Shark s01e07 Episode Script

1 And what is the music du jour? Jazz fusion.
Oh, gee, you know, the Stones are playing in Anaheim and that baby could get us there in 45 minutes.
I think that show is sold out tonight.
Well, I know Keith, we go way back, it's a long story.
I don't think that I'm dressed for a rock concert.
Hey, you pop a T-shirt over that beautiful dress, big tongue hanging down, "Brown Sugar.
" Sebastian.
Of course, jazz fusion is always good.
Don't even think about it.
Ah, i's work.
You're off duty.
Yeah.
Uh-huh.
I do know where that is.
I'll be right there.
They found Emily Forester.
The girl who went missing? Well, that's great.
Oh, my God.
She was eight years old.
They found her body in a field north of here.
I'm going to send a car for you.
I'm sorry about the concert.
Just call me later.
This is going to make jazz fusion seem like paradise.
You okay? I've been at murder scenes before never a little kid.
I need to check the body, stay here.
No.
Hold it.
Can I see her, please? I've never seen anything like this.
I have.
This is when I recover from our time together.
I need to talk to you about Emily Forester.
Uh, they called me when they ID'd the body.
I know all about it.
I don't think you do.
Tanya Blake? What's a murder from 15 years ago have to do with Emily Forester? Let me show you.
The victims were the same age.
Similar disposal sites.
Both girls were abducted from public parks and now the pièce de résistance, similar markings around the mouth.
The Blake caseot tons of press, probably a copycat.
15 years later, kind of a stretch, don't you think? Yeah, kind of like a killer taking 15 years off between victims.
The ones we know about.
Okay.
A jury convicted Charlie Davis of murder.
You represented him.
You didn't take the deal we offered.
You put him on the stand and you lost.
Let it go.
Given you're the prosecutor that helped put him away, and given that you made a name for yourself in the process, I'm sure you would like that.
Don't make this personal.
It already is.
Grab me a pickle? Hello, I'm working, too.
Let me break down the parent-child dynamic for you.
So I got a weird phone call today.
From whom? Some guy named Scott Nadderson.
He sounded like he was a few years older than me.
Nadderson? Yeah, you know him? No, what did he want? Mom's phone number in New York.
He said he was an old friend, but I've never heard of him.
What did you tell him? I told him that I would ask you and then call him back.
Good.
Just forget about it.
Probably a damn telemarketer.
Those guys are relentless.
Thanks.
Would you make me an English muffin? Emily Forester was abducted from Palisades Park four days ago.
Her father runs the city's largest supermarket chain.
The cops hoped this would be a ransom case.
I want the name of everyone arrested or questioned at that park in the last year.
I don't care if they were cited for unlawful barbecues.
The M.
E.
will release his report today.
Good.
Hopefully, that' explain these markings around Emily's mouth.
Aspirated stomach acid.
How do you know that? I'm psychic.
We might have a tip on the body drop.
A commuter called in a partial plate I.
D.
on a suspicious van parked off to the side of the Gold Line Metro rail.
The LAPD ran the numbers against the van model.
Came up with ten suspects.
Ten potential suspects who could have been dumping Emily's body.
Bring them all in.
Maybe we should wait for the cops to I.
D.
their top suspect.
Or we could just bring them all in.
Great idea.
I need you to look into a similar case.
Death of an eight-year-old girl in Echo Park, 1991.
What was the victim's name? Tanya Blake.
The man convicted of the crime was Charlie Davis.
You think the two cases are connected? Pull everything police files, photos, autopsy reports, interviews.
Don't discuss this with anyone.
Raina, not with anyone.
Charlie.
It's been a long time.
15 years, seven months, 13 days.
The thing is, I'm a prosecutor now.
Yeah, we get the paper in here.
Right.
I just caught this child murder case.
And the details are remarkably similar to Emily Forester? Yeah, we get TV in here, too.
Then you understand why I might want to run a few photographs by you.
