Law & Order (1990–2010): Season 5, Episode 3 - Blue Bamboo - full transcript
When Japanese businessman is killed the investigation reveals that the man was a misogynist who treated women like dirt. So they suspect that he tried to force himself on a woman and she fought back. Eventually the trail leads them to a woman who knew him in Japan. After she's arrested, her lawyer decides to utilize the battered woman defense. McCoy does his best to counter because the man's associates want justice.
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.
RON: But I have a guaranteed
reservation for a suite.
I'm sorry, sir, but as of midnight
the computers moved your suite
into the pool of
assignable rooms. Ron...
I called from the plane.
I talked to someone.
IRENE: Ron, please,
this isn't helping anything.
Look, what do we need, a note from
the pilot saying why we didn't make it?
IRENE: This isn't helping anything.
RON: Don't you start on me, too.
Just let me deal
with this gentleman.
Excuse me, sir, can I help you?
(IRENE GASPING)
I thought he was drunk.
We get all kinds wandering in
here at this hour of the morning.
Maybe this one
wandered in from your bar.
No, the bar is over there.
He was coming from upstairs.
Detective, how much
longer is this going to take?
Our guests are quite
sensitive to this kind of thing.
Yeah, especially this guest.
In his pocket. No ID, no wallet.
Any way to find out
what room this belongs to.
No, they're untraceable.
A security precaution.
I'm sure he appreciated it.
Hey, next time there's a heart
attack at 3:00 in the morning,
why don't you
call it into the 2-0?
I didn't know what we got here.
Before he keeled over, did you
notice if he was holding his left arm?
No, he just looked drunk.
BRISCOE: Was he
slurring his words?
JENSEN: No, he
was trying to speak.
Could be a stroke.
Yeah. How about
a stroke of lead?
Look at that.
Jeez.
Blink once and you'd miss it.
Must be a small caliber.
There's no exit wound.
Could be a .22. That'll do it.
Ping-pongs off his vitals,
all the bleeding's internal.
Great.
I liked him better when
he had a heart attack.
(SPEAKING JAPANESE)
Just making sure that
everything's okay here.
Okay. 524's next.
You know, there's gotta
be an easier way than this.
Go ahead, open it.
My, my, what a mess.
Okay, what do you got?
Shiunro Hayashi.
Room's charged to a
corporate credit card from a...
Ingoyo Leisure Company.
Tokyo address.
Phone cord's
pulled out of the wall.
Look what's sitting
right in front of me.
A wallet.
Okay.
Picture ID, and it's him.
Credit cards, receipt from a
traveler's check, and there's no cash.
And we have a shell casing.
.22.
Is this starting to
remind you of something?
Couple of weeks ago a German
tourist got a surprise visit, right?
That was one of
the Barrington hotels.
Midtown and
definitely mid-range.
The rumor about that is
that it was an inside job.
We're going to need a
list of all your employees.
And we're gonna want to talk to
everybody who's staying on this floor.
I'm sure the Barrington wasn't put
through this sort of inconvenience.
Nobody left the
Barrington in a bag.
I've got calls from
the Asahi Shimbun,
the Nippon Weekly,
the Japan Times,
and that's not counting the Japanese
consulate climbing all over us.
Yeah, great. They can help us sort
through the 85 sets of fingerprints.
Okay, there's no calls
from his room after 5:00.
No one on the floor saw
anything go in or out of his room
and no one heard anything.
And no forced entry.
At the Barrington, didn't
the robber talk his way in?
Yeah, he identified himself
as hotel maintenance.
German tourist lets him
in, gets pistol-whipped.
Hayashi has no bruises, but
he gets a slug through the armpit.
Maybe that's what it took.
Seems this guy
was carrying a wad.
According to the travelers' check
company, Hayashi cashed 10 grand yesterday
at the front desk.
That's a lot of
walking around money.
I bet someone at the
front desk thought so, too.
TEAGLE: You'd be amazed how
many guests come back an hour later
claiming we shorted them.
This put an end to that.
Hayashi, 10:08. $10,000
and your signature.
Anybody else who might know
how much Hayashi was carrying?
Anyone in tipping range.
He was unusually generous.
You've got other receipts here
with someone else's signature.
Danny Zabel. I was training him.
I had to make him forget everything
he learned at the Barrington.
LOGAN: According to the manager,
you were with him when he helped
the victim cash some travelers' checks?
He was Japanese.
Hayashi?
I guess. I don't
really remember.
You were working at
the Barrington, midtown,
when a similar robbery
happened, right?
Look, at the Barrington the
police talked to everybody, all right?
I wasn't even in town
when that happened.
So it's for no particular reason
that you're not there anymore?
I was laid off.
It happens.
They told us you quit a
week after the robbery.
Let me tell you
something, Danny.
Robberies happen all the time.
Now, maybe the detectives down
at the Barrington let things slide,
but we don't.
We want the shooter, big guy.
I don't know, I...
Good, we'll take you.
You're just as good for it.
Hold on. All right, all right.
You were saying?
The stupid idiot. He wasn't
supposed to kill anybody.
Who?
Charlie Kett.
He's my brother-in-law.
He got out of prison
six months ago.
He says I gotta help him or
he takes it out on my sister.
Hey, hey, Mikey, heard you
got one handed to you, huh?
Yeah. For once, we
did something right.
It should be big news in Tokyo.
A slightly late Detective Logan.
Mr. Nakahara from
the Japanese consulate.
He's here for
Mr. Hayashi's remains.
How are you?
Lieutenant Van Buren tells
me you are making progress.
I have great respect
for the New York police.
I am sure you will
solve this terrible crime.
So are we.
In Japan, murders
are so unusual,
each one can receive the
full attention of the police.
Mr. Nakahara, we may be
overworked and understaffed,
but we sure do like to catch
murderers, no matter who they kill.
Yes. Let me know when we can
take possession of the remains.
Of course. Thank you.
Nice guy.
Probably thinks you have to be
born eating sushi to get the job done.
Maybe a little brain
food wouldn't hurt.
We located Charles Kett.
He's been in Rikers
since yesterday afternoon.
Picked up on a DWI,
with outstanding warrants.
So if Kett was locked up,
that leaves us with Zabel.
I don't quite picture Mighty
Mouse robbing Hayashi by himself.
We'll hold him as Kett's
accomplice on the Barrington job.
Maybe the shooter's someone
Hayashi brought back to the hotel.
Walk in his shoes.
See who turns up.
What's the deal, Mike?
Your favorite uncle
died at Pearl Harbor?
It's their attitude.
They think they're better
than everybody else.
Masters of the universe.
Doesn't that bother you?
No, what bothers me is some
kid heisting my car for a living
because nobody
taught him how to read.
Lighter than air.
Jacket alone must
be worth two grand.
You believe this is what he
wears to go hit some balls?
Golf Land. Indoor driving range.
West 34th.
6:00 p.m., that's
the day he got shot.
Well, look around.
Someone of the Japanese
persuasion would hardly stand out.
Well, what if I told you that
Mr. Hayashi is a very big tipper?
Would that jog your memory?
Yeah, I remember him now.
Actually, I remember his friend.
A woman? No, a black guy.
You don't often see
a twosome like that.
He gave me his card.
I think I still have his number
around here somewhere.
I booked some piano
players for his clubs in Tokyo.
I don't know if it's because they
saw Casablanca too many times,
but a cat who can
hum As Time Goes By
can make a very
decent living over there.
So you talked about lounge acts?
He was also interested in
singers, of the white female variety.
After golf what else
was on the menu?
He invited me along
for some socializing.
The man has...
had a lot of energy.
I, on the other
hand, have a wife.
My condolences.
Any idea where
Hayashi was heading?
Club in midtown. The East-West.
Said I wouldn't be disappointed.
KENDRICK: The Japanese are about the
last people in America who still eat steak.
Yeah, and about the only
people who pay $75 for prime rib.
They pay twice
that much in Tokyo.
Anyway, it's all on
their expense account.
This is where they do business.
They relax, close a couple of
deals, and the wives stay at home.
So was Hayashi closing
any deals the other night?
It was a social call.
I met him in Tokyo
about three years ago.
That's where I got the idea.
I saw how he ran his club, and I
figured with all the Japanese over here,
they need a place
where they feel at home.
At home? Look at this.
You got American
songs, girls, food.
What's home about that?
People think they want to bring
America to its knees, uh-uh?
They wanna be America.
They prefer their scotch
mellow, and their women blonde.
How about Hayashi?
Did he leave alone?
Are you kidding?
A guy like him?
He was with one of
the waitresses, Suzy.
I think they might've
left together.
I saw her in the back.
She's cashing out.
Sure, I was with him.
That makes me guilty
of bad taste, not murder.
The United Nations
thing didn't work out?
We understood
each other perfectly.
He wanted to take,
I didn't wanna give.
