Law & Order (1990) s04e08 Episode Script

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.
Soon as the city issues a demolition permit, we jump in.
We've been working this site for nearly a week.
We marked off the cleared areas.
We have to watch where we walk.
This place is filled with history.
Yeah, reeks with it.
What I want to know is why you lifted the body out of the ground before you called us? We find remains all the time.
There are old cemeteries all over the city.
And this housekeeping around the burial site, that's your work, too? We had to make sure nothing was lost.
This is an archaeological dig.
Hey, this is a crime scene, Mr.
Peabody, and we don't appreciate people putting little red ribbons around our evidence.
We had no way of knowing these remains were contemporary.
Let me guess.
The quartz watch gave it away? What's this? Animal, vegetable or mineral? Toupee.
Must belong to the corpse.
We got bits and pieces of a sheet.
The guy was probably gift-wrapped before Indiana Jones here got to him.
Corpse got a name? How about Uncle Fester? There's no meat on the hands.
I guess the teeth are gonna have to tell, huh? Jaws are empty.
Shattered bones around the sockets.
Teeth must've been knocked out.
Nice touch.
What's left of a blue blazer.
Cashmere.
Nothing like going in style, huh? No labels.
Gold buttons.
Hey, it looks like a gryphon.
A what? There's one on my family crest.
Seen enough? Yeah.
Okay, let's pack up Mr.
Bones and bring him back to the office.
Detective Thomas, pick up line two.
I found this slug from a.
22 in the brain cavity.
I'll send it over to Forensics.
Where was the entry wound? Just above the cervical vertebrae.
Your basic back of the skull.
Yeah, your basic mob hit.
Male, medium build, 5'7".
Probably stooped.
Age? I have to soak the bone, macerate some tissue.
It'll take a couple of weeks.
You got any idea how long he was down there for? Time since death? Ballpark: between two and 10 years.
Once we get the chemical analysis, we can narrow it down.
Great.
When you get an answer, give me a call at the retirement home.
Missing Persons has a database of 640 people.
None of them were hunchbacks with toupees.
What about the building he was found in? Well, aside from the rats and the squatters, we've been checking on three different owners over the last 10 years.
Currently in the city's lap for unpaid taxes.
ME just sent this over.
They pulled it out of your John Doe's knee bone.
Might trace it back to a medical supplier.
Hey, if this guy rests in peace for another couple of weeks he's not gonna get any deader.
Well, seeing there's no numbers there's no markings, it looks pretty generic to me.
What do you say, we toss it to Profaci give him something to do besides the donut run? You caught it, you solve it.
What else you have? Got a Hong Kong Rolex that probably died before he did.
And gold buttons on a blue blazer.
Sounds promising.
Just do something before they bulldoze your crime scene.
It's British.
It's a hand-stamped Harris and Townsend.
Pity is, they've gone belly up.
But I think I have something comparable.
$300? That's more than my suit.
The Harris and Townsend would run a bit more.
Well, what kind of tailors would buy these? I mean, at these prices, it can't be a very long list.
In the States? Very few.
They're very elegant.
Haven't used them in years.
You know, in the '80s people had a different attitude toward money.
I wouldn't know.
I didn't have any.
We're gonna need a list of your customers who got blue blazers made with these buttons.
I'm afraid that's confidential.
What are you, a doctor of haberdashery? I have a select number of very distinguished clients.
Sir, obstructing justice will get you a select number around your neck.
It's a very simple drill, Harry.
You just look in your books, and you give us the names.
In 1987, I ordered 200 buttons for the St.
Paul's Youth Choir.
for the Ale and Quail Club.
Cunningham Realtors, for their top 25 brokers every Christmas from '82 on.
Realtors.
Good candidates for a shallow grave.
We're moving to Jersey City.
Even cut back our bonuses this year.
No more company blazers? No, we haven't done that since money markets were at 16%.
Well, we would like to get a list of every broker who got one.
Our records are in storage in Weehawken.
Tell me what you need.
I'll fill out a request slip and you'll have it by the end of next week.
