The Defenders s01e12 Episode Script

Oh, Nick, I didn't know who else to call.
- You were so good with him last time.
- Uh, it's okay, May.
- Where's Mike? - He's in his room.
He's locked the door.
I'm afraid he's gonna hurt himself.
What, the cops are accusing him of raping somebody? He wasn't making any sense.
He just kept saying that he didn't wanna go to jail.
Mike? It's Nick Morelli.
Your mom called me.
She's worried about you.
Mike? - How long since you heard anything? - I don't know, like five minutes.
- Nick? - Mike, slow down.
Just slow down.
That could be an ambulance.
Tell me what's going on.
I didn't rape anybody.
Okay, why would the police think that you raped anybody? Just tell me.
Mike? I was walking home from Desi's and they fly up, they threw me against the car.
Said the guy had a red hoodie like mine.
They kept asking me why I did it.
And he went for his cuffs and I ran.
Okay, okay, nothing that's happened can't be fixed.
But we gotta deal with the situation right here, Mike.
- They're coming.
- Not gonna believe me.
Mike, they will listen to you.
I am here.
I will protect you.
I'll take care of it.
Don't worry about it.
- Mike, put that gun away.
- What? - Put that down! - Go in the bathroom and lock it.
Go now, May! Mike, you gotta give me that gun.
Mike, give me that gun.
Give it to me.
The police are gonna be here soon.
They get here, you're not gonna look good with a gun! - Now, give me the damn gun! - Open the door! Give it to me.
Give me the gun.
- Gun! Gun! - Down on the ground! - This is my client.
- We are not resisting.
Here's the gun.
Face down on the ground now.
Unh! All right, in my suit pocket there's a business card.
- Ugh, I'm an attorney.
- Hold on, hold on.
I know him.
Let him up.
He invokes his Fifth Amendment rights.
Hey, Morelli, what do you call a defense lawyer holding a gun? - What? - Justifiable homicide.
- Hilarious.
- It won't be next time.
Now, you've known Mike since he was 12? Oh, yeah, he, uh, played shortstop on a little league team that Pete and I sponsored.
Five years later, the mother called me, he got busted for possession.
- Oh, where's his dad? - He ran.
He was gone before I met the boy.
Oh, here he is.
How you doing? - What happened? - I'm fine.
You didn't answer me.
We're well past capacity in here.
Things happen.
Yeah, well, not to this kid.
If I see one more scratch on him, I'm gonna depose every one of you guys wearing a badge.
- You all right? - I'm fine.
Guy sucker punched me.
All right, this is Lisa, my associate.
She's gonna run us through the facts.
All right, the police report says that the victim was asleep in her apartment and woke up when the attack started at 10:17 p.
m.
She called to report the rape after the attacker left at 11:14 p.
m.
I was home till after 10.
My mom can prove that.
We were watching TV.
I told her I was gonna go out for a while.
She told me to make sure that I double-Iocked the door and I left.
- Well, that helps.
- Well, it's a start.
But a mother sticking up for her son, that's not the strongest alibi.
- What did you do after? - I was at Desi's the rest of the night.
- Desi.
- When did you get there? - When did you leave? - Ten-thirty.
Left after midnight.
Walking home when the cops jacked me up.
We're gonna need Desi's full name and number.
Is my mom here yet? Your mom? Yeah, she's here.
You'll be able to see her.
Let us finish up, then she'll come in.
- Nick? - Yeah.
Everything's gonna be okay, right? Yeah, Mike, it's gonna be fine.
Hey, May.
I don't want you to freak out, but, uh, he's banged up a little bit.
- Oh, my God, what happened? - Well, an inmate attacked him.
But I put the guards on notice.
If anything else happens, he goes right to protective custody.
Oh, my God.
Now, Mike said he was at home with you until after 10 last night, watching TV? Yes, he was.
We were watching TV and then he went out.
Remember what you said to him? Well, I always tell him to double-Iock the doors when he goes out.
Okay, May, go see your son.
Being a juror is an honorable and rewarding job.
But the rewards jury duty offers are balanced by court responsibility - Hey, is this taken? - Hi.
There's something off about that judge.
Oh, yes, there is.