Some things I don't
do on the first date.
Unless you're
getting paid for it.
I just called up her yellows.
Felony larceny, solicitation, and a little
incident of you discharging a weapon.
.22, surprise, surprise.
Some guy was starting with me.
I told him the next shot would have
him singing with the Vienna Boys Choir.
Right. Now you got Hayashi
singing with a different choir.
I told you, all we did was kiss.
Then I asked for money up front.
He said he never
had to pay for it.
Like just because they
own Rockefeller Center
I'm supposed to
go to bed with him?
And meanwhile, the better part of
10 grand is falling out of his wallet.
I'm calling my lawyer.
Good. Tell him to meet
you at the station house.
Don't worry. They got nothing.
They got a lot of nothing.
Three hours of dancing around
with her, and I got nothing.
You tell her she matched
up on fingerprints?
She doesn't deny
being in the room.
Forensics just called.
Suzy left a little something
behind with Hayashi.
Her big mistake was
not taking his watch.
Female pubic hair
caught in the band.
I thought they got
caught on soda cans.
You said she was
a brunette? Yeah.
Brunettes try to look like
blondes, not vice versa.
You got the wrong girl.
Wait a minute, are you
saying the hair's from a blonde?
Yeah, natural blonde. Sorry.
I'm surprised a guy this busy
didn't die of a heart attack.
Must be all the fish they eat.
Last night I caught Mike in the
parking lot smashing up a Toyota.
Our problem is who left
their mark on Hayashi's watch.
After Suzy's out the door, where did
Hayashi find a blonde on short notice?
Well, he's not gonna call a hooker
if he doesn't want to pay for it.
If I wanted a date on the double,
I'd head straight for the hotel bar.
Well, it was pretty busy.
It was the last night of
a dentists' convention.
Somebody should
give them Novocain.
But is that a yes or
a no on Mr. Hayashi?
Yeah, he was
here around closing.
Alone, or was he with somebody?
More like glued to. A blonde.
They kind of stuck out in a room
full of guys discussing drill bits.
So did you get a look at her?
He ordered drinks
before she got here,
then they did a little
dry hump on the couch,
just enough to make me puke,
and they're off
to the elevators.
This blonde, you
ever see her before?
Maybe she was a guest here?
No, I never seen
her before or since.
But with her level of
enthusiasm, something tells me
she works off a beeper.
Half hour before she gets here,
he tips me a 10 to get
change for the pay phone.
Hey, 12, including the john.
It'll take a couple of days to
pull LUDs from that many phones.
The booking agent said Hayashi
was in town auditioning singers.
Of the female variety.
I put an ad in the trades, and
the headshots came pouring in.
LOGAN: Look at this.
Blonde, blonde. Blonde.
Hayashi had
specific requirements.
I made the phone calls,
set up all the auditions.
And then what? Hayashi
met all the hopefuls?
The auditions were held in his hotel
room during regular business hours.
What about after business hours?
I wouldn't know.
Hayashi was on his own.
Are these all the
girls Hayashi saw?
Mostly, yeah. I kept a list.
All the future Madonnas
in the five boroughs.
Enjoy.
Our turn to hold auditions.
He saw me personally.
It wasn't as much fun
as having my tonsils out.
Really? We heard
he was a real charmer.
Well, he was busy
charming someone else.
Cell phone glued to his ear,
I'm belting out Whitney
Houston's greatest hits.
Turns out he's ordering lunch.
And that was it?
My mother's just as happy.
She says I need Tokyo
like I need another kid.
I wish I could help.
I never even spoke to him.
You are on the audition list.
You see here, it
says Kristi Jakes.
I'm on a lot of lists.
I get plenty of work
right here singing jingles.
Savmor Car Rentals?
You're kidding.
"Savmor, drive
more." That's you?
Pay's good, I wear what I like,
I don't have to worry
about men like Hayashi.
Who you never met.
I said like him.
I know the type.
"You have a nice voice.
"What else can you do?"
Why did you audition
for it, anyway?
Well, I heard the
pay's good over there.
Then I got on the list, and
then I heard it was at his hotel.
No, thanks.
I didn't show.
I didn't even know he was dead
until my agent called me this morning.
The other singers
weren't so upset about it.
He wanted me in his clubs.
That means I'm good.
"Good" meaning you can sing?
Right.
My bags were packed.
What, you think I want to do
temp work the rest of my life?
I can only type
40 words a minute.
Can I get going?
LUDs from the lobby
phones came in.
Here, I got you a tuna on white.
They were all out of blowfish.
Arigato, baby.
Got the audition list? Mmm-hmm.
Okay, I got Tiffany Bouchet.
I don't see her.
Angel Monroe.
Heather Wayne.
Kristi Jakes.
Tori Bishop.
No, no, no.
How about Keli Konnors?
K-E-L-I, Konnors with a "K."
What? Let me see that.
I dated a Keli Konnors
with two "K's" once.
Her real name was Joan Kozlasky.
Listen to this.
Tara Harmony.
Lisa Larue.
Doesn't that sound bogus to you?
Stage names.
I doubt that's what NYNEX
puts on their phone bills.
Okay, what've we got?
Shannon Gilbert's real
name is Paulette McDougal.
What's wrong with that?
Sounds like somebody your mother
would make you take to the senior prom.
Next?
Local 802 just faxed this in.
More lady singers.
You find anyone that can
handle opera, let me know.
Dig this. Toni with an "I"
Curtis is Bernice Schwartz.
Cute. I would've
remembered that.
Kristi Jakes, Martha Bowen.
That's the "Savmor,
drive more" lady.
Martha Bowen got a phone
call from the hotel at 1:10 a.m.
It doesn't mean the
call was from Hayashi.
We checked the LUDs
from her apartment.
Three calls to his hotel
the day of the murder.
You're getting
warmer. What else?
Warmer? How about broiled?
A couple of months ago, Martha
Bowen got a home use permit
for a Beretta .22 automatic.
Which is probably at the
bottom of the East River by now.
Look, put her in a line-up.
See what the waitress says.
If she can't make a positive ID,
we've tainted her as a witness.
We have the pubic hair.
If it matches with Martha...
We'd have enough to arrest.
Okay, I'll see Judge
Rivera about a search order.
All right, let's make
this fast, Counselors.
I'm on a 10-minute recess here.
Invasion of privacy, Your Honor.
Plucking my client's pubic hair.
I've got it.
Miss Kincaid?
Same standards apply as for
the taking of any other evidence.
A suspect can be compelled
to provide a blood sample.
If there's probable cause.
There's no evidence my client
was anywhere near Mr. Hayashi.
CLAIRE: She called his hotel.
A woman of her description
was seen with the victim.
Your Honor, if they have an eyewitness,
why aren't we talking about that
instead of a hair sample?
Good point.
I see sufficient cause for both.
And since it's your idea,
Mr. Hellman, it's your call.
Door number one
or door number two?
That's a loaded
question, Your Honor.
You see, I
haven't really... I...
Not to worry, Counselor.
I've got your answer for you.
This is your lucky day.
You get to win both prizes.
I think number two.
She was turned away from me most
of the time, but I'm pretty sure it's her.
Pretty sure is not good enough.
I'll take my client home now.
The forensics came in.
Not so fast, Mr. Hellman.
The hairs match. We've got her.
Okay, everybody who's
innocent can leave the room.
Not you, sweetheart.
Martha Bowen, you're under arrest
for the murder of Shiunro Hayashi.
You have the right
to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be
used against you in a court of law.
I read the indictment
backwards and forwards.
I see "ifs" and "maybes" but no
evidence my client did anything wrong,
unless you count being
groped in a bar as a felony.
There's still the matter of
a missing .22 caliber pistol.
Which my client says was stolen
from her purse two months ago.
And only now it occurs
to her to report the theft.
Look, she lied to the police
about meeting Hayashi.
What do you expect
a jury to conclude?
Conclude beyond
a reasonable doubt?
You really want
to find out, Jack?
I wouldn't pass up the chance.
HELLMAN: Let's
talk hypotheticals.
A young singer gets
called for an audition...
JACK: And she brings her gun.
What's her audition piece,
22 Ways To Leave Your Lover?
We live in dangerous times.
Can I go on?
She makes nice
with her future boss.
Soon as she's in his room,
it's the casting couch gone bad.
He tries to rape her, she
shoots in self-defense.
Then rips the phone
out, and steals his money.
The phone's ripped
out in the struggle.
And who's to say
there was any money?
Nice try.
Your client entices a man up to his
room with the purpose of robbing him.
She pumps a bullet into
him and leaves him for dead.
That's murder two.
Really?
Is that the way it'll play
to 12 red-blooded citizens,
who can't tell
sushi from sukiyaki?
Anything to support their claim?
If there'd been a struggle, you'd
expect to see marks on Hayashi's body.
