Murder in the First (2014) s01e04 Episode Script

Show time.
On your feet.
Well, let's go.
In the matter of the people of the California versus Erich Maxwell Blunt, counsel, your appearances, please.
Mario Siletti on behalf of the people.
With me, Inspector Terrence English and assistant D.
A.
Miss Lopez.
Good morning, Your Honor.
Warren Daniels for Mr.
Blunt.
Tonia Pyne for Mr.
Blunt, Your Honor.
Throw out the first ball, Mr.
Siletti.
Charge is murder in the first degree pursuant to the California penal code, section 187a, Your Honor.
Mr.
Daniels, does your client waive the reading of the complaint in its entirety? He does, Your Honor.
State the maximum penalty for the record, Mr.
Siletti.
Imprisonment in a state prison for a term of 25 years to life, Your Honor.
Mr.
Blunt, how do you plead to the charge against you? Guilty or not guilty? Erich? Not guilty, Your Honor.
We're asking the defendant be held without bail.
Your Honor, Mr.
Blunt is prepared to post cash bail of $2 million to reassure the people of his intention to appear.
The defendant is a billionaire, judge.
$2 million for him is like a rounding error in his portfolio.
This man is an extraordinary flight risk.
My client is ready to surrender his passport and agree to any conditions the court wishes to impose.
Do you have a petition for bail for the court, Mr.
Daniels? I do.
Before you rule, Your Honor, please be advised, the people intend to amend the complaint and file an additional charge against the defendant.
The victim was pregnant, Your Honor.
PC 187a includes the unlawful killing of a fetus with malice or forethought.
Which just now occurred to you.
Oh, my.
And since the murder of more than one victim qualifies as special circumstances under PC 190.
2.
3, the amended charge will carry the maximum penalty of life without parole.
Or the death penalty.
I don't need to remind Your Honor that there is no bail for capital murder.
You mean there's no presumption of bail, Mr.
Siletti.
It remains at the discretion of the court.
If the court is still contemplating bail for the defendant on two counts of murder in the first degree, well, the people would request a billion-dollar cash bond, Your Honor.
Billion? With a "B"? That's a first.
Court sets bail at $10 million.
We're done here.
Mulligan? - Sorry I'm late.
- No worries.
I'm used to it.
All right, so, what time is the meeting at MCD? You got a union rep? I thought you weren't worried.
Well, I'm not.
It's just Just don't volunteer anything.
I know how it works, Terry.
Okay, good.
What's going on with you? What's the matter? Friday night, when I called you? Okay.
You owe me an apology.
I owe you an a for what? For hanging up on me.
For hanging up We were in the middle of arresting Blunt.
I'm sorry I didn't have time to chat.
Chat? My God.
I'm your partner, okay? He's not your perp, he's our perp.
Look, it's not like I was happy to be out there flying solo.
I just wanted to be briefed, filled in on what's going on, all right? Are you being serious? I had six cops in position.
You just told me you were flying solo.
Okay, don't be cute.
Don't be cute.
Look, you know how this goes.
We were in the wild, everybody's ready to go on my command.
Well, I needed 30 seconds, all right? You're supposed to have my back.
Hey.
Maybe you should have thought about that before you went out solo and got your ass suspended.
A tape recorder, Ms.
Wailer? Oh, don't act like some chick who just got felt up in the back of a car.
You're taping this.
I like redundancy in interrogations.
This is an interview.
Mm-hmm.
- You ready? - Yep.
Don't be patronizing, Detective.
We all speak English.
Don't want to confuse our listeners.
How about we start? I didn't see everything that happened.
No, how could you? Lying on the floor, beat half to death by your husband? Who says? What? So, you were drinking at a bar when you received a call from a 12-year-old minor you'd previously used as an informant, correct? No, I was at a restaurant with a friend.
How much had you had to drink? Less than a glass of wine.
On an empty stomach.
What's your body weight, Inspector? Naked? Sure.
Did you hear Inspector Mulligan identify herself as a police officer? I don't know what that girl was yelling.
She was just loud.
Javier was just trying to calm her down.
