Your Honor (2020) s01e07 Episode Script
Part Seven
1
Previously on Your Honor
[Danavian] There's one guy
he come up to me real quiet,
asking me if I know
who Kofi Jones is.
[Lee]
Do you know his name?
[Danavian] Carlo Baxter.
- [Lee] We got him.
- What?
[Lee] We got Carlo Baxter's
DNA on Kofi.
[Carlo] It's gonna be
the hottest shit in Nola.
We're gonna turn 150 grand
into half a mil.
[Big Mo] Y'all ain't
the only one upping your game.
That's 200 Gs.
Trevor, I'm a judge.
If there's one thing
I've learned about blackmailers
is they always
come back for more.
[grunts]
[grunting]
[Jimmy] Here's-here's
what I know, Judge.
I know your car was stolen
the day after
- you killed my son.
- [siren chirps]
Up against the wall!
[Jimmy]
So let's just skip your
denying everything,
get to where I shoot you
- in the fucking head.
- Carlo.
He is about to be arrested
for the murder
of Kofi Jones.
He's going to stand trial
for murder.
They've-they've got video
evidence and-and-and-and
DNA. No, no.
I-I can make sure that
that hi-his case is in my court.
I can make sure
that he walks out a free man.
slow, suspenseful music ♪
What does this person know?
Everything.
[gunshot]
slow, suspenseful music ♪
- [phone keys beeping]
- [engine revving]
Pick up the phone.
[horn honks]
- [tires squealing]
- [horn honking]
Pick up the fucking phone,
Carlo!
- [horns honking]
- [tires squealing]
I got the power ♪
[phone buzzes]
[Big Freedia's "Louder" plays]
I got the power ♪
- I got the power ♪
- [phone beeps]
150 grand in 24 hours!
How do you like that
for return on investment?
Every time I walk up
in the motherfuckin' room ♪
- I make heads turn ♪
- And their minds go, "Boom" ♪
Slayed so hard,
big faces need a broom ♪
[Big Freedia]
Kill 'em softly ♪
Then I put 'em in a tomb,
walk up, walk up ♪
Walk up, walk up,
walk up in the room, money ♪
Make her,
make her mind go "Boom" ♪
Money, money, money, money,
money need a broom ♪
Put 'em in a, put 'em in a,
put 'em in a tomb ♪
If you think
that you're on top ♪
- [phone buzzes]
- It's time to reevaluate ♪
Honey,
don't step out of line ♪
And, bitch,
you better know your place ♪
I'm screaming it,
screaming it louder ♪
- I got the, I got the power ♪
- I got the power ♪
Bitches can't help
but be sour ♪
[Carlo]
Yeah. Leave a message.
- [beep]
- Don't go to the hotel.
Stay away from the hotel.
Get away from the hotel!
[horn honks]
[tires screech]
[grunting]
[panting]
[distant ship's horn blows]
[grunts]
[strained grunts]
[grunts]
slow, suspenseful music ♪
[man] Morning.
[cocks hammer]
slow, suspenseful music ♪
Come on.
[grunting]
[panting]
[strained grunting]
[grunts]
Oh, shit!
[panting]
[grunts]
[grunts]
[panting]
What?
Oh. [grunts]
[loud grunting]
Jesus Christ.
slow, suspenseful music ♪
- Leave it out front.
- Yes, sir.
[tires squealing]
- [phone line ringing]
- [tires screeching]
Fuck!
Carlo, come
and kiss your mother.
Go get the stuff.
[phone ringing]
[phone beeps]
- Hey.
- [Jimmy] Get him out of there!
- What? Who?
- Carlo!
Now! Go!
[dialogue inaudible]
- [sirens wailing]
- [tires screeching]
slow, suspenseful music ♪
[sirens continue distantly]
[phone buzzes]
- [phone beeps]
- [Frankie] Hi.
Yeah. Sure.
Yeah, I understand.
[phone beeps]
[seagulls squawking]
[Michael gasps]
We need you.
[panting]
[Nancy] Carlo Baxter,
you're under arrest.
- For what?
- You have the right to remain silent.
- For what?!
- You do not have to say anything,
- but I should warn you
- Fuck you!
that anything you do say,
including abusive language
- Fuck you up the ass.
- might be used in evidence against you.
- Oh.
- What's your name?
Step back, ma'am.
[Carlo mutters]
She said step back!
I want your name.
Detective Costello, Mrs. Baxter.
Why are you arresting my son?
I think you know
the answer to that.
[gentle music plays low
in background]
Hey.
Fia?
They're saying
he killed someone.
What?
In jail,
the day of Rocco's funeral.
I'm sorry. I didn't
I didn't know
who else to come to, and I
No, no, no, it's-it's okay.
I've got you.
[Fia sighs, sniffles]
The wrong brother died.
[sniffles]
How can I feel something
like that?
But I do. [sniffles]
Is that is that terrible?
Shit. You-you [sniffles]
Please don't ever tell anyone
I said that.
- Promise me?
- I promise.
[door opens]
[woman shouting indistinctly
nearby]
Hey, you didn't see me,
all right?
[exhales heavily]
[train whistle blows
in distance]
[exhales heavily]
[train whistle
continues blowing]
[Nancy] 150 grand
and ten bucks.
Did they get that wrong?
The extra ten?
Don't tell me poker winnings.
Yeah, I'm figuring
it would be the easiest thing
in the world
to tie this to drugs.
I'm also figuring
we could forget about it
if you want
to talk about Kofi Jones.
Kofi who?
This is a death penalty case.
And the evidence, it's
strong.
You don't always know
with a jury, Carlo,
but I'd say you've got
maybe a 15% chance
of walking away from this
if you fight it.
It takes balls.
What does?
Confessing early.
Most men can't do it.
Early is the only way.
Any later and they just know
you ran out of options.
Every judge I've met
knows the difference
between remorse and self-pity.
Early?
Now.
[chuckles softly]
9 p.m.
Thursday, June 6, 2009.
I went to see for myself.
It's 'cause
they don't train them right,
and deep down,
they don't want to be there.
Execution teams are not good
at finding a vein.
Getting the needle in there
can be
real hard.
The one I witnessed?
Fourteen times they tried.
[scoffs softly]
'Till eventually,
they stopped trying,
and they just stuck it
in his groin.
And then it doesn't work.