I'm afraid we're going to have to have it by the end of this visit.
Wouldn't know where to start.
Well, it'd be a shame to have to go get a warrant come back, and unpack all this neat work.
"Brokers of the Year.
" 1984 '83, '82.
Thank you very much, sir.
Last one on my list.
Everyone at Cunningham is present and accounted for.
Yeah, and we can skip the Youth Choir and go right to the Ale and Quail Club.
Or we can put this folder at the bottom of the pile.
What about the women realtors? Didn't they rate blazers? It was Mr.
Bones.
Who maybe got the jacket from his wife.
Yes, that's one of the buttons.
I'm allergic to cashmere, but I gave the buttons to my father.
How long had he been missing? Since '84.
He was murdered.
I'm sure you read about it.
Sidney Cohen.
There was a big trial.
They put the son of a bitch away for life.
Yeah, the Wall Street whiz kid killed your father over some real estate thing.
What was his name? Phillip Swann.
They convicted him without the body.
That's how guilty he was.
Was he where they said? In Patterson? No, he was buried next to some building on Roosevelt Island.
That can't be him.
They had a witness at the trial who testified that he helped bury my dad in New Jersey.
Your father have a pin in his knee? Yeah.
He wrecked it in a car accident.
Trabecula match.
And see the angle of the femur on the corpse? I'll take your word for it.
It's the same as the picture taken at the time of Mr.
Cohen's surgery.
Yeah, well, there's got to be a lot of people walking around with pins in their knees, right? Yeah, but there's also the exact position of the pin in relation to the joint.
I mean, it's not as exact as a fingerprint but it's as close as you're gonna get to 100%.
Hey, it looks like we definitely have Sidney Cohen, right? Yeah? All right.
Well, if he's our guy Van Buren wants us to bring everything we have to Stone.
He prosecuted this case eight years ago and put Phillip Swann away.
Swann's a pretty dapper-looking fellow.
I bet he gets his prison denims tailored.
Half the people in town were trying to get rich on his junk bonds.
They were lucky they only lost their money.
Mr.
Cohen lost his life.
What was the motive for the murder? Swann convinced a bunch of his prep-school buddies to invest in a pyramid scheme.
And while Swann was conning his victims Mr.
Cohen was conning Mr.
Swann to the tune of about $1 million.
Yeah, you swim with sharks, bring Band-Aids.
How certain is this identification? The ME gives it 95%.
Well, then, we got a problem.
Swann was convicted on the testimony of an accomplice who said that he helped Swann bury Mr.
Cohen in New Jersey.
You have Swann's murder weapon? Have Ballistics match it up against the slug we found in Cohen's skull.
The accomplice also said that Swann killed Cohen by slitting his throat.
You go back, re-examine any case there's gonna be lies, and inconsistencies, and contradictions.
Justice isn't perfect.
But the bottom line is, Swann was guilty.
How can you be so absolutely sure if Bobbitt was your principle witness against Swann? But I didn't make my case on accomplice testimony alone.
There was other evidence.
Swann bragged about that murder to half the people he knew.
You made the case without the body.
You let us remember that the jury convicted on the basis of Russell Bobbitt's testimony and he may have perjured himself.
I could have made my case without Bobbitt.
Yes, but you didn't.
Is there even a possibility Swann's innocent? I know Phillip Swann.
He smiled through the entire Q and A.
He was guilty then.
He's guilty now.
Have Russell Bobbitt picked up.
At the very least, you may have a perjury charge.
Wonder how much this place will go for.
You mean after they plaster the roaches back in their nests? Hey, get this.
It's called Le Chanticleer.
"Exclusive living, with stunning views of the city.
"Historic building.
Only half a million.
" Yeah, I know the historic part.
Five years ago, this was Benny Gonzaga's sweatshop.
Beautiful views, and 50 cents an hour.
Hey, Michelangelo.
Russell Bobbitt? Yeah.
What's this about? It's about coming downtown.
I don't care if they found the body on the moon I know where we put him eight years ago.
