"In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups... the police who investigate crime, and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders." "These are their stories." "I want the Caddy." "I ' m happy with the velour, not even leather." "I'm happy." "What do I end up with?" "A damn Asian ant-box." "Must have forgot their keys." "Hold it, we got a vic." "Watch it, Eddie, he's got a gun!" "Eddie, forget the kid!" "This guy's checking out." "Since when's a ham sandwich $2. 75, Jesus?" "Since last Friday." "I didn't know ptomaine had gone up." "We don't use none of that." "It's all homemade." "What?" "We got a 10-20." "Could be a homicide." "Vic conscious?" "Nope." "Ambulance is on the way." "Around the potholes, eh?" "Suit's just back from the cleaners." "Odds?" "50-50, but I'm an optimist." "I've seen this guy." "Hochmeyer!" "Any ID?" "He took his wallet, but we ran the car." "Who owns the Benz?" "Eddie, come on." "It's registered to Charles Halsey in Kew Gardens." "Oh, that's great." "That's just terrific." "You know the guy?" "Councilman Halsey?" "Ring a bell?" "The dirtbag who's always mouthing off about the streets being unsafe?" "I hate media cases." "They try to get close to you, looking for anything they can get 500 words out of you." "99% of them don't care about you, the case, or who they hurt." "They just want to sell papers." "If you talk to them, they start calling you at the office, tying up the lines." "If you don't talk to them, they start writing about how "the police are stymied."" "Then the calls come in from the brass downtown." "You can't smoke in here." "It's not lit." "Not bad, Max." "A prophet in your own time." "Man:.. it was big news to you people." "Then you got tired of hearing the truth." "Sure, you were at his press conferences, but he was just exercising his lungs." "Now do you understand what Chuck Halsey was screaming about?" "Our streets aren't safe for anyone." "You can check with our office on Chuck's condition." "We'll have regular medical updates." "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen." "Do you have any idea what your husband was doing in that neighborhood?" "Okay, got it." "Dr. Goldman, you have a visitor in your office..." "He made it through surgery." "That's half the battle." "We'll call immediately if anything changes." "Thank you, Doctor." "Who are you?" "I'm Detective Logan, this is Detective Greevey." "I'm sorry about your husband, ma'am." "You're the investigating officers?" "Mm-hmm. we heard it was two black kids." "You have anything else?" "Not yet." "Could you give me a description of his personal items, ma'am?" "He always carried... a brown alligator wallet, and he had a star sapphire ring and... a gold and diamond Rolex." "And he always had about $500 cash." "Your husband have any enemies?" "Chuck Halsey is one of the most respected and liked men in this district." "I'm sure he is." "Ma'am?" "What are you asking?" "I thought you knew who did it." "Two black kids were there, but they didn't drive him to that location." "Do you have any idea what he was doing out there?" "Chuck had a political dinner." "I was there." "It ended around 10:30." "Did he leave alone?" "I have no idea." "You going to be able to catch these... kids?" "I'm not going to lie" " It'll take a break or a miracle." "What kind of miracle?" "One of them walking in and confessing might help." "We have to get back to the precinct garage." "We'll try to get your car to you as soon as possible, ma'am." "Thank you, Detective." "It's okay..." "it's okay." "That was smart." "There's no sense in her having any illusions." "Right" " Conti got a real charge out of your sense of humor." "Yeah...?" "Are you trying to tell me this thing plays straight?" "Let's check Halsey's car." "What was he doing there after a political dinner?" "Let's check the car." "Whoa, wait a minute." "Wait a minute." "What have you got?" "Old rumors." "That's great." "What kind?" "Rumor was, he ran the pad in the criminal courts." "He's a bagman?" "Was... if you believe the rumors." "This really frosts my cookies, Max." "You mind telling me why you didn't tell me?" "Because you're already leaping to conclusions, for Pete's sakes." "About the only probable conclusion we can draw is that the black kids took