The second drug
in the triple cocktail
paralyzes everything.
But it doesn't take away
the pain.
Unimaginable agony.
With no way of showing it.
I don't want that for anyone.
[knocking]
Wrap it up, Detective.
His lawyer's here.
[Nancy]
So what's he like?
- Who?
- Johnny Zander.
- Who?
- The lawyer.
I don't know him.
Huh.
So you do your thing in there?
My thing?
"This hurts me as much
as it hurts you. Come to Mama."
- Some.
- What did he say?
It's what he didn't say
that's gonna matter.
[Frankie]
Twenty years on the bench,
and you've heard it all, right?
About what human beings
do to each other.
Witness testimony
and photographs.
But never the real thing.
[panting]
Double knots.
Tighter.
[Frankie grunts softly]
[grunts]
Get him up.
- [metal clattering]
- [Frankie grunts softly]
[strained grunts]
[grunts]
[panting]
[grunts]
[gasps softly]
[Frankie inhales deeply]
[grunts loudly]
[strained grunts]
[grunts]
[rope whirring]
[whooshing]
slow, dramatic music ♪
[bell ringing distantly]
[horse neighing distantly]
He killed somebody.
- It's an allegation.
- Police are saying
The police? The police?
Fucking police.
You know what they do
in the Quarter?
They sell NOPD T-shirts from the
police station on Royal Street.
Are you kidding me? You people
ran away from Katrina.
And they sell T-shirts.
He did it, though?
Now I look at him
and I look at you.
[grunts]
[laughs softly]
[chuckles]
I just remembered
it's my birthday.
What's funny?
We're a long way past that.
Past what?
Irony.
What are you,
a fucking philosopher?
What are you, a fucking judge?
[Fia]
I saw the money in Carlo's bag.
It was a lot, Dad.
I'm sorry you had to see.
Joey?
What was in his bag?
[exhales sharply]
Carlo got into something
when he was in prison.
contemplative music ♪
And it's gotten messy,
like it always does with drugs.
- What is wrong with him?
- It doesn't matter.
- Wh-What do you mean?
- Well,
a father's love for his children
is unconditional.
I love you, I love him.
I loved Rocco.
I love Rocco.
[Jimmy] [over voice mail]
Don't go to the hotel.
Stay away from the hotel.
Get away from the hotel!
- [recording clicks off]
- [Nancy] They knew.
- What?
- Oh, nothing.
Hey, what's he like?
The lawyer.
Ask Lieutenant Cusack.
- Cusack doesn't know him.
- Really?
Deep conversation
the two of them had
when Zander got here.
No, they don't know each other.
Then it was a hell
of a first date.
In front of you,
this conversation?
Parking lot.
They knew we were coming.
[Jimmy]
It's amazing what a man can do
with the will to survive.
That hiker who
cut his own arm off.
Can you imagine that?
Or hitting someone
with your car
and leaving them bleeding
to death in the road.
What does that take?
And stealing his phone.
What did you do with it?
- It's in the river.
- Ah.
You were thinking clearly for
someone who just killed a child.
I wasn't thinking, it was panic.
I-I
Rocco crossed over
into my lane.
Why didn't you turn yourself in?
I wanted to.
- I was there t
- Where?
At the at the police station.
I went there to do just that,
and-and
Then I saw you
with your wife.
Did he say anything?
Before he died?
He couldn't.
He-he couldn't breathe.
Was he trying to speak?
Yes.
Did he think
you were helping him?
I was helping. I did help him.
- I did everything that I could.
- He called 911.
You took his phone from him.
You threw it in the river.
Hmm? "Help"?
"Help"?
Is that what you call that?
Anyone who
What kind of a human being
is that?
Hmm?
[scoffs]
You have a son.
- Yes.
- How old?
Adam Adam is 17.
Does he love you?
- Yes.
- Respect you?
Yes, I think so.
Have you told him
what kind of a man
his father really is?
No, I haven't said that.
Have you told your children
what kind of man you really are?
Have you told them
about the gas leak
on Flood Street
in the Lower 9th?
The one that killed three
small children and their mother.
Have you told them that?
Have you told them the ages
of those children?
Their names?
You know what
losing a child gives you?
Terrible, visceral pain.
An overwhelming sense
of failure.
And then there's the
the surprising one.
It's a kind of freedom.
Nothing matters.
Not ever again.
So you're capable of anything.
Anything.
If you don't come through
for Carlo,
it would be the easiest thing
in the world
to cut your hard
fucking heart out
and feed it to the river.
slow, ominous music ♪
[Adam] Dad?
Yeah.
- Hey. [chuckles]
- Hey.
- What are you doing?
- Oh. Eh
Dad. Hey,
what happened to your face?
- Oh. [chuckles]
- Dad?
You want to kiss it better?
- What?
- You don't remember that?
You remember that time we went
to the zoo? Maybe you don't.
I mean, you were only,
what, five or six?
Anyway, there was
this-this mangy old camel,
and it had a-a bandage
around its leg and-and you said,
"Kiss it better, Daddy?"
[laughs softly]
I mean, you got
so angry and frustrated
when I didn't climb
into the enclosure
and kiss a camel.
[laughs softly]
The father
who can fix everything.
Uh, if there hadn't been
people around,
I even think
I might have done it.
I But how did you
hurt your face?
Oh. Just playing with Django.
Caught a paw.
Wrestling?
Yes.
Oh, hey, Django,
what are you doing?
What?
Django, what are you doing?
Oh, Jesus.
- Get away from there.
- [Adam] Hey, what's this?
[Michael] Huh?
Oh, the, um
Uh, the butcher, he, uh, he
he saves offcuts for-for Django.
- Come on, Django. Get away.
- Eh, what is it?
It's offal.
- What's offal?
- Oh, it's
the parts that
we-we just don't eat.
- Like heart?
- Yeah.
[Adam]
It doesn't look like a heart.
Really, I don't know what
it is, I-I don't ask.
He just gives it to us, so
Okay, I mean,
well, what's white?
The brain?
Yeah.
Uh, sheep or pig?
Wh Uh
Did you know that it was
Carlo Baxter who killed Kofi Jones?
Yes, I did. Um
The warrant for his arrest,
t-that was me.
How did you find out?
- It's out there.
- Wh?
- Social media, Dad.
- Oh.
