Law & Order (1990–2010): Season 7, Episode 14 - Working Mom - full transcript

The death of a former police officer leads Briscoe and Curtis to a pair of suburban moms who work as prostitutes.

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.

Let's go! Let's go!

Okay, get all
the wheels, Poppi!

What about under the hood, man?

I'm on it, man!
Just get all the wheels!

Damn!
There's a guy in here.

(SIREN BLARING)



Back away from the vehicle!
Move it!

Keep your hands on your head!

Hey, Danny!
There's someone in here!

BOCA: Hey, man, that guy was...
Shut up!

Hey, Mike, what you got?

White male, 50s,
no wallet, no ID.

One shot in the sternum. Found a spent.38
slug in the back seat

and wearing an empty
holster on his belt.

Let me guess.
No gun?

Searching the area now.

You run prints?

Should hear any minute.

What about these two mutts
who were boosting the car?

They're clean on this one,



but their van is full of swag.

Is this still a hooker stroll?

Twenty-four hours a day.

Could have something to do
with his johnson being out.

Oh, thanks.
I might not have put that together.

What about the car?

Well, the car's registered to
a Bernum Woods Corporation

on Queens Boulevard.

Bernum Woods.

They make a nice golf club.
Titanium.

I don't play.

Yeah. Well, if you did,
you couldn't afford those.

How long's he been here?

Ten, twelve hours.

We got a hit on his prints.

Gilbert Keene.

Hey, Lennie,
this guy's a retired cop.

I met Gilly playing golf.

He was still on the force then.

After he retired,
I asked him to come

to work for me
as chief of security.

Your friend Gilly was found in an
area frequented by prostitutes.

Did he go in for
that sort of thing?

I don't know.
He never said anything about it.

Do you know of any family
we can contact?

No.

I'm the closest thing he's got.

The slug came from a Colt.

Keene had a Colt
registered in his name.

What about the prints?
No hits.

Maybe our hooker's new in town.

You think it's
a hooker rip-off?

Reads like it.
But I can't see an ex-cop

letting himself get popped
with his own gun.

Hey, a guy getting
his knob polished,

I could believe anything.

Check with the regulars for
any new faces on the block.

We think a working girl
took this guy out.

Maybe during
a rip-off.

I don't know nothing
about no girls

ripping off no johns.
It's bad for the trade.

Well, maybe it was a new girl,

didn't know the rules?

Look, anybody who helps us out

gets a free walk next
time they're collared.

Well, I seen a new girl
down the block.

Little farm girl.

Dirty blonde,
sugar-faced thing.

This sugar-faced thing
have a name?

Goes by Iris.

I seen her today at the
deli on 10th Avenue.

Right. Thanks.

And my name's Mona.
You won't forget?

Hey, you want a date?

That's what I'm here for.

Well, what kind of party
are you into?

You think maybe
you could arrange

a little
double-team action?

Oh, I think I can arrange
anything you like.

Hey, is that Iris still
working around here?

Well, it's your lucky day.
She's right over here.

(EXCLAIMS)

Hey, Iris, the guy wants you and me.

BRISCOE:
How you doing, Iris?

Hey! We party before?

Damn. They're cops.

Take a hike.
Let's go.

Please don't arrest me.
No.

We don't want to arrest you,

we just want to talk to you.
Come on.

(SNIFFLING)

VAN BUREN: How did you get the
wallet and the pager, Iris?

I found them.
Where?

I don't remember.

You know who
this stuff belongs to?

No.

A john who was murdered.
In his car.

VAN BUREN:
Where you from, Iris?

Minnesota?
West Virginia?

Ohio.

It's probably a lot worse
here than you thought, huh?

Guys roughing you up,
not paying you.

This guy rough you up, Iris?

Look, if you tell us
what happened,

we can make things
a lot easier for you.

If you don't tell us, we're
gonna have to go to the D.A.

We're gonna have to
tell him what we know,

(SOBBING) Which is that you
had the victim's property.

VAN BUREN: And if we find
your prints in that car,

I can tell you right now,

you'll be charged with murder.

And you'll be convicted.

He was already dead.
I didn't kill him. I swear to God.

I looked in his jacket and I
found his wallet and pager.

Iris tests negative
for powder residue,

and she wasn't wearing the
same lipstick as our perp was.

We took a sample
off the victim.

The brand's called Porfini.

The shade's Caribbean Sunset.

Twenty-six bucks
a tube.

