"Help me!" "Somebody, help!" " L.A.P.D.!" "Are you hit?" "!" " No, no, no!" "It's my friend!" " He's over there." " Come with me!" "Come with me!" "Oscar!" "Oscar, do not move!" "Oscar, you stupid son of a bitch." "What did you do?" "Can't get up." "Julio, am I dying?" "No!" "He's okay, right?" "It's gonna be okay, Oscar." "Tao?" "Tao," "Tao, this is Sanchez." "Look, I need you to send units to first and indiana." "My brother's been shot." "It's gonna be okay, Oscar." "Julio, it hurts." "We're over here!" "Come here!" "Hey!" "Come here!" "What the hell?" "!" "Come here!" "You got to put pressure here and here!" "You're gonna stop the bleeding, okay?" "Julio, don't leave me!" "Don't leave me!" "Be right back, Oscar." "I'll be right back." "Oscar, it's gonna be OK." "I got you." "Hey!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "What the hell's the matter with you?" "!" "My brother's bleeding to death over here!" "Hey, I'm a cop!" "I'm a cop!" "Sorry." "Got to be careful in this neighborhood." "Can't help anybody if we get shot at, too." "1, 2, 3." " What's your name?" " Elena." " Elena contreras." " Okay, did you see what happened?" "We were just walking along, and I saw a car drive away." "What color?" "What kind?" "What?" "Blue, I think." "Elena, look at me, look at me!" "Come here." "Grab, casings on the curb and on the grass." "They look like 40-caliber." "I want field interviews." "You hit every door, every single, one, OK?" "You see that girl right there?" "She's a witness." "Now, you make sure that she makes it down to parker center." "You got it?" "She makes it down there, or I'm gonna come find you, Nelson!" "Dr. Davis, telephone, please." "Dr. Davis, telephone, please." "David?" "David." "Any news?" "Oscar didn't make it." "How's detective Sanchez?" "Julio, I mean julio." "I don't know." "He's still in the E.R. With the body." "There's no budget restriction on this, no limit on manpower." "If this is an attack on an L.A.P.D. officer's family," " we have no greater priority." " OK, I understand." "Well, I can check in with our FBI task forces, guns, gangs, drugs..." " See if they hear anything." " That's great." "Good idea." "Thank you." "Coordinate with commander Taylor." "He's ready to go." " Let's get this done." " OK." " Chief?" " Yes?" "We got to hunt down whoever did this, hunt them down." "A lot of people!" "Hey, everybody." "Lieutenant Provenza, even you're here." "Thank you for coming down." "Anything you need, you, you know, just let us know." "Are you hungry, sir?" "Did everybody get some pizza?" "Did you guys get some pizza?" "Because I ordered plenty of pizza." "So, please, make sure that you get some, sir." "I will." "Tao." "Hey, I'm really sorry about screwing up your day off." " It's okay." " We want to be here for you." "Thank you, Kathy." "Chief, I'm really glad that you're here." "I'm so sorry about this, Julio." "Yeah, well, we were kind of expecting it." "I mean, I warned him a million times to be careful." "Probably looked at the wrong person in the wrong place." "Is there anyone that you'd like us to call anyone from your family, or..." "No." "Everybody's at work." "And there's nothing they can do now." "Call them later." "Okay, so, are you ready to take my statement?" "I mean, I am a witness, chief." "I mean, I-I finally get to be the witness who didn't see anything." "We can do this later, detective." "No, no, every hour that passes, our chances of catching the shooter go down." "So, can we do this now?" "Okay?" "OK, the victim's name, Oscar Sanchez,19." "Born, 7-21-89." "Lived at 345 Denton." "He was the youngest of 7 siblings, sergeant." "Do you want to write this down or do you want me to?" "Okay, oscar was not in a gang." "But in our neighborhood, if you hang out in the street for even two minutes, people think that you are." "And I told him, "watch out."" "He was going to college in the fall." "And he was a smart kid, I mean, book smart." "Are you sure there's nobody we can call for you your father or your mother." " No, no, no, I" " I'll do it later." " Detective." "Thank you." "Listen, there wasn't much of a crime scene." "I heard shots." "I took off running." "I found oscar." "He was shot four times." "I counted six casings." "Oh, and there was a name, Elena Contreras." "She was a witness." "She had my brother's hat." "I tried to use it to stop the bleeding, but" "I guess I didn't do a very good job, chief?" "Would you like to book this into evidence?" "Oh, all right." "All right." "Okay." " Do you got that?" " Yeah." "Okay." "Now, Julio, you