"NARRATOR:" "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." "(RAP MUSIC PLAYING ON CAR STEREO)" "He's no Dr. Dre." "You're such a jerk." "You like this stuff, you're both jerks." "She likes Michael." "No." "She likes Sly." "You mean Rocky?" "No, I mean like," ""Boom laka-laka-laka, boom laka-laka-laka."" "What's that?" "What's that?" "You're such a kid." "Sit tight." "When you get home, you ask your dad all about it." "STEFAN:" "Leave the radio." "Oh, all right, all right." "I hope Dad got the tickets." "Patrick's the best." "What about Shaquille?" "He makes too many commercials." "(RIC LAUGHING)" "Ric, who's that?" "(sun FIRES)" "First time in 12 years I fire my gun." "Hey, if you hadn't, we'd be outlining you in chalk." "Lennie, they couldn't have been more than 16." "No ID, no gun." "The other one had it." "You shot the one without the gun?" "They tried to rob me." "Look, it happened fast." "LOGAN:" "I don't know." "What?" "The dead kid." "The entrance wound was in his back." "Hey, no problem." "We got two eyewitnesses." "You guys saw the other kid, right?" "Yeah." "Did you see his gun?" "Ask me again, I'll give you the same answer." "JACK:" "You know it's part of the drill, Lieutenant." "(SIGHING)" "He pointed a gun at me." "A Raven .25." "The one who ran away?" "No, the dead one." "Then the gun spontaneously combusted." "Attitude will get you indicted, Lieutenant." "Three hours of this crap and no sleep, what do you expect?" "Don't you think it might be more advantageous to look for the kid with the gun?" "I should have gone to law school." "Maybe I could come up with a plan like that." "JACK:" "Captain Burnett's men are canvassing the neighborhood with the sketch." "If there's anything else you remember?" "Has the body been identified?" "JACK:" "They're working on it." "We should check Missing Persons, his parents may miss him." "Damn." "Why didn't I think of that?" "Now I see why she made lieutenant." "I could do without the attitude, too, Captain." "Yeah, I got an attitude." "It usually shows up when a cop shoots an unarmed kid in the back." "We've had enough." "My client's due for her psychiatric evaluation." "Part of the drill, too." "Right, Captain?" "BURNETT:" "She shot an unarmed kid in the back, Lennie." "Until I learn different, she's like any other suspect." "BRISCOE:" "Except she's been wearing a badge for 12 years." "That's what I want to know about." "Oh, what?" "How, just the other day over coffee, she said," ""There's too many punks on the street," "I think I'll pop a couple in front of my kids"?" "Get off it." "You've been on the job, what, 25 years, right?" "How many kids you shoot in the back?" "I'm just saying maybe she got a little nervous." "I don't know, lost control, panicked." "She's a good cop." "Look, Lennie, we both know what's what here." "They get out of the academy, street's too dangerous, so they're assigned a desk job." "All that free time between dog bites, they get to study for the sergeant's exam." "She put in three years undercover narcotics." "She's a good cop, all right?" "She said the kid had a piece." "I buy it." "I'm sure your lieutenant's a nice lady, Logan, but that doesn't mean she should be running a squad." "Well, what is it that bothers you, Burnett?" "That she's wearing a skirt or that she's black?" "For your information, I got A-plus in politically correct." "I love Afro-Americans." "I love Gyno-Americans." "But if one of them happens to shoot a kid for no reason, that cop's gonna get nailed." "I can't help you." "Don't be a hero, Logan." "You know procedure." "You and everybody else in your precinct better keep their butts out of this." "I know we gotta do this, but I'm okay with what happened." "Really." "A dead boy?" "You must feel some remorse." "Please, that's not what I meant." "I'm just saying I did what I had to do under the circumstances." "Nobody doubts that." "Well, nobody in this room, anyway." "They'll find the boy, they'll find the gun." "This'll all go away." "Not all of it." "What?" "I'm gonna have nightmares?" "I'm gonna wake up with cold sweats?" "Tell me something I don't know, Doctor." "Anita." "It doesn't worry me if you're feeling guilt." "It worries me if you go into denial." "You know what I worry about?" "I worry about what could have happened if I didn't have a gun." "I worry about the kind of