Proven Innocent (2019) s01e01 Episode Script
Pilot
1 [SIREN WAILING IN DISTANCE.]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
[ENGINE STOPS.]
- [DOG BARKING.]
- [CHAIN-LINK FENCE RATTLING.]
[SNARLING.]
[KNOCKING ON DOOR.]
Caleb Greeves? Who the hell are you? I represent Harvey Birkbeck.
[LOCK CLICKS.]
Harve still up over at Statesville? Going on 27 years.
That's a long time to serve for a murder you and I both know he didn't commit.
I have a court order authorizing me to collect a sample of your DNA.
Bad idea coming here by yourself, don't you think? People know I'm here, Caleb.
You take me out, there's gonna be ten more tomorrow and another ten the next day.
It's the end of the road.
Can't kill your way out of this one.
Says you, lady.
[DIALING.]
[LINE RINGING.]
[DOG WHINING.]
OPERATOR: 911.
What is your emergency? [DOG WHINES.]
What happens to a dog when the owner dies? OPERATOR: Ma'am, is there an emergency? Not anymore.
VIOLET: Good morning from Chicago.
Once again we are recording our weekly podcast from our offices at the Injustice Defense Group, a law firm solely dedicated to the issue of wrongful convictions.
On this week's episode of Until Proven Innocent, we're here with our regular guest, and my boss, wrongful conviction attorney Madeline Scott.
Her recent discovery of DNA evidence has gotten Harvey Birkbeck a new hearing after 27 years.
Will an innocent man finally get to go home? This is the first time you're facing off against Gore Bellows since you became a lawyer four years ago, correct? - Yes, it is.
- To the two people in the entire world who don't know, Gore Bellows is the very prosecutor who wrongfully convicted Madeline and her brother Levi Scott of the first-degree murder of her best friend Rosemary Lynch.
Are you nervous going up against the man who put you away? No.
His approach in my case was so stunningly dishonest that any opportunity to show the world that our white knight state's attorney is really a corrupt liar is an opportunity I'm eager to take.
- [KNOCKING ON WINDOW.]
- And that is your law partner Easy Boudreau, who I guess doesn't know we're recording.
Curious what he thinks the headsets are for.
This is Until Proven Innocent with Violet Price, telling the stories of the wrongfully accused and the lawyers who represent them.
Was it really necessary to antagonize Bellows? It's always necessary.
And it's fun.
"Fools give rise to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.
" Proverbs.
"I'm a sinner, I'm a saint, I do not feel ashamed.
" Meredith Brooks.
"I'm your hell, I'm your dream.
" BOTH: "I'm nothing in between.
" While I hate to break up this amazing rendition of late '90s feminist alternative rock, - we've got to get to court.
- [DOG BARKS.]
Yeah.
Hey, Atticus.
This is Atticus.
What was I supposed to do? At least he's black.
- [CHUCKLING.]
: Exactly.
- Sorry.
I'm a bitch, I'm a lover - I'm a child, I'm a mother - [SHOUTING.]
MAN: Keep it up, Madeline.
MAN 2: How'd you find the DNA? MAN 3: Great work, Madeline.
- Set him free, Madeline.
- Keep fighting the good fight, Madeline! You okay, Harvey? DEPUTY SHERIFF: All rise.
The State v.
Madeline and Levi Scott will now proceed.
DEPUTY SHERIFF: All rise.
The People v.
Harvey Birkbeck.
You may be seated.
Counselor, you may proceed.
Good morning, Your Honor.
On behalf of petitioner, we would like to submit newly acquired DNA evidence Your Honor, may it please the court.
The State withdraws its objection to the release of Mr.
Harvey Birkbeck.
Now, I realize this is somewhat unusual, but in consideration of this new DNA evidence, clearly a mistake has been made.
Contrary to what Ms.
Scott would have the public believe, we prosecutors are also human beings.
Objection.
Assumes facts not in evidence.
- [GALLERY LAUGHING.]
- [GAVEL BANGS.]
Quiet, please.
Mr.
Bellows, continue.
An injustice has been done.
This man has spent the better part of his life wrongfully imprisoned, and it gives me no greater joy than to say, "It's time for you to go home.
" The State moves to vacate Mr.
Birkbeck's conviction of murder in the second degree.
[GALLERY MURMURING.]
Congratulations, Mr.
Birkbeck, you're a free man now.
- Case is dismissed.
- [GALLERY CHEERING.]
Defendant is discharged.
- [GALLERY CHEERING.]
- MADELINE: You get to go home.
JUDGE: "We, the jury, in the above entitled cause, "find the defendants "Madeline Scott and Levi Scott guilty - "of the crime of murder - No.
of Rosemary Lynch.
" - No, we're innocent.
- Your Honor, please.
- We're innocent.
- Your Honor, please.
- No.
No, Your Honor! - MADELINE: I would never hurt [GALLERY TALKING INDISTINCTLY.]
We're innocent.
Your Honor, please.
No! BELLOWS: Well done, Maddie.
I always wanted to tell you that your case was never personal for me.
I was just doing my job and I honestly thought you were guilty.
- In fact, I still do.
- WOMAN: Mr.
Bellows.
- MAN: Mr.
Bellows.
- WOMAN: Mr.
Bellows, sir.
MAN: How about a quick comment? [REPORTERS CLAMORING.]
What is that snake up to? EASY: Bellows wants to avoid the humiliation and be the hero.
It's pretty clever, actually.
Well, the real question is why.
VIOLET: Today's Until Proven Innocent is being recorded at the Performing Arts Center for our first annual Injustice Defense Group fund-raiser.
[AUDIENCE CHEERING, WHOOPING.]
Now, the whole world knows that Madeline got her bachelor's degree during her ten years in prison, and upon her release attended Yale Law School, graduating top of her class.
But what most people don't realize is that her lawyer wasn't even a criminal defense lawyer when he took on her infamous case.
Nope.
Reinsurance regulation.
- [LAUGHTER.]
- VIOLET: So what happened? EASY: Uh, truth be told, I thought she was guilty like everyone else did.
Then Maddie sent me a letter.
The letter said, "Please do not look away without at least hearing my story.
" I was so surprised, I thought perhaps this is the one case meant for me.
And so I decided to follow the Lord's guidance and not look away.
After a few months working together, I asked her about the number she'd written at the bottom of my special letter.
2,736.
Turns out, that was the number of letters she'd sent before mine.
I realized right then that I had discovered my purpose.
Because if 2,735 trained lawyers would ignore an innocent girl whose case was famous, who was gonna fight for the innocent people behind bars who weren't famous? [CHEERING, WHOOPING.]
Now, Rosemary Lynch was brutally murdered and yet her killer was never found.
That's correct.
When someone goes to prison for a murder they didn't commit, it means the real murderer is still out there.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
Same contribution as last year? - Absolutely.
- Maybe a little more? My cover is a billionaire donor tonight.
That's why I bought this hat.
It's not very believable.
- How are you? - Good, how are you? Dylan, hi.
Hey.
- Thank you for coming.
- [SIGHS.]
Yeah, of course.
Where's Becky? Sh-She couldn't make it? Oh, you didn't hear.
She, um She dumped me.
- What? - Yeah.
That's crazy.
You're like a rom-com character.
[CHUCKLES.]
What do you mean? Well, just, you know, you're handsome, and you have a beard and a sexy reporter job.
Uh, well, unfortunately, she did not feel that way about the job.
She hated the job.
It was just, um I don't know, it was just too much travel.
If my boyfriend was covering the Middle East, I'd be in heaven.
Just just when you start to annoy me, you leave town.
Dreamy.
Well, then maybe you and I should go out sometime.
[LAUGHS.]
That's good.
- You're hilarious.
- Hmm.
[CHUCKLING.]
: I'm gonna go get a I'm gonna go get a drink.
I thought you didn't drink.
You know, I think I'm gonna start.
- Okay.
- Okay.
[GRUNTS.]
Don't be nervous, honey.
You're gonna crush this.
We don't have enough of a presence in Springfield.
The numbers are still too low downstate.
We've got plenty of time, and when we're through, your opponents will be scattered into piles of ashes.
Nobody does metaphor quite like you do, my love.
Now Big smile, dear.
[CROWD CHEERING.]