Hello.
Pull the chute, honey, you just got shot down.
No, I just got a smile.
You missed it.
It's yourjob to reportjuror misconduct.
If anyone knows about misconduct What? Tell me.
Last year, the cops found him passed out in a sex club.
- Head-to-toe rubber suit.
- Oh.
Had to breathe out of this little snorkely thing.
Swore it was a "weight loss" outfit.
I don't remember hearing that in the news.
It wasn't.
You hear things when you're a defense attorney.
Oh.
- Somebody drank my juice! - It's behind the milk.
It's gone! - Oh, thank you.
- Hmm.
- What do you got? - Desi Williams, 21.
Mike's known him since they were both 16.
Met him in drug court.
Went through the program together.
All right.
They were juveniles.
So we keep that out.
- Any other trouble? - Mm-hm.
A bust at 18 for possession.
Oh, please say pot.
- Pot, pot, pot.
- Heroin.
I heard pot.
Well, Desi's totally cleaned up his act since then, though.
He's working for the past few years.
Going to NA meetings regularly.
Well, when are you gonna talk to him? Because we need to lock in that alibi.
Well, he hasn't called in to work.
And his landlord hasn't seen him.
But she promised to contact us the second she does.
- All right, what about the victim? - Uh, a Lona McKerin, 21, full-time student at USLV.
No arrests.
No history of substance abuse or emotional problems.
I tracked down Detective Smith.
I had to promise the dispatcher tickets to Thunder from Down Under.
Before you go, I need you to sign these.
Sign.
Initial.
Sign.
- That's for Pete.
- Give me that.
He's using the corporate card to buy his suits? I don't know.
I don't know anything.
- Zoey.
- I don't know.
Zoey! Zoey! Ladies and gentlemen, you've all been sworn.
This case involves a charge of attempted parental kidnapping.
The defendant, Alexei Nemerov, has been accused by his former wife, Kelli Lazine, of abducting their son.
Now, has anyone here had anything to do with the defendant or any of the lawyers involved in this case? Judge, I'll see you.
Anyone other than Mr.
Kaczmarek? Down.
Um, I'd like to be excused from this jury.
- On what grounds? - Well, I don't have a car.
So to get here this morning, I had to take three buses.
Sorry, that's not grounds for dismissal.
Um, if you wanna carpool, I have a convertible.
Sorry.
Sorry.
Sorry.
Mr.
Anderson, it says on your questionnaire that you're divorced.
Do you think that will affect your ability to be impartial in this case? No.
- So the divorce was amicable? - I wish she were dead.
State strikes for cause.
You are free to go, sir.
- The defense strikes for cause.
- You are excused, sir.
- State strikes for cause.
- Free to go.
- Strikes for cause.
- You're excused.
- State strikes for cause.
- Free to leave.
- Strikes for cause.
- Free to go.
Free to go.
You're dismissed.
You're excused.
Free to go.
Dismissed.
Excused.
Does the state or the defense have any more preemptory challenges for this jury? - No, Your Honor.
- Psst.
Come on.
Cole? Psst.
Psst.
Come on.
- Get me out of here.
- No, Your Honor.
- Huh.
- We have a jury.
Thank you all very much.
Please see the jury clerk.
And trial starts tomorrow.
Excuse me.
Excuse me.
Coming through.
- Cole? Cole? - No, no, I can't talk to you.
Are you insane? You just put a defense attorney on your jury.
Look, despite how I feel about you personally, Kaczmarek, I know you love the law as much as I do.
Okay? Which is why I'm hoping you'll overcome all your baser instincts and convict.
And when you do, a little piece of you is gonna die inside.
- Heh.
- Nine sharp.
Don't be late.
My, you got such tiny feet for a man with a big mouth.
- It's my day off, Morelli.
- Hank, listen.
I need to talk to you about my client, Mike Wayne.
Less than an hour after the victim reported the assault, your guys pick him up because they think he did it? He matched the description and he was in the area.
My guys asked him a couple of questions and he turns into The Flash.
Innocent people don't run from the cops.
They do if you bounce them off a cruiser.
- Who bounced him off a? - Your guys.
- They didn't.
- They did.
- No, they didn't.
