Law & Order (1990) s06e22 Episode Script
Homesick
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.
Won't be a second, while I run in and drop the bags and see the kid, then you can run me downtown.
Take your time, meter's running.
Mr.
Karmel.
Welcome home.
Thanks, Lila.
How's Evan.
He ask about me? He hasn't learned to talk since yesterday.
Well, maybe we ought to get him one of those touch-and-speak computers.
I saw one at a store in Boston.
He's five months old.
Yeah, but the way he watches the cat, we're talking genius.
He has another hour to go on his nap.
So? He'll go back to sleep after he sees his old man.
Hey, big guy.
It's Pop, home from the wars.
Lila, is he all right? He was fine when I put him down.
I can barely feel him breathing.
Evan? Evan? He feels cold.
I got a cab waiting.
Doctor, what's happening with my baby? I'm sorry, sir.
We're still working on him.
It'll be just a few minutes.
Well, can't I be in there with him? He knows me.
He's not conscious.
Just give me a minute.
Baby's dead.
You haven't told him? I wanted to tell you first.
When the father carried him in, he was unresponsive, poor perfusion, bradycardic.
We intubated and found heavy secretions in his mouth.
His pupils were pinpoint, one millimeter.
Poison.
Yeah.
And it wasn't from getting into the cleaning supplies? He's too young to crawl.
He didn't go to the poison.
The poison came to him.
And now I get to tell that man his child is dead.
And we get to ask him who did it.
Dr.
Kelly, report to the doctors' lounge.
Evan just had a check-up on Monday.
The pediatrician said he was fine, in height and weight.
I'm very sorry, Mr.
Karmel, but we have to ask you what your baby ate today.
I don't know.
I was in Boston.
What the hell did he eat, Lila? Just what he eats every day.
You're the babysitter, Miss Crenshaw? Au pair.
I live in, like Warren? Wendy? Warren, where is he? What? Where is he? I want to see him.
He died.
No.
No, I want to see him! Rey.
I want to see my baby.
Miss Crenshaw, what did Evan eat today? Mrs.
Karmel gave him a bottle in the morning and some strained fruit.
A bottle of what? And what kind of fruit? A formula, Matrilac.
Plums, Baby's Best.
He won't eat the other brands.
I gave him another bottle later on and the rest of the jar of plums right before his nap.
The jar was just sitting around? In the refrigerator.
The cap was on tight and the button popped in the morning.
I saw Mrs.
Karmel open it.
How did Evan seem when you placed him in the crib? Fine.
And I had the monitor on.
Didn't hear anything unusual.
This is so awful.
It happened to another au pair a month ago.
I can't believe it would happen again.
What happened to another au pair? The baby died.
His name was Matthew.
Nobody said poison, but I don't think they know what happened.
Cutting open babies puts me in a bad mood.
How would we be able to tell? That's why I make the announcement.
In Evan Karmel's stomach, I find strained plums.
And the preliminary tox screen brings up nicotine.
The kid was a smoker? The kid was poisoned.
A heavy dose will cause convulsions, coma, paralysis, death.
And you're saying it was in the plums? Or ingested around the same time.
What about the other dead baby the au pair told us about? I got the death certificate and talked to the doctor.
Matthew Davis, healthy until the day he died.
They ascribed death to a previously asymptomatic metabolic disorder.
It happens.
Yeah.
How did he go? Convulsions, coma, paralysis.
The au pair of our dead baby knew the au pair of the other dead baby from the park, same neighborhood, same kind of parents.
And what kind would that be? Warren Karmel's an investment consultant.
Wendy Karmel's an investment banker.
They were apparently very doting parents, when their schedules permitted.
He's 48.
She's 27.
My hero.
How about the parents from the dead baby a month ago? Davis.
Henry and Suzanne.
We'll talk to them.
We found him in his crib in the morning.
It was Sunday, and There's a doctor who lives on the floor above us who He tried to revive Matthew.
He called the ambulance.
And your son had never been sick before? No.
No, they said it was just one of those things, one in a million.
There were tests that could have found it, but we didn't have any reason to do those tests.
He was a very happy baby.
Were there any tests done after he died? There was an autopsy before he was cremated, but it didn't find anything.
What about a toxicology scan for poisons? There was no reason.
Do you remember what your son ate that last day? Milk.
See, I was breast-feeding, and he'd also just started on some processed foods.
Do you remember the brand? Well, yeah, it was very highly rated.
Baby's Best.
Look, we're detectives here, too.
We dream up anything that could go wrong in the bottling process, and we take steps to make sure it doesn't happen.
Go on, hit me with something.
Wrist watch falls into the peaches.
We've got magnets.
And if your watch is plastic, we've got strainers.
Plus, nobody wears any jewelry, no Kleenex, no nothing.
The uniform's got no pockets to put things in.
Okay, suppose a guy shows up with poison in his shorts? First of all, he doesn't work here.
We know our people.
We test every batch for purity, and each jar is vacuum-sealed with a safety cap.
The top don't pop, the kid don't eat.
You test every batch.
You don't test every jar.
Don't you guys ever read the papers? Product tampering, every time it's happened, it's happened in stores.
We're looking at two possible cases.
Possible? I hope I'm not going to be seeing this on the evening news unless you can prove something.
Both families lived in the East 70s, near Madison.
East Side? We're a big item at the Food Boutique, East 72nd.
Davis, yes, and Karmel, they both have accounts here.
But so do 600 other families.
We're very popular.
You mind if I take a look? The Karmels buy a lot of bottled water.
I don't think it's a secret.
They order their baby food by the case? Babies eat it by the case.
Emily, take care of this, please.
So those plums that went to the Karmels were never actually on your shelves? I don't know, maybe, if they bought the odd single jar now and again.
