Law & Order (1990–2010): Season 1, Episode 8 - Poison Ivy - full transcript

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.

Course 1502,

wednesdays, 7:00.

A college degree isn't
good enough for you.

Something wrong
with me improving myself?

Improve my stomach, will you?

Roast beef on rye, coffee...



Very light, no sugar,

no mayo, no mustard.

Very good.

I ain't talking, first of all.

Let's get the stuff.
You'll get your money back.

Yo- Don't you
put your hands...

Freddo!

Go! Go, man!
Go!

Hold it!

Don't move!

Don't even breathe.

Drop down! Now!

He drew on me.

Call it in, Freddo.



Now, Freddo!

Kid's dead.

What about your kid?

Kid I was after I
never got a decent look at.

He was young-
13, 14.

What about the one that
got away from Freddo?

Him I saw.
He had a blotch,

you know, a birthmark,
on his face,

running from here down to here.

Somebody heard that shot.

In this neighborhood? You couldn't
get a witness to a sunrise.

Bang on a fewwindows.
ID on the dead kid?

Nothing.
Great.

Freddo, go home,
get some sleep.

Yeah, sleep.

Snitch told him drug sale's
going on down the block.

No muss, no fuss.

Punk drew on him.
Self-defense.

That's it?
Wrap it up?

As far as Internal Affairs
is concerned,

yeah, it's closed.

We've still got to do
our own investigation.

We're all one family
here, Sergeant.

You an only child?

I got people in my family,
I wouldn't believe 'em

they told me the sky was blue.

You think I like
investigating cops?

It's like I've got
something stuck in my throat.

That's not what it looked
like to that Lieutenant...

what his name, Gowdy?
From Internal Affairs.

What, open and shut?
You buy that?

What're you selling, Max?

No witnesses, So?
A dead kid.

If a civilian shot a kid,
no witnesses...

All I'm saying is,

they wouldn't wrap it up
in 10 minutes.

$4 an hour I paid him.

Good money for delivery.

Disappears.

This shooting in the neighborhood
- You hear about it?

We're canvassing
all the merchants

looking for a young man,
22, 23,

black, with a birthmark
on his cheek.

I got five orders
waiting to deliver.

How long you have to wait before
you report somebody missing, eh?

A birthmark?
Like this?

He comes in every afternoon.

He buys two
chocolate moon pies.

Two. Hangs out
in the schoolyard.

How're you doing?

?? You ain't cool get outta
my school I'm no fool ??

You see a guy with a
birthmark on his face?

?? Name of the game
is finding fame ??

?? Silky's the name
and he's to blame ??

Silky?

I wouldn't tell them nothing.

Silky who?

Ford. Lives over
on Vice Avenue.

108.

Silky?

Silky Ford.

Live around here?
Don't I wish he didn't.

He's one of your
favorites, huh?

Some boys make trouble
'cause they got trouble.

Silky, he's looking
for trouble.

What'd he do,
walk off a white man?

Is it this building here?

You all only come up here

when a white man gets hurt.

Why aren't you here
all the time?

Silky Ford?

Fourth floor.

Just come in.

Naw, man, nobody here but me.

Let's take a look.

Oh, no, you blind
without a warrant!

Let me see that.

Black male, 5'7",

birthmark on his right cheek.

Birthmark, right cheek...

oh, yeah, that sound
like Silky.

You seen him lately?
No, he's...

been in Philadelphia
visiting his sister.

She's in the hospital.
Mumps.

Whoa, be gentle,
you want to tear my suits?

Where you going, man?

That's just the kitchen.
Ain't nobody in there.

Waxing the floor, Silky?

Yeah.
Yeah, we're cleaning up.

Hey, come on, man!

Who'd you clean up last night?

I was home, all night long.

Doing the floor?
Yeah.

They got dirty real fast.

We had a party.
Who was here?

Me and Richard.
It was a private party.

Let's take a ride, Silky, huh?

Hey, I got- I got things to
do, man. I got a busy day...

Your first appointment
is with us, okay?

What you looking at?
Come on, man!

Take Davis out the
back before Freddo comes in.