And at least there'd be
Bowen's prints all over the room.
And the money?
Hasn't been recovered.
She managed to post bail.
With help from a
Sandra Krane, her agent.
Martha Bowen gets on the
stand, says scout's honor.
And we hope the jury doesn't
notice the victim is a foreign national
with an overactive libido.
Talk to her agent.
Maybe this isn't the first time
she's had problems with an audition.
See, last month Martha
averaged three sessions a week
at $600 per, plus royalties...
Well, darling, you do the math.
Very lucky I found
her this niche.
Talent doesn't count?
Talent? Talent doesn't count
if you can't handle a crowd.
See, Martha had stage fright.
She was seeing a therapist.
So she auditions to sing
in a night club in Tokyo?
Well, maybe it's different if the room
doesn't speak the same language.
Why didn't you ask her that
before you set up the audition?
Well, I didn't ask her because
she made the appointment herself.
See, American faces go at a
very high premium in Japan.
A singer like Martha can
make about $5,000 a week.
If I'd known she
wanted to go back there,
I would've booked her
through my own contacts.
She's been there before?
The Japanese consulate issued a
work visa to Martha Bowen two years ago
to work in one of
Hayashi's clubs.
At the time, she was using
the stage name Nicolette Laine.
Hayashi co-signed
her visa application.
What does her lawyer
have to say about this?
Well, he claims he didn't know.
Sure, he didn't know.
Well, maybe he's just an idiot.
Is there anybody who would
know what she was doing in Japan?
There's no boyfriend, no
one she talked to about it.
I called her father in Duluth,
he hasn't returned my calls.
Get back in touch with
the Japanese consulate.
Maybe we can find another singer
who worked with her in Tokyo.
DIANE: I spent a year there.
It was a hoot.
People were real generous.
I came back with two suitcases full
of Chanel bags and Ferragamo shoes.
Most singers get
flowers after a show.
Well, I told my
mother I was singing.
Are you saying you
became a prostitute?
Look, in Japan things don't
work out the same as here.
They've got customs.
You go with the flow.
And Martha didn't?
One night, I heard she
took a swing at somebody.
They had to call the cops.
Even the embassy got into it.
I was on the telephone to our
Tokyo embassy until 4:00 this morning.
I hope we found what you wanted.
A year ago last April, Miss Bowen
was arrested for assaulting a customer
at a club where
she was employed.
Apparently she'd been drinking.
Maybe she felt that being fondled
wasn't included in the cover charge.
According to her
written statement,
her real beef was
with her employer.
Shiunro Hayashi?
She was interrogated
by the Tokyo police
in the presence of
an embassy officer.
She claimed that Mr. Hayashi owed
her a few thousand dollars in back pay.
She also claimed that he was
holding her passport to keep her
from leaving the country.
Now, we sent a letter to Mr. Hayashi
explaining that the passport
was the property of the U.S.
government, and that it should be returned.
And like a good boy, he did?
Apparently so.
The embassy never heard
back from Miss Bowen.
The Tokyo police dropped the drunk
and disorderly charges against her,
apparently at
Hayashi's insistence.
A couple of months later, she
left Japan on a medical emergency.
So Bowen waits until Hayashi's on
her home turf to settle up with him.
He probably thought she just
wanted to kiss and make up.
CLERK: Miss Kincaid.
It's from Bowen's attorney.
He's moving to suppress
the embassy report.
HELLMAN: Simply put, Your Honor,
my client wasn't Mirandized
when she was arrested in Tokyo.
Ergo, her statements and any report
based on those statements are inadmissible.
As far as I know, Your Honor,
Japan is still a sovereign nation.
Our constitutional
protections don't apply there.
They do, if there's any
governmental involvement.
An officer from the U.S. embassy
was present during
my client's interrogation.
She was under the impression that
the officer was there as her legal counsel.
What she thought
is beside the point.
She was under the
authority of the Tokyo police.
If you play stickball in Canarsie,
you better learn Brooklyn rules.
Point well taken, Mr. McCoy.
HELLMAN: This is
unbelievable, Your Honor.
Illegal aliens swarm into
our country by the thousands
and are immediately granted
constitutional protection.
But the minute I set
foot across the border,
you're saying my own government
won't protect my interests?
Come on, Mr. Hellman, you're arguing
a motion here, not running for Congress,
and that motion is denied.
The statements and
the report are admissible.
What next, Jack?
Drag a suspect across the nearest
border, beat a confession out of him,
then use it in court?
Works for me.
"Right next to
Rockefeller Center,
"Pebble Beach and
the Seattle Mariners,
"add to the Japanese trophy
case the U.S. Constitution."
Yep, now they have us trampling
on the rights of an American citizen
to pacify the Japanese.
We should let the murderer
go free so that a few bigots
can stand a little taller at
the Fourth of July picnic.
You don't have to be a bigot to see
that we've been taken by our friends
on the other side
of the dateline.
Let's not confuse Martha
Bowen with the auto industry.
(PHONE BUZZING)
Yes.
Hellman's on his way up.
Martha Bowen's
gonna get on the stand,
and she's going to cry rape,
or some other nonsense
about the big, bad Japanese,
and you're lucky if
you get a hung jury.
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
Jack. I think you
know Mildred Kaskel.
She'll be taking
over as chief counsel.
I filed a notice of
substitution on the way over.
I know your work, Miss Kaskel.
So what's it gonna be, the feminist
version of "the Devil made me do it?"
The Devil here is
your so-called victim.
He viciously abused my
client while she was in Japan.
I plan to introduce evidence she was
suffering from Battered Woman Syndrome
when she shot him.
Come again?
She shot him over
a contract dispute.
MILDRED: No.
What happened to her in Japan
had nothing to do with singing.
It was gonna be the
biggest break I ever got.
Mr. Hayashi said important
people came to his club.
My first week, it was
like a party every night.
All these men
throwing money around.
$100 for a Scotch.
500 just to sit next to me.
Mr. Hayashi told me
to just be nice to them.
No one cared I was a singer.
I wanted to go home.
Mr. Hayashi said I
owed him all this money.
I didn't know what to do.
He had my passport.
I was alone.
He said I could pay him
back by being more friendly.
By sleeping with his customers.
I said no.
He got furious.
He beat me.
He said if I disappeared,
no one would know.
No one would care.
I didn't want to die.
Every day she's been back,
Martha's been living in fear for her life.
When she found out
Mr. Hayashi was in town,
she believed he came
here looking for her.
She killed him believing she
was acting in self-defense.
Martha Bowen claims she killed
Hayashi because she feared for her life.
It sounds irrational,
unless you believe
the Battered Woman
Syndrome applies here.
It's bull.
It's revenge dressed
up in smoke and mirrors.
Tall, blonde Miss Bowen killed
a short, dark Japanese man
who was running a
white slavery operation.
This is not a Saturday
morning cartoon.
Yeah.
Kaskel times her summation
to fall on Pearl Harbor Day,
so the jury can pin
a medal on her client.
She saw his ad, she called
him up, she seduced him,
and she shot him
behind closed doors.
She set him up.
Kaskel can use the Syndrome
to justify every one of those acts.
This defense,
like my grandmother's
nightgown, covers everything.
Just keep the jury focused on the
fact that this woman killed this man
and walked off with the money.
The Battered Woman Syndrome
almost exclusively applies
to abused wives or girlfriends.
Almost.
Any woman in any
abusive relationship
can display characteristics
of this syndrome.
It's never been applied in a
case where the abuser was killed
a year after the relationship
and the abuse ended.
Let's ask some Vietnam vets about
the expiration date on stress disorders.
This theory is not generally
accepted by the scientific community.
Until it is, it's not a proper
subject for expert testimony.
My client has the right to present
evidence to explain her conduct.
She reasonably and honestly
believed her life was in danger.
Mr. McCoy doesn't
want the jury to hear why.
No, I don't want them confusing
Miss Bowen with the actual women
this syndrome was
meant to describe.
They can decide
that for themselves.
Frankly, her actions seem
so far beyond understanding
that I'd like to hear her
explanations myself.
Then I'd like our
psychiatrist to hear them, too.
I want Miss Bowen to
submit to an examination.
MILDRED: No problem.
But I would like the record to
show we're not required to submit.
We're pleading justification.
My client's reasonable beliefs
are at issue, not her state of mind.
So noted.
And I'll see you all in court.
MARTHA: He'd never
hit me on the face.
He'd twist my arm.
He'd punch me in the side.
At first, it was because I
wouldn't sleep with those men.
But then, even after...
If I didn't smile enough
or if a customer complained.
The smallest thing I
did wrong, I'd catch hell.
Have you had any problems
since you've been back here?
I can't sleep.
My doctor gave me pills.
It's stupid.
I'm afraid if I go to sleep,
I'm gonna wake up back there.
Well, how do you
deal with that fear?
I bought a gun.
