Law & Order (1990) s01e12 Episode Script

Life Choice

Narrator:.
In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups- the police who investigate crime, and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.
These are their stories.
Protesters: Don't kill your baby! Abortion is a sin.
Don't kill your baby! Abortion is a sin.
Don't kill your baby! Abortion is a sin Do they ever get bored? The True Believers? Not on your life.
.
.
Abortion is a sin! Don't kill your babies! Abortion is a sin! Don't kill your babies! Abortion is a sin! Don't kill your babies woman: Past 24 weeks? We can't help you.
well, I'm not sure.
Okay fill this out and you can see the nurse.
women's Choices.
God, not again.
So my father says, "If you weren't a cop you would get a husband.
who told you to be a cop?" My mother says, "I told her to be a cop so she wouldn't worry about getting a husband.
" You could always marry me.
You're not what my father had in mind.
Radio: 29 Adam, respond to 312 West 19th Chelsea Women's Choices regarding bomb threat; advise.
we are at that location and will advise further.
Man: Come on, let's go.
Easy, easy, easy.
Don't panic.
It will be all right.
Take it easy.
Out now! That's everybody.
Man: Come on, let's go.
Officer:.
Stay behind the barrier.
I'm asking if you saw anybody carrying something- knapsack, package, a large bag- anything out of the ordinary.
Max: Yo! Good morning, Vietnam.
what do we got? Your garden-variety lunatic blowing up a room with a lot of ladies in it.
The bomb.
Your basic type.
Fertilizer and diesel? You got it.
Amateur hour.
The only thing I like more than a bomber is an amateur bomber.
Timer? Quartz alarm clock.
Straight out of "The Revolutionary Cookbook.
" If that's the main course, I can't wait to see dessert.
Yeah, well, there won't be any dessert for this one.
Student ID.
"University of Manhattan.
" Sandra Turner.
She was in the bathroom.
was she here for an abortion? Doesn't play that way.
She didn't sign in.
Nobody saw her.
It looks like she was the delivery girl, but she didn't get out quick enough.
Put her right through the wall.
we get calls all the time- false alarms, but still we get everybody out.
Did you recognize the voice on the phone before? She only said "bomb.
" How could I recognize her voice? what about the girl in the bathroom- Turner? Did she fill out a form? No way.
I didn't see her.
She wasn't a patient.
They can't wait to talk to somebody.
She must have carried the bomb in.
what is wrong with these people? Sooner or later, it had to happen.
As long as the courts refuse to act against abortion, there are going to be individuals- Are you defending these nuts? Come on.
This ain't lone justice.
It's a conspiracy.
They can't stop abortion through the courts, so they'll bomb a few clinics.
we don't know that.
we don't? I don't remember reading anything about a cellular phone in the bathroom.
Somebody called in a warning.
Two people make a conspiracy.
Look, all I'm saying is I understand why they're frustrated.
Max, a girl is dead.
She was 22 years old.
Tell them to write their congressman, not throw bombs.
I'm only saying they believe in something and they're angry.
They're angry? So they send a girl in there with a bomb? In my book that is not frustration, that's murder.
Eight bombings in the last seven months, all of them at night.
None of them happened in the daytime.
Nobody was hurt before either.
we've got six active anti-abortion protest groups with offices in Manhattan.
Let's see if the ME's got an ID, then we'll start on these.
whatever she used did a real job on her.
Anybody come to ID her? Nah.
Logan: No prints? Epithelial layers gone.
I could get better prints from charcoal.
You'll have a preliminary report tomorrow, but there's not much doubt about the COD.
That's it? Cash- no wallet? Just the university ID.
Nobody on this student number.
Logan: Try Tumer, Sandra.
we haven't had six digit IDs in two years.
Tumer, Samuel Turner, Sheila No Turner, Sandra.
But this is the university's card? No, it isn't.
This picture is glued on.
It's a fake.
The real one's like a license, all one piece.
Back to square one.
Let's hit some of those anti-abortion groups.
- "women for Life," headed by Rose Schwimmer.
Our battle isn't about restoring Central Park, or a 15C increase in the subway fare, or separating cans and bottles from our trash.
It's about human life.
Sometimes people go out of bounds.
Do you ever go out of bounds? All the time.
That's why I'm here.
You're here to break the law?.