- Yeah, they did.
- No.
- Okay, okay.
Did you even look into any other possibilities? Sex offenders in the area? Guys on parole? - Did you check DNA or prints? - No usable prints.
No DNA.
Latex residue, however.
He wore a condom.
Look, the kid's only other charge is some grass as a minor.
Now, all of a sudden, he's a master rapist that knows enough to hide his own DNA? Come on, Hank, it doesn't make sense.
This doesn't fit.
You know what fits? A couple of hours after we pulled your client from his house, the victim put a big red circle around his picture in a lineup.
"That's the man that raped me, officer.
" I wish I had another story for you, Nick, but I don't.
Now, it's my day off.
I'll see you guys in court.
Bye.
- Oh, come on, what is this all about? - I have no idea.
- Is this the right address? - It's the one the landlord texted me.
- You look nice today.
- Thanks.
- Where did you get that outfit? - Pete got it for me.
- Pete? - Yeah.
Did he put it on a corporate credit card? It was on sale.
Hey, Nick.
- How are you? - Good.
- I heard you almost got shot.
- Oh, yeah, good times.
Good times.
- I bet.
- What are you doing here? I'm here to see a witness about a case.
- What's his name? - Uh, Desi Williams.
Didn't bust him, Tom, did you? We didn't just bust him.
- How long has he been gone? - Less than 24.
Cause of death? Judging by the bindle in his pocket, the needle in his arm, - I'm going with heroin overdose.
- Ugh.
I heard pot.
Ugh, positive victim ID'd, a dead alibi witness.
We're screwed.
We're on a mountaintop with a telescope.
We couldn't see the light from screwed.
No.
Desi doesn't get high anymore.
It was someone else.
They make mistakes, right? They make mistakes.
Mike, well, I got the crime-scene photos.
It's Desi.
Hey, they have the time of death right around the time you two were together.
Now, tell me, will the prosecution have evidence saying that you were doing drugs? No.
We were just eating some pizza and playing some video games.
- Are you sure? - Ugh.
It's okay.
I just need to know.
I can't get blindsided in court.
Nick, I'm clean.
I'll take a test if you want.
Okay.
Hey.
- Look like a truck just hit you.
- So do you.
Well, my best alibi for the sexual assault just OD'd.
They just put me on a jury.
Okay, on the scale of things, not as bad, I'll admit it.
Hmm, glad you didn't lose your perspective.
Is that a new suit? This is a perfectly valid tax exemption.
Pete, this is a business credit card.
You cannot write off suits.
It's not a suit.
It's a work uniform.
Know how they brought Al Capone down? It wasn't the G-men.
It was the IRS.
I know.
I saw the movie.
Didn't you learn anything? Don't lie to Robert De Niro if he's holding a bat.
Come on, Pete, you can't do this.
- Everybody does it.
- Uh, okay, okay, I didn't just hear that.
I didn't hear anything you said about committing tax evasion.
So when the IRS comes and drags your ass to jail, I'll gonna act shocked and confused.
After your divorce from Mr.
Nemerov, who was awarded primary custody of your son Sasha? Alexei was too busy whoring around to be a proper parent.
Objection, non-responsive.
Sustained.
Objection, Your Honor.
Non-responsive.
Sustained.
The witness will limit herself to answering the questions.
I have custody.
He had visitation.
And on the day in question, where did Mr.
Nemerov tell you - he was taking Sasha? KELLl: A movie.
And when Alexei didn't bring him back by Sasha's bedtime, I called the police.
That seems extreme.
How did you know your ex-husband abducted him? Objection.
Leading.
Objection.
Mr.
Cole is leading the witness.
- Sustained.
- Shh! You're gonna get me in trouble.
And once he was apprehended, where had Mr.
Nemerov actually taken Sasha? To the airport, about to board a flight to Russia.
If they had gotten on that plane, I never would've seen Sasha again.
- Objection.
- You were gonna hide him in some backwater hovel just to punish me.
Hate her.
Mr.
Nemerov, you quit your sales job at Peterson's Used Car Land two days before you were apprehended at the airport.
- Is that correct? - It was time for a change.
It wasn't because you had no intentions of returning from Russia? No, no, no.