They bought a case two days before Evan died.
The cases are factory-sealed.
With glue.
Not too hard to open.
But why would anyone tamper with baby food? Who would do such a thing? You tell us.
Have you had any problems with your employees? Any complaints about tampering? No, my employees are very happy to have jobs.
They like it here.
Eighty-one people work at the Food Boutique, not counting stockers employed by their vendors.
Two hundred twelve at the Baby's Best factory.
Could start sorting through them if we knew what the hell we were looking for.
Priors? No, we got two shopliftings and an assault in a bar fight.
What does that tell you? Gentlemen.
Here's the plan.
We're going to send out The Food Boutique, it rang a bell.
A citizen complained six weeks ago.
He opened a box of cereal and found a hand-written note inside.
"Blacks must die.
" Do we all speak English here, Mrs.
Wessel? We asked you about tampering, you said there wasn't any.
It wasn't a serious matter.
Hey, why don't you let us decide what's serious, and we won't tell you how much to charge for strawberries, all right? One person complained.
Do you have any idea how many people we deliver to? Besides, it wasn't tampering with the product, just the package.
It wasn't even illegal, freedom of speech.
Did you find out who this Patrick Henry was? Yes, some punk delivery boy, and we fired him.
It's over.
What's his name? Are you going to arrest me for having opinions? Has the police department been taken over by the blacks? What about my rights? Your rights don't include tampering with food.
I slid my notes in the boxes.
I never touched any food.
I never opened an inner bag.
Even when the stuff went to a black baby? I'm all for birth control in the ghetto, but I don't kill babies.
Anyway, have you been to the Food Boutique? The people who shop there are white.
The Davises are black.
And the best tippers I had.
I wouldn't want to piss them off.
How about the Karmels? They tip big? Karmel? The pretty wife in the business suit.
Sure, I delivered to them.
Baby food? Everything.
I didn't have anything against them.
She'd tip all right, if she wasn't too busy screaming at her husband.
They fought in front of the delivery boy? These people, we're invisible, like the air.
I could tell you stuff about half the Upper East Side.
And the Karmels, in particular? The husband was always mad about Mrs.
Karmel working 12 hours a day.
She said, " You wanted the damn baby, you stay home and wipe his ass.
" We called your home first.
We thought you might be there.
Why? So I could stare at an empty crib and go out of my mind? Just assumed you had some arrangements to make.
My husband's making them.
This is a $300 million takeover that closes by noon tomorrow.
Well, I know that people deal with grief in different ways Look, I could let this deal go south, but what good would that do anybody? It wouldn't make me feel any better.
It wouldn't bring my baby back to life.
You must have had this kind of a situation right along.
I mean, the conflict between work and child-raising.
I see, women should be barefoot and in the kitchen.
I didn't hear me say that.
We hired Lila to help us through the conflict.
Why are we talking about this? Do you have any idea what happened to Evan? Was it the food? Or something in the food.
He might have been poisoned.
Who would poison an infant? It's crazy.
What do you think? Was anybody acting crazy around him? Well, my husband's ex wasn't exactly thrilled with the divorce, the remarriage or the new family.
I guess I can't blame her.
But she wouldn't.
Yes, I was thrown aside like a sack of garbage after 24 years.
I was a little upset.
Maybe you were still a little upset.
You called Mrs.
Karmel and told her you'd kill her.
I'm Mrs.
Karmel.
Hey, Mom.
This is Ben, my son, Warren's son.
These are policemen, dear.
How you doing? We were just talking to your mother about your brother.
Half-brother.
Yeah, it's terrible.
Dad's real upset.
You keep in touch with your dad? I see him once in a while.
It's a whole other story.
Warren's in Chapter 2.
He'd like Chapter 1 to disappear completely.
It doesn't work that way.
What do you want from him? He works hard.
Well, he also has responsibilities.
Mrs.
Karmel, were you at your ex-husband's house the day Evan died? How would I get in? They don't invite me over much.
Ben, you go to visit, huh? You got a key? Yeah.
Why? You ever borrow that key, Mrs.
Karmel? What are you saying? Maybe my mom killed Evan? Your mom seems pretty upset.
Yeah, well, she never even went over there.
You ought to be talking to Lila.
The au pair girl? Damn right.
Didn't they tell you about the other time she poisoned him? It wasn't poison.
The baby was drunk.
Excuse me? Brandy, I think it was.
Evan passed out.
Can we back up a couple of steps here, Doc? The baby was teething.
My mom used to use Scotch, rubbed a little on my gums.
Only Lila gave him a couple of teaspoons.
Yeah, but she forgot about the rubbing part.
Was that the only emergency the Karmels had with their baby? Until he died, yes, it was.
Like the doctor told you, it wasn't poison.
It was an accident.
He was crying so much from teething, I just wanted to quiet him.
And if the brandy didn't work, what next? Cigars? My mother used to give my baby brother a little brandy.
I didn't see the harm.
We do things differently in England.
Right, like poisoning babies, that's very English.
Here, we just smother them with pillows.
It was one time.
Wendy locked the liquor cabinet after that.
I didn't kill Evan.
Why can't you believe me? I'd like nothing better, Miss Crenshaw.
But the poison didn't drop out of the sky into those plums.
Was there anybody else in the house that day? No.
But I took Evan for a walk-around at midday.
So you're saying somebody could have come in while you were out? Yes.
Exactly.
Like who? Mr.
And Mrs.
Karmel? Well, no.
They were away.
All right, who else? Olivia, the housekeeper.
She comes on Thursdays.
She has a key.
When you were feeding the baby, why didn't you notice the plums smelled funny? I wouldn't notice things like that.
I think baby food's revolting.
