking car!" "Vin, what did you tell the lawyer?" "Lou?" "I"m right here, Vin." "So"s Dave." "But we need to know what you told the lawyer." "I came clean." "Vinnie told him everything." "You shot a corpse." "You think I give a shit about that?" "Let"s snuff him now." "The fact you popped Chin in public proves it wasn"t premeditated." "The jury will sympathize." "He was banging your wife." "Shut your" " Get the fuck off me!" "Cool it, man!" "Cool it!" "You"re dead." "Understand?" "Makes sense." "Kill me during a trial." "Wouldn"t be clean." "Not like Chuckie." "Did you treat him to a match-head of pure smack?" "Yeah. I"m a generous guy." "Who did you waste now?" "Goddamn you." "Do it, Lou, so we can go home." "Letting him run you?" "Lou, we have to." "Waste him, you little worm." "The man will take care of it." "He"s right." "Come on." "Blow him." "Do it, you pussy!" "I"ll blow the scumbag away!" "I should have done that eight years ago." "You see that?" "You want to be like that?" "No." "You"re gonna keep your fucking mouth shut?" "You can"t trust him." "Are you going to keep quiet?" "I can"t." "Shoot him for chrissake!" "I can"t do it, Lou." "That"s the motherfucker that shot Jimmy Chin." "It"s justice." "My client"s in prison 8 years, didn"t kill Jimmy Chin." "That"s justice?" "My guy"s gotta walk." "No, Lou. I can"t keep my mouth shut." "I can"t." "It"s over." "Your lies my lies, all of the bullshit." "It"s enough." "You sorry bastard." "Yeah, I"m sorry." "I gotta go now." "I gotta be in court." "Freeze!" "Freeze!" "Where"s Mr. Dodd?" "Your Honor, if I may?" "I don"t know where Mr. Dodd is, but if he does not appear I am ready to proceed on Mr. Kim"s behalf." "I don"t find this amusing." "Neither do I, Your Honor." "Oh, good morning, Mr. Dodd." "You think you might be up to presenting your case this morning?" "You look pretty good up there." "Your Honor I suppose I could find some inmate at Sing Sing who"d say that Shu boasted about killing Jimmy Chin to survive in prison, though he didn"t really do it." "But would we be close to understanding what really happened in Chinatown?" "You have no witnesses, Mr. Dodd?" "If it please the court, the defense calls Mr. Robert Reynard." "I would ask opposing counsel to prove that this is anything more than a desperate tactic." "Will you both approach the bench?" "As an assistant D.A., Mr. Reynard had knowledge of external pressures that led to my client"s arrest and indictment." "Must we hear more nonsense about pressure from the mayor"s office?" "A man"s freedom is at stake." "Years of his life may be obliterated." "Your Honor, I urge you to give me the benefit of the doubt." "Please." "As the defense has no other witnesses I"m inclined to permit this, Mr. Reynard." "It"s a last-ditch ploy, Your Honor." "The defense hopes that my presence on the stand will create the opportunity for a mistrial." "The defense is mistaken." "Thank you, Your Honor." "Mr. Reynard, let"s discuss your involvement in the Shu Kai Kim case." "My involvement was marginal at best." "I wasn"t assigned the Shu Kai Kim case." "You were investigating a Colombian crime syndicate at that time?" "And didn"t that case catapult you into the office which you now hold?" "If I were in my normal seat, I"d say it calls for speculation." "But you aren"t in your normal seat, so tell me, please did you have a hands-on role or did you supervise from on high?" "Mr. Dodd, I was personally involved with all phases and principals of the investigation." "I fail to see" "And who were the detectives who assisted you in the Colombian case?" "Lou Sklaroff, Vin Dennehy and Dave Montell." "The same three detectives in the Shu Kai Kim case." "That"s right, Mr. Dodd. ln those days they often worked as a team." "Who was Arturo Esparza?" "I don"t think I know that name." "You were involved in all phases of the investigation, with all principals." "Yes, but I can"t remember the name of each informant eight years later." "I didn"t say he was an informant." "But since you mention it, he was your key informant." "He was your primary informant." "Without him you had no investigation in the Colombian case." "Showboating can cost lives." "You"re trespassing in the area of witness protection." "Witness protection:" "When the state grants favorable treatment in exchange for information." "Like with Mr. Ortega." "A necessary compromise to serve a greater good. lt"s a tradeoff." "Tradeoff?" "How far does it go, Mr. Reynard?" "Protecting a key informant by covering up a murder he"s committed?" "Or does it go even further?" "I think you"re a dangerous man, Mr. Dodd." "I hope so, Mr. Reynard." "On the night of November 2nd, 1 979, when Jimmy Chin was murdered didn"t your key informant, Art Esparza, call you and say:" """l just shot a man in Chinatown." "People saw me do it.""" "No." "Yes!" "And what did you say?" "Objection!" "Badgering!" "Sustained." "Didn"t you say:" """Don"t worry, we"ll cover it up." "We"ll make the killing look like a Chinatown gang hit.""" "That"s slanderous." "Did you order your team to comb the mug books?" "Find a patsy!" "Frame him!" "The objection was sustained, Mr. Dodd." "We can"t let Art Esparza"s crime spoil everything." "That wouldn"t serve the greater good!" "Counsel is exposing privileged information from a classified case." "The case has been over for years." "Art Esparza is dead." "Can"t my client go free now?" "Mr. Dodd this is an improper forum for these allegations." "I understand." "You had to protect your case." "You made a lot of arrests." "You maybe even saved some lives." "You make that sound trivial." "Trivial." "No." "Not trivial." "My apologies." "I withdraw these questions." "But I must know one thing." "How could you do it?" "It was a tradeoff, Mr. Dodd." "I"d do it again." "Your Honor the defense rests." "It looks like you"ve become a symbol for your community." "Could I get a ride with you guys?" "Go ahead, Shu." "Be important." "Thanks." "Get out of here." "Your mother"s waiting for you." "So, what about you?" "Still thinking about that job on Wall Street?" "Now that things are going well?" "I hope this doesn"t mean you"ll ask for a raise." "No, I haven"t even been paid yet." "You haven"t?" "Good. I was worried." "The publicity from this should get us decent clients." "Decent?" "Roger." "The most grievous injustices in the history of mankind have been perpetrated in the name of decency." "This case shows us, we must seek out and support the indecent the indefensible, the wretched, the disreputable."