world we live in when kids would kill for a couple of dollars." "Here we go." "Last six months, three ATM jobs, same neighborhood." "Hey, you wanna get us a reprimand from downtown?" "That's not our business, Mike." "This has nothing to do with Van Buren." "These kids were white." "Oh, yeah, right." "And while we're looking into it, we just happen to run across the kid who waved the gun at Van Buren." "Well, then that would be a coincidence." "(PHONE RINGING)" "Logan." "Yeah, all right." "You got an address?" "Shoot." "Uh-huh." "Good." "Thanks." "The dead kid's description matched a 14-year-old named James Gordon." "His mom ID'd him this morning." "Mike, I got a pension coming." "So does Van Buren." "MARJORIE:" "I already talked to you people." "Can't you leave us in peace?" "There were other robberies, Mrs. Gordon." "We're just doing our job." "Like I told those other cops, my son was not a criminal." "That woman just shot him dead because he was big and black." "I'm sorry, but your son was at the scene of a crime." "My son could barely dress himself." "He was mentally retarded, okay?" "Now please, go." "Did you ever see this boy with your son, Mrs. Gordon?" "I didn't this morning and I still don't." "He wasn't a friend of James'?" "No." "Who's Guinevere?" "She was James' friend." "Did James paint that?" "He can't write a sentence, but he can draw real nice." "Mrs. Gordon, about Guinevere?" "She was just some white girl he was sweet on at school." "She's retarded, too." "James made this for me." "He did?" "It's pretty." "Gwen, I got a picture of one of James' friends." "I was just hoping maybe you could tell me who he is." "Think hard, sweetie." "I don't know him." "Honey, could you look at him a little closer?" "Maybe tell me if you've seen him around?" "It's okay." "Go ahead." "BRISCOE:" "You sure you don't remember?" "James isn't coming back to school." "I'm sorry." "Yeah." "Well, if she remembers anything..." "Sure." "Come on, sweetie." "Goodbye." "Bye." "When I was 14, my mom knew everybody I hung with." "How many friends packing metal did you invite over for brunch?" "Look, all I'm saying is, if I had a kid that was retarded," "I'd be all over her like a rug." "No, what you're saying is maybe Van Buren made this face up?" "If some people step in it bad enough, they'll say anything to get rid of the stink." "She's not stupid, Lennie." "Having brains doesn't keep you from panicking." "What is this?" "Do you think she's lying?" "It happened fast, right?" "So maybe she's exaggerating." "Her boys saw the other kid." "But they didn't see a gun." "Hey, this isn't a popularity contest, Mike." "All I'm saying is there's a lot of sides to look at in this thing." "And one side says if there wasn't any gun, it would really make Van Buren's day if we didn't find the kid." "VAN BUREN:" "Burnett's trying to bury me." "He's a pimp." "He wants to make deputy inspector on your back." "(SIREN WAILING)" "(SIGHING)" "No one can find that kid you saw run away." "I saw him, Mike." "You know, from now on, you better knock three times on my office door." "You don't, I may get antsy, blow you away." "Nobody's saying that." "Nobody's giving me any medals, either." "Look, you gotta know, no kid, no gun, it's not gonna be an easy ride." "I'm the one who had a gun shoved in my face." "I'm the victim here." "And still everybody wants me to say I did something wrong." "Uh-uh." "I'm sorry." "I didn't do anything wrong." "I tell you what. 14-year-old kid with a size 18 collar." "He ate well." "Well, an ATM a day buys you a lot of ice cream." "See these blood stains here?" "That's a type AB negative." "Oh, good." "I got dibs on his liver." "Not if you want to live past tomorrow." "Your dead kid was a type Jo." "Positive, as evidenced by the blood adjacent to the entrance wound." "You're telling me there's two types of blood on the shirt?" "Yeah." "Son of a gun had a busy day." "I don't know." "It doesn't really prove anything." "I mean, could be Mom didn't wash his shirt for a week." "Or it could be confirmation of Van Buren's story." "Think about it for a minute." "VENDOR:" "Here you are." "Put some stuff on there, will you?" "Van Buren shoots the other kid in the arm or leg, someplace not fatal." "It's a through-and-through and it kills James Gordon." "VENDOR:" "Here's your change." "The old magic bullet