Five stores in
the city carry it.

Thanks, Teresa.

The techs down the hall

checked the alpha memory
on Keene's pager.

One interesting call.
"Jane, 911."

You follow up on it?

Yeah. Profaci went over Keene's LUDs.
No call to any Jane.

Maybe his good buddy
Bernum knows who Jane is.

BERNUM: Yeah, we got one
Jane who works in R&D.

Jane Tennick.
She's a clerk.

What kind of relationship
did she and Keene have?

None that I know of.

She's only been here
about six months.

I page people all the time,

but that one, no,
nothing comes to mind.

Well, we're gonna
check on every call

Gilbert Keene made last week.

Now, if one of those calls was
to you, right after that page,

it's not gonna look too good.

Does that jog your memory?

This is a murder
investigation, Miss Tennick.

Believe me, you do not want to
be jerking us around on this.

I did page Keene.

But it had nothing
to do with his death.

I don't know
anything about that.

Look, Gilly Keene was a jerk.

He was blackmailing me.

Really? How?

I had taken a set of golf
clubs from the building,

an older set, for my father,

when he came to visit me.

Keene found out about it.

What did he say?

He said that if he told Bernum,

Bernum would
fire me on the spot.

He also threatened
to press charges,

turn me over to
his cop buddies.

The ones who do
his background checks.

"Or," he says,
"I can forget everything."

Keep this a secret
and not tell Bernum.

If I slept with him once.

And I did.

Then he wanted me again.

And if he wanted
to keep doing it,

I would have to go along.

So what was the page about?

I was gonna tell him
it was over.

I didn't care if he told
Bernum or went to the police.

I would deal with it.

And what'd he say about that?
Nothing.

I spoke to him around
10:00 in the morning

and he didn't have time
to talk about it.

Where were you Wednesday, noon?

I was here, in the canteen,

having lunch with
10 other people.

Tennick's alibi checked out.

We ready to rule out Iris?

Maybe she washed
all the powder residue off.

She'll be in the system
another couple of days,

but I don't think
she has it in her.

You said Tennick mentioned
some old cop buddies?

Yeah. She said he was using
them to check things out.

So go check them out.
BRISCOE: We are.

There's a wake for Keene
over at Craven's.

This is between us.
Off the record.

(IRISH FOLK MUSIC PLAYING)

He'd ask me to check
some license plates,

throw him a few numbers.
Do a BCI check.

Hey, Captain, no business.

Briscoe, this is strictly for Keene.
To Gilly Keene!

PATRONS: To Gilly Keene!
To Gilly Keene!

You talk to him recently?

About a week ago, yeah.

He called and asked me to check

on this bogus
credit card charge.

What was that about?

Well, he said it was important.

Somebody was making
unauthorized purchases.

You find out who it was?

I found out
the name of the vendor.

It was like a jewel. Topaz Enterprises.
That's all I remember.

Did Keene go in for hookers?

There's a broad in the 47

who used to give him a freebie.

And that's it?

He didn't like to
play by the rules.

That's why he lost his job.

I don't know about any
bogus credit card charges.

Maybe Gilly found
something on his own.

And Topaz Enterprises
doesn't ring a bell, huh?

I've never heard of it.

CURTIS: Nothing in
Keene's file on Topaz.

How many employees
are authorized

to use a corporate credit card?

About 10.

But how do you know this
fraud he was investigating

wasn't on his personal card?

Well, we'll get into that,
but in the meantime,

if you could get us a list

of the card users,
the authorized ones,

and the corporate credit card
statements for the last few months.

You think you could
do that, Mr. Bernum?

Yeah. Sure.

I thought you never heard
of Topaz Enterprises.

I haven't.

Well, you got six
$500 charges last month,

four the month before, and
four the month before that.

Unless it's some supplier
that changed their name.

Who used corporate
card number two?

That was Gilly Keene.
I gave it to him

to use during
his investigations.

Hey, only one of us needs to
push a button, all right?

Okay, fine.
You do it.

You don't have to wait
to hear all the options.

I caught the case, okay?

So I'll push the button
when I want to.

Ha! A live person.
Hello.

You have two New York police
detectives on the line.

Yeah. I got the name of a
vendor, Topaz Enterprises.

I need a phone number
and an address and a name.

No, we don't have time to send
you a letter on our stationary.

Would a subpoena
to your boss help?

P.O. Box 176, 1700 Bloomingdale
Road, White Plains.