have shown incredible presence of mind through all this." " I started calling my gang contacts." " Okay, hold on." "Just one second." "Now, I want you to do me a favor and letusconcentrate on this investigation while you take..." " But you could use my help." " Right now, your family needs you more than I do." "I got to get back to parker center." "I got to interview the witness." "Okay, I will handle that personally." "I promise." "I want you to take some time off now, all you need." "And an L.A.P.D. Counselor should..." "Give you a hand." "Now..." "If you need us for anything, anything at all, you give us a call, okay?" "Okay." "Okay." "Kathy made a roast pork." "You want to come over for dinner?" " Oh, I-i'll call you." " Yeah." "I'm so sorry." " I'm sorry, detective." " Thank you, sir." "We'll get him." "Elena..." "There must be something that you remember about the shooting." "No." "We were... we were walking to his brother's house." "Oscar was saying something about how he wanted me to meet his older brother." "And then I don't know." "So, you and Oscar were friends?" "Oscar was my boyfriend." " How long had you been dating?" " Three weeks." "Almost a month." " So, you weren't that close." " We were!" "He was good to me." "Elena, if you were really close to Oscar, if you really cared about him, you'd stop holding back." "Look, I need your help." "Oscar's family needs your help." "I know that you're afraid, but, please, help me." "Please, just tell me what happened." "Please." "We were walking." "And, all of a sudden," "Oscar pushed me down." "When I looked up," "I saw this black guy lean out of the car and start shooting." " The shooter was black?" " Yes." "I saw the side of his face and his arm." "Do you rember what car he was driving or what color?" "I don't know." "I was scared." "I heard the shots." "I saw Oscar fall." "I don't know." "I just rember his arm and the gun." "Did oscar ever mention that anyone was angry with him, or" " had anyone ever tried to hurt him?" " I don't know why they shot him!" "I tried to help him!" "I really did try!" "I just didn't know what to do!" "OK." "I'm sorry." "That's enough for today." "I'm sorry." "Okay, thank you, Elena." "Chief, what are you doing?" "Why are you letting her go?" "I was gonna tell you, he wouldn't let me." " He pulled the microphone." " You let him watch the interview?" "Buzz did not let me." "I made him." "I told you to take some time off, detective!" " I did." " I meant days, not hours." "Did you know he was here?" "I don't think so." "Chief, why did you let elena go?" "She knows more than she's told you!" "She knows more than she's ready to tell me right now." "I will talk to her again when I have a strategy in place." "Well, then, you need to let me go out, canvass the neighborhood or something." "You are the victim's brother and a witness." "Oscar's murder might have been an act of intimidation by one of the gangs that you'veinvestigated." "This action could have been targeted specifically at you." "Well, then they missed it." "I should be the one to find them." "We know how difficult this is for you, but you need to stay away from this case until I say otherwise." "You think you know how to find this guy?" "I know how these gangs operate." "I grew up there!" "I know everything about the neighborhood!" "Everything?" "Then why didn't you tell me that Oscar and Elena were dating?" "Did you know that?" "If you know who shot Oscar, tell me." "If you don't, you must," "Must leave this investigation to those who can pursue it with more objectivity." "Julio..." "We will find who did this." "Go home." "That's a direct order, detective." "Fine." "You know that Elena lied to you, right?" "Yes, I do." "Okay." "Good luck, everyone." "So..." "Elena lied to us about what?" "I have no idea." "Chief, maybe we can open up an account at the credit union," "Some way for people to donate money to Sanchez's family, maybe even a scholarship in Oscar's name something." "Thank you lt." "That's very thoughtful." "There's nothing more uplifting after a funeral than rounding up even more gang members who will tell us nothing." " How many have we talked to?" " 117 in 3 days." " Detective Ross, anybody come forward?" " Come forward?" "People in that neighborhood don't ever come forward, ma'am." "You can't blame those gangs." "If they think you talked to the cops, they'll kill your dog." "You talked to the cops, they'll kill you." "Intimidating locals is one thing, but going after a police officer's family" " That takes balls." " If that's what