theory?" "Hey, it worked for the Warren Commission." "If I'm right and this kid got hit, maybe he went to an ER." "And if we're lucky, somebody followed procedure and reported it." "Yeah." "Hospitals reported 12 gunshot wounds between 5:00 p.m. and midnight." "BRISCOE:" "Any of them who don't have their driver's license yet?" "There's one who's still in diapers." "How about teenagers in the West 90s?" "Two." "There's a Dorothy Jones and a Craig Singleton." "Said he was shot in a drive-by." "Left the emergency room at Our Lady before our guys got there to take his statement." "Five-to-two he's got a sheet." "Save your money, Logan." "Craig Singleton AKA Hammerhead." "Priors for assault, armed robbery, disorderly conduct." "He's a gangbanger with the Blue Deuces in Harlem." "It gets better." "Keep reading." "Deceased, March 6, 1993." "Our boy used an alias." "Somebody he knew and respected." "Thanks, Ana." "If anybody asks..." "Briscoe who?" "Blue Deuces." "One of your more popular social clubs." "You know a member named Craig Singleton?" "You mean Hammerhead." "I busted him maybe six times." "Favorite song, Cop Killer." "Favorite color, green." "Favorite pastime, beating 65-year-old widows with a bat to get their welfare checks." "But one of the grannies fought back?" "Somebody did." "Found him in a vacant lot, 12 bullets in the back." "No suspects, no arrests." "He must still have a fan club because somebody copped his ID." "Wouldn't surprise me, the kid is a regular hero among the masses." "Where do these masses hang out?" "Try the block, 125th and Broadway." "Easy." "Ten years from now, one of those kids will sign a $60 million deal with the NBA." "Hey, in 10 years, half those kids will be dead or in the can." "Hey, didn't you hear?" "We got a new crime bill." "Then make that five." "Hey, Lennie." "Look at that, that kid's been to a doctor." "He didn't get that on a fast break." "Why couldn't he have been shot in the leg?" "Hey, come here." "Where you going?" "Hey, man!" "Hey, I ain't done nothing, man!" "You get that arm playing cowboys and Indians?" "No, I took a bullet." ""Took a bullet."" "You can't keep me here, man." "Look, my son said he didn't do anything." "And I'm sure he won't do it again, right?" "Real funny." "Eddie Murphy better watch his ass." "Now why do you wanna go and use language like that in front of your mom?" "MRS. ROWLAND:" "I heard it all before, mister." "Hey, speaking of funny, Zack, wanna know who cracks me up?" "Zack Rowland, 14." "BURNETT:" "The judge, that's who." "The one who's gonna send you away for armed robbery." "I hope someone read him his rights." "Signed the waiver in triplicate in front of his mom." "You can do me a real favor, Zack." "You can send me a postcard from Attica, okay?" "I was always curious about what it's like playing choo-choo with a real man." "You see, to me personally, it's no big deal." "But all those guys up there in the joint, they can't all be wrong." "You know what I mean?" "You can't prove nothing, man." "That's right." "I can't prove a damn thing." "But there's a Lieutenant Van Buren who's got your dimples stuck right here." "I never heard of him." "It's a she." "And that hole in your arm, she was instrumental in putting it there." "She picks you out of a lineup, Zack, it's all over." "Tell the man what you know, boy." "You got it all wrong, man." "Me and James, we see this lady at the cash machine." "We figure maybe she could spare a couple of bucks." "And just to emphasize the charitable nature of her donation, you stick a piece in her face." "We ain't had no steel, man." "All I know was the bitch freaked, started shooting." "I just tore ass." "Yeah, right." "Straight to Little League practice." "The kid's full of crap." "Well, somebody is." "MRS. ROWLAND:" "My son didn't do anything." "BURNETT:" "Maybe you're right." "You had to be there to see the humor." "Don't you think we owe Van Buren the benefit of the doubt?" "Discretion doesn't play a part." "Cop shoots citizen, it goes to the grand jury." "Period." "Yeah." "Well, it doesn't have to go tomorrow." "The kid's gun will turn up." "The longer we wait, the more it looks like we're covering something up." "A retarded, unarmed, black kid gets killed by a cop?" "The fuse is lit." "I don't want to wait around for the explosion." "Look, I've worked on dozens of cases with