But you couldn't lead us to the exact spot.
Swann was driving, not me.
Look, I helped you all I could.
Read the testimony.
Everything I know is in there.
You claim Swann slit Cohen's throat.
We know he died of a gunshot to the head.
That's what Swann told me.
He was wrapped in a sheet.
I never saw him.
This is exactly the kind of stuff Phillip likes to pull.
Like knocking out Cohen's teeth so he couldn't be identified.
Swann's very mental.
He might also be innocent.
So now he's got you going.
I wouldn't be surprised if he planned it that way.
He probably moved the body the next day.
It all came out at the trial, Claire.
Swann told him that he'd knocked his teeth out even showed him the hammer that he'd used.
If you had read the transcripts, you'd know that.
I did.
And Bobbitt could have lied just to frame Swann.
Why would Bobbitt incriminate himself by revealing details only the killer would know? Think it through.
It doesn't make sense.
Neither does a dead man taking a tram to Roosevelt Island.
Claire, please.
Listen to me.
Swann killed an old man.
He laughed about it to his rich friends.
He's not only guilty, he's a pathological liar.
He may be a hero to some people, but to me he's a cold-blooded killer.
If he's proven innocent, he will be a hero.
Stone, here.
Yeah, we'll get on it.
I've been served notice.
Swann is contesting the conviction on the grounds of newly discovered evidence.
Hello, Ben.
You're looking well.
Is this your attorney? This is my state-appointed paralegal, Michelle Farese.
You must be Claire Kincaid.
Phillip Swann.
Pleasure to meet you.
Where is your attorney, Mr.
Swann? You're looking at him.
I'm pro se.
When I saw your name on the brief, I thought it might be one of your little jokes.
You didn't think it was well drafted? No really, come on.
Your opinion matters to me.
It's not my opinion that counts.
He was my inspiration.
There being no great legal issue presented here I ask only that the Court consider the implications of the recently unearthed facts.
These certainly cast doubt on the People's case as a whole.
Mr.
Swann, are you asking that the Court reverse your conviction and dismiss all charges against you, based on these alleged new facts? There is authority for this and I respectfully refer, Your Honor, to People v.
Rodriguez.
A slip opinion referred to on page 27 of Appellant's brief.
I note, too, that the District Attorney does not contest the validity of Appellant's factual allegations.
You're not suggesting that the District Attorney relied on perjured testimony in obtaining your conviction, are you, Counselor? I must remind Your Honor that I am not a member of the bar.
But in response to Your Honor's inquiry I do not know whether Mr.
Bobbitt's testimony was the product of overzealousness or subornation of perjury, but I do know that I am entitled to confront that witness in the clear light of the truth.
A right which was denied to me in my first trial.
And if we choose not to dismiss the charges? In that case, I request the alternative relief sought in Appellant's ser-reply brief.
A new trial.
A fair trial.
I conclude by paraphrasing Justice Marshall.
Witnesses may either be mistaken, or wickedly intend to deceive.
But circumstances cannot lie.
Thank you, Mr.
Swann.
It's so refreshing to see a defendant who isn't overreaching.
And what Mr.
Swann describes as new evidence is a distortion of the facts adduced at trial.
As such, it doesn't warrant modification of his verdict.
And the testimony that Mr.
Swann slit Mr.
Cohen's throat- Wasn't it your own witness who established the means of death, Counselor? Mr.
Bobbitt merely repeated what Mr.
Swann had told him.
To penalize the People for something entirely under Mr.
Swann's control is to reward the Appellant for having lied.
Surely, Mr.
Stone, you don't suggest that Mr.
Bobbitt was mistaken about the very state in which the cadaver was buried? It is most likely that the body was moved subsequent to being buried in New Jersey.
But not certain.
Isn't this just the sort of thing a new trial would ascertain? A discrepancy of that nature is not sufficient to warrant a directed verdict of acquittal, and that's the standard this court must apply, pursuant to People v.
Serrotti.
Thank you.
He won.
They granted him a new trial.
Well.