Thank you.

176. They must come in
to collect the mail.

These places are
designed for privacy.

Box holders enter from the
outside with their own key.

We never see them come or go.

I have nothing to do with
them except collect the rent.

Well, who pays
the rent for 176?

176, pays once a year with a money order.
Mailed in.

For all I know,
Elvis is renting that box.

Would you happen to have any
copies of Elvis' money orders?

The mailbox was
registered to Mary Jones.

Another clever alias.

You don't need an ID
to get a money order.

Yeah. All right.
Thanks, Charlie. Take care.

Mary Jones' money order
for the rent on that box

came from the Bryant Avenue
Post Office in Mount Kisco.

Mount Kisco?
Wait a minute.

Keene's LUD showed some
calls to Mount Kisco.

Yeah, here we go.
January 14. 9:42 a.m.

That's the day
before the murder.

I know Gilbert Keene.
He's a client.

He phoned here
a couple of days ago.

Do you recall
what that was about?

I talked to him.

We arranged a time to go
look at some carpet samples.

We were doing some
work for his company.

These gentlemen are police
officers from the city.

Ah. Hillary Colson.
I'm Sondra's partner.

When did you go
look at samples?

Last Tuesday.

I took the train in and we
drove around in his car.

CURTIS:
How about Wednesday?

Wednesday.

We went into the city.

Sondra and I,
we took a day off.

Went to Bloomingdale's,
Barneys.

How long you been in business?

Eighteen months.
Need any decorating?

No job too small.

Well, my partner's thinking
about getting a new place.

He might need some help.

Yeah, you don't
have a card, do you?

BRISCOE: Maybe a brochure?

Yes, we do.

Give us a call.
We have lots of ideas.

So, what do you think?

I think they're lying.
They met with

the security chief
to discuss decorating?

I just hope we can get
prints off of this.

So, Lennie, that stuff about
me needing help decorating,

that was just to get her to
hand me a brochure, right?

Because you know I know how
to put together a room.

Hillary's prints
were all over the car,

steering wheel, steering
column, both door handles.

And the front of Keene's seat.

She was looking at carpet
samples with Gilly Keene.

You think
they're fronting Topaz?

I think they're
both call girls.

And I think those $500 charges

were for services rendered.

$500 for a quickie
in the front seat?

She must have some technique.

Hey, if we can
prove they're pros

we can sweat them a little.

The credit card company gave us

the names of some
other Topaz clients.

I gotta tell you guys, this is
making me very uncomfortable.

Relax. We're not Vice.

(SIGHS)

First of all, if I do admit
to using the services...

It doesn't go any further
than this room.

Yeah, well, some people think
it's, you know, not right.

What? Knowing what you're
gonna get up front?

I call that practical.

See, you and me think alike.

You recognize
either of these women?

GINO: That's Amber. Unbelievable.
And that's Cathy.

(CHUCKLES)

I get a chubby
just thinking about her.

Do you know where they went?

Yeah, I think they went to a
basketball game at the middle school.

What are they?
Cheerleaders?

(LAUGHING) Their kids
are playing.

BOY 1: Ryan!

BOY 2: Ryan!

Go in and get it!

Suburban mommy hookers.

I wonder what the tabloids would
pay for the exclusive on this?

You want to pop them
in front of their kids?

Hey, we got two radio
cars waiting outside.

You want to go tell them that
we felt sorry for the perps?

Detectives?
What are you doing here?

We're in the middle of a game.

Ladies, I'm afraid you're
gonna have to come with us.

Why?

We're placing you under arrest.

If you walk out
with us quietly,

we won't have to cuff you.
Nobody will know.

Honey, what's going on?

If you just step
outside with us,

we can explain everything.

Let's go.
You're not taking my wife anywhere!

Back off.

Your wife is under arrest.

For what?
Prostitution.

The lipstick in Hillary's purse

matched what we found on Keene.

We'll try and get
Sondra to roll first.

Go in to Hillary
with more ammunition.

Two kids.
Volunteer at the hospital.

Co-chair of Citizens
for a Cleaner Mount Kisco.

I wouldn't think you'd want a
prostitution conviction on that resume.

I told you.

I just want to plead
guilty, pay my fine,

and move somewhere
several thousand miles away.

We can save you the trouble.

We can probably get
the charges dropped.

How? CURTIS: Your friend
Hillary was involved

in something a lot more serious

than turning tricks
between PTA meetings.