W-When did you find
that out? Was
- [phone ringing]
- All right, look, look,
that's Judge LeBlanc calling.
I need to take a quick shower,
but tell her I'm on my way, okay?
And tell her the reason why.
Thank you.
[phone continues ringing]
[phone beeps]
Hello?
Yeah, uh, no, he was, uh,
playing with Django
and Django's paw
caught his face.
Uh, yeah, no, no. He's-he's
fine, he's, uh, he's on his way.
We're a week away
from the enforced release
of 16 murderers and nine rapists
because we can't find
the court time
to put them on trial.
This is about
not having proper funding
- in the court system.
- No, no, no.
Fox News says it's actually
about 25 Willie Hortons
coming out of jail next week
to hang out on Bourbon Street.
Or how the slowest judge
in New Orleans
is gonna get your daughter raped
or your son murdered.
That's you, Michael.
You are the problem.
Fox is asking
for a picture of you.
They want one of you smiling.
Do you have one of those?
Not lately.
I've never done anything like
this before. It just, it just
it breaks all the rules.
But I love you, so
I asked Molly to give you
the Carlo Baxter arraignment.
I thought maybe
you could show everybody
the size of your balls.
Otherwise known
as standing up to,
not up for, criminals.
Slow, somber music ♪
[bailiff] All rise.
All rise.
Court is in session.
[door closes]
[Michael]
Mr. Zander, is your client ready
to enter a plea at this time?
Yes, Your Honor.
Very well. Carlo Baxter,
to the count of murder
in the first degree,
how do you plead?
- Not guilty.
- All right.
Your Honor, I'd like to request
that bail be set.
Ms. McKee?
This is a death penalty case.
Mr. Baxter
is a violent criminal.
Ms. McKee,
you're addressing me,
not the National Enquirer.
Sorry. I'll start again.
This is a death penalty case.
Mr. Baxter's a violent criminal.
How about being
a little more specific
on your objections to bail?
Fuck you.
Fuck you up the ass.
Mr. Baxter's response
to being Mirandized.
It's a way better articulation
about his attitude
to being held in custody than
anything I can come up with.
He's about as near to
the perfect definition
of a flight risk
since El Chapo got cuffed.
I agree.
Go fuck yourself.
Excuse me?
Go fuck yourself.
You know, I think it's good
to get your feelings out,
Mr. Baxter
man-to-man and everything,
but if you do it again,
I will have you arrested
for contempt of court.
Do you understand me?
Do you understand me,
Mr. Baxter?
[door closes]
[low, indistinct chatter]
haunting music ♪
[low, indistinct chatter]
[scoffs]
What the fuck?
I have to make this look legit.
- What the fuck?!
- Shh!
Come on.
Why do you think I told you
to go fuck yourself, hmm?
I hate you, you hate me,
it's beautiful.
No one is going to question
my integrity if I get this trial.
- If? If?
- I meant when I get this trial.
When I get it.
It's okay. It-It's all right.
We're-we're-we're fine now.
It's okay.
Took a lot of losses,
had to bounce back ♪
She got ass,
love it when it bounce back ♪
Came back strong,
had to bounce back ♪
Applying pressure,
watch a nigga bounce back ♪
Huh, huh,
push it up all in his face ♪
And he think that I'm pushing,
like what we got talk about? ♪
Ain't shit to talk about,
I put the calls on these niggas ♪
I call 'em out, call 'em
out, huh, huh, push it, yeah ♪
Huh, huh, push it ♪
I'm in his face
and he thinkin' I'm pushing ♪
Major mistake if you thinkin'
I'm pussy, yeah ♪
Huh, huh, push it, push it ♪
I'm in his face
and he thinkin' I'm pushing ♪
Major mistake if you thinkin'
I'm pussy, yeah ♪
252 on the digi',
I'm still in the kitchen ♪
I'm cookin' up
a four and a half ♪
We doing drop-ins now?
Baxters don't deal heroin.
Some Baxters do.
You know Carlo got arrested.
You the new delivery man now?
The drugs are gone.
See, now, that's not gonna work.
They bought and paid for.
I gave your son 150 large.
It's in an evidence locker
at the police station,
together with the heroin;
you want it, go get it.
I'm gonna be made whole,
either by you or Carlo.
Do you speak for your son,
or is he his own boss?
The 150, that's on you.
As for Carlo
he's my only son.
You understand me?
Looks like you and me
ain't in the problem solving
business today.
You gotta be cautious,
I'm clutching, you crossin' us ♪
Pump put a permanent scar
in your top ♪
Bought a new freak, she got
a big head like Rihanna ♪
It's cute,
I'm not takin' a shot ♪
Designer my closet,
pick up a deposit ♪
On Michigan Ave.
when I chill in the Chi ♪
I'm in two lanes,
whip is insane ♪
I had to take off the brain ♪
I got some change,
drive with two names ♪
On the Blackberry
doin' my thing ♪
I been pushing them thangs ♪
- Pushing it, pushing it ♪
- I been doing my thang ♪
Pushing it, pushing it,
pushing it, pushing it ♪
Pushing it, pushing it, yeah ♪
Took a lot of losses,
had to bounce back ♪
[Little Mo]
They robbing us.
That there?
The bold walk-in?
Bullshit show of strength
hiding weak as all fuck
underneath.
Family split like that,
all we need is a lever to break it open.
As far as Carlo's concerned,
nothing changes;
I'll deal with him.
That's how we fuck
with his daddy.
Something to say, little man?
Mm.
Get word into OPP.
Let's make sure his son know
he ain't hiding from us in there.
Sick wit' compartments,
Toyota Corolla ♪
I'm hopin' to load 'em,
get caught on the slap ♪
Nothing impossible,
had a few obstacles ♪
Right back to clocking
like I never left ♪
My windows is tinted,
my mouth and my watch ♪
[door squeaks open]
I didn't get it, did I?
Sarah LeBlanc will be trying
Carlo Baxter.
She'll do a great job.
[Michael] It's random,
the selection of judges.
That's just the way it works.
You know what I hate?
Atlanta.
Peaches, peach trees,
Peachtree Street.
I hate Atlanta.
But nothing as much as
I hate people
who break their promises.
Do you know how hard
this has been on me?
- [laughs]
- Every principle that I have ever
When you left my son dying
on the side of the road,
you lost that.