You never wrote me back.
Excuse me? I wrote you a letter.
After I lost my appeal, I never heard from you.
Sorry.
Things got busy, appeals were exhausted.
There wasn't much I could do for you.
You could have let me know you gave a damn.
Anyway, Emily Forester was killed with the exact same MO as Tanya Blake in 1991.
I believe the same person could have committed both murders.
So you don't think I killed Tanya Blake? No, Charlie.
I didn't believe it then, and I don't believe it now Show me what you got.
Do you recognize anyone from that day in Echo Park? No.
No This is useless.
15 years.
Charlie, look.
Look, forget it.
That's him.
You know this guy? He's the one I told you about.
I saw him that day, talking to Tanya Blake in the park.
He's older now, but I swear to God, that's him.
Thank you for coming in, Mr.
Beemus.
I have a client over in Silver Lake, so I was in the neighborhood.
Are you a gardener? Landscape architect.
Oh, right.
Were you spending any time near downtown on Tuesday? Downtown, uh no, no, I don't think so.
Spend any time ne Palisades Park on Saturday? As a matter of fact, yes, I did.
What were you doing there? I was playing softball.
Really.
Been in league down there for years.
Ah.
We played a doubleheader on Saturday.
I'm still sore.
You heard what happened in the park there, Saturday, right? The little girl.
Unbelievable.
Her name was Emily Forester.
Right, right.
I saw the police cars.
I didn't know what was going on, but I heard it on the radio, coming home from the game.
It's just horrible.
I got two kids myself.
Every parent's worst nightmare.
Exactly.
Did you see Emily or anybody resembling her that day? No.
I mean, I wish I could help you, but there's so many kids at that park and uh, like I said, I was playing ball.
Happened like that.
Strange.
Sorry.
Thank you for coming in.
And we'll call you if anything else comes up.
Okay.
If you wouldn't mind taking a little peek at this photo, would you? See if it jogs your memory? That's, uh not the girl that they showed on the news.
No? Oh, you're right.
Yeah, they get these files mixed up.
Uh, listen, if you guys need anything else, you just give me a call, okay? You betcha.
We'll be in touch.
Okay.
Thanks.
Thank you.
Did you get that photo of Tanya Blake? Yeah, thanks.
Notify LAPD I want Beemus put under 24-hour surveillance.
He tries to leave the state, I want him arrested.
And find out if he ever worked at a pizza place.
What?! I'll explain later.
Who's this little girl you showed Beemus? That was a mistake.
You don't make mistakes.
I reviewed the police file.
A woman reported that some guy spoke inappropriately to her daughter at the park the same day Emily Forester disappeared.
Guy have a name? Kevin Olmstead.
LAPD interviewed and released him.
No local record, but I ran a national check, and he has a child abuse record in Tacoma.
How old is he? Twenty-six.
Keep tabs on him, but we got our guy.
Start preparing a search warrant for Sam Beemus.
What about Kevin Olmstead? What about him? He's got a record of abusing minors.
Why are we dismissing a plausible suspect? I tell you what.
When I want your advice on a case, I'll stop ice-skating in hell and I'll ask for it.
How's that? Excuse me, Julie Stark? Yeah? I'm Scott Nadderson.
We talked on the phone the other day.
Are you a stalker or something? Oh, no, no, no no, please.
I'm trying, actually, to get in touch with your mother.
The thing is about three months ago, my dad died of cancer.
I'm so sorry.
Thanks.
He left a lot of stuff behind, and, uh, I was going through it, and I found some letters here, from your mom.
What kind of letters? There's not really an easy way to say it.
I think my father and your mother had an affair.
So I hear you're seeking a search warrant for Sam Beemus.
Word travels fast.
I also hear you found a guy with an abuse record who was in the park that day.
You bugging my office? Yet, oddly, we're not going after the guy with the abuse record.
Instead, we're going after Sam Beemus, a suspect with a solid alibi.
I have a source says Beemus is our guy.