We think she killed a man.

Do you know
anything about that?

No.

CURTIS: You weren't with Hillary
last Wednesday, were you?

Yes. I was.

Look, Sondra, I can understand

you want to be loyal
to your friend,

but if we find out
you're lying,

you're getting yourself
in real trouble.

Then we're not just
talking prostitution.

We're talking
obstruction of justice.

So, you think about whether it's
smarter to be a loyal friend

or to tell the truth
and stay out of jail.

The fact that
my client's associate

has admitted guilt is
completely irrelevant.

Hillary is innocent.

So when Sondra testifies about
the call girl operation

you two had going together,
that'll all be lies?

Let's try this case in court.

Hey, the prostitution's
a no-brainer, Hillary.

The other thing is where
you can help yourself.

What other thing?

A homicide.

Gilbert Keene
was shot last week.

He called Hillary
the day before the murder.

METZLER: So a call was made?
What does that prove?

He was found in his car.

Her prints were all over it.

I took him to look
at carpet samples.

Well, you left
a lipstick sample on him.

You know what we're
talking about Hillary.

METZLER: Don't say anything.

BRISCOE: No,
the time to talk is now.

'Cause if you wait too long,

you're not gonna be
able to help yourself.

We're done.

No, we're not.

Hillary Colson,
you're under arrest

for the murder
of Gilbert Keene.

BRISCOE: Would you
please stand up.

VAN BUREN: You have
the right to remain silent.

Anything you say
can and will be used

against you in a court of law.

What's next?
Camp Fire Girls selling crack?

We know Hillary was hooking,

we know she was in Keene's car,

we know she serviced him.
We just don't know why she killed him.

What does the partner say?

ROSS: We offered her a walk.

She's still pleading guilty

and backing Hillary's alibi.

They were shopping together
on the day of the murder

in big department stores.

They paid cash and threw
away their receipts.

Sound a tad rehearsed?

Talk to Hillary's husband.

Maybe he's not
as good an actor.

I shouldn't even
be talking to you.

Why?

Because you're not prosecuting my wife.
You're persecuting her.

I think if you really believed
that, you wouldn't talk.

Oh, she won't be
in jail for long.

If we weren't mortgaged up to our
eyeballs, she'd be out by now.

I'm gonna borrow from my
pension fund and then...

And then what?

She'll be back home.
You think it'll be like old times?

She didn't do anything.

ROSS: Sondra confessed.

She admitted they
were prostitutes.

Why would she make
something like that up?

Your wife was turning tricks.

I'd be calling
a divorce lawyer.

ROSS: What did she tell you?

She told me
she didn't do anything.

You still care for her.

Of course.

Your wife is
obviously very confused.

She sacrificed a loving
husband and two children.

We're still a family.

JACK: Maybe you
and the kids are.

That could change, too.

What do you mean?

If your wife is convicted of
murder, she's going to jail.

If you're convicted of obstruction of
justice, you're going to jail, too.

That puts the kids in a
foster home, Mr. Colson.

You can't do that!

JACK: We can and we will.

I didn't know.
How is that obstruction?

What did she tell you?

She didn't tell me anything.

ROSS: I went over Keene's
credit card bills again.

Almost every time
there's a Topaz charge,

there's a charge the same day
for the Barrington Arms Hotel.

The love nest.
Could be.

The last charge was made three
weeks before the murder.

Maybe they changed hotels?

It's not on
the credit card bills.

Maybe they had a falling out

and stopped seeing each other.

I'll go over to
the Barrington Arms

and see if
anybody saw them there.

Jamie?

Is something wrong?

When we're talking
to a possible witness,

when we're talking to anyone,

I don't appreciate you
misrepresenting the truth

for the sake of a case.

What are you talking about?

You told Louis Colson we could charge
him with obstruction of justice

and have his kids taken away.

If he testifies falsely.

It's coercing a witness, and even
if it couldn't get me censured,

I wouldn't do it.

I wouldn't threaten a parent
with removal of his children.

Before I posed the threat,

did you believe that he
was hiding something?

Yes.

And how about now?

I believe he's being honest.

I don't think he knew anything.

I agree with you,
but I had to find out.

It was cruel.

Mr. Keene is
definitely a regular.

One-night stays in
our junior suites

every week
through three weeks ago.

Nothing since then.
You're sure you don't know him?

You've never seen him before?

Look at the picture.

