Law & Order Special Victims Unit s04e09 Episode Script
Juvenile
In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous.
In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit.
These are their stories.
Yeah.
Okay, thanks.
Come on.
Go, go, go! Police! NYPD! We have a search warrant! What the hell? Somebody got here before us.
Secure it.
I don't want any surprises.
Too late.
I better call in SVU.
We are not handing this bust over to them.
Don't worry.
I got a buddy.
Better be good.
Anonymous phone tip said somebody was dealing.
We surveilled a week, caught a lot of traffic in and out of this place.
Get our warrant, bust in, find our alleged dealer sliced and diced.
Signs of burglary, and by her appearance I'm guessing she's been raped, too.
But, you know, I wanted a trained SVU detective like yourself on the case.
Rape-homicide falls on SVU no matter what.
You didn't have to hand it to me personally.
There's a big haul here.
Looks good for my guys to turn it in.
Yeah, right.
You get all the glory and we get all the work.
So you trying to tell me that Laura Ashley here is some kind of big kingpin? Where are the drugs? You didn't get the complete tour.
Over two hundred plants.
Pull in a couple of hundred thou on the street.
Perp missed the jackpot.
M.
E.
Estimates TOD yesterday between 9:00 a.
m.
And 2:00 p.
m.
Looked like about Overkill.
He either knew her well enough to hate her or he's psychotic.
Point of entry looks like the fire escape window.
Perp probably waltzed out the front door.
Got minimal fluids from the rape kit, but enough to test.
You locate a murder weapon? Must've taken it with him.
Three-inch, single-edged, non-serrated blade.
About the size of the knife missing from this? Yeah.
The other weapon he left behind.
Bashed in the back of her head before he stabbed her.
Probably enough to knock her out.
No defensive wounds.
It's not the most obvious weapon.
So she surprises him.
Probably picked up the first thing he could grab.
Then he walks all the way across the apartment for a knife? This guy's logic is all over the place.
Maybe he's mentally ill.
Or high.
He covered Mrs.
Oestreicher with this.
By the amount of blood on the blanket, I'd say right after he stabbed her.
So afterwards he gets remorseful, embarrassed? And then sick.
Our guy must have thrown up.
It's too far away to be the victim's.
Okay, let's send a sample to the M.
E.
We can compare it to the stomach contents of our victim, just to be sure.
I love my job.
What do we know about this anonymous phone tip? Narcotics traced it to a neighbor.
Said she's nosy, but not homicidal.
I thought anonymous tip meant anonymous.
Like nobody would bug you about doing your civic duty.
We certainly don't mean to inconvenience you.
But there was a woman murdered in your building.
I know.
I'm sorry about that.
But you live that kind of life, you're asking for it.
And what kind of life is that? Criminal.
You should've been here when she was sparking up.
Just walking down the hall you'd get a buzz.
Marc, get in there and brush those teeth now.
So you reported Mrs.
Oestreicher as a drug dealer because you smelled dope.
That was the only reason? What about the daily Easter parade? In and out of there, people banging on the door all hours of the day.
Did you ever actually see any of these deals, any money changing hands? No.
No, but if she wasn't selling, I don't know where she got her money.
She hasn't worked a day in over a year.
Autopsy's done.
So are the preliminary labs on the fluids from the rape kit.
Anything interesting? Your perp had no sperm.
Interesting and pathetic.
I'm not talking low sperm count.
This is azoospermia.
Zero sperm in the ejaculate.
It's pretty rare.
So our guy got a vasectomy.
That's one explanation for it.
It's also a sign of Kartagener's Syndrome and Cystic Fibrosis.
The lab can still extract DNA from the skin cells in the sample.
And they're analyzing the vomit.
We know who puked? Victim hadn't eaten in hours, so it had to come from your perp.
As far as Miss Oestreicher is concerned, I suspect she would have died within the year, had she not been murdered.
What was wrong with her? Advanced ovarian cancer.
She has small radiation burns on the skin of her abdomen, and blood tests reveal Taxol and carboplatin.
She was undergoing chemotherapy.
That explains why she didn't have a job.
And why she was growing pot.
Must have been using it to counteract the side effects of the cancer treatment.
Decent levels of THC in her system.
But that woman was growing a forest in there.
You think she was toking on all that by herself? Maybe she wasn't.
You know, medicinal marijuana clubs are popping up everywhere.
People are pooling their resources, growing their own stuff.
Better product without having to pay street prices.
Well, if she's running a club, then there has to be a membership list.
How many people we looking at? According to her day planner, nearly 100.
But there's no names.
She only writes initials.
We got C.
K.
Down the second Monday of every month.
J.
A.
S.
Every other Saturday.
Probably a schedule.
Members take turns tending the crop.
Why the hell you know so much about it? Twenty-five years on the job and he's still a damn hippie.
Okay, I got the phone dumps from Susan Oestreicher for the past six months.
We got to match the names with the initials and weed out the potheads.
Find one club member, might lead us to the rest.
Convincing somebody to turn over that list is not going to be easy.
People looking at a narcotics rap tend to be real cooperative.
Threatening cancer patients.
Now, that's why I became a cop.
They're breaking the law.
I don't care how sick they are.
Do you have any idea why cannabis is illegal in this country? Because William Randolph Hearst's paper mills were threatened by the hemp industry.
And that's got nothing to do with the fact that it's a drug.
What do you call alcohol and tobacco? Legal.
Here we go.
For the initials C.
K.
, we've got a Cindy Kerber.
C.
K.
C.
K.
Charles Kelsey, Christian Kessler.
This is going to be fun.
We'll run them all down.
If they had access to the victim, they're all suspects.
We know about your club, Miss Kerber.
Then I assume you found what we were growing.
Pretty tough to miss.
You guys have very green thumbs.
We're not hurting anyone and we're not making a profit.
We are investigating a murder.
Now, all we need are the other names of the members in the club.
The rest is between us.
I don't know most of the people involved.
We don't socialize.
Give us the names of the people you do know.
I'm sorry.
I can't.
This woman was raped.
She was stabbed You don't want to help us in our investigation? That is very strange to me.
Because it wasn't anyone in the club.
Some of these people were debilitated from nausea, from chemotherapy.
The only thing that controls my tremors from M.
S.
Is smoking once in a while.
Why would we kill the woman who was helping us? Maybe she was helping the wrong person.
Somebody's sick, doesn't make them an angel.
There was some trouble with this one woman, Becky.
Not her, really.
Her husband.
What kind of trouble? He threatened Sue.
Said she hooked his wife on drugs.
Becky was dying from metastatic breast cancer, and he wouldn't allow her the tiniest bit of relief.
Well, do you think that he's capable of murder? I know his own wife was afraid of him.
Especially after he broke some guy's back in a bar fight.
Went to jail for it.
I wouldn't touch that bitch.
Isn't it refreshing to hear such militant adherence to the "Just Say No" philosophy? It's so rare in convicts.
That incident was an accident.
I did five years inside, and now my wife's dead.
I paid the price.
Go bother somebody else.
No, we're bothering you, Mr.
Paglione.
You got an awful lot of hate for the woman who was trying to comfort your wife.
Yeah, that's a real beautiful story.
Until one of you comes to my house and finds drugs and busts me for parole violation.
I was working from 6:00 in the morning to 4:00, and no lunch break.
And that's all I'm saying.
We'll see you back at the house.
Munch says the husband's alibi checks out.
This membership list is getting smaller.
Half these people are either dead or too weak to get out of bed.
Maybe we're going down the wrong path with this pot club.