Davis?

What, you think he's
going to lie for Freddo?

No, they're both choirboys.

Ready?
Yeah.

I even found another black
guy with a birthmark. Great.

Number three.

Number three,
step forward, please.

Yeah.

More than the others.

I'm playing elimination here.

I saw him 10 seconds,
in the dark.

You want me to say I'm sure?

I'm not.

Hey, Davis,
take it easy, all right?

I'm not asking you to lie.

Could be...

could be number three.

Jeez.

I'm not sure enough for an ID.

It was dark.

What was that about,

keeping those two apart?

10 years ago, I'm working
Central Park in the fall.

The whole place
smells like a sewer.

Captain says I'm imagining it.

Lieutenant says
I'm imagining it.

Turns out it's some tree
with flowers that rot.

Lasts about a week.

Hey- what, am I
missing something here?

This thing smells, too.

Internal Affairs says
I'm imagining it,

Cragen says I'm imagining it...

And you're not imagining it?

On Silky?
Two maybes,

both cops aren't sure?

Max, these guys are cops.

They're cops.

90% of all police officers
forget about killing.

They go 30 years,
never fire a gun.

Freddo, I heard this morning,
second time.

Makes you wonder, that's all.

Yeah, and it also
makes you wonder

how many cops died thinking,
"That's not a gun in his hand."

well, we can't hold Silky.

I sent the prints out.
No ID.

No record?

Came up blank.
You see that evidence bag?

What evidence bag?

I sent it over.

"wheel of Fortune."
The kid had $3,000 bucks on him.

In his sock.

There's one set of prints.

The dead kid?

Yeah.

Only one set of prints,
like somebody wiped the gun.

Hey, Max,
you're drawing conclusions.

Let's just say I heard
a dog bark.

Serial number?

It's clean.
Not a file job- acid.

Dog's barking louder.
Ballistics.

Beautiful piece, that Magnum.

Tender loving care
to clean it off.

Has it been worked on?

By someone very good.

R-10 twist.
Clear as a bell.

Let's go back a few months,
see if we can find a match.

Magnum's clean.

Sources?

Hoover in washington Heights,

Bernie on 116th Street.

Silky'd stay close to home.

Bernie.
Bang.

Magnums.

They're like opinions-
everybody's got one.

It's been cleaned up.

Yours?

Nice work, whoever did it.

New kind of lock?

Double cylinder,
spring release.

Yeah, illegal in this city.

To install, not sell.

Unpickable.

Yeah, for six months.
Single cylinder?

Wait a minute...

This one hot?

No?

Bust me for a misdemeanor.
I'd be out in an hour.

We keep busting you
and them hours add up.

He dead?
Never laid eyes on him.

You lose a lot of business
when the door's locked.

The Magnum's his.
A month ago. Six weeks.

You positive?

What do you want,
the name of his dog?

Yeah, that's him.

Oh, great.
Hey! what?!

The kid-
the one the cop shot?

He had your gun in his hand.

Sing a song for me, Silky.
This is murder.

If you're involved
it won't be probation.

The other night, when you were
waxing the floor, this kid with you?

I seen him around,
but I don't know his name.

How did he get your gun?

I sold it to him.

You don't know his name
and you sold him your gun?

I didn't need to know his name.

A sister I know
brought him over.

What's her name?
Doris. She's real fresh.

Turn around and put your
hands on top of your head.

For what?

Turn around and put your
hands on top of your head!

Felony, Silky.
Oh, man.

You just confessed
to selling a weapon.

You have the right
to remain silent.

Anything you say... what
is this, a class D? Class E?

Shut up! It's a walk,
I'm out in a day.

You have the right to an
Big surprise.

Shut up!

Hey.

You knowwhat this
is going to cost me?

My lawyer gets
$300 an hour, man.

Think about where you were
the other night, Silky.

I'd like to know.

You know the kid Freddo shot?

Maybe he did have the gun.

Right. Silky sold him
a Magnum,

he gave him an IOU

and then stuck
$3,000 in his shoe.

Max, he could've bought
the gun a week ago.

Run this by me again.