Oh, mind telling me who that source might be? Very much.
But when I nail down my case, you'll be the first to know.
Which case is that exactly? I'm trying to help the police figure out who killed Emily Forester, remember? Oh, good, 'cause call me crazy I was worried that you were using the facts of the Tanya Blake case to determine who we go after in the Emily Forester murder.
Clearly my concern was unfounded.
Kevin Olmstead was at the park earlier that day, but at the time of the abduction, he was at a restaurant in Santa Monica.
Kevin Olmstead is our guy with the sexual abuse record.
Gee, I guess we can cross him off the list.
The M.
E.
's report came back.
They figured out what caused the markings around Emily Forester's mouth.
It wasn't aspirated stomach acid.
So? Diazinon.
A pesticide, probably used to knock her out.
Pesticide.
Sam Beemus is a landscape architect.
How's that search warrant looking now? Cops found gallons of Diazinon in the storage shed, and several blonde hairs in the back of Beemus' van, like the color match for Emily Forester.
You got away with it last time.
This time, I'm sending you straight to hell.
If the lab confirms the hairs in Beemus' van belong to Emily Forester, we're good.
Except for Beemus' alibi.
He was playing softball from 11:00 a.
m.
to 2:30 p.
m.
There's a 20, 30 minute break between each 90-minute game.
Beemus' break would've overlapped the time of the abduction.
You're saying Beemus left the field, found Emily, led her to his van, knocked her out, all in 20 minutes, then went back to play another softball game? I dn't say it was probable; I said it was possible.
Something tells me Raina can provide us with more details.
What are you talking about? More like who.
Name Tanya Blake ring a bell? Who's Tanya Blake? 15 years ago, Tanya Blake was abducted from a playground in Echo Park and murdered.
Does the MO match the Forester case? I don't know when I went to pull Tanya Blake's file from storage, it was already signed out.
You're working another angle behind our back? Stark ordered me not to say anything.
Probably because he represented the guy convicted of Tanya Blake's murder 15 years ago.
I guess he does lose.
Why didn't Stark tell the rest of us he likes Beemus for both murders? Why don't you ask him yourself? This is the last place Tanya Blake was seen alive: June 3, 1991.
Witnesses saw a 19-yr-old male, Charlie Davis, near that swing set, around the same time Tanya was playing with two other children.
He had some priors, small stuff, nothing violent.
They convicted him based on that? They convicted him because I was an idiot and put him on the stand instead of taking the plea that Rudy Hill was offering.
I've heard of Hill, big-time prosecutor.
Yeah, the best.
Total bad-ass.
Would've thrown his own mother in jail.
Where is he now? Long gone.
Two-pack-a-day guy.
Never stood a chance.
What was Davis' defense? He said he saw another man talking to Tanya before leading her out of the park.
The pizza guy.
Yeah, he said he was wearing a pizza delivery uniform, but I contacted every restaurant in a 20-mile radius, that served anything resembling pizza and came up empty.
Then Charlie Davis was convicted.
I just paid Charlie a visit in prison.
He I.
D.
'd Beemus as the man he saw talking to Tanya.
Did Beemus deliver pizza back then? Not according to his tax records.
Okay, even if we can convict Beemus of Tanya's murder, we can't use his prior bad acts against him to nail him for Emily Forester.
We can if you use those acts to establish a specific pattern of behavior That points to his modus operandi.
Thank you.
So why did you put Charlie Davis on the stand? For the worst possible reason.
I thought he was innocent.
If we find traces of the same pesticide in Tanya Blake's remains, it ties the two murders together.
I'm not putting Tanya's parents through that.
They've suffered enough.
What's this? Blakes' home number.
Talked to them an hour ago.
They said if an exhumation can determine who really killed Tanya, we have their blessing.
And you're going through all of this just to prove that Charlie Davis is innocent? The wrong guy went to jail.
Not according to the jury.
I'm telling you our 2006 case isn't strong enough.