How about when you put him to bed? You didn't notice he was crying? Yes, but he always cries.
He has colic.
If you let him fuss a while, he goes to sleep.
And how long did you listen to him "fuss" on the baby monitor? I'm not sure.
Did you even have it on? Yes, of course.
There's a speaker in the kitchen and in my room.
So you heard him vomit? I thought he was spitting up.
How could you be so sure? How could you not check on him? I'm not his mother! I came here to be an art student, not a bloody wet nurse! Look, I did the best I could.
I swear I did.
Well, there's one British nanny that won't be signing, "Chim chiminey.
" Just because she's not interested in other people's babies, doesn't mean she wants to kill them.
It might if you were cooped up with a screaming five-month-old all day.
This isn't Iraq.
She wouldn't be flogged for trying to leave.
You know the terms of her employment? I don't.
Let's find out.
In the meantime, I don't see how we can hold her.
We could lose her in the system for a while.
I'm sure you're completely off base about Lila Crenshaw.
She's a lovely girl with the best references.
You checked them out personally? Personally, no, but we have agents overseas.
If we had the slightest doubts about Lila, we never would have paid her way over.
And you have an employment contract with her? Yes, she had to guarantee us a year, and we hold on to her plane ticket till then.
And if she can't wait that long? Well, then she gets home on her own nickel.
Of course, if there's a dire circumstance, we'll assume full responsibility to get her home.
Would having a baby die while in her care qualify as a dire circumstance? Yes, but what you're suggesting is grotesque.
Lila felt very fortunate to be here.
She's devastated by what happened.
You spoke with her? She came here, looking for her ticket home.
Look, if Lila was unhappy, neither the Karmels or the Franklins ever said anything about it.
The Franklins? Who are the Franklins? The first family she was placed with.
She was with them for three months, then Mrs.
Franklin quit her job to care for her child.
That's why they let her go.
It became obvious no one could take care of Gwen as well as I could.
Meaning Lila wasn't taking good care of her? Now you're putting words in my mouth.
Mrs.
Franklin, we need you to be straightforward with us.
Why did you get rid of Lila? She didn't seem to bond with Gwen.
When she was off-duty, she took no interest in her at all.
Were you ever concerned that she might hurt your daughter? My husband was.
It was irrational.
He installed one of those hidden TV cameras to watch them when we weren't around.
And? Nothing.
I mean, Lila might have been a little slow to respond when she cried.
She wouldn't pick her up right away, but there was no abuse or anything like that.
But you were worried enough to want to get rid of her? Not really.
I wanted to take care of my baby myself.
And then we got tired of paying Lila's medical bills.
And what was the problem? First it was her teeth, then she got rashes.
We thought it was from our cat or the plants she kept in her room.
We paid for tests.
But it wasn't allergies.
The doctor said it was depression.
Depression? Over what? We didn't ask.
We just wanted her out.
And you didn't bother to report any of this to the agency? Lila asked us not to.
She was afraid they'd just send her home.
You see, she'd met this boy, Kevin.
He worked at the Hauser.
It was that accent.
It drove me wild.
She even moaned in British.
And they say romance is dead.
How long were you hooked up with her? I saw her a couple of times a week for a while.
I bailed a month ago.
She wanted to move in.
What, she didn't like living with the Karmels? Hated it, especially being around the kid.
That's how I met her.
Every chance she got, she'd come here.
She'd sit in the garden, she'd draw.
She could name me every plant we had, said the place reminded her of her parents' rose garden back in England.
She ever talk about going home? Only all the time.
I didn't get it.
I mean, besides the beer and the music, what's the deal with England? Well, she could've caught a plane out of JFK.
Why didn't she? Tickets cost money.
They paid her a whole Anyway, she spent her money on other things.
And since you broke up, have you seen her? I went out of my way not to.
She stopped by here a few times.
She called me at my home, like all of a sudden I was the big thing in this chick's life.
Yeah, go figure.
I found poison only in this bottle of plum purée.
Nicotine's the definite culprit.
Well, in the old news department, you're two-for-two.
I also isolated faint amounts of chlorine, sulfur, triforine and ammonium sulfate.
Giving us what? Pesticide.
Nicotine's the active ingredient.
It's a specialty item, used mostly against rose aphids.
And babies.
By someone with a green thumb.
Of course you can search her room.
You can look anywhere you want.
It's unlocked.
I've got a diary.
"Five months until I can go home.
I can hardly stand five more minutes.
"I just wish I could run away.
"The way they spoil this mewling child, it's repulsive.
"Let them clean his dirty nappies just once, "then see how much they love their precious little bundle.
" The little bitch.
Hey, Lennie, we've got chlorine, sulfur, triforine, ammonium sulfate and nicotine.
And I guess the skull and crossbones means it's not quite fit for human consumption.
Looks like a receipt.
Cash purchase, day before the baby died.
Call the station.
Tell them they've got to keep her.
It's about time.
They kept telling me they misplaced my paperwork.
We've got it straight now, Miss Crenshaw.
Turn around, please.
What's going on? Lila Crenshaw, you're under arrest for the murder of Evan Karmel.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you do say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
One question, Jack.
Why? Why not? Hell, that should really play with the jury.
Look at the evidence, Ruthie.
The poison in her room It wasn't poison.
It was some kind of plant fixer-upper.
Well, that's an interesting way to look at it.
Hey, I grew up on West 67th Street.
What do I know from plants? Whatever you want to call it, Forensics says it's what killed the baby.
"A" to "Z" is a very long road.
And Lila's diary sure eases the trip.
What, because the kid got on her nerves? It's obvious you haven't had the pleasure, Claire.
And I'm not likely to in the near future, thank you.