Freddo and Davis saw
a guy with a birthmark,

but it wasn't Silky.

Silky sold the dead kid a gun,

but he wasn't there that night.

I don't know any Silky,

and I don't know nothing
about dope.

Who said anything about dope?

Well, I got nothing
to tell you.

How about we take you
down to the precinct?

Come on, you can't take me in.
You got no charge.

Doris, a guy is dead.

Yeah, well, a lot you Wrong.

You care so much
you probably belong

to the NAACP.

You introduce this kid
to Silky?

He had Silky's gun
in his hand when he died.

Silky says you were there
when he sold the kid the piece.

No way.
No way, that's a lie.

Who is he, Doris?

It's T ommy Richardson.

Where does he live?

103rd.
Lexington and Park.

You seen your brother Tommy?

He ain't here.

Where is he?

I don't know,

but you better come back
when my mom gets home.

Where is your mom, Abel?

Working.

Where's she work?

In an office building.
She's a cleaning lady.

She doesn't get back
till 8:00.

Abel, you...

you'd better come with us.

Abel, why don't you take a
chair right here, all right?

Did you call Reverend Thayer?

Yeah, we called him.

So when's the last time
you saw your brother?

Abel?
No, no, it's all right.

Reverend Thayer, Detective
Logan, Sergeant Greevey.

Yeah. Bringing a boy down here,

what's the reason?
What'd he do?

It seems his brother pulled a gun
on a policeman the night before last.

No. No, no, no.
You've got the wrong boy.

I don't think so.

Tommy Richardson
wouldn't have a gun.

Tommy Richardson was a...

an honor student
at Princeton University.

Why would a Princeton
honors student shoot a policeman?

When is an
arrest going to be made?

Did you know Tommy
Richardson lectured against drugs?

Can you make some kind
of a statement?

Whatever happened that night,

we just got shoved out a plane
at 30,000 feet, no parachute.

Nice, straightforward
little case, huh?

So the wrap-it-up-
no-problem boys said.

We're going to get strung up.

Why did Freddo and Davis go
soft on Silky at the lineup?

They made a mistake.

Yeah, they thought nobody
would know they were lying.

If you're wrong,
and you go after cops...

If I'm wrong,
I'll go the grand jury

and say I killed the kid.

Yeah, I can use the time off.

You heard about the kid?

Princeton?

Yeah, just goes to show you.

Homeboys.

No matter how fancy
you dress 'em up,

they can still gun down a cop
like any street scum.

The dude you and Davis

passed on
in the lineup, Freddo,

it's hard to believe that his
gun was there and he wasn't.

Now if he happens to say
he was there,

and contradicts you...

what is this?
What is this?!

I got 23 years on the force!

Now who are you going to trust,

me or some eggplant?!

Gee, Mike, he sure sounds
trustworthy to me. How about you?

Hey, hey!

Easy, Freddo.

Next time you want
to ask me something,

talk to my POBA rep.

The man has two decades.

From where the Police Officers'
Benevolent Association stands,

that merits a certain respect.

"Benevolent" means I
don't investigate? Max...

You arrive at the
man's home unannounced,

and you treat him like
some punk murderer...

Freddo's no punk. Oh,
but he is a murderer?

That's what we're
investigating.

It is Sergeant
Greevey's job to investigate,

but Max, if you are
all over this officer

it's going to have to stop.

We'll talk.

Rock and a hard place.

My butt, Max.
Mine, not yours.

This is not a bad cop.

Neither are you, neither am I,

but some things we don't do.

We don't fix this fast, the
brotherhood is going to crucify us.

If we do, the black community
is going to crucify us.

Then let's do it right.

Careful.

Yeah, we all gotta be careful.

More careful than Freddo was.

Enough people
have already gotten hurt.

Which is why
we're investigating.

Detectives.

You sit behind a desk.

You guys have no idea what it's
like on the streets these days.

Come on, what's that
supposed to mean?

Close ranks, Logan.

Hey, I have, okay?
With my partner.

Your partner?
Get off me!

Hey, break it up!

He wants to be a crusader.
Tell him to join the ACLU.