The 1991 case will make it stronger.
It can help establish Beemus'M.
O.
Admit it.
You're afraid that if I clear Charlie Davis, the press will nail you to the cross for having put away the wrong man.
You want to dig up that little girl, go for it.
But when nothing comes of it, you're explaining that to her parents.
Give me some good news.
I went back over the prosecution file in the Tanya Blake case.
A beat cop canvassing the crime scene said that he talked to someone that he called "B.
D," who spotted a suspicious male in Echo Park, close to the time that Tanya disappeared.
Now, under "B.
D.
" in the file, it says "red hair.
" Which could mean that B.
D.
had red hair or Or that he saw someone with red hair, like Sam Beemus.
Now, two guys with those initials worked in the Parks Department, in Echo Park, back in '91.
The Internet is a beautiful thing names? Bo Dawkins and Bill Dupree.
Outstanding.
See if either of them saw Beemus in Echo Park in '91.
But Yeah, it's kind of strange that you never heard of a potential exculpatory witness off a police interview back in '91.
I was thinking the same thing.
We just got the exhumation results.
We found traces of chemicals in Tanya Blake's remains, identical to the pesticide used to incapacitate Emily Forester.
Wouldn't you think that I'd get tired of constantly being right? And yet it never gets old.
But the blonde hair found in Beemus' van has no follicular DNA.
We can't link it to Emily.
Not good; we have got to place Emily in that van.
You also have a visitor.
I'm trying to get your son out of prison.
Charlie has been through hell.
They target child killers in there.
Abuse like you don't even want to think about.
He tried to kill himself twice.
And there's times I wish, for his sake You got any idea what that's like? To wish for that for your child? If there's any chance this can work Charlie's still a young man.
He can have a life.
No if you'd taken the plea agreement, he'd be out after two years.
We listened to you.
You said you could win.
You're right.
I screwed up.
Charlie paid the price.
And now I'm trying to make things right again.
Charlie has accepted the reality of the rest of his life.
If you give him hope again, and then you take it away he's not going to survive and his blood is going to be on your hands.
I'm not going to let you do it.
Larry, you're his father; he needs you in court, especially if he has to testify.
Testify? The last time you put him up there, they destroyed him.
No, I'm not going to let you do that again.
Sam Beemus could be the guy that Charlie saw.
It's too late! The one we could never find.
That day in court, when I put Charlie on the stand, your wife was in the courtroom, and you never showed up.
Why not? I been doing this a long time, pal, and I have seen the families of accused murderers by the dozens.
Just for one moment, you lost faith in your son.
How dare you.
What happened that day was your fault, not mine.
And I'll be damned if I'm going to live through it again.
So, you remember that guy who called me the other day? Scott Nadderson? He came by my school.
Mm-hmm.
You don't seem surprised.
What did he want? His father just died.
Tom Nadderson.
He was a lawyer, just like you.
Look, Jules You knew him, right? Yeah.
And Mom knew him, too.
Just because some kid comes by your school and starts spinning tales, doesn't mean you can believe Can I believe these letters, in Mom's own handwriting? Honey, that's a very dangerous door to open.
Why didn't you tell me? Tell you what? That for the past ten years, I've lived with the idea that everything was your fault.
That you were the bad husband and the lousy father.
I was.
But she's the one who had the affair.
You're a smart girl, Jules.
Just throw those things away and forget you ever saw them.
How am I supposed to do that? So, Mr.
Dawkins, you were interviewed by the police, back in 1991? Yeah.
They wanted to know what I saw the day that little girl disappeared.
Tanya Blake.
Right.
And? I remember a red-headed guy talking to a little girl in a blue jacket, like the one the Blake girl was wearing.
How old was the guy? I don't know.
Thirty? After you spoke to the cops, you never heard back from them? No.
But I heard from the D.
A.
's office.
There's no record of you meeting with the prosecutors, and you were never called as a witness.