I'm here to stop the murder of babies.
Look, let's get this clear.
Abortion is a right in this country! That clinic was performing a legal and medical procedure.
They weren't murdering anything.
Mrs.
Schwimmer a girl is dead.
The clinic's just a couple of minutes from here.
I'm horrified by what happened.
But you sympathize, don't you? I mean, with people who bomb abortion clinics.
I don't condone violence, but I understand.
Does a woman named Sandra Turner belong to your group? would hand me that folder there, please? we have over 2,000 active members.
And a couple thousand more come to our vigils, and send contributions.
No Sandra Turner.
Where were you when the bomb went off? why? People from your group were picketing that day.
Am I a suspect, Detective? Lazy Jane's around the corner having tea.
I guess when you go against the system the way we do, you're guilty until proven innocent.
She comes every wednesday- Rose Schwimmer.
She came in between Are you sure of the time? why do you think it's called Lazy Jane's? I don't get in until 10:00.
So what? She came right after you? Her friend came in a couple of minutes later.
The friend a regular, too? Semi- a couple times a month.
You know the look- Raggedy Ann with a Bendel's charge card.
She's a real pro-shopper.
She had this big box with her.
A box? She put right on the table.
Can you believe that? I mean, it was the size of a toaster oven.
I put it on the chair.
This isn't a dinner.
watch- five years they'll legalize drugs.
Pfft! Maybe, maybe not.
It's a great country, Max.
You can do what you want, when you want, with who you want.
which means if a woman wants an abortion, she can get one.
Just because she was careless enough to get knocked up in the first place? what are you against, abortions or sex? Abortions.
I like sex.
So a 17-year-old should louse up her whole life by having a kid? be doing what makes babies.
And crooks shouldn't have guns.
Get real.
what they should be is more careful.
Kids aren't careful, that's why they're kids.
Mrs.
Schwimmer didn't mention that she had tea with Ms.
Toaster Oven.
I get it.
Now every pro-life protestor is a bomber.
You agree with them, don't you? Okay, Don Juan any of your girlfriends ever have an abortion? One ex-girlfriend, who's now married with two kids- neither of them mine.
I really don't have time for this.
I hate to bother you, but it is weird that no one saw her.
Really? If I was planting a bomb, I'd sure try to be invisible.
That's all the cards.
There's no Sandra Turner.
I told you- she didn't sign in.
How much does an abortion cost? $300.
$300- the price of a cheap mob hit.
Hey, Max, look at that.
Max: Yo! How many did they take away? Let's go to the property clerk's office, and pick up the dead girl's keys.
we got two right here.
Ooh! whoa! How sweet it is.
I could get used to driving this.
On your salary you couldn't afford the repairs.
On my salary I couldn't even afford the insurance.
Bingo! "Chelsea women's Choices Center.
" Let's get the Crime Scene Unit down here.
Maybe we'll get lucky and pull some prints.
Yeah.
Come on.
Don't give yourself an ulcer.
Mr.
Donovan? Yes.
Sergeant Greevey, Detective Logan.
when she didn't come home last night we tried to file a missing person report.
They wouldn't take it.
They said we had to wait two days.
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us, we forgive those who trespass against us.
You daughter, did she belong to a right-to-life group? The thing about Mary- she loves kids.
That's why she teaches.
Did Mary ever mention women for Life? Mr.
Donovan: She was sympathetic to their work, ideals.
we all are.
Did anyone call the school and tell them that- Mary wouldn't be in today? It's okay, Barbara.
Couldn't Mary have, without your knowledge- Mary didn't keep secrets from us.
we know how hard it is, but we'd like to look at Mary's room.
Mary has a thing about privacy.
Barbara it doesn't matter if they go into her room now.
"The Lives of The Saints.
" who sends a kid to deliver a bomb? Maybe it was her own idea.
Yeah? who taught her how to make one? whoever it was, they should have taught her about timers.
The mother seems to be taking it pretty hard.
It's gonna take awhile.
what? To realize that her daughter is dead? To realize she didn't die with her.
The father doesn't seem to be having that problem.
That's because he didn't lose a daughter, he gained a martyr.
Hey.
Looks like the brother owns a lumber company.
Lumber- construction.
Construction- explosives.
Anything you can tell us about Mary's friends, teachers she was close to? My father poured himself a cup of coffee this morning.