Mm.
With a knife.
He didn't have a knife.
He had a knife.
He grabbed it off the table, and he came at me with it.
What kind of knife? Well, it wasn't a-a butter knife, if that's what you mean.
The suspect was armed with a deadly weapon.
I ordered him to drop it.
He refused to comply.
Is that when you decided to use deadly force? No.
The suspect continued to advance at me at knife-point.
I feared for my life.
I took reasonable action to ensure my safety and the safety of the two civilians in the room.
We found a kitchen knife on the living-room floor, next to your husband's hand.
Javier got thrown against the table when she shot him.
It must have fell off the table.
D-Hop, that's not what you saw.
We talked to you at home right afterwards, and you told us that you saw him threatening the female officer with that knife.
Diego is a child, Mr.
Molk.
Easy to manipulate.
No kidding.
He didn't want to get Inspector Mulligan in trouble.
Diego thought it was all his fault because he's the one that called.
- He was just mad at his father.
- His stepfather.
He was just trying to give the man some grief, not make him wind up dead on the floor.
Hey, you weren't even there that night, so why don't we just let D-Hop talk for himself? Don't be scared.
It's like Mr.
Rodriguez said.
The inspector has answered the same questions over and over to the very best of her ability.
- Now you're just bullying her.
- It's enough.
You don't get to decide when we're done, Ms.
Wailer.
We decide.
The family will file a federal wrongful-death claim against the police department and the city of San Francisco.
We intend to ask for $5 million and punitive damages against the officer involved for her extreme, unreasonable, outrageous conduct.
Yeah, take the tape home with you so you can practice for your news conference.
Pretty long for a sound byte.
The officer's job was to protect citizens, and she did.
She acted decisively to save your ungrateful asses.
Thank you, gentlemen.
- Bullshit.
- Yeah.
I'm gonna tell you exactly what happened.
Mark Strauss was upset because his estranged wife was in love with you.
The night before her death, when he learned that she was pregnant with your child, he smacked her and stormed off in a huff.
The next evening, mark is nursing his grievances, getting loaded at Joni's Tavern.
The place is crowded, but he's not in the mood to socialize.
He's angry.
He's been wronged by his wife.
He's had enough.
He has a score to settle.
So at around 7:30 P.
M.
, after a couple of pitchers of beer, Strauss slips out of the bar, gets in his truck, and drives over to Cindy's.
They argue.
She storms upstairs.
He follows her.
It gets physical.
And, like Nedda in "Pagliacci," Cindy is sacrificed thrown down the stairs to her death.
Mark drives back to the bar, slips back inside without anybody noticing, and resumes drinking.
La commedia è finita I'll circle by the tavern, see if anyone remembers him leaving.
There's bound to be a hole in his alibi.
What if there isn't? Then we'll come up with another story.
Bill Wilkerson killed her.
What? He did find the body.
But his wife claimed he was at home all night.
Eh, she was just covering for him.
Why would she cover for him? Because that's what wives do.
Who knows? Maybe Mrs.
Wilkerson killed Cindy in a jealous rage.
The point is, it could have been almost anybody.
They have no evidence that proves it was you.
So our job is to find an alternate suspect, saddle them up, and ride them to acquittal.
Jimmy, I want to know everything the S.
F.
P.
D.
knows.
Everyone they've talked to.
We have to be a whole lot smarter than they are.
You're a lot better paid than they are.
Don't get smug, son.
It's dangerous.
And that's a wrap.
Let's go find ourselves a killer.
And you know he got in his best suit, shined up his shiny little shoes, and dangled a big-ass check in front of that family.
What, $5 million? Plus punitive.
So, what's the cut for Rodriguez? Probably 40%.
Except there's no case there.
He's working for zero, right? Well, unless Mulligan overreacted.
- It happens.
- It didn't.
No, this kid just wants to do right by his mom.
Yes, I know him.
He's a good enough kid.
Maybe I should just talk to him.
Yeah, just what we need witness intimidation.
No, Terry, you don't show up in the same zip code, okay? I am not going to lose two of my inspectors to this thing.