her." "She's a good cop." "I can't see ruining her career for a little good PR." "We're doing what the law requires." "No more, no less." "RIC:" "Dad had to work, so Mom said she would take me and my brother to the city for a movie and dinner." "Is that what happened?" "You have to answer out loud, Ric." "We never got to dinner." "Could you tell us why?" "Mom said she needed to get money from the bank." "She told me and Stefan to stay in the car." "JACK:" "And what happened then?" "We were listening to the radio." "We saw the two kids come up to Mom." "We were scared." "Then we heard it." "What was that, Ric?" "Ric?" "She didn't mean anything." "Why do you want to put her in jail?" "What did you hear, son?" "A gun." "We saw the big kid fall, and the other one run away." "Your mom shot the big kid?" "Yes." "Could you see if either one of the boys was carrying a gun?" "No." "ZACK:" "Me and James, we was just hanging, you know." "JACK:" "And what time was that?" "I don't know, maybe 7:00." "We went to see James' old lady, and on our way home he says he wants a Coke, but neither one of us got a coin." "So what did you do?" "James has this thing, you know, 'cause he kind of big and dumb, so people get scared of him." "So he walks up to people and they give him money." "You're saying he panhandles." "No." "He asks and they give him." "Like that night at the cash machine." "He asked that lady for a dollar or something, he says to get back home." "But she just turns around and starts shooting at us." "I don't even know what's with her." "Were you carrying a gun, Mr. Rowland?" "No way." "What about Mr. Gordon?" "Him neither." "All right." "Thank you." "VAN BUREN:" "I withdrew $300." "I don't usually carry that much cash, but I put the money in my purse and I saw their reflection in the glass." "One of them, the smaller one, said, "I'll take it all, bitch."" "I reached in my purse as if to get the money and grabbed my weapon instead." "I turned to them, identified myself as a police officer." "The shorter one had a gun." "He pointed it at me." "I fired my weapon." "The bullet went through the arm of one perpetrator and into the back of the other." "That's all." "You aimed at one of the boys and you killed the other." "Yes." "That wasn't my intent." "What was your intent?" "To apprehend the perpetrator." "And to save yourself?" "Yes." "Were you thinking about your kids in the car, what, 10 yards away from the cash machine?" "Of course." "You feared for your life, you feared for the life of your kids, you were thinking about apprehending Mr. Rowland." "That's a lot to be thinking about in maybe two or three seconds." "I saw a gun, Mr. McCoy." "How long have you been on the force, Lieutenant?" "Going on 12 years." "Would you say over those 12 years that the majority of people arrested for violent felonies were African-American?" "What are you implying?" "Please answer the question." "I don't know." "What about your personal experience, Lieutenant?" "In your own precinct?" "The majority of the arrests were of non-Caucasians." "Was that thought bouncing around in your head, too, that night in front of the cash machine?" "No." "So if it was two white kids that came up behind you, you wouldn't have acted any differently?" "Mr. McCoy, someone points a gun at me, the last thing I think about is what color he is." "Are you having fun in there?" "What do you mean?" "Give me a break." "You're going out of your way to give her a hard time." "There was no reason to bring up race." "Wrong." "There was a 14-year-old kid lying on the sidewalk with a bullet in his back." "Lieutenant Van Buren put it there." "She thought she was being attacked." "She thought." "There's a chance that the color of the kid's skin had something to do with that." "So you don't think she was justified?" "I think that's up to the grand jury to determine." "I took away any chance that kid had." "I know better than anybody what's going on in the streets." "They pulled a gun on you, Anita." "You did what any cop would have done." "I busted my butt for 12 years." "I'm a black woman lieutenant in the New York City Police Department." "Do you have any idea what that means?" "I'm not any cop, Doctor." "If I was, I'd still be writing parking tickets." "And now you're afraid of losing all you've accomplished?" "No." "I'm angry that everything I've