No, I just can't buy that the murder and the drugs are a coincidence.
Susan Oestreicher's neighbor thought she was a drug dealer.
What if somebody else thought so, too? An M.
E.
Out of the morgue? Must be big.
Captain Cragen told me you were here.
Lab finished analyzing the vomit from the crime scene.
Hey, am I gonna want to stop eating before I hear this? Pieces of roast beef, a little mozzarella cheese, kernels of corn and raisins.
Luckily, they hadn't been in the stomach very long, so everything was only partially digested.
Yeah, I'm done.
And this is good news because? My daughter's in the sixth grade.
She had that exact meal for lunch at school on the day of the murder.
I've got the menu on the fridge.
I called the Board of Ed.
Every middle school in Manhattan serves the same lunch.
No sperm in the ejaculate.
We're looking for a kid.
Are we buying in to this juvenile theory? Well, it makes sense.
The disorganization of the crime scene indicates an immature thought process.
The number of stab wounds could mean he has no real understanding of physiology.
He just kills the way he thinks that you're supposed to kill.
The rape.
Sexual curiosity.
Well, we know the kid went to school that day long enough to have lunch, so he must've cut out afterwards.
Well, we're not canvassing every junior high in the city, and I'm not waiting for a DNA analysis of the puke, so let's hear suggestions.
Okay, we're looking for a boy who has a history of fights in school.
Minor vandalism with risk-taking behavior.
Sounds like every teenage boy on the planet.
I know.
It's not much to go on.
But adolescent behavior is inherently unpredictable.
That's why mental health care professionals won't label a child a sociopath even if he fits the definition.
So the profile's wide open.
What else? Juvies stay with the familiar.
Maybe the victim knew this kid.
And even if she didn't, he's likely to commit the crimes in his own comfort zone.
The neighbor who phoned in the tip to Narcotics.
Her son looked about 13, right? That was Mrs.
Lesinski and her son Marc.
Maybe he listens to Mom rail about the drug dealer down the hall, he figures he can get himself some free dope.
And get some cash for a new Xbox while he's at it.
Check him out.
Look, I told you, Marc didn't see who killed her.
He was in school.
You're sure about that? Of course I am.
And the school calls if he skips class? What exactly are you asking? Mrs.
Lesinski, we need to speak with Marc right now.
You think he could have done this? He is a child.
Are you crazy? Has Marc bought anything that he doesn't have the money for? No.
Have you seen him with Seen him with anything expensive that you didn't give him? He said it was a present from a friend.
Come on over here.
Show it to us, will you? An MP3 player.
Must be a very good friend to be so generous.
No, the kid's a total geek.
He's always giving stuff to people.
Oh.
This total geek have a name? Jeremy Brice.
Mmm-hmm.
Where do you think Jeremy got that? Did you tell him that you had a drug dealer living down the hall from you? Yeah.
What'd you say? I said that she's probably got some pretty cool stuff, you know, 'cause she deals.
So don't you think it's possible that he got it from Mrs.
Oestreicher's place? I don't know, maybe.
But there's no way Jeremy killed her.
Well, how do you know that? He's just not that cool.
It is almost 8:00.
Everybody's already left.
Let's pull him out of school.
Liv.
Liv.
Kids waiting for the bus.
Hi, guys.
Anyone know Jeremy Brice? Who? Jeremy Brice.
There.
You Jeremy? Relax, relax, relax, Jeremy.
I didn't do anything! We're the police.
We want to talk to you.
Just relax.
Jeremy, that looks like blood.
No, it isn't.
We're going down to the police station, Jeremy, all right? Where are your parents? I have to go to school.
I have to You made a mistake.
Jeremy was in school all day.
We checked, Mrs.
Brice.
Jeremy's teachers told us that he was absent after lunch.
You skipped school? No.
Jeremy? Jeremy, look at me a second.
You know you're not supposed to lie to the police, right? I'm not lying.
Where'd you get the MP3 player you gave to your buddy Marc? I gave him that for his birthday.
Do you know a lady named Susan Oestreicher? No.
You sure? She's the woman that lives right next door to Marc.
Jeremy, you went into that apartment, and something bad happened there, didn't it? I didn't go anywhere.
Jeremy, these are your fingerprints that your mom let us take when you got here.
Remember that? These are the ones that we found in Miss Oestreicher's apartment.
They're exactly the same.
No, they're not.
They are.
This tells me you were in that apartment.
No, it doesn't.
Jeremy, what happened? Nothing.
Why is everybody picking on me? We'll take another crack at him once he calms down.
Well, we know he was in the apartment.
Once the labs come back on the forensic evidence, we won't need a confession.
A typical kid.
Thinks if he denies everything, it'll just go away.
He's 14.
Eligible to be tried as an adult.
Murder two.
Would've been eligible if he was 13.
He look like a grownup to you? He brutally raped and murdered a 34-year-old woman.
That's a grownup crime.
He's not crying for his victim, he's crying for himself.
Guess you can't blame him.
His life is over.
Labs are back.
Blood on Jeremy's coat matched the victim's type.
Sounds like your job is done.
No.
We're not that lucky.
Lab's determined that the rapist's blood was a type B.
I got Jeremy's from his school.
He's type O.
He had a partner.
Yeah.
No sperm, so it's got to be another kid.
Well, what about that neighbor's boy? Well, I checked him.
He didn't skip school and went to basketball practice afterwards.
Can we hold off on charging Jeremy as an adult till we get the story straight? Well, he's 14, so he's automatically arraigned in Supreme Court.
But if you can prove to me he wasn't the primary actor, I will recommend he be removed to Family Court.
Find out who his friends are.
We're no strangers to police inquiring about some of our students, but I am surprised to hear you're investigating Mr.
Brice.
Jeremy's not a troublemaker? I don't know him, so I guess not.
I only got time for the bad eggs.
You're saying he's a model student, then.
Academically, yes.
He does very well.
Especially in math and art.
But he was recently diagnosed as dyslexic, and according to his file, his fifth grade teacher cited social problems made him repeat the year.
What kind of social problems? Well, I spoke with Jeremy's teachers this morning, and he's a little behind maturity-wise.
He has some trouble fitting in.
But again, nothing to suggest any serious discipline problems.
Teachers give you the names of Jeremy's friends? That's the thing, no one knew.
Seems he really doesn't have any.
We're going to need a list of all the boys that were absent the day of the murder, and we're going to need your permission to search their lockers.
I find any dead animals in here, I'm going to deputize you for this.
Got him.
What'd you find? Susan Oestreicher.
And the weapon that killed her.
This is a surprise.
Locker 142 belongs to Zachary Connor, a sixth-grader.
I'll get his schedule and we'll find him in his next class.
I think he found us already.
What happened to my locker? Zachary Connor is 12 years old.
I tell you, I've been on this job a long time, some things still surprise me.
You'll get over it.
His parents coming in? They should be here any minute.
We're going on 12 hours holding Jeremy Brice.
He and his mother are still in interrogation.
And they're staying until we know his exact involvement in this woman's death.
Munch is still at the crime lab.
CSU lifted three sets of prints off of that knife.
One unknown, one the victim's, and one belonging to Jeremy.
Captain, these are Zachary Connor's parents.
Mr.
And Mrs.
Connor, thank you for making it down.
Nobody's told us anything.
Is Zach all right? Well, he's fine.
Fine.
We think he might know something about a crime.
Now, Ted here will get you settled, and in a minute a detective will explain everything to you.
He's never been in trouble before, Captain.
Not once.
Is that true? No trouble with this boy? Straight As.
Not a mark on his school record.