You should have heard what came out of my mouth when Andrew decided he was hungry or bored or lonely at 3:00 in the morning.
Every morning.
Lucky for Andrew, you had restraint.
And you can't prove this girl didn't.
Not that I don't enjoy the visit, Ruthie, but I have to get back to your original question.
Why? Old time's sake.
And just so I can bill the time, a motion to exclude your so-called evidence.
Always a pleasure.
I read the arrest report and the affidavits opposing my motion, and guess what? I didn't see the word "warrant" mentioned once.
But the word "consented" must have been in there five or six times.
Consent by whom? Nobody talked to my client.
Your client was living in the Karmels' house.
Surely Mr.
Karmel has the right to open a bedroom door on his own property.
Property set aside by the Karmels for Miss Crenshaw's sole and exclusive use.
She was a de facto tenant.
I have cases up to here that say a landlord cannot consent to a search of a tenant's quarters.
Was there a lease? Of course not.
The defendant is the Karmels' employee.
And I've got a pile of cases just as high holding that an employer's consent is binding on an employee.
But only for a search of the employee's work area and only for items related to the job.
Lila made it clear this bedroom was her personal space, her little bit of England, if you will.
Why do you think she had the door closed? Closed, but not locked.
I assume that neither of those piles has anything squarely on point.
I love making new law.
I am going to exclude the evidence found in the girl's room.
Your Honor Mr.
McCoy, do you have the expectation of privacy in your bedroom? Judge Beth Kreiger.
She always wanted to be Learned Hand.
Well, she just ruled us out of a conviction.
Not necessarily.
Come on, Jack, we don't have the poison.
We don't have the diary.
Lila Crenshaw fed the baby.
She's the only one who had opportunity.
Just like that Swiss nanny up in Westchester.
Right now, she's drinking cocoa and skiing down the Alps.
Because the Westchester D.
A.
Couldn't provide motive.
And we can? You're doing it to me again, Jack.
She's guilty, Liz.
And how are you so sure? Both parents were out of town, the ex-wife worked 9:00 to the au pair was the only one with opportunity.
She admitted she fed him the plums.
I just want you to shed some light.
And then you'll bitch and moan if you don't get the results you want.
It doesn't work that way, Jack.
I can't analyze someone I haven't met.
I'm not asking you to.
She's 5,000 miles from her family.
She's alone.
She's homesick.
A doctor already said she was depressed.
So she killed the baby? It was going to get her the back half of a round-trip ticket.
It's a great theory.
Why don't you get on the stand and let Ruthie Miller make a fool out of you? Because I'm not an expert.
On lonely nannies? I'm not either.
But you are on the psychology of murder.
Why, Jack, that's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me.
She killed the baby, Liz.
A jury's going to want to hear motive.
I can only reference case histories.
That's all I want.
All right.
For the record, Dr.
Olivet, have you examined the defendant? No, I haven't.
But I read the file, including the witness statements.
And what did you infer from what you read? The defendant was never trained for the care she was expected to provide.
Often that creates a lack of self-worth and feelings of isolation and helplessness.
And depression? Objection.
I'm asking a hypothetical question.
Overruled, answer the question.
Oftentimes, yes.
Have you examined a baby-care provider accused of killing one of her charges? No, I haven't, but Dr.
Karl Jaspers studied several such cases.
And what did Dr.
Jaspers find? Extreme homesickness, isolation and depression in nursemaids resulted in violence toward the babies.
In other words, they viewed the babies as the cause of their misery? Yes.
Thank you.
I was homesick at sleep-away camp.
I didn't kill my counselor.
Objection.
Sustained.
Dr.
Jaspers' study to which you refer, was that Homesickness and Crime? Yes.
And geographically speaking, where was this study conducted? In Germany.
And exactly when was it conducted? Hell, Germany in 1907, I'd be depressed, too.
Objection.
Withdrawn.
Tell me, Doctor, did any of Dr.
Jaspers' nursemaids live in a townhouse with central air, heat, a 20" color TV with VCR, unlimited long-distance telephone calls home? Objection.
Sustained.
Enough, Miss Miller.
Never you mind, Doctor.
Well, a week before Evan died, I was at my dad's house to use his computer.
Please tell the jury what you witnessed that day.
Approach, Your Honor? He's trying to impugn my client's character with irrelevant testimony.
I'm going for motive, Your Honor.
Please, you're trying to introduce prior bad acts.
You wouldn't be trying to pull a fast one, would you, Counselor? Good, because I am leading the league in contempt citations.
Keep that in mind.
You may answer the question.
Lila heated up a bottle of formula to give to Evan, but she didn't check the temperature before feeding it to him.
He screamed.
And what did Lila do? She screamed louder, like it was Evan's fault.
What exactly did she say? "Shut up.
"I hate you.
" Stuff like that.
It was the last time I saw him.
What did your dad say when you told him about the incident? I didn't tell him.
Well, what about your stepmother? I didn't tell her, either.
Thanks.
I left for Chicago on the 7:00 flight.
I had a closing for YHF.
Did you see Evan before you left? Yes.
I always kiss him goodbye.
I fed him his favorite.
Plums.
What did you do with the bottle after you were done? I put it in the refrigerator.
Did you notice anything wrong with Evan after you fed him? No, and he was fine later on that afternoon.
How do you know that, Mrs.
Karmel? I called home during one of my breaks.
Lila answered.
She was holding him.
He was giggling.
Mrs.
Karmel, were you aware when you hired Lila that she had just been dismissed by another family? Of course not.
I relied on the agency to I see.
And how much research did you do on this agency? Excuse me, I didn't quite hear you.
My secretary's sister used them.
I see.
And what was her name? My secretary? No, her sister.
The court reporter has to take this down, Mrs.