It is with great pride and great humility that I announce my candidacy for attorney general to the great state of Illinois.
If elected, I promise to enforce law and order, ensure that no crime will go unpunished.
So that's what he was up to.
Our last two AGs became governor.
We can't let that happen.
Hey, if you go after him in the press, it'll come across like revenge.
Not if I do it in court.
What are you talking about? You want to sue him? No, expose him.
You know Harvey Birkbeck and I aren't the only two innocent people he's thrown in jail.
And there'll be a heck of a lot more - if he's elected attorney general.
- Exactly.
We need to sink his AG campaign before it begins.
Let's find another one of his wrongful convictions something really high-profile and jam it down his throat.
Are you sure you want to poke the bear? No, I want to rip his heart out.
How many innocent lives has he destroyed? I don't think it's a great idea, but I think somebody ought to This man doesn't get to be attorney general.
DETECTIVE [ON VIDEO.]
: Lucia, why did you set the fire? Because my little Angel told me to.
He spoke to me.
He said he was ready to go to Heaven.
[LUCIA LAUGHING.]
You seriously want to defend the Wicked Witch of West Pullman? The woman murdered her own child by burning down her house - and then confessed to it.
- We'd have a better chance exonerating the ghost of Charles Manson.
I know it's not a great case, but her PCR hearing is in less than two months.
The timing is perfect, and it's high-profile enough that we'll get a ton of press.
This is a disaster waiting to happen.
Everyone loved hating her.
Just like they loved hating me.
Lucia Rincon was convicted because of this image of her, right? - The satanic goth queen? - EASY: Correct.
What if I told you she was really a preacher's wife who was never into goth? So, then what was with all the goth makeup? It wasn't makeup.
It was soot from the fire.
They didn't clean her up before the confession.
Eyewitness accounts have her getting some sort of injection on the scene.
[PANTING, SOBBING.]
And let me guess, her toxicology report has disappeared.
Vanished in the wind.
I think we found our case.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
[LOCK BUZZES, LATCH CLICKS.]
[WOMAN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY OVER P.
A.
SPEAKERS.]
EASY: You okay? Yeah.
Best years of my life.
LUCIA: To this day, I don't know why my baby's dead.
I don't know why I confessed.
I play it over in my head.
Why did I do that? Since the advent of DNA evidence, about 2,000 inmates have been proven innocent and freed.
More than 500 of them had been coerced into falsely confessing.
EASY: So, Lucia, can you tell us what happened that night? I don't remember anything.
I was never into goth.
I-I-I didn't even know what that was.
Bellows did the same thing to me.
You know, the night Rosemary died was the first night I ever got drunk.
What? I thought you were some crazy party girl.
Behind every media caricature is a real-life human being, right? That man is a monster.
Lucia, you have a hearing in six weeks.
We'd like to be your lawyers at that hearing.
[EXHALING QUICKLY.]
This guy's kind of cute.
Ah, yeah.
He's like Daddy Warbucks if he was a eunuch.
Sometimes that's preferable.
- [LAUGHS.]
- Sorry, am I interrupting? We're just analyzing Violet's reckless dating app behavior.
Says our investigator holding a sword.
It's a replica of a 16th century katana.
What got you into this stuff? Kill Bill part two.
Oh, is that what got you into wrongful convictions? - No.
It was Kill Bill part one.
- [LAUGHS.]
Engine Company 93 originally investigated the fire.
I want you to go down there.
Dig around.
See if you can find out how the fire got started.
Perfect.
I'll go undercover as a recruit.
I don't think that's necessary.
It's always necessary.
[CHUCKLES.]
VIOLET: Maddie, I want to show you what I've been working on for the new press release.
Our plan is to show how Bellows used the media to demonize you.
Exactly like he's doing to Lucia.
[SINGSONGY.]
: You, I like you.
No.
Absolutely not.
I don't want to make this story about me.
Maddie.
We have to make this about you.
You are the living, breathing example of what Bellows is doing to Lucia.
EASY: She's right.
- You're our best asset.
- Right now you're our only asset.
It's a terrible case.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER, LAUGHTER.]
Oh, are you seeing anyone, Maddie? - You know that I'm not, Mom.
- Well you're not gonna be young forever.
Burn.
You've been out of prison for seven years.
Your whole life can't just be about your cases.
Well, actually, there's, uh, one that I need to talk to you all about.
- Who is it, honey? - Her name is Lucia Rincon.
Bellows is the prosecutor.
And I know our case is gonna come up, because it's part of our defense strategy.
JACK: Why do you want to talk about that nightmare again? I don't.
But this woman is innocent.
So if I have to drag my name through the mud to save her, that's just what I'm gonna do.
But what about your brother? He hasn't been able to get a decent job because of what happened.
Hey, I'm fine.
Coaching kids' soccer is nice, but - Wow.
Okay.
Thanks, Mom.
- MADELINE: I think it's great.
- Thank you.
It is great.
- HELEN: You can't do this to us again.
Our lives have just gotten back to normal.
Hey, we're the ones that went to prison, okay? So if she wants to talk about the case, then she can talk about the case.
And I want you to crush that son of a bitch for me.
For us.
For us.
JACK: I'm worried about you, Maddie.
Are you sure you really want to do this? Ever since I saw Bellows, I can't stop thinking about Rosemary.
[TAKES DEEP BREATH.]
Seeing him triggered something in me.
We've all spent so many years trying to forget about this.
It never goes away, does it? I don't think it ever will.
[YOUNG MADELINE GASPS SOFTLY.]
[GASPS SOFTLY.]
["SLEEP ALONE" BY BA FOR LASHES PLAYING.]
- - Last night's parties ROSEMARY: I bet Tobey would totally hook up with you in that dress.
[BOTH LAUGHING.]
Smiling and welling and kissing All I know YOUNG MADELINE: Tobey, stop.
Come on, just one sip.
Give my soul, give my soul - [COUGHING.]
- Sing it free Across the sea ROSEMARY: Hey, Levi, come drink with us! - Ah! - Ha! Oh! Lonely, lonely, lonely His mother told me A two-hearted dream.
TV NEWSWOMAN: Now with renowned innocence attorney Madeline Scott at her side, Rincon is heading back to court for round two of her infamous trial by fire.
And the Supreme Court has also held that fantastic or delusional claims of actual innocence should be dismissed by judges as frivolous and patently without Hey, uh what do you make of this Luciferina deal? Arson? Not arson? Those judges wouldn't know deliberate from an accidental combustion if you set their robes on fire.
[LAUGHS.]
That fire was 2004, wasn't it? Yes, it was, Chief.
December 2004.
So there you have it.
Why? What what happened in 2004? Charcoal Christmas, son.
But for this small suburb of Chicago, the murder of Rosemary Lynch is still a hot All right, let's go, let's go! Hustle it up now! Keep your head up! There you go! Nice shot! Hey, great save! There you go! Come on.
Go meet up with your friends, honey.
- Good effort, good effort.
- Levi! - Give me some fives.
There you go.
- Levi! Why is your sister defending that psycho who set her kid on fire? You-You'll have to talk to her about that.
She is using Rosemary.
It's disgusting.
What is wrong with you people? Can we not talk about this here, please? I-I'm-I'm trying to coach soccer.
We are never gonna forget what you and your sister did to Rosemary.
Ever.
Come on, Brian.
LEVI: We'll see you next week.
BOY: Bye, Coach Levi! Hey.
BRIAN: Hey, Levi.
What are you doing here? No one wants you here.
We don't want you around our kids.
You know, assault with a deadly weapon can get you up to ten years.
Maybe life if you kill me.
Is that what you want, Brian? You want to sit in a cell for the rest of your life just dreaming about all the things that you missed out on, like your wife, or your kids? Just a couple beers.
A good steak.
Why don't you move over and we'll both just pretend this whole thing didn't happen.
[GRUNTING.]
Oh, my God! Brian! Brian! Are you okay? [GROANS.]
Babe.
[PANTING.]
Are you all right? [BRIAN GROANS.]
[GRUNTING.]
[PANTING.]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
[CLEARS THROAT.]
: Heather.
Hi.
What are you doing here? Your drug addict brother nearly killed me and my husband.
I take it you're defending him? - He's been clean for years.
- Good for him.