Let's go easy on this.
Finesse them.
See if one turns on the other.
Fin, you take Zachary and his parents.
You guys take another run at Jeremy.
Set up video cameras and monitors in both rooms.
I'll call in Cabot and Huang to observe.
Remember where you were day before yesterday, Zachary? At school.
And then I went home.
You there all day? Yeah.
Well, I talked to your teachers, and they said that you missed all your classes after lunch.
I was in the library.
I had to study for a math test.
He does have a big test coming up.
Okay.
You know Jeremy Brice? He's a seventh-grader.
Friend of yours? No.
I don't like him.
You didn't hang out with him at all day before yesterday? No.
He's dorky.
And he's a bully.
You got a knife, Zach? A what? You mean the one in my locker.
Where'd you get it? I found it in the dumpster behind the school.
And the wallet, too.
What were you looking for in the garbage? Well, sometimes they throw out cool things.
Once I found new markers.
Yeah, that is cool.
So why'd you take the knife and wallet and put them in your locker? I was gonna turn them in.
I thought someone lost them.
But then I forgot.
Did you know there was blood on that knife? Oh, my God.
I thought it was fake.
But you should ask Jeremy.
He told me where to find it.
So, Jeremy, you want a drink? No.
I want to go home.
Well, I know you do.
But the reason that we have to stay here is because you're not telling us the truth.
Yes, I am.
Jeremy, we picked up your friend Zachary at school today.
Zach's here? He's right in the next room, speaking to one of our detectives.
What do you think he's going to say? Nothing.
I think he might.
Look, I know you don't want to get him in trouble, but you've got to tell us what happened.
Even if it's something that's really, really bad, you've got to tell us.
Zach's my best friend.
You can't make me say he did something bad.
He didn't do anything.
Jeremy's in for a rude awakening.
His best friend's about to flip on him.
What I find hard to believe is how a kid as young as Zachary is physically capable of rape.
Biologically, all he needs is enough testosterone to achieve an erection.
These days, boys reach puberty as early as nine years old.
Add to that an ill woman, weakened by chemotherapy.
She's the perfect victim for a 90-pound rapist.
You think he did it? I think he's lying.
He keeps changing his story so that it's just plausible enough to be true.
He's involved.
What's all this? Interrogation tactics, Captain.
A few special mementos from Zachary Connor's locker.
This is Detective Munch, my partner.
How much longer do we need to be here? Entirely up to your son, Mr.
Connor.
Is that your book? I don't know.
All our books look alike.
Oh, yeah? Is that your name? Yeah.
Then that must be yours, right? What is this about? It's his book.
Why does it matter? We also have a CD labeled with your initials, a pen, a magazine subscription sticker in your name.
You know where I got them? In my locker at school? Right.
You know what else they have in common? Hmm? Detective Tutuola? Covered with his fingerprints.
Correct.
Just a minute.
Now, Zach, you're a bright young man.
You understand that every time you touch something, you leave a fingerprint behind.
So I want you to think real hard before you answer this question.
Were you ever in an apartment on Avenue C where a woman was killed? Oh, what the hell? I was in that lady's apartment with Jeremy.
He killed her.
Hey, Jeremy, I think you might want to see this.
Whose idea was it? Jeremy's.
To rob her or to kill her? Everything.
He said she had lots of money.
But then she came home.
He made me do bad things to her.
He made me touch her.
And then Jeremy got the knife and he killed her.
What happened after that? I ran away.
I was scared.
Jeremy.
No.
Jeremy, is that what happened? He's lying! So you tell us the truth.
I didn't want anyone to get hurt.
Was it your idea to break into that woman's apartment? Jeremy, why would you do that? Zach thought it was cool.
Was it cool when you took the telephone and bashed her head in? I didn't do that, Zach did.
Do I listen to his story or yours? She fell down.
She was bleeding.
Zach said to get a knife from the kitchen.
I didn't want to, but he was screaming at me.
I didn't know what he was going to do with it, I swear.
So you got the knife, and then what happened? When I walked back in, Zach was on top of her.
He took the knife and he stabbed her over and over.
There was all this blood and I threw up! I'm sorry.
I'm really, really sorry! I'm sorry.
Jeremy, who covered her up with the blanket? I did.
You shouldn't leave someone like that.
Can I go home now? I just want to go home.
I want to go home.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
CSU finished with Zach's house? Top to bottom.
No blood.
Must have tossed the clothes he was wearing.
So we've got two kids, two different stories, and either one of them could have killed her.
Which means I have an even bigger problem.
Whether or not to try Jeremy Brice as an adult.
Zachary Connor is 12.
So even if he acted alone, he's out of my jurisdiction.
He is going to Family Court.
And what kind of punishment is kiddie court handing out for rapists and murderers these days? Their mandate is rehabilitation, not punishment.
So the maximum sentence is 18 months in a limited secure facility.
And Jeremy's looking at life in Attica.
If the D.
A.
Thinks he's a danger to society, yes.
Okay, I got to tell you that I believe Jeremy's version of the events.
You know, this kid is more of a danger to himself than anybody else.
Doc, you saw both interviews.
What do you think? I agree with you.
Jeremy is more easily manipulated.
He's desperate to fit in at any cost, whereas Zachary is far more calculating.
I think he wields a great deal of control over Jeremy, and I think he murdered and raped Susan Oestreicher.
So the question is do we go after Jeremy because we can't get Zachary? No.
I'll recommend we remove Jeremy to family court.
The D.
A.
Is seeking an indictment against Jeremy Brice.
You've got one day to prepare for the grand jury.
On what charges? Felony murder and burglary one.
I recommended against it.
Well, the D.
A.
Disagreed.
But the evidence clearly indicates that Jeremy Brice's involvement was limited.
The DNA proves that Zachary Connor committed the rape.
Jeremy already confessed to participating in the burglary.
That's the predicate felony.
He knew it was dangerous, he knew someone could be killed.
No, he didn't.
This boy is not mature enough to understand that.
The law says he is.
That legislation was passed in 1978 as a knee-jerk reaction to some perceived youth crime wave.
It also says that we prosecute juveniles as adults at the discretion of the district attorney.
He made the call.
You do your job.
Which should be easy enough with Jeremy's confession.
A win for the D.
A.
So that's what this is about.
'Cause I'd like to know just how much of a sycophant I have to be in this new administration.
Let's say you're right.
Let's say Zachary Connor did everything.
That means every step of the way, Jeremy Brice had a choice.
Do the right thing or do the wrong thing.
Watch your friend rape a defenseless woman or stop him, run away or give him the knife so he can stab her to death.
Do we punish him for this? Or do we tell him that there are no consequences for his actions? We remove him to Family Court in hopes of rehabilitation.
That won't happen if he goes J.
O.
And you know it.
You have more faith in the Juvenile Justice Department than I do.
You're adamantly opposed to prosecuting this case? Yes.
I think it's wrong.
All right.
Then I'll do it.
You're second chair.
Elizabeth Donnelly is back trying cases? Or did your new boss demote you already? Funny comments like that, it's a wonder both your legs aren't broken.
You get attacked by one of your repeat offenders again? No, actually one of your esteemed colleagues knocked me off a curb.
There's a law suit pending.
Alexandra Cabot, Gina Bernardo, public defender.
Nice to meet you.
So the D.
A.
Has assembled a legal dream team to crucify a child.
You know as well as I do charging Jeremy Brice as an adult is a gross injustice.
Tell that to Susan Oestreicher's family.
You honestly believe he deserves to be charged for murder two? The grand jury did.