Karmel.
I don't know.
Yeah, but I'll bet she was trustworthy, right? Objection.
You made your point.
Counselor, move on.
Does your husband work, Mrs.
Karmel? Yes.
He's an investment consultant, a partner at Moore and Chapman.
Good for you.
I bet he brings home a pretty buck.
What if he does? I see where you're going with this, and I think it's disgusting.
Let's move along, Counselor.
How often does your job require you to be out of town, Mrs.
Karmel? It's hard to say.
More than once a week? Yes.
Two days a week? Yes.
Three days? I work very hard.
And, yes, I travel, but that doesn't mean that I Yes, I know, you have a very responsible position.
Tell me, how many naps did Evan take during the day? I don't know.
What's his favorite toy? I loved my baby.
Sure you did.
You just didn't have any time to spend with him.
Objection! You didn't know anything about him because you were never home.
Objection, Your Honor.
You didn't know what the hell was going on in your house during the day because you had a responsible position.
Enough, Counselor.
I'm making my case for reasonable doubt, Your Honor.
Because Mrs.
Karmel was constantly and unnecessarily and selfishly flitting around the country, she wouldn't even know if O.
J.
Was taking tea in her kitchen.
I said enough.
After this session, you will write a check, Counselor, $500.
Fine.
One more question, Mrs.
Karmel.
What was the reason for your phone call home from Chicago the day your baby died? I was expecting some documents from Paris.
I wanted to know if they had arrived.
Hey.
Nice show today.
I love that part of the canons that requires zealousness.
Tea to go.
Come on.
I mean, the woman just lost her baby.
You made her look like Lizzie Borden.
It's funny, Lizzie Borden whacks her family and becomes a feminist cause célèbre.
And Wendy Karmel didn't, and you used her to set feminism back 50 years.
Because I showed how negligent she was? Because you're playing on the misconceptions held by half of that jury.
I see.
You think work and family are both entitlements of women.
It's a personal choice.
You work, you have a kid.
Do you think I'd be doing this if Martin didn't run off with his dentist? Wild horses couldn't drag you out of a courtroom.
I don't think your Believe it or not, Claire, I do worry about what Andrew's missing and what I'm missing.
Who knows? Maybe my priorities are a little screwy.
I never thought I'd hear that coming from your mouth.
Walk a mile in my shoes, then talk to me.
Tick-tock, girl.
Madam Foreperson, you have had three additional days to deliberate upon this charge.
Has anything changed since we last spoke? No, Your Honor.
So in your opinion, additional time would be fruitless? Unfortunately, yes.
Then I find this jury hopelessly deadlocked and incapable of rendering a verdict.
I declare a mistrial.
The attorneys will appear two weeks hence to discuss a new trial date.
The defendant's bail will be continued.
Seven-to-five against conviction.
It's unbelievable.
Five more than they got in Westchester.
Well, that's certainly gratifying.
On retrial, we'll pick a more enlightened jury.
Yeah.
Find me 12 citizens who think a woman's place is closing billion-dollar deals in Chicago.
Lila Crenshaw killed a baby, Adam.
We're not just going to let her walk.
Who knows? Maybe Ruthie won't be representing her on retrial.
Ruthie Miller, who's paying her bills? The British Consulate.
Go to tea.
Offer her a crumpet.
You schlep all the way uptown, I'm flattered.
I assume it's not to offer congrats.
Man one with a sentencing recommendation.
What does that mean? It means they're rolling over and playing dead, only they think we won't notice.
I didn't kill Evan.
Five people on that jury thought you did.
And seven thought she didn't.
Go ahead, retry the damn thing.
You keep going long enough, the parents will end up in Attica.
I hate to say it, but she might be right.
You can't attack the victim, go after the parents.
The only way to prove Lila spiked the baby food is to put Wendy Karmel on the stand.
As soon as we do that, Ruthie rips her a new one.
I never did like chasing my tail.
But it's a lot of fun when you catch it.
We've been circling in the wrong direction, Claire.
Depraved indifference? You're kidding me.
I'm very serious.
I get it, I get it.
My client, the sadist, over-sprayed her petunias.
It leaked into the jar of plums in the closed refrigerator.
Hell of a theory, Jack.
On the contrary, our theory now is that Lila had nothing to do with poisoning the food.
And she is guilty because Because she heard the baby crying and vomiting after she fed him, and she chose to ignore it.
She admitted as much to the police.
Excuse me, people, actus reus, did anybody ever hear of it? You have to actually do something to be held criminally liable.
Unless you have a duty to act and knowingly disregard it.
Miss Crenshaw was the employee entrusted with the baby's care.
In fact, as counsel proved so adequately in the first trial, she was the only one so entrusted.
Don't you see what they're doing? Let me see, changing theories, that makes the parents' testimony irrelevant.
Ergo, you cannot libel them around the courtroom.
How am I doing, Counselor? Very well, Your Honor, only there's more.
Under this theory of the case, motive becomes irrelevant as well.
I'm impressed.
Defense motion to dismiss is denied.
Thanks for schlepping downtown, Ruthie.
Cute.
So is that deal still on the table? I told you, we don't just roll over and play dead.
How many times has Mom told me, " Ruthie, you got a big mouth?" What happened to your client's innocence? Went out with the bath water.
I guess that isn't funny.
We'll talk.
Do me a favor, Claire.
Re-prep all our witnesses.
Wait a minute, now.
That lawyer of hers is not going to start ripping me apart this time.
Well, we'll do our best.
Now, Jack will want to ask you about that milk incident.
Just say the same thing as last time.
Is there anything else you remember, anything at all that might make Lila look irresponsible? There was this one time.
I saw the stroller all alone on the steps.
Evan was in there crying.