Wait, Brian Husband is your husband? Yeah.
Oh, it's just now your name is Heather Husband.
I'm glad you've recovered enough from Rosemary's death to make everything a big joke.
You know, most of us in town still think you should be in jail.
We always will.
Well, sometimes I miss lockup, 'cause, you know, kind of cool to beat the hell out of a dumb bitch who looked at you wrong.
Well, you know all about being a dumb bitch, now, don't you? You know, I always thought that maybe you were the one - that killed Rosemary.
- What? You were definitely the queen bee back in the day, but you knew you were never getting out of La Grange.
And you should've seen your face the day Rosemary was accepted to Stanford.
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS.]
Well, it looks like she didn't quite make it, now, did she? See you in court, Maddie.
Mr.
Scott, where is your sister? She should be here soon, Your Honor.
Madeline Scott, Your Honor, counsel for the defendant.
[WHISPERS.]
: Sorry, bud.
And how do you plead? As always in our family, not guilty, Your Honor.
[GALLERY CHUCKLES.]
[GAVEL BANGS.]
- Hi.
- Hey.
Hi.
Can we, uh, can we talk about Rincon? Oh, is that what you're doing here? Well, we got a lot of readers that love the Goth Killer.
I'm metro now.
- Oh.
- So I guess your international dream guy scenario is over.
Yeah, you're still dreamy on this continent, but I can't discuss it.
All right, new idea.
How about this? How about I take you to dinner, and I give the story to somebody else? You would lose a story for a date? I would lose a Pulitzer for a date with you.
- Are you kidding me? Come on.
- [BOTH CHUCKLE.]
Oh, you're good.
I can't.
I I, uh You know what? You're not missing anything.
I'm terrible in bed.
That's a true story.
[LAUGHS.]
Easy.
I've been looking into Lucia's missing toxicology file.
So, this is the medical examiner report from Lucia's case.
- You see that? - Yeah.
It's a photocopy of a staple.
Right.
But that's the only page, and it says the toxicology report is attached.
If there's a photocopy of a staple It was hidden in discovery.
And we never figured out what she was injected with at the crime scene.
- Mm-hmm.
- It's got to be in there, right? Yeah, if we can find it.
What about the EMT who treated her at the scene? Maybe she can get it for us.
She's listed right here on the report.
You got it wrong.
I didn't inject Mrs.
Rincon with anything.
I drew her blood.
It's standard procedure.
Can you get us the complete toxicology report that says - what her blood showed? - I'm sorry.
I can't help you.
I know it's a lot to ask, but our client lost her son, her husband, and her freedom.
She lost everything.
EASY: Great news.
The paramedic found her soul and gave us Lucia's lab report, which shows she was hallucinating from carbon monoxide poisoning.
MADELINE: So her entire satanic public image was in reality a woman who was poisoned.
And Bellows buried the blood test that would prove it.
- We just destroyed Lucia's confession.
- [LAUGHS.]
Bingo.
All right, I got good news and bad news.
Oh, we're playing this game again.
Yeah, because I love it.
Which one do you want first? ALL: The bad news.
[SIGHS.]
I'm not gonna be a fireman with Engine Company 93.
- Shocking.
- What's the good news? Firefighters know everything about arson.
Who knew? - I knew.
- In 2005, a Jersey-based importer was hit with a class action suit claiming their faulty Christmas tree lights caused more than 60 Christmas tree fires.
They called it Charcoal Christmas.
Looks like Lucia's fire was an accident caused by faulty Christmas tree lights.
- Can we prove she owned them? - You mean, did she run back into a burning house to save a box of receipts? - Probably not.
- Okay, wait, but for the first time we have a logical explanation for how the fire started.
All right.
I'll amend our petition to include Bellows' suppression of the toxicology report and make sure that I file it No, no, no.
We can't file anything yet.
Bellows could cut a deal to keep this off the record.
Hiding a damaging blood test is enough to show how corrupt his case was and blow up his AG campaign.
I know you want to humiliate him, but what matters is Lucia.
We have enough information for him to release her.
I hate Bellows, too, but we have to protect our client above all else.
Yeah.
Okay.
Go to Bellows, see if he'll cut a deal.
Nice spot for a jog.
Especially this early, before all the carbon monoxide chokes the oxygen out of the air.
Lucia Rincon's confession.
She was suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning when she gave it.
I have the hidden blood test to prove it.
Look, I know you all think I'm the villain in your story.
May I ask you a question? You ever taken the statement of a mother whose child has just been murdered? I have.
At least a hundred times.
Never forget the look in their eyes, the look that says that their lives are now over, too.
Only thing I can do to make sure I can still sleep at night is punish the killer of their child.
What about when you get it wrong? Madeline Scott is guilty.
So is Rincon.
Even if you can get her released with that report, she still killed her kid.
She didn't kill him, but the fact that you suppressed this report will certainly kill your campaign.
So either way, you lose.
[CHUCKLES.]
: That's a good one, Easy.
She pleads to manslaughter, I'll make sure her sentence is reduced to time served.
The report stays buried.
She pleads to child endangerment.
If, in your crusade, you manage to free someone who's actually guilty and then they murder someone or otherwise ruin innocent lives, then who's the villain in your story? You have a deal.
LUCIA: What? - Really? - You're being offered what's called the Alford plea.
If you plead guilty to child endangerment, you'll be released based on timed served.
But everyone will still think I'm the Goth Killer? What do you think I should do? I was offered a plea in my case.
I turned it down.
I would rather be in prison than have the world think I was a murderer.
And you won in court? My conviction was overturned.
And if this happens, they can't retry me - because of the double jeopardy thing.
- No, no, no, no.
Double jeopardy only applies if you're found innocent at trial or deemed actually innocent based on appeal.
Yeah, but Bellows cares too much about his political ambitions to risk another loss.
I would be stunned if he tried you again.
My husband left me because he thought I killed our baby.
He made a statement against me in court.
I lost everything.
MADELINE: Lucia, what do you want to do? I want to go to court.
[WHISTLE BLOWS.]
- COACH: You take the kick.
- Right.
- Way to go, Tim.
Way to go.
- WOMAN: Yeah, there you go! [CHUCKLES.]
Yeah, that's the way.
All right.
Pass it over.
Hey, Levi.
Hey, Coach.
What's up? Hey, look, um, I-I hate to do this, but we're gonna have to let you go.
Wh-What? Why? That thing with Brian Husband pushed a lot of people over the edge.
You know, I tried to fight it, but, uh, you know, with the prison thing and-and the drugs No, no.
Hey.
Coach, I've been off oxy for years.
I have, you Frank, you know this is all I got.
You know I love these kids.
Don't-don't do this to me.
I'm sorry, Levi.
- I'm sorry.
- Frank, please don't.
[SIREN WAILING IN DISTANCE.]
ROSEMARY: Do you want to be a virgin in college? No.
Do you? No.
So let's get it over with.
[PHONE BUZZING.]
Hey.
Hi.
Um, I was thinking about your offer, and I I can't promise that it won't be super awkward, um, but maybe - if you want to have dinner, then - Yes.
I-I definitely want to.
I would love to.
Uh, Saturday.
How about Saturday night? - Okay.
- All right.
- I'll pick you up.
- Great.
Okay, bye.
[CHUCKLES.]
I got a line on Madeline Scott.
I love it.
Bring me something good.
Well, you know I will.
[MAN SPEAKING SPANISH.]
[MAN SPEAKING SPANISH.]
[MAN SPEAKING SPANISH.]
What's up? You okay? Yeah, will you look at this? Lucia's husband.
All his preaching is exclusively in Spanish.
So? The police report said that he didn't speak English.
Yeah, but his statement is in flawless English.
I couldn't stop thinking about Lucia's husband.
Why would he give a statement that she never wanted children - if it wasn't true? - Right, so we looked back to Rincon's original statement to the police.
- It's written in flawless English.
- And? He probably couldn't even read what he was signing.
Translator could have written anything.
All right, we need to confirm this is actually what he said, and if not, we need to get him on the record refuting it.
But first we have to find him.
[LAUGHS.]
: Yeah, good luck with that.
On it.
[EASY SIGHS.]
How could you get her to reject the plea? You risked our client's life on a long shot appeal over a personal vendetta with Bellows.