You can't possibly hold my client responsible for something it's impossible for him to be responsible for.
Notification of affirmative defense.
Not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
What defect? His 14-year-old brain.
Your Honor, this is an obvious attempt to backdoor the defense of infancy.
Article 30 clearly states that defense cannot be used for juveniles charged with murder.
I'm not saying that my client isn't responsible because of his age.
I am saying he isn't responsible because of his diminished capacity.
Dictated by his age.
It's the same thing.
This is a legislative issue, Your Honor, not a matter for the court.
Then why did three Supreme Court justices draft a public statement calling for the abolishment of juvenile executions? Because it is cruel and unusual to impose adult punishment on someone who isn't capable of adult thought.
Couldn't one argue then that certain behavior, such as the committing of a violent crime, proves adult thought? No.
If your 10-year-old son takes your car out for a joy ride, do you automatically hand him a driver's license? This is all very interesting, Ms.
Bernardo, but I fail to see how any of this applies to an insanity defense.
These are scientific studies proving that an adolescent's brain is significantly different than an adult's.
That, in fact, our brains aren't fully formed until we're in our early 20s.
And I can present scientific studies which prove my cat is trying to kill me in my sleep.
Daubert test, Your Honor.
Scientific evidence must meet federal standards of relevance and reliability.
Well, one of the studies was done by the National Institute of Mental Health.
Is the federal government reliable enough for you? The reliability of the studies isn't in question.
My job is to determine whether or not they have any material value.
I believe they do.
And I believe the jury should hear them.
Dr.
Hayman, can you tell us about the study you recently completed? We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to map the brains of healthy adolescents over several years and compared them to those of healthy adults.
And what did your study find? For adolescents, brain activity is much higher in the amygdala, which guides instincts like fear or anger.
In adults, the activity in the frontal lobe is higher, and that's the seat of reasoning and good judgment.
So what are the conclusions of your findings? Adolescents are physiologically prone to impulsive and irrational behavior.
So teenagers are moody and unpredictable, and even violent, because they are wired that way? Objection.
Leading.
Sustained.
That's all.
No further questions.
So, your study says that teenagers are impulsive and irrational.
Here's what I don't understand.
If that's true, how is it that every single teenager isn't a rapist or a murderer? I believe I said adolescents were prone to certain behaviors.
Then some teenagers are perfectly reasonable and rational.
Yes.
How many? How many what? How many teenagers are rational and how many are rapists and murderers? There's no answer to that question.
I thought you mapped their brains.
We haven't tested every single teenager in the world.
Oh.
So if you had given MRIs to every single teenager, you would be able to predict whether or not they would be a criminal.
Is that it? No.
Well, what? If the irrational part of the brain is overactive, that proves that they'll be violent, doesn't it? It doesn't prove anything.
This research is in its infancy.
Your study doesn't prove anything? Not what you're asking for, but Then it's a theory, an unproven theory.
This research is a huge step forward in understanding how the brain works.
Which is just another way of saying we really don't understand the brain at all.
Nothing further.
Jeremy, do you know the difference between what's right and what's wrong? Yes.
Was it wrong to break into Susan Oestreicher's apartment? Yes.
Then why did you do it? Zach said he wanted some money.
Do you always do what Zach wants? He's my best friend.
Jeremy, did you know that Zach was planning to kill that woman? No.
And if you thought even for one moment that that's what he wanted to do, would you have gone with him to the apartment, even though he's your best friend? No.
I don't want anyone to get killed.
Jeremy, what is more wrong? Watching someone do something terrible or telling on your only friend? I don't know.
So, maybe, you don't know right from wrong as much as you think.
Thank you, Jeremy.
Who hit Susan Oestreicher over the head? Zach.
Hard enough so she was knocked out, right? Yeah.
Then Zach told you to get the knife.
He He said to look in the kitchen.
Did you think he was going to stab her? No.
What did you think he was going to do? Scare her.
He didn't want her to yell.
But she wasn't awake.
How would she yell? I don't know.
What do people do with knives, Jeremy? Cut things.
So you walked into the kitchen and you got the knife.
Yes.
You said you were afraid of Zach.
Why? He was yelling at me.
Why didn't you walk out the door? I don't know.
So, you got the knife.
You walked back to Zach, and you were holding the knife in your hands.
Yes.
Why did you give it to him? Was it because you were afraid or because you wanted to be cool for your friend? I don't know! You knew what he was going to do, and you helped him do it.
Isn't that why? I'm sorry! I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Nothing further.
I'm so sorry.
Alex.
Well, guess you got what you wanted.
Destroying a child on the stand is not quite the highlight of my career.
You did your job.
Careful, Alex.
You're beginning to sound like me, disillusioned before your time.
I need you to subpoena a rebuttal witness.
Who? Zachary Connor.
Why? As of today, he's been adjudicated by Family Court.
Any testimony he gives won't be tainted by his co-conspirator status.
If you put Zachary Connor on the stand, he's going to say that Jeremy did everything and I believe that's a lie.
I'm not putting him on the stand.
You are.
Jury already thinks I make little kids cry.
No.
I won't suborn perjury.
Then I guess you better make sure he tells the truth.
Zachary, who killed Susan Oestreicher? Jeremy did.
So he stabbed her with a knife? Yes.
That must have been very frightening for you.
Yes.
I was scared.
What were you scared of? Jeremy.
Why? Because he's bigger.
Was Jeremy afraid of anything? Yes.
What? He was just afraid.
He didn't want to get caught.
But you did get caught.
Miss Oestreicher came home.
That was Jeremy's fault.
He got it wrong.
You must have been really scared when she walked in that door? No, I wasn't.
Okay.
Zachary, when did you throw up? That was Jeremy.
I thought you were afraid, Zachary.
I thought you threw up because you couldn't look at the blood.
I could, too.
Jeremy couldn't.
He was being a baby and crying.
When? Before or after she was killed? The whole time.
And you weren't crying? Not even just a little? No.
But I thought you were afraid, Zachary.
I thought you were afraid of Jeremy.
No, I wasn't.
And you were also afraid of that woman because she was going to call the police.
She was afraid of me.
And you wanted to show them both that you were a man, and that's why you had sex with her.
Well, that was her fault because she wouldn't tell me where the money was.
Jeremy was crying! He wouldn't do anything so I had to do it! If she had just told me where the money was, I wouldn't have had to hurt her! Nothing further.
Five to 10 years.
He wouldn't get out until he was 24? It's the minimum sentence.
With good behavior, he's out in five.
But if they say not guilty, he won't go to jail at all.
The jury will not say that.
The law is very clear.
Jeremy already admitted to being in the apartment with the intent to burglarize it and someone was killed.
He can still be found guilty of felony murder.
You want me to tell you to send my son to jail.
Why don't we take a day to think about this? No.
I don't need to think about it.
The answer is no.
He didn't hurt anyone.
Mrs.
Brice, if Jeremy is convicted, he is facing a possible life sentence.
Miss Bernardo, please tell your client's mother how rare jury nullification is.
We should take the deal.
I don't like taking chances with the jury.
They heard that other boy.
They know Jeremy is good, and they won't send him to jail.
No.
No deal.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a verdict? We have, Your Honor.
On the first count, murder in the second degree, how do you find? We find the defendant guilty.
No! On the second count, burglary in the first degree, how do you find? We find the defendant guilty.
Poll the jury, Your Honor.
Juror number one, what is your verdict? Guilty.
Juror number two? Guilty.
Juror number three? Guilty.
Juror number four? Guilty.
Juror number five? Guilty.
Juror number six? Guilty.