Yeah guess they had what they needed, huh? The guy you spoke to from the D.
A.
's office, was his name Rudy Hill? There was a guy there.
I don't remember him much.
The lady asked the questions.
A female prosecutor? Oh, yeah.
Now her, I remember.
Kind of looked like you.
Tall, blonde, body for days.
I was bummed out when she never called me to testify.
Be in touch.
You suppressed a witness.
I don't know what you're talking about.
Bo Dawkins saw a red-haired guy around 30.
Charlie Davis doesn't fit that description.
Dawkins' credibility was suspect.
That's crap.
You kept potentially exculpatory evidence from the defense.
I don't have to listen to this.
Would you prefer to hear it in front of the bar association or a judge? It was Rudy Hill's call.
He was first chair.
And you were what, just following orders? They'd have loved you at Nuremberg.
You know, from the first day we met, Jess, you were doinghis holier-than-thou tap dance.
The integrity of the system and justice for all.
But at the end of the day, you're just as big a shark as I am.
Multiple witnesses pointed to Charlie Davis.
This one man's statement was immaterial.
That wasn't your call to make.
You had an obligation to tell me about Dawkins' statement.
This case was all over the news.
We were getting hundreds of calls from people claiming to have seen Tanya Blake.
There was no conscious suppression here.
Please.
You saw a chance to score some points by nailing a child killer, and you jumped at it.
You put Charlie Davis on the stand.
And you destroyed him.
I did my job.
You'd have done the same thing.
You're right.
So let me tell you from experience, this isn't going away, Jess.
Nothing stays buried forever.
I'm going to win this thing.
And I don't intend to cover your ass in the process.
No, no You done? Oh, you're not done.
Okay.
I I didn't tell her, Claire.
No, Tom's kid came to her.
He had your letters.
I'm I told Julie that it was complicated and that she should just forget all about it.
What was I supposed to Can I call you back? Claire Don't ever get married.
I thought you were divorced.
I rest my case.
Speak.
We're having trouble on Forester.
It's going to be tough to link Beemus to the body disposal site.
His van is a company vehicle.
At least a dozen people had access to it.
We still have Bo Dawkins' testimony, so About that.
Dawkins has been busted twice for marijuana possession.
The first time was three months before he allegedly saw Sam Beemus with Tanya Blake.
Why, God, why must you mock me in front of other people? If we want to establish Beemus' pattern of behavior, we have to put Charlie Davis on the stand.
Why, because it went so well the first time? The guy's been through hell.
He wasn't exactly a rock 15 years ago.
Charlie saw Beemus back in '91.
You said it was the key to tying the cases together.
The jury will never take him seriously.
He's trying to get out of jail.
Plus, he said he saw a pizza man.
Beemus never delivered pizza.
Oh, man, oh, man The landaping firm Sam Beemus worked for in 1991 was part of an urban renewal project in Chinatown right near the train tracks where Tanya's body was found.
That's great.
But we're not trying to convict the guy who killed Tanya Blake, we're going after the guy who killed Emily Forester.
It's the same guy.
But Beemus is only charged with killing Emily Forester.
So far.
Meaning? The traces of pesticide, Dawkins' and Charlie's testimony, and now we know that Beemus was familiar with the dump site.
We may have enough evidence to push for new charges in the '91 case.
Trying Beemus for both murders.
That's risky.
Sam Beemus molested and killed two girls.
He should have to pay for both crimes.
Jury's impaneled.
Jeopardy's attached.
Our Forester case is in trouble.
This is the only way to get Beemus for both murders.
We need to talk There's nothing to talk about.
Your mother called.
She's really upset.
Oh, imagine how I feel.
Julie Look, I just need to accept the fact that my mother's a total slut Don't you ever say that again.
She cheated on you.
Your mother is a human being.
She made a mistake.
It was rough for a while, we moved on, end of story.
So how come you never told me? It's not the kind of thing that pops up in a conversation between father and daughter.
She ruined your marriage.