I don't see it that way.
I'm the only one who's been through what Lucia's been through.
Which does not give you the right to manipulate her into risking her own freedom so you can continue to grind your ax.
I didn't manipulate her.
I empathized with her.
In prison, no one is spitting at Lucia.
You want her to go back to all that? Who's gonna hire a woman who murdered her own child? Who will love that woman? No one.
Because that is the world that is waiting for her if she accepts a plea that admits any wrongdoing.
That's the life sentence that terrifies me.
She'll be free.
Isn't that the entire point of this firm? Lucia's not fighting for her freedom, and neither am I.
She's fighting for her innocence.
And so are we.
[PHONE BUZZING.]
Hey, big brother.
LEVI: Hey, hey.
Hey, sis.
Levi, you promised.
Um promises, promises.
Why? You were doing so well.
I can't help it.
I miss her.
[INHALES, EXHALES SHARPLY.]
She was my best friend, too, and I'm not a drug addict.
We were more than friends.
What? I never told you.
I never told anyone.
We were together.
[BREATH QUIVERING.]
You and Rosemary? [INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
MADELINE: You swore - you were never together.
- I know.
- You lied to me.
- I know.
I'm sorry, sis.
It was it was our secret.
If this gets out, the whole world will think we're guilty again.
This could destroy us.
No, it could destroy you.
I'm already gone.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
[SPEAKING SPANISH.]
Hey.
Found Rincon.
MADELINE: Great.
Where? Where? He's a street preacher in Hope Park, preaching that the world's about to end.
What do you want me to do? See if he'll swear out an affidavit denying the statement he supposedly gave police.
- Copy that.
- Bodie, be careful.
There's armed drug crews in that park 24/7.
That's an obstacle.
But I got an idea.
I'll call you back.
Five-O! Five-O! - WOMAN: Five-O! - MAN: Five-O! Five-O! - WOMAN: Five-O! - [DAMIAN SPEAKING SPANISH.]
[SPEAKING SPANISH.]
Damian Rincon.
No speak with no policÃa.
Aah! Lucia Rincon was convicted of arson-homicide using outdated, outmoded fire investigation methods.
I remember her trial, Ms.
Scott.
I presided over it.
I've also read your brief detailing this spate of Christmas tree fires which all took place before Mrs.
Rincon's trial.
Yes.
The fires themselves took place before the trial, but Statute is clear.
Innocence claims must be based on newly-discovered evidence.
The cause of the fires wasn't determined until six years later.
That determination is our evidence.
Nice try, Ms.
Scott, but I'll stick with my interpretation.
It's not my interpretation.
It's settled precedent.
You say tomato.
I say next issue.
- [GALLERY MURMURING.]
- There is no next issue, Your Honor.
Tomato, Ms.
Scott.
Next issue.
This is a one-issue case.
If there's no arson, there's no arson-homicide.
Clock is ticking.
Should we keep spinning our wheels, or should we move on down the road? [GALLERY MURMURING.]
Happy to move on, Your Honor.
Your Honor, if I could draw the court's attention to the toxicology report submitted with our petition.
In violation of Brady v.
Maryland, Ms.
Rincon's blood test was hidden from defense counsel.
JUDGE SPEER: Let's discuss how this blood test would have impacted the trial.
It clearly undermines Ms.
Rincon's confession, Your Honor.
She has no memory of the fire or its aftermath.
Among the key symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning is confabulation fabrication of imaginary events to compensate for total memory loss.
I.
e.
, detectives repeated what they believed happened over and over until Ms.
Rincon believed it, too.
I'm not sure that evidence of carbon monoxide poisoning is material enough to change the jury's verdict.
Your Honor, they goaded Lucia into believing she murdered her own son.
That, coupled with the guilt and trauma of losing a child, amounts to a forced, unreliable confession.
I'll consider it, but I'm not gonna lie.
I've heard better.
What else you got? Wha What else have we got? I'm sorry, Your Honor.
Is there something funny about a woman serving a life sentence for a crime that didn't even happen? - Excuse me? - [GALLERY CLAMORING.]
Your Honor, my investigator has been assaulted.
May we ask for a recess until tomorrow? My Lord, you look like hell.
Adjourned until 9:00 a.
m.
And, Ms.
Scott, I hope you're a bit cooler when you come back in this room, or I will kick you right out.
Are you okay? What happened to your face? Rincon's undocumented, he thought I was from immigration.
After he realized I wasn't ICE, he finally started talking.
And? And he didn't write that statement, and he never turned against his wife.
Their entire motive is falsified on that forged statement.
He's gonna testify? No, no, no, because if he shows up to court, he's gonna be deported, and he says if he gets deported, he'll be killed as soon as he gets home.
I mean, he already disappeared.
We need to prove that translation was purposely faked.
Yeah.
Then let's look into the translator.
[SIGHS.]
I found something.
That translator did the same thing in Indiana.
Did you say Indiana? MADELINE: Oh, my God.
It's good.
Yeah.
If we can get him to testify, we might have a shot.
As of right now, it's our only shot.
We got to find this guy.
MADELINE: Good morning, Your Honor.
Petitioner submits a letter from the attorney general of Indiana, detailing a plea bargain in a case where the translator, Thomas LeMay, improperly translated the testimony of a critical witness.
Mr.
LeMay was also the translator the prosecution used - in this case.
- Your Honor, counsel's claim is a desperate attempt to plant the seeds of doubt into our investigation.
It is a personal vendetta against myself, and impossible to prove that this translation was falsified.
That's because I'm not finished, Your Honor.
Petitioner calls the translator, Thomas LeMay, to the stand.
[GALLERY CLAMORING.]
Petitioner also submits an affidavit, signed by Mr.
LeMay, admitting to falsifying the translation in this case, State of Illinois v.
Rincon.
His motivation was to ensure guilty verdicts for people he was convinced were guilty.
LEMAY: They were guilty, Your Honor.
Get him the hell out of my courtroom.
- Your Honor, I want to say something.
- Out.
LEMAY: Sometimes the ends justify the means! Mr.
Bellows? I'm just as shocked as everyone else in this room.
Oh, that was good.
Very convincing.
- Your Honor.
- No need to rub it in, Ms.
Scott.
Even just a little? How many cases have you tried using fraudulent translations? I am under no obligation to answer questions posed by opposing counsel.
You are, however, under obligation to answer questions from this bench.
You say tomato, I say to-mah-to.
[LAUGHTER.]
You stole my line, Ms.
Scott so I'll take yours.
Mr.
Bellows, how many of your prosecutions relied on this obviously corrupt translator? I have no idea, Your Honor, but I will personally investigate each and every one of them.
In fact, I will initiate an internal review of all convictions won by my office over the last 20 years.
If there is even a scintilla of corruption, I will root it out.
I've dedicated my life to serving justice.
Your Honor, the justice currently before the court is the false imprisonment of Lucia Rincon.
We've presented a forged affidavit, a hidden toxicology report, and ample evidence that show the true cause of the fire.
There was no murder, Your Honor.
Only lies, deceit, and corruption that have placed an innocent woman behind bars.
Mrs.
Rincon.
[WHISPERS.]
: Stand up.
You must feel like you got lost in the shuffle.
I've gotten used to it, Your Honor.
Let's see what we can do about that.
Based on the totality of the evidence presented, Petitioner's motion for post-conviction relief is granted, and this court hereby declares the defendant is actually innocent.
[CHEERING.]
Mrs.
Rincon, you are free to go.
[APPLAUSE, WHOOPING.]
MAN: Ms.
Scott.
[INDISTINCT, OVERLAPPING CHATTER.]
[INDISTINCT, OVERLAPPING SHOUTING.]
Thank you.
Lucia, how do you feel? I-I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but mostly, I just feel cold.
[OVERLAPPING CHATTER, LAUGHTER.]
Rosemary? Rosemary? Rosemary? Rosemary? Oh, my God, my God, please say something.
Levi? Is she okay? I don't know, I - Oh, my God.
- I'm sorry.
[MADELINE SCREAMS.]
- [BOTH CRYING.]
- Where you waited In the rain I am siren, I am ivy I am no one I'm nobody I am longing for your honey I am longing for your love.
