Murder in the First (2014) s02e10 Episode Script

Nobody's ever happy to see me.
You're right.
You haven't lost the attitude.
I remember that about you from last summer, when you shot the citizen dead in his own home.
I figured you'd bring that up.
Just small talk.
He attacked me with a knife.
Probably.
I exonerated you.
Yeah, 'cause I acted appropriately.
You took out a $30,000 loan from the Credit Union last week.
What for? I didn't realize my financial transactions needed to be approved by you.
Did you take the money out for your brother? No.
Look, I'm talking to you as a courtesy.
Okay.
You know he's a dirty mess.
My brother might have personal issues, but he's a good cop, so I wish you were right.
You're not.
Five years in Vice? Even the good guys can lose their way.
You don't know where your money's going.
He could tell you he's been Okay, let's say gambling just as an example.
What if it's something worse and the money's traced back to you? End of your career.
You go to jail for corruption.
You may not be as lucky as your father was.
You're overstepping right now.
So are you.
Come on.
You're a single mother.
You can't afford to jeopardize your livelihood.
You need to stay away from your brother for a while until he's cleared up or he isn't.
That's my free advice.
Are we done here? Yes, I am.
Keep acting appropriately, Inspector.
You can't save your brother from himself.
Ms.
Nelson, how do you feel about the lash back you're getting? When did you find out the video went viral? Did you mean what you said to Holly? Will your wreck of a home life have an impact on you in court today? No.
Ms.
Nelson? Good morning, gentlemen.
You all right? Fine.
I just wanted to say personally, Jamie, I've always supported gay marriage.
I think the LGBT community has the absolute right to be as miserable as the rest of us.
I've heard it before.
Well, it doesn't make me any less sincere.
Tells me a lot about your marriage, Mario.
Silence in the courtroom.
All rise.
Court is now in session.
The honorable Mitchell Ellis presiding.
Please sit down.
You ready? To testify for someone who killed 18 people? Who tried to kill you? Not ready.
Inspector, you're up.
Oh, I hate this.
Hey.
I'll see you upstairs.
Yeah.
Now, did there come a time at Point Bonita Lighthouse when Mr.
Rentman offered to surrender to you personally, Inspector? Yes.
Specifically you and only you? Yes.
Did he say why? He said that I was his princess.
Do you know what he meant by that? He was referencing a video game that he and the defendant were acting out.
Was that game "Bay City Bullets"? Yes.
A single-player, first-person-shooter game that law enforcement decrypted on Mr.
Rentman's personal computer, correct? Correct.
Is there any evidence that Dustin specifically Dustin was re-enacting that game? He shot people.
Did Mr.
Rentman ever mention Dustin to you in any way? No.
Where was Dustin during the events at the lighthouse? He was hospitalized with injuries that he sustained during his arrest.
So Mr.
Rentman was acting alone, wasn't he? Ms.
Nelson, redundancy is nobody's friend in the courtroom.
I'll rephrase for you, Judge.
Was Mr.
Rentman alone? No, he took a classmate hostage.
Her name was Barbie Sanford.
What, if anything, did you do? I offered to exchange myself for the hostage.
He accepted.
What happened at the exchange point? He reneged, refused to release her.
The game only ends when the hero rescues the princess.
What did Mr.
Rentman say? He said he was the bad guy.
He said that I was the only one that could end the game and that the game always ended the same way.
Did you respond? I did.
I said that it doesn't have to.
Is that when he aimed the gun at your head? Yes.
And caused a police sniper to end the game? It wasn't a game to the 18 victims that lost their lives, ma'am.
You're an experienced police officer with 14 years in the department, And yet Mr.
Rentman managed to manipulate you into doing exactly what he wanted, didn't he? He made you carry out his plan, didn't he? I don't know what his plan was.
But I'm a cop.
And if I could stop him from killing another innocent victim, that's what I was gonna do.
The defense calls Dr.
Frank Rentman.
Now, as a neuroscientist with a specialization in sociopathy I'm considered one of the foremost experts in the field, world-wide.
Your son Alfred was also your patient, wasn't he? Yes.
What was your clinical diagnosis of his mental condition, Doctor? Alfred displayed the brain-imaging pattern and biological markers of a categorical sociopath, along with a documented genetic history of schizotypal behavior.
What sociopathic traits did you specifically see in your son? His lack of emotional empathy.
His aggressive narcissism.
His reliance on deceit and manipulation.
His inability to feel fear or guilt or any kind of remorse.
Alfred manifested the full-blown disorder.
Was he smart? On the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, Alfred ranked in the highest range "very gifted.