This-
this punk...

okay, he went
to some fancy school...

I don't care if he was
head of the class...

those three skells
were doing a drug deal.

Yeah, well,

we're all on the same side,
right, Davis?

You could've fooled me.

This week-
not easy, is it?

Yeah, well, we're out there
all alone, Max.

Let me tell you something.

Everybody else is wrong,

and I think you like that.

I don't like being told
to roll over.

Davis swears the kid
was doing a drug deal.

He swears it.

Okay, fine.

Assume everybody's
telling the truth.

A Magnum on the street,
what's it go for?

500.

Right.
Half a pound of crack?

2500.

The Richardson kid had
$3,000 bucks in his socks...

supposed to buy a gun
and drugs.

Drug dealers don't take credit.

All right, the deal
never went down.

Which means the kid
never had the gun.

Freddo shot him,

put the Magnum in his hand,
and he gave Silky a walk.

That's why nobody's talking.

We still got to turn up
the third guy.

If Silky's not your friend...

I don't have any friends.
They die too quick.

How about enemies?

Enemies, too.
Up here, nobody gets to 40.

Three people that night, Doris.

You knew Tommy,

you know Silky...

I knowwhatever I tell you
it only means you lock 'em up.

Hey, hey.

We're trying to find out
why Tommy Richardson is dead.

The way we hear it,
he was your friend.

Seems to me you
owe him his propers.

Who was the third guy?

He's just a scared little boy.

Abel.

Tommy's little brother.

Tommy and Silky
were doing a drug deal.

You think Tommy
would shoot a cop?

Tommy never had a gun!

If your brother was here now,

what would he tell you to do?

Tommy was going to buy the gun.

For 500?

Yes.

And the dope?

Crack. A half a pound.

For 2500.

20 extra. we were going
to go to the movies.

But the cops came, we ran...

Silky still had the gun.

Okay.

Okay what?

Sometimes when I don't want to
see something, I put blinders on.

What's that, a confession?

It's an apology.

Richardson had the money.

Silky had the gun.

What happened to the dope?

There was no dope.

Never had it.

Oh yeah, Richardson met
you to buy groceries.

My lawyer, he'll have me
out of here in an hour.

You could still go up on
that gun charge, Silky.

I ain't never been
convicted of no felony.

Even if you prove I sold
him the gun, I still walk.

Jailhouse lawyer here.

A witness puts you
at the scene that night.

Abel.

All right.

I was there.
That's what you want to hear?

Tommy had the gun. He drew
on the cop, the cop shot him.

That's what happened.

You're playing this
all wrong, Silky.

I'm still breathing, ain't I?

What'd this guy do,
shoot the Pope?

What are you talking about?

Pretty popular.

Had another cop
in this morning.

Who?

Parisi.

Freddo Parisi.

The kid says, "I'm breathing,
" it means "Freddo threatened us."

I admit it doesn't sound good.
Silky's lying, Freddo's lying,

and Davis is covering for him.

Freddo's arrested,
maybe somebody breaks.

DA says the same thing,
but it's a cop,

so it's got to be
an Internal Affairs collar.

IAD cuts the guy some slack,
and his own precinct burns him.

What a world.

You're under arrest for
the murder of Thomas Richardson.

You have the right
to remain silent.

Anything you say
can and will be used...

Save it, wiseguy.

I know it by heart.

You're dreaming, Counselor.

And the Richardson boy?
No record and no gun.

Yeah, says
his 13-year-old brother.

With no reason to lie.

The kid's a lousy witness.
He wasn't even there.

When I get finished with him,

a jury won't take his word
on what he ate for breakfast.

And patrolman Parisi?

A veteran cop.
His word, Davis' word,

Silky's word,
all against the kid,

who wants to protect
his brother's reputation.

Who's a jury going to believe?

By the time we go
to trial, Patrolman,

Silky'll be telling the truth.

It turns out Abel's not clean,

they scuff him up
on the stand, Freddo walks.

Abel has no record.
Neither did his brother.

I don't want a last minute
sandbag. Make sure, Paul.