Juror number seven? Guilty.
In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit.
These are their stories.
Yeah.
Okay, thanks.
Come on.
Go, go, go! Police! NYPD! We have a search warrant! What the hell? Somebody got here before us.
Secure it.
I don't want any surprises.
Too late.
I better call in SVU.
We are not handing this bust over to them.
Don't worry.
I got a buddy.
Better be good.
Anonymous phone tip said somebody was dealing.
We surveilled a week, caught a lot of traffic in and out of this place.
Get our warrant, bust in, find our alleged dealer sliced and diced.
Signs of burglary, and by her appearance I'm guessing she's been raped, too.
But, you know, I wanted a trained SVU detective like yourself on the case.
Rape-homicide falls on SVU no matter what.
You didn't have to hand it to me personally.
There's a big haul here.
Looks good for my guys to turn it in.
Yeah, right.
You get all the glory and we get all the work.
So you trying to tell me that Laura Ashley here is some kind of big kingpin? Where are the drugs? You didn't get the complete tour.
Over two hundred plants.
Pull in a couple of hundred thou on the street.
Perp missed the jackpot.
M.
E.
Estimates TOD yesterday between 9:00 a.
m.
And 2:00 p.
m.
Looked like about Overkill.
He either knew her well enough to hate her or he's psychotic.
Point of entry looks like the fire escape window.
Perp probably waltzed out the front door.
Got minimal fluids from the rape kit, but enough to test.
You locate a murder weapon? Must've taken it with him.
Three-inch, single-edged, non-serrated blade.
About the size of the knife missing from this? Yeah.
The other weapon he left behind.
Bashed in the back of her head before he stabbed her.
Probably enough to knock her out.
No defensive wounds.
It's not the most obvious weapon.
So she surprises him.
Probably picked up the first thing he could grab.
Then he walks all the way across the apartment for a knife? This guy's logic is all over the place.
Maybe he's mentally ill.
Or high.
He covered Mrs.
Oestreicher with this.
By the amount of blood on the blanket, I'd say right after he stabbed her.
So afterwards he gets remorseful, embarrassed? And then sick.
Our guy must have thrown up.
It's too far away to be the victim's.
Okay, let's send a sample to the M.
E.
We can compare it to the stomach contents of our victim, just to be sure.
I love my job.
What do we know about this anonymous phone tip? Narcotics traced it to a neighbor.
Said she's nosy, but not homicidal.
I thought anonymous tip meant anonymous.
Like nobody would bug you about doing your civic duty.
We certainly don't mean to inconvenience you.
But there was a woman murdered in your building.
I know.
I'm sorry about that.
But you live that kind of life, you're asking for it.
And what kind of life is that? Criminal.
You should've been here when she was sparking up.
Just walking down the hall you'd get a buzz.
Marc, get in there and brush those teeth now.
So you reported Mrs.
Oestreicher as a drug dealer because you smelled dope.
That was the only reason? What about the daily Easter parade? In and out of there, people banging on the door all hours of the day.
Did you ever actually see any of these deals, any money changing hands? No.
No, but if she wasn't selling, I don't know where she got her money.
She hasn't worked a day in over a year.
Autopsy's done.
So are the preliminary labs on the fluids from the rape kit.
Anything interesting? Your perp had no sperm.
Interesting and pathetic.
I'm not talking low sperm count.
This is azoospermia.
Zero sperm in the ejaculate.
It's pretty rare.
So our guy got a vasectomy.
That's one explanation for it.
It's also a sign of Kartagener's Syndrome and Cystic Fibrosis.
The lab can still extract DNA from the skin cells in the sample.
And they're analyzing the vomit.
We know who puked? Victim hadn't eaten in hours, so it had to come from your perp.
As far as Miss Oestreicher is concerned, I suspect she would have died within the year, had she not been murdered.
What was wrong with her? Advanced ovarian cancer.
She has small radiation burns on the skin of her abdomen, and blood tests reveal Taxol and carboplatin.
She was undergoing chemotherapy.
That explains why she didn't have a job.
And why she was growing pot.
Must have been using it to counteract the side effects of the cancer treatment.
Decent levels of THC in her system.
But that woman was growing a forest in there.
You think she was toking on all that by herself? Maybe she wasn't.
You know, medicinal marijuana clubs are popping up everywhere.
People are pooling their resources, growing their own stuff.
Better product without having to pay street prices.
Well, if she's running a club, then there has to be a membership list.
How many people we looking at? According to her day planner, nearly 100.
But there's no names.
She only writes initials.
We got C.
K.
Down the second Monday of every month.
J.
A.
S.
Every other Saturday.
Probably a schedule.
Members take turns tending the crop.
Why the hell you know so much about it? Twenty-five years on the job and he's still a damn hippie.
Okay, I got the phone dumps from Susan Oestreicher for the past six months.
We got to match the names with the initials and weed out the potheads.
Find one club member, might lead us to the rest.
Convincing somebody to turn over that list is not going to be easy.
People looking at a narcotics rap tend to be real cooperative.
Threatening cancer patients.
Now, that's why I became a cop.
They're breaking the law.
I don't care how sick they are.
Do you have any idea why cannabis is illegal in this country? Because William Randolph Hearst's paper mills were threatened by the hemp industry.
And that's got nothing to do with the fact that it's a drug.
What do you call alcohol and tobacco? Legal.
Here we go.
For the initials C.
K.
, we've got a Cindy Kerber.
C.
K.
C.
K.
Charles Kelsey, Christian Kessler.
This is going to be fun.
We'll run them all down.
If they had access to the victim, they're all suspects.
We know about your club, Miss Kerber.
Then I assume you found what we were growing.
Pretty tough to miss.
You guys have very green thumbs.
We're not hurting anyone and we're not making a profit.
We are investigating a murder.
Now, all we need are the other names of the members in the club.
The rest is between us.
I don't know most of the people involved.
We don't socialize.
Give us the names of the people you do know.
I'm sorry.
I can't.
This woman was raped.
She was stabbed You don't want to help us in our investigation? That is very strange to me.
Because it wasn't anyone in the club.
Some of these people were debilitated from nausea, from chemotherapy.
The only thing that controls my tremors from M.
S.
Is smoking once in a while.
Why would we kill the woman who was helping us? Maybe she was helping the wrong person.
Somebody's sick, doesn't make them an angel.
There was some trouble with this one woman, Becky.
Not her, really.
Her husband.
What kind of trouble? He threatened Sue.
Said she hooked his wife on drugs.
Becky was dying from metastatic breast cancer, and he wouldn't allow her the tiniest bit of relief.
Well, do you think that he's capable of murder? I know his own wife was afraid of him.
Especially after he broke some guy's back in a bar fight.
Went to jail for it.
I wouldn't touch that bitch.
Isn't it refreshing to hear such militant adherence to the "Just Say No" philosophy? It's so rare in convicts.
That incident was an accident.
I did five years inside, and now my wife's dead.
I paid the price.
Go bother somebody else.
No, we're bothering you, Mr.
Paglione.
You got an awful lot of hate for the woman who was trying to comfort your wife.
Yeah, that's a real beautiful story.
Until one of you comes to my house and finds drugs and busts me for parole violation.
I was working from 6:00 in the morning to 4:00, and no lunch break.
And that's all I'm saying.
We'll see you back at the house.
Munch says the husband's alibi checks out.
This membership list is getting smaller.
Half these people are either dead or too weak to get out of bed.
Maybe we're going down the wrong path with this pot club.
No, I just can't buy that the murder and the drugs are a coincidence.