Okay.
Where was Lila? She said she was checking the mail or something.
Did she say anything else? She said I should stop snooping around when Dad was out of town.
Is there something wrong, Ben? I know if I say anything, that lawyer's just going to make it look like I'm responsible.
Okay, tell me.
If we don't have to bring it up, we won't.
I knew she had that plant stuff.
I saw it in her room.
I had no idea what she was going to do with it.
He actually saw the pesticide? That's what he said.
If he said it before the first trial, we might've had a shot.
He's a kid, Jack.
He didn't know.
Is he going to hold up this time? It's pretty cut-and-dried.
He saw Lila leave the baby alone on the front steps.
And that boiling milk incident, blah-blah-blah.
Let me see the trial transcript.
Okay, the police report.
What? At the trial, he said the last time he saw Evan was a week before the murder, that milk incident.
So? So Lila bought the pesticide the day before Evan died.
He's lying, Jack.
This wouldn't be good news.
Is it ever? There's a chance the Karmel boy's lying.
Is there a chance that the English girl didn't do it? There might be.
Trial's when, tomorrow? Which means the jury's already been sworn on the case against the girl.
Jeopardy's attached.
We drop it, we can't retry.
Ben Karmel made it through one trial.
There's no reason to think he won't make it through another.
Well, just because he's a kid doesn't mean he has to be handled with kid gloves.
You want me to beat up on my own witness? Ruthie Miller loves to go for blood on cross.
Open the door for her.
See what happens.
Evan was in the stroller.
He was crying.
I renew my objection.
And I renew my prior decision.
Overruled.
Please continue.
Lila was in the house.
She told me she was just checking the mail.
When, if ever, did you see Miss Crenshaw use pesticide on her plants? I never saw her actually use it, but I did see it in her room.
Thank you.
No more questions.
You owe me.
You loved your brother, didn't you? Sure.
So it must have occurred to you that telling a little lie might help the prosecution convict Lila Crenshaw.
I'm not lying.
Okay, maybe exaggerating a little.
Everything I said is exactly what happened.
Good.
Now that we've got that out of the way, where were you the day Evan died? In school.
And if we check the school records, that's what we'd find? Yeah.
Good.
Because my assistant is on the telephone with the school right now.
Okay, look, maybe I ditched a few classes.
And do you have a key to your dad's house? What's going on? Please answer the question.
Yeah.
And were you in the house the day Evan died? No! I think we've got what philosophers call a conundrum, Ben.
Let's review, okay? We've already established that you're telling the truth.
We've also established that the last time you were in the house was A week before.
Yes.
That's right.
But here's the confusing part.
You saw the damn pesticide.
What's the paper I just handed you, Ben? Looks like a receipt for the pesticide.
And when is it dated? March 31st.
The day before your brother died.
Let's probe further, shall we? When you ditched school, where did you go? Met game.
Hey, opening day.
I was there, too, with my son.
Who'd you go with? Friends.
What are their names? I don't know.
You guys must be tight.
Where did you sit? I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'd like to see counsel in chambers.
Before we go any further, son, I just want you to know, you are entitled to speak with a lawyer.
What's a lawyer going to do? You weren't at the game, were you? You went to your dad's house.
We were supposed to go to the game.
We went every year.
You killed Evan because your dad forgot? Because he forgot everything.
I'm supposed to be his son, too, you know.
I'll get the court officer.
Hey, what the hell's going on? Where is he? You son of a I'll break your neck.
Go ahead, Dad.
What can I say? When I'm right, I'm right.
Come on, you were ready to send her away for 10 on man one.
But thanks to your massive egos You know, we're all full of crap.
What's with him? You won, Jack.
The bad guy is in jail.
It's guilt.
Another round will wash that all away.
Damn.
Rain check, okay? I should have been home for the kid an hour ago.
These are their stories.
Won't be a second, while I run in and drop the bags and see the kid, then you can run me downtown.
Take your time, meter's running.
Mr.
Karmel.
Welcome home.
Thanks, Lila.
How's Evan.
He ask about me? He hasn't learned to talk since yesterday.
Well, maybe we ought to get him one of those touch-and-speak computers.
I saw one at a store in Boston.
He's five months old.
Yeah, but the way he watches the cat, we're talking genius.
He has another hour to go on his nap.
So? He'll go back to sleep after he sees his old man.
Hey, big guy.
It's Pop, home from the wars.
Lila, is he all right? He was fine when I put him down.
I can barely feel him breathing.
Evan? Evan? He feels cold.
I got a cab waiting.
Doctor, what's happening with my baby? I'm sorry, sir.
We're still working on him.
It'll be just a few minutes.
Well, can't I be in there with him? He knows me.
He's not conscious.
Just give me a minute.
Baby's dead.
You haven't told him? I wanted to tell you first.
When the father carried him in, he was unresponsive, poor perfusion, bradycardic.
We intubated and found heavy secretions in his mouth.
His pupils were pinpoint, one millimeter.
Poison.
Yeah.
And it wasn't from getting into the cleaning supplies? He's too young to crawl.
He didn't go to the poison.
The poison came to him.
And now I get to tell that man his child is dead.
And we get to ask him who did it.
Dr.
Kelly, report to the doctors' lounge.
Evan just had a check-up on Monday.
The pediatrician said he was fine, in height and weight.
I'm very sorry, Mr.
Karmel, but we have to ask you what your baby ate today.
I don't know.
I was in Boston.
What the hell did he eat, Lila? Just what he eats every day.
You're the babysitter, Miss Crenshaw? Au pair.
I live in, like Warren? Wendy? Warren, where is he? What? Where is he? I want to see him.
He died.
No.
No, I want to see him! Rey.
I want to see my baby.