We'll have to round up all the witnesses from the previous trial.
We'll start with his prep-school cronies first.
It's been eight years.
People move out of state.
Well, they were Wall Street junkies so they'll be where the money is.
Swann could walk into a room, pitch an idea to 20 guys in suits and walk out with 20 checks.
It was a gift.
So he worked his magic on you, huh? He got me into commodities.
You mean he got your old man's money into commodities.
My dad's, mine.
Who cared? Until I saw the entire $200,000 circling the bowl.
Then I absolutely panicked.
But Phil gave me a hug and started faking account statements.
So much for the old-boy network, huh? Not quite.
We were just getting nervous.
But not all of our investors had the stomach for it.
Then Sid Cohen showed up? He had some quick-paced real estate deals.
Buy condemned property, get a low-interest HUD loan on prospective value, make 200% on your money.
How can anybody be unhappy with that? Cohen took us for nearly $1 million.
We couldn't pay our secretaries.
Our investors are at the gates and we couldn't get anything out of Cohen.
But Swann was cool.
He promised to get our money back.
Where did Bobbitt fit in? Simple.
He was poor.
Swann offered to make him rich.
And it only cost him his mother's pension.
Ninth grade, Penton Academy, Phil was already practicing his moves.
Back then it was $10 shares in a gold mine.
He made you feel lucky you got in on the ground floor.
Yeah, except the elevator was headed toward the basement.
Phil gave us a bottle of cheap champagne.
We ended up feeling sorry for him.
So, what, 12 years later it was forgive and forget? Phil was selling blue skies.
We were greedy enough to believe him.
It's water under the bridge now.
Well, I hope you like flashbacks, Mr.
Ross, because Swann's getting a new trial.
What does it take, a silver bullet? You'll get another shot at him.
I'd rather not go through it again.
I'm over my anger.
Well, hey, good for you.
But Mr.
Cohen's not over being dead.
It's on us.
The D.
A.
will be in touch, Mr.
Ross.
Swann takes them to the cleaners, and all they can say is: "Thanks for the starch.
" I had a girlfriend once.
Katerina.
In two months, she took me through hell in a hand basket but it was a lovely ride.
And if she called tonight? I'd be waiting at the curb.
Two of the witnesses are living abroad.
One's got cold feet, and the other's dropped out of sight.
Well, that's just terrific.
You're left with one witness, maybe a perjurer and the other one who has the moral backbone of a pretzel.
It doesn't matter.
Swann killed Cohen.
We ran his name through the system.
There's a.
22 registered in his name in New Jersey.
And where is that gun now? All this evidence, Actually, some if it's quite a bit older.
I talked to Forensics.
They found lava dust caked on Cohen's remains.
Which means the body was buried where Bobbitt said it was, and then moved.
But not necessarily by Swann.
Of course it was by Swann.
It makes perfect sense.
He never thought we'd get a conviction without the body.
The final irony.
Body gets found, and he gets off.
He dug the body up.
He moved it.
There's probably dirt in the trunk of his car.
A car that he owned eight years ago.
A Mercedes 500.
We traced it to a woman in Connecticut.
All right, get a warrant, a pair of tweezers, and good luck.
An amazing assortment of specimens can accumulate in eight years.
Sand from two local beaches, bits of pubic hair, human detritus.
Mostly exfoliated skin, and the parasites that feed on it.
You see these shiny microflakes? That's schist from the Ordovician Period.
Very typical of the Manhattan area.
But this other sample from the car, that's very exciting.
Look.
The brown coating, that's iron oxide, characteristic of lava.
So the dirt from the trunk matches the dirt from the body.
I'm almost 100% sure of it.
But you might want to have a geologist back me up.
Make sure your experts speak English.
Don't give the jury a bunch of volcano this and Stone Age that.
That's not what I'm worried about, Adam.
Russell Bobbitt's testimony can be easily supported by the evidence.
Yeah, well, we can be thankful that Swann is arrogant enough to represent himself.
He dug himself out of prison, got himself to a new trial.