Susan Oestreicher's neighbor thought she was a drug dealer.
What if somebody else thought so, too? An M.
E.
Out of the morgue? Must be big.
Captain Cragen told me you were here.
Lab finished analyzing the vomit from the crime scene.
Hey, am I gonna want to stop eating before I hear this? Pieces of roast beef, a little mozzarella cheese, kernels of corn and raisins.
Luckily, they hadn't been in the stomach very long, so everything was only partially digested.
Yeah, I'm done.
And this is good news because? My daughter's in the sixth grade.
She had that exact meal for lunch at school on the day of the murder.
I've got the menu on the fridge.
I called the Board of Ed.
Every middle school in Manhattan serves the same lunch.
No sperm in the ejaculate.
We're looking for a kid.
Are we buying in to this juvenile theory? Well, it makes sense.
The disorganization of the crime scene indicates an immature thought process.
The number of stab wounds could mean he has no real understanding of physiology.
He just kills the way he thinks that you're supposed to kill.
The rape.
Sexual curiosity.
Well, we know the kid went to school that day long enough to have lunch, so he must've cut out afterwards.
Well, we're not canvassing every junior high in the city, and I'm not waiting for a DNA analysis of the puke, so let's hear suggestions.
Okay, we're looking for a boy who has a history of fights in school.
Minor vandalism with risk-taking behavior.
Sounds like every teenage boy on the planet.
I know.
It's not much to go on.
But adolescent behavior is inherently unpredictable.
That's why mental health care professionals won't label a child a sociopath even if he fits the definition.
So the profile's wide open.
What else? Juvies stay with the familiar.
Maybe the victim knew this kid.
And even if she didn't, he's likely to commit the crimes in his own comfort zone.
The neighbor who phoned in the tip to Narcotics.
Her son looked about 13, right? That was Mrs.
Lesinski and her son Marc.
Maybe he listens to Mom rail about the drug dealer down the hall, he figures he can get himself some free dope.
And get some cash for a new Xbox while he's at it.
Check him out.
Look, I told you, Marc didn't see who killed her.
He was in school.
You're sure about that? Of course I am.
And the school calls if he skips class? What exactly are you asking? Mrs.
Lesinski, we need to speak with Marc right now.
You think he could have done this? He is a child.
Are you crazy? Has Marc bought anything that he doesn't have the money for? No.
Have you seen him with Seen him with anything expensive that you didn't give him? He said it was a present from a friend.
Come on over here.
Show it to us, will you? An MP3 player.
Must be a very good friend to be so generous.
No, the kid's a total geek.
He's always giving stuff to people.
Oh.
This total geek have a name? Jeremy Brice.
Mmm-hmm.
Where do you think Jeremy got that? Did you tell him that you had a drug dealer living down the hall from you? Yeah.
What'd you say? I said that she's probably got some pretty cool stuff, you know, 'cause she deals.
So don't you think it's possible that he got it from Mrs.
Oestreicher's place? I don't know, maybe.
But there's no way Jeremy killed her.
Well, how do you know that? He's just not that cool.
It is almost 8:00.
Everybody's already left.
Let's pull him out of school.
Liv.
Liv.
Kids waiting for the bus.
Hi, guys.
Anyone know Jeremy Brice? Who? Jeremy Brice.
There.
You Jeremy? Relax, relax, relax, Jeremy.
I didn't do anything! We're the police.
We want to talk to you.
Just relax.
Jeremy, that looks like blood.
No, it isn't.
We're going down to the police station, Jeremy, all right? Where are your parents? I have to go to school.
I have to You made a mistake.
Jeremy was in school all day.
We checked, Mrs.
Brice.
Jeremy's teachers told us that he was absent after lunch.
You skipped school? No.
Jeremy? Jeremy, look at me a second.
You know you're not supposed to lie to the police, right? I'm not lying.
Where'd you get the MP3 player you gave to your buddy Marc? I gave him that for his birthday.
Do you know a lady named Susan Oestreicher? No.
You sure? She's the woman that lives right next door to Marc.
Jeremy, you went into that apartment, and something bad happened there, didn't it? I didn't go anywhere.
Jeremy, these are your fingerprints that your mom let us take when you got here.
Remember that? These are the ones that we found in Miss Oestreicher's apartment.
They're exactly the same.
No, they're not.
They are.
This tells me you were in that apartment.
No, it doesn't.
Jeremy, what happened? Nothing.
Why is everybody picking on me? We'll take another crack at him once he calms down.
Well, we know he was in the apartment.
Once the labs come back on the forensic evidence, we won't need a confession.
A typical kid.
Thinks if he denies everything, it'll just go away.
He's 14.
Eligible to be tried as an adult.
Murder two.
Would've been eligible if he was 13.
He look like a grownup to you? He brutally raped and murdered a 34-year-old woman.
That's a grownup crime.
He's not crying for his victim, he's crying for himself.
Guess you can't blame him.
His life is over.
Labs are back.
Blood on Jeremy's coat matched the victim's type.
Sounds like your job is done.
No.
We're not that lucky.
Lab's determined that the rapist's blood was a type B.
I got Jeremy's from his school.
He's type O.
He had a partner.
Yeah.
No sperm, so it's got to be another kid.
Well, what about that neighbor's boy? Well, I checked him.
He didn't skip school and went to basketball practice afterwards.
Can we hold off on charging Jeremy as an adult till we get the story straight? Well, he's 14, so he's automatically arraigned in Supreme Court.
But if you can prove to me he wasn't the primary actor, I will recommend he be removed to Family Court.
Find out who his friends are.
We're no strangers to police inquiring about some of our students, but I am surprised to hear you're investigating Mr.
Brice.
Jeremy's not a troublemaker? I don't know him, so I guess not.
I only got time for the bad eggs.
You're saying he's a model student, then.
Academically, yes.
He does very well.
Especially in math and art.
But he was recently diagnosed as dyslexic, and according to his file, his fifth grade teacher cited social problems made him repeat the year.
What kind of social problems? Well, I spoke with Jeremy's teachers this morning, and he's a little behind maturity-wise.
He has some trouble fitting in.
But again, nothing to suggest any serious discipline problems.
Teachers give you the names of Jeremy's friends? That's the thing, no one knew.
Seems he really doesn't have any.
We're going to need a list of all the boys that were absent the day of the murder, and we're going to need your permission to search their lockers.
I find any dead animals in here, I'm going to deputize you for this.
Got him.
What'd you find? Susan Oestreicher.
And the weapon that killed her.
This is a surprise.
Locker 142 belongs to Zachary Connor, a sixth-grader.
I'll get his schedule and we'll find him in his next class.
I think he found us already.
What happened to my locker? Zachary Connor is 12 years old.
I tell you, I've been on this job a long time, some things still surprise me.
You'll get over it.
His parents coming in? They should be here any minute.
We're going on 12 hours holding Jeremy Brice.
He and his mother are still in interrogation.
And they're staying until we know his exact involvement in this woman's death.
Munch is still at the crime lab.
CSU lifted three sets of prints off of that knife.
One unknown, one the victim's, and one belonging to Jeremy.
Captain, these are Zachary Connor's parents.
Mr.
And Mrs.
Connor, thank you for making it down.
Nobody's told us anything.
Is Zach all right? Well, he's fine.
Fine.
We think he might know something about a crime.
Now, Ted here will get you settled, and in a minute a detective will explain everything to you.
He's never been in trouble before, Captain.
Not once.
Is that true? No trouble with this boy? Straight As.
Not a mark on his school record.
Let's go easy on this.
Finesse them.