Men are always looking
at me. It's disgusting.
Do you mean all men,
or just Japanese men?
Well, the Japanese
are the worst.
I mean, all they're
interested in is themselves.
You're there only for them,
and they have a
way of looking at you.
Like, I could never
get a read on them.
I just... I felt
dirty and cheap.
Do you have the same feelings
in your personal relationships?
What, you mean boyfriends?
I don't have one.
I mean, I can't.
You don't want to?
I can't have sex.
It's a medical thing.
It hurts too much.
I got an infection.
She's been diagnosed with
chronic pelvic inflammatory disease.
She has permanent tubal
lesions, and she's sterile.
I caught something from
one of those men in Japan.
It's why Mr. Hayashi
let me leave
MARTHA: 'cause I was
no good to him anymore.
She still calls him Mr. Hayashi.
She feels her life depended
on her ability to placate him.
It's the heart of the syndrome.
It doesn't bother you that
she never mentioned abuse,
or the word "prostitute" to
the United States embassy?
You want the statistics on
unreported spousal abuse?
However Martha
Bowen came about it,
she walks and talks
like a battered woman.
She's a textbook case.
A battered wife
kills her husband.
I abhor it, but I
can sympathize.
But from the moment that
she set foot in this country,
Martha Bowen was
free and clear of Hayashi.
You have no idea what it's like to
be victimized by a powerful man.
So you want to create a new
category of self-defense just for women?
You might as well say we're by nature
incapable of controlling our emotions.
I doubt that's what Gloria
Steinem had in mind.
That is not what I'm saying.
But, Jack, if you put me on the
stand, I have to stick to my diagnosis.
Fine. You're not testifying.
I wanted her mental condition,
not your emotional reaction.
If you think vengeance
belongs in the penal code,
then you don't belong
on my witness list.
What do you want to do?
Maybe it is a textbook case.
Let's have the police take a
look at Bowen's apartment.
See what she keeps
on her bookshelf.
Enough Is Enough:
Battered Women Fight Back.
Defending Her Life: A
Battered Woman Tells Her Story.
Kill Or Be Killed: Self-Defense
And The Battered Wife Syndrome.
All with highlighted passages.
You know, 15 years ago, a
serial killer named Kenneth Bianchi
almost convinced a team of doctors
that he had multiple personalities.
You think Martha's
a better actor?
She's done the homework.
He kept one hand free for his drink,
and the other hand was in her lap
or on her chest.
And how was the
defendant behaving?
She had her arm around
him and she was smiling.
Did she do anything to make you
think she wasn't enjoying herself?
No. It looked to me like the
current was running both ways,
and when they left
they were arm in arm.
Thank you.
You said you were
working a full bar that night?
So how could you possibly be
aware of everything that transpired
between Mr. Hayashi
and his companion?
I didn't say I was.
And when you picked
my client out of a lineup,
you said you were pretty sure
she was the woman at the bar?
Yeah.
So now when you say there
was current running both ways,
are you dead certain or
are you just pretty sure?
I don't know.
I'm just telling
you how it looked.
Thank you.
During the last 15 years,
I've investigated 48 cases
where a battered woman
has killed her abuser.
Nine times out of 10, when we get to
the scene, the woman's waiting for us.
And the other 10%?
The woman runs
to a family member,
or we find her wandering
in the neighborhood.
In any of these cases, did the
women try to cover up their crime?
No. These women
are not acting rationally.
They're in a state of shock.
So, no pulling out the phone cord,
no effort to make it look like a robbery?
No, nothing like that.
Thank you.
Detective, you said that these
women were acting irrationally.
In other words, their
behavior was unpredictable?
In general, you
know what to expect.
So you could have predicted that an
abused woman named Lorena Bobbitt
would be found driving down the highway
with her husband's penis in her hand?
No, I guess I missed that one.
Thank you.
The women I studied had to live
with the fear that they might be killed
or take drastic action
to save themselves.
You spent a year
at Tokyo University.
What was the
nature of your work?
I studied the exploitation
of women in Japan.
It's a perfect model of a
male-dominated society...
Objection. This
is all irrelevant.
My client was trapped in a culture where
wives still walk behind their husbands.
Now that's relevant to understanding
her feelings of helplessness.
This witness is qualified as an
expert on the abuse of women,
not on Japan bashing.
I'm going to allow some
latitude here, Mr. McCoy.
The witness may
finish with her answer.
Japan is a perfect model
of a male-dominated society
that has a poor record of
respecting the rights of women.
So how would you characterize the
attitude of the typical Japanese male
toward Western women?
They're a status symbol
for Japanese men.
How's that?
In the past, they felt
intimidated by Western women.
That these women now serve
Japanese men is a sign to them
of Japan's rise in the world.
Thank you.
Let's get back to your
stated area of expertise.
Does every abused woman
develop Battered Woman Syndrome?
They all show signs of it.
Does that mean that every abused
woman eventually kills her abuser?
No, there is no
hard and fast rule.
There's no cause and effect?
First you look at the behavior,
and then you see if it fits the pattern.
So first you have the crime,
and then you look for the excuse?
Objection.
Withdrawn.
Everything cuts both ways.
What we call premeditation,
they call a syndrome.
I can't believe anybody
on that jury's gonna buy it.
It's all gonna
boil down to race.
Abuse is just something for
the jury to hang their hat on.
You wanna do the cross
on Bowen tomorrow?
Because of my
skills or my gender?
Both.
Claire, I want to win.
So do you.
MARTHA: He was always on me.
He said my chest was too small.
He said I smelled.
All Americans smell bad.
I could never do anything right.
I started believing that all I
was good for was being a whore.
And after you came
home, what happened?
Every day I was afraid
he was going to show up.
It's why I changed
my stage name.
I knew he had the
money to find me.
But why would he,
when he sent you home?
Maybe deep down I
thought it was crazy,
but I felt trapped,
like I couldn't run anymore.
I had to do
something to stop him.
What did you do?
I met with him, just
to tell him how I felt.
In the bar, when he started touching
me, I was afraid to say anything.
He wanted to go
back to his room.
I don't know why I said yes.
We got there, and just
the way he looked at me,
like I was nothing...
I was afraid of what
he was gonna do.
The gun was in my hand.
I don't know what I
did next. It's just a blur.
Thank you.
Miss Bowen, during your
examination by Dr. Olivet,
you stated, quote, "The smallest
thing I did wrong, I'd catch hell."
Do you remember that statement?
Yes.
Miss Bowen, do you
recognize these books?
Yes.
I'm referring to
People's 18 through 20.
These books were
found in your apartment.
This one's titled
Defending Her Life:
A Battered Woman
Tells Her Story.
Please read this passage, the
one with the orange highlight.
"I couldn't do anything right.
"Every little thing I did
wrong, he'd punch me."
Now, please read
this passage from
Enough Is Enough:
Battered Women Fight Back.
"I stood over him
while he slept.
"I wanted to make him feel
the way I felt when he beat me.
"The gun was in my hand."
Please continue reading.
"I was nothing to him.
"I had to do something
to stop the pain."
Miss Bowen? You
don't understand.
Just look what he
did to me. Look.
What else was I gonna do?
"The jury is instructed that
it may consider this evidence
"only as it relates to
consciousness of guilt."
Are we agreed on the language?
Fine with me.
No problem here.
Good.
Next point, "The jury may not consider
the victim's background or origins
"in making its determination."
That's not sufficient,
Your Honor.
This case demands a
much stronger statement.
It's funny how we
completely disagree.
I want the jury to consider
all the factors that effect
my client's reasonable belief
that her life was in danger.
You'd also like to pack the jury with
the widows of World War II veterans.
That's the sum total of
her case, Your Honor.
If this victim were white, Miss Bowen
would have taken a plea months ago.
Now, let's stay
focused, Mr. McCoy.
With all due respect, Your Honor,
you know what people can feel
about certain
minorities in this city.
Racism poisons practically
every trial we see here.
Mr. McCoy is
talking in generalities.
And the defense would like to
turn the jury into a panel of racists.
The court must take a stand.
All right, let me
see what you have.
And lastly, I will
instruct you as follows.
You may not consider
Mr. Hayashi's race or country of origin
or prior acts when
making your decision.
I instruct you this
as a matter of law.
Your duty is to pass judgment on
Martha Bowen, not on the victim.
And your personal feelings
about the Japanese people,
their culture, or
their government
has no place in a jury room.
You swore an oath to put
aside such considerations.
I instruct you now
to live up to that oath,
and I thank you.
Madam Foreman, has
the jury reached a verdict?
Yes, Your Honor, we have.
On the sole count of the indictment,
murder in the Second Degree,
how do you find?
We find the
defendant not guilty.
The jury is dismissed.
Court is adjourned.
Mr. Nakahara, I'm sorry.
I was in the Midwest last year
for the opening of an auto plant.