Merely writing briefs is one thing.
Rough and tumble of a court trial will set him back on his heels.
Ben.
Russell Bobbitt's gone.
He put a one-way ticket to the Bahamas on his charge card, and disappeared.
Your Honor, the state is suddenly unable to produce our prime witness.
So we request a short postponement to commencing the trial.
Why? Is Mr.
Bobbitt sick? We have evidence that he may have left the country but I have my doubts about that.
You mean, he packed up his trunk of lies and took the first plane out of the jurisdiction.
Now, you give us a month, Your Honor, and we'll find out precisely what happened to Mr.
Bobbitt.
Well, with all due respect, Judge I've been sitting in a cell unjustly for eight years.
To me, a month's like a year.
I'm sorry, Ben.
If Mr.
Bobbitt doesn't appear, you'll have to make do with reading his testimony from the first trial into evidence.
Well, excuse me, Your Honor.
My retrial was granted on the basis of new evidence which completely contradicts Mr.
Bobbitt's prior testimony.
The jury is entitled to determine credibility, Your Honor.
But how can I discredit him, if I can't cross-examine him? And the Constitution gives me the right to confront all witnesses against me.
He's right.
Unless the State can produce the witness his story'll never be heard in my courtroom.
They say you don't really understand the law unless you spend a couple of years behind bars.
Well, he's certainly enjoying the publicity.
He didn't raise millions of dollars without knowing how to play an audience.
Whatever he lacks in morals, he's got double in ego.
Well, then, let's use it.
You think you're great, you're not gonna keep it a secret.
And he spent the last eight years in some very close quarters.
Innocent? Sure, he's innocent.
Nobody in here never did nothing.
Only Swann is about to get a chance to prove it.
And he swears he's got you guys spinning in your tracks.
Did he ever talk to you about his first trial? You know living in here, my memory gets awful bad.
I don't have time to play games, Mr.
Doyle.
Well, I do.
Four years, to be exact.
We can make it five.
You don't testify, I'll cite you for contempt.
And I'll say I don't know anything.
Perjury.
Make it six.
Okay.
But I want a transfer.
Around here, guys with good memories don't win any popularity contests.
Phil had some money with Sid Cohen.
A real estate deal.
But when Phil went to see him, there was nothing left.
Did Mr.
Cohen offer any explanation for that? Phil got very nasty.
But Cohen said he was broke, he'd lost it all.
What did Mr.
Swann do about that? Phil was very meticulous.
Every day, he made a list.
"Things to do today.
" One day he showed me his list.
Is this the list? Yes.
Please read it.
"7:00 a.
m.
: Breakfast with Donny.
"9:00 a.
m.
: Conference with Moore and Black, our attorneys.
"12:30 p.
m.
: Lunch with Chip.
"4:00 p.
m.
: Shoe shine.
"Kill Sid Cohen.
" Entered as People's Exhibit 5.
Do you mean to say that you actually took that entry in my diary seriously? You were desperate, Phil.
So can I assume you called the police immediately? No.
Tell me, Chip, did my list say how I was planning to kill Mr.
Cohen? No.
But I knew you had a.
22.
You said all you had to do was bury him in New Jersey and nobody would ever know he was missing.
Well, I guess I wasn't as meticulous as you thought, Chip.
If I were I certainly would have had my shoes shined after I buried poor Mr.
Cohen, not before.
I shared a cell with the defendant for almost four years.
He was always talking about what a hotshot he is, you know.
Mercedes Benz, Rolex breakfast in Paris, lunch in Rome.
That kind of crap.
Did Mr.
Swann ever mention the name Sid Cohen? That's the guy he killed, right? He was real proud of that one, too.
What did Mr.
Swann tell you about Mr.
Cohen? He said the guy tried to screw him on a deal so he had to take care of business.
You know what I mean? Would you please be more specific.
Bullet in the brain.
Then Swann and his buddy, think he said the guy's name was Bobbitt dumped the body in Jersey.
Swann didn't think Bobbitt could take the heat, so to cover his butt he moved the body somewhere on Roosevelt Island.