See if one turns on the other.
Fin, you take Zachary and his parents.
You guys take another run at Jeremy.
Set up video cameras and monitors in both rooms.
I'll call in Cabot and Huang to observe.
Remember where you were day before yesterday, Zachary? At school.
And then I went home.
You there all day? Yeah.
Well, I talked to your teachers, and they said that you missed all your classes after lunch.
I was in the library.
I had to study for a math test.
He does have a big test coming up.
Okay.
You know Jeremy Brice? He's a seventh-grader.
Friend of yours? No.
I don't like him.
You didn't hang out with him at all day before yesterday? No.
He's dorky.
And he's a bully.
You got a knife, Zach? A what? You mean the one in my locker.
Where'd you get it? I found it in the dumpster behind the school.
And the wallet, too.
What were you looking for in the garbage? Well, sometimes they throw out cool things.
Once I found new markers.
Yeah, that is cool.
So why'd you take the knife and wallet and put them in your locker? I was gonna turn them in.
I thought someone lost them.
But then I forgot.
Did you know there was blood on that knife? Oh, my God.
I thought it was fake.
But you should ask Jeremy.
He told me where to find it.
So, Jeremy, you want a drink? No.
I want to go home.
Well, I know you do.
But the reason that we have to stay here is because you're not telling us the truth.
Yes, I am.
Jeremy, we picked up your friend Zachary at school today.
Zach's here? He's right in the next room, speaking to one of our detectives.
What do you think he's going to say? Nothing.
I think he might.
Look, I know you don't want to get him in trouble, but you've got to tell us what happened.
Even if it's something that's really, really bad, you've got to tell us.
Zach's my best friend.
You can't make me say he did something bad.
He didn't do anything.
Jeremy's in for a rude awakening.
His best friend's about to flip on him.
What I find hard to believe is how a kid as young as Zachary is physically capable of rape.
Biologically, all he needs is enough testosterone to achieve an erection.
These days, boys reach puberty as early as nine years old.
Add to that an ill woman, weakened by chemotherapy.
She's the perfect victim for a 90-pound rapist.
You think he did it? I think he's lying.
He keeps changing his story so that it's just plausible enough to be true.
He's involved.
What's all this? Interrogation tactics, Captain.
A few special mementos from Zachary Connor's locker.
This is Detective Munch, my partner.
How much longer do we need to be here? Entirely up to your son, Mr.
Connor.
Is that your book? I don't know.
All our books look alike.
Oh, yeah? Is that your name? Yeah.
Then that must be yours, right? What is this about? It's his book.
Why does it matter? We also have a CD labeled with your initials, a pen, a magazine subscription sticker in your name.
You know where I got them? In my locker at school? Right.
You know what else they have in common? Hmm? Detective Tutuola? Covered with his fingerprints.
Correct.
Just a minute.
Now, Zach, you're a bright young man.
You understand that every time you touch something, you leave a fingerprint behind.
So I want you to think real hard before you answer this question.
Were you ever in an apartment on Avenue C where a woman was killed? Oh, what the hell? I was in that lady's apartment with Jeremy.
He killed her.
Hey, Jeremy, I think you might want to see this.
Whose idea was it? Jeremy's.
To rob her or to kill her? Everything.
He said she had lots of money.
But then she came home.
He made me do bad things to her.
He made me touch her.
And then Jeremy got the knife and he killed her.
What happened after that? I ran away.
I was scared.
Jeremy.
No.
Jeremy, is that what happened? He's lying! So you tell us the truth.
I didn't want anyone to get hurt.
Was it your idea to break into that woman's apartment? Jeremy, why would you do that? Zach thought it was cool.
Was it cool when you took the telephone and bashed her head in? I didn't do that, Zach did.
Do I listen to his story or yours? She fell down.
She was bleeding.
Zach said to get a knife from the kitchen.
I didn't want to, but he was screaming at me.
I didn't know what he was going to do with it, I swear.
So you got the knife, and then what happened? When I walked back in, Zach was on top of her.
He took the knife and he stabbed her over and over.
There was all this blood and I threw up! I'm sorry.
I'm really, really sorry! I'm sorry.
Jeremy, who covered her up with the blanket? I did.
You shouldn't leave someone like that.
Can I go home now? I just want to go home.
I want to go home.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
CSU finished with Zach's house? Top to bottom.
No blood.
Must have tossed the clothes he was wearing.
So we've got two kids, two different stories, and either one of them could have killed her.
Which means I have an even bigger problem.
Whether or not to try Jeremy Brice as an adult.
Zachary Connor is 12.
So even if he acted alone, he's out of my jurisdiction.
He is going to Family Court.
And what kind of punishment is kiddie court handing out for rapists and murderers these days? Their mandate is rehabilitation, not punishment.
So the maximum sentence is 18 months in a limited secure facility.
And Jeremy's looking at life in Attica.
If the D.
A.
Thinks he's a danger to society, yes.
Okay, I got to tell you that I believe Jeremy's version of the events.
You know, this kid is more of a danger to himself than anybody else.
Doc, you saw both interviews.
What do you think? I agree with you.
Jeremy is more easily manipulated.
He's desperate to fit in at any cost, whereas Zachary is far more calculating.
I think he wields a great deal of control over Jeremy, and I think he murdered and raped Susan Oestreicher.
So the question is do we go after Jeremy because we can't get Zachary? No.
I'll recommend we remove Jeremy to family court.
The D.
A.
Is seeking an indictment against Jeremy Brice.
You've got one day to prepare for the grand jury.
On what charges? Felony murder and burglary one.
I recommended against it.
Well, the D.
A.
Disagreed.
But the evidence clearly indicates that Jeremy Brice's involvement was limited.
The DNA proves that Zachary Connor committed the rape.
Jeremy already confessed to participating in the burglary.
That's the predicate felony.
He knew it was dangerous, he knew someone could be killed.
No, he didn't.
This boy is not mature enough to understand that.
The law says he is.
That legislation was passed in 1978 as a knee-jerk reaction to some perceived youth crime wave.
It also says that we prosecute juveniles as adults at the discretion of the district attorney.
He made the call.
You do your job.
Which should be easy enough with Jeremy's confession.
A win for the D.
A.
So that's what this is about.
'Cause I'd like to know just how much of a sycophant I have to be in this new administration.
Let's say you're right.
Let's say Zachary Connor did everything.
That means every step of the way, Jeremy Brice had a choice.
Do the right thing or do the wrong thing.
Watch your friend rape a defenseless woman or stop him, run away or give him the knife so he can stab her to death.
Do we punish him for this? Or do we tell him that there are no consequences for his actions? We remove him to Family Court in hopes of rehabilitation.
That won't happen if he goes J.
O.
And you know it.
You have more faith in the Juvenile Justice Department than I do.
You're adamantly opposed to prosecuting this case? Yes.
I think it's wrong.
All right.
Then I'll do it.
You're second chair.
Elizabeth Donnelly is back trying cases? Or did your new boss demote you already? Funny comments like that, it's a wonder both your legs aren't broken.
You get attacked by one of your repeat offenders again? No, actually one of your esteemed colleagues knocked me off a curb.
There's a law suit pending.
Alexandra Cabot, Gina Bernardo, public defender.
Nice to meet you.
So the D.
A.
Has assembled a legal dream team to crucify a child.
You know as well as I do charging Jeremy Brice as an adult is a gross injustice.
Tell that to Susan Oestreicher's family.
You honestly believe he deserves to be charged for murder two? The grand jury did.
You can't possibly hold my client responsible for something it's impossible for him to be responsible for.