Your focus, front and center, is Erich Blunt.
Oh, shit.
Thanks for waiting, Jeremy.
Oh, it's no problem.
I'm happy to be here.
I hate this prick so much.
Okay, right in here.
Blunt is just a lying, thieving he's just a thief.
The whole world ready to suck his toes.
It's all thanks to me, too.
Okay.
On the phone, you had said that he physically threatened you.
He straight-out said he'd kill me.
He even told me what my tombstone was gonna say.
"Jeremy Leonard irrelevant.
" Wow.
That's cold.
When I'm the one who figured out the algorithms.
My ideas.
My ideas just made him a billionaire.
Okay.
And that's why you sued him? As soon as Erich got ahold of my code, he fired me.
I deserve credit for my work.
Right, you want your fair share.
I want to show he's a fraud.
Okay, well, I want to show that he's a murderer.
Hold on one sec.
Aah.
English.
For real? Okay, yeah.
What time? Then set up the buy.
Yeah.
I'll call you back about that.
Huh.
Um Isn't it a crime to threaten to kill somebody? I mean, can't you just charge him with making a death threat? Well, that depends.
Were you in actual fear of your life? Yeah, I was.
And I still am, especially now that he's out on bail.
Okay, uh, if a prosecutor would like to speak to you, how long are you gonna be in town? Technically I've already left.
My body's just running a little late.
I'm riding out with some friends to burning man.
That's that hippie thing in the desert, right? I mean, you make it sound like sex and drugs and crappy hygiene.
Well Okay, yeah, I mean, there's a little of that, but, uh It's just, for one week in the year, you leave the planet.
I mean, you don't even know who you really are until you have stared into the fire with 70,000 other human beings, all expressing themselves to the Max.
It's I mean That's where I began to figure them out the algorithms.
Once I let my mind get porous, it just came.
It's a mecca for techies, man.
Okay, well, uh Wave one of those, uh What are they called? - Glow sticks? - Glow sticks.
I don't really do those.
I think we're good here.
Oh, um I'm not too scared to testify.
I-if you're worried.
Okay.
We'll be in touch.
All right, thank you.
He's late.
Erich's never late.
My coffee's cold.
Tape itches.
That's 'cause your ass is so high.
Or 'cause you wax your chest.
He's not gonna show.
Oh, wait.
Someone's coming down the path.
Shit.
Oh, no.
He sent Jimmy Salter.
Where's Erich? I have no idea what you're talking about.
Right.
He sent you.
Well, uh, you're late.
Milan, when have I ever been late? That's my point it's not like you to be late.
So maybe I'm right on time.
Maybe this is the exact moment I decided I needed to be here.
Whatever.
Let's, uh Let's just get this over with.
It's already over.
Walk away.
What? - Walk away.
- No, man, it's cool.
I got the primo shit stuff he loves.
I'm disappointed in you, Milan.
- What's going on? - We just got made.
Oh, shit.
This is bush-league, Terry.
It's embarrassing.
Salter, what are you doing? You Blunt's bag man now? Feeling scores for him? Radio cars, photographers, command vehicle How many units you wasting out there, Terry? I count eight.
What do you want me to tell you? All right, so you can count.
Now what? So now I know how weak your case is against my boss.
From the looks of it Very weak.
First rule of baiting, Terry - don't get your own hand caught in the trap.
- Your own hand caught in the trap.
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, who is more credible? Three senior homicide inspectors or a 12-year-old delinquent? With $5 mil dangled out in front of him? Who happens to be, just by the way, someone you met because you knew him as a witness on another murder case.
People keep winding up dead around this kid.
No, I I promised D-Hop I wouldn't get him involved.
Okay? The last thing he needs is to be labeled as a snitch.
Are you serious? Uh, try to resist your parental instinct here.
Yeah, at least there's some leverage to use.
Look, I'm just saying if we need it, Hildy, is all he's saying.
Right, but It's not D-Hop's fault.
I don't give a shit about D-Hop.
He's not my problem.
You are.
You want to rephrase that, Lieutenant? Look, the good news is that the shooting was absolutely justified.