My marriage to your mom didn't end over an affair.
There were a million different things.
Hmm, like what? It doesn't matter anymore.
What happened was between your mother and me.
Don't you dare pretend that this is none of my business.
I hated you for so long, and she let me.
Now I hate her.
Julie Jules You were right about Bo Dawkins.
His statement should've been made available to you.
Why wasn't it? After Rudy Hill and I talked to Dawkins, I wrote up a report and gave it to Rudy.
When we did our discovery, I saw that the report wasn't on the list.
Why didn't you say something? I should have.
I knew it was wrong, but I I was 25.
Rudy Hill was one of the DA's big guns.
I knew he could help my career.
And he did.
I was so sure that Charlie Davis killed Tanya Blake.
If I hadn't been You wouldn't have deprived him of his due process? I told myself it wouldn't make a difference.
Davis was guilty.
The ends justify the means.
Singing my song.
Is it true you're considering going after Beemus for both murders? Yeah.
Well, this might help.
Remember the anonymous phone call that tipped off the police to Charlie Davis in 1991? Yeah.
It was made from a pay phone.
Back in '91, the police couldn't find any connection.
But they didn't know about Sam Beemus.
Turns out the pay phone is located across the street from the office where Beemus worked.
Beemus knew that Charlie was a suspect, so he called the cops, I.
D.
'd him, and sealed the deal.
Wow.
And why are you doing this? You deserve to know what happened.
And if this information helps you free Charlie Davis, use it.
That might not help your reelection campaign.
I'll see you tomorrow.
Jess Thanks.
Your Honor.
We'd like to add new charges against the defendant.
Proceed.
First degree murder in connection with the 1991 murder of Tanya Blake.
Your Honor, this is absurd.
Adding new charges is one thing, but a whole new case? Mr.
Stark, two weak cases don't add up to one good one.
You want to try the defendant for the 1991 crime, try him for that crime choose one or the other.
The People wish to proceed with the 1991 case, the murder of Tanya Blake.
Your Honor, this is completely out of the blue.
We request a continuance in order to prepare.
Denied.
Counselor, you were put on notice that these issues would be relevant.
You've had adequate time to prepare.
Sam Beemus will stand trial for the 1991 murder of Tanya Blake.
Based on the new charges, we'd like to make a motion.
Proceed.
In 1991, Mr.
Stark defended Charlie Davis, the man convicted of murdering Tanya Blake.
Therefore, we request Mr.
Stark be recused from this case due to conflict of interest.
Your Honor, this is a desperate attempt to derail the prosecution I have to agree with Ms.
Susman.
Your defense of the man previously convicted of this crime could prevent you from fairly prosecuting thisinase.
Effective immediately, Mr.
Stark, you're off the case.
So, that didn't exactly go according to plan.
Choosing to prosecute the Forester case was probably the more conventional call.
I miscalculated.
I never thought the judge would uphold the conflict motion.
You can appeal the ruling.
Waste of time.
He's never going to let me back on the case.
Give the opening to Madeleine, let Raina handle the emotional appeal.
The jury will see any of my deputies as a stand-in for me.
Well, I've got 400 lawyers working for me.
Choose any one you want.
I already have.
You want me to prosecute Sam Beemus? You're the perfect choice.
The judge won't let me prosecute the case because I previously defended it.
Hello.
I was there, too.
What makes you think he's going to let you in? You were a prosecutor then, you're a prosecutor now.
There's no conflict.
And, as an added bonus, you're the one that put Charlie Davis away.
What about the Bo Dawkins statement from '91? We can win without it.
If I reveal that the prosecution suppressed it You will destroy your career.
It will cast doubt on the '91 verdict.
The jury will look at Charlie Davis as a victim.
We don't need it.
We're not obliged to reveal it.
I'll prep Dawkins.
It'll be fine.
This is crazy.
Take it from me, Jess.
You rarely get a chance to make things right.
What did you tell the police back in 1991, Mr.