Put in milk, sugar, walked over to the sink, poured it down the drain.
He didn't knowwhat the hell he was doing.
I got on the West Side Highway on my way here- I forgot to get off.
went the whole way to 96th Street.
Just like that, I had a sister and now I don't.
Is there only the two of you? Mary always said she would have a big family.
what about these anti-abortion groups? She loved kids.
Did she belong to any organized groups? Mr.
Donovan, bombing is a felony.
Fine! I think Mary's paid for her crime in full, don't you, Detective? we don't happen to think she was in this alone.
Don't you want the people who helped to kill your sister to pay, too? If she was the member of a group, she never mentioned it to me.
They might know more at school- Saint Aloysius.
Some people take a long time to grow up.
Have a seat.
They still believe in hearts and flowers, and Mom never looks at another guy- Dad doesn't cheat on his income tax.
For 22, Mary was young.
Young enough to let somebody talk her into throwing a bomb? Gentlemen, a parochial school like this- it's another century.
Mary was a sweet kid.
She believed the whole world was parochial school, that all the problems could be solved with pure thoughts and a rosary.
Logan: Did, uh did you know she wasn't gonna be here yesterday? Day off.
Regular day off? No.
Do you know how hard it is to get good teachers these days? They ask for a day off, they get it.
Did she happen to tell you why? well, she had been upset.
I figured it was her boyfriend, Patrick Dunn.
He teaches here, eighth grade Latin.
Last week they had an argument in the hallway in front of the kids.
I had to tell them "This is not appropriate behavior.
" She shouldn't have been there.
It's crazy.
So, Patrick this fight you had last week, what was that all about? Some article in "The Times.
" Connecticut's abortion law Mary hated abortion.
Hated it.
You? why? Personally, I think it's a sin, and I think it's immoral.
But I live in the real world.
Did she ever mention a woman named Rose Schwimmer? women for Life.
Everyone knows who she is.
If you're asking whether I carry false identification, Detective, the answer is no.
I'm proud of what I do.
Anybody in your group have any? Please.
Thank you.
This movement attracts deeply committed individuals.
They get arrested.
Some carry false identification and jump bail.
And Mary Donovan? Obviously, deeply committed.
But you didn't even know her.
No, I didn't.
But what I do know is Mary Donovan, whoever she was, sacrificed herself to save the unborn.
Hundreds of them.
I don't approve of her methods, but I applaud her results.
The day of the bombing when you had brunch, you didn't mention someone else being there who happened to be carrying a large package.
This morning I had breakfast with my sister.
She carried an umbrella.
I didn't tell you that either.
we're just trying to do our job here.
we have to verify alibis.
I had brunch with an associate, Celeste McClure.
Um, this Ms.
McClure, you knowwhere we can find her? Today? Probably at the community garden, near the stables on 89th Street.
Just came from the printer.
Great, isn't it? It's wonderful.
Depends on what you're selling.
You're mistaken, Detective.
I didn't know Mary Donovan.
But I wish I had.
what she did makes me proud.
Throwing a bomb? Innocent people could have been killed.
In that building before Mary Donovan threw that bomb unborn babies were being killed every day.
At Lazy Jane's, when you had brunch with Rose Schwimmer, what was in the box you had? Leaflets for protestors.
I'm trying to save lives.
You're supposed to save lives.
we're investigating- A woman who gave her life in the only cause that counts! Nobody's- You wear a wedding ring.
Do you have children? would you want your daughter or your wife to have an abortion? No.
But I wouldn't want them tossing bombs either.
If you don't have any more questions, I have work to do.
Hmm, ammonium nitrate.
Now, all she needs is the diesel fuel.
Hey, you know, that's a good question she asked about your daughter.
Suppose some boyfriend knocked her up? Look! we are not investigating my daughter, my sex life with my wife, or my opinions on contraception.
we are investigating the bombing of an abortion clinic.
Let's just stick to the job, all right? Peterson's 121 nitrate.
where did you get that? what, I don't look like I have a green thumb to you? You must be one hell of a gardener.
Do you grow palm trees in your backyard? This stuff is for tropical plants.
New York? A big item in Hawaii.
Quite a record Mrs.
Schwimmer's got here.
Trespassing, disturbing the peace harassment.