And the shot goes Through my head and back Gunshot Never get you back Never get you back Never get you back.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
[ENGINE STOPS.]
- [DOG BARKING.]
- [CHAIN-LINK FENCE RATTLING.]
[SNARLING.]
[KNOCKING ON DOOR.]
Caleb Greeves? Who the hell are you? I represent Harvey Birkbeck.
[LOCK CLICKS.]
Harve still up over at Statesville? Going on 27 years.
That's a long time to serve for a murder you and I both know he didn't commit.
I have a court order authorizing me to collect a sample of your DNA.
Bad idea coming here by yourself, don't you think? People know I'm here, Caleb.
You take me out, there's gonna be ten more tomorrow and another ten the next day.
It's the end of the road.
Can't kill your way out of this one.
Says you, lady.
[DIALING.]
[LINE RINGING.]
[DOG WHINING.]
OPERATOR: 911.
What is your emergency? [DOG WHINES.]
What happens to a dog when the owner dies? OPERATOR: Ma'am, is there an emergency? Not anymore.
VIOLET: Good morning from Chicago.
Once again we are recording our weekly podcast from our offices at the Injustice Defense Group, a law firm solely dedicated to the issue of wrongful convictions.
On this week's episode of Until Proven Innocent, we're here with our regular guest, and my boss, wrongful conviction attorney Madeline Scott.
Her recent discovery of DNA evidence has gotten Harvey Birkbeck a new hearing after 27 years.
Will an innocent man finally get to go home? This is the first time you're facing off against Gore Bellows since you became a lawyer four years ago, correct? - Yes, it is.
- To the two people in the entire world who don't know, Gore Bellows is the very prosecutor who wrongfully convicted Madeline and her brother Levi Scott of the first-degree murder of her best friend Rosemary Lynch.
Are you nervous going up against the man who put you away? No.
His approach in my case was so stunningly dishonest that any opportunity to show the world that our white knight state's attorney is really a corrupt liar is an opportunity I'm eager to take.
- [KNOCKING ON WINDOW.]
- And that is your law partner Easy Boudreau, who I guess doesn't know we're recording.
Curious what he thinks the headsets are for.
This is Until Proven Innocent with Violet Price, telling the stories of the wrongfully accused and the lawyers who represent them.
Was it really necessary to antagonize Bellows? It's always necessary.
And it's fun.
"Fools give rise to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.
" Proverbs.
"I'm a sinner, I'm a saint, I do not feel ashamed.
" Meredith Brooks.
"I'm your hell, I'm your dream.
" BOTH: "I'm nothing in between.
" While I hate to break up this amazing rendition of late '90s feminist alternative rock, - we've got to get to court.
- [DOG BARKS.]
Yeah.
Hey, Atticus.
This is Atticus.
What was I supposed to do? At least he's black.
- [CHUCKLING.]
: Exactly.
- Sorry.
I'm a bitch, I'm a lover - I'm a child, I'm a mother - [SHOUTING.]
MAN: Keep it up, Madeline.
MAN 2: How'd you find the DNA? MAN 3: Great work, Madeline.
- Set him free, Madeline.
- Keep fighting the good fight, Madeline! You okay, Harvey? DEPUTY SHERIFF: All rise.
The State v.
Madeline and Levi Scott will now proceed.
DEPUTY SHERIFF: All rise.
The People v.
Harvey Birkbeck.
You may be seated.
Counselor, you may proceed.
Good morning, Your Honor.
On behalf of petitioner, we would like to submit newly acquired DNA evidence Your Honor, may it please the court.
The State withdraws its objection to the release of Mr.
Harvey Birkbeck.
Now, I realize this is somewhat unusual, but in consideration of this new DNA evidence, clearly a mistake has been made.
Contrary to what Ms.
Scott would have the public believe, we prosecutors are also human beings.
Objection.
Assumes facts not in evidence.
- [GALLERY LAUGHING.]
- [GAVEL BANGS.]
Quiet, please.
Mr.
Bellows, continue.
An injustice has been done.
This man has spent the better part of his life wrongfully imprisoned, and it gives me no greater joy than to say, "It's time for you to go home.
" The State moves to vacate Mr.
Birkbeck's conviction of murder in the second degree.
[GALLERY MURMURING.]
Congratulations, Mr.
Birkbeck, you're a free man now.
- Case is dismissed.
- [GALLERY CHEERING.]
Defendant is discharged.
- [GALLERY CHEERING.]
- MADELINE: You get to go home.
JUDGE: "We, the jury, in the above entitled cause, "find the defendants "Madeline Scott and Levi Scott guilty - "of the crime of murder - No.
of Rosemary Lynch.
" - No, we're innocent.
- Your Honor, please.
- We're innocent.
- Your Honor, please.
- No.
No, Your Honor! - MADELINE: I would never hurt [GALLERY TALKING INDISTINCTLY.]
We're innocent.
Your Honor, please.
No! BELLOWS: Well done, Maddie.
I always wanted to tell you that your case was never personal for me.
I was just doing my job and I honestly thought you were guilty.
- In fact, I still do.
- WOMAN: Mr.
Bellows.
- MAN: Mr.
Bellows.
- WOMAN: Mr.
Bellows, sir.
MAN: How about a quick comment? [REPORTERS CLAMORING.]
What is that snake up to? EASY: Bellows wants to avoid the humiliation and be the hero.
It's pretty clever, actually.
Well, the real question is why.
VIOLET: Today's Until Proven Innocent is being recorded at the Performing Arts Center for our first annual Injustice Defense Group fund-raiser.
[AUDIENCE CHEERING, WHOOPING.]
Now, the whole world knows that Madeline got her bachelor's degree during her ten years in prison, and upon her release attended Yale Law School, graduating top of her class.
But what most people don't realize is that her lawyer wasn't even a criminal defense lawyer when he took on her infamous case.
Nope.
Reinsurance regulation.
- [LAUGHTER.]
- VIOLET: So what happened? EASY: Uh, truth be told, I thought she was guilty like everyone else did.
Then Maddie sent me a letter.
The letter said, "Please do not look away without at least hearing my story.
" I was so surprised, I thought perhaps this is the one case meant for me.
And so I decided to follow the Lord's guidance and not look away.
After a few months working together, I asked her about the number she'd written at the bottom of my special letter.
2,736.
Turns out, that was the number of letters she'd sent before mine.
I realized right then that I had discovered my purpose.
Because if 2,735 trained lawyers would ignore an innocent girl whose case was famous, who was gonna fight for the innocent people behind bars who weren't famous? [CHEERING, WHOOPING.]
Now, Rosemary Lynch was brutally murdered and yet her killer was never found.
That's correct.
When someone goes to prison for a murder they didn't commit, it means the real murderer is still out there.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
Same contribution as last year? - Absolutely.
- Maybe a little more? My cover is a billionaire donor tonight.
That's why I bought this hat.
It's not very believable.
- How are you? - Good, how are you? Dylan, hi.
Hey.
- Thank you for coming.
- [SIGHS.]
Yeah, of course.
Where's Becky? Sh-She couldn't make it? Oh, you didn't hear.
She, um She dumped me.
- What? - Yeah.
That's crazy.
You're like a rom-com character.
[CHUCKLES.]
What do you mean? Well, just, you know, you're handsome, and you have a beard and a sexy reporter job.
Uh, well, unfortunately, she did not feel that way about the job.
She hated the job.
It was just, um I don't know, it was just too much travel.
If my boyfriend was covering the Middle East, I'd be in heaven.
Just just when you start to annoy me, you leave town.
Dreamy.
Well, then maybe you and I should go out sometime.
[LAUGHS.]
That's good.
- You're hilarious.
- Hmm.
[CHUCKLING.]
: I'm gonna go get a I'm gonna go get a drink.
I thought you didn't drink.
You know, I think I'm gonna start.
- Okay.
- Okay.
[GRUNTS.]
Don't be nervous, honey.
You're gonna crush this.
We don't have enough of a presence in Springfield.
The numbers are still too low downstate.
We've got plenty of time, and when we're through, your opponents will be scattered into piles of ashes.
Nobody does metaphor quite like you do, my love.
Now Big smile, dear.
[CROWD CHEERING.]
It is with great pride and great humility that I announce my candidacy for attorney general to the great state of Illinois.