That way, if Bobbitt broke no one would believe him without the body.
It's a good plan.
Didn't work.
Billy, Billy, Billy.
You ought to be ashamed.
Question, Mr.
Swann? Of course, Your Honor.
Tell me, Billy, where were you living before we became roommates? Binghamton.
And before that? Vancourt, Texas.
What, did you own a condo, or did you just rent? I was incarcerated.
Irrelevant, Your Honor.
Well, certainly I'm allowed to question Mr.
Doyle's credibility.
Continue.
Tell me, Billy, while you were in Vancourt did you have occasion to testify in a court proceeding? Yeah.
Under what circumstances? I cut a deal with the D.
A.
down there.
A deal? To testify against a fellow inmate in county jail? That's right.
Isn't it true that your testimony in that case proved to be perjurious? So they said.
So they wrote, Billy.
I enter Defense Exhibit 17, an affidavit from the Sterling County District Attorney, attesting to Mr.
Doyle's perjury.
Billy don't you ever learn? First day of law school: Known perjurers do not make good witnesses.
How could I know what happened in Vancourt, Texas? Swann was privy to prison gossip.
He researched it.
You may be right about Swann.
The papers are turning him into a folk hero.
When he gets acquitted, I might offer him a job.
You try dealing with him? Adam, if you want me to plea him, you take me off the case.
Don't tempt me.
Of course I was angry at Sid Cohen but I was also angry at my investors.
I made them a lot of money and they all ran away with their tails between their legs just because of a little setback.
But I didn't kill them and I didn't kill Sid Cohen.
I'm a businessman.
I knew if everyone just sat still, everything would be okay.
Possibly the extent of that panic drove someone to kill Sid Cohen.
Possibly there were other deals with other individuals- Objection, Your Honor.
Conjecture.
I'm sorry, Your Honor.
Bottom line is Sid Cohen may be dead now.
But I swear he was alive and getting a suntan in Barbados when I was first convicted of killing him.
Cross-examination, Mr.
Stone.
Mr.
Swann, do you routinely list killing people as part of your daily calendar? Mr.
Stone, do you routinely lack a sense of humor? About murder I have none, sir.
There's a question pending.
Well, we were kids.
It was a joke.
If I really planned on murdering Mr.
Cohen I don't think I'd announce it to the world.
As Mr.
Rafferty said, I am meticulous.
Well, if you didn't kill Mr.
Cohen how do you explain dirt from Patterson, New Jersey found on the trunk of your car? Well, eight years ago, I had a nine handicap.
I played golf three times a week at the Apple Ridge Country Club.
That's in northern New Jersey.
I guess I over-tipped my caddy.
He must not have cleaned my shoes very well before he slipped them in the back of my trunk.
Then can you explain how the same dirt from your golf cleats was found on Mr.
Cohen's body? Well, I haven't dedicated my life to the study of dirt but I No, I did read somewhere that lava rock was used to build roads in the city.
Maybe it was trucked in from New Jersey.
I don't know.
I'm no expert.
Anything else, Mr.
Stone? No, Your Honor.
Piece by piece, Swann got rid of our evidence.
Then he cast a reasonable doubt on what's left.
Reasonable doubt in whose mind? The man is guilty, and that jury's lining up to shake his hand.
Then call Judge Callahan and tell him you'll be delivering your concession speech instead of a summation.
Now, listen, I expect you to come up with something.
Unless you're ready to admit that you've been out-lawyered by an amateur.
Eight years Now that is how much time I've spent in prison for killing a man the State didn't even know was dead until a few months ago.
Now, first, they convicted me of cutting Sid Cohen's throat when he was, in fact, killed by a bullet in the brain.
And they claimed I buried him in New Jersey.
He was found on Roosevelt Island.
And what do they offer for proof? Perjured testimony.
Now, in the real world the community sleeps better if somebody is put in jail.
And in the real world, prosecutors get promoted if they get convictions.
And in the real world, the world assumes that if you're charged you must be guilty.