For such a non-violent person she sure does get around.
I've seen armed robbers who've got shorter rap sheets than this.
McClure's got nothing but a dismissed trespass.
It's a big step from there to armed robbery.
Yeah, well, Donovan's completely clean.
She doesn't even have a traffic ticket.
But she was willing to go all the way up to arson and murder even with Mr.
Clean for her boyfriend.
The methods are wrong, but they're trying to prevent murder.
Spare me the rhetoric.
I don't consider abortion murder.
If a woman wants one, that's her right to choose- not yours, not mine and certainly not Ms.
Rose Schwimmer.
I don't care what you believe, trying to prevent abortions by bombing goes way too far.
I don't even know how you can sit here and defend it.
You and I both know they didn't mean to hurt anybody! No, I don't know that, okay?! Only an idiot thinks bombs don't hurt people.
Come on, tell me more! Lab report just came in.
Fertilizer's a match on the bomb and they got a bunch of good latent prints on the bag- all the same woman.
And they're a match for the parcel on the bomb fragment.
If you two could manage not to kill each other maybe you could pick up McClure and see if her prints match.
we're not saying it's a slam dunk.
Slam dunk? A bag of fertilizer and a couple of prints? Right now, I'd have a hard time of convicting Celeste McClure of bad gardening.
I'm trying to make this work beyond just an indictment.
You don't like it? Don't file.
That's just fine with me.
Are you in favor of people planting bombs, Sergeant? Careful, Counselor.
All I'm saying is that these women are true believers.
And so far, they've hurt no one but each other.
Yeah.
Talk about dumb luck.
Gentlemen.
McClure made the bomb.
Donovan muled it.
Schwimmer ordered it.
You want my advice? Offer McClure a plea.
She'll take it.
She wants to be a martyr.
Man: Celeste McClure, the charges are conspiracy in the third degree, reckless endangerment in the second degree, arson in the second degree.
How does the defendant plead on the first count? Not guilty on all counts, Your Honor.
we request release of the defendant on her own recognizance.
Based upon what, Mr.
Ballard? These are two serious felony charges here.
Based on the fact that this is a political prosecution.
You're not on trial yet, Counselor.
Your Honor, if it please the court, Ms.
McClure is a young woman with no previous criminal record and close ties to the community.
Mr.
Stone? The People have no objection to minimum bail, Your Honor.
Then bail is set at $10,000 cash or bond.
Short date.
Ballard: Thanks for the bail recommendation.
Stone: Not at all, sir.
Martyrs don't run.
Ballard: How can you allow yourself to be used like this? If you're gonna stick your finger in my eye, Mr.
Ballard, clean your own nails first.
It seems to me the only reason for this prosecution is to make the right-to-life movement look bad.
That'll get you in the papers, but it won't help your client and it's not true.
McClure didn't plant that bomb, Mary Donovan did.
McClure made the bomb.
The best you can get, if you believe she's guilty- j j conspiracy six, arson four.
Are you accusing me of filing inflated charges? I'm only saying you're gonna cost the state a lot of money merely to get her on probation.
If probation will keep a bomb out of that woman's hands, it's worth the money.
These people aren't criminals.
what are they, Mary Poppins, Mother Teresa? They are exercising their right of free speech.
Throwing a bomb is a little non-verbal to qualify as speech, sir.
Are you sure you don't want to recuse yourself? That's insulting.
I'm personally against abortion means I can't prosecute a bomber? what I believe doesn't matter.
I represent the law.
Amazing.
I'm getting angry.
The most emotional issue that the law has dealt with since suffrage.
Look at us.
Three men talking about what rights women should have over their own bodies.
Doesn't that strike you as a little one-sided? Adam, I have already told you my personal feelings have no impact on my ability to prosecute a criminal case.
And I have never said that a woman does not have the right to choose.
Adam: Fine.
Wonderful.
Are you feeling shaky on that conspiracy charge? You better tie the bomb maker to the bomber with a little more than what you got there.
we prove McClure made the bomb, Donovan delivered it.
what about Schwimmer? That's flimsy.
And it's risky.
we tie her into the picture, it doesn't work- I wouldn't go even for an indictment with what we got now.
But? It is a conspiracy, and I want to make it stick! Forensics ever send over a print report? Finally.