" Was he persuasive? Most sociopaths use deceit and manipulation to get what they want.
Alfred could be charming.
Could he have persuaded an emotionally damaged teenager such as Dustin to commit acts he would never have imagined without Alfred? Absolutely.
Were you afraid of Alfred? There is no cure for sociopathy.
Were you afraid of your son? He was a monster.
Dr.
Rentman, did you ever seek outside help for your boy? A therapist? A child psychologist? Anyone at all? Therapy can't change brain patterns, sir.
So your answer is "no"? I knew it wouldn't make any difference to his prognosis.
Before the shootings, did you ever report your son as a danger to the health and safety of others? You're trying to blame me for what happened.
It's not my fault.
Not my question, Dr.
Rentman.
My question is, did you ever report your son as posing a threat to the health and safety of anyone else before he helped the defendant murder 18 people? No, I did not.
The boy you described as a "sociopath" and a "monster"? Some great leaders display sociopathic traits.
John F.
Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Steve Jobs, for example.
Dr.
Rentman, this is a courtroom, not a classroom.
Please just answer the questions you've been asked.
Please.
My answer is that most sociopaths do not commit murders, obviously.
Did you ever meet Dustin Maker? No.
Did you ever meet any of your son's friends? I didn't know he had any friends.
Then you don't know who exerted influence on him, do you? My son was not a follower.
Because he was following the lead of that man instead of you.
I have no more questions for this witness, Your Honor.
Ms.
Nelson, can you comment about Mr.
Rentman's testimony, please? Ma'am? T-Take the next one, okay? No objections during cross? No redirect? Different plays in a bench trial.
But but there's there's still the media, still the public.
Who cares? One person matters Judge Ellis.
Is he gonna direct himself to disregard improper characterization in the question? No.
Is he gonna tell Siletti to save the rhetoric for his closing? He is not.
But Rentman hurt us.
He was perfect.
Ellis didn't like him.
No.
But he believed him.
Shit, a father like that could have made me psycho.
How much do you think he really knows about Junior? Guys like Torres he's like a hunting dog, and once he catches a scent, he stays on that trail.
Same as us.
Yeah.
You know, he didn't have to warn you.
That was like a favor.
It's good to know somebody at Management Control that has a heart for cops.
You think we should back off? Please, no, you don't.
Well, you have more at risk than I do.
We could go to Koto, see if he'll give you a reassignment, see if he'll firewall you.
Sarah, Walt, Caleb, Criolla.
Four dead cops, and now my brother's next on the list.
We can break The Union, Terry, which doesn't deserve the name.
We can prove what they did.
We can stop them.
I'm not playing it safe.
I'm not.
Are you in? You know I am.
Inspectors.
- Hey.
- Hey.
What's going on, Burnside? Uh, a lot.
So, a couple days ago, uh, some med students were doing liver research at UCSF, and they pull a John Doe cadaver, and it turns out to be this kid Xavier Furness.
- Okay.
Xa don't know who that is.
- Mnh-mnh.
Xavier Furness was a gunshot victim about six weeks ago.
His liver was fine, but apparently there was some confusion with toe tags, and Xavier got rerouted.
Huh.
Well, I guess it's better than being stolen, right? Yeah.
Jalil Thompson.
That was very well played.
Uh, actually, Jalil wasn't stolen.
Jalil was buried in Xavier's grave.
What? Uh, it was a closed casket, so the family didn't know.
Jalil somehow ends up with Xavier's toe tag.
Xavier ends up with the rest of the John Does.
So we end up exhuming Jalil this morning, and I end up telling you all this stuff 'cause I think you should know.
Hmm.
And let the lawsuits begin, which will be lots of fun.
You okay? Not really.
And while you were completing your residency at the Pleasanton Medical Center, did you have occasion to treat Dustin Maker in the Emergency Room? Yes, I did.
What were the circumstances? Dustin was a 6-year-old child who presented with a spiral fracture of the distal radius bone his forearm caused by what the accompanying family member said was an accident in the machine shop at home.
Do you remember who the family member was? Yes.
I checked my notes.
His uncle, Mr.
Beau Renell, brought the boy to the E.
R.
You kept your notes from your residency 12 years ago? For this particular patient, I made sure that I kept them, yes.
Why? 'Cause I don't believe the injury was accidental.
It was consistent with deliberate physical abuse of a child.
Did you notify anyone? I reported it to my supervisors, and I called the police.
Was any action taken that you know of? No.
None at all.
In a small town like Pleasanton, they don't have the same investigative resources of an urban area.
Did you tell Dustin's parents that the injury indicated abuse? No.
'Cause I never met them.