whatever they found." "Let's check the car." "60 bucks for a damn key." "Could've popped the thing for nothing." "The car belongs to a councilman." "Is that real?" "How much?" "12 and up." "Must be crazy about his old lady." "I don't want to tell her, but what else can we do?" "But Halsey could still pull through, right?" "Eight to five- against." "The surgeon says it's in God's hands." "That must be comforting." "Well?" "The guy wakes up, and the coat wasn't for the wife, and we've told her." "Thanks for your help, Captain." "Keep in touch." "Since when does that mean we don't go?" "Hey, Max?" "Yeah?" "Jacobson, down at the Trib." "I'm out." "No labels." "Maggie's got a friend." "Works for a furrier." "Did you catch the Halsey mugging?" " Yeah." " Give Perez a call at Narco." "Perez?" "The one that doesn't shave?" "Yeah." "We take down the crack house and roll up this scumball dealer, Rodriguez, with half a dozen customers." "Rodriguez is on probation and knows he's going back for a deuce, so he gives us this kid who he says came in with a wad that he had taken off some white dude in a Mercedes." "I got in here," "I read the APB, and boom... called upstairs." "Monster case of the "yips."" "He's good for nothing till he comes down." "I'm going to have him singing the name game in five minutes." "What?" "20?" "Rodriguez would rat out his own mama." "Junkie gimp don't know nothing!" "And you ain't got squat on me except for what he said." "And that's just heresy." "The word's "hearsay," Simonize." "Yeah, that's it." "And I be good for "no say."" "Hey- shut up." "We don't dig being dissed by lightweights." "Mike, he's not being disrespectful." "He's just being reflective." "What are you looking at?" "Turn around." "Eight arrests and he still doesn't get it?" "Hey... judges help those who help themselves." "Going..." "I'm not talking about a year at Spofford." "Going..." "Don't be stupid." "Gone." "Back to your cage, Simonize." "Get up." "Simonize, what a surprise." "You getting some career counseling from Greevey?" "I ain't done nothing." "Such a polite young man." "Of course you haven't. we always arrest innocent people, huh?" "Who's this jerk hang with?" "How's Tremaine these days?" "I ain't seen him." "It's amazing how you homeboys are always apart." "Tremaine Lewis- I got his address upstairs." "Simonize lives with his grandmother." "Grandmother?" "You the man?" "We sure are, honey." "Who is it?" "Police, Mrs. Jackson." "You sure this paper says you can do that even when he ain't here?" "Yes, ma'am." "That's a search warrant signed by a judge." "First time the police ever brought up a search warrant." "Simon done something real bad this time, huh?" "Yes, ma'am... it looks that way." "Lots of noise." "Plenty of warning." "Tremaine Lewis" " NYPD!" "Drop the gun, Tremaine!" "Give it up!" "Look at me when I'm talking to you!" "If the councilman croaks, you guys move up to the bigs- murder two." "We're telling you the truth." "We didn't do nothing to him." "You guys willing to swear you two were together the whole night?" "You got that right." "You knowwhat we found in Simonize's apartment?" "I ain't never seen that." "Simonize, you holding out on your main man?" "That is the vic's watch." "Anybody want to make a deal?" "You didn't plead these guys, did you?" "We're still talking." "Stop." "The councilman?" "Nowwait a damn minute!" "He's saying the dude croaked?" "I'm saying, you blew it." "Look, he was already cut when we got there." "We took him off, but we didn't do nothing to him." "He started to choke." "He was just lying there bleeding." "It was that white cat in the Benz." "He got out as soon as the truck pulled off." "What truck?" "I've been thinking about yesterday." "That was great." "I thought Halsey had croaked." "Tony Hallowell?" "Yeah?" "I'm Detective Greevey, this is Detective Logan." "Is there a problem?" "Dispatcher said you made a late delivery on Tuesday night." "Uh-huh." "Anybody else here when you arrived?" "Just the night man." "He was inside." "Outside?" "Yeah." "There were a couple of cars parked right there." "A gray Mercedes and a red Jag XJS." "Hey, that's very observant, Tony." "I like cars." "See anything else?" "Yeah, when I drove in, there were two guys at the rear of the Jag." "Trunk pops