Notification of affirmative defense.
Not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
What defect? His 14-year-old brain.
Your Honor, this is an obvious attempt to backdoor the defense of infancy.
Article 30 clearly states that defense cannot be used for juveniles charged with murder.
I'm not saying that my client isn't responsible because of his age.
I am saying he isn't responsible because of his diminished capacity.
Dictated by his age.
It's the same thing.
This is a legislative issue, Your Honor, not a matter for the court.
Then why did three Supreme Court justices draft a public statement calling for the abolishment of juvenile executions? Because it is cruel and unusual to impose adult punishment on someone who isn't capable of adult thought.
Couldn't one argue then that certain behavior, such as the committing of a violent crime, proves adult thought? No.
If your 10-year-old son takes your car out for a joy ride, do you automatically hand him a driver's license? This is all very interesting, Ms.
Bernardo, but I fail to see how any of this applies to an insanity defense.
These are scientific studies proving that an adolescent's brain is significantly different than an adult's.
That, in fact, our brains aren't fully formed until we're in our early 20s.
And I can present scientific studies which prove my cat is trying to kill me in my sleep.
Daubert test, Your Honor.
Scientific evidence must meet federal standards of relevance and reliability.
Well, one of the studies was done by the National Institute of Mental Health.
Is the federal government reliable enough for you? The reliability of the studies isn't in question.
My job is to determine whether or not they have any material value.
I believe they do.
And I believe the jury should hear them.
Dr.
Hayman, can you tell us about the study you recently completed? We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to map the brains of healthy adolescents over several years and compared them to those of healthy adults.
And what did your study find? For adolescents, brain activity is much higher in the amygdala, which guides instincts like fear or anger.
In adults, the activity in the frontal lobe is higher, and that's the seat of reasoning and good judgment.
So what are the conclusions of your findings? Adolescents are physiologically prone to impulsive and irrational behavior.
So teenagers are moody and unpredictable, and even violent, because they are wired that way? Objection.
Leading.
Sustained.
That's all.
No further questions.
So, your study says that teenagers are impulsive and irrational.
Here's what I don't understand.
If that's true, how is it that every single teenager isn't a rapist or a murderer? I believe I said adolescents were prone to certain behaviors.
Then some teenagers are perfectly reasonable and rational.
Yes.
How many? How many what? How many teenagers are rational and how many are rapists and murderers? There's no answer to that question.
I thought you mapped their brains.
We haven't tested every single teenager in the world.
Oh.
So if you had given MRIs to every single teenager, you would be able to predict whether or not they would be a criminal.
Is that it? No.
Well, what? If the irrational part of the brain is overactive, that proves that they'll be violent, doesn't it? It doesn't prove anything.
This research is in its infancy.
Your study doesn't prove anything? Not what you're asking for, but Then it's a theory, an unproven theory.
This research is a huge step forward in understanding how the brain works.
Which is just another way of saying we really don't understand the brain at all.
Nothing further.
Jeremy, do you know the difference between what's right and what's wrong? Yes.
Was it wrong to break into Susan Oestreicher's apartment? Yes.
Then why did you do it? Zach said he wanted some money.
Do you always do what Zach wants? He's my best friend.
Jeremy, did you know that Zach was planning to kill that woman? No.
And if you thought even for one moment that that's what he wanted to do, would you have gone with him to the apartment, even though he's your best friend? No.
I don't want anyone to get killed.
Jeremy, what is more wrong? Watching someone do something terrible or telling on your only friend? I don't know.
So, maybe, you don't know right from wrong as much as you think.
Thank you, Jeremy.
Who hit Susan Oestreicher over the head? Zach.
Hard enough so she was knocked out, right? Yeah.
Then Zach told you to get the knife.
He He said to look in the kitchen.
Did you think he was going to stab her? No.
What did you think he was going to do? Scare her.
He didn't want her to yell.
But she wasn't awake.
How would she yell? I don't know.
What do people do with knives, Jeremy? Cut things.
So you walked into the kitchen and you got the knife.
Yes.
You said you were afraid of Zach.
Why? He was yelling at me.
Why didn't you walk out the door? I don't know.
So, you got the knife.
You walked back to Zach, and you were holding the knife in your hands.
Yes.
Why did you give it to him? Was it because you were afraid or because you wanted to be cool for your friend? I don't know! You knew what he was going to do, and you helped him do it.
Isn't that why? I'm sorry! I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Nothing further.
I'm so sorry.
Alex.
Well, guess you got what you wanted.
Destroying a child on the stand is not quite the highlight of my career.
You did your job.
Careful, Alex.
You're beginning to sound like me, disillusioned before your time.
I need you to subpoena a rebuttal witness.
Who? Zachary Connor.
Why? As of today, he's been adjudicated by Family Court.
Any testimony he gives won't be tainted by his co-conspirator status.
If you put Zachary Connor on the stand, he's going to say that Jeremy did everything and I believe that's a lie.
I'm not putting him on the stand.
You are.
Jury already thinks I make little kids cry.
No.
I won't suborn perjury.
Then I guess you better make sure he tells the truth.
Zachary, who killed Susan Oestreicher? Jeremy did.
So he stabbed her with a knife? Yes.
That must have been very frightening for you.
Yes.
I was scared.
What were you scared of? Jeremy.
Why? Because he's bigger.
Was Jeremy afraid of anything? Yes.
What? He was just afraid.
He didn't want to get caught.
But you did get caught.
Miss Oestreicher came home.
That was Jeremy's fault.
He got it wrong.
You must have been really scared when she walked in that door? No, I wasn't.
Okay.
Zachary, when did you throw up? That was Jeremy.
I thought you were afraid, Zachary.
I thought you threw up because you couldn't look at the blood.
I could, too.
Jeremy couldn't.
He was being a baby and crying.
When? Before or after she was killed? The whole time.
And you weren't crying? Not even just a little? No.
But I thought you were afraid, Zachary.
I thought you were afraid of Jeremy.
No, I wasn't.
And you were also afraid of that woman because she was going to call the police.
She was afraid of me.
And you wanted to show them both that you were a man, and that's why you had sex with her.
Well, that was her fault because she wouldn't tell me where the money was.
Jeremy was crying! He wouldn't do anything so I had to do it! If she had just told me where the money was, I wouldn't have had to hurt her! Nothing further.
Five to 10 years.
He wouldn't get out until he was 24? It's the minimum sentence.
With good behavior, he's out in five.
But if they say not guilty, he won't go to jail at all.
The jury will not say that.
The law is very clear.
Jeremy already admitted to being in the apartment with the intent to burglarize it and someone was killed.
He can still be found guilty of felony murder.
You want me to tell you to send my son to jail.
Why don't we take a day to think about this? No.
I don't need to think about it.
The answer is no.
He didn't hurt anyone.
Mrs.
Brice, if Jeremy is convicted, he is facing a possible life sentence.
Miss Bernardo, please tell your client's mother how rare jury nullification is.
We should take the deal.
I don't like taking chances with the jury.
They heard that other boy.
They know Jeremy is good, and they won't send him to jail.
No.
No deal.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a verdict? We have, Your Honor.
On the first count, murder in the second degree, how do you find? We find the defendant guilty.
No! On the second count, burglary in the first degree, how do you find? We find the defendant guilty.
Poll the jury, Your Honor.
Juror number one, what is your verdict? Guilty.
Juror number two? Guilty.
Juror number three? Guilty.
Juror number four? Guilty.
Juror number five? Guilty.
Juror number six? Guilty.
Juror number seven? Guilty.