I'm sorry and I'm surprised.

I think I should've remembered.

We try to meet all of
our repeat customers.

But he probably checked in
and out at unusual times.

Jose, do you know this man?

No, doesn't ring a bell.

But I'm not too good
with faces.

He was a regular.
Always on the 10th floor.

Always ordered
champagne and caviar.

Tips, I remember.
Guy probably doesn't tip too good.

What about her?

Oh, yeah, her I remember.

But she comes
with a different guy.

ROSS: Who?

I don't know the name.
He's a good tipper.

What does he look like?

Brown hair, tan.

He wears shirts colored like ice
cream, you know, yellow, pink.

The hotel staff identified you

as the man they
saw with Hillary.

You're an intelligent man,
Mr. Bernum.

What would you think?

You're keeping company
with a woman

accused of
killing your employee,

yet you don't even
mention that relationship.

You deny knowing what Topaz Enterprises is.
You lied to us.

I didn't know what Topaz was.
I never see the bills.

I'm feeling charitable.
I'm gonna give you a mulligan.

But if your next shot isn't on the
fairway, you're going to jail.

I had nothing to do with Gilly's death.
I swear it.

And I can't believe
that Cathy did either.

I mean, Hillary.
I knew her as Cathy.

Why was she with Keene?

BERNUM: I had asked him...

It seems so ridiculous now.
I had asked him to find her.

But the morning of his death,

he told me he hadn't yet.

Why did you want him
to find her?

A few weeks ago,

Hillary told me that she
didn't want to see me anymore.

Well, you gotta understand,

the two hours we spent together

were the highlight of my week.

I wanted to spend
more time with her.

I wanted to travel with
her, but she said no.

But I had to see her.
I couldn't help myself.

And then she just disappeared.
I couldn't reach her.

So I told Gilly to find her.

I finally met the woman
I always wanted.

Smart, funny, sophisticated.

And she ends up being
a suburban housewife.

Just like the one
you have at home.

ROSS: We have evidence which
puts you in Keene's car,

in close physical contact.

We've been over this, McCoy.

They were looking
at carpet samples.

Sondra will testify
that Fox Hill Decor

never provided any
decorating services

to the Bernum Woods Company.

ROSS: Four Topaz clients
will testify

that Hillary provided sex
in exchange for money.

And they're all alive. She didn't kill them.
And she didn't kill Keene.

Why on earth would she?

Now we have that
piece of the puzzle.

Mac Bernum told us everything.

Quite a romantic, isn't he?

Bernum's going to testify, too.

About his becoming
obsessed with you.

About how you disappeared

when he pressured you
to become his girlfriend,

and about sending Gilly
Keene out to find you.

Who did Keene threaten to tell?
Bernum?

Your husband?

Can I get back to you?
We need to talk.

ROSS: I'd like to be
a fly on the wall.

They're gonna ask for man one.

They wish.
No way we're going less than 15.

The blackmail can be
a mitigating factor.

It's the motive,
not the defense.

They're gonna be blowing a lot
of smoke at us. We play tough.

We're holding all the cards.

Jack, there's a notice
of substitution on the way.

Colson fired Metzler.
Lanie Stieglitz is riding to the rescue.

The Betty Friedan militia?
What the hell's she up to?

(DOOR BUZZING)

I'm surprised, Lanie.
I didn't know prostitutes

were in your hall of heroines.

Lady Justice had my
name on this one, Jack.

The sexual exploitation
of women. Hi, dear.

I'm gonna kick your backside
all over that courtroom.

I don't want to deprive
you of your fun,

but this doesn't have
to go to a courtroom.

Ooh. A plea?
What is that?

Good manners, or is the old
man twisting your arm?

It's generosity.

We're offering your client
murder two, 20-to-life.

(SIGHS)

Why don't we all
listen to her story?

And then we can talk a little
bit more about generosity.

Okay, Hillary.

Keene called me.
He said he got my pager number

from some friends of his
and could we meet.

We met at the Oak Bar
at The Plaza.

He seemed nice enough,
and we decided to leave.

He said the manager at The
Carlyle was a friend of his.

We could get a suite.

I usually refused to get
in a car with any client.

But he had a nice car, and we
were only going a few blocks.

So, soon as I got in the car,

he told me
he worked for Bernum.

And knew about me.
He showed me his gun

and drove over to
the West Side Highway.

He told me I had two choices.

