Law & Order (1990–2010): Season 6, Episode 9 - Blood Libel - full transcript

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.

MAN: Frank and Count Basie at The Sands.
That'll set the mood.

Then what are you going to do?

Yeah. Hot oil?
That sounds good.

Yeah, that'll definitely get
little Johnny's attention.

(PHONE RINGING) Wait, wait.

Advanced Studies.



Hello again, Mr. Aronson.

I was just on my way out.

No, I wouldn't leave if your wife
was still here, but she's not.

Okay, okay.
I got your number.

I'll take a quick look,
I'll call you back. Bye-bye.

Hello, Jackie? Listen, there's
something I got to do, okay, baby?

I'll be right back.

Keep the coffee
percolating. Bye.

Mrs. Aronson?

Mrs. Aronson?

Mrs. Aronson!

The school custodian, Johnny Cobb,
says he found her about 9:30.

Any other witnesses?

Nobody else was
in the building.



The front doors were locked,
the alarm was set.

I saw her around 7:00,
she was grading papers,

she told me she
was leaving soon.

And the first time her husband
called, you checked the classroom?

That was just
a little after 9:00.

I walked by the room, the lights
were out, so I didn't look in.

I called him back,
I told him she wasn't here.

But the second time,
you looked in.

The second time I tried
the door, it was open.

She always locks up
after herself.

She often work late?
Yeah.

Damn shame, you know, a young woman
like that, she's a good person.

Yeah, they usually are,
Mr. Cobb. Thank you.

(COUGHS)

Thought you were
going to call in sick.

Can't afford to give up the
sick days before Christmas.

Okay, so when I get your cold,

is your wife going to
make me chicken soup?

Say hello to Sarah Aronson, 28,
taught art and art history,

and according to
Detective Bailey,

she's been history
for about two hours.

Give or take.

Strangled with the strap
from her handbag.

Perp left behind cash,
cards, the whole caboodle.

Well, maybe he got
what he came for.

It must have been
the lmmaculate Conception.

Panties are intact,
no fluids anywhere.

Yeah, unless you count
all that red stuff.

No wounds on her I can see,
blood's got to be the perp's.

Anything she might've
used as a weapon?

Yeah, we found
a piece of chalk.

Bag her as soon
as you're ready.

Did you take art
in high school, Rey?

Physics.

An art teacher,
who'd she ever hurt?

Yeah, an algebra teacher,
I could understand.

(COUGHS)

This was Sarah's third year
at Advanced Studies.

She was involved in every
aspect of school life.

Coached girls volleyball, headed
the community outreach group.

Do you have any idea
who could have done this?

Some neighborhood scum.

We had a couple of
break-ins last year.

They stole some computers,
vandalized classrooms.

Your people did
a quick inventory,

nothing was stolen,
nothing was vandalized.

And there's no sign
of any break-in.

I can't believe anyone
here would do this.

Two thousand high school kids, and
every one of them's an angel?

We recruit our students

from among the highest
achievers in the city.

They take a battery of tests to
get here, these aren't hoodlums.

Well, Dr. Sabloff, somebody got out
without setting off the alarm.

How many people have
a key to disarm it?

Faculty, some of the staff.

Look, you're barking up
the wrong tree here.

Whoever did this could have
taken Sarah's key to get out.

Sarah told me she was having
dinner with another teacher,

Lana Halstead.

She was supposed to
be home around 9:00.

When can I bring her back?

I've got to arrange the
funeral before the Sabbath.

We'll tell the coroner
to try to speed it up.

Mr. Aronson, if your wife was
having dinner with a friend,

then why did you
call the school?

Well, when Sarah wasn't home by
9:00, I called Ms. Halstead.

She said that
Sarah never showed up.

She thought maybe she was still
grading papers at the school.

And what did you think?

Mr. Aronson, is it possible
that she was seeing somebody?

No.

No.

But something was going on.

For two weeks now, there were
calls, lots of hang-ups.

Once a man called,
asked for Sarah,

and they wouldn't
leave a message.

Well, what did she say
about these calls?

She just thought I was making
a big deal about nothing.

Can you think of anyone who
could have made these calls?

No.

Sarah and I were supposed
to have dinner together,

I was not covering for her.

Ms. Halstead, you might think
you're helping your friend here.

I am not lying.

Sarah was not the type
to have an affair.

My experience is it's an
equal-opportunity character flaw.

Sarah and I were close.

If she were seeing somebody,
I'm sure that I would know.

Well, her husband said they
got some strange phone calls,

at least one of
them from a man.

Ms. Halstead?

She hinted that she was having a problem
with one of the other teachers.

This problem have a name?

Richard Kovax, Advanced Math.

He was her mentor,
her first year here.

BRISCOE:
Is that all he was?

Well, maybe not in
Richard's imagination.