Thank you.
But you still shouldn't have gone inside.
If I hadn't been your hero this morning I don't see my dope, Jimmy.
Hey, you're lying on your own couch, not a county bunk with your head next to the toilet.
- "Thank you, Jimmy.
" - Yeah, I said that already.
I told you it was a setup.
This guy, Terry English I trained him.
- I used to be him.
- Yeah.
The point is, I'm the one you need to trust.
Not Hertzberg or Daniels or, God forbid, Ivana.
Hey, when's your flight, Jimmy? Oh, okay.
I get it.
I'll be back after I have my mother settled.
Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone.
Don't treat me like a child.
I'm gonna speak freely, Erich.
You may not like what I have to say, but you need to hear it.
These cops, this department, they're like a dog with a bone.
And you're the bone.
They tried to set you up for a drug bust today, and they're gonna keep coming at you until they get you or they run out of time.
So, if you have any willpower inside you, use it.
Behave.
And if you can't do that, shit, you better get the hell out of dodge.
Because you're a bug under a magnifying glass one wrong move, you're fried.
- Here you go.
- Thank you.
Mm-hmm.
I just feel like, with the hearing and everything, I was very stressed, so I was out of line.
I'm sorry.
- No, don't apologize.
- I was, uh I was in a mood, too.
And, uh And you were right.
I shouldn't have I shouldn't have hung up on you.
Well, you were just doing the job.
No, it wasn't cool.
Thanks for checking up on me.
It's, uh, it's not the same out there without you.
Ay, yi, yi.
All right, you see that? That's why I don't make stuff for your school bake sales.
It's not hard.
You just don't have time.
Remember the time I sent you to school with doughnuts? And the teacher sent you home with a note? No.
Well, that's 'cause you were very little.
Here.
I was completely traumatized.
All right.
Wow.
A stick of butter's a lot of butter, huh? Only if we eat the whole thing.
Which we will, eventually, piece by piece, if it's any good.
Ready? Could that guy have killed you if, um No.
No.
We talked about it already, remember? Your great-grandfather was a cop, grandpa was a cop, my brothers.
And the worst injury anyone ever got was when grandpa twisted his ankle when he tripped on a curb during a foot chase.
Okay.
Ready? Pour this sucker in and let's get it in the oven.
Don't worry about me, okay? You never worried about your dad coming home? No.
Okay, let's get this in the oven, all right? - Take this.
- Oven mitts.
All right.
Here we go.
Three, two, one Ta-da! I'm never gonna be a cop, mom.
Just so you know.
What do you say, D-Hop? The lawyer said I shouldn't talk to nobody without him.
Okay, well, what if, uh What if I do all the talking and you do the listening? So, she's not mad at me? - Who, my partner? - Yeah.
She should be.
But she knows you were just trying to help out your moms.
We need that money.
So you were lying about what happened that night.
Everybody knows it, man.
Do you realize it is illegal to lie in court to win a lawsuit? It's called false claims.
You're not gonna get any money out of this.
And then, when the evidence comes out that you're lying, you could face state, federal charges.
You and your moms.
She don't know.
You think anybody's gonna care about that? She's the one who's suing.
The lawyer told us lawyers? Come on, man.
That lawyer don't care nothing about you.
He knows he's gonna lose this case.
He's trying to be famous.
You are bringing him business.
You think he's gonna care about you when you're in court and they're asking you why you have that inspector's personal number? How you met us? That you're a confidential informant? D I'm trying to hook you up here, all right? Because you helped us.
Now, you want to be a man? Do the right thing.
Tell the truth.
Do it for you, do it for your mom, and do it for that woman that you called.
My partner.
She saved your ass, Diego.
Look at me.
This could ruin her life.
There's some mistakes that last forever.
Don't let this be one of them.
This thing safe? Safer than a tricycle.
That is, until we run out of gas.
You sure about this, boss? You know you're skipping bail.
Yeah.
Help Ivana with her pack.
Roger that.
I really am a shaman.
I've been called.
Cindy's death, it's A rite of passage for me, you know? Not really.