4,000 new jobs.
When I left, someone
threw paint on my car.
It was disturbing, but expected.
My guess, tomorrow the papers will
call this a victory for women's rights.
Yeah. And a giant
leap for ignorance.
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.
RON: But I have a guaranteed
reservation for a suite.
I'm sorry, sir, but as of midnight
the computers moved your suite
into the pool of
assignable rooms. Ron...
I called from the plane.
I talked to someone.
IRENE: Ron, please,
this isn't helping anything.
Look, what do we need, a note from
the pilot saying why we didn't make it?
IRENE: This isn't helping anything.
RON: Don't you start on me, too.
Just let me deal
with this gentleman.
Excuse me, sir, can I help you?
(IRENE GASPING)
I thought he was drunk.
We get all kinds wandering in
here at this hour of the morning.
Maybe this one
wandered in from your bar.
No, the bar is over there.
He was coming from upstairs.
Detective, how much
longer is this going to take?
Our guests are quite
sensitive to this kind of thing.
Yeah, especially this guest.
In his pocket. No ID, no wallet.
Any way to find out
what room this belongs to.
No, they're untraceable.
A security precaution.
I'm sure he appreciated it.
Hey, next time there's a heart
attack at 3:00 in the morning,
why don't you
call it into the 2-0?
I didn't know what we got here.
Before he keeled over, did you
notice if he was holding his left arm?
No, he just looked drunk.
BRISCOE: Was he
slurring his words?
JENSEN: No, he
was trying to speak.
Could be a stroke.
Yeah. How about
a stroke of lead?
Look at that.
Jeez.
Blink once and you'd miss it.
Must be a small caliber.
There's no exit wound.
Could be a .22. That'll do it.
Ping-pongs off his vitals,
all the bleeding's internal.
Great.
I liked him better when
he had a heart attack.
(SPEAKING JAPANESE)
Just making sure that
everything's okay here.
Okay. 524's next.
You know, there's gotta
be an easier way than this.
Go ahead, open it.
My, my, what a mess.
Okay, what do you got?
Shiunro Hayashi.
Room's charged to a
corporate credit card from a...
Ingoyo Leisure Company.
Tokyo address.
Phone cord's
pulled out of the wall.
Look what's sitting
right in front of me.
A wallet.
Okay.
Picture ID, and it's him.
Credit cards, receipt from a
traveler's check, and there's no cash.
And we have a shell casing.
.22.
Is this starting to
remind you of something?
Couple of weeks ago a German
tourist got a surprise visit, right?
That was one of
the Barrington hotels.
Midtown and
definitely mid-range.
The rumor about that is
that it was an inside job.
We're going to need a
list of all your employees.
And we're gonna want to talk to
everybody who's staying on this floor.
I'm sure the Barrington wasn't put
through this sort of inconvenience.
Nobody left the
Barrington in a bag.
I've got calls from
the Asahi Shimbun,
the Nippon Weekly,
the Japan Times,
and that's not counting the Japanese
consulate climbing all over us.
Yeah, great. They can help us sort
through the 85 sets of fingerprints.
Okay, there's no calls
from his room after 5:00.
No one on the floor saw
anything go in or out of his room
and no one heard anything.
And no forced entry.
At the Barrington, didn't
the robber talk his way in?
Yeah, he identified himself
as hotel maintenance.
German tourist lets him
in, gets pistol-whipped.
Hayashi has no bruises, but
he gets a slug through the armpit.
Maybe that's what it took.
Seems this guy
was carrying a wad.
According to the travelers' check
company, Hayashi cashed 10 grand yesterday
at the front desk.
That's a lot of
walking around money.
I bet someone at the
front desk thought so, too.
TEAGLE: You'd be amazed how
many guests come back an hour later
claiming we shorted them.
This put an end to that.
Hayashi, 10:08. $10,000
and your signature.
Anybody else who might know
how much Hayashi was carrying?
Anyone in tipping range.
He was unusually generous.
You've got other receipts here
with someone else's signature.
Danny Zabel. I was training him.
I had to make him forget everything
he learned at the Barrington.
LOGAN: According to the manager,
you were with him when he helped
the victim cash some travelers' checks?
He was Japanese.
Hayashi?
I guess. I don't
really remember.
You were working at
the Barrington, midtown,
when a similar robbery
happened, right?
Look, at the Barrington the
police talked to everybody, all right?
I wasn't even in town
when that happened.
So it's for no particular reason
that you're not there anymore?
I was laid off.
It happens.
They told us you quit a
week after the robbery.
Let me tell you
something, Danny.
Robberies happen all the time.
Now, maybe the detectives down
at the Barrington let things slide,
but we don't.
We want the shooter, big guy.
I don't know, I...
Good, we'll take you.
You're just as good for it.
Hold on. All right, all right.
You were saying?
The stupid idiot. He wasn't
supposed to kill anybody.
Who?
Charlie Kett.
He's my brother-in-law.
He got out of prison
six months ago.
He says I gotta help him or
he takes it out on my sister.
Hey, hey, Mikey, heard you
got one handed to you, huh?
Yeah. For once, we
did something right.
It should be big news in Tokyo.
A slightly late Detective Logan.
Mr. Nakahara from
the Japanese consulate.
He's here for
Mr. Hayashi's remains.
How are you?
Lieutenant Van Buren tells
me you are making progress.
I have great respect
for the New York police.
I am sure you will
solve this terrible crime.
So are we.
In Japan, murders
are so unusual,
each one can receive the
full attention of the police.
Mr. Nakahara, we may be
overworked and understaffed,
but we sure do like to catch
murderers, no matter who they kill.
Yes. Let me know when we can
take possession of the remains.
Of course. Thank you.
Nice guy.
Probably thinks you have to be
born eating sushi to get the job done.
Maybe a little brain
food wouldn't hurt.
We located Charles Kett.
He's been in Rikers
since yesterday afternoon.
Picked up on a DWI,
with outstanding warrants.
So if Kett was locked up,
that leaves us with Zabel.
I don't quite picture Mighty
Mouse robbing Hayashi by himself.
We'll hold him as Kett's
accomplice on the Barrington job.
Maybe the shooter's someone
Hayashi brought back to the hotel.
Walk in his shoes.
See who turns up.
What's the deal, Mike?
Your favorite uncle
died at Pearl Harbor?
It's their attitude.
They think they're better
than everybody else.
Masters of the universe.
Doesn't that bother you?
No, what bothers me is some
kid heisting my car for a living
because nobody
taught him how to read.
Lighter than air.
Jacket alone must
be worth two grand.
You believe this is what he
wears to go hit some balls?
Golf Land. Indoor driving range.
West 34th.
6:00 p.m., that's
the day he got shot.
Well, look around.
Someone of the Japanese
persuasion would hardly stand out.
Well, what if I told you that
Mr. Hayashi is a very big tipper?
Would that jog your memory?
Yeah, I remember him now.
Actually, I remember his friend.
A woman? No, a black guy.
You don't often see
a twosome like that.
He gave me his card.
I think I still have his number
around here somewhere.
I booked some piano
players for his clubs in Tokyo.
I don't know if it's because they
saw Casablanca too many times,
but a cat who can
hum As Time Goes By
can make a very
decent living over there.
So you talked about lounge acts?
He was also interested in
singers, of the white female variety.
After golf what else
was on the menu?
He invited me along
for some socializing.
The man has...
had a lot of energy.
I, on the other
hand, have a wife.
My condolences.
Any idea where
Hayashi was heading?
Club in midtown. The East-West.
Said I wouldn't be disappointed.
KENDRICK: The Japanese are about the
last people in America who still eat steak.
Yeah, and about the only
people who pay $75 for prime rib.
They pay twice
that much in Tokyo.
Anyway, it's all on
their expense account.
This is where they do business.
They relax, close a couple of
deals, and the wives stay at home.
So was Hayashi closing
any deals the other night?
It was a social call.
I met him in Tokyo
about three years ago.
That's where I got the idea.
I saw how he ran his club, and I
figured with all the Japanese over here,
they need a place
where they feel at home.
At home? Look at this.
You got American
songs, girls, food.
What's home about that?
People think they want to bring
America to its knees, uh-uh?
They wanna be America.
They prefer their scotch
mellow, and their women blonde.
How about Hayashi?
Did he leave alone?
Are you kidding?
A guy like him?
He was with one of
the waitresses, Suzy.
I think they might've
left together.
I saw her in the back.
She's cashing out.
Sure, I was with him.
That makes me guilty
of bad taste, not murder.
The United Nations
thing didn't work out?
We understood
each other perfectly.
He wanted to take,
I didn't wanna give.
Some things I don't
do on the first date.
Unless you're
getting paid for it.
I just called up her yellows.
Felony larceny, solicitation, and a little
incident of you discharging a weapon.
.22, surprise, surprise.