accomplished is being ignored because of a mistake." "Do you feel it was a mistake?" "The mistake is that a kid died." "And the entire city is trying to crucify me." "That's the mistake." "KIRK:" "There's really no point in waiting." "DONALD:" "She can call us at home." "VAN BUREN:" "Staring at four walls?" "No, thank you." "Even if they return an indictment, it's a long way from a conviction." "She's right, Anita." "My God, that was quick." "I guess they didn't have much to discuss." "They no-billed you, Lieutenant." "Congratulations." "Mrs. Gordon," "I'm sorry about what happened." "JACK:" "You did what you had to do, I did what I had to do." "I'm not looking for a kiss and make up, Counselor." "But I would like to know what you're going to do now." "And you have some suggestions." "If I'm telling the truth, that means Zack Rowland's lying." "The grand jury failed to indict." "That's not the same as establishing that you were telling the truth." "What's that supposed to mean?" "The grand jury no-billed you because they need you." "Like most citizens, they're sick and tired of what's going on in the streets." "Are you saying they thought I shot that kid intentionally and let me go anyway?" "I'm saying that they don't care." "They're just happy that he won't be showing up at any of their ATMs." "Look, as far as I'm concerned, this case is over." "As far as the Chief of Detectives is concerned, this case is over." "I'd say you had a pretty good day." "I want to see the grand jury transcript." "LOGAN:" "Someone should remind him that we're public servants, not public enemies." "BRISCOE He's just being realistic." "He needs more than our say-so to go into a courtroom." "Maybe we can give it to him." "Zack Rowland on the stand." ""We went to see James' lady and on the way home, he says he wants a Coke."" "ls there something between the lines?" "James' lady?" "The retarded girl." "Gwen Sheffield." "She says she never even saw Zack Rowland." "Looks like she's telling a little white one, doesn't it?" "(SCHOOL BELL RINGING)" "I told you I don't know him." "I know you did, honey, but maybe you didn't recognize him from this picture." "We really need your help." "His name's Zack." "BRISCOE:" "Zack Rowland." "I don't know him." "He said that he and James were at your house." "LOGAN:" "He also says you have a crush on him." "I do not." "I hate him." "So you do know Zack?" "I hate him." "He said he would shoot me if I told about him and James." "Why would he do that?" "He has a gun." "It's my fault James is dead." "My friend Debbie Green has a bracelet I like." "James said he would get me one for my birthday." "James said that to you?" "No, but that's why he's dead." "It's not your fault." "Honey, how do you know Zack has a gun?" "He showed it to me." "It's on his roof." "It's on the roof?" "Shall we all go to the roof and look for it?" "BRISCOE:" "Take your time, Gwen." "It was here." "Do you remember where he hid it?" "Me and James and Zack, we were here." "I was scared." "Well, don't be." "We won't let anybody hurt you." "Zack's bad." "Now, just try to think back, Gwen." "When did you see the gun?" "After school." "You were standing here?" "Where was Zack?" "I think you're getting warm, Mike." "There's something caught in the pipe here." "Smoking." "Mr. McCoy, I know you've been out of school a long time, but you do need an arm for armed robbery." "Read the complaint." "Your client is charged with using a Raven model A-25, which is presently in the evidence room." "Hell, that ain't mine." "Gwen Sheffield says it is." "Yeah, and Bonnie never testified against Clyde." "The dead boy's girlfriend gives you a gun, and you expect a jury to believe that it belongs to my client?" "I guarantee she's got a lot more credibility than this fine upstanding citizen." "Oh, yeah, and who's not gonna believe the pretty white girl?" "Your client is a felon, Mr. Osborn." "The fact that he's black is not relevant." "Maybe to you." "It is relevant to a whole lot of people I know in this city." "That sounds like a threat." "You bet." "I scream, "Burn, baby, burn,"" "and something somewhere goes up in smoke." "But, because by nature I am a nonviolent man," "I'm willing to make you this one-time offer." "We can talk deal, but nothing that includes jail time." "Then you'll be talking to yourself." "Fine." "Let's