Principle?!
No.
- I can still make this work.
- How?
You're out of time. Give me
the answer to my question now.
[Michael]
Desire will kill him.
If Carlo goes down for this,
he'll never come out,
and then you'll have two
You'll have two dead sons.
You need me.
You can't do this without me.
Your-your wife, your daughter
That's why I asked for how.
Do you have how?
Yes, I do.
- [knocks]
- Hey.
Where were you?
When?
[sighs]
The breakfast meeting
you set up this morning
with, uh, our client
who brought us in
over $3.5 million dollars
of billable hours last year?
Oh, my God,
that was this morning.
Yeah. This morning. So?
There was an arraignment
I had to see.
Had to? Uh-huh.
[sighs]
I thought I told you
to drop your
Carlo Baxter obsession.
Yeah, well, I got him charged
with murder instead.
We don't do crime, Lee.
You don't do crime.
He killed one of our clients.
I think you're
you're confused, Lee.
At no point did our firm
represent Kofi Jones
or his family.
We do, however,
represent
the Orleans Parish Prison.
Which is why
Which is why I told you
to leave this alone.
Look away when a kid is murdered
in an institution
whose first job is supposed to
be keeping the vulnerable safe?
We keep looking away
when that same institution
does absolutely nothing
to figure out who killed him?
We're lawyers, Lee.
We speak for those people
who pay us to speak.
In this case, it's the OPP.
Kofi was a child.
His brother is a child.
I can't just let this be.
Hmm. Yeah.
You mean every word of that.
Yeah.
Uh-huh.
Which is why
I'm letting you go, Lee.
- You're firing me?
- [chuckles]
- You left already.
- What is this, constructive dismissal?
Am I firing myself?
Lee, you look me in the eye,
and you convince me
that you'll put all your energy
and passion
you have been putting into
working for your
Lower Nine orphan into fighting
for the tax interests
of those people that you forgot
to have breakfast with
this morning
then you can stay.
slow, suspenseful music ♪
[footsteps approaching]
- [officer speaks low]
- Thank you.
- Michael?
- Oh.
You okay?
Well, this is what we used
to do, by the way. Robin and I?
We used to come, sit side
by side in this very bar
and we would just
make our way through
the best top-shelf single malts.
- [chuckles]
- Yep. On your birthday.
Yeah, yeah Yes.
I forgot, it is my birthday.
I keep forgetting. [chuckles]
Don't know when they'll end ♪
If they'll ever end ♪
I can't even rub
two quarters ♪
[exhales]
And I ain't got ♪
Oh, that's good.
Mmm.
No, you know what? It's actually
not just my birthday.
It's both of our birthday.
We were born on the same day.
Robin and I well,
five years apart, but still.
You knew that, right?
Did I tell you
I didn't tell you that?
I was going to talk
about that in the eulogy,
but then I-I didn't think
I would be able to get through it.
- Could I have two more?
- [bartender] You got it.
I mean, Sarah,
it's-it's only been a year,
and it-it
it-it feels
I mean, does it seem
to you that it
it's a betrayal?
Does she make you happy?
Lee?
Yes.
Then there's your answer.
I'm out.
Thank you.
Where are we going?
I'm cooking you dinner.
Really?
Nice.
Uh, this is not the way to
At your house.
Oh.
Did something happen?
Yeah.
- Yeah? That's all? Yeah?
- Yeah. [laughs softly]
You're not gonna tell me?
Not yet.
Well, I have something
I want to say to you, too.
What?
Michael, what?
Maybe it's the same thing.
[siren chirps]
[quietly]
You've got to be kidding me.
- [indistinct radio chatter]
- [door alarm dinging]
This your car, ma'am?
What do you think?
Simple question, ma'am.
I'm white
you asking the same thing?
[sighs]
Fifteen seconds in,
there it is,
she pulls the race card.
I'm a judge
are you asking the same thing?
[sniffs]
You been drinking, ma'am?
It's either that
or the car's been drinking.
Somebody put a daiquiri
in the gas tank?
World-class potholes, every car
in New Orleans looks drunk.
The only question is,
who do you choose to stop
using your white man's
discretion?
Hands on the wheel.
I told you, I'm a judge.
If you think I'm actually
gonna try to pull a weapon
- Really, you are
- Hands on the wheel now.
You know what? Fuck you.
Fuck the both of you.
Hands on the fucking wheel.
slow, somber music ♪
[talking low, indistinctly]
I love you.
Lee?
The light's green.
[group] Surprise!
- Happy birthday.
- Happy birthday.
- Happy birthday.
- [laughter]
somber music ♪
[group]
Happy birthday to you ♪
Happy birthday
to you ♪
Happy birthday ♪
Dear Michael ♪
Happy birthday to you ♪
somber music ♪
[dialogue inaudible]
[Charlie] Our birthday boy
has a problem.
He doesn't like it when people
say nice things about him
in public.
I've known Michael Desiato
nearly all my life,
a life I wouldn't have had
were it not for him pulling me
out of Lake Pontchartrain.
Age six, damn near drowned.
Then having the presence of mind
to turn me upside down
by my ankles
and shake all the lake water
in my skinny-ass lungs
right out of there.
[chuckles]
Michael Desiato
always backs himself
- to make things right.
- [sighs]
Grace under pressure?
Look at him. He got it.
Calm decisions in the heat
of action? Oh, yeah.
I've been proud to stand next
to this man through his life.
I'm privileged to call him
my friend,
and for his integrity,
his dignity and for being
just about good enough
for a white man on
the basketball court to make it
a real satisfaction to whup
his ass every time [chuckles]
Michael Desiato
will always have my vote.
[laughter, applause]
[indistinct chatter]
[man] All right, Michael.
[cheering]
somber music ♪
[phone beeps]
Jimmy.
[Charlie]
To an honorable man.
[all] To an honorable man.
[Django chokes]
- [Michael] Hey.
- [Django whimpers]
What happened, buddy?
[Adam]
What's wrong with Django?
suspenseful music ♪
"In My Secret Life"
by Leonard Cohen ♪
In my secret life ♪
In my secret life ♪
I smile when I'm angry ♪
I cheat and I lie ♪
I do what I have to do ♪
To get by ♪
But I know what is wrong ♪
And I know what is right ♪
And I'd die for the truth ♪
In my secret life ♪
In my secret life ♪
In my secret life ♪
Previously on Your Honor
[Danavian] There's one guy
he come up to me real quiet,
asking me if I know
who Kofi Jones is.