open, guy reaches in, pulls out a fur coat and hands it to the other guy." "Could you identify them?" "Yeah, sure." "Then what happened?" "The other guy opens the trunk of the Mercedes, puts it in there, they both climb into the Mercedes, and I go inside." "Thanks." "You've been very helpful." "Sure." "I didn't know you hung with the carriage trade." "Hello to you, too." "Max." "Maggie." "Second floor." "Talk to her boss." "She thinks he'll know who made it." "So is this good for a dinner?" "That depends on what dinner's good for." "Oh..." "Let's put it this way... you don't have a chance in hell without it." "Very cold, Maggie." "So light my fire." "Then among lynx, there are as many variations as there are among people." "So is this coat "Meryl Streep" or "whoopi Goldberg"?" "More the latter than the former, I'm afraid." "Canadian farm grown, male pelt- basic coat, not a designer's." "Flash, but basically trash." "Would you mind if we cut to the chase, Mr. Farber?" "Oh" " There are three furriers who do this type of garbage goods." "Your best bet is Kornbluth on 22nd." "They're Russians, usually." "Don't give them a dime until you have the pelts." "What?" "Are you Kornbluth?" "There hasn't been a Kornbluth here since 1957." "I'm Swersky." "What do you want?" "Where's the owner?" "What is this, "20 questions"?" "I'm Detective Logan... and this is Detective Greevey." "Now, is this your coat?" "Possible- it looks like one of mine... but I don't know every coat." "Now you're starting to tick me off, Mr. Swersky." "Why is it I think Mr. Swersky recognized that coat the minute it walked in the door?" "You want to tell me what you want?" "No." "Who bought the coat?" "It was a gift." "What kind of car do you drive?" "A Cadillac Coupe de Ville." "Why?" "Who was the gift for?" "You know, I really think maybe I should give my attorney a call now." "Absolutely." "Feel free." "Maybe I should give Gaffner a call down at the firehouse." "Aren't some of those pelts covering fire sprinklers?" "And call Ulasewicz at the Buildings Department." "I saw a lot of violations." "Tony Scalisi." "Where do I know that name?" "Masucci family." "If he finds out I told you... why'd he want the coat?" "What am I, "Carnac"?" "Trucker give you a positive ID?" "Right from the picture." "So did Lewis and Jackson." "Read the rap sheet." "Mr. Scalisi likes to slice and dice." "And guess who leases a red Jaguar XJS?" "Halsey regained consciousness?" "Doctors aren't very optimistic." "Captain, why don't we wait to see if Halsey buys the farm?" "Murder's a better collar." "I'm getting my butt barbecued!" "Borough president called for a task force." "He wants to take it away from us." "Deputy Commander Jefferson calls twice a day." "What's he want?" "He doesn't want me to forget this is a politically sensitive case." "I don't want to wait." "Get a warrant." "Go on." "Yes, sir." "Which "night school Clarence Darrow" is handling this?" "Name's Robinette." "20 says he won't file." "These defensive bets are going to kill you." "And then what happened?" "After that, picks up the baby, and he starts shaking her, and her head just starts flopping..." "Is that when you called 911?" "If it was self-defense, how come you shot him in the back?" "Robinette?" "Er..." "Logan?" "Greevey." "He's Logan." "Stone's willing to file, but it's a reach." "I've sent a lot of guys away on circumstantial evidence." "Anyway, I think this is more than that." "What kind of "more"?" "You know that Halsey was a bagman?" "Stone mentioned that." "Then mention to Stone that Deputy Commander Jefferson has been nosing around." "Tell him I thought he'd like to know." "You're new, aren't you?" "How long you been with Stone?" "Eight months." "Must be a record." "See you in court." "Must be out." "No answer." "You guys just got lucky." "Here he comes." "I hate pit bulls." "If he drops the leash, shoot the dog first." "Go over there." "Anthony Scalisi..." "I have a warrant for your arrest." "Don't move." "What's the charge?" "Assault with a deadly weapon, and the attempted murder of Charles Halsey." ""Spuds" moves, you're history." "Criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, assault in the second degree, assault in the first degree, attempted murder in the second degree." "Counselor, waive