There's another set of prints along with Mary Donovan's on that counterfeit ID card.
we don't figure out who they belong to, Ballard will say someone else was in league with Mary.
Get a print work-up on everybody who knew her.
You argue with Schiff a lot on this.
Yeah.
Do you agree with him? That's not an issue for me.
I'm not for abortion, I'm for birth control.
I got your fertilizer.
Make me happy.
McClure bought one bag from the same supplier who sells to the community garden.
Ordered it herself.
She didn't happen to sign? You just made me very happy.
The only deal we're interested in is you drop everything.
Don't even go to the grand jury.
Put your emotions in your briefcase for a couple of minutes.
This case is about emotion.
I hope you know your law better than that, Mr.
Ballard.
I know juries are swayed by it.
It's your gamble, Mr.
Ballard.
Ms.
McClure, you and Mary Donovan bombed a clinic.
Mary Donovan is dead and you're not.
She's a nice, young lady.
She made a mistake.
I hope you're not going to let her take the fall all by herself.
All she has to do is name who ordered it.
It doesn't matter what happens to me.
The babies matter.
Arson in the second degree is a class "B" felony.
I assume Mr.
Ballard told you the sentence if you're convicted? Six years in jail.
Six years in prison, Ms.
McClure.
May we leave now, Mr.
Ballard? She can't even imagine what six years of hard time is like.
Somebody's using her.
Schwimmer? An hour ago, I didn't know, but now, even money.
Still, it usually doesn't work this way.
Usually the criminal doesn't want to go to jail.
McClure does.
She'll become a martyr.
She'll never give up on Schwimmer.
She won't give anybody.
Except herself.
It's about morality for her, not legal compromise.
So why don't we turn this thing around? Let's try a reverse.
I'm not part of any conspiracy, Mr.
Robinette.
You understand, Ms.
Schwimmer, we're going to request the maximum sentence for Celeste McClure? You might ask your attorney what that means.
First you have to get a conviction- with very thin evidence.
Evidence we think a jury will find convincing.
Celeste McClure will go to prison for a long time.
Lawyer:.
People in this state would never forget her.
Fine.
Make her a martyr.
But Celeste McClure is a young kid.
Are you going to let her rot behind bars? Rose, don't say anything until we've talked.
This meeting is over.
Robinette: You never heard their names mentioned? Schwimmer or McClure? Never.
Anything you remember about the day of the bombing? Anything you've thought about since you talked with the police? Barbara: Mary said she was taking the day off- shopping.
Patrick, her boyfriend, he came to drive her to school.
They had an argument outside.
Couples have arguments.
It was serious enough, Jeffrey, for Kevin to try to break it up.
Your son here that early in the morning a lot? Jeffrey: He stops by occasionally.
Not that often.
What was the argument about? Something Patrick had with him.
Nothing.
An envelope.
Nothing? So why did we hear them yelling? Our daughter did what she did out of her own conscience.
we can live with that.
You can live with that, Jeffrey! A martyr will never be able to tell me what a wonderful day she had at school yesterday.
A martyr will never have a wedding.
A martyr will never have children.
I wanted to go to Barbados.
I brought her a brochure.
I thought it would convince her.
That's what was in the envelope.
That's all it was about? Her parents- She felt it would look bad if we went together not married.
She said I was being insensitive to their feelings.
I had it all planned.
A romantic place- it's stupid.
I guess I felt I needed the right setting.
I was going to ask her to marry me.
It wasn't that big a fight.
So why did you get involved? I went out to talk to them.
Your mother heard you yelling.
Patrick said your sister was upset.
There was no fight.
You're lying, Kevin! what are you gonna do? You want to charge me with the bombing of the clinic? You can count on it, if I find you're covering up a crime.
I don't know anything about the bombing.
we'll call you if we need you.
The Donovan ID? The other fingerprints? Got a match? Just came in from washington.
He'd been in the army.
who? The boyfriend- Patrick Dunn.
By themselves, the fingerprints aren't proof.
She could have shown him the card without telling him she was gonna use it to plant a bomb.
we need something else.
Yeah.
The brother has a story, boyfriend another.
what about if we arrest Patrick as a co-conspirator? Based on the prints? I don't want him arraigned if you don't think he's guilty.
I don't know if he's guilty, but let's arrest him anyway, not arraign him till tomorrow, put him in a room with Kevin- And see what shakes loose.