Richard's been with
the school for 18 years,

and anytime they need money for
some kind of special project,

he's the one they send to
speak to these foundations.

So that kind of thing breeds a
certain amount of arrogance.

I got along very well
with Sarah. I liked her.

If she had a problem with
that, she never told me.

Then why would she want to talk
about you with Ms. Halstead?

Beats me. I may not
be God's gift to women,

but I'm not surprised I'm a topic
among the female staff here.

Well, we got the impression that your
animal magnetism wasn't on the agenda.

Look, Sarah was
an exciting intellectual

and a fine artist
in her own right.

I showed her
a little more attention.

If she mistook that
for something deeper...

Or more sinister?

Did you ever call her
at home, Richard?

Don't bother saying no, 'cause we
have other ways of finding out.

I might've called her last week
to discuss the outreach program.

And last night around 7:30?

I was at the Morningside Gym, warming
up for my session with my trainer.

I was there till
just after 10:00.

He has a regular time,
8:00, three nights a week.

Uh-huh. And what time did
you get here Wednesday?

7:00. Then I went straight into
the whirlpool to work on my knee.

I didn't see Richard
till about 7:50.

He was warming up
on the treadmill.

Did you notice any cuts
or bruises on him?

No, but he usually
wears a sweatshirt.

See, he had a bypass
about two years ago,

he really doesn't want
people to see the scar.

CURTIS: How about his mood?
Anything unusual that night?

No, same as it's been for
the last couple of weeks.

Lousy.

He had the Christmas blues
a few weeks early, huh?

Well, you ask me, he got the three
strikes from his girlfriend.

They used to come in together,

but she called me about two weeks
ago, wanted to change her time.

Two weeks ago,
right around the same time

Aronson started getting
the phone calls.

You get that girlfriend's number,
we're going to need it, all right?

I'm not exactly shocked
you're here.

I knew sooner or later it
would catch up to Richard,

I just didn't expect
it would be this fast.

What would catch up to him?

The second coming
of Classanova.

Believe me, I thought of
calling the police myself.

So what happened?

Did he run off
with her to Vegas?

You're saying he was involved
with one of his students?

I was at his place on Sunday,
a couple of weeks ago.

He went out to get the paper.

The phone rang, I heard the
message on the machine.

It sounded like a young girl.

What was the message?

She was sorry she'd
gotten him in trouble.

She said it wasn't her fault,
she tried keeping it a secret,

but something about
a Mrs. Aronson,

and the girl left
her name. Mattie.

What did Kovax say about it?

He told me I was
jumping to conclusions.

Right.

I know I didn't phone my high school
teachers at home on Sunday mornings.

I got my things and left.

My money's on the girlfriend.

She wouldn't have walked unless
there was something to it.

Oh, yeah? Well,
take it from the old bull,

women can walk because you leave
the cap off the toothpaste.

Besides, this Mattie
could be 90 years old.

I got the work-up on the
blood from the scene.

The perp's male,
most likely Caucasian.

So far that's me.

Well, you better cut out
your morning donut.

The PCR tests indicate our
perp's predisposed to diabetes.

Well, if Kovax had a bypass, maybe
that wasn't his only health problem.

Yeah, I'm still here.
Yeah, go ahead.

Right. Can you give me
the address?

Okay, thank you very much.

Kovax has a Mattie Braverman
in his 11th grade class.

Lennie, what kind of trouble does a
grown man get in over a 16-year-old?

Come on.
BRISCOE: Well, let's ask him.

Uh-uh. Ask the girl first,
might save us some apologies.

The love life of
a 16-year-old girl?

Sounds like your department.

Have a seat, Mattie.

I told your mother
it wouldn't take long.

I don't mind
looking at some photos,

but I really doubt
I'll recognize anybody.

I really didn't notice who was hanging
around the school last Wednesday.

I didn't bring you down
here to look at mug shots,

but I do want to know about your
relationship with Richard Kovax.

He's just my teacher,
what do you mean?

You called him at home.

One of his friends
heard your message.

(CHUCKLES)

I don't even know his number.

Mattie, we can look
at your phone records.

We can prove you made the call,

so don't lie or I promise you,

you will be in serious trouble.

(EXHALES)

All right,
I better get your mother.

This is a murder investigation,

and you're a material witness.

The less you cooperate,
the worse it gets.

Wait.

Don't bring my mother in here.

The call wasn't about
what you think.

I wasn't sleeping
with Mr. Kovax.

Then what was the call about?

Mrs. Aronson was my advisor.

She called me in
a couple of weeks ago

because I was getting
A's in Advanced Math.

She knew I wasn't
a math genius.

Last year, I was
getting C's and D's.

She wanted to know
what the deal was.

And what did you tell her?

She was like you.

She thought I was slutting Mr.
Kovax for good grades.