Miss Crenshaw, what did Evan eat today? Mrs.
Karmel gave him a bottle in the morning and some strained fruit.
A bottle of what? And what kind of fruit? A formula, Matrilac.
Plums, Baby's Best.
He won't eat the other brands.
I gave him another bottle later on and the rest of the jar of plums right before his nap.
The jar was just sitting around? In the refrigerator.
The cap was on tight and the button popped in the morning.
I saw Mrs.
Karmel open it.
How did Evan seem when you placed him in the crib? Fine.
And I had the monitor on.
Didn't hear anything unusual.
This is so awful.
It happened to another au pair a month ago.
I can't believe it would happen again.
What happened to another au pair? The baby died.
His name was Matthew.
Nobody said poison, but I don't think they know what happened.
Cutting open babies puts me in a bad mood.
How would we be able to tell? That's why I make the announcement.
In Evan Karmel's stomach, I find strained plums.
And the preliminary tox screen brings up nicotine.
The kid was a smoker? The kid was poisoned.
A heavy dose will cause convulsions, coma, paralysis, death.
And you're saying it was in the plums? Or ingested around the same time.
What about the other dead baby the au pair told us about? I got the death certificate and talked to the doctor.
Matthew Davis, healthy until the day he died.
They ascribed death to a previously asymptomatic metabolic disorder.
It happens.
Yeah.
How did he go? Convulsions, coma, paralysis.
The au pair of our dead baby knew the au pair of the other dead baby from the park, same neighborhood, same kind of parents.
And what kind would that be? Warren Karmel's an investment consultant.
Wendy Karmel's an investment banker.
They were apparently very doting parents, when their schedules permitted.
He's 48.
She's 27.
My hero.
How about the parents from the dead baby a month ago? Davis.
Henry and Suzanne.
We'll talk to them.
We found him in his crib in the morning.
It was Sunday, and There's a doctor who lives on the floor above us who He tried to revive Matthew.
He called the ambulance.
And your son had never been sick before? No.
No, they said it was just one of those things, one in a million.
There were tests that could have found it, but we didn't have any reason to do those tests.
He was a very happy baby.
Were there any tests done after he died? There was an autopsy before he was cremated, but it didn't find anything.
What about a toxicology scan for poisons? There was no reason.
Do you remember what your son ate that last day? Milk.
See, I was breast-feeding, and he'd also just started on some processed foods.
Do you remember the brand? Well, yeah, it was very highly rated.
Baby's Best.
Look, we're detectives here, too.
We dream up anything that could go wrong in the bottling process, and we take steps to make sure it doesn't happen.
Go on, hit me with something.
Wrist watch falls into the peaches.
We've got magnets.
And if your watch is plastic, we've got strainers.
Plus, nobody wears any jewelry, no Kleenex, no nothing.
The uniform's got no pockets to put things in.
Okay, suppose a guy shows up with poison in his shorts? First of all, he doesn't work here.
We know our people.
We test every batch for purity, and each jar is vacuum-sealed with a safety cap.
The top don't pop, the kid don't eat.
You test every batch.
You don't test every jar.
Don't you guys ever read the papers? Product tampering, every time it's happened, it's happened in stores.
We're looking at two possible cases.
Possible? I hope I'm not going to be seeing this on the evening news unless you can prove something.
Both families lived in the East 70s, near Madison.
East Side? We're a big item at the Food Boutique, East 72nd.
Davis, yes, and Karmel, they both have accounts here.
But so do 600 other families.
We're very popular.
You mind if I take a look? The Karmels buy a lot of bottled water.
I don't think it's a secret.
They order their baby food by the case? Babies eat it by the case.
Emily, take care of this, please.
So those plums that went to the Karmels were never actually on your shelves? I don't know, maybe, if they bought the odd single jar now and again.
They bought a case two days before Evan died.
The cases are factory-sealed.
With glue.
Not too hard to open.
But why would anyone tamper with baby food? Who would do such a thing? You tell us.
Have you had any problems with your employees? Any complaints about tampering? No, my employees are very happy to have jobs.
They like it here.
Eighty-one people work at the Food Boutique, not counting stockers employed by their vendors.
Two hundred twelve at the Baby's Best factory.
Could start sorting through them if we knew what the hell we were looking for.
Priors? No, we got two shopliftings and an assault in a bar fight.
What does that tell you? Gentlemen.
Here's the plan.
We're going to send out The Food Boutique, it rang a bell.
A citizen complained six weeks ago.
He opened a box of cereal and found a hand-written note inside.
"Blacks must die.
" Do we all speak English here, Mrs.
Wessel? We asked you about tampering, you said there wasn't any.
It wasn't a serious matter.
Hey, why don't you let us decide what's serious, and we won't tell you how much to charge for strawberries, all right? One person complained.
Do you have any idea how many people we deliver to? Besides, it wasn't tampering with the product, just the package.
It wasn't even illegal, freedom of speech.
Did you find out who this Patrick Henry was? Yes, some punk delivery boy, and we fired him.
It's over.
What's his name? Are you going to arrest me for having opinions? Has the police department been taken over by the blacks? What about my rights? Your rights don't include tampering with food.
I slid my notes in the boxes.
I never touched any food.
I never opened an inner bag.
Even when the stuff went to a black baby? I'm all for birth control in the ghetto, but I don't kill babies.
Anyway, have you been to the Food Boutique? The people who shop there are white.
The Davises are black.
And the best tippers I had.
I wouldn't want to piss them off.
How about the Karmels? They tip big? Karmel? The pretty wife in the business suit.
Sure, I delivered to them.
Baby food? Everything.
I didn't have anything against them.
She'd tip all right, if she wasn't too busy screaming at her husband.