happened." "Anyone or anything interesting from detective Sanchez's old cases?" "Well, fortunately, most of them are dead or in jail." "Now, we have been looking at these six black gang members who just got out of prison." "Don't even ask about the casings." "Thousands of.40-caliber guns in our system and not one hit," "Not even close!" "For a murder that happened in broad daylight in front of a witness, there are a lot of dead ends." "Yeah, well, Sanchez did say elena was lying to us." "They all lie, self-preservation." "They don't want to be a snitch." "Maybe she knew the shooter." "Maybe the guy Elena told us about isn't black." " Maybe he's not even in a gang." " Maybe, but she said what she said on tape in our interview room." "So, unless we follow up thoroughly, it's gonna come back and bite us when we go to court." "Detective Ross, when you're done with your coffee, robbery homicide could help us by turning over every stone, crip, and blood until the gangs in this city know how serious we are." "Even though it's not getting us anywhere." "We're already nowhere, sergeant." "It's hard to imagine how things can get much worse." "I don't think you should have said that out loud, chief." "Could someone please call commander Taylor and have him come down here right away?" "Ricardo." "Juan Hernandez," "Pedro Garza, David Olivera." "These young men were murdered within 20 blocks of oscar sanchez, and yet, none of them being handled by priority homicide division." "I'm certain that robbery homicide is doing everything we would." "Yes, but you have five or six detectives on every case, and robbery homicide averages, what, maybe one and a half?" "To me, it seems like the only way a murder case gets treated as a priority by the L.A.P.D. Is if you're rich, white, or related to a cop." "Can I read the articles about these murders?" " Excuse me?" " Front-page articles..." "Well, that's still a work in progress." "The only way that a murder gets treated like a priority at your paper is if it happens to someone rich or white or related to a cop." " That's your response?" " No, it's a question." "You can dodge it if you like." "You have the right to remain silent." "Okay, here goes." "Why is it, in a democracy, where all people are created equal, some murders are treated like a priority and others are not?" "People may be created equal, but they don't die that way." "Murder isn't fair." "Then how do you determine which killer is going..." "I don't assign myself cases!" "I take orders from assistant chief will Pope!" "And 9 times out of 10, decisions he makes anticipate what's going to be splashed across the front page of your paper." "But..." "Let's just set that aside for a moment and talk about these more" " personally, shall we?" " Yes, please." "Absolutely." "My co-worker, my f..." "My friend's brother was brutally murdered." "That murder could be connected to the work that detective Sanchez does fighting gangs." "Julio Sanchez's life might be in danger." "That makes this case a huge priority, not only for me, but for the entire department." "Do you think that's wrong, Ricardo?" "Four days in, chief, where are you in this investigation, if it's such a priority?" "Chief John... son, you," "You are still our liaison to the press, are you not?" " Right." " Well, then, could you please liaise?" "May I help you?" "I want to talk to chief Johnson." "I'm deputy chief Johnson." "I have some information on the murder of Oscar Sanchez." "Miguel, who did this to you?" "Your face, the bruising?" "I slipped and fell." "I'm a very clumsy person." "Look, Miguel, if you don't mind my asking, why did it take you this long to come forward?" "I don't know." "I was too scared to say anything." "Nobody encouraged you to come talk to me?" "Absolutely not." "I am here of my own violation." "That means it was my own idea to come here." "OK, so, what do you want to tell me?" "Elena, the girl Oscar was with, she's my cousin, and everything she said to you was a lie." "How do you know what Elena said to me?" "She told me?" "What exactly did Elena lie about?" "First of all, she told you that she didn't see the car, but she told me she did and that it was blue." "She also didn't tell you that she just broke up with a guy, a really bad guy." " What's his name?" " Everybody calls him "Puppet."" " Puppet?" " He's in a gang." "Do you know if he's a blood or a crip?" "What?" "No, no, those are black gangs." "Puppet is not black." "He's an ESE, man." "Come on." "I'll do a moniker check on Puppet, see he turns up in our gang-tracking