She said she was gonna go to the administration.
I said it wasn't true.

I was buying grades
from Mr. Kovax.

Excuse me?

I was giving him
$300 a semester.

I had to, to bring up my GPA,
or forget about Vassar.

I'm not the only one, you know.

I can name at least six
other students in my class.

She said she was going
to speak to Mr. Kovax.

I've been Teacher of the
Year, five years running.

I know how to
motivate these kids.

You know how to
pick their pockets.

We talked to some of Mattie's friends,
they all tell the same story.

Seven kids,
three bills each a semester,

that's over $4,000 a year, not
counting the kids we don't know about.

I think I should
talk to a lawyer.

You say the word,
we'll let you make a call

right after we book you for
bribe-receiving and murder.

That's absolutely crazy.

I left that school at 6:30.

Dr. Sabloff saw me leave,
ask him.

We did. That just means
you came back later.

You're dead meat, Richard.

You left your blood
all over that classroom.

What'd she do,
smack you in the nose

while you were strangling her?

Look, I'm an O negative.
You check, it can't be my blood.

Thanks for your
cooperation, Richard.

It's my duty to inform you

that your blood type matches
the type found at the scene.

But that's impossible.

Stand up, Mr. Kovax.

Wait, would you let me explain?

What, you don't want
a lawyer anymore?

No, I want to clear this up.

Sarah found out
what I was doing,

but I made a deal with her,
I stopped taking the money.

And did you stop
taking their money?

Yes.

I told the students the deal
was off, and I told them why.

You told them that Sarah Aronson
was the one who pulled the plug?

Maybe I shouldn't have.

A few days ago, Sarah told
me she'd gotten threats,

anonymous notes
left on her desk.

She wanted to know
who was responsible.

I told her I didn't know.

I teach seven classes, it could
have been any one of 30 kids,

but I swear to God,
I didn't kill her.

CURTIS: Well,
we believe you, Mr. Kovax.

Turns out,
we got everything mixed up.

Your blood type
doesn't match, after all.

She kept a locker in here to
change for volleyball practice.

This one's yours, Lennie.
I did her desk.

Great. Smelly socks.
I can't wait.

This one, number 12.

Hmm.

This is cute.

"Open your big mouth,
Jew bitch, and you'll die."

"Hitler was right, burn with
the rest of the mud people."

I met Mrs. Aronson last year.

She brought her students to
the Met to see our collection

of da Vinci drawings.

She had some very talented
young artists in her group,

very strong on technique.

As for subject matter,

well, the sooner they stop listening
to heavy metal, the better.

Well, what about the kid who was listening
to Deutschland ?ber alles?

Is he one of hers?

Well, this drawing was done
in freehand calligraphy,

meaning each figure was outlined
with one continuous line.

Definitely inspired
by Japanese sumi-e painting.

Very much like this one.

What's particularly interesting

are the folds in
this dress and this.

See how the shadows are suggested
by the thickness of the line?

The same hand drew
both of these.

Edward Camarillo.

Yeah, I drew an angel
for a school project.

Is that some kind of violation
of church and state?

I'll show you a violation.

This is your work, Eddie,
your special style.

Are you asking me a question?

Everything in here's
a question, wiseass.

Look, I didn't draw this, okay?

Somebody ripped me off.

And I never sweated Mrs. A.

Oh! Even when she
squirted on your parade?

Yeah, Richard Kovax told us you
were buying grades from him.

Kovax is lying.
I earned my grades in math.

Oh, yeah? How about
a little pop quiz, Eddie?

Let's see, you're 18.

Why don't we add 25 to that, 'cause
that's the going rate for murder.

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

You better watch who you're
cracking off to, you little punk.

Now, we match your prints to the
prints on this drawing, it's over.

So you talk now, or you're going
to be grabbing your ankles

for some real tough guys
down in Sing Sing.

Look, I didn't do this stuff,
I swear, okay?

And I don't know who did.

A lot of people were
pissed off at Mrs. A.

And I didn't kill her,
you can ask my pops.

I was working in
his store that night.

The old man owns a shoe
repair place up on Amsterdam,

kid works the counter
till 8:00.

Checked with some of the
customers, he was there.

We showed his folks
the drawing he sent Aronson.

It didn't go over in a big way.

Got to admit it's
a little out of character.

His mother lent us
his high-school year book.

Junior Honors Graphic Design,
American History Medal,

Dean's List, Media Center
and a letter in wrestling.

Doesn't impress me
as much as his alibi.

Hey, Rey?

(CLEARS THROAT)

This favorite quote
of his, L-A-L,

what is that,
something in espa?ol?

I never heard of it.

Look at this kid, Ashton.
His quote's K-l-L.

He's on the
wrestling team, too.

Wait a minute.

BRISCOE: Here's somebody
with a K-E-S.