Abel's been in no trouble!

You going to see your brother,
Tommy Richardson, gets justice?

I'm an officer of the court.

I'll investigate
every aspect of the case.

Color has-
Nothing to do with it.

Maybe I'm mistaken who you are.

You grow up on Park Avenue,

south of 96th Street?

That isn't relevant to this.

No?

No father?
That's right.

Took off?

Even you, Mr. Robinette?

All black fathers
leave their children?

Tommy Richardson's father
was a subway motorman.

Usually worked two shifts.

Somebody shot him
for $20 bucks he'd won at OTB.

Now Tommy Richardson
was a hero in this community.

He came from a good family.

He went to a good college.

He brought home money
for the church,

for the Children's
Enrichment Program,

for the boy's choir...

How much money?
From where?

Family named Harriman.

Tommy's college roommate.

They gave $48,000 in secret.

How much?

$48,000.

My God.

Your family didn't
give the money?

Where'd he get it?

Till the end of the semester,

I really like Tommy.

He was smart, funny.

Exam period,
I'd come back at night

and the people
he was hanging out with...

Street people.
Yeah...

wall Street.

J. Press suits,
Fischer skis, Beamers.

Trust fund babies.

Tommy... it was like
he was in China.

Didn't know the language,

couldn't make friends.

These guys wanted
to score some coke,

and Tommy's black-
like he ought to know.

Friendship wasn't the point.

Customers.

You know any of them?

Wesley Parker.

Have a seat.

I want to talk to
you about Tommy Richardson.

What about him?

He sold you drugs.

No way, man.

I don't know who you've been
talking to, but there's no way...

I take a walk around here,
you think I'll find some dope?

Whatever you want to know.

Why'd you hang with Tommy?

I don't want to get myself
arrested here.

Let's say Tommy never
got me any drugs.

But your friends...

Tommy was tough,
he knew how the world worked.

You knowwhat I mean?

He was going to be
real major...

Yeah, wesley,

a major homicide.

We want justice!
We want justice!

To them, he's a hero.

We're going
to destroy that dream.

The truth will set you free.
It won't always make you happy.

But he wasn't all bad.

A trial, Ben-
his name's dirt.

In Harlem,

a kid goes away
to a good school,

brings back money
to the community...

A candidate for sainthood?

The good part of him, yeah.

Maybe he needed the bad part
to make the good part work.

Maybe being the tough black
kid at college, the street kid,

helped him to come home
and give away money.

Robin Hood? You think
that'll play with the jury?

They find out
he's a drug dealer,

they'll never believe
he didn't have a gun.

Then make a deal. Freddo
does a couple of years,

Tommy's name stays clean.

Can't do it, Paul.
You can't let killers walk.

Stone.

Yes, send them in.

The Richardsons.

Mrs. Richardson,
thanks for coming down.

Is this Abel?
Yes, it is.

How do you do?
Come in, sit right down.

Mrs. Richardson,

when this case goes to trial,

there may be unpleasant things
said about your son.

I read in the papers

that the policeman
could go free.

Mrs. Richardson...

My husband was killed.

Tommy was 10 years old.

That boy...

he started coming home from
school late, two, three hours.

I thought he was hanging out
on the streets.

After school job made him late.

Delivering groceries...

to help me out.

Tommy spent his whole life

just taking care
of other people.

He had some problems.

My boy got out of Harlem.

That's what white people
wanted him to do,

and it's what I wanted
him to do.

Mr. Stone, could I talk
to you outside for a second?

You're going to kill my mom.

This drug deal
on the street, Abel...

this wasn't
a one shot thing, was it?

You can't do this to my
mom. It's not us doing it.

Reverend Thayer, your mother...

everybody wants justice.

But I have to know
what really happened.

Tommy was moving a ton of dope.

At Princeton?

Every two weeks.

He buy it here?

Had- had this mule,

moved it down the drain.

This mule have a name?

A girl.

Girl named Doris.

I don't know nothing, okay?

He's dead and I'm still here,
that's all I know.

When you were on the stroll
- That's old news.

Not old enough for the
statute of limitations.