You stated earlier that Miss Lazine gave you permission - to take your son to Russia? - Yes.
To attend the birthday of my grandmother.
- Her 90th.
- Talking directly to the jury.
That's a defense lawyer trick.
This guy is good.
I just wanted my son to see his great-grandmother before she died.
She said it would make her life complete.
I was asleep.
Um I'd had a pretty long day, so I fell asleep early.
And then I I felt a pressure on my chest.
First, I thought I was dreaming.
He was tying my arms.
You woke up and the attacker was on top of you? I fought so hard.
I really did.
People say, um You float out of your body, but I didn't.
I didn't at all.
I wanted to so badly.
But I - We can take a break.
- No.
Please, I wanna do this.
It was, uh It was dark, but I could tell that he had a He had sort of a baby face, because he, uh No scruff, you know? I could I could feel him rub against me when he was As he was raping me.
Do you see the man who sexually assaulted you in this courtroom today? Yes.
Him.
He raped me.
- I didn't.
- You - Order.
- I didn't.
She's wrong.
I didn't do it.
- Control your client, counselor.
- Stop.
Your Honor, we're terribly sorry.
The state rests.
Mr.
Morelli.
The defense has no questions for the witness at this time, Your Honor.
We finally got the police video of Lona McKerin picking Mike out of the photo lineup.
Great.
Let's see it.
Okay, if you see the man who attacked you, just circle his picture with the red pen.
I have the one from before.
That's him.
- Are you sure? - Yeah.
She said, "I have the one from before.
" Yeah, so? What "before"? I wish you weren't here today, Miss McKerin.
I wish I didn't have to ask you these questions.
But a terrible crime has been alleged.
Miss McKerin, I'm gonna show you the police video of your identification of my client.
Then I'm gonna ask you a few questions.
- Are you gonna be okay with that? - Okay.
Thank you.
Okay, if you see the man who assaulted you, just circle his picture with the pen.
Take your time.
It's okay.
- Can I take a break? - You sure can.
- Just really tired.
- It's fine.
No problem.
Do you remember asking for a break? Yes.
I had been up for so long.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
I understand.
But you resumed a half-hour later, is that correct? - Yes.
- Okay.
Okay, if you see the man who attacked you, just circle his picture with the red pen.
I have the one from before.
That's him.
- You sure? - Yeah.
Miss McKerin, is this the lineup that you circled? Yes.
Were you aware that this was not the original lineup you were shown? What? You were shown two different photo lineups that night.
And the only person that appeared in both was my client.
You had no idea that there were two, did you? No.
You were unable to identify my client in the first one.
- Is that correct? - Yes.
But you could see him in the second one? Yes.
Is it possible that that's because you remembered him from the first photo lineup and not the attack? No.
No, it has to be him.
When I pointed him out, they told me not to be afraid because he was in jail already.
I know this is very tough for you.
But I need you to take a moment right now and just think, in light of these new facts, can you say for certain that it was my client who sexually assaulted you that night? Objection.
Asked and answered.
Overruled.
You may answer the question.
I'm not sure.
Miss McKerin, you need to be sure.
I don't I don't know.
No further questions, Your Honor.
Okay, Mary, we are all clear that you do not believe Kelli.
Now, without using the term micro-expression or anything else you learned while watching 48 Hours Mystery, can you please tell us why? She seems like a bitch.
- She thinks so too.
- I didn't say it like that.
Okay, Kelli was a terrible wife.
She was judgmental.
She was withholding, she was snippy.
And Alexei, all the cheating aside, seems great.
He's funny.
He's personable.
He's good-Iooking.
Both of them love Sasha with all their hearts.
Do you both agree with that? - Right, Mary? - Yes.
- Talia? - Yeah.
Great.
None of that has anything to do with our verdict.
Here we go.
"The mother of a child has primary custody.
The father of the child shall not willfully conceal or remove the child from the physical custody of the mother.
" That is all we are allowed to consider.
Now, did Alexei willfully conceal or remove Sasha from Kelli? Hands for guilty.
Come on, Mary.
Yes.
Talia? Come on.
Come on.
All right, all right.
I guess we'll all pick up tomorrow.