Niels, another wrestler.

Same as this one,
Hastings. He's got L-K-I.

Give me those letters again.

L-K-I,

K-E-S,

K-l-L and L-A-L.

A secret code for wrestlers?

Maybe we get
Vanna White in here.

Could be all one message.

Try in alphabetical
order by the kids' names.

First one is Ashton.
He's got K-l-L.

Yeah, then there's
Camarillo, L-A-L.

Next.

Matt Hastings, L-K-I.

Hey, it was a joke,

just to see if the geeks
at the yearbook were awake.

Well, we were wide awake.
We know all about your deal with Kovax.

Yeah, and we know about
the notes Aronson got.

Were those supposed
to be a joke, too?

Look, we're sorry she's dead,

but we don't know what
you're talking about.

Right. We're all sorry.

We have to take a shower
before our next class.

Is that okay?

Sure, make sure
you scrub real hard.

We weren't out to hurt anybody,

besides it's free speech,
it's protected.

That doesn't cover
death threats, Matt.

I'm talking about the yearbook,
I never threatened anybody.

Oh, yeah. "Kill all kikes.
" I guess you meant that in a nice way.

Look, it was a joke.

Ezra Pound made
fun of the Jews.

And Hemingway in
The Sun Also Rises.

Why do you think he gave
the fool the name of Cohn?

Just because I made
fun of them, so what?

Can I go now, please?

They thought this was funny?

Yeah, Hastings gave us a comparative
lit course on their sense of humor.

According to Richard Kovax, all
four were buying grades from him.

Camarillo has an alibi
for the night of the murder,

but we think the other three
are viable suspects.

I didn't think
it was relevant before,

but I came by the school
one evening a month ago.

I saw Matt Hastings
coming out the front door.

He told me he was working
on a chemistry project.

He said he'd gotten the key for
the alarm from Ms. Miller.

You checked this out with her?

She denied giving him the key.

So the kid was lying.

I didn't think so at the time.

I assumed she was covering up
to avoid being reprimanded.

You took a student's word
over hers?

Not just any student.

Matt Hastings was in
the top one percentile,

he was class president
last year.

There was talk of
making him valedictorian.

I never suspected this.

We did handsprings
for the judge.

He still wouldn't sign off
on a search warrant.

You lifted fingerprints
from the notes?

Doesn't help. None of these
kids has ever been printed.

In other words, we're stuck.
We've got the blood at the scene,

but we can't force
Hastings to give us a sample.

The M.E. Found a
predisposition to diabetes.

Diabetes can be detected by
looking for high sugar in urine.

We still need a warrant to
make this punk pee in a cup.

The school doesn't.

Hastings is a wrestler.

We ask them to conduct a drug
test of the wrestling team.

And that gets us around it?

The Supreme Court said so in the
Vernonia ruling a few months ago.

That allows the testing of high
school athletes without a warrant.

Hastings, Matthew.
That's him.

Let me see the number
on that one.

As our lawyer, this should
make you very uncomfortable.

These children have rights.

Board of Education
gave it their blessing.

This is strictly by the book.

Well, we ran a full screen
on all the students.

As high schools go,
this one's very clean.

Only two positives.
One for THC and one for alcohol.

We're looking for sugar.

Sugar?

My mother warned me, one day the
sugar police would show up.

Yeah, well, we finally got here.
So, did you find any?

Actually, whenever we get
a positive read for alcohol,

we run another test to determine
if the source is external.

As in a glass of wine?

Correct. Otherwise,
the source could be internal.

If there's yeast in the urine
and an abundance of sugar,

presto, body works
like a still.

Here we go.
The dip-stick is number 16.

"Presence of alcohol due to an
abnormal high-sugar count."

Kid's a diabetic,
and I bet he doesn't know it.

Number 16. Matt Hastings.

Tell me what he did,
I have a right to know!

BRISCOE: You stay
out of the way, Mr. Hastings.

MR. HASTINGS: Matt,
be careful!

Stand up.

(LOUD ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)

Put your hands up.

All right, turn that crap off.

(MUSIC STOPS)

Matt Hastings,
you're under arrest

for the murder
of Sarah Aronson.

You have the right to
remain silent. Dad!

Anything you do say can and will be
used against you in a court of law.

MARSDALE: You know, Jack,

I half expected to look out your
window and see Tiananmen Square.

Here, we don't put people,
much less children,

behind bars for their thoughts.

He's a political prisoner?

Alice, please, Bill Kunstler
is spinning in his grave.

You had a suspect.
In fact, you had two, Kovax and Camarillo.

Why go after my client?

Simple. He expressed a point
of view you didn't like.

His crime wasn't
about his point of view.

It was about
pumping up his grades,

and Sarah Aronson
got in the way.

So I'd have to work
a little harder, big deal.