reading of the rights and charges?" "So waived." "How does your client plead?" "Not guilty." "People on bail?" "Your Honor, the defendant has been convicted of murder once before, he is a repeat offender, he's a soldier in the Masucci family, and is considered a flight risk." "This office requests that he be held without bail." "Afraid I'm loath to withhold bail on all except homicide cases, Counselor." "$100,000, cash or bond." "Short date." "I thought Stone would be here." "At a button man's arraignment?" "Have no fear, Stone's looking forward to seeing you in court." "What's his schedule like?" "Depends on who's coming to call." "Come on, Paul, this whole thing's just one step above a roust." "It's a two-minute negotiation." "I wouldn't count on it." "Halsey's still touch and go." "Give me a break" " Nobody dies of a knife wound a week later." "Predicate violence?" "Stone hates pleading on predicate violence." "Cosmatos." "Call me irresponsible, Eddie, but I like you." "You're a hell of a lawyer, that's why I'm amazed how incredibly guilty your clients are." "Scalisi is lower than snake spit." "You want to waste more of your client's money, come on down Thursday." "I'm Eddie Cosmatos..." "I can't wait to put this in front of a jury." "Two black kids are found with the victim's possessions." "The other eyewitness puts Scalisi there, but the only time they saw him was when he was with Halsey, who was perfectly fine." "So why does Eddie want to plea his client?" "Judicial calendar doesn't publish until next week." "Scalisi draws Robards or Kapstein..." "He gets 15 to life." "He draws Rosen or Gonzales, he gets an apology." "So what do 99 defense lawyers out of 100 do?" "Wait for the calendar to come out." "And you only make 5% of what Eddie makes." "What did Greevey mean about Deputy Commander Jefferson?" "Jefferson and I don't dance." "Guy's a hero." "He's a lying, two-faced bastard." "Wait a minute..." "I grew up around the corner from him." "He coached my Little League team." "I wouldn't even be a lawyer if it wasn't for him." "I'm sure his dog loves him, too." "You know how many black kids look up to him?" "He's one of the highest ranking black cops ever." "If he's wrong, he's wrong." "If he's so wrong, how come nobody knows it?" "I know it." "Come on, let's beat the traffic." "I used to hear things about Halsey a long time ago, but he's had a good reputation the last 10 years." "Funny thing about reputations..." "Don't start on that, Paul." "I just think- You're not thinking." "If Jefferson was white, you wouldn't doubt a word I'm saying." "Only reason he's still got a badge is because he's black." "Really?" "Then why don't you just tell me what the hell he did?" "He perjured himself as a captain." "Changed his testimony on me." "Somebody bought him." "That's one." "Another time he doctored evidence in a numbers case." "I'm not going to do this, Paul." "You're either on my team, or Jefferson's." "Since he never discussed business with me," "I had no idea he was involved in illegal activities." "We just had dinner with Deputy Police Commander Jefferson and his wife, for God's sake." "Mom?" "I'm going to head on over to Gran's." "She's still a little shaky." "I'll be back in an hour." "Okay, son." "Kenneth was going to Annapolis." "But with what's going to come out, he'll never be able to get a Congressional appointment." "Mr. Halsey never wanted Mrs. Halsey to be burdened with unnecessary business details." "Is there anything else you'd like to know." "Her coat size?" "12- I wear a 12." "Thank you, Mrs. Halsey." "One more thing... did you ever hear of somebody called Anthony Scalisi?" "No, I don't recall that name. why?" "He was the man we suspect attacked your husband." "A black boy named Scalisi?" "Two blacks in custody confessed to robbing your husband, but Scalisi was the one who slashed him." "Do you have any idea why somebody might want to attack M r." "Halsey?" "Mrs. Halsey already told you she didn't know Tony Scalisi." "Mr. wentzel, we won't take up any more of Mrs. Halsey's time, but why don't you let us buy you a cup of coffee?" "Mrs. Halsey wears a size 12." "And the coat is an eight." "Who is she, Mr. wentzel?" "You can't be serious." "I can't tell you..." "You're going to make me very angry if you finish