system." " Where would I find, Puppet?" " I don't know." "I can't..." "All I know is his nickname, Puppet." " So, now you'll protect me, right?" " Protect you?" "Okay." "From who?" "Well..." "Everyone." "I love L.A." "Why am I here, sergeant?" "Well, believe it or not, Tao found 17 Puppets in our tracking system." "But the one our witness identified is in a gang called the eastside 13." "He was pulled over at a traffic stop six weeks ago, and guess who was in the car with him." " Elena." " Yep, and this is the last known address for that particular Puppet." "Thank you." "Good afternoon." "I'm looking for a young man." "I believe he's a friend of y'all's." "His name is Puppet." "Oh, yeah!" "This is nice!" "Hey, old man, get the hell out of our pool." "You know, this old man happens to carry a big, old gun." "And when I get mad, my hand shakes something awful, and I don't know what the hell might happen." "How long you had this little 12-footer?" "This ain't no 12-footer." "This here's a 16-foot princecraft." "What?" "There's a law in L.A. County against having a boat longer than 12 feet in your front yard." "Yeah, especially when the boat is filled with water and morons." " Come on, man." "That ain't no law." " Oh, yeah, it is." "And the fines are double when the morons are on parole." "So, unless you answer the questions, we're gonna tow this boat and everybody in it away." "Puppet moved, eh?" " He's not gonna talk to you." " How about an address?" "How about 217 north alva street." "Write it down this time." "I already told that other cop." " What other cop?" " I don't remember names." "Chief." "Sanchez's bike." "Detective Sanchez!" "Put that lamp down!" "Don't worry, chief." "Puppet and I were just talking, right, Puppet?" "Talking?" "Where is he?" "Down here." "We'll take care of Mr. Puppet from here." " Keep him away from me." " Put your hands up!" "Hands up!" "Hear that, Puppet?" "You're going down." "And you're going downtown, my office, one hour." "You will head up a new division of elite detectives" ""who will be responsible for the highest-profile cases " in Los Angeles." ""it is my expectation that such a squad", under the right leadership," ""will be able to eliminate the recent string of scandals resulting from L.A.P.D. misconduct."" "That's the letter chief Pope sent to me when he offered me the job." "So, I am here to ensure that important cases are not undermined by police misconduct." "Do you have any idea what would happen if chief Pope found out about this?" "Don't tell him." "Did you threaten and coerce Elena's cousin, Miguel Garza?" "Who?" "What about Puppet?" "Did you use excessive force on him?" "Did he say I used excessive force on him?" "Detective Sanchez, just because your methods of intimidation are effective," " that does not make them legal." " You never complained about it before." "If I find that you violated Puppet's civil rights..." "He killed my little brother." "Can you prove that?" "Did he confess to you?" " Puppet's a gangster." " Did he confess to you?" "!" "He's got a record!" "He's Elena's ex, so he's got a motive!" "His car matches the description of the one the witness identified to me, but which Elena lied to you about!" "She told me that the car was blue!" "But you never knew that, because you kicked me out of the building!" "I asked you to leave the building because your presence could give a defense attorney grounds to throw out all the evidence that we've discovered." "You would not have any evidence if it wasn't from me." " I found Puppet." " You didn't find Puppet on your own." "Someone here tipped you off." "I don't suppose you'd like to tell me who." "I can't remember." "We could have Oscar's murder in custody right now, but your actions could make it impossible to prosecute him!" "Do you want Puppet to get away just because you attacked him?" "!" "Julio, please!" "You've got to let me do my job!" "Please!" "I already recommended once that you see a counselor, but now I'm ordering you to." "Okay, just one more thing." "Do you still have that picture of Elena on your cellphone?" "I'd like to borrow it, please." "I want to see how Puppet reacts to it." "Go home." "And stay home." "Uh, excuse me." "This way, please, Julio." "Julio, let me call you back in about 10 minutes." "How about we talk later, Lieutenant." "I didn't shoot that cop's brother, and I ain't in a gang no more." "Puppet, please don't answer questions I haven't asked yet." "It just confuses me." "Have a seat." "Do you recognize this girl?" "No." "See, now, I just find that annoying." "First, you