go, Zack." "We put Gwen on the stand to prove it's Zack's gun," "Osborn will cross her about the bracelet." "It adds to Zack's credibility." "Maybe we don't have to put her on the stand." "They traced the gun to Jeffrey Crockett." "He owns a candy store on 96th St." "Don't ask me." "That gun was stolen six months ago." "You're obliged to report it, Mr. Crockett." "Hey, come on." "I'm just trying to run a little business here." "Yeah." "And I'm just trying to put this kid in jail." "Why don't you just make this easier for both of us?" "He used to work for me part-time." "He was a screw-up, so I fired him." "He took a going-away present." "Let me guess, his name was Zack Rowland." "Close." "Tony Rowland." "His buddies called him G-Dog." "You want to mess with these animals?" "Have fun." "BRISCOE:" "Yeah." "Looks like Tony here knows his way around a courtroom pretty good." "Five arrests." "Yeah, that's right, and only one conviction." "And nine months left on your parole." "I'm a model citizen." "(LOGAN SHUSHING)" "You hear that sound?" "That's the sound of your parole being revoked." "Says who?" "Says the man, says gun possession." "I don't see no gun." "Maybe you need a new prescription." "Your former employer says you took it without asking his permission." "And guess what?" "That very same weapon was used to hold up a police lieutenant." "What?" "You guys is pulling my crank, right?" "We are gonna bury you and we're gonna enjoy doing it." "Maybe I took the gun, but I ain't used it." "Who did?" "I sold it." "Half a yard." "You'd take 50 bucks from your little brother?" "I didn't know he was stupid enough to pull it out on cops." "Tony Rowland testifies that he sold a gun to Zack." "Van Buren ID's it as the gun that Zack pointed at her." "Doesn't leave much doubt." "ADAM:" "We go through a two-week trial, we get a conviction, and at sentencing his lawyer cries about the hardships of being an urban youth." "Who committed armed robbery." "Juvenile, first-time offender." "The judge'll give this boy two years at Spofford." "Save yourself a migraine and offer rob three." "I was thinking murder two would be more appropriate." "No good." "The Gordon boy died while Zack Rowland was committing one of the proscribed felonies." "That makes it felony murder." "Felony murder doesn't apply to accomplices." "James Gordon was retarded." "If his mental age was such that he couldn't form the intent to commit a crime, he couldn't have been an accomplice as a matter of law." "Adam," "I think we ought to re-arraign young Mr. Rowland for murder." "Before we get charged with abusing our discretion, see how incompetent this kid was." "James Gordon was classified as severely retarded." "Could you quantify that?" "His IQ was right around 40." "He was functional, but required a lot of supervision." "What does an IQ of 40 translate to in intellectual age?" "It doesn't." "We don't make those kinds of assessments." "Most of the training I did with James was remedial." "Basically, kindergarten level." "But you put a paintbrush in his hand, he was special." "Could he read and write?" "Barely." "I had to stay after school with him to help him learn to spell his girlfriend's name." "Gwen?" "Guinevere." "It took him two weeks." "He was a sweet boy." "If he was involved, I guarantee he thought it was some kind of game." "(BELL RINGING) I'm sorry." "Is there anything else?" "No." "Thank you." ""Docket number 98472, People v. Zachary Michael Rowland."" "Did someone press a rewind button?" "I think I heard this last week." "The People are adding a count of murder in the second degree." "Mr. Osborn, does your client understand the charges against him?" "Well, Your Honor, I'm not even sure I understand the charges." "You see, the boys in blue have got a little egg on their faces, and they go after the first black boy they can find." "I'm sure you'll tell all that to the jury, Mr. Osborn." "Do we have a plea?" "Not guilty." "You'll want some bail this time, Ms. Kincaid." "75,000, Your Honor." "$75,000." "Cash or bond." "(GAVEL BANGING)" "Van Buren's original statement to the police and her grand jury testimony." "This should make good bedtime reading for Osborn." "Forensics reports including blood-typing, police reports with witnesses' statements," "Tony Rowland's statement to Briscoe and Logan about Zack's gun." "I don't think