Now, it's assumptions like that that took away my life.
So let me have what's left of it.
Phillip Swann cuts a pretty romantic figure, doesn't he? He's the charming, high-stakes hustler and a very personable genius who likes to pick the pockets of his wealthier friends.
So he's kind of the bad guy that we really love and we secretly envy.
But behind that very entertaining facade lies one cold, very ugly fact.
Phillip Swann put a bullet into the skull of an unarmed old man and he did it as just one more chore to do that day.
Now that's a side of Phillip Swann he'd rather you didn't see.
It means that he is not the boy genius of Wall Street but just an inept swindler who got beaten at his own game by Sid Cohen.
Obviously, Phillip Swann desperately wants the acceptance of his wealthy friends and the financial world and now he wants you to embrace him.
Don't be seduced.
Beware of that man.
Behind the smiles and the jokes is the monster that put a bullet in Sid Cohen's brain.
Will the defendant please rise? On the sole count of the indictment, murder in the second degree how do you find? We find the defendant not guilty, Your Honor.
Phillip Swann threw an acquittal party at 21.
Eight years in prison, I'm surprised he didn't throw a ticker-tape parade.
It's premature.
Swann may not have a law degree, but my guess is that he's well-acquainted with double jeopardy.
I'm not talking about Cohen's murder.
I'm talking about Russell Bobbitt.
You think Swann got to him? If he bribed Bobbitt, that's tampering with a witness.
It's hindering a prosecution.
Bribed Bobbitt with what? He's been in jail, bankrupt for the past eight years.
Yes? Ben Stone.
Swann's suing the State and Ben, personally, for $10 million.
Everything from malicious prosecution to civil rights violations.
Just got off the phone with Smythe, Attorney General's Office.
He tells me there's an ugly rumor going around Court Street that you're representing yourself.
I know the case better than anyone.
The last time you set foot in civil court was 20 years ago when you were sworn in.
You don't think I can do it? When Clarence Darrow went into a courtroom as a defendant he wasn't fool enough to go it alone.
My immediate concerns are not with Clarence Darrow- I don't give a damn about your concerns.
Liability here is joint and several.
You lose, you ruin me and this office.
I can live without this job, sir.
There are some things I cannot live without.
Your ego.
Mr.
Schiff, if a man who lies can go pro se and win, and a man who tells the truth can't I don't want to be in this anymore.
Yeah, well, that's just great.
And this little son of a bitch could take your car, your condo and your closetful of blue suits.
Not if I win.
Well, nothing would make me happier.
I can come back.
No, it's all right.
Well, I have bad news and good news.
Last month, in Buckley v.
Fitzsimmons the Supreme Court took away a prosecutor's absolute immunity.
The good news, it doesn't appear to be retroactive.
Looks like time is on your side.
Unfortunately, Mr.
Swann is claiming that the alleged malfeasance continues right up to his acquittal in the second trial.
That's ridiculous.
I know.
But it would take an appeal to prove that.
Claire, you don't have to do this.
It's my problem.
But it's on my own time.
Mr.
Stone, referring to Schedule A of your 1984 federal return which has been marked Plaintiff's 71- Haven't you wasted enough time? What's an ancient tax return got to do with this case? We both stipulated to waive all objections except as to form, Counselor.
Your questions have to have at least the appearance of relevance.
This is a deposition, not a trial.
We both know everything's fair game.
You wouldn't be trying to take advantage of my lack of formal training, now would you? I am trying to get out of here before the turn of the century.
Now, about that deduction, Ben.
You should have gotten yourself a better divorce attorney.
You little creep.
This isn't a game.
You don't like me, Ben? You're just waking up to that? Could that be the reason that you used perjured testimony to convict me in the first trial? There's no proof that Russell Bobbitt - Think again, Counselor.
I was acquitted in the second trial.
Therefore, a fortiori, Bobbitt must have been lying in the first.
Ergo, you are collaterally estopped from trying to prove otherwise.
It's not like this is my first case.