That's that.
Gladys, careful with that diabetic cat.
No more candy for her, okay? Talia, just one second.
I'm not disputing that the cuisine is four-star, but come on.
Don't you have a life you gotta get back to? I have to go.
Hey, Talia, you forgot your purse.
How are those buses running? Fine.
Hi.
Sorry I'm late.
Are you all right? Yeah.
Sorry, I'm just not used to all this.
Well, it's a good thing.
Find anything? Not much.
She was a full-time student at USLV, huh? Yeah.
Why? Where's her books? Hey, look at this.
She works at Fabio's.
A lot.
How does a full-time student work a double shift six days a week? - Hey, Nick.
- Hey.
What, um? What is this? I can't see with your fingers in the way.
It is a bill from our corporate card with charges for room service and spa treatments at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
- That was from a year ago.
- Don't change the subject.
I was at a legal seminar in Los Angeles.
Are you going through the files trying to find something on Nicky? - You went with Jess.
- She's my wife.
Vacations with your wife, it's not a valid business deduction.
- Uh, ring, ring.
Hello? - Oh.
Oh, Mr.
Tax Computer, how are you? Who you looking for, Nick Morelli? Yeah.
Stings doesn't it? Ow! I'm gonna sting your ass.
- Lisa.
- Pete.
Hey, what's going on? Well, Lona was a student at USLV but she dropped out after accusing another student of sexually assaulting her.
- How come we don't know about this? - No charges were filed.
School handled it internally and during the hearing, it came up that both of the students were under the influence of alcohol.
The school dismissed the charges and she dropped out.
Do we have the name of the guy she accused? Well, we can't use this in court.
Heh, what do you mean? The allegation goes to the accused's credibility.
Look, I know this is your first rape case, Lisa That has nothing to do with it, okay? This is about attacking the victim.
The jury needs to know if the victim lied about a past sexual assault.
Yeah, well, she's not lying now because they did a rape kit on her.
- And our guy didn't do it.
- Yeah, and Lona admitted on the stand that she wasn't sure Mike was the guy who attacked her.
We already have our reasonable doubt.
Okay, Lisa, let's play this out.
What now? We drop our defense and just hope the jury goes along with us? Well, what do you want? We're just supposed to go ahead and destroy this girl's reputation? You think I wanna do this, huh? Is that what you think? I have no choice, Lisa.
You were a student at USLV, is that correct? - Yes.
- And you just dropped out? - Objection.
Relevance.
- Withdrawn.
Miss McKerin, have you ever made a claim for a sexual assault before? Objection.
The question introduces inadmissible, prejudicial evidence.
It goes to credibility, Your Honor.
I'll allow, but you are on a tightrope, counselor.
- Have you? - Yes.
In college.
Was there an investigation to that claim? Yes, there was.
And what was the outcome of that investigation? The administrative board ruled that the charges were false.
They said that I was lying.
I wasn't.
Thank you.
The court will take a ten-minute recess.
- Hey.
- Hey.
- How you doing? - I'm okay.
You wanna go over anything before you testify? No.
She's gonna be all right.
You know, Michael could afford to move out.
But he stayed because he knew I couldn't stand to be in the house alone.
- He's good to me.
- Hmm.
You're good to him.
You know, if you want an ear, if there's something you want to talk about, I'm here for you.
I don't know what to do.
I'm all he has.
Hey, just do what your heart tells you to do.
He's my son.
She's their daughter.
I had a couple glasses of wine and I fell asleep while we were watching TV.
What time? I don't know.
When I woke up, it was around 9.
Where was Mike? - I didn't see him.
- You didn't see him? - Or? - He wasn't home.
I looked.
Okay.
All right.
We have a problem.
Desi's gone.
My mother has to testify.
She's my only alibi.
Mike, I can't put your mother on the stand if I know she's gonna commit perjury.
- What are you gonna do? - I'm gonna let the defense rest.
The victim's testimony is suspect.
Is that enough to win? It helps that there's no physical evidence.
But there's no way to know for sure.
Put me on the stand.
Heh, what are you gonna say, Mike? I mean, your alibi is based on your mother's lie that she saw you leave.
But the jury doesn't know that.