answer questions I haven't asked, and when I do ask something, you lie." "If you know I know, then why are you asking?" " Why did you and Elena break up?" " 'cause she's a stupid bitch." "She's very pretty." "A girl like that going out with another guy..." "Don't tell me you weren't just the tiniest bit jealous." "Jealous of that bitch?" "She wishes." "You'd only just broke up with her, and already she was dating someone else." " Did she date while you were in prison?" " Dating?" "Elena was always dating someone." "That girl love to get dated." "Oh, so, she cheated on you, huh, Puppet?" "Look, I'm the one who dumped Elena, 'cause she's a pain in my ass, that's it." "Then a couple weeks ago, a punk-ass kid comes around." "He's all like, "stay away from Elena, man,"" "when all I did was pass by her and laugh at her." "Sit down." "Sit down!" "You're talking about Oscar Sanchez, hmm?" "Oscar confronted you?" "He gets up all in my face for no reason." " I should have beat his ass." " Why didn't you?" "Why?" "'cause his brother." "I don't need that kind of trouble." "I'm on parole." "You know that Julio Sanchez is a detective?" " Everyone knows Julio's a..." " Did he ever arrest anyone you cared about..." "A family member or a friend?" "I don't know." "Maybe." "Why?" " What kind of a car do you own?" " Why?" "I thought you just said that you were on parole and didn't need any trouble." "I'll ask you again..." "What car?" "!" " What color?" "!" " Honda Civic, blue... deep blue." "You know, one of our witnesses reported that the shots that killed Oscar Sanchez came from a blue car." "Am I gonna find a 40-caliber handgun when I search your house?" "No, that's bullshit." "Is there someone who can confirm your whereabouts last sunday afternoon?" "Your fellow east 13 gang members, maybe?" "I already told you I ain't in a gang." "I don't care what that bitch Elena told you." "I didn't kill nobody." "Your car matches the description." "You seem angry at Oscar." "That's what we bitches call motive." "Motive?" "You know why people shoot people in my neighborhood?" "'cause it's tuesday, 'cause it's too hot, 'cause you look at them funny." "Chief, I'm sorry to interrupt, but lt Flynn said someone showed up with some new evidence, and it's urgent." " No, wait, are we done here?" " No, no, no." "Not by a long shot." " Excuse me, Chief." " Not now." "Lieutenant." "He's waiting in your office." " Are you chief Johnson?" " Oh, Lord." "Did detective Sanchez ask you to come here?" "Wait, wait, wait." "Don't answer that." "Brenda, have you met agent Mara?" " Agent Mara?" " Agent Mara, ATF." "I asked around, and agent Mara thinks he may have found your gun." "I'm living undercover in east L.A." "We're in the middle of a two-year investigation." "I'm buying guns off the street and tracking where they're coming from." "If anybody finds out I'm ATF, the whole thing's blown." "No, that's cool." "Just tell her what you told me." "After agent Howard told me what happened," "I put the word on the street I was looking for a 40." "Right away, this latino dude sets up a meeting, just, like, itching to sell me one." "So I make him this real lowball offer, and he jumps at it." "Then he tells me to be extra careful who I sell the weapon to." "It's like he might as well have just etched "dirty gun" on the handle." " Can I see it?" " I already dropped it off with an L.A.P.D. weapons analyst." "He's looking it over now." "But I'm telling you, that's gonna be your gun." "Does this seller have a name?" "Ask for names, they know you're a cop." "He was, like..." " a weird-looking guy." " Like a puppet?" "Like a what?" "Would you mind following me just for a moment?" " Yeah." " Thank you." " Your gun seller... was he in a gang?" " He had a lot of ink." "I didn't really get a good look at it, during the deal and all." "But he did say he was on parole, which I think was like, supposed to impress me" " or scare me." " This way." "Lt Tao, would you join us for a moment, please?" "Right in here." "To the left." "Is this the guy who sold you the gun?" " I can't tell." " Buzz, could you please" " go knock on the door?" " Yes, ma'am." "Lieutenant Tao, please head over to firearms analysis and stay there until we get complete results on the weapon they're testing for us." "Oh, that... that could take till tomorrow morning." "Yes, it could." "No, that ain't him." " Are you sure?" " Yeah." "But you're right." "He does kind of look like a puppet." "So, I had corrections department compile a list of all the guys who got out on parole in L.A. in