Now, Ben isn't it true that you were promoted to the position of Executive Assistant District Attorney immediately following my conviction? Well, he's certainly going for the jugular.
Tax returns for the last ten years.
Puts my life on the dissecting table, and he drools over it.
He is good.
I don't know many lawyers who can recite chapter and verse on collateral estoppel.
What did he say right after that? "It's not like this is my first case.
" Waiter.
Check, please.
I don't see where you're going with this.
If he had other clients he's not gonna work for them pro bono, right? Jailhouse barter system.
He scratches their backs, they scratch his.
What if one of those scratches made Russell Bobbitt disappear? One of Swann's clients gets out of prison, owes him a favor.
Yeah, and if he wrote all those appeals, his name's gonna be on Lexis database.
What about our food? Well, a lot of briefs are written by people named Swann.
The program doesn't include first names.
Now try Swann and collateral estoppel.
It's Doyle.
I don't believe this.
Call it up.
"The Appellant, William Doyle, an inmate at the state facility at Ossining.
" Swann represented our prime witness in a civil case.
Now I know how Swann felt when he wanted to murder Cohen.
So he represented me.
What's that got to do with the price of tea in China? If it was part of a scheme to defraud the courts you'd be better off in China.
What, you gonna tack on a couple of years, because I told the truth in court? You conveniently forgot to tell us about your prior perjury.
You didn't ask.
I'm sure Mr.
Swann did.
It makes a difference? Look, the guy's out of here, and there's nothing you can do to either of us.
That's where you're wrong, Mr.
Doyle.
I will see you at your parole hearing next month and the month after that, and the month after that.
What do you want from me? Where is Russell Bobbitt? What do you mean? I had nothing to do with that.
He's dead? You get nothing until you do something for me.
Russell Bobbitt.
What about my parole? Accessory to murder, Mr.
Doyle.
Russell Bobbitt.
George Mazlansky.
I heard Swann called in a marker.
Hiya.
How long you gonna be? That depends.
We're looking for a guy named George Mazlansky.
Haven't seen him.
Haven't seen him, huh? We know he works here, pal.
What, are you trying to tell me he just happens to be out sick today? Hey, Georgie! Freeze! You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can be used against you.
So who's this Billy Doyle? You don't know him? Uh-uh.
Well, you'll get acquainted in court.
He's the guy who's gonna put you in for a life sentence.
He's gonna point his finger at you and you're gonna tell us how you took a commission to kill Russell Bobbitt.
He's crazy.
You're the one staring at murder two.
It's Phillip Swann that I'm after.
I know he authored a writ to keep you out of solitary but I'm ready to throw you back in.
What deal would you offer Mr.
Mazlansky? That depends on what he says.
I did the work for Swann.
I want the body, Mr.
Mazlansky.
He couldn't just leave him by the side of the road? Swann said he wanted it done a certain way.
He was particular about it.
Yeah, like he was going to check up on you? If something's worth doing, it's worth doing right.
We're looking for Phillip Swann.
Sure.
Phil, some guys to see you.
He's hooking up the CD.
Cops? Phillip Swann, you're under arrest for the murder of Russell Bobbitt.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you do say can and will be used against you.
Claire? Ben.
So here we are again.
Really among colleagues.
We located your boyhood friend.
Poor Russell.
So it wasn't fun in the sun, after all.
And those affidavits are from your more recent acquaintances, Mr.
Doyle and Mr.
Mazlansky.
I guess you just weren't clever enough.
I got this far, Ben.
A lot of effort to end up right back where you started.
And in polite society, sir, you don't call people by the first name unless they ask you to.
I didn't do that.
You're not a friend, and you're certainly not a colleague.
I spent eight years earning the right to call you whatever the hell I want.
So who makes the first move? I want a confession not only for the murder of Russell Bobbitt but for the murder of Sid Cohen, as well.
And give away my greatest victory? Take this man back to his cell.
You give up so easy? It doesn't make any sense, Ben.
You're being totally impractical.
That's not like you.
Obviously, you don't know me.
You never did.