They fought in front of the delivery boy? These people, we're invisible, like the air.
I could tell you stuff about half the Upper East Side.
And the Karmels, in particular? The husband was always mad about Mrs.
Karmel working 12 hours a day.
She said, " You wanted the damn baby, you stay home and wipe his ass.
" We called your home first.
We thought you might be there.
Why? So I could stare at an empty crib and go out of my mind? Just assumed you had some arrangements to make.
My husband's making them.
This is a $300 million takeover that closes by noon tomorrow.
Well, I know that people deal with grief in different ways Look, I could let this deal go south, but what good would that do anybody? It wouldn't make me feel any better.
It wouldn't bring my baby back to life.
You must have had this kind of a situation right along.
I mean, the conflict between work and child-raising.
I see, women should be barefoot and in the kitchen.
I didn't hear me say that.
We hired Lila to help us through the conflict.
Why are we talking about this? Do you have any idea what happened to Evan? Was it the food? Or something in the food.
He might have been poisoned.
Who would poison an infant? It's crazy.
What do you think? Was anybody acting crazy around him? Well, my husband's ex wasn't exactly thrilled with the divorce, the remarriage or the new family.
I guess I can't blame her.
But she wouldn't.
Yes, I was thrown aside like a sack of garbage after 24 years.
I was a little upset.
Maybe you were still a little upset.
You called Mrs.
Karmel and told her you'd kill her.
I'm Mrs.
Karmel.
Hey, Mom.
This is Ben, my son, Warren's son.
These are policemen, dear.
How you doing? We were just talking to your mother about your brother.
Half-brother.
Yeah, it's terrible.
Dad's real upset.
You keep in touch with your dad? I see him once in a while.
It's a whole other story.
Warren's in Chapter 2.
He'd like Chapter 1 to disappear completely.
It doesn't work that way.
What do you want from him? He works hard.
Well, he also has responsibilities.
Mrs.
Karmel, were you at your ex-husband's house the day Evan died? How would I get in? They don't invite me over much.
Ben, you go to visit, huh? You got a key? Yeah.
Why? You ever borrow that key, Mrs.
Karmel? What are you saying? Maybe my mom killed Evan? Your mom seems pretty upset.
Yeah, well, she never even went over there.
You ought to be talking to Lila.
The au pair girl? Damn right.
Didn't they tell you about the other time she poisoned him? It wasn't poison.
The baby was drunk.
Excuse me? Brandy, I think it was.
Evan passed out.
Can we back up a couple of steps here, Doc? The baby was teething.
My mom used to use Scotch, rubbed a little on my gums.
Only Lila gave him a couple of teaspoons.
Yeah, but she forgot about the rubbing part.
Was that the only emergency the Karmels had with their baby? Until he died, yes, it was.
Like the doctor told you, it wasn't poison.
It was an accident.
He was crying so much from teething, I just wanted to quiet him.
And if the brandy didn't work, what next? Cigars? My mother used to give my baby brother a little brandy.
I didn't see the harm.
We do things differently in England.
Right, like poisoning babies, that's very English.
Here, we just smother them with pillows.
It was one time.
Wendy locked the liquor cabinet after that.
I didn't kill Evan.
Why can't you believe me? I'd like nothing better, Miss Crenshaw.
But the poison didn't drop out of the sky into those plums.
Was there anybody else in the house that day? No.
But I took Evan for a walk-around at midday.
So you're saying somebody could have come in while you were out? Yes.
Exactly.
Like who? Mr.
And Mrs.
Karmel? Well, no.
They were away.
All right, who else? Olivia, the housekeeper.
She comes on Thursdays.
She has a key.
When you were feeding the baby, why didn't you notice the plums smelled funny? I wouldn't notice things like that.
I think baby food's revolting.
How about when you put him to bed? You didn't notice he was crying? Yes, but he always cries.
He has colic.
If you let him fuss a while, he goes to sleep.
And how long did you listen to him "fuss" on the baby monitor? I'm not sure.
Did you even have it on? Yes, of course.
There's a speaker in the kitchen and in my room.
So you heard him vomit? I thought he was spitting up.
How could you be so sure? How could you not check on him? I'm not his mother! I came here to be an art student, not a bloody wet nurse! Look, I did the best I could.
I swear I did.
Well, there's one British nanny that won't be signing, "Chim chiminey.
" Just because she's not interested in other people's babies, doesn't mean she wants to kill them.
It might if you were cooped up with a screaming five-month-old all day.
This isn't Iraq.
She wouldn't be flogged for trying to leave.
You know the terms of her employment? I don't.
Let's find out.
In the meantime, I don't see how we can hold her.
We could lose her in the system for a while.
I'm sure you're completely off base about Lila Crenshaw.
She's a lovely girl with the best references.
You checked them out personally? Personally, no, but we have agents overseas.
If we had the slightest doubts about Lila, we never would have paid her way over.
And you have an employment contract with her? Yes, she had to guarantee us a year, and we hold on to her plane ticket till then.
And if she can't wait that long? Well, then she gets home on her own nickel.
Of course, if there's a dire circumstance, we'll assume full responsibility to get her home.
Would having a baby die while in her care qualify as a dire circumstance? Yes, but what you're suggesting is grotesque.
Lila felt very fortunate to be here.
She's devastated by what happened.
You spoke with her? She came here, looking for her ticket home.
Look, if Lila was unhappy, neither the Karmels or the Franklins ever said anything about it.
The Franklins? Who are the Franklins? The first family she was placed with.
She was with them for three months, then Mrs.
Franklin quit her job to care for her child.
That's why they let her go.
It became obvious no one could take care of Gwen as well as I could.
Meaning Lila wasn't taking good care of her? Now you're putting