I could go back and become Mac's
girlfriend, or I could service him,

free of charge,
whenever he wanted.

I said I wouldn't do either,

and I tried to
get out of the car.

He grabbed me by my wrist

and said he was
deciding for me.

He put his hand on his gun,

said I was his girlfriend,
starting now,

and if I didn't do what he wanted,
he would go to my husband.

That's when he
grabbed me by my hair.

I tried to pull away
and he shoved my head down.

I...

I...

I grabbed his gun
and I shot him.

If it was self-defense,

why didn't you go to the police
and tell them what happened?

My life would have been
exposed to everyone.

I told my husband.

He agreed with me.

ROSS: You could have
gone to the police

after you told your husband.

He said they
wouldn't believe me.

I swear to you,
I was just protecting myself.

I thought Keene
was going to kill me.

She had two good reasons
to kill him.

He was raping her and he
might expose her secret.

One gets her acquitted.
The other gets her 25-years-to-life. Thanks.

And I think this claim
of rape is a crock.

So she just dropped
her lipstick on him?

There was sexual contact.

She's a prostitute.
Don't they do that for a living?

She can't be raped
because she's a prostitute?

No. She just isn't
credible, that's all.

She just as likely used sex

to put Keene at ease
before shooting him.

Lucky for you, the defense has
the burden of proving rape.

Well, don't pop
the champagne yet.

She's a sympathetic defendant
with two small children.

The victim wasn't
exactly a saint.

If she were my client,
I'd have a field day.

With no evidence to support
rape except her word?

He drove her to an out-of-the-way place.
He had rape on his mind.

She got into his car willingly.
She had murder on hers.

One fact, two sharp edges.

You're gonna need an
extra-large box of Band-Aids.

It's still murder two.
But we'll drop the minimum to 15.

Peel off the testosterone
patch, Miss Ross.

You're thinking
under the influence.

You can sing "I am woman"
loud as you want,

but it's not gonna do
your client any good.

She has no witnesses and no
physical evidence at all

to suggest that the sex was
anything but consensual.

Except that Gilbert Keene

makes Mike Tyson look like
Little Lord Fauntleroy, maybe.

If I were you, I wouldn't bet the
farm on the character issue.

My money's on the husband.
He'll corroborate her story.

Man one, 10-to-20.

I want the charges dismissed.

You can't be serious.

Jack, you're already
on the run.

SONDRA: Hillary was afraid Bernum
would find out who she really was.

And show up on
her doorstep one day

while the Cub Scouts
were meeting at her house.

And that her husband and
everybody else in Mount Kisco

would find out
about her other life.

And what precautions did Miss
Colson take to prevent that?

You're under oath, Miss Benton.

What precautions
did Hillary take?

She changed her pager number.

What else did she do to stop Mac
Bernum from finding out who she was?

She was afraid
Bernum would follow her,

so she started taking
different routes home.

She changed
the name she went by.

She even begged me to move the
store and the post office box.

And she was right.

I'm sorry, Hil.

No further questions.

Miss Benton,

men paid you a small fortune

to do things you might not
otherwise do, isn't that right?

No. I did things
I wanted to do.

I just got paid to do them.

STIEGLITZ: Were you ever asked to
do anything you didn't want to do?

Yes.

And if you refused,
what happened?

Once, a man threatened
me with a knife.

He ordered me to
do what he asked.

I had no choice.

Did you tell my client
about that incident?

Objection.
Relevance.

I'll allow it,
subject to connection.

Answer the question.

Yes. I told Hillary.
It frightened her.

And did Hillary take any special
precautions from then on?

She started to carry
pepper spray with her

and she would never meet new
clients in their homes.

Only in neutral places,
like hotels.

She was bright, charming, never
depressed or unwilling to please.

And very proper.
She was every man's dream.

But you didn't pay her
to be charming and bright.

You paid her for her
willingness to please.

Is that right?
That's right.

What happened once you let your
feelings for the defendant be known?

She quit returning
my phone calls.

She changed her phone number.

She dropped off the map.

JACK: What did you do?

I asked my security man, Gilbert
Keene, to look for her.

He never told me he found her.

If he had,
what would you have done?

I would've gone to see her.

But he never had the chance
to tell you, did he?

No.

You were Mr. Keene's best friend.
What was he like?

He was generous to a fault.

A totally dependable,
honest man.

I trusted him with everything.

Thank you.

When you let your true feelings
for my client be known,

did she become alarmed?