If elected, I promise to enforce law and order, ensure that no crime will go unpunished.
So that's what he was up to.
Our last two AGs became governor.
We can't let that happen.
Hey, if you go after him in the press, it'll come across like revenge.
Not if I do it in court.
What are you talking about? You want to sue him? No, expose him.
You know Harvey Birkbeck and I aren't the only two innocent people he's thrown in jail.
And there'll be a heck of a lot more - if he's elected attorney general.
- Exactly.
We need to sink his AG campaign before it begins.
Let's find another one of his wrongful convictions something really high-profile and jam it down his throat.
Are you sure you want to poke the bear? No, I want to rip his heart out.
How many innocent lives has he destroyed? I don't think it's a great idea, but I think somebody ought to This man doesn't get to be attorney general.
DETECTIVE [ON VIDEO.]
: Lucia, why did you set the fire? Because my little Angel told me to.
He spoke to me.
He said he was ready to go to Heaven.
[LUCIA LAUGHING.]
You seriously want to defend the Wicked Witch of West Pullman? The woman murdered her own child by burning down her house - and then confessed to it.
- We'd have a better chance exonerating the ghost of Charles Manson.
I know it's not a great case, but her PCR hearing is in less than two months.
The timing is perfect, and it's high-profile enough that we'll get a ton of press.
This is a disaster waiting to happen.
Everyone loved hating her.
Just like they loved hating me.
Lucia Rincon was convicted because of this image of her, right? - The satanic goth queen? - EASY: Correct.
What if I told you she was really a preacher's wife who was never into goth? So, then what was with all the goth makeup? It wasn't makeup.
It was soot from the fire.
They didn't clean her up before the confession.
Eyewitness accounts have her getting some sort of injection on the scene.
[PANTING, SOBBING.]
And let me guess, her toxicology report has disappeared.
Vanished in the wind.
I think we found our case.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
[LOCK BUZZES, LATCH CLICKS.]
[WOMAN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY OVER P.
A.
SPEAKERS.]
EASY: You okay? Yeah.
Best years of my life.
LUCIA: To this day, I don't know why my baby's dead.
I don't know why I confessed.
I play it over in my head.
Why did I do that? Since the advent of DNA evidence, about 2,000 inmates have been proven innocent and freed.
More than 500 of them had been coerced into falsely confessing.
EASY: So, Lucia, can you tell us what happened that night? I don't remember anything.
I was never into goth.
I-I-I didn't even know what that was.
Bellows did the same thing to me.
You know, the night Rosemary died was the first night I ever got drunk.
What? I thought you were some crazy party girl.
Behind every media caricature is a real-life human being, right? That man is a monster.
Lucia, you have a hearing in six weeks.
We'd like to be your lawyers at that hearing.
[EXHALING QUICKLY.]
This guy's kind of cute.
Ah, yeah.
He's like Daddy Warbucks if he was a eunuch.
Sometimes that's preferable.
- [LAUGHS.]
- Sorry, am I interrupting? We're just analyzing Violet's reckless dating app behavior.
Says our investigator holding a sword.
It's a replica of a 16th century katana.
What got you into this stuff? Kill Bill part two.
Oh, is that what got you into wrongful convictions? - No.
It was Kill Bill part one.
- [LAUGHS.]
Engine Company 93 originally investigated the fire.
I want you to go down there.
Dig around.
See if you can find out how the fire got started.
Perfect.
I'll go undercover as a recruit.
I don't think that's necessary.
It's always necessary.
[CHUCKLES.]
VIOLET: Maddie, I want to show you what I've been working on for the new press release.
Our plan is to show how Bellows used the media to demonize you.
Exactly like he's doing to Lucia.
[SINGSONGY.]
: You, I like you.
No.
Absolutely not.
I don't want to make this story about me.
Maddie.
We have to make this about you.
You are the living, breathing example of what Bellows is doing to Lucia.
EASY: She's right.
- You're our best asset.
- Right now you're our only asset.
It's a terrible case.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER, LAUGHTER.]
Oh, are you seeing anyone, Maddie? - You know that I'm not, Mom.
- Well you're not gonna be young forever.
Burn.
You've been out of prison for seven years.
Your whole life can't just be about your cases.
Well, actually, there's, uh, one that I need to talk to you all about.
- Who is it, honey? - Her name is Lucia Rincon.
Bellows is the prosecutor.
And I know our case is gonna come up, because it's part of our defense strategy.
JACK: Why do you want to talk about that nightmare again? I don't.
But this woman is innocent.
So if I have to drag my name through the mud to save her, that's just what I'm gonna do.
But what about your brother? He hasn't been able to get a decent job because of what happened.
Hey, I'm fine.
Coaching kids' soccer is nice, but - Wow.
Okay.
Thanks, Mom.
- MADELINE: I think it's great.
- Thank you.
It is great.
- HELEN: You can't do this to us again.
Our lives have just gotten back to normal.
Hey, we're the ones that went to prison, okay? So if she wants to talk about the case, then she can talk about the case.
And I want you to crush that son of a bitch for me.
For us.
For us.
JACK: I'm worried about you, Maddie.
Are you sure you really want to do this? Ever since I saw Bellows, I can't stop thinking about Rosemary.
[TAKES DEEP BREATH.]
Seeing him triggered something in me.
We've all spent so many years trying to forget about this.
It never goes away, does it? I don't think it ever will.
[YOUNG MADELINE GASPS SOFTLY.]
[GASPS SOFTLY.]
["SLEEP ALONE" BY BA FOR LASHES PLAYING.]
- - Last night's parties ROSEMARY: I bet Tobey would totally hook up with you in that dress.
[BOTH LAUGHING.]
Smiling and welling and kissing All I know YOUNG MADELINE: Tobey, stop.
Come on, just one sip.
Give my soul, give my soul - [COUGHING.]
- Sing it free Across the sea ROSEMARY: Hey, Levi, come drink with us! - Ah! - Ha! Oh! Lonely, lonely, lonely His mother told me A two-hearted dream.
TV NEWSWOMAN: Now with renowned innocence attorney Madeline Scott at her side, Rincon is heading back to court for round two of her infamous trial by fire.
And the Supreme Court has also held that fantastic or delusional claims of actual innocence should be dismissed by judges as frivolous and patently without Hey, uh what do you make of this Luciferina deal? Arson? Not arson? Those judges wouldn't know deliberate from an accidental combustion if you set their robes on fire.
[LAUGHS.]
That fire was 2004, wasn't it? Yes, it was, Chief.
December 2004.
So there you have it.
Why? What what happened in 2004? Charcoal Christmas, son.
But for this small suburb of Chicago, the murder of Rosemary Lynch is still a hot All right, let's go, let's go! Hustle it up now! Keep your head up! There you go! Nice shot! Hey, great save! There you go! Come on.
Go meet up with your friends, honey.
- Good effort, good effort.
- Levi! - Give me some fives.
There you go.
- Levi! Why is your sister defending that psycho who set her kid on fire? You-You'll have to talk to her about that.
She is using Rosemary.
It's disgusting.
What is wrong with you people? Can we not talk about this here, please? I-I'm-I'm trying to coach soccer.
We are never gonna forget what you and your sister did to Rosemary.
Ever.
Come on, Brian.
LEVI: We'll see you next week.
BOY: Bye, Coach Levi! Hey.
BRIAN: Hey, Levi.
What are you doing here? No one wants you here.
We don't want you around our kids.
You know, assault with a deadly weapon can get you up to ten years.
Maybe life if you kill me.
Is that what you want, Brian? You want to sit in a cell for the rest of your life just dreaming about all the things that you missed out on, like your wife, or your kids? Just a couple beers.
A good steak.
Why don't you move over and we'll both just pretend this whole thing didn't happen.
[GRUNTING.]
Oh, my God! Brian! Brian! Are you okay? [GROANS.]
Babe.
[PANTING.]
Are you all right? [BRIAN GROANS.]
[GRUNTING.]
[PANTING.]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
[CLEARS THROAT.]
: Heather.
Hi.
What are you doing here? Your drug addict brother nearly killed me and my husband.
I take it you're defending him? - He's been clean for years.
- Good for him.
Wait, Brian Husband is your husband? Yeah.