[Lee]
Do you know his name?
[Danavian] Carlo Baxter.
- [Lee] We got him.
- What?
[Lee] We got Carlo Baxter's
DNA on Kofi.
[Carlo] It's gonna be
the hottest shit in Nola.
We're gonna turn 150 grand
into half a mil.
[Big Mo] Y'all ain't
the only one upping your game.
That's 200 Gs.
Trevor, I'm a judge.
If there's one thing
I've learned about blackmailers
is they always
come back for more.
[grunts]
[grunting]
[Jimmy] Here's-here's
what I know, Judge.
I know your car was stolen
the day after
- you killed my son.
- [siren chirps]
Up against the wall!
[Jimmy]
So let's just skip your
denying everything,
get to where I shoot you
- in the fucking head.
- Carlo.
He is about to be arrested
for the murder
of Kofi Jones.
He's going to stand trial
for murder.
They've-they've got video
evidence and-and-and-and
DNA. No, no.
I-I can make sure that
that hi-his case is in my court.
I can make sure
that he walks out a free man.
slow, suspenseful music ♪
What does this person know?
Everything.
[gunshot]
slow, suspenseful music ♪
- [phone keys beeping]
- [engine revving]
Pick up the phone.
[horn honks]
- [tires squealing]
- [horn honking]
Pick up the fucking phone,
Carlo!
- [horns honking]
- [tires squealing]
I got the power ♪
[phone buzzes]
[Big Freedia's "Louder" plays]
I got the power ♪
- I got the power ♪
- [phone beeps]
150 grand in 24 hours!
How do you like that
for return on investment?
Every time I walk up
in the motherfuckin' room ♪
- I make heads turn ♪
- And their minds go, "Boom" ♪
Slayed so hard,
big faces need a broom ♪
[Big Freedia]
Kill 'em softly ♪
Then I put 'em in a tomb,
walk up, walk up ♪
Walk up, walk up,
walk up in the room, money ♪
Make her,
make her mind go "Boom" ♪
Money, money, money, money,
money need a broom ♪
Put 'em in a, put 'em in a,
put 'em in a tomb ♪
If you think
that you're on top ♪
- [phone buzzes]
- It's time to reevaluate ♪
Honey,
don't step out of line ♪
And, bitch,
you better know your place ♪
I'm screaming it,
screaming it louder ♪
- I got the, I got the power ♪
- I got the power ♪
Bitches can't help
but be sour ♪
[Carlo]
Yeah. Leave a message.
- [beep]
- Don't go to the hotel.
Stay away from the hotel.
Get away from the hotel!
[horn honks]
[tires screech]
[grunting]
[panting]
[distant ship's horn blows]
[grunts]
[strained grunts]
[grunts]
slow, suspenseful music ♪
[man] Morning.
[cocks hammer]
slow, suspenseful music ♪
Come on.
[grunting]
[panting]
[strained grunting]
[grunts]
Oh, shit!
[panting]
[grunts]
[grunts]
[panting]
What?
Oh. [grunts]
[loud grunting]
Jesus Christ.
slow, suspenseful music ♪
- Leave it out front.
- Yes, sir.
[tires squealing]
- [phone line ringing]
- [tires screeching]
Fuck!
Carlo, come
and kiss your mother.
Go get the stuff.
[phone ringing]
[phone beeps]
- Hey.
- [Jimmy] Get him out of there!
- What? Who?
- Carlo!
Now! Go!
[dialogue inaudible]
- [sirens wailing]
- [tires screeching]
slow, suspenseful music ♪
[sirens continue distantly]
[phone buzzes]
- [phone beeps]
- [Frankie] Hi.
Yeah. Sure.
Yeah, I understand.
[phone beeps]
[seagulls squawking]
[Michael gasps]
We need you.
[panting]
[Nancy] Carlo Baxter,
you're under arrest.
- For what?
- You have the right to remain silent.
- For what?!
- You do not have to say anything,
- but I should warn you
- Fuck you!
that anything you do say,
including abusive language
- Fuck you up the ass.
- might be used in evidence against you.
- Oh.
- What's your name?
Step back, ma'am.
[Carlo mutters]
She said step back!
I want your name.
Detective Costello, Mrs. Baxter.
Why are you arresting my son?
I think you know
the answer to that.
[gentle music plays low
in background]
Hey.
Fia?
They're saying
he killed someone.
What?
In jail,
the day of Rocco's funeral.
I'm sorry. I didn't
I didn't know
who else to come to, and I
No, no, no, it's-it's okay.
I've got you.
[Fia sighs, sniffles]
The wrong brother died.
[sniffles]
How can I feel something
like that?
But I do. [sniffles]
Is that is that terrible?
Shit. You-you [sniffles]
Please don't ever tell anyone
I said that.
- Promise me?
- I promise.
[door opens]
[woman shouting indistinctly
nearby]
Hey, you didn't see me,
all right?
[exhales heavily]
[train whistle blows
in distance]
[exhales heavily]
[train whistle
continues blowing]
[Nancy] 150 grand
and ten bucks.
Did they get that wrong?
The extra ten?
Don't tell me poker winnings.
Yeah, I'm figuring
it would be the easiest thing
in the world
to tie this to drugs.
I'm also figuring
we could forget about it
if you want
to talk about Kofi Jones.
Kofi who?
This is a death penalty case.
And the evidence, it's
strong.
You don't always know
with a jury, Carlo,
but I'd say you've got
maybe a 15% chance
of walking away from this
if you fight it.
It takes balls.
What does?
Confessing early.
Most men can't do it.
Early is the only way.
Any later and they just know
you ran out of options.
Every judge I've met
knows the difference
between remorse and self-pity.
Early?
Now.
[chuckles softly]
9 p.m.
Thursday, June 6, 2009.
I went to see for myself.
It's 'cause
they don't train them right,
and deep down,
they don't want to be there.
Execution teams are not good
at finding a vein.
Getting the needle in there
can be
real hard.
The one I witnessed?
Fourteen times they tried.
[scoffs softly]
'Till eventually,
they stopped trying,
and they just stuck it
in his groin.
And then it doesn't work.
The second drug
in the triple cocktail
paralyzes everything.