The only reason I paid Kovax is I got lazy.
MARSDALE: Matt...

No, really. Check my math scores
for the past three years.

A's and A minuses, same as all my courses.
That's enough.

Mr. McCoy,
Matt didn't kill anybody.

He was at home with me.

If he were my son, Mr.
Hastings, I'd probably say the same thing.

Now, if he tells me
others were involved,

I might convince a judge
to go easy on him.

Did I ask for a handout?

You should.

We found his fingerprints
on one of the notes.

I was just trying
to scare her off.

We matched his blood
to the blood on the scene,

and his principal told us
he has a key to the school.

He knows I borrowed
it from Ms. Miller.

She told him you didn't.

If you're going to kill people,

you shouldn't advertise
the fact in your yearbook.

A dumb prank,
that's all it was.

Not half as egregious as
violating the Fourth Amendment,

which you did when you stuck a jar
of his fluids under a microscope.

Motion to suppress
the drug-test results,

trampling on
the rights of a minor.

How low can you get?

In Vernonia,

the Supreme Court
allowed drug testing to

combat illegal drug
use in public schools.

It did not intend the test as a
subterfuge to identify murder suspects.

This was a properly conducted
search for illegal drugs.

They were looking for drugs, but
they came up with diabetes?

The predisposition for diabetes
was in plain view, Your Honor.

Under a microscope.

The defendant tested
positive for alcohol.

The lab ran a routine test to
find the source of the alcohol.

That's how they found
he had a high-sugar level.

Sounds like plain view
to me, Ms. Marsdale.

Your Honor, the Vernonia
ruling sanctioned random testing.

There was nothing
random about this test.

I refer to Exhibit C of
the moving affidavits,

the statement by the lab technician
who conducted the tests.

When the samples
were collected,

the officers singled
out which individual

they were interested in,
namely, my client.

You dispute this,
Mr. McCoy?

The officers simply asked for
the identification number

of Mr. Hastings' specimen.

There was no intent to corrupt
the testing procedure.

I don't care
about their intent.

You pushed the envelope
too far, Mr. McCoy.

I'm granting the motion.
The test results are out.

Your Honor, since the results
led to my client being charged

and to further evidence
being collected, may I...

Yes, it's all out.
The charges are dismissed.

These officers.
A couple of Chatty Cathys.

(EXHALES)

They were looking at the
bottom of the bag, Adam.

The drug test was all
we had to go with.

Still have the threats,
still have motive.

Build the house again.
Right.

The yearbook and the threats might
have been juvenile hyperbole,

but not what the police
found in his room.

Issues of Aryan Times
magazine,

racist literature downloaded
from the Internet,

White Power music.

Let me guess. Wagner.

Yeah, you won't be
hearing this at the Met.

"Jew Boy, better start running,

"rat-faced bastard,
our time is coming."

I'm shocked we have things
like this in a free society.

This kid have an alibi?

Home with his father.

What's his father's alibi?

I was doing home care
in Kew Gardens that night.

I came back
just before 11:00.

Joe was watching the news and Matt
was in his room, on the computer.

And your daughter,
where was she?

Carlie had a sleepover
at a friend's house.

But you're sure Matt
was home all night?

Yes, my husband told me,
and I know my own son.

He's nothing like
they say in the papers.

Those people think
we're all anti-Semites.

Those people?

You know very well what I'm
talking about, Ms. Kincaid.

It's clear what your son was
talking about in the yearbook.

He was just trying to get
a rise out of people.

I mean, look at that school.

How do you think he feels?
He's a minority.

What about the hate
literature found in his room?

Who was that aimed at?

Matt reads a lot.
It's just a curiosity.

He doesn't have
a problem with Jews.

For God's sake,
he was seeing a Jewish girl.

Do I think he's
an anti-Semite?

When he was with me,
Matt admired Jews.

He was always going on
how intelligent we were.

The first couple of months,
it was kind of flattering.

And then?

Then some of the stuff he told
other people got back to me.

Like, how he was
just with me because

he thought it was
good for his image.

You're smart and attractive.

It could have been some
male chest-thumping.

It wasn't that.
It was because I was Jewish.

He thought it would help him get over
with the other Jewish kids at school.

So that was important to him?

Well, yeah.

It is if you want to become class
president and a bunch of other stuff

that looks good on a college
application, and it worked.

Last month, he got early admission
to Princeton, full scholarship.

Thanks to you.

Is that why you guys broke up?

Yeah. Of course,
he denied using me.

He blamed all the other Jewish
kids for telling lies about him.

He said that they
were just jealous.

It was just so typical
of him, you know.

He never took responsibility
for anything.

Loren, you never answered
my first question.

Is he an anti-Semite, or is it like
his mom says, it's just an act?

No, it's no act.

I mean, I know where he gets
it from, it's his parents.