that sentence." "What is this?" "we're talking privacy here." "No, we're talking obstruction here." "Wait a damn second" " No, you wait." "This case stinks." "Your friend was a bagman long before he was a councilman." "Old habits die hard." "I'm going to start sending out subpoenas." "If I find out you had knowledge of person or persons who were involved with your friend in illegal activity," "I'll have your butt." "Now what's her name, Mr. wentzel?" "Alicia Heslin?" "Um... she's in Sweaters." "Miss Heslin?" "Yes?" "My name's Paul Robinette." "I'm from the District Attorney's office." "Yes?" "I'd like to ask you a few questions." "About what?" "Charles Halsey." "Oh..." "I've been expecting you." "I like the story you wrote on Congressman MacGruder." "So what do you want?" "Everything you got on Charles Halsey." "How much do you know about parking meters?" "They all run fast." "And a lot of people who get tickets don't pay them." "Collecting all that money for all those unpaid tickets is a very big headache for the head of the Parking Violations Bureau." "He has to get a little "outside help."" "That means a big contract." "Very big, very lucrative contract." "Who has it?" "Interesting little company called, "Carnegie Collections."" "She's got "champagne tastes"..." "Cartier watch, alligator shoes." "When she first heard about it, she thought he might have been trying to commit suicide." "Why, was he depressed?" "He'd been subpoenaed..." "Federal Grand Jury on Municipal Corruption." "Oh, and how's this grab you?" "Her apartment lease is made out to "Carnegie Collections."" "She wear a size eight coat?" "Right off the rack." "He tell her names?" "Last month, it was all he talked about... who had done what to whom and how they had done it." "Will she testify?" "Most of it's unusable anyway." ""Chuck told me that Scalisi told him that Van Damme told him..." That kind of thing." "She did say he couldn't figure out how this was happening since he had "a Deputy Police Commander in his pocket."" "I can tell you now that six days of jury deliberation did have me worried." "You must be pleased with the verdict, Deputy Commander." "I am, Chuck, I truly am." "Our high schools must be protected from the drug-dealing scum trying to poison our children." " Mr. Jefferson - ?" "Deputy Commander, can I ask you this?" "Do you feel the impact of this verdict will be felt on the streets?" "How deep does this go?" "It's not confined to the Parking Violations Bureau, that's for sure." "Why not?" "Halsey's been the bagman for 20 years." "There's police he's mobbed up, and according to a reporter I know, several other councilmen and politicians are stockholders in Carnegie Collections... as well as the Deputy Police Commander, one william Jefferson." "Is this personal?" "Is that why you want to bring the feds in?" "I'd love to nail the bastard." "But with him involved, one surveillance leak, we're dead." "We're secure with the Bureau doing it." "Let the feds have the ink on municipal corruption." "They may even help me get a conspiracy to murder on these bozos." "You never knowwhose pants are going to get dropped in a corruption scandal." "Hey, this started out j as a mugging." "I'll back you, but don't bring me any names unless they're dead-bang guilty." "I want a smoking gun." "I want it in somebody's hand." "Are you telling me tape?" "Tape would be a start." "Can I offer Scalisi immunity?" "Nope, it'll look like he's naming people to save himself." "I wouldn't want you to go out on a limb here, Alfred." "That's not what I get the big bucks for." "Yes?" "Mr. Stone has an urgent call." "A lawyer named Cosmatos...?" "Somebody wants to make a deal." "Cosmatos and Scalisi are in your office." "Call Judge Ichazo." "Get warrants for Halsey," "Scalisi, Jefferson's phone records, and talk to Halsey's doctors." "See when we can interrogate him." "So while we steadfastly maintain that the slashing was done by the youths seen fleeing the scene, you never know what'll happen with the jury, so we would be willing to negotiate some sort of an agreement." "Don't do me any favors." "I'm more than willing to let the people decide." "Bottom line... what do you want?" "Who paid you to do Halsey?" "Look, you want to talk city corruption?" "No deal without the