the last three months." "Agent Mara's been going over the photos." "He recognized this guy." "Juan Guzman, a. k. a. "Gooz."" " Any connection to detective Sanchez?" " Uh, no, Chief." "He was actually arrested by a deputy sheriff." "He just got out a month ago after serving eight years." " Eight years for what?" " Drive-by shooting." " Commander, pick him up." " I'm going with you." "Wait, whoa, whoa." "Hey, we promised agent Mara we'd protect his cover." "You can't go pick up this Gooz for selling him that gun." "I'll call his parole officer." "We can conduct a random parole search anytime." "What if he doesn't find anything?" "Look at this guy." "We'll find something." "My son hasn't done anything wrong!" "Mrs. Guzman, we have every right to ask him questions." "But you can't take Juan away from me!" "Listen, your son's gonna be here for a while, so take your other boy downstairs and get a bite to eat." "I promise we'll be in contact with you." "No." "No, I will not leave him here." "Let her wait if she wants to." "She's probably used to it." "All right, suit yourself." "Have a seat." "Dale." "Siénta te." "Hey, Chief, guess what Gooz keeps in his sock drawer..." "A box of 40-caliber ammunition." "Same casings as we got at the crime scene." " Told you we'd find something." " He's in interview 1." "And I just thought you might like to know that Gooz's mom" " owns a blue Chevy Impala." " Thank you." "Okay, sergeant Gabriel, please pick up Elena." "Let's see if she's ready to give us a more truthful I.D." " And bring her up the back way, please." " You got it, Chief." " Keep me posted." " Absolutely." "The gun agent Mara brought in..." "We confirmed it as the weapon that killed Oscar." "Good." "Chief," "I was just trying to show Julio we were making progress." "I know I didn't do it by the book." "But the book doesn't cover this." "And I'm his friend." "And what do you suppose Julio is to me, Lieutenant?" "An employee?" "Did you ever, for a moment, consider that I might be trying to keep detective Sanchez from doing irreparable damage to his career?" "You are aware, are you not, that our friend has a temper?" "I am." "I'm sorry, Chief." "I'm just trying to find a way to help him." "And I just don't know what to do." "Your job, Lieutenant." "It's what Julio needs from all of us right now." "Now, the guy who has the gun you just confirmed as the murder weapon is sitting in interview room 1." "I think detective Sanchez would like to be present for this interview." " I'll be ready in about 20 minutes." " Thank you, Chief." "Now, why would you have a box of ammunition, Mr. Guzman?" "That ain't mine." "I ain't never seen it before." "You understand this is a pretty serious violation of your parole." " So?" " I'm guessing that you're looking at least another year in prison." "Look, I already did eight years." "I can do another one standing on my head." "Well, maybe you don't have to." "If you cooperate with me today and answer some of my questions, maybe we can work something out." "Okay, lady." "Shoot." "You ask me a question, and I'll cooperate." "Where's the gun that goes with this ammunition?" "Well, since I ain't never seen that box of bullets before," "I guess that means I don't know nothing about no gun." "Is that all?" "Can we work something out now?" "You recognize this young man?" "Nope." "Chief, sergeant Gabriel's here with the witness." "You'll have to excuse me for a moment." "Take your time." "Elena..." "Thank you so much for coming back in." "He didn't give me much of a choice." "We all know that the last time you were here, you didn't exactly tell us the truth." "That's all right." "Don't worry." "I understand." "You didn't want to make yourself the next target." "But... the only way that we can keep you safe is if we find the man who shot Oscar and get him off the streets." "Now, I'm gonna show you someone in a minute, but I don't want you to worry, because he can't see you and he's in a locked room." "But the only way to keep him there is if you tell us the truth." "Okay?" "Okay." " No, I don't know him." " Take your time." " I want you to be sure." " I'm sure." "I don't remember that guy." " He looks scary..." " Look again, Elena!" "I'm telling you, that's not him." " You look again!" " All right, that's okay." "That's okay." "You can go now, Elena." "Thank you so much for your help." "Chief, this girl lied to you before." "She said the killer was black, and he wasn't." "She said she did not see the car, and she did." "And she says she doesn't recognize this guy, but she