I'm being tested.
Spiritually.
Why don't we test that? Think you can get that for me? I think I can get you something better.
This the new program? I used the camera roll on your phone to render the avatars, and I gave you some choices.
And if you get bored, just say "change.
" Change.
Change.
Ohh.
Girls, I'm getting jealous.
Change.
Whoa.
That's intense.
Change.
Oh, what the hell? You put Cindy in there? I thought you liked having sex with her.
Not when she's dead.
What difference does it make? It's just an avatar.
Program worked, yes? Yeah.
Yeah, it did.
Where's my homework? Uh It's right here on the table.
Put it in your bag, okay? - All right.
- One sec.
Hello? Sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I-I remember happy's liquor.
I can meet you there in 45 minutes? Okay.
Bye.
Who was that? Nobody just a work thing.
All right, let's go.
Got to get your bag packed.
Bus is gonna be here in two minutes.
Lunch.
All right.
Are we ready? Let's go, go, go, go, go! I'm here.
I'm listening.
One of your friends got to my son and convinced him to change his story.
Now Diego claims javier was attacking you with a knife.
That's what happened.
Good.
No, that's not good.
Now my lawsuit is finished.
- Okay - My lawyer, my money it's gone.
You're gonna fix this.
You're gonna find my son and you're gonna tell him to change his story back to the other way so we can sue the city.
No, I'm not doing that.
I'm not even supposed to be here talking to you right now.
You killed my husband.
You know I had no choice.
You owe me.
This is my only chance.
Teresa, I am not gonna tell your son to lie.
Why do you care? It's not your money.
Hey, you don't think this comes down on me? I could lose my badge because of you.
They could charge me with manslaughter and throw my ass in prison.
I saved your life do you remember? I saved your life.
I saved your son's life.
Yeah, well, do you want to raise him? Huh? 'Cause now I'm gonna have to work three, four jobs.
Well, D-Hop has my number if he ever needs help, but I'm actually not really worried about him.
He's already more of an adult than you'll ever be.
He's honest.
Hey, Warren.
The medical examiner is scheduled to testify against you at the prelim this morning, not only as to the cause and manner of death the paternity test.
I already know it's the very least of your problems right now.
I just got off the phone with a friend in the M.
E.
's office.
You left DNA in the victim's mouth, you idiot.
Wait, what? You think they only test orifices below the waist? How do you let the victim blow you on the night of the murder, and then claim you hadn't seen her in a day? On the record.
To the police.
And you know what's even worse than lying to them? Lying to me! 'Cause I knew how it was gonna look.
What was rule number 3 I gave you? I know.
I'm sorry, all right? I should have told you.
Olly, olly, oxen free.
Just like that.
No.
I'll never lie to you again.
I swear.
I wonder how many women I've said that to.
The other side wants to hit you with this in public, to use the preliminary hearing to convict you in the media, where there are no rules of evidence and no appeals.
They're attempting to poison the jury pool months before the actual trial begins.
It's a smooth move.
But you have a counter-move.
Right? Okay, okay.
All right, wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
Wait a minute! Listen to yourselves.
You're letting the D.
A.
play you.
Jackie Perez is more interested in getting free air-time off a celebrity defendant than in prosecuting the real criminal.
She's turned you into campaign worker bees.
But that's not gonna be part of my sound byte, is it? Somebody, surprise me.
Mr.
Daniels, how confident are you Is the state ready to proceed, Mr.
Siletti? The state is ready, Your Honor.
Is the defense ready? Your Honor, Mr.
Blunt will waive his right to a preliminary hearing at this time.
- You've got to be kiding.
- The sooner this case is taken out of the hands of politicians and put before an impartial jury of reasonable citizens, the sooner my client will be fully exonerated.
And any action that speeds up this process, even waiving a hearing, is in the best interest of justice.
Mr.
Blunt, would you please stand? Sir, do you understand that by waiving the preliminary hearing, you give up your right to require the state to present evidence of probable cause, and that you will be bound over for trial on two counts of murder in the first degree homicide and feticide? Yes, sir.