Some guy was starting with me.
I told him the next shot would have
him singing with the Vienna Boys Choir.
Right. Now you got Hayashi
singing with a different choir.
I told you, all we did was kiss.
Then I asked for money up front.
He said he never
had to pay for it.
Like just because they
own Rockefeller Center
I'm supposed to
go to bed with him?
And meanwhile, the better part of
10 grand is falling out of his wallet.
I'm calling my lawyer.
Good. Tell him to meet
you at the station house.
Don't worry. They got nothing.
They got a lot of nothing.
Three hours of dancing around
with her, and I got nothing.
You tell her she matched
up on fingerprints?
She doesn't deny
being in the room.
Forensics just called.
Suzy left a little something
behind with Hayashi.
Her big mistake was
not taking his watch.
Female pubic hair
caught in the band.
I thought they got
caught on soda cans.
You said she was
a brunette? Yeah.
Brunettes try to look like
blondes, not vice versa.
You got the wrong girl.
Wait a minute, are you
saying the hair's from a blonde?
Yeah, natural blonde. Sorry.
I'm surprised a guy this busy
didn't die of a heart attack.
Must be all the fish they eat.
Last night I caught Mike in the
parking lot smashing up a Toyota.
Our problem is who left
their mark on Hayashi's watch.
After Suzy's out the door, where did
Hayashi find a blonde on short notice?
Well, he's not gonna call a hooker
if he doesn't want to pay for it.
If I wanted a date on the double,
I'd head straight for the hotel bar.
Well, it was pretty busy.
It was the last night of
a dentists' convention.
Somebody should
give them Novocain.
But is that a yes or
a no on Mr. Hayashi?
Yeah, he was
here around closing.
Alone, or was he with somebody?
More like glued to. A blonde.
They kind of stuck out in a room
full of guys discussing drill bits.
So did you get a look at her?
He ordered drinks
before she got here,
then they did a little
dry hump on the couch,
just enough to make me puke,
and they're off
to the elevators.
This blonde, you
ever see her before?
Maybe she was a guest here?
No, I never seen
her before or since.
But with her level of
enthusiasm, something tells me
she works off a beeper.
Half hour before she gets here,
he tips me a 10 to get
change for the pay phone.
Hey, 12, including the john.
It'll take a couple of days to
pull LUDs from that many phones.
The booking agent said Hayashi
was in town auditioning singers.
Of the female variety.
I put an ad in the trades, and
the headshots came pouring in.
LOGAN: Look at this.
Blonde, blonde. Blonde.
Hayashi had
specific requirements.
I made the phone calls,
set up all the auditions.
And then what? Hayashi
met all the hopefuls?
The auditions were held in his hotel
room during regular business hours.
What about after business hours?
I wouldn't know.
Hayashi was on his own.
Are these all the
girls Hayashi saw?
Mostly, yeah. I kept a list.
All the future Madonnas
in the five boroughs.
Enjoy.
Our turn to hold auditions.
He saw me personally.
It wasn't as much fun
as having my tonsils out.
Really? We heard
he was a real charmer.
Well, he was busy
charming someone else.
Cell phone glued to his ear,
I'm belting out Whitney
Houston's greatest hits.
Turns out he's ordering lunch.
And that was it?
My mother's just as happy.
She says I need Tokyo
like I need another kid.
I wish I could help.
I never even spoke to him.
You are on the audition list.
You see here, it
says Kristi Jakes.
I'm on a lot of lists.
I get plenty of work
right here singing jingles.
Savmor Car Rentals?
You're kidding.
"Savmor, drive
more." That's you?
Pay's good, I wear what I like,
I don't have to worry
about men like Hayashi.
Who you never met.
I said like him.
I know the type.
"You have a nice voice.
"What else can you do?"
Why did you audition
for it, anyway?
Well, I heard the
pay's good over there.
Then I got on the list, and
then I heard it was at his hotel.
No, thanks.
I didn't show.
I didn't even know he was dead
until my agent called me this morning.
The other singers
weren't so upset about it.
He wanted me in his clubs.
That means I'm good.
"Good" meaning you can sing?
Right.
My bags were packed.
What, you think I want to do
temp work the rest of my life?
I can only type
40 words a minute.
Can I get going?
LUDs from the lobby
phones came in.
Here, I got you a tuna on white.
They were all out of blowfish.
Arigato, baby.
Got the audition list? Mmm-hmm.
Okay, I got Tiffany Bouchet.
I don't see her.
Angel Monroe.
Heather Wayne.
Kristi Jakes.
Tori Bishop.
No, no, no.
How about Keli Konnors?
K-E-L-I, Konnors with a "K."
What? Let me see that.
I dated a Keli Konnors
with two "K's" once.
Her real name was Joan Kozlasky.
Listen to this.
Tara Harmony.
Lisa Larue.
Doesn't that sound bogus to you?
Stage names.
I doubt that's what NYNEX
puts on their phone bills.
Okay, what've we got?
Shannon Gilbert's real
name is Paulette McDougal.
What's wrong with that?
Sounds like somebody your mother
would make you take to the senior prom.
Next?
Local 802 just faxed this in.
More lady singers.
You find anyone that can
handle opera, let me know.
Dig this. Toni with an "I"
Curtis is Bernice Schwartz.
Cute. I would've
remembered that.
Kristi Jakes, Martha Bowen.
That's the "Savmor,
drive more" lady.
Martha Bowen got a phone
call from the hotel at 1:10 a.m.
It doesn't mean the
call was from Hayashi.
We checked the LUDs
from her apartment.
Three calls to his hotel
the day of the murder.
You're getting
warmer. What else?
Warmer? How about broiled?
A couple of months ago, Martha
Bowen got a home use permit
for a Beretta .22 automatic.
Which is probably at the
bottom of the East River by now.
Look, put her in a line-up.
See what the waitress says.
If she can't make a positive ID,
we've tainted her as a witness.
We have the pubic hair.
If it matches with Martha...
We'd have enough to arrest.
Okay, I'll see Judge
Rivera about a search order.
All right, let's make
this fast, Counselors.
I'm on a 10-minute recess here.
Invasion of privacy, Your Honor.
Plucking my client's pubic hair.
I've got it.
Miss Kincaid?
Same standards apply as for
the taking of any other evidence.
A suspect can be compelled
to provide a blood sample.
If there's probable cause.
There's no evidence my client
was anywhere near Mr. Hayashi.
CLAIRE: She called his hotel.
A woman of her description
was seen with the victim.
Your Honor, if they have an eyewitness,
why aren't we talking about that
instead of a hair sample?
Good point.
I see sufficient cause for both.
And since it's your idea,
Mr. Hellman, it's your call.
Door number one
or door number two?
That's a loaded
question, Your Honor.
You see, I
haven't really... I...
Not to worry, Counselor.
I've got your answer for you.
This is your lucky day.
You get to win both prizes.
I think number two.
She was turned away from me most
of the time, but I'm pretty sure it's her.
Pretty sure is not good enough.
I'll take my client home now.
The forensics came in.
Not so fast, Mr. Hellman.
The hairs match. We've got her.
Okay, everybody who's
innocent can leave the room.
Not you, sweetheart.
Martha Bowen, you're under arrest
for the murder of Shiunro Hayashi.
You have the right
to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be
used against you in a court of law.
I read the indictment
backwards and forwards.
I see "ifs" and "maybes" but no
evidence my client did anything wrong,
unless you count being
groped in a bar as a felony.
There's still the matter of
a missing .22 caliber pistol.
Which my client says was stolen
from her purse two months ago.
And only now it occurs
to her to report the theft.
Look, she lied to the police
about meeting Hayashi.
What do you expect
a jury to conclude?
Conclude beyond
a reasonable doubt?
You really want
to find out, Jack?
I wouldn't pass up the chance.
HELLMAN: Let's
talk hypotheticals.
A young singer gets
called for an audition...
JACK: And she brings her gun.
What's her audition piece,
22 Ways To Leave Your Lover?
We live in dangerous times.
Can I go on?
She makes nice
with her future boss.
Soon as she's in his room,
it's the casting couch gone bad.
He tries to rape her, she
shoots in self-defense.
Then rips the phone
out, and steals his money.
The phone's ripped
out in the struggle.
And who's to say
there was any money?
Nice try.
Your client entices a man up to his
room with the purpose of robbing him.
She pumps a bullet into
him and leaves him for dead.
That's murder two.
Really?
Is that the way it'll play
to 12 red-blooded citizens,
who can't tell
sushi from sukiyaki?
Anything to support their claim?
If there'd been a struggle, you'd
expect to see marks on Hayashi's body.
And at least there'd be
Bowen's prints all over the room.
And the money?
Hasn't been recovered.
She managed to post bail.
With help from a
Sandra Krane, her agent.
Martha Bowen gets on the
stand, says scout's honor.