Dawkins? I told them I saw a red-haired man talking to a little blonde girl.
And do you see that man in the courtroom today? Yeah.
For the record, the witness has identified the defendant.
Is this the onde girl you saw talking to Mr.
Beemus that day? Yeah, that's her.
Let the record show Mr.
Dawkins has identified a photograph of the late Tanya Blake.
Mr.
Dawkins, isn't it true you have a substance abuse problem? - No.
- You weren't arrested for possessing drugs on two separate occasions? Well, yeah.
And were you selling drugs? No.
Then I can only conclude that you were using them.
Were you high the day that you allegedly saw Sam Beemus with Tanya Blake? Of course not.
But you were using drugs during that period? Yeah.
Nothing further.
Redirect.
Ms.
Devlin? Ms.
Devlin? Mr.
Dawkins, after you talked police, was there ever any follow-up from the DA's office? Yes.
And did you tell the prosecutor exactly what you told the police? Yeah.
But you never testified for the prosecution in the 1991 trial of Charlie Davis.
No.
That's probably because your physical description of the man you saw with Tanya Blake didn't match the man on trial Charlie Davis.
Is there a question here? Did the defense attorney ever call you? No.
I'm not surprised.
Since your conversation with the prosecution was never made available to the defense, as required by law.
Your Honor.
Ms.
Devlin.
Mr.
Dawkins, do you remember the prosecutor with whom you spoke? Yes.
His name was Rudy Hill.
What the hell was that? What? You know what.
Memory is a funny thing.
I was there when Dawkins was questioned.
That was obviously a few thousand bong hits ago.
Clearly, you're not at memorable.
And this case isn't about you.
You still got work to do.
We got Dawkins' I.
D.
, we got the chemicals on the body, we've got the pay phone call from near Beemus' office.
What more do you want? Susman trashed Dawkins' credibility, the rest is all circumstantial.
In order to convict Sam Beemus, the jury has to believe that Charlie Davis is innocent.
You've got to be kidding.
It's our only shot.
We've got to put Charlie Davis on the stand.
You saw what Susman did to Dawkins.
By the time she's through with Charlie, he'll be begging to go back to prison.
We'll work with him.
We? You want me to help prep him? You'll be the one questioning him.
Might as well get the tearful reunion over with.
Yeah.
What's she doing here? Sit down, Charlie.
Like I told you on the phone, Ms.
Devlin will be asking the questions about what happened in the park that day.
Sit down.
But you already know all about that, right? Charlie How I met an eight-year-old girl in the park, took her to my car, raped her, beat her, dumped her body on the side of the highway.
I know what happened in that courtroom was hard.
You mean being described as a sick, perverted freak, in front of my own mother? You think that was hard? She's here to help you.
You want to help me?! You ruined my life, and now you want to help?! Listen, you're going to work with us or you're going to die in here! Is that what you want?! Do you want to die in here?! It's your choice! I think we're okay.
Thank you.
I don't belong in here.
I thought you were guilty.
I was wrong.
I know I can't give you back the years you've spent in here, and you have no reason to trust me but you also have nothing to lose.
Hey.
Hey.
Um, so these are her numbers, home and cell, and here are your letters.
I can make copies, if you want.
Oh, actually, I'd rather never see those things again.
Well, I'm sorry if it messed things up for you.
I guess it's better to know the truth.
Yeah, I guess.
I know it's none of my business, but what are you going to ask my mom? I mean, what do you think she can tell you? I'm not really too sure.
My dad and I never really got along too well.
But then, when I read these letters, it's like there was a whole nother person in there that I never knew existed.
Must have felt pretty strange.
Yeah.
He loved your mother.
I think mae she was, like, one of the only people that did understand him.
I just want to get to know my dad.
I never really got a chance when he was alive So, I thank you.
Good luck.
And what did you see that day in Echo Park, Mr.
Davis? I saw a man with red hair, hanging around a young girl.