Oh, it's just now your name is Heather Husband.
I'm glad you've recovered enough from Rosemary's death to make everything a big joke.
You know, most of us in town still think you should be in jail.
We always will.
Well, sometimes I miss lockup, 'cause, you know, kind of cool to beat the hell out of a dumb bitch who looked at you wrong.
Well, you know all about being a dumb bitch, now, don't you? You know, I always thought that maybe you were the one - that killed Rosemary.
- What? You were definitely the queen bee back in the day, but you knew you were never getting out of La Grange.
And you should've seen your face the day Rosemary was accepted to Stanford.
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS.]
Well, it looks like she didn't quite make it, now, did she? See you in court, Maddie.
Mr.
Scott, where is your sister? She should be here soon, Your Honor.
Madeline Scott, Your Honor, counsel for the defendant.
[WHISPERS.]
: Sorry, bud.
And how do you plead? As always in our family, not guilty, Your Honor.
[GALLERY CHUCKLES.]
[GAVEL BANGS.]
- Hi.
- Hey.
Hi.
Can we, uh, can we talk about Rincon? Oh, is that what you're doing here? Well, we got a lot of readers that love the Goth Killer.
I'm metro now.
- Oh.
- So I guess your international dream guy scenario is over.
Yeah, you're still dreamy on this continent, but I can't discuss it.
All right, new idea.
How about this? How about I take you to dinner, and I give the story to somebody else? You would lose a story for a date? I would lose a Pulitzer for a date with you.
- Are you kidding me? Come on.
- [BOTH CHUCKLE.]
Oh, you're good.
I can't.
I I, uh You know what? You're not missing anything.
I'm terrible in bed.
That's a true story.
[LAUGHS.]
Easy.
I've been looking into Lucia's missing toxicology file.
So, this is the medical examiner report from Lucia's case.
- You see that? - Yeah.
It's a photocopy of a staple.
Right.
But that's the only page, and it says the toxicology report is attached.
If there's a photocopy of a staple It was hidden in discovery.
And we never figured out what she was injected with at the crime scene.
- Mm-hmm.
- It's got to be in there, right? Yeah, if we can find it.
What about the EMT who treated her at the scene? Maybe she can get it for us.
She's listed right here on the report.
You got it wrong.
I didn't inject Mrs.
Rincon with anything.
I drew her blood.
It's standard procedure.
Can you get us the complete toxicology report that says - what her blood showed? - I'm sorry.
I can't help you.
I know it's a lot to ask, but our client lost her son, her husband, and her freedom.
She lost everything.
EASY: Great news.
The paramedic found her soul and gave us Lucia's lab report, which shows she was hallucinating from carbon monoxide poisoning.
MADELINE: So her entire satanic public image was in reality a woman who was poisoned.
And Bellows buried the blood test that would prove it.
- We just destroyed Lucia's confession.
- [LAUGHS.]
Bingo.
All right, I got good news and bad news.
Oh, we're playing this game again.
Yeah, because I love it.
Which one do you want first? ALL: The bad news.
[SIGHS.]
I'm not gonna be a fireman with Engine Company 93.
- Shocking.
- What's the good news? Firefighters know everything about arson.
Who knew? - I knew.
- In 2005, a Jersey-based importer was hit with a class action suit claiming their faulty Christmas tree lights caused more than 60 Christmas tree fires.
They called it Charcoal Christmas.
Looks like Lucia's fire was an accident caused by faulty Christmas tree lights.
- Can we prove she owned them? - You mean, did she run back into a burning house to save a box of receipts? - Probably not.
- Okay, wait, but for the first time we have a logical explanation for how the fire started.
All right.
I'll amend our petition to include Bellows' suppression of the toxicology report and make sure that I file it No, no, no.
We can't file anything yet.
Bellows could cut a deal to keep this off the record.
Hiding a damaging blood test is enough to show how corrupt his case was and blow up his AG campaign.
I know you want to humiliate him, but what matters is Lucia.
We have enough information for him to release her.
I hate Bellows, too, but we have to protect our client above all else.
Yeah.
Okay.
Go to Bellows, see if he'll cut a deal.
Nice spot for a jog.
Especially this early, before all the carbon monoxide chokes the oxygen out of the air.
Lucia Rincon's confession.
She was suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning when she gave it.
I have the hidden blood test to prove it.
Look, I know you all think I'm the villain in your story.
May I ask you a question? You ever taken the statement of a mother whose child has just been murdered? I have.
At least a hundred times.
Never forget the look in their eyes, the look that says that their lives are now over, too.
Only thing I can do to make sure I can still sleep at night is punish the killer of their child.
What about when you get it wrong? Madeline Scott is guilty.
So is Rincon.
Even if you can get her released with that report, she still killed her kid.
She didn't kill him, but the fact that you suppressed this report will certainly kill your campaign.
So either way, you lose.
[CHUCKLES.]
: That's a good one, Easy.
She pleads to manslaughter, I'll make sure her sentence is reduced to time served.
The report stays buried.
She pleads to child endangerment.
If, in your crusade, you manage to free someone who's actually guilty and then they murder someone or otherwise ruin innocent lives, then who's the villain in your story? You have a deal.
LUCIA: What? - Really? - You're being offered what's called the Alford plea.
If you plead guilty to child endangerment, you'll be released based on timed served.
But everyone will still think I'm the Goth Killer? What do you think I should do? I was offered a plea in my case.
I turned it down.
I would rather be in prison than have the world think I was a murderer.
And you won in court? My conviction was overturned.
And if this happens, they can't retry me - because of the double jeopardy thing.
- No, no, no, no.
Double jeopardy only applies if you're found innocent at trial or deemed actually innocent based on appeal.
Yeah, but Bellows cares too much about his political ambitions to risk another loss.
I would be stunned if he tried you again.
My husband left me because he thought I killed our baby.
He made a statement against me in court.
I lost everything.
MADELINE: Lucia, what do you want to do? I want to go to court.
[WHISTLE BLOWS.]
- COACH: You take the kick.
- Right.
- Way to go, Tim.
Way to go.
- WOMAN: Yeah, there you go! [CHUCKLES.]
Yeah, that's the way.
All right.
Pass it over.
Hey, Levi.
Hey, Coach.
What's up? Hey, look, um, I-I hate to do this, but we're gonna have to let you go.
Wh-What? Why? That thing with Brian Husband pushed a lot of people over the edge.
You know, I tried to fight it, but, uh, you know, with the prison thing and-and the drugs No, no.
Hey.
Coach, I've been off oxy for years.
I have, you Frank, you know this is all I got.
You know I love these kids.
Don't-don't do this to me.
I'm sorry, Levi.
- I'm sorry.
- Frank, please don't.
[SIREN WAILING IN DISTANCE.]
ROSEMARY: Do you want to be a virgin in college? No.
Do you? No.
So let's get it over with.
[PHONE BUZZING.]
Hey.
Hi.
Um, I was thinking about your offer, and I I can't promise that it won't be super awkward, um, but maybe - if you want to have dinner, then - Yes.
I-I definitely want to.
I would love to.
Uh, Saturday.
How about Saturday night? - Okay.
- All right.
- I'll pick you up.
- Great.
Okay, bye.
[CHUCKLES.]
I got a line on Madeline Scott.
I love it.
Bring me something good.
Well, you know I will.
[MAN SPEAKING SPANISH.]
[MAN SPEAKING SPANISH.]
[MAN SPEAKING SPANISH.]
What's up? You okay? Yeah, will you look at this? Lucia's husband.
All his preaching is exclusively in Spanish.
So? The police report said that he didn't speak English.
Yeah, but his statement is in flawless English.
I couldn't stop thinking about Lucia's husband.
Why would he give a statement that she never wanted children - if it wasn't true? - Right, so we looked back to Rincon's original statement to the police.
- It's written in flawless English.
- And? He probably couldn't even read what he was signing.
Translator could have written anything.
All right, we need to confirm this is actually what he said, and if not, we need to get him on the record refuting it.
But first we have to find him.
[LAUGHS.]
: Yeah, good luck with that.
On it.
[EASY SIGHS.]
How could you get her to reject the plea? You risked our client's life on a long shot appeal over a personal vendetta with Bellows.
I don't see it that way.