And we hope the jury doesn't
notice the victim is a foreign national
with an overactive libido.
Talk to her agent.
Maybe this isn't the first time
she's had problems with an audition.
See, last month Martha
averaged three sessions a week
at $600 per, plus royalties...
Well, darling, you do the math.
Very lucky I found
her this niche.
Talent doesn't count?
Talent? Talent doesn't count
if you can't handle a crowd.
See, Martha had stage fright.
She was seeing a therapist.
So she auditions to sing
in a night club in Tokyo?
Well, maybe it's different if the room
doesn't speak the same language.
Why didn't you ask her that
before you set up the audition?
Well, I didn't ask her because
she made the appointment herself.
See, American faces go at a
very high premium in Japan.
A singer like Martha can
make about $5,000 a week.
If I'd known she
wanted to go back there,
I would've booked her
through my own contacts.
She's been there before?
The Japanese consulate issued a
work visa to Martha Bowen two years ago
to work in one of
Hayashi's clubs.
At the time, she was using
the stage name Nicolette Laine.
Hayashi co-signed
her visa application.
What does her lawyer
have to say about this?
Well, he claims he didn't know.
Sure, he didn't know.
Well, maybe he's just an idiot.
Is there anybody who would
know what she was doing in Japan?
There's no boyfriend, no
one she talked to about it.
I called her father in Duluth,
he hasn't returned my calls.
Get back in touch with
the Japanese consulate.
Maybe we can find another singer
who worked with her in Tokyo.
DIANE: I spent a year there.
It was a hoot.
People were real generous.
I came back with two suitcases full
of Chanel bags and Ferragamo shoes.
Most singers get
flowers after a show.
Well, I told my
mother I was singing.
Are you saying you
became a prostitute?
Look, in Japan things don't
work out the same as here.
They've got customs.
You go with the flow.
And Martha didn't?
One night, I heard she
took a swing at somebody.
They had to call the cops.
Even the embassy got into it.
I was on the telephone to our
Tokyo embassy until 4:00 this morning.
I hope we found what you wanted.
A year ago last April, Miss Bowen
was arrested for assaulting a customer
at a club where
she was employed.
Apparently she'd been drinking.
Maybe she felt that being fondled
wasn't included in the cover charge.
According to her
written statement,
her real beef was
with her employer.
Shiunro Hayashi?
She was interrogated
by the Tokyo police
in the presence of
an embassy officer.
She claimed that Mr. Hayashi owed
her a few thousand dollars in back pay.
She also claimed that he was
holding her passport to keep her
from leaving the country.
Now, we sent a letter to Mr. Hayashi
explaining that the passport
was the property of the U.S.
government, and that it should be returned.
And like a good boy, he did?
Apparently so.
The embassy never heard
back from Miss Bowen.
The Tokyo police dropped the drunk
and disorderly charges against her,
apparently at
Hayashi's insistence.
A couple of months later, she
left Japan on a medical emergency.
So Bowen waits until Hayashi's on
her home turf to settle up with him.
He probably thought she just
wanted to kiss and make up.
CLERK: Miss Kincaid.
It's from Bowen's attorney.
He's moving to suppress
the embassy report.
HELLMAN: Simply put, Your Honor,
my client wasn't Mirandized
when she was arrested in Tokyo.
Ergo, her statements and any report
based on those statements are inadmissible.
As far as I know, Your Honor,
Japan is still a sovereign nation.
Our constitutional
protections don't apply there.
They do, if there's any
governmental involvement.
An officer from the U.S. embassy
was present during
my client's interrogation.
She was under the impression that
the officer was there as her legal counsel.
What she thought
is beside the point.
She was under the
authority of the Tokyo police.
If you play stickball in Canarsie,
you better learn Brooklyn rules.
Point well taken, Mr. McCoy.
HELLMAN: This is
unbelievable, Your Honor.
Illegal aliens swarm into
our country by the thousands
and are immediately granted
constitutional protection.
But the minute I set
foot across the border,
you're saying my own government
won't protect my interests?
Come on, Mr. Hellman, you're arguing
a motion here, not running for Congress,
and that motion is denied.
The statements and
the report are admissible.
What next, Jack?
Drag a suspect across the nearest
border, beat a confession out of him,
then use it in court?
Works for me.
"Right next to
Rockefeller Center,
"Pebble Beach and
the Seattle Mariners,
"add to the Japanese trophy
case the U.S. Constitution."
Yep, now they have us trampling
on the rights of an American citizen
to pacify the Japanese.
We should let the murderer
go free so that a few bigots
can stand a little taller at
the Fourth of July picnic.
You don't have to be a bigot to see
that we've been taken by our friends
on the other side
of the dateline.
Let's not confuse Martha
Bowen with the auto industry.
(PHONE BUZZING)
Yes.
Hellman's on his way up.
Martha Bowen's
gonna get on the stand,
and she's going to cry rape,
or some other nonsense
about the big, bad Japanese,
and you're lucky if
you get a hung jury.
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
Jack. I think you
know Mildred Kaskel.
She'll be taking
over as chief counsel.
I filed a notice of
substitution on the way over.
I know your work, Miss Kaskel.
So what's it gonna be, the feminist
version of "the Devil made me do it?"
The Devil here is
your so-called victim.
He viciously abused my
client while she was in Japan.
I plan to introduce evidence she was
suffering from Battered Woman Syndrome
when she shot him.
Come again?
She shot him over
a contract dispute.
MILDRED: No.
What happened to her in Japan
had nothing to do with singing.
It was gonna be the
biggest break I ever got.
Mr. Hayashi said important
people came to his club.
My first week, it was
like a party every night.
All these men
throwing money around.
$100 for a Scotch.
500 just to sit next to me.
Mr. Hayashi told me
to just be nice to them.
No one cared I was a singer.
I wanted to go home.
Mr. Hayashi said I
owed him all this money.
I didn't know what to do.
He had my passport.
I was alone.
He said I could pay him
back by being more friendly.
By sleeping with his customers.
I said no.
He got furious.
He beat me.
He said if I disappeared,
no one would know.
No one would care.
I didn't want to die.
Every day she's been back,
Martha's been living in fear for her life.
When she found out
Mr. Hayashi was in town,
she believed he came
here looking for her.
She killed him believing she
was acting in self-defense.
Martha Bowen claims she killed
Hayashi because she feared for her life.
It sounds irrational,
unless you believe
the Battered Woman
Syndrome applies here.
It's bull.
It's revenge dressed
up in smoke and mirrors.
Tall, blonde Miss Bowen killed
a short, dark Japanese man
who was running a
white slavery operation.
This is not a Saturday
morning cartoon.
Yeah.
Kaskel times her summation
to fall on Pearl Harbor Day,
so the jury can pin
a medal on her client.
She saw his ad, she called
him up, she seduced him,
and she shot him
behind closed doors.
She set him up.
Kaskel can use the Syndrome
to justify every one of those acts.
This defense,
like my grandmother's
nightgown, covers everything.
Just keep the jury focused on the
fact that this woman killed this man
and walked off with the money.
The Battered Woman Syndrome
almost exclusively applies
to abused wives or girlfriends.
Almost.
Any woman in any
abusive relationship
can display characteristics
of this syndrome.
It's never been applied in a
case where the abuser was killed
a year after the relationship
and the abuse ended.
Let's ask some Vietnam vets about
the expiration date on stress disorders.
This theory is not generally
accepted by the scientific community.
Until it is, it's not a proper
subject for expert testimony.
My client has the right to present
evidence to explain her conduct.
She reasonably and honestly
believed her life was in danger.
Mr. McCoy doesn't
want the jury to hear why.
No, I don't want them confusing
Miss Bowen with the actual women
this syndrome was
meant to describe.
They can decide
that for themselves.
Frankly, her actions seem
so far beyond understanding
that I'd like to hear her
explanations myself.
Then I'd like our
psychiatrist to hear them, too.
I want Miss Bowen to
submit to an examination.
MILDRED: No problem.
But I would like the record to
show we're not required to submit.
We're pleading justification.
My client's reasonable beliefs
are at issue, not her state of mind.
So noted.
And I'll see you all in court.
MARTHA: He'd never
hit me on the face.
He'd twist my arm.
He'd punch me in the side.
At first, it was because I
wouldn't sleep with those men.
But then, even after...
If I didn't smile enough
or if a customer complained.
The smallest thing I
did wrong, I'd catch hell.
Have you had any problems
since you've been back here?
I can't sleep.
My doctor gave me pills.
It's stupid.
I'm afraid if I go to sleep,
I'm gonna wake up back there.
Well, how do you
deal with that fear?
I bought a gun.
Men are always looking
at me. It's disgusting.
Do you mean all men,
or just Japanese men?
Well, the Japanese
are the worst.
I mean, all they're
interested in is themselves.
You're there only for them,
and they have a
way of looking at you.