Yeah.
The charge is arson and conspiracy.
I'm not involved in that bombing.
You can call your lawyer in a few minutes.
This is unbelievable.
What's he doing here? Is he being arrested too? Arrested? Mary's false ID card.
Patrick's fingerprints are on it.
Did you get it for her so she could do the bombing? Makes you co-conspirator.
I'm not going to jail, Kevin.
I can prove I wasn't involved.
Mary wasn't involved either.
Shut up! Shut up! Stone: Hey! All he wanted was for her to be a martyr instead of a sinner.
She didn't go there to bomb the clinic.
She was pregnant.
She was there to have an abortion.
She was there to kill our baby.
She was ashamed.
She thought if her parents found out- You wanted to marry her.
That would have solved everything.
It doesn't matter.
The baby comes early, everybody knows.
So, under a false name she'd have an abortion.
That morning I gave her the ID and the money so that she could I pleaded with her to at least let me take her.
I pleaded.
with arson you could be a martyr.
with conspiracy you could still be a martyr.
But Ms.
McClure, now- nowwe are talking about murder.
I didn't kill anybody.
Mary Donovan did not get hit by a car.
Tell her, Mr.
Ballard.
It's not six years in jail anymore.
Ballard: You'll never get her for manslaughter.
Manslaughter? we are now talking about murder in the second degree- depraved indifference to human life.
You're out of your mind.
Stone: 15 years to life behind bars.
I don't want to put i i you in prison, but somebody killed Mary Donovan.
An innocent woman died.
That is murder.
That makes you no better than the people you oppose.
Counselor, she's a kid.
You said so yourself.
Mary Donovan was a kid, too.
Ask her parents.
She pleads on all three counts outstanding.
You recommend minimum sentences.
She testifies against nobody.
If this was Schwimmer's idea, she testifies against her.
we drop down to conspiracy six, arson four.
She pleads to criminally negligent homicide.
She does six months.
Celeste, do you understand? If I thought anyone would get hurt, I wouldn't have given Rose the bomb.
The charges here are conspiracy in the second degree, arson in the second degree, murder in the second degree.
Does the defendant wish to enter a plea? Not guilty, Your Honor.
If it pleases the court, we're requesting bail.
Mr.
Stone? Ms.
Schwimmer has been convicted of several misdemeanors, and has made every court appearance, however, j j in our experience, activists accused of more serious crimes have sometimes decided to work for their cause from behind the scenes- far behind.
Therefore, the people recommend the defendant be held without bail.
Your Honor, there's no reason to believe the defendant is a flight risk.
Mr.
Stone, I'm inclined to agree with Mr.
Malloy.
What applies generally may not apply specifically to this defendant.
I understand.
But this is a homicide, Mr.
Malloy, with two additional felony charges.
Bail is set at $300, 000.
Stone: Regardless of your personal feelings, you are not being asked to decide a moral issue.
You are being asked to decide a legal issue.
The crime is the murder of a young woman by an exploding bomb.
And that woman, Ms.
Rose Schwimmer, is accused of placing a bomb with depraved indifference to human life- indifference to anyone it might hurt.
You may hear the arguments that the ends justify the means, that an illegal act is somehow justified by a moral cause.
If you're even tempted to agree with that argument, please remember, killing is not only against the law, it is also immoral.
And if anyone suggests to you that morality and law are somehow in conflict, I ask you to remember that.
Stone: Is fertilizer and diesel fuel a commonly known explosive? They blow mountains apart with it.
Did you find actual pieces of the bomb? That's correct.
Fragments of it were coated with the fertilizer compound.
Did you make a comparison between that compound and the fertilizer taken from the community garden? I did.
What were the results? They were chemically identical.
Thank you.
No further questions, Your Honor.
Mr.
Oliver, is the chemical in the fertilizer in question available as a chemical other than in that particular fertilizer? Yes.
Other manufacturers make the same formulation.
And is it also available just as a chemical compound that has nothing to do with fertilizer? Yes.
So the nitrate in the bomb could have come from somewhere else? It's remotely possible.
One in a million.
Thank you.
No more questions.
Reporter:.
Demanding police protection for abortion clinics, an estimated 10, 000 pro-choice demonstrators marched down 1 Oth Avenue.