But it doesn't take away
the pain.
Unimaginable agony.
With no way of showing it.
I don't want that for anyone.
[knocking]
Wrap it up, Detective.
His lawyer's here.
[Nancy]
So what's he like?
- Who?
- Johnny Zander.
- Who?
- The lawyer.
I don't know him.
Huh.
So you do your thing in there?
My thing?
"This hurts me as much
as it hurts you. Come to Mama."
- Some.
- What did he say?
It's what he didn't say
that's gonna matter.
[Frankie]
Twenty years on the bench,
and you've heard it all, right?
About what human beings
do to each other.
Witness testimony
and photographs.
But never the real thing.
[panting]
Double knots.
Tighter.
[Frankie grunts softly]
[grunts]
Get him up.
- [metal clattering]
- [Frankie grunts softly]
[strained grunts]
[grunts]
[panting]
[grunts]
[gasps softly]
[Frankie inhales deeply]
[grunts loudly]
[strained grunts]
[grunts]
[rope whirring]
[whooshing]
slow, dramatic music ♪
[bell ringing distantly]
[horse neighing distantly]
He killed somebody.
- It's an allegation.
- Police are saying
The police? The police?
Fucking police.
You know what they do
in the Quarter?
They sell NOPD T-shirts from the
police station on Royal Street.
Are you kidding me? You people
ran away from Katrina.
And they sell T-shirts.
He did it, though?
Now I look at him
and I look at you.
[grunts]
[laughs softly]
[chuckles]
I just remembered
it's my birthday.
What's funny?
We're a long way past that.
Past what?
Irony.
What are you,
a fucking philosopher?
What are you, a fucking judge?
[Fia]
I saw the money in Carlo's bag.
It was a lot, Dad.
I'm sorry you had to see.
Joey?
What was in his bag?
[exhales sharply]
Carlo got into something
when he was in prison.
contemplative music ♪
And it's gotten messy,
like it always does with drugs.
- What is wrong with him?
- It doesn't matter.
- Wh-What do you mean?
- Well,
a father's love for his children
is unconditional.
I love you, I love him.
I loved Rocco.
I love Rocco.
[Jimmy] [over voice mail]
Don't go to the hotel.
Stay away from the hotel.
Get away from the hotel!
- [recording clicks off]
- [Nancy] They knew.
- What?
- Oh, nothing.
Hey, what's he like?
The lawyer.
Ask Lieutenant Cusack.
- Cusack doesn't know him.
- Really?
Deep conversation
the two of them had
when Zander got here.
No, they don't know each other.
Then it was a hell
of a first date.
In front of you,
this conversation?
Parking lot.
They knew we were coming.
[Jimmy]
It's amazing what a man can do
with the will to survive.
That hiker who
cut his own arm off.
Can you imagine that?
Or hitting someone
with your car
and leaving them bleeding
to death in the road.
What does that take?
And stealing his phone.
What did you do with it?
- It's in the river.
- Ah.
You were thinking clearly for
someone who just killed a child.
I wasn't thinking, it was panic.
I-I
Rocco crossed over
into my lane.
Why didn't you turn yourself in?
I wanted to.
- I was there t
- Where?
At the at the police station.
I went there to do just that,
and-and
Then I saw you
with your wife.
Did he say anything?
Before he died?
He couldn't.
He-he couldn't breathe.
Was he trying to speak?
Yes.
Did he think
you were helping him?
I was helping. I did help him.
- I did everything that I could.
- He called 911.
You took his phone from him.
You threw it in the river.
Hmm? "Help"?
"Help"?
Is that what you call that?
Anyone who
What kind of a human being
is that?
Hmm?
[scoffs]
You have a son.
- Yes.
- How old?
Adam Adam is 17.
Does he love you?
- Yes.
- Respect you?
Yes, I think so.
Have you told him
what kind of a man
his father really is?
No, I haven't said that.
Have you told your children
what kind of man you really are?
Have you told them
about the gas leak
on Flood Street
in the Lower 9th?
The one that killed three
small children and their mother.
Have you told them that?
Have you told them the ages
of those children?
Their names?
You know what
losing a child gives you?
Terrible, visceral pain.
An overwhelming sense
of failure.
And then there's the
the surprising one.
It's a kind of freedom.
Nothing matters.
Not ever again.
So you're capable of anything.
Anything.
If you don't come through
for Carlo,
it would be the easiest thing
in the world
to cut your hard
fucking heart out
and feed it to the river.
slow, ominous music ♪
[Adam] Dad?
Yeah.
- Hey. [chuckles]
- Hey.
- What are you doing?
- Oh. Eh
Dad. Hey,
what happened to your face?
- Oh. [chuckles]
- Dad?
You want to kiss it better?
- What?
- You don't remember that?
You remember that time we went
to the zoo? Maybe you don't.
I mean, you were only,
what, five or six?
Anyway, there was
this-this mangy old camel,
and it had a-a bandage
around its leg and-and you said,
"Kiss it better, Daddy?"
[laughs softly]
I mean, you got
so angry and frustrated
when I didn't climb
into the enclosure
and kiss a camel.
[laughs softly]
The father
who can fix everything.
Uh, if there hadn't been
people around,
I even think
I might have done it.
I But how did you
hurt your face?
Oh. Just playing with Django.
Caught a paw.
Wrestling?
Yes.
Oh, hey, Django,
what are you doing?
What?
Django, what are you doing?
Oh, Jesus.
- Get away from there.
- [Adam] Hey, what's this?
[Michael] Huh?
Oh, the, um
Uh, the butcher, he, uh, he
he saves offcuts for-for Django.
- Come on, Django. Get away.
- Eh, what is it?
It's offal.
- What's offal?
- Oh, it's
the parts that
we-we just don't eat.
- Like heart?
- Yeah.
[Adam]
It doesn't look like a heart.
Really, I don't know what
it is, I-I don't ask.
He just gives it to us, so
Okay, I mean,
well, what's white?
The brain?
Yeah.
Uh, sheep or pig?
Wh Uh
Did you know that it was
Carlo Baxter who killed Kofi Jones?
Yes, I did. Um
The warrant for his arrest,
t-that was me.
How did you find out?
- It's out there.
- Wh?
- Social media, Dad.
- Oh.