the defense needs to see Gwen Sheffield's statement." "The CPL says we have to turn over statements." "Of witnesses." "We're not putting her on the stand." "Gwen said James needed money to buy her a bracelet." "It's potentially exculpatory." "Under Brady we're obliged to turn it over." "If it were exculpatory." "Wait a minute." "Osborn could argue it proves James Gordon had intent to commit robbery." "And he'd be wrong." "First year law school, Claire." "X murders Y to get his wallet." "X's intent is to kill, his motive is to get the bucks." "The former is an element of the crime." "The latter is not." "A jury might think James' reason for being at the scene is relevant." "And they'd be wrong, too." "Maybe James Gordon had a reason to be on that street corner." "The bottom line is that fact has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not he was competent to form the intent to commit a crime." "And I'm supposed to risk my license for this?" "No, and neither am I." "Nowhere do the canons of ethics say that we have to turn over irrelevant and potentially misleading evidence." "I want to convict this kid, too, Jack, but we're walking a very fine line here." "The law says I don't have to give it to them, Claire." "And besides, I don't want to." "I saw the gun and then I identified myself as a police officer." "This was previously marked as People's three." "Is this the gun you saw in the defendant's hand?" "It's the same make and model, yes." "But People's three was not the same gun that killed James Gordon, was it?" "No." "Please, could you tell us what kind of gun actually killed him?" "It was a .38 caliber Smith and Wesson." "And who owns it?" "I do." "And who fired it?" "I did." "So, in your mind," "James Gordon must have appeared competent enough to commit a crime." "Objection." "Competence." "Sustained." "No more questions." "OLIVET:" "I never examined him personally, but I reviewed his complete medical history and interviewed people who knew him." "And what were your findings?" "James Gordon had a form of mental retardation known as microencephaly." "The frontal lobes of his brain never developed." "And what is the significance of that, Doctor?" "He lacked the ability to perform higher order activities, such as logical reasoning and planning." "So, in your opinion, was he capable of forming the requisite criminal intent to perform a criminal act as defined by the penal law?" "No." "Now, James Gordon attended school every day, is that correct?" "In a special program, yes." "Yes." "That's right." "Now his school was on 103rd St." "He lived with his mother on 138th." "Do you know how he got to his class?" "His mother said that he rode the bus." "Oh, yes, the Broadway line, I believe it was." "Now, do you know if he traveled alone?" "Yes, he did." "So every morning, he was capable of making exact change." "He knew where to get on the bus and where to get off, and he repeated the same process in reverse at the end of the day." "Only the frontal lobes were underdeveloped." "This never affected his memory." "He was fully able to perform rote activities." "Like pulling a stickup job?" "Objection." "Sustained." "Thank you very much." "You've been helpful." "Olivet was convincing." "Tomorrow we put on the teacher." "(PHONE BUZZING)" "Yes, right away." "Adam wants to see us." "Okay." "OSBORN:" "Can a cop shoot an unarmed black kid in the back and walk away unscathed?" "I say, only in America can they then charge his black friend with that murder." "Only in America can the white justice system withhold evidence that would indeed prove that he is innocent." "Can anyone explain to me what that's about?" "He must have found out that James Gordon needed money to buy his girlfriend a bracelet." "Oh, that's the message." "What Gordon wanted to do with the money is irrelevant." "I made a judgment call." "When a decision can have an effect on the perceived integrity of this office, nobody's judgment counts but mine." "Do you really think I would cheat to win a case?" "Whatever I think, you're gonna have to do your dance in front of Judge Larkin tomorrow morning." "And if she finds against you, you'll be lucky if you're closing up the office before lunch." "OSBORN:" "Your Honor, I personally know that the DA's office is withholding evidence." "This is ludicrous!" "Calm down, Mr. Osborn." "We