She said she didn't want
a relationship like that.

Did she become violent?

(SCOFFS) No.

Did she say she'd kill you
if you tracked her down?

No. She just vanished.
That's all.

That's all. Thanks.

Mr. Keene said that he would
have me fired or arrested

if I didn't do what he wanted.

Which was what, Miss Tennick?

What did he want from you?

He wanted sex,
whether I liked it or not.

No more questions.

Ms. Tennick,

did Mr. Keene ever
threaten physical violence

if you didn't have
sex with him?

No, but I didn't think
that I had a choice.

I didn't want to get fired.

And after you had sex with him,

did you report it as rape?

No, but...

Because you weren't raped.

You were blackmailed,
isn't that right?

It was sexual harassment.
It's illegal.

Well, isn't stealing from
your employer also illegal?

STIEGLITZ: Objection!

Withdrawn.
No further questions.

I worked with Gilly Keene
for five years

in the neighborhood
stabilization unit.

Arresting prostitutes?

Yes.

Mmm-hmm.

Isn't it a fact that a known
prostitute named Debbi Devine

filed a civilian complaint

against Officer Keene in 1978,

alleging she was arrested
after she refused

to have intercourse with him?

That was dismissed.

Mmm-hmm.

Didn't a prostitute
named Lisa Morales

file a similar complaint
against Officer Keene

in 1981?

Doesn't cost 10 cents
to file one of those things.

Was anyone else in your unit

the subject of
a disciplinary proceeding

initiated by a prostitute?

Not that I know of.

Thank you.

Did any of those
complaints allege

that Officer Keene
used violence?

No, they did not.

Do you know why the complaints

against Officer Keene
were dismissed?

Yeah, the CCRB didn't find any
evidence to back up the charges.

JACK: Thank you.

The late Gilly Keene's
not sitting too well

with some of our female jurors.

Juror number five is nodding her
head in all the wrong places.

One seminar with a jury
consultant and she's an expert.

Two seminars and
six years of voir dire.

JACK: Any other observations?

Lay off trying to make Keene
out to be a boy scout.

He wasn't.

And it's not playing.

Right. Good.

Who's their next witness?

ROSS: Louis Colson.

The cuckold husband?

ROSS: The jury might
be sympathetic.

A poor man wronged,
two motherless kids,

a wife who says
she was a victim.

Who turns tricks
in her spare time.

He's gotta be angry about it.

Use it.

Hillary told me about Keene,

about how he raped her.

About why she was in his car.

I was floored.

And in spite of everything,

you're here,
testifying on her behalf?

I'll never understand
the way she acted.

I mean, the prostitution.

But I believe she
told me the truth

about what happened
in that car.

STIEGLITZ: Thanks.

I'm a little confused,
Mr. Colson.

Your wife comes to you in tears

and tells you that she just
killed a man who raped her,

and you tell her not
to go to the police?

I was afraid they
wouldn't believe her.

You must have known that
they would track her down?

The only thing
I know for certain

is that she killed that
bastard in self-defense.

You must really love your wife.

She's betrayed you in the most
egregious way imaginable,

and you're still willing to
lie for her, aren't you?

COLSON: I am not lying.

I was protecting myself and
my children from the shame.

We have been humiliated.

Your wife humiliated you, didn't she?

How do you feel about her having
sex with strangers, for money,

right under your nose?
Objection!

JACK: Don't you think
about what she did

with all those other men?

Sustained, Mr. McCoy.

Did you really think that your
life could go back to normal?

I didn't think about that.

No! You didn't
think about it

because she didn't
tell you about it

until after she was arrested.

Isn't that right?
No!

She never told you

that she had killed Gilbert
Keene in self-defense.

Isn't that right?

No! It happened
exactly the way I said.

Then you lied to the police

when you told them
that you knew nothing.

You lied to me when you
told me in your office.

Didn't you say to me, "My wife
didn't tell me anything"?

Which is it,
Mr. Colson?

Were you lying then,
or are you lying now?

HILLARY:
He showed me his gun,

grabbed me by my hair
and forced my head down.

I was so frightened.
I panicked.

I grabbed his gun and shot him.

Why didn't you go
straight to the police?

I guess at that moment I
realized that they'd look at me

not as a housewife from Mount
Kisco, but as a whore.

I didn't want to
do that to my family.

You had a pretty nice life,
didn't you?

Yes. A devoted husband, two
wonderful children, a business,

a wonderful home.