Like, one time his dad started asking
about this family, the Abramsons.

Like, all us Jews were supposed
to know each other or something.

He said that they cheated him
out of his printing business,

and that it was their fault he couldn't
afford to send Matt to prep school.

It was just stupid.

Even though I know how Matt
feels about Jewish people,

I just can't believe he could
have killed Mrs. Aronson.

Niels and Ashton, I mean, I could
totally imagine them doing it.

Those guys are scary.

What about Eddie Camarillo?

He just follows Matt around.

I mean, they've been friends
since freshman year.

They do crazy stuff together.

They used to break into the school on
Saturdays to lift weights and stuff.

How'd they get past
the alarm system?

Well, Eddie had a key made on
the machine at his dad's store.

You gave him the key, Eddie.

That's how he got out,
after he killed Mrs. Aronson.

That's not true.
I don't have a key.

Our witness says you do.

That makes you
an accomplice to murder.

And whatever plans you had
for the next 20 years,

you better put them on hold.

Now you serve up Matt Hastings,
your future gets a little brighter.

I can't.
I'm down with him.

CURTIS: Hey.

Be down with this.

When Hastings talks about the mud
people, who you think that is?

That's you, Eddie.
That's you and me.

We're the mud people.

You're wrong.

My people come from pure Spanish
blood, white Christian blood.

Come on.

After they're done
with the Jews, the blacks,

the Asians, the Arabs,
who's next?

Sooner or later, the mailman comes
to your gate, hermano.

Mrs. Aronson
recognized my drawing.

She called me in.

She said she'd give us a
chance to turn ourselves in.

Matt said he'd lose
his scholarship.

He said he was
going to talk to her.

So I gave him my key.

I never thought
he was going to hurt her.

Pick him up.

I'll never doubt
the law of averages again.

Arrest someone often enough and
sooner or later, it'll stick.

It had more to do with the
law of inevitability.

Once we had
Camarillo's testimony,

Judge Busey had no choice but to
re-admit all the other evidence.

But I'm a gracious
winner, Alice.

If you want to discuss
a plea, I'm all ears.

Sorry to get your
testosterone bubbling,

Jack, but this is
just a courtesy call.

Roy Payne, Jack McCoy,
Claire Kincaid.

Roy will be heading
the defense.

Roy Payne?

You recruited a Klan lawyer.

I don't belong to
the Klan, Mr. McCoy.

Wrote a few briefs in support of
their march in Skokie, that's all.

(SIGHS)

Lt'll take more than briefs to
get this boy out of the woods.

Well, I doubt it.

Our client's the innocent victim
of a pernicious conspiracy

to frame him and protect
the real murderer.

And who would that be?

Richard Kovax.

The Jews got together to protect
him, and I'll prove it.

If a judge will stop laughing
long enough to let you.

PAYNE: We're completely
within our rights, Your Honor.

Moreover, as defense counsel, we
have an absolute duty to our client

to present an alternate theory
to the crime, if one exists.

A credible theory,
not paranoid fantasies.

They can't offer a shred of
evidence to support this claim.

PAYNE: Well, we have evidence,
Your Honor.

A Jewish detective led
the investigation.

A Jewish teacher was inexplicably
dismissed as a prime suspect.

Another Jewish teacher lied
to implicate my client.

A Jewish forensic technician allowed
evidence to be contaminated.

I get the idea, Mr. Payne.

Your Honor, it's obvious this
defense serves only one purpose,

to confuse and inflame the jury.
It's offensive.

Yes, it is, Mr.
McCoy, but your objection is premature.

I'll weigh their evidence before
it's presented to the jury.

If they can't give me
an offer of proof,

then you'll have your remedies.

Jury selection will
begin tomorrow morning.

It's the golden age of
conspiracy theories, Mr. McCoy.

People love them.

They help them make sense
of an irrational world.

It's theories like yours
that make it irrational.

You know you have
nothing to back it up.

I've got reasonable doubt.

You go outside
with me right now,

we'll ask 12 people on the street
what they think about Jews,

and all I need's one.

Mr. Carson,

have you ever used a racial epithet
to describe a Jewish person?

Maybe, but never
to somebody's face.

I respect the Jewish people.

Thank you.
We're done, Your Honor.

Do you have any Jewish friends, Mr.
Carson?

No, but my landlord is Jewish.

And Mr. Baron?

Have you ever been the victim
of a racially-motivated attack?

No, I haven't.
Thank God.

Amen, Mr. Baron.

Just one more thing.

By any chance, are you Jewish?

Objection, Your Honor!

In my chambers.

He has no business
asking the question.

A juror cannot be excluded
because of his race or religion.

He can if he's biased.

My client has a right to know if Jewish
jurors can set aside their bias.

I simply want to put them
under heightened scrutiny.