They faxed their permission for the surgical repair.
I phoned the contact number on the fax, but neither one of them ever got back to me.
Neither one of them even showed up at the hospital.
Did Dustin ask for his parents? He cried for his mom in the operating room before the anesthesia took effect.
I never forgot about that little boy.
How old were you at the time, Dr.
Levin? I was 27.
First-year surgical resident, yes? Yes.
Brand-new doctor with very little experience under your white coat.
Isn't that true? Dustin was the first case of child abuse I had ever treated, yes.
Very sadly, not the last in my career as a trauma surgeon.
A spiral fracture like his can only be caused with forceful twisting by torque.
It's a very common abuse injury to children.
I-I've seen it far too often.
Accidentally falling on an outstretched arm can also cause a spiral fracture.
Isn't that correct? Yes.
In fact, isn't that one of the most common accidental injuries for children over 5? Yes, but You didn't like his Uncle Beau, did you? Objection, Your Honor.
Dr.
Levin's personal feelings are not relevant to his testimony.
Unless the witness's antipathy for the patient's family colored his interpretation of the injury.
Antipathy has not been established, Judge.
Your Honor, if you will permit the witness to answer I do not need to hear that answer to that question.
I'll sustain the objection.
Then I have no more questions of any value for this witness, Your Honor.
Come talk to us.
What's going on? Torres is hot to skin you.
Well, Management Control is a paper cut compared to what's going on.
Well, not for Hildy.
Torres called me in.
Did he lean on you? More like a courtesy warning.
Guy's an asshole.
Look, I'm not gonna let you go down for me, okay? I'm giving you back the money.
Junior, how are you gonna pay The Union back - what you owe them? - I'll figure it out.
My fault, my fix.
Junior, I was your last resort.
That's the only reason you came to me.
What is one more dead cop to them at this point? It's nothing.
She's right.
You got to deliver that money.
Terry, this is between my sister and I, okay? Easy.
We're gonna follow the money.
On our own time, off the books.
No footprint.
We're gonna let the money take us all the way up to the head man.
We're gonna pull the whole thing apart.
You guys are crazy.
Who is it? Me.
Are you alone? Yes.
I came to say I am sorry about what happened.
I feel terrible.
I brought it on myself.
I lost my grip.
I said awful things to you that I didn't even mean.
I'm sorry.
I embarrassed both of us.
Not to mention your divorce lawyer.
That was a bad idea.
But I didn't know how to handle you without bringing Sabrina along.
Wow.
You really wanted to make sure there was no way back together.
Mission accomplished.
You are still angry.
No.
Sad.
I spent all morning watching myself on video.
I hate who I turned into.
Hate that side of myself.
This is what trials do to you.
I'm trying to save a human life here.
What about your life? Did you sleep with Sabrina yet? You are such a lawyer.
Oh, it doesn't matter! It's none of my business anymore.
We don't bring out the best in each other.
You felt it before I did.
I still love you.
Me too.
Dr.
Margaret Hopkins.
Spelling H-O-P-K-I-N-S.
I am a forensic psychiatrist.
Repeated child abuse, physical and/or sexual, can cause a lifetime of traumatic stress disorder and depression for the victim.
What are the symptoms of traumatic stress disorder for child-abuse victims, Doctor? Depression, loneliness, shame, self-hatred, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, aggression.
I describe it as an overarching sense of hopelessness and doom.
When you evaluated Dustin, did you note those symptoms? Yes.
He had all of them and more.
What did you conclude? I found Dustin to be a fragile, malleable adolescent, young for his years, easily dominated, consistent with a history of aggravated physical and/or sexual abuse in early childhood.
So you have no personal knowledge of any evidence of any kind from any source, including the defendant himself, that he was ever actually abused in any way at all.
Isn't that true, Doctor? As a mental-health expert, I'm qualified to recognize the psychological symptoms of trauma.
Oh.
Are you qualified as a mind reader? Objection.
Do I need to say "argumentative"? Your Honor, I was posing a genuine question about Dr.
Hopkins' psychic abilities, since she has no other evidence to support her opinion.
Enough.
Enough! Enough! Sustained.
Doctor, do you know of any specific trauma to the defendant other than a broken arm during summer vacation? It's not uncommon for victims to be unwilling or unable to reveal the cause or details.
No, see, my my question was, do you know of any specific trauma to the defendant other than a broken arm? No, I don't.
Thank you, Doctor.
The defense calls Dustin Maker.
We know who died, and we know who killed them.
We know where and when and how.
Now it's time to learn why.
Why did you and Alfred Rentman shoot 18 people? Alfred wanted us to be legends.