W-When did you find
that out? Was
- [phone ringing]
- All right, look, look,
that's Judge LeBlanc calling.
I need to take a quick shower,
but tell her I'm on my way, okay?
And tell her the reason why.
Thank you.
[phone continues ringing]
[phone beeps]
Hello?
Yeah, uh, no, he was, uh,
playing with Django
and Django's paw
caught his face.
Uh, yeah, no, no. He's-he's
fine, he's, uh, he's on his way.
We're a week away
from the enforced release
of 16 murderers and nine rapists
because we can't find
the court time
to put them on trial.
This is about
not having proper funding
- in the court system.
- No, no, no.
Fox News says it's actually
about 25 Willie Hortons
coming out of jail next week
to hang out on Bourbon Street.
Or how the slowest judge
in New Orleans
is gonna get your daughter raped
or your son murdered.
That's you, Michael.
You are the problem.
Fox is asking
for a picture of you.
They want one of you smiling.
Do you have one of those?
Not lately.
I've never done anything like
this before. It just, it just
it breaks all the rules.
But I love you, so
I asked Molly to give you
the Carlo Baxter arraignment.
I thought maybe
you could show everybody
the size of your balls.
Otherwise known
as standing up to,
not up for, criminals.
Slow, somber music ♪
[bailiff] All rise.
All rise.
Court is in session.
[door closes]
[Michael]
Mr. Zander, is your client ready
to enter a plea at this time?
Yes, Your Honor.
Very well. Carlo Baxter,
to the count of murder
in the first degree,
how do you plead?
- Not guilty.
- All right.
Your Honor, I'd like to request
that bail be set.
Ms. McKee?
This is a death penalty case.
Mr. Baxter
is a violent criminal.
Ms. McKee,
you're addressing me,
not the National Enquirer.
Sorry. I'll start again.
This is a death penalty case.
Mr. Baxter's a violent criminal.
How about being
a little more specific
on your objections to bail?
Fuck you.
Fuck you up the ass.
Mr. Baxter's response
to being Mirandized.
It's a way better articulation
about his attitude
to being held in custody than
anything I can come up with.
He's about as near to
the perfect definition
of a flight risk
since El Chapo got cuffed.
I agree.
Go fuck yourself.
Excuse me?
Go fuck yourself.
You know, I think it's good
to get your feelings out,
Mr. Baxter
man-to-man and everything,
but if you do it again,
I will have you arrested
for contempt of court.
Do you understand me?
Do you understand me,
Mr. Baxter?
[door closes]
[low, indistinct chatter]
haunting music ♪
[low, indistinct chatter]
[scoffs]
What the fuck?
I have to make this look legit.
- What the fuck?!
- Shh!
Come on.
Why do you think I told you
to go fuck yourself, hmm?
I hate you, you hate me,
it's beautiful.
No one is going to question
my integrity if I get this trial.
- If? If?
- I meant when I get this trial.
When I get it.
It's okay. It-It's all right.
We're-we're-we're fine now.
It's okay.
Took a lot of losses,
had to bounce back ♪
She got ass,
love it when it bounce back ♪
Came back strong,
had to bounce back ♪
Applying pressure,
watch a nigga bounce back ♪
Huh, huh,
push it up all in his face ♪
And he think that I'm pushing,
like what we got talk about? ♪
Ain't shit to talk about,
I put the calls on these niggas ♪
I call 'em out, call 'em
out, huh, huh, push it, yeah ♪
Huh, huh, push it ♪
I'm in his face
and he thinkin' I'm pushing ♪
Major mistake if you thinkin'
I'm pussy, yeah ♪
Huh, huh, push it, push it ♪
I'm in his face
and he thinkin' I'm pushing ♪
Major mistake if you thinkin'
I'm pussy, yeah ♪
252 on the digi',
I'm still in the kitchen ♪
I'm cookin' up
a four and a half ♪
We doing drop-ins now?
Baxters don't deal heroin.
Some Baxters do.
You know Carlo got arrested.
You the new delivery man now?
The drugs are gone.
See, now, that's not gonna work.
They bought and paid for.
I gave your son 150 large.
It's in an evidence locker
at the police station,
together with the heroin;
you want it, go get it.
I'm gonna be made whole,
either by you or Carlo.
Do you speak for your son,
or is he his own boss?
The 150, that's on you.
As for Carlo
he's my only son.
You understand me?
Looks like you and me
ain't in the problem solving
business today.
You gotta be cautious,
I'm clutching, you crossin' us ♪
Pump put a permanent scar
in your top ♪
Bought a new freak, she got
a big head like Rihanna ♪
It's cute,
I'm not takin' a shot ♪
Designer my closet,
pick up a deposit ♪
On Michigan Ave.
when I chill in the Chi ♪
I'm in two lanes,
whip is insane ♪
I had to take off the brain ♪
I got some change,
drive with two names ♪
On the Blackberry
doin' my thing ♪
I been pushing them thangs ♪
- Pushing it, pushing it ♪
- I been doing my thang ♪
Pushing it, pushing it,
pushing it, pushing it ♪
Pushing it, pushing it, yeah ♪
Took a lot of losses,
had to bounce back ♪
[Little Mo]
They robbing us.
That there?
The bold walk-in?
Bullshit show of strength
hiding weak as all fuck
underneath.
Family split like that,
all we need is a lever to break it open.
As far as Carlo's concerned,
nothing changes;
I'll deal with him.
That's how we fuck
with his daddy.
Something to say, little man?
Mm.
Get word into OPP.
Let's make sure his son know
he ain't hiding from us in there.
Sick wit' compartments,
Toyota Corolla ♪
I'm hopin' to load 'em,
get caught on the slap ♪
Nothing impossible,
had a few obstacles ♪
Right back to clocking
like I never left ♪
My windows is tinted,
my mouth and my watch ♪
[door squeaks open]
I didn't get it, did I?
Sarah LeBlanc will be trying
Carlo Baxter.
She'll do a great job.
[Michael] It's random,
the selection of judges.
That's just the way it works.
You know what I hate?
Atlanta.
Peaches, peach trees,
Peachtree Street.
I hate Atlanta.
But nothing as much as
I hate people
who break their promises.
Do you know how hard
this has been on me?
- [laughs]
- Every principle that I have ever
When you left my son dying
on the side of the road,
you lost that.
Principle?!
No.
- I can still make this work.