Then the court finds there is probable cause that two counts of murder in the first degree were committed, and probable cause that Erich Maxwell Blunt committed these felonies.
Bail will be continued at $10 million.
Do we have anything further at this time? Uh, yes, Your Honor.
The people would request revocation of the defendant's bail for violating the court's conditions by leaving the city, the county, the entire state of California, Your Honor, to attend a desert rave in Nevada.
Do you have evidence to present at this time? Yes, Your Honor.
Extensive photographic evidence from multiple sources, with place and time codes.
- May I approach? - You may.
You coming? Your Honor, we haven't seen these before.
We don't know the provenance or the authenticity.
They look pretty damn authentic to me.
That would explain your client's sunburn, too.
So would sitting around the pool for an hour.
We live in California, for God's sakes.
Nice try.
Go tell your client his festival tickets just cost him $10 million.
Step back, counselor, for my ruling.
Court finds the defendant willfully violated the conditions of his release.
The order of bail is revoked.
The defendant is remanded to custody.
Bailiffs.
This court is in recess.
Do something! Hildy.
Come on in.
Have a seat, Inspector Mulligan.
Don't tell her what to do.
Have a seat, stand, whatever makes you most comfortable.
I'll stand.
Inspector Mulligan, we've wrapped up our internal investigation.
The chief, after consulting with the management-control panel, has determined that you should be returned - to your regular field assignment.
- That's it? Panel recommends four hours of field re-training.
No problem.
Then as far as M.
C.
's concerned, that's it.
Congratulations, Hildy.
Okay, so, what about the criminal charges? The civil suit? Well, uh, Teresa ramos and D-Hop had a change of heart.
They not only dropped their civil suit, but Mrs.
ramos insisted that they give a sworn statement to D.
A.
investigators in which she not only verified that you acted in self-defense, she called you a hero.
She said you saved her life.
And she said it all on video.
No shit.
No shit.
It's all over.
Inspector Mulligan, you are officially in the clear.
Okay.
Uh, so when do I get to go back to work? The moment you walk out that door.
Thank you.
Thank you.
- Get to work.
- I'm going.
You embarrassed me on national TV.
Coast to coast.
I got e-mails from friends in New York, in Chicago, in Miami.
You got a lot of friends.
I'm withdrawing from the case, effective immediately.
I'll inform Hertzberg in writing.
As a courtesy, I'll refund the retainer you've already paid, minus the time already incurred by me and my associates, which I will cap at $100,000.
For two quick hearings? How many dollars a minute is that? Cheaper than your little trip to Nevada.
I'll double your retainer.
I've got enough money, and I certainly don't need the grief.
Please! Don't beg.
It won't help.
Good luck, kid.
You don't even mean that.
You are so right.
Hey, you finished your homework, right? - Yeah, mostly.
- Mostly? You're not trying to get out of doing dishes, are you? Well, that would be the play, right? What are you doing? Don't encourage her here.
Oh, come on.
I just have to finish a book report.
And illustrate it.
And illustrate it? Well, all right.
- I'm gonna check on you in 10 minutes, okay? - She's got this.
- Okay.
- Mm-hmm.
- I'll help her with the dishes.
- Okay.
She's upset.
She does not want me to go back to work.
The shooting really freaked her out, you know? Mm.
Freaked me out, too.
Oh, I just keep thinking about that moment when he He looked at me, and it was it was it was that moment where we both knew that he was Gonna die.
But he just hadn't quite Died yet, you know? Mm.
Not a great night.
My ex is right she needs a mom, not a memorial plaque on the wall.
Well, yeah.
That's why Emily never wanted to start a family while I was still a beat cop.
So, by the time I made Inspector and we finally felt safe, she had already started to get sick.
And then she died And I didn't.
How's that for irony? Uh, are you seeing that, uh, that counselor? Yeah, I am.
I don't know.
How much did you find that helped you? Oh, who knows? But I'm vertical, and I really didn't think that I would be.
Well, you are.
I am.
Mm.
Phew.
I'm gonna go.
- All right.
Night, Lou! - Good night! Finish that homework.
Good night.
Night.