He said no one would forget our names.
Did you want to be a legend? It was okay.
I just wanted everything over and out.
By "everything" meaning? My whole stupid, miserable life.
I wanted to die.
I needed my brain to stop.
Is that why you tried to shoot yourself in the head right before the police shot you? Yeah.
If my gun hadn't jammed, I'd be gone, like Alfie.
We were both supposed to die.
Then why did you wear bulletproof vests? Alfie said Kevlar would give us more game time.
Do you know what he meant by "game time"? It's just how he talked.
I didn't always understand it, but guess I didn't have to.
Were you bullied at school, Dustin? Everyone gets bullied at some point.
It's not why I did it.
Do you know why? They were happy.
Talking and laughing.
Talking and laughing all the time about nothing.
With their baby faces.
So clean.
So ignorant.
They couldn't see me.
They didn't know me.
They didn't want to.
It was like they lived in a whole nother country that I couldn't even visit.
Where kids didn't get abused? That didn't happen to me.
I d I never said that.
How did you break your arm? I don't remember.
I was like 6.
Did your parents send you back to stay with your uncle and your cousins every summer after that until you were 12? Yeah.
When you were finally big enough to defend yourself? What do you mean? Did your Cousin Daisy have the room next to you? So what? And was your uncle's room at the end of the hall Uncle Beau? I don't remember.
Do you remember walking past Daisy's room when your uncle would call for you? N-No.
What would Daisy say about that? What did Daisy see every summer that you're not telling us, Dustin? You know what she saw.
She's lying.
I mean, she's a liar.
She wouldn't have seen anything.
N-Nothing ever happened in the house, for Because your uncle always took you to the machine shop, didn't he? Where he thought your cousins wouldn't hear you cry.
I hardly ever cried.
I hardly ever cried.
I can't sit here and listen to this.
Lydia, sit down.
You stay if you want to stay.
Would you move? I don't want to be here.
I'm not supposed to be here.
The plan was to die with everybody else.
But Alfred didn't follow the plan, did he? I thought we'd agreed.
Did you know he was gonna try to escape? No.
Did you know he was gonna take Barbie Sanford hostage? No.
Did you know he was going to the Point Bonita Lighthouse? No.
You weren't part of Alfred's bigger plan, were you? I didn't know he had one.
When Alfred didn't need you anymore, he left you behind, didn't he? He got to die.
And I'm still here.
And I don't understand why.
Dustin, are you sorry about what you did on the bus? Every second of every minute of every day for as long as I breathe.
But how does "sorry" change anything? They're still dead.
It's still my fault.
And it always will be.
Mr.
Maker, are you sorry for the innocent victims you slaughtered or for yourself? I'm sorry for all of it.
You're not a stupid man.
You know that sympathy might save your life, right? I'm not thinking about that.
But you're blaming your own actions on your dead partner, - aren't you? - I know what I did.
You made a personal decision to bring unimaginable pain on 18 families, many of whom are sitting here in this courtroom right now, because your victims seemed happy.
That's your testimony, right? Yeah.
You chose to take away their lives because you thought their lives were better than yours.
Isn't that true? Objection, Your Honor.
Just asked and just answered.
Next question, Counselor.
Mr.
Maker, you never mentioned physical or sexual child abuse to anyone before today, did you? No.
All the inner misery you've described and you didn't try to talk to a counselor at school, a minister, a teacher, someone? I was ashamed.
Well, you think if you'd spoken up sooner, you would have still decided to execute 18 people? I don't know.
Did it make you feel any better? People of California Hey, Michael.
You got a minute? About me, not you.
Just, uh I need your input, Mike.
Okay.
Remember that you said that Dustin Maker should fry? You got mad at me.
Well, that was then.
This is now.
What's your reasoning? He did it.
He admitted it.
I don't care why.
You don't believe in mitigation? What kind of excuse is there for shooting up a busload of kids? No prior criminal history, youth, influence of another, childhood trauma.
So? There are some people in this world who just don't deserve to live.
He is one of them.
I mean, That is just flat-out evil.
No doubts? Doubt's for pussies.
Oh.
Thanks.
I won't use that tomorrow in court.
I'd be really dumb if I just allowed it Watch your back, you might get surrounded Bang, bang, bang, you hit the ground Then I'll Tell them all what I came to do Kill One word that explains the truth Real Bang out till your brain is loose All your little fun-filled days are through Remember that I'm like this thanks to you Yeah, brother, you got the feeling just like a killer, killer Yeah, brother, you got the feeling just like a killer, killer Dustin Maker listened to that music for hours every day while he and Alfred Rentman played the video game that they decided to act out so murderously in real life.