- How?
You're out of time. Give me
the answer to my question now.
[Michael]
Desire will kill him.
If Carlo goes down for this,
he'll never come out,
and then you'll have two
You'll have two dead sons.
You need me.
You can't do this without me.
Your-your wife, your daughter
That's why I asked for how.
Do you have how?
Yes, I do.
- [knocks]
- Hey.
Where were you?
When?
[sighs]
The breakfast meeting
you set up this morning
with, uh, our client
who brought us in
over $3.5 million dollars
of billable hours last year?
Oh, my God,
that was this morning.
Yeah. This morning. So?
There was an arraignment
I had to see.
Had to? Uh-huh.
[sighs]
I thought I told you
to drop your
Carlo Baxter obsession.
Yeah, well, I got him charged
with murder instead.
We don't do crime, Lee.
You don't do crime.
He killed one of our clients.
I think you're
you're confused, Lee.
At no point did our firm
represent Kofi Jones
or his family.
We do, however,
represent
the Orleans Parish Prison.
Which is why
Which is why I told you
to leave this alone.
Look away when a kid is murdered
in an institution
whose first job is supposed to
be keeping the vulnerable safe?
We keep looking away
when that same institution
does absolutely nothing
to figure out who killed him?
We're lawyers, Lee.
We speak for those people
who pay us to speak.
In this case, it's the OPP.
Kofi was a child.
His brother is a child.
I can't just let this be.
Hmm. Yeah.
You mean every word of that.
Yeah.
Uh-huh.
Which is why
I'm letting you go, Lee.
- You're firing me?
- [chuckles]
- You left already.
- What is this, constructive dismissal?
Am I firing myself?
Lee, you look me in the eye,
and you convince me
that you'll put all your energy
and passion
you have been putting into
working for your
Lower Nine orphan into fighting
for the tax interests
of those people that you forgot
to have breakfast with
this morning
then you can stay.
slow, suspenseful music ♪
[footsteps approaching]
- [officer speaks low]
- Thank you.
- Michael?
- Oh.
You okay?
Well, this is what we used
to do, by the way. Robin and I?
We used to come, sit side
by side in this very bar
and we would just
make our way through
the best top-shelf single malts.
- [chuckles]
- Yep. On your birthday.
Yeah, yeah Yes.
I forgot, it is my birthday.
I keep forgetting. [chuckles]
Don't know when they'll end ♪
If they'll ever end ♪
I can't even rub
two quarters ♪
[exhales]
And I ain't got ♪
Oh, that's good.
Mmm.
No, you know what? It's actually
not just my birthday.
It's both of our birthday.
We were born on the same day.
Robin and I well,
five years apart, but still.
You knew that, right?
Did I tell you
I didn't tell you that?
I was going to talk
about that in the eulogy,
but then I-I didn't think
I would be able to get through it.
- Could I have two more?
- [bartender] You got it.
I mean, Sarah,
it's-it's only been a year,
and it-it
it-it feels
I mean, does it seem
to you that it
it's a betrayal?
Does she make you happy?
Lee?
Yes.
Then there's your answer.
I'm out.
Thank you.
Where are we going?
I'm cooking you dinner.
Really?
Nice.
Uh, this is not the way to
At your house.
Oh.
Did something happen?
Yeah.
- Yeah? That's all? Yeah?
- Yeah. [laughs softly]
You're not gonna tell me?
Not yet.
Well, I have something
I want to say to you, too.
What?
Michael, what?
Maybe it's the same thing.
[siren chirps]
[quietly]
You've got to be kidding me.
- [indistinct radio chatter]
- [door alarm dinging]
This your car, ma'am?
What do you think?
Simple question, ma'am.
I'm white
you asking the same thing?
[sighs]
Fifteen seconds in,
there it is,
she pulls the race card.
I'm a judge
are you asking the same thing?
[sniffs]
You been drinking, ma'am?
It's either that
or the car's been drinking.
Somebody put a daiquiri
in the gas tank?
World-class potholes, every car
in New Orleans looks drunk.
The only question is,
who do you choose to stop
using your white man's
discretion?
Hands on the wheel.
I told you, I'm a judge.
If you think I'm actually
gonna try to pull a weapon
- Really, you are
- Hands on the wheel now.
You know what? Fuck you.
Fuck the both of you.
Hands on the fucking wheel.
slow, somber music ♪
[talking low, indistinctly]
I love you.
Lee?
The light's green.
[group] Surprise!
- Happy birthday.
- Happy birthday.
- Happy birthday.
- [laughter]
somber music ♪
[group]
Happy birthday to you ♪
Happy birthday
to you ♪
Happy birthday ♪
Dear Michael ♪
Happy birthday to you ♪
somber music ♪
[dialogue inaudible]
[Charlie] Our birthday boy
has a problem.
He doesn't like it when people
say nice things about him
in public.
I've known Michael Desiato
nearly all my life,
a life I wouldn't have had
were it not for him pulling me
out of Lake Pontchartrain.
Age six, damn near drowned.
Then having the presence of mind
to turn me upside down
by my ankles
and shake all the lake water
in my skinny-ass lungs
right out of there.
[chuckles]
Michael Desiato
always backs himself
- to make things right.
- [sighs]
Grace under pressure?
Look at him. He got it.
Calm decisions in the heat
of action? Oh, yeah.
I've been proud to stand next
to this man through his life.
I'm privileged to call him
my friend,
and for his integrity,
his dignity and for being
just about good enough
for a white man on
the basketball court to make it
a real satisfaction to whup
his ass every time [chuckles]
Michael Desiato
will always have my vote.
[laughter, applause]
[indistinct chatter]
[man] All right, Michael.
[cheering]
somber music ♪
[phone beeps]
Jimmy.
[Charlie]
To an honorable man.
[all] To an honorable man.
[Django chokes]
- [Michael] Hey.
- [Django whimpers]
What happened, buddy?
[Adam]
What's wrong with Django?
suspenseful music ♪
"In My Secret Life"
by Leonard Cohen ♪
In my secret life ♪
In my secret life ♪
I smile when I'm angry ♪
I cheat and I lie ♪
I do what I have to do ♪
To get by ♪
But I know what is wrong ♪
And I know what is right ♪
And I'd die for the truth ♪
In my secret life ♪
In my secret life ♪
In my secret life ♪