You jumped bail, three times.

I forgot to show up at
court. You want a reminder?

Okay, you want it
straight up, Oreo?

Tommy asked me
to score some coke.

Gave me money, train ticket,

said to bring it to him
someplace in Jersey.

Smart move, Doris. He paid me
so much I stopped turning tricks.

'Cause of him I got
out of the life.

Great, hooking to drug dealing?

Which would you rather sell,
drugs or your body?

We want justice!
We want justice...

New York's finest!
New York's finest...

Yeah, real stupid, Stone.

Grand jury's decision,
not mine.

I'm not going to have
to smear that kid.

He already smeared himself.

Tommy Richardson's dead. He's not
on trial for drugs or anything else.

Freddo had every reason
to believe

that the kid was
going to shoot him.

You, in Freddo's shoes,
what would you have done?

I wouldn't have put
a gun in a dead kid's hand.

I hope you're prepared
to go to trial and prove that.

And soon.

I'll see you there.
Yeah.

I don't care. I want you to
try for a deal with Freddo.

Am I mistaken, or did you
just take a stand

about a community having
to have its laws?

That is a public position.
I'm telling you right now

that you do not have
enough to convict Parisi.

Then don't shut me down.

The partner won't roll. You've
got nothing to offer Silky.

And if Freddo's not interested?

Make it sweet,
down for four, out in two.

Convince him.
Adam, really...

99% of the time,
I let you run with it.

I got to do what's
best for the office.

Gentlemen.

Come in.

My lawyer, Mr. Ellery,
says I could use the company.

I'm sure you remember
each other.

Hello.

My ex-wife cleaned up.

Would you like a drink?

No thanks.

No wife, no friends, no nobody.

From what I've seen,
you have plenty of friends.

Protecting their own, pal.

Most of them,
they don't even know me.

A lot of people downtown
would really prefer it

if you didn't go to trial.

If you plead to manslaughter
you can be out in one year.

Two at the most.

You guys...

with your jobs and your suits,

and your press
conferences- Freddo...

You want to take from me
the one thing I got left.

My trial is going to prove that
Ivy League moulanyan was a punk!

I want my day in court.

Before you ran from the police,

did your brother
or Silky Ford have a gun?

Silky had a gun

stuck into his jeans.

Did you see the gun?

I could see the handle.

It was a Magnum,

like Dirty Harry, you know.

"Make my day."

On the street that night
you had a fight,

what was that about?

Silky short-weighted Tommy.

I said something, he pushed me.

Tommy pushed him...

I'm going to ask you
one more time.

Did you ever, at any time,

see your brother carry
or fire a gun?

No. Never.

No further questions.

Oh, boy.

Let's start
from the beginning, Abel.

Isn't it true your brother
was planning to buy

a gun from Silky Ford
that night?

Yeah, but he...

He was planning on
buying a. 357 Magnum.

Yeah, but he never
- Just answer yes or no, please.

Your brother was a student at
Princeton University, is that right?

Objection, Your Honor,
this has all been covered.

I'm trying to establish something
important here, Your Honor.

We'll let Mr. Ellery
travel this road again.

Overruled.

He was a student at Princeton.

Yes.

Were you proud of him?

Everybody was.

And you told people all the
time how proud you were of him?

Of course I did.

Then please tell the jury,
if you were so proud of him,

whether you would
honestly admit

that he was capable
of shooting a policeman?

Objection! Hypothetical.

Sustained. No more
of that, Mr. Ellery.

Abel, were you in the alley

the night your brother
was shot?

You know I wasn't.

So you don't know what
went on then, do you?

It had to happen, Ben.

Did you watch the jury? They
didn't believe a word he said.

Freddo's going to walk.

We could get Davis
to roll if Silky does.

But Silky won't roll unless
he's set up for a felony.

Set him up.

Is that ethical?

It's legal.

In the criminal justice system,
that makes it ethical.

Silky was committing
a felony that night.

Half a pound of crack-
he's a drug dealer.

What do you think
happened in that alley?

Best bet,
Freddo got trigger happy,

shot the kid, told Silky
to take the crack and run.