Mr. Payne simply
wants to exclude them.

That's unconstitutional, even
for peremptory challenges.

If I find some unbiased Jews,

then by all means
they're welcome to stay.

Anyway, this issue
won't come up very often.

Most of them are smart enough to
avoid jury duty in the first place.

Mr. Payne, that is enough.

Mr. McCoy, as odious as I find Mr.
Payne's position,

bias is a relevant factor
in jury selection.

I'll allow his questions.

Payne's already
in the win column.

He's made the justice system
complicit in his client's bigotry.

You mean his own.

Only difference between Payne
and Hastings is a law degree.

Turn back the clock, he'd be drafting
the house rules at Auschwitz.

Get off the soapbox.

You're trying a murderer,
not an anti-Semite.

He's a lot of both.

Well, I couldn't care less.

I don't want this turning into a
farce about who said the K word.

Hastings said it,
and I believe he meant it.

He was probably saying it
when he killed her.

The woman who was lowering the
boom on his Princeton scholarship.

He would have killed her
if her name was McGinty.

Make sure the jury knows it.

When we performed
the RFLP tests

on the blood swatches
taken from the scene

and the blood taken
from the defendant,

we found that genetic codes
in both samples matched.

What are the odds that the blood
you found came from someone else?

With this precise match?
One in a million.

Mr. Rosen,

was the RFLP test
first performed

on the blood swatches
from the crime scene

before or after my client
had been arrested?

I'll have to check.

I'm looking at the dates.

It was after he was arrested,

once a blood sample was collected
from him at Central Booking Station.

PAYNE: Who brought
the blood sample to your lab?

Detective Briscoe
signed the evidence sheet.

And were the blood swatches from
the crime scene kept in your lab,

under lock and key,
24 hours a day?

No, not when someone's
there working.

Then is it possible Detective
Briscoe could have had access

to the blood swatches
from the crime scene

before you performed
the RFLP test?

Anything's possible.

Thank you, Mr. Rosen.
No more questions.

CURTIS: After we collected the
blood sample from the defendant,

I accompanied
Detective Briscoe to the lab.

He signed the evidence sheet

and gave the sample to the
lab technician, Mr. Rosen.

Thank you, Detective.

Detective Curtis, when you accompanied
Detective Briscoe to the lab,

were you with him
the whole time?

Yes.

You didn't go to the washroom?

Didn't make a phone call?

You were literally joined at
the hip to Detective Briscoe.

Is that your testimony?

No, I called our precinct from
the lab to report our location.

That took about a minute.

PAYNE: So there was
a moment at the lab

when you and Detective Briscoe
were separated. True?

Yes.

All right, following your interrogation
of Richard Kovax at the precinct,

were you convinced he was no
longer a suspect in this crime?

No, not entirely.

Why is that?
He had a good motive,

and he had a window of
opportunity to commit the crime.

Did you have a conversation with
Detective Briscoe about Mr. Kovax?

CURTIS: Yes.

And following
this conversation,

did you then start looking
for other suspects?

Yes.
So is it fair to say

you were overruled by
your senior partner?

Objection!

Withdrawn.

Just one last question.

To your knowledge,
is Detective Briscoe Jewish?

I don't know.
I never bothered asking.

Mr. Kovax spoke to a number of
foundations on behalf of the school.

He had a knack for it.

In your opinion, how much money
did he raise for the school?

I'm not sure I can
give you an estimate.

Permission to treat as hostile.

JUDGE BUSEY: Go ahead.

Dr. Sabloff, isn't it true,
in the past 10 years,

your school's received
nearly $3,000,000

from the foundations
Mr. Kovax visited?

That's a fair estimate.

Teacher of the Year,
top fund-raiser,

a very valuable asset
to your school, isn't he?

Yes, he was.

Did you communicate as much
to Detective Briscoe?

I suppose I did.

Did there come a time
when he called you

to inquire about the whereabouts of Mr.
Kovax on the night of the murder?

Yes, I remember that call.

And that's when you learned your top
fund-raiser was a murder suspect.

Yes, from Detective Briscoe.

Look, isn't that when
you concocted this alibi

that you saw Mr. Kovax leave the
school an hour before the murder?

It wasn't a concoction,
it was the truth.

And then, a short time later,

didn't you suddenly remember my
client had a key to the school?

I didn't suddenly
remember anything.

Well, you didn't
mention it the first time

you talked to
the police, did you?

Because I couldn't imagine that
one of my students was involved.

But you could, once you
and Detective Briscoe

saw my client's message in the
yearbook, isn't that right?

Well, yes.
As a Jew,

your passions were so
inflamed by that message,

you made up a lie to implicate
my client, isn't that true?

No, that's absurd.

Just as you lied when you
and Detective Briscoe

cooked up an alibi
for Richard Kovax.

Absolutely not.