name." "Pass." "What's up?" "Hospital just called..." "Charles Halsey died half an hour ago." "We'll get back to you." "I haven't even made an offer." "Trust me, you wouldn't like the counter." "I can tell you things." "Are you going to tell me about parking tickets?" "Yours is already punched. we know all about Carnegie Collections." "I got a lot of names." "I'll see you in court." "I'm not talking G-4's here." "These are your basic elected officials and a Deputy Police Commander." "Don't have him make me call Security." "Come on, Tony." "There is no way that I'm going down alone behind this." "What do you want?" "Want?" "I want it all." "You testify." "Give names, dates, amounts." "You flush all those true-blue public officials." "And that gets me a walk?" "Only way you walk is you say who gave the order." "You know I can't do that." "No Masucci, no free lunch." "But the public officials could lead to a plea of let's say..." ""assault"?" "Let's say, "voluntary manslaughter."" "Say "involuntary."" "Then he wears j a wire." "Are you crazy?" "They'll know I've been popped." "They'll smell it." "You let me worry about that." "What kind of sentencing recommendation?" "Depends on what's on the tape." ""Tick-tock," gentlemen." "Write it up." "The guy had arteries the diameter of capillaries." "With the traumatic loss of six units of blood, there was a causative connection between the assault and the coronary?" "Come on, guys, you don't want to ask me that." ""Causative connection"?" "Whoa, wait a minute." "Mr. Halsey had a regular physician, didn't he, Dr. Goldberg?" "Yes, he did." "And he described Halsey as being in good health?" "Uh-huh." "He was alive a week ago, correct?" "As far as I could tell." "Somebody cut his throat with a straight razor... severing an artery and vocal cords?" "And other connective tissue." "And now Mr. Halsey's dead?" "Yes, that's correct." "Thank you, Dr. Goldberg." "It's neat, it's clean." "It's interagency cooperation." "And we may get a murder-for-hire j conspiracy while you get another nail for your RICO." "How did I get so lucky?" "A high-level cop is involved." "I can't run this through the PD." "The DA know about this?" "Has his full approval." "We go to trial first." "You want to win your RICO, go in with one of five counts having already been proven in state court." "What do you need?" "An fbi surveillance team." "Get me Jackson at the Bureau." "Let me see if I've got this." "Halsey's been called before the grand jury, big names figure he's going to name them, give the contract to Scalisi." "But Scalisi screwed up." "The black kids come along." "And we got lucky, they came up with the ID." "So why are you kicking?" "I told you, It's a weak case." "It's all circumstantial, and they're no choirboys as witnesses." "Spare me the waltz, all right?" "This is all off the record until after an indictment." "But I get an exclusive on the arrest?" "I can't promise you that." "Sure you can." "You get an exclusive on the highest ranking defendant's arrest site... will you run it?" ""Assistant District Attorney Benjamin Stone stated that his office did not feel that Scalisi's causative role in Halsey's death could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt."" "A tad doctrinaire, but not too bad." "Scalisi comes out smelling like a rose." "So long as they buy he held his mud." "Jefferson called me for a status report." "You told him about this case?" "I had to." "He would have been suspicious if I didn't talk to him." "I gave him the "we had to let Scalisi walk" rap." "How did he take it?" "He was absolutely furious." "I'm sure it was an Oscar performance." "You're certain he's guilty, right?" "I'm not certain, I'm positive!" "You take her through her testimony?" "She's still upset about not having a lawyer with her." "Did you explain to her how the grand jury works... no lawyer unless you're a defendant... that we need her testimony to get a wire-tap?" "She understands." "She's not happy about it, but she gets it." "All right." "Did Charles Halsey tell you of other officials who were involved in this conspiracy to award the Traffic Violation Bureau's collection contract to Carnegie Collections?" "He mentioned people that I knew as well as people that I had never heard of." "Which people that