does!" "Okay, that is enough, Detective!" "You just got me killed!" "You said he wouldn't see me," " but he just saw me!" "Now I'm dead!" " Calm down!" "Calm down!" "He's behind closed doors in a locked room." "No, he's not!" "He's right there, and he just saw me!" "He's sitting right there!" "Okay." "Mirandized the kid, but maybe we don't need a confession." " We have the I.D. from the girl." " No, Elena's described the killer so many different ways." "A prosecutor'd have trouble putting her on the stand." "I wouldn't count on Elena repeating anything she said to us in the courtroom." "Chief, let me question the kid." " I know how to make him talk." " That's not necessary, Detective." "Excuse me." "Hello, Tony." "I'm sorry to keep you waiting." " You don't have nothing on me." " I know." "I know." "Our witness got it wrong." "She must have seen you standing behind your brother, Juan, when he shot the victim." "Anyway, we all know that you're much too little." "And Juan's already confessed." "But look, this is really serious, Tony, because if you knew that your brother was going to shoot Oscar Sanchez before he pulled the trigger, that makes you an accomplice." "Oscar who?" "You didn't know the young man your brother murdered?" " Juan never told me he murdered anyone." " Yes, he did." "When the witness identified you, by mistake, Juan told us the whole truth." "In fact he's on his way to the courtroom right now to get arraigned." "My brother didn't shoot nobody." "Juan was just driving the car around while we were looking for an East 18." "One of them snitched on my brother in prison." "Okay, okay." "Who is this guy from the East 18?" "What was his name?" "Hell, we didn't know that." "We were looking for any East 18." "Those chicken-shit punks must have been hiding or something." "We drove around all day, and nothing." "And what were you gonna do if you found an East 18?" "Gonna mess him up real bad." "But you didn't find one." "Look, look, Tony, this story's really unbelievable." " And Juan has already told..." " Okay." "Look..." "here's exactly what happened." "We saw this smoking-hot chick walking along with some guy." "And it was kind of East 18 territory, and he was wearing this white-and-green" " baseball hat, so..." " Do East 18..." " usually wear white-and-green hats?" " No, they wear lots of orange." "But lots of times, they'll write an 18 under the bill of their hats." "That's weak, you know, hiding their signs." "So, you thought this guy you saw might... have written 18 on the bill of his hat." "Yeah." "So, my brother stops the car and gives me his gun, and says," ""go hit him up."" ""Hit him up"?" "That means, "what neighborhood are you from?"" "Yeah, but suddenly this guy steps to me like he's trying to show off for his girl, and just like, laughs." "So, I walk up to him." "I hit him up again." ""Hey, fool, where you from?" And he's like, "I'm not from anywhere."" "But I seen the hat, and I knew he was rolling in the wrong street." "So, I say, "I'm not playing, man." "Where you from?"" ""Let me see that hat." "Show me that hat."" "He just laughs and tells me to go home to my mom." " So, what did you say?" " Nothing." "I shot him." "So, just to be clear, you shot Oscar Sanchez" " because he wouldn't show you his hat?" " Hey," "I asked him, like, three times for him to show me that hat." "And he just laughs?" "You think I'm gonna take that crap with my brother watching me from the car?" "Man." "Well, here it is, Tony..." "Oscar Sanchez's hat... the one you murdered him to see." "Look at it." "Look at it!" "No markings." "No numbers." "No orange." "Just blood." "I guess he should have showed it to me, huh?" "How old are you, Tony?" "Fourteen." "I'm gonna be fifteen next month." "Well..." "Since you want to be an adult so badly, maybe we ought to trial you as one." "Oh, and by the way, since your brother was driving the car, helping you hunt for a victim, under the law," " he's every bit as guilty as you are." " No," " look, look, that ain't fair!" "Okay?" "!" " No, it isn't." "It's... it's my fault." " Don't say that." " No." "It's true." "It's my fault." "Julio, you... you almost saved your little brother's life." "What else could you have done?" "Oscar died, sir, 'cause he was wearing this hat." "How is that... your fault?" "I gave him this hat for his, uh... for his birthday last month." "I gave him this hat!" "I gave it to him!" "I did!" "I'm sorry!" "I'm sorry!" "I'm sorry, sir!" "I'm sorry!" "Oscar!" "Oscar, I'm sorry!" "I'm sorry, Oscar!" "I'm sorry!" "It's my fault!" "It's my fault!"