don't need you to pop a blood vessel." "I take it personally when opposing counsel forgets that we have a constitution." "Nothing in the Constitution says that the state has to make the defendant's case for him." "OSBORN:" "Oh, is that right?" "I seem to recall something about a fair trial, and a criminal defendant's right thereto." "Or does this only apply to white defendants?" "You don't score any points with sarcasm, Counselor." "We don't have to score points, Your Honor." "We're the defense." "We're presumed innocent." "And it seems the only way the prosecution can rebut that presumption is to intentionally withhold..." "Irrelevant and misleading evidence." "I'm sorry, Counselor, but in judge school they taught me it was my job to decide what is or isn't relevant." "That's exactly my point, Your Honor." "I'm entitled to a dismissal and sanctions against both of them." "Everybody wants to do my job for me." "You pushed the envelope here, Jack." "Thank you." "You're welcome." "But I can't say that what the state did is per se unethical." "You can put the girl on the stand, Mr. Osborn." "No harm done." "I saw James every day at school." "We ate lunch together." "He was my friend." "Did he ever give you presents?" "He painted a picture and gave it to me." "He bought me ice cream." "He was always giving me things." "Now, you just had a birthday, didn't you?" "Yes." "Happy birthday." "Did James ever say he'd buy you a gift?" "Yes." "A bracelet?" "I told him he didn't have to." "It was too expensive." "I just wanted him to come to the party." "But he said he was gonna buy it anyway." "Yes." "How was James going to get the money to buy that bracelet, Gwen?" "He said he had a way." "Now, this is very important." "Does James have a job?" "No." "Thank you, Gwen." "Did James ever tell you that he was going to steal the money to get you a present?" "No, he's not like that." "He wouldn't steal." "I don't need an ID bracelet that much." "Now all we have to do is hope the jury understands the difference between motive and intent." "ADAM:" "Good luck." "That's beyond most members of the bar." "The girl's testimony killed you." "JACK:" "On the other hand, Adam, maybe it helped." "James Gordon's teacher told Claire he wanted her to teach him how to spell his girlfriend's name." "Gwen testified that James wanted to buy her an ID bracelet." "Which would have her name printed on it." "You think he already bought the bracelet?" "If he did, he didn't have motive or intent." "Call Van Buren." "I've got to talk to you." "I told you on the phone to stay away from me." "You want absolution, lady, go to church." "You can help us convict Zack Rowland." "What makes you think I want to?" "You killed my son, he didn't." "It was an accident." "Well, doesn't that make me feel a whole lot better?" "Look, woman, you may be black, but you are a cop, and to me, you are nothing but a killer." "No better than anybody else who shoots at kids and kills them." "I know you're suffering, Mrs. Gordon..." "Suffering?" "What do you know about suffering?" "You lost a week's pay." "I lost my baby!" "And I know you'll never get over it." "I killed him, Mrs. Gordon, and I will never live a day without that tearing me up." "I work very hard to be a good cop." "I work very hard to be a good mother." "And what keeps me up at night, what scares the hell out of me, is that none of it may make any difference." "I don't want to see any more of our kids dying on the street, please." "I need your help." "If you know anything about that bracelet, please..." "MARJORIE:" "I gave him a dollar a week." "He spent it on baseball cards." "My brother tells me he's got some valuable ones." "He must've sold them to get the money." ""Guinevere."" "I heard Zack Rowland cut a deal." "Lieutenant, it's 9:00," "I'm in a bar, I've got a glass of eight-year-old scotch in front of me." "I don't talk business." "Tell me something, Counselor, were you born a wiseass, or did it just come with the job?" "I'm a pussycat." "You should have seen my old man." "Your old man?" "He was a cop." "You knew that." "If it had been him who was unlucky enough to be in front of that ATM instead of you, there probably would have been two dead kids lying on the sidewalk." "And you would've dragged him in front of the grand jury?" "Damn right." "I would have got an indictment, too."