What? Well, the truth doesn't matter.
You're a defense lawyer.
Your job is to win.
So you gotta put me on that stand so I can convince the jury that I'm innocent, just like I did with you.
If you don't, it's ineffective counsel.
I get a new trial anyway.
Guard? Just do your job.
I'm not going to jail for this slut.
Hey, Nick! Nick, come on! Guard! Guard! Come on.
I looked that kid dead through the eye and I can't believe I didn't see through his act.
- You've known him since he was 12.
- I'm smarter than that, Pete.
Okay.
Well, what now, Nick? If you put him on the stand and he's lying, you're committing a felony.
- You gotta withdraw.
- We're in the middle of the trial.
No way in hell the judge lets me out.
I can't believe it.
I made that victim doubt herself.
I practically called her a liar.
There is another option.
Mike wants to testify, you let him testify in the narrative.
Step back and let him tell his own story.
And if Nick doesn't question Mike on direct and he doesn't object during cross, - the ADA will know something's up.
- Let him sink himself.
Why don't we save time? Put "I'm a lying rapist" on a sign around his neck? No, Nick, let him do it himself.
Get out of the way.
That's what you gotta do.
No.
We're defense attorneys.
We defend.
That's what I got to do.
Is the defense ready to call its first witness? Yes, Your Honor.
Well, counsel? Just do your job.
Mr.
Wayne, can you tell the court what happened the night of this alleged offense? I ate some dinner with my mom.
And after dinner, we both watched some TV until a little after 10.
I told her I was going out for a while.
I gave her a kiss goodbye and I left.
Is there anything else you'd like to tell the court? Well, after I left the house, I walked to my friend Desi's apartment.
Got there around 10:30 and I sat on his couch and played some video games.
I left right after midnight.
And I was accosted by some police officers.
I have no more, Your Honor.
Thank you.
Your witness.
Mr.
Wayne, you said you sat on Desi's couch and played video games that night.
- Is that correct? - Yes.
Where was the couch? In his living room.
And where was the television? Across from the couch.
So you couldn't have been at the victim's house sexually assaulting her because you were at Desi's playing video games? Yes.
Mr.
Wayne, this is a photo taken at Desi Williams' apartment after his death.
Mr.
Wayne, can you explain how you played video games on a television that isn't there? Mm.
Zoey, it's go time.
Oh, God.
I'm sorry.
- Wait, this isn't my purse.
- Talia.
Peterson's Used Car Land.
I hope you're aware that jury tampering is a serious allegation, Mr.
Kaczmarek? I am, Your Honor, but during voir dire, she made a point about how she had to take the bus because she didn't have a car.
Was I the only one paying attention? And you're sure that the key ring was from the defendant's previous place of employment? Peterson's Used Car Land.
Name that bad is hard to forget.
Were you aware of any contact between the defendant and this woman? - No, sir.
- Get the juror.
Thank you, Mr.
Kaczmarek.
You noticed she had a new purse, huh? I notice everything.
I'll be expecting a gift for making your case, Cole.
- Shoulder bag or tote? - I can still hear you.
Sorry.
Has the jury reached a verdict? Yes, we have, Your Honor.
On the crime of sexual assault, the jury find the defendant, Michael Wayne, guilty.
Thank you.
Court is adjourned until tomorrow when we begin the penalty phase.
You son of a bitch.
- You set me up.
- You did it all yourself, my friend.
I'm gonna get new trial because you didn't do your job, Nick.
Good luck with that.
I'll have what he's having.
What are you doing here? - That hot juror that was a holdout? - Yeah? Defendant gave her a car to hang the jury.
Ten minutes after replacing her, - Tsk, what kind of car? - A used Tercel.
Jeez, I wouldn't sell my soul for less than a four-door.
Thanks.
Pete, you ever wonder what we'd be doing if we weren't lawyers? Well, 100 years ago my ancestors were digging up potatoes with their bare hands.
Even our worst day is better than that.
Here's to our worst days.
- And the better ones ahead.
- Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
- Leave the bottle.
- Here.
Let me get it.
Oh, ho, easy.
You know who got Al Capone, don't you? Yeah, it was the, uh, G-men.
Right?