And they were talking.
Can you identify that man for us? He's right there.
He's older now, but that's him.
Did you tell the authorities about him when they questioned you? Yes.
But the police were never able to find him, is that correct? Right.
Thank you.
How long have you been in prison, Mr.
Davis? 15 years.
15 years of a life sentence.
Yes.
But you could get out, if someone else is convicted of killing Tanya Blake? I guess that's right.
I understand you had some problems during the early years of your confinement.
It was it was hard.
Hard enough that you tried to kill yourself on two separate occasions? Objection.
What does this have to do with what the witness saw in 1991? Goes to credibility.
Overruled.
Answer the question.
was scared.
Speak up, please.
I was scared.
So scared you tried to kill yourself? It was, it was a mistake.
But you know you go back if this doesn't work.
They wouldn't leave me alone.
And you'd rather kill yrself then? It it was a mistake.
And if you were to go back now? Charlie? You okay, Charlie? Mr.
Davis? Do you need a minute to collect yourself? Mr.
Davis? No Ask me anything you want.
So you said you saw a pizza man in the park that day, but Sam Beemus has never delivered a pizza in his life.
Back then, a pizza man was responsible for this horrible crime, now it's Sam Beemus.
Mr.
Davis, is it possible that the right man has already been convicted of this crime? No.
The guy who killed Tanya is sitting right over there.
So you're saying a jury of your peers and an entire appeal system got it wrong? I wonder why you'd say that.
No further questions.
You stated, back in 1991, that you saw someone wearing a pizza uniform near Tanya Blake.
Is that correct? Yes.
I'd like you to take a look at this photograph for me.
Objection.
No photo was shown to us during discovery.
It just came into our possession, Your Honor.
I'll allow it.
Charlie, could you tell me what you see? A softball team.
And do you recognize anyone? Sam Beemus.
Front row.
Would you tell the jury what Mr.
Beemus is wearing in the photograp A softball uniform.
And what does it say on his shirt, Charlie? It says "Pizza Castle.
" Is that the uniform you saw in the park the day Tanya Blake disappeared? Yes.
Thank you, Charlie.
No further questions.
Keep it up.
You just might have a future in this business.
Thanks.
How'd you come up with the photo? I had the team go over Beemus' statement from the Emily Forester case.
He kept saying how he's been playing softball forever, and it was the most important thing in his life.
Ah.
Made a few calls and I got lucky.
You know, you're wasting your time in management.
You were born to be a trial attorney.
Yeah, I didn't realize how much I miss being in court.
Jury's back.
This court is now in session.
Judge Chudacoff residing.
Has the jury reached a verdict? We have, Your Honor.
The defendant will please rise.
What say you? In the matter of The State of California v.
Samuel Beemus, we find the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree.
The defendant will be taken into custody and remanded to L.
A.
county jail pending sentencing.
And the court directs that Charles Davis be immediately released.
This court is adjourned.
Thank you.
Go see your son.
How's that feel? Pretty good.
So, Carla, we're willing to take the needle out of your client's arm and allow him to do the first decent thing he's ever done in his entire miserable life.
We'll take the death penalty off the table, if he pleads guilty to the murder of Emily Forester.
Her parents deserve that.
I'll talk to the judge.
Thank you.
Hi.
Hi, yourself.
How's it going? Today was a very good day.
How was yours? I wish I could tell you that life gets less complicated.
but it really doesn't.
I guess I always knew that things between you and Mom were bad.
They weren't always.
So you guys loved each other at some point, right? Are you kidding? We were nuts about each other for a long time.
It was fantastic.
The day you were born the best.
We never talked about that.
No contest.
The greatest day of my life.
Will you tell me about it? I was in the middle of a triple murder.
A call comes that your mom's in labor.
I go bolting out of the courtroom in the middle of my cross.
The judge His head nearly exploded.
Thisthiskind of He had this Jimmy Stewart thing.
Uh, Mr.
Stark.