And despite all that, you
decided to become a prostitute.

Why? The excitement?
The sex?

It wasn't the sex.
I guess it was exciting.

And I guess a man
paying $500 or $1,000

to be with me
made me feel desirable.

I enjoyed that.

So all of a sudden
you found it frightening

to have your head in
a strange man's lap.

Is that your testimony?
Objection.

Sustained.

I'll re-phrase.

How many strangers have paid
you to have sex with them?

Answer the question,
Mrs. Colson.

Seventy, 80 men.

And yet the thought of having
sex with one more strange man

was so repulsive that
you had to kill him?

I was panicked.
He was raping me.

Didn't you carry a can of
pepper spray in your purse?

A lot of women carry it.

Why didn't you use it
instead of Mr. Keene's gun?

He had me by the hair,
Mr. McCoy.

The pepper spray
was in my purse.

You're a professional sex provider.
You're experienced.

This was a routine sex act,

and yet you expect us
to believe

that it was so terrifying that you
had to use lethal force to stop it?

You can believe
whatever you want.

I know what he did to me.

He threatened to take away
your nice home in Mount Kisco,

your nice family,
your comfortable lifestyle.

That's what terrified you, wasn't it?

No!

JACK: You love your kids,
you love your suburban life.

You would kill to
protect all that.

That's why
you killed Gilbert Keene!

Objection. Damn it!
He's testifying!

Withdrawn.
I have no more questions.

It's not often that Big Brother

has to listen to your opinion.

It happens every four years.

And it happens when you have the
privilege of sitting in this box.

Hillary Colson
shopped at GapKids,

she goes to PTA meetings,

she's also a prostitute.

I don't like it any more than you do.
It disgusts me.

I don't approve
of serial adultery.

She's endangered the lives of
every member of her family

in a pathetic search for what?

Novelty?

To fill a void
in her life, maybe?

I don't know,
but I do know this.

If this were a referendum
on prostitution,

I would say, "Throw her in jail
and forget about the key."

But it's not.

That's not why she's on trial.

She is on trial because she
said no to an ex-police officer

armed with a Colt revolver
and the will to use it.

An ex-police officer.

Hmm.

A bully who used sex
to dominate women.

She said no and she meant it.

The Bill of Rights
does not only apply

to the June Cleavers
of this country.

Acquit my client and you say
to Big Brother that any woman,

regardless of her character,

has got the right to say no

and has got the right
to back it up!

I'm not asking you to
agree with prostitution.

But I am begging you

to disagree with rape.

Ms. Stieglitz is right, this isn't
a referendum on prostitution.

It isn't a referendum on rape.

You're here to render a verdict

on her client's credibility.

She says she was raped.

What's her evidence?

"Keene was a bully.
My husband believes me, so should you."

In the meantime,
she suffered no injuries,

she destroyed evidence,
she lied to the police.

It was only when she was backed
into a corner that she cried rape.

That she wrapped herself

in the right of
self-defense,

but she wasn't
defending her virtue.

She didn't shoot Gilbert Keene

to keep from performing an act

that she had willingly performed
on dozens of other men.

She killed him
to protect a secret.

You've all seen what lengths she
went to to avoid Mac Bernum,

to hide her identity.

Who can blame her?

She didn't want to
lose her husband,

her family,
her comfortable home.

Those things
she would kill for.

But those things do not
justify the taking of a life.

The threat of deadly physical
force does, or rape does,

or kidnapping or robbery.

But none of those things
happened in that car.

What happened in that car was
a cold and calculated thing.

A woman killed her
blackmailer, not her rapist.

That's who Gilbert Keene was,
that's how he got sex.

He didn't rape those other women.
He blackmailed them.

I don't want you to convict her

because she's a prostitute.

I'm asking you to convict her

because her story is a lie.

Mr. Foreman, has the
jury reached a verdict?

Yes, Your Honor, we have.

Will the defendant please rise.

On the sole count
of the indictment,

murder in the second degree,

how do you find?

We find the defendant,
Hillary Colson, guilty.

(PEOPLE MURMURING)

(HILLARY CRYING)

ROSS: Lanie Stieglitz
filed her appeal.

ADAM: She's hoping they'll erect
a statue for her on 12th Avenue.

Even prostitutes
deserve a patron saint.

Makes me wonder if they convicted
her because we made our case

or because she's a prostitute.

They convicted her.
I don't care why.