Jews don't conspire with each another
to protect Jewish criminals.

It's ridiculous.

Oh, is it?

Dr. Sabloff, are you familiar
with Jonathan Pollard,

the American Jew
convicted of spying

on our government for
the state of Israel?

Objection! Relevance!

Are you aware there
are massive campaigns

by American Jewish
organizations to free him?

JACK: Your Honor!
Objection sustained.

Mr. Payne, find another
line of questioning.

I have no more questions
for this witness, Your Honor.

Dr. Sabloff, did you conspire
with anyone or lie to the police

to falsely implicate
the defendant?

No.

Is Mr. Kovax still raising
money for your school?

No, he was fired as soon as we
discovered he was selling grades.

Hey, Counselor!
Yeah?

Just out of curiosity, when
can I expect the cavalry?

Detective, I know
it's unpleasant,

but this can't be
the first time

that a defense attorney's
questioned your credibility.

You mean being accused
of planting evidence?

No, after 25 years on the
force, that I'm used to.

What I resent is
the implication

that anything, besides my badge,
dictates the way I do my job.

Put me on the stand, I want
to set the record straight.

No, I'm not making you
the issue.

Hey, 12 people in there
already think I am.

I repeat, Detective, this trial's
not about you. I'm sorry.

Sure. Oh, by the way, this
whole Jewish conspiracy?

Yes, my father was, my mother
isn't, and I was raised Catholic,

but like you say,
it's not about me.

MATT: At first it didn't bother
me most of the kids were Jewish.

We were all there to learn
and get into good colleges.

We were equals, but they
didn't see it that way.

Yeah. Can you
explain that, Matt?

They called me a goy.

It was a put-down
because I was Christian.

They always acted like
they knew more than I did.

They were never interested
in my opinions about anything.

It wasn't just the students.

By all rights, I should have been
the captain of the wrestling team.

Who did they pick?

Stan Shatenstein.

Did you make an effort
to get along with them?

Yes. Last year, I went
out with a Jewish girl.

Loren Nadel.

I liked her.
I thought she liked me.

Then she broke up
with me because of

what some Jewish
kids told her about me.

See, I don't have
a problem with Jews.

They have a problem with me.

Thank you, Matt.

Matt.

I'd like you to read out loud
from People's Exhibit 29.

"Kill all kikes."

Can you explain what you meant

when you put that message
in your yearbook?

Nothing. It was a joke.

It wasn't even my idea.

Whose idea was it?

Rick Niels and Randy Ashton.

I just went along.

So you're not to blame,

is that what you're saying?
Yes.

And what about
the death threats?

Ashton's idea.

Also not your fault.

That's right.

And what about the
scholarship to Princeton?

Who gets credit for that?

Objection.

JACK: Withdrawn.

When you learned Sarah Aronson

knew you had sent
the death threats,

what went through your mind?

Nothing.
I didn't know.

Weren't you worried about
losing your scholarship? No.

Didn't you think you'd wind
up in some community college?

That would never happen.

Do you know where Michael
Tobis is going next year?

No.
He's going to Brown.

Do you know where
John Pesner is going?

I heard he got
accepted to Harvard.

How about Gary Chaikin?
Yale.

So most of the Jews in your class
were going to lvy League schools.

Isn't that right?
Yes.

And where did you think you'd be?
I don't know.

Well, you wouldn't be
at Princeton, would you?

I didn't think about that.

And this time, you couldn't
blame anybody else, could you?

Not your friends,
not Sarah Aronson,

not some Jewish
conspiracy. You!

Your fault.
You bought grades.

You sent death threats.
No!

In fact, it's your fault that you're
on trial for murder today, isn't it?

No, I'm being framed!

By who?

The same Jews that stole
your father's business away?

Objection.

In fact, it's your stupidity
that got you into this trouble,

isn't that right?
Mr. McCoy...

Sarah Aronson doesn't have
a damn thing to do with it.

She's not responsible
for your failure.

No! It was her fault!

That kike was
going to ruin my life!

As in the kikes you
joked about killing.

No.

No further questions.

I've sent you back four times
to continue deliberations.

I'm inclined to do it again.

Are you absolutely sure you're
unable to reach a verdict?

Yes, Your Honor, we are.

Would any further deliberations
break this deadlock?

No, Your Honor.

I have no choice but
to declare a mistrial.

The jury's dismissed.

Counsel has until next Monday
to agree to a new trial date.

I spoke to Alice Marsdale.

She's willing to
discuss a plea.

Payne's not available
for another trial.

He got his headlines, he's hitting
the Klan lecture circuit.

(KNOCK ON DOOR)

CNN interviewed
one of the jurors.

The vote was 11
to one to convict.

One hold-out.

I wonder which one.

Well, whoever it is,
they blended right in.

What else is new?
Next case.