It's only going to get worse.
Luckily, that ain't my problem.
we're willing to consider a plea.
Manslaughter two.
Mary Donovan was the perfect martyr.
You should have left it that way.
And you, hiding behind a dead woman? I don't think the jury will like that.
Mary Donovan was ready to kill her baby.
will the jury like that any better? Mary Donovan is not on trial here.
She will be.
She conspired to commit murder.
Are you admitting that Mary didn't plant the bomb? In this state, capital punishment is against the law.
Yet, you're ready to risk your own form of capital punishment against people you consider deserving of it? They do deserve it.
This isn't getting us anywhere.
Come on, Rose.
Ms.
Schwimmer? I think you should reconsider.
I don't make deals with the devil.
Stone: Two and a half months ago, did Ms.
McClure come into your store and place her usual order? Yes, she did.
Did she add anything unusual to it? Objection.
Characterization.
Sustained.
Did Ms.
McClure's purchases include anything she did not make on a regular basis? Yes.
A 50-pound bag of fertilizer with a special nitrate formula.
Did that strike you as strange? It's used mostly for palm trees.
I told her it would kill her plants.
I had to special order it.
On that day when Ms.
McClure ordered the fertilizer, was anyone with her? Yes.
Is that person in this courtroom? Yes.
would you point that person out for the jury? She's sitting right over there.
Stone: You Honor, may the record show that she's pointing to the defendant? Judge: Let the record so indicate.
Rose said talking, marching it wasn't stopping the abortions.
She was right.
Every day, more babies were being murdered.
Did Ms.
Schwimmer talk about the bombings in front of the other members of women for Life? She said they wouldn't understand.
And that if it was just the two of us, nobody would find out.
when did you give Ms.
Schwimmer the bomb? I met her for brunch that morning, at Lazy Jane's on 7th Avenue.
Stone: Tell the jury what happened then.
Ms.
McClure? Rose said she would go out the back door.
It's next to the ladies room.
She said she could get down the alley and back within 10 minutes.
She told me to wait for five minutes, and then call the clinic and warn them.
Did you make the call? Yes.
Your Honor, I would like to enter into evidence telephone company records showing calls made from the pay phone of the Lazy Jane Restaurant on the day of the bombing.
No further questions, Your Honor.
Is defense ready for its summation? Your Honor, at this time, against advice of counsel, the defendant wishes to testify in her own behalf.
Judge: Ms.
Schwimmer, you realize you'll be subject to cross-examination? I do, Your Honor.
I urge you to reconsider.
Listen to advice of counsel.
However, I won't prevent you from testifying.
Do you swear to tell the truth, so help you God? I certainly do.
Ballard: Ms.
Schwimmer, did you conspire with Celeste McClure to bomb the Chelsea women's Choice Center, as well as seven other abortion clinics? Yes, I did.
Then you're guilty of the charges leveled against you? Not before God.
Can you explain why you're innocent before God? Objection, this case is being judged on the temporal plane, Your Honor.
Sustained.
How dare you object, Mr.
Stone? we've done our homework.
You were baptized.
You go to communion, and you prosecute me?! Judge: That's enough.
All the abortions in that clinic are murder, and you know it.
Your Honor? It must stop! Mary Donovan's death was tragic, But if it prevents one abortion, the scales are balanced.
Abortion must end! Ms.
Schwimmer, that will be all! Are we a nation who can tolerate the abortionist sticking his hand in a mother's womb and strangling God's creation? The court officer will remove Ms.
Schwimmer! Your Honor, I have only one question to ask of the defendant.
which is? If abortion is murder, no matter how you feel about Mary Donovan, aren't you guilty of the murder of her unborn child? Judge: On the first count in the indictment, the charge of conspiracy in the second degree, how do you find? we find the defendant guilty.
On the second count, the charge of arson in the second degree, how do you find? we find the defendant guilty.
The third count, murder in the second degree, how do you find? We find the defendant guilty.
Stone: what do we say to people who know she committed a criminal act, but don't think she's a criminal? That's easy.
A criminal is someone who commits a criminal act- for any reason.
But up until Roe v.
wade, the abortionists were the criminals.
If the law hadn't changed, there never would have been a bombing.
If the law hadn't changed, I'd be a slave.
You can't turn back the clock.

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