Call Greevey and Logan.

Set Silky up
for sale-weight.

Hello, Silky.

You looking fine, baby.

I thought with Tommy gone,
you'd be out of business though.

Yeah, well,
I got other customers.

The wire works.
Thank God for small miracles.

You got my rocks?

You know it.
A pound of the best.

Five grand, baby.

Countdown.

Three,

two...
Yeah, baby.

Later.
... one.

Go!

Go, go, go!
Come on!

Freeze, police!

I ain't moving, man.
I ain't moving.

Don't move.
Don't move.

So what, are you going to
protect me for the next 30 years?

You're a
predicate felon, Silky.

You can get put away
for 15 years to life.

Okay, sportsfans,

let's go to the videotape.

Did you see Freddo Parisi

shoot Tommy Richardson?

Freddo says,
"Don't move."

Tommy turns to say something,

and the cop shoots him.

Tommy didn't have no gun.

Freddo takes my gun,

he wipes it on his shirt-
twice...

and puts it in Tommy's hand.

Freddo tells me
to take the dope and leave.

Says it's my lucky day.

Did he say anything else?

Oh yeah.

He says if I tell anybody,
he'll kill me.

At my cell at the Tombs,

he tells me again.

Keep your mouth shut,
or you're dead.

Even if I burn him,
his partner'll get me.

Well, you have five kids,

terrific wife, nice house.

Massapequa, isn't it?

Yeah.

You've eamed five
or six citations,

you have a great record.

Don't let misguided loyalty
ruin your life.

You stay with Freddo,
he'll take you down.

He's my partner.

Something you don't know...

when they brought the
Richardson boy to the morgue,

he had $3,000 on him.

The transaction
never took place.

He never bought Silky's gun.

You weren't even there.

After the incident was
called into Internal Affairs,

what did Patrolman Parisi
tell you?

He said if there was
ever a line-up,

he didn't want me to identify
the guy with the birthmark.

Did he tell you why?

He said I didn't have to worry.

If they picked him up,

he would say he wasn't there.

Did Patrolman Parisi
tell you why he was so certain

you didn't have to worry?

He said...

he let him take the crack,

the stuff he was going to sell.

Were you at all concerned
that Patrolman Parisi

might be wrong?

That the suspect in question

might admit
to being there that night?

No.

Freddo...

Patrolman Parisi...

said it was a sure thing.

The guy didn't dare
open his mouth.

No more questions.

No questions of this witness.

You may step down.

Prosecution calls
Dorian "Silky" Ford.

Mr. Stone, is this
going to take some time?

Yes, Your Honor.

In view of how
late in the day it is,

let's continue tomorrow.
Any objections?

Court is adjourned.

Well, I can't say I'm not glad
the way it turned out.

I don't understand cops.

There is such a thing
as an honorable mistake.

Okay, he shot the kid.

Did he have to plant
a gun on him?

If he'd just admitted it, and
said, "I was scared, I panicked,

I was wrong,"

no jury in the world
would convict him of murder.

If nothing else,

Freddo will never have
a gun in his hand again,

and that's better
for everybody.

Schiff.

Thanks for calling.

Well, won't have
to worry about a verdict.

Freddo just ate his gun.

Now is the time

to remember the real
Tommy Richardson...

and what he meant
to this community.

He was a symbol

of what every child
born into poverty

could achieve.

He gave back to his people...

his time,

his energy...

his love.

And he tried to help

even more.

He tried to help others

by giving money.

But to get that money

he sold drugs.

And he was shot to death,

in the gutter,

because of it.

What T ommy Richardson
wanted to do

for his people was right...

but he did it the wrong way.

And the policeman
who shot him...

that was wrong, too.

But it would not
have happened...

without drugs!

Wandering the halls?

I wanted to say thank you.

I know this was a tough one.

It's the last one.
No more cops.

It's too hard.

Knowwhy I wouldn't let go?

Because there,
but for the grace of God, go I,

or any cop.

You get caught...

you get prosecuted.

Didn't know you were
a philosopher, Max.

Just an ex-altar boy
with a gun.