Like, I could never
get a read on them.
I just... I felt
dirty and cheap.
Do you have the same feelings
in your personal relationships?
What, you mean boyfriends?
I don't have one.
I mean, I can't.
You don't want to?
I can't have sex.
It's a medical thing.
It hurts too much.
I got an infection.
She's been diagnosed with
chronic pelvic inflammatory disease.
She has permanent tubal
lesions, and she's sterile.
I caught something from
one of those men in Japan.
It's why Mr. Hayashi
let me leave
MARTHA: 'cause I was
no good to him anymore.
She still calls him Mr. Hayashi.
She feels her life depended
on her ability to placate him.
It's the heart of the syndrome.
It doesn't bother you that
she never mentioned abuse,
or the word "prostitute" to
the United States embassy?
You want the statistics on
unreported spousal abuse?
However Martha
Bowen came about it,
she walks and talks
like a battered woman.
She's a textbook case.
A battered wife
kills her husband.
I abhor it, but I
can sympathize.
But from the moment that
she set foot in this country,
Martha Bowen was
free and clear of Hayashi.
You have no idea what it's like to
be victimized by a powerful man.
So you want to create a new
category of self-defense just for women?
You might as well say we're by nature
incapable of controlling our emotions.
I doubt that's what Gloria
Steinem had in mind.
That is not what I'm saying.
But, Jack, if you put me on the
stand, I have to stick to my diagnosis.
Fine. You're not testifying.
I wanted her mental condition,
not your emotional reaction.
If you think vengeance
belongs in the penal code,
then you don't belong
on my witness list.
What do you want to do?
Maybe it is a textbook case.
Let's have the police take a
look at Bowen's apartment.
See what she keeps
on her bookshelf.
Enough Is Enough:
Battered Women Fight Back.
Defending Her Life: A
Battered Woman Tells Her Story.
Kill Or Be Killed: Self-Defense
And The Battered Wife Syndrome.
All with highlighted passages.
You know, 15 years ago, a
serial killer named Kenneth Bianchi
almost convinced a team of doctors
that he had multiple personalities.
You think Martha's
a better actor?
She's done the homework.
He kept one hand free for his drink,
and the other hand was in her lap
or on her chest.
And how was the
defendant behaving?
She had her arm around
him and she was smiling.
Did she do anything to make you
think she wasn't enjoying herself?
No. It looked to me like the
current was running both ways,
and when they left
they were arm in arm.
Thank you.
You said you were
working a full bar that night?
So how could you possibly be
aware of everything that transpired
between Mr. Hayashi
and his companion?
I didn't say I was.
And when you picked
my client out of a lineup,
you said you were pretty sure
she was the woman at the bar?
Yeah.
So now when you say there
was current running both ways,
are you dead certain or
are you just pretty sure?
I don't know.
I'm just telling
you how it looked.
Thank you.
During the last 15 years,
I've investigated 48 cases
where a battered woman
has killed her abuser.
Nine times out of 10, when we get to
the scene, the woman's waiting for us.
And the other 10%?
The woman runs
to a family member,
or we find her wandering
in the neighborhood.
In any of these cases, did the
women try to cover up their crime?
No. These women
are not acting rationally.
They're in a state of shock.
So, no pulling out the phone cord,
no effort to make it look like a robbery?
No, nothing like that.
Thank you.
Detective, you said that these
women were acting irrationally.
In other words, their
behavior was unpredictable?
In general, you
know what to expect.
So you could have predicted that an
abused woman named Lorena Bobbitt
would be found driving down the highway
with her husband's penis in her hand?
No, I guess I missed that one.
Thank you.
The women I studied had to live
with the fear that they might be killed
or take drastic action
to save themselves.
You spent a year
at Tokyo University.
What was the
nature of your work?
I studied the exploitation
of women in Japan.
It's a perfect model of a
male-dominated society...
Objection. This
is all irrelevant.
My client was trapped in a culture where
wives still walk behind their husbands.
Now that's relevant to understanding
her feelings of helplessness.
This witness is qualified as an
expert on the abuse of women,
not on Japan bashing.
I'm going to allow some
latitude here, Mr. McCoy.
The witness may
finish with her answer.
Japan is a perfect model
of a male-dominated society
that has a poor record of
respecting the rights of women.
So how would you characterize the
attitude of the typical Japanese male
toward Western women?
They're a status symbol
for Japanese men.
How's that?
In the past, they felt
intimidated by Western women.
That these women now serve
Japanese men is a sign to them
of Japan's rise in the world.
Thank you.
Let's get back to your
stated area of expertise.
Does every abused woman
develop Battered Woman Syndrome?
They all show signs of it.
Does that mean that every abused
woman eventually kills her abuser?
No, there is no
hard and fast rule.
There's no cause and effect?
First you look at the behavior,
and then you see if it fits the pattern.
So first you have the crime,
and then you look for the excuse?
Objection.
Withdrawn.
Everything cuts both ways.
What we call premeditation,
they call a syndrome.
I can't believe anybody
on that jury's gonna buy it.
It's all gonna
boil down to race.
Abuse is just something for
the jury to hang their hat on.
You wanna do the cross
on Bowen tomorrow?
Because of my
skills or my gender?
Both.
Claire, I want to win.
So do you.
MARTHA: He was always on me.
He said my chest was too small.
He said I smelled.
All Americans smell bad.
I could never do anything right.
I started believing that all I
was good for was being a whore.
And after you came
home, what happened?
Every day I was afraid
he was going to show up.
It's why I changed
my stage name.
I knew he had the
money to find me.
But why would he,
when he sent you home?
Maybe deep down I
thought it was crazy,
but I felt trapped,
like I couldn't run anymore.
I had to do
something to stop him.
What did you do?
I met with him, just
to tell him how I felt.
In the bar, when he started touching
me, I was afraid to say anything.
He wanted to go
back to his room.
I don't know why I said yes.
We got there, and just
the way he looked at me,
like I was nothing...
I was afraid of what
he was gonna do.
The gun was in my hand.
I don't know what I
did next. It's just a blur.
Thank you.
Miss Bowen, during your
examination by Dr. Olivet,
you stated, quote, "The smallest
thing I did wrong, I'd catch hell."
Do you remember that statement?
Yes.
Miss Bowen, do you
recognize these books?
Yes.
I'm referring to
People's 18 through 20.
These books were
found in your apartment.
This one's titled
Defending Her Life:
A Battered Woman
Tells Her Story.
Please read this passage, the
one with the orange highlight.
"I couldn't do anything right.
"Every little thing I did
wrong, he'd punch me."
Now, please read
this passage from
Enough Is Enough:
Battered Women Fight Back.
"I stood over him
while he slept.
"I wanted to make him feel
the way I felt when he beat me.
"The gun was in my hand."
Please continue reading.
"I was nothing to him.
"I had to do something
to stop the pain."
Miss Bowen? You
don't understand.
Just look what he
did to me. Look.
What else was I gonna do?
"The jury is instructed that
it may consider this evidence
"only as it relates to
consciousness of guilt."
Are we agreed on the language?
Fine with me.
No problem here.
Good.
Next point, "The jury may not consider
the victim's background or origins
"in making its determination."
That's not sufficient,
Your Honor.
This case demands a
much stronger statement.
It's funny how we
completely disagree.
I want the jury to consider
all the factors that effect
my client's reasonable belief
that her life was in danger.
You'd also like to pack the jury with
the widows of World War II veterans.
That's the sum total of
her case, Your Honor.
If this victim were white, Miss Bowen
would have taken a plea months ago.
Now, let's stay
focused, Mr. McCoy.
With all due respect, Your Honor,
you know what people can feel
about certain
minorities in this city.
Racism poisons practically
every trial we see here.
Mr. McCoy is
talking in generalities.
And the defense would like to
turn the jury into a panel of racists.
The court must take a stand.
All right, let me
see what you have.
And lastly, I will
instruct you as follows.
You may not consider
Mr. Hayashi's race or country of origin
or prior acts when
making your decision.
I instruct you this
as a matter of law.
Your duty is to pass judgment on
Martha Bowen, not on the victim.
And your personal feelings
about the Japanese people,
their culture, or
their government
has no place in a jury room.
You swore an oath to put
aside such considerations.
I instruct you now
to live up to that oath,
and I thank you.
Madam Foreman, has
the jury reached a verdict?
Yes, Your Honor, we have.
On the sole count of the indictment,
murder in the Second Degree,
how do you find?
We find the
defendant not guilty.
The jury is dismissed.
Court is adjourned.
Mr. Nakahara, I'm sorry.
I was in the Midwest last year
for the opening of an auto plant.
4,000 new jobs.
When I left, someone
threw paint on my car.
It was disturbing, but expected.
My guess, tomorrow the papers will
call this a victory for women's rights.
Yeah. And a giant
leap for ignorance.