you knew personally?" "Anthony Scalisi and william Jefferson." "And did he tell you the amount of money involved?" "He said that there was over a million dollars available to pay off city officials per year." "See who your client drew?" "No, I haven't seen the calendar." ""Let-'em-walk" Falk." "Hey, I didn't want him to plead." "It was his own decision." "Anyway, he got the call." "From whom?" "Scalisi wants it to be a surprise." "This isn't a parlor game, Eddie." "He's worried somebody might not show up and you'll think he's lying." "Where's the meet?" ""Cafe Bruxelles." when?" "Tomorrow night, 8:00." "Bring him to the Bureau at 6:00." "You know who's coming?" "Mm-hmm." "Bad?" "I hope you don't have any political aspirations." "Just make sure he's on time." "I'll start with you, take you through the arrest of Lewis and Jackson." "Let Max do Scalisi." "How did you let those two kids plead?" "Possession of stolen property, six months." "Are you going to be able to nail Jefferson for anything worse?" "Looks like it." "What goes around, comes around." "These guys smell anything hinky, they'll clam up." "Just be cool- you beat the system- told the cops to "shine it on."" "You want to tell us who's coming to this party?" "Didn't anybody tell him the deal?" "Whoever comes, comes." "These guys are gonna hang themselves, I ain't ratting on them." "But I'll tell you who ain't coming..." "Masucci." "There is no way I give up my boss." "Hold your water, Tony." "We wouldn't want you to short yourself out." "Just make sure one of the principles implicates himself." "Right, right, right." "We've gone through their phone records." "Halsey's talking to Scalisi and Jefferson 10 - 15 times a week." "Conti even called Jefferson when he was on a police junket to Tokyo." "Whoa, whoa, Scalisi and Halsey, I understand," "But why Jefferson?" "He's a Deputy Commander, and police handle traffic..." " Look at that" " Do you believe these guys?" "Damn, limo's got a New York City shield on the bumper." "Bingo." "Who is it?" "Borough President Conti's in front, that guy in the middle is Jefferson, and the one in the blazer is Councilman Van Damme." "Ain't politics great?" "I was was worried it would come up at the mayor's press conference." "The commissioner was asking about it every day." "This has been a rough few weeks on all of us." "The DA's decision- it's extremely gratifying." "I'd like to propose a toast." "To Tony Scalisi..." "Hear, hear." "Who knows how to be a stand up guy." "It's about as damning as a Rotary Club meeting." "Shh." "We know that." "Tony... we don't want you to think we're not grateful for everything you've done." "Hey, what are friends for?" "Maybe we should get you to take care of that worm, Lasco, too, eh, Tony?" " Yeah, half the politicians..." " God Almighty!" "What's the problem?" "It's Greco." "One of Masucci's mechanics." "He usually eats in the bar." "What do you want to do?" "Let it play." "Van Damme:.." "Send you to the hospital to do some additional surgery." "I thought the jerk was never going to croak." "These things take time." "Tony, you know if there's ever anything you need from us..." "Come on..." "He's probably going in for dinner... wait!" "He's going to incriminate himself!" "We want you to have this." "Wow, sir." "It's nice to know we're all in the same boat together." "So who contributed?" "You really want to know." "Absolutely." "Me, Jefferson," "Van Damme." "We got it!" "Tell the agents in the restaurant!" "They're not wearing radios. what?" "!" "You can't hide the wires." "This guy's not going to the bar!" "Oh, my God!" "Freeze, Greco!" "Don't say anything!" "Not a word!" "Wait for your lawyer..." "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, in the coming weeks, you will hear how an investigation of what seemed to be a common mugging uncovered a conspiracy at the highest levels of city government, a conspiracy that led to three violent deaths." "You will learn how these men... driven by the basest kind of greed, violated their public trust, and conspired with a member of organized crime to murder another public official." "I ask you to weigh all the evidence that is presented." "It is my responsibility to show you their crimes." "It is your responsibility... to see that justice is done."