I'm the only one who's been through what Lucia's been through.
Which does not give you the right to manipulate her into risking her own freedom so you can continue to grind your ax.
I didn't manipulate her.
I empathized with her.
In prison, no one is spitting at Lucia.
You want her to go back to all that? Who's gonna hire a woman who murdered her own child? Who will love that woman? No one.
Because that is the world that is waiting for her if she accepts a plea that admits any wrongdoing.
That's the life sentence that terrifies me.
She'll be free.
Isn't that the entire point of this firm? Lucia's not fighting for her freedom, and neither am I.
She's fighting for her innocence.
And so are we.
[PHONE BUZZING.]
Hey, big brother.
LEVI: Hey, hey.
Hey, sis.
Levi, you promised.
Um promises, promises.
Why? You were doing so well.
I can't help it.
I miss her.
[INHALES, EXHALES SHARPLY.]
She was my best friend, too, and I'm not a drug addict.
We were more than friends.
What? I never told you.
I never told anyone.
We were together.
[BREATH QUIVERING.]
You and Rosemary? [INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
MADELINE: You swore - you were never together.
- I know.
- You lied to me.
- I know.
I'm sorry, sis.
It was it was our secret.
If this gets out, the whole world will think we're guilty again.
This could destroy us.
No, it could destroy you.
I'm already gone.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
[SPEAKING SPANISH.]
Hey.
Found Rincon.
MADELINE: Great.
Where? Where? He's a street preacher in Hope Park, preaching that the world's about to end.
What do you want me to do? See if he'll swear out an affidavit denying the statement he supposedly gave police.
- Copy that.
- Bodie, be careful.
There's armed drug crews in that park 24/7.
That's an obstacle.
But I got an idea.
I'll call you back.
Five-O! Five-O! - WOMAN: Five-O! - MAN: Five-O! Five-O! - WOMAN: Five-O! - [DAMIAN SPEAKING SPANISH.]
[SPEAKING SPANISH.]
Damian Rincon.
No speak with no policÃa.
Aah! Lucia Rincon was convicted of arson-homicide using outdated, outmoded fire investigation methods.
I remember her trial, Ms.
Scott.
I presided over it.
I've also read your brief detailing this spate of Christmas tree fires which all took place before Mrs.
Rincon's trial.
Yes.
The fires themselves took place before the trial, but Statute is clear.
Innocence claims must be based on newly-discovered evidence.
The cause of the fires wasn't determined until six years later.
That determination is our evidence.
Nice try, Ms.
Scott, but I'll stick with my interpretation.
It's not my interpretation.
It's settled precedent.
You say tomato.
I say next issue.
- [GALLERY MURMURING.]
- There is no next issue, Your Honor.
Tomato, Ms.
Scott.
Next issue.
This is a one-issue case.
If there's no arson, there's no arson-homicide.
Clock is ticking.
Should we keep spinning our wheels, or should we move on down the road? [GALLERY MURMURING.]
Happy to move on, Your Honor.
Your Honor, if I could draw the court's attention to the toxicology report submitted with our petition.
In violation of Brady v.
Maryland, Ms.
Rincon's blood test was hidden from defense counsel.
JUDGE SPEER: Let's discuss how this blood test would have impacted the trial.
It clearly undermines Ms.
Rincon's confession, Your Honor.
She has no memory of the fire or its aftermath.
Among the key symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning is confabulation fabrication of imaginary events to compensate for total memory loss.
I.
e.
, detectives repeated what they believed happened over and over until Ms.
Rincon believed it, too.
I'm not sure that evidence of carbon monoxide poisoning is material enough to change the jury's verdict.
Your Honor, they goaded Lucia into believing she murdered her own son.
That, coupled with the guilt and trauma of losing a child, amounts to a forced, unreliable confession.
I'll consider it, but I'm not gonna lie.
I've heard better.
What else you got? Wha What else have we got? I'm sorry, Your Honor.
Is there something funny about a woman serving a life sentence for a crime that didn't even happen? - Excuse me? - [GALLERY CLAMORING.]
Your Honor, my investigator has been assaulted.
May we ask for a recess until tomorrow? My Lord, you look like hell.
Adjourned until 9:00 a.
m.
And, Ms.
Scott, I hope you're a bit cooler when you come back in this room, or I will kick you right out.
Are you okay? What happened to your face? Rincon's undocumented, he thought I was from immigration.
After he realized I wasn't ICE, he finally started talking.
And? And he didn't write that statement, and he never turned against his wife.
Their entire motive is falsified on that forged statement.
He's gonna testify? No, no, no, because if he shows up to court, he's gonna be deported, and he says if he gets deported, he'll be killed as soon as he gets home.
I mean, he already disappeared.
We need to prove that translation was purposely faked.
Yeah.
Then let's look into the translator.
[SIGHS.]
I found something.
That translator did the same thing in Indiana.
Did you say Indiana? MADELINE: Oh, my God.
It's good.
Yeah.
If we can get him to testify, we might have a shot.
As of right now, it's our only shot.
We got to find this guy.
MADELINE: Good morning, Your Honor.
Petitioner submits a letter from the attorney general of Indiana, detailing a plea bargain in a case where the translator, Thomas LeMay, improperly translated the testimony of a critical witness.
Mr.
LeMay was also the translator the prosecution used - in this case.
- Your Honor, counsel's claim is a desperate attempt to plant the seeds of doubt into our investigation.
It is a personal vendetta against myself, and impossible to prove that this translation was falsified.
That's because I'm not finished, Your Honor.
Petitioner calls the translator, Thomas LeMay, to the stand.
[GALLERY CLAMORING.]
Petitioner also submits an affidavit, signed by Mr.
LeMay, admitting to falsifying the translation in this case, State of Illinois v.
Rincon.
His motivation was to ensure guilty verdicts for people he was convinced were guilty.
LEMAY: They were guilty, Your Honor.
Get him the hell out of my courtroom.
- Your Honor, I want to say something.
- Out.
LEMAY: Sometimes the ends justify the means! Mr.
Bellows? I'm just as shocked as everyone else in this room.
Oh, that was good.
Very convincing.
- Your Honor.
- No need to rub it in, Ms.
Scott.
Even just a little? How many cases have you tried using fraudulent translations? I am under no obligation to answer questions posed by opposing counsel.
You are, however, under obligation to answer questions from this bench.
You say tomato, I say to-mah-to.
[LAUGHTER.]
You stole my line, Ms.
Scott so I'll take yours.
Mr.
Bellows, how many of your prosecutions relied on this obviously corrupt translator? I have no idea, Your Honor, but I will personally investigate each and every one of them.
In fact, I will initiate an internal review of all convictions won by my office over the last 20 years.
If there is even a scintilla of corruption, I will root it out.
I've dedicated my life to serving justice.
Your Honor, the justice currently before the court is the false imprisonment of Lucia Rincon.
We've presented a forged affidavit, a hidden toxicology report, and ample evidence that show the true cause of the fire.
There was no murder, Your Honor.
Only lies, deceit, and corruption that have placed an innocent woman behind bars.
Mrs.
Rincon.
[WHISPERS.]
: Stand up.
You must feel like you got lost in the shuffle.
I've gotten used to it, Your Honor.
Let's see what we can do about that.
Based on the totality of the evidence presented, Petitioner's motion for post-conviction relief is granted, and this court hereby declares the defendant is actually innocent.
[CHEERING.]
Mrs.
Rincon, you are free to go.
[APPLAUSE, WHOOPING.]
MAN: Ms.
Scott.
[INDISTINCT, OVERLAPPING CHATTER.]
[INDISTINCT, OVERLAPPING SHOUTING.]
Thank you.
Lucia, how do you feel? I-I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but mostly, I just feel cold.
[OVERLAPPING CHATTER, LAUGHTER.]
Rosemary? Rosemary? Rosemary? Rosemary? Oh, my God, my God, please say something.
Levi? Is she okay? I don't know, I - Oh, my God.
- I'm sorry.
[MADELINE SCREAMS.]
- [BOTH CRYING.]
- Where you waited In the rain I am siren, I am ivy I am no one I'm nobody I am longing for your honey I am longing for your love.
And the shot goes Through my head and back Gunshot Never get you back Never get you back Never get you back.