What is the adequate punishment for a man who chose to execute 18 people he knew, chose to shoot them dead while they cowered or tried to escape or beg for their lives, chose to make a school bus an execution chamber? This man made a decision to kill every time he pulled the trigger.
And we know that he was capable of decision because he was selective.
We heard how he chose to let Mason Carr live when he told him to get off the school bus.
Mr.
Maker wasn't acting in a mindless rage.
He was carrying out his pre-meditated, cold-blooded, savage plan to make himself famous.
Oh, he's famous now.
He's got the eyes of the world on him.
And on us on what we say and what we do in this courtroom.
This is the law.
This is the will of the people of California.
The crime of mass murder is punishable by death.
Now, the defense will argue that Mr.
Maker deserves mercy.
Why? He didn't show any mercy to his 18 victims.
Put on the scales of justice, how does this man's life weigh against the 18 lives he took, the 18 families he destroyed? How does this man's pain, for whatever reason if any how does it weigh against the lifelong pain that he's inflicted? For some crimes, there is no redemption.
There is no mitigation.
There is only justice.
To sentence the defendant to life in prison, the same sentence that drug dealers, career burglars, non-violent offenders are serving is to dishonor the dead.
The only voice the dead have here and now is mine, and the only sentence that acknowledges the loss of their hopes, their dreams, their lives is the ultimate sanction on the man responsible.
It's time to respect the dead, Your Honor.
It is time to give them the justice they deserve.
Sentence this man to death for the monstrous crimes he chose to commit.
Thank you.
The attack was senseless and inexcusable.
Dustin Maker has taken full responsibility for what he did.
He pled guilty on every charge.
But the person, the sociopath, who planned and led the crime cannot be punished on this earth.
Alfred Rentman cannot be brought to human justice.
Only the damaged, immature 18-year-old he manipulated into helping him is left behind.
If that deadly field trip had taken place three weeks earlier, Dustin would not now be facing the death penalty.
He would have still been a juvenile.
He would have already started serving a life sentence without parole.
How do 22 days make a difference between life and death? Alfred Rentman spotted a weak and vulnerable kid he could use.
Sociopaths don't have partners.
They have victims.
They have patsies.
Dustin needed someone to follow, someone to trust and believe in after years of rape and abuse by his uncle, which started when Dustin was only 6 years old while his parents did nothing, knew nothing, chose to know nothing.
We saw Dustin's mother abandon him again in this courtroom because she didn't want to know what her brother did to her only child.
Dustin will die in prison for his crimes.
The only question before the court is, will he die of natural causes or at the hands of the state? The prosecution isn't asking for justice, Your Honor.
He is asking you to add to the body count.
But all lives have value.
Every human being deserves our compassion and our mercy.
Executing Dustin will not bring back the dead.
It will not make their families whole.
It will not erase the horrific memories carried by the survivors.
Condemn Dustin to serve out his life in prison where he will grow up and grow old remembering every day what he did on that bus.
Don't substitute vengeance for justice, Your Honor.
Huh.
You'd think 70,000 grand would need a bigger bag.
Oh, so long as he doesn't spend any of my money.
Let's just see how long it takes him to exit.
I just hope we can trust him.
Yeah.
We can.
It was weird, being in court, talking about the bus shooting again.
Yeah, it was a lot harder than I thought it'd be.
- You know what else is weird? - Hmm? I don't think you and I have ever ever talked about it to each other.
The shooting? Yeah.
That's 'cause you like to push past things.
Oh, right.
And you just love to talk about your feelings, right, Mr.
Sensitive? Okay, easy, mean lady.
But for real, um Oh, there he is.
He made the drop.
Slow night at the strip club.
Yeah, I think we're gonna be here for a while.
This is the most time I've spent with you in months, seems like.
I know.
Where the hell you been? I been right here.
We tried this before.
Maybe we didn't try hard enough.
Who else are we supposed to be with? Terry, we're partners.
That's exactly my point.
I'm talking about work.
Why does it have to be one or the other? I I think it does for me.
Work's the only thing that I'm good at, and I'm just scared if we do this, it's just gonna screw that up, too, you know? Are you cool with that? Oh, heads up.
I think we have our courier.
Hey, we got a girl with the bag.
Stand by.
Copy that.
Hey, she just made the drop.
I'll stay with her.
I can't make out the house number.
Oh, I can't see it from here.
Me, neither.
Hold up, hold up, hold up.
Well, that's clearly not our guy.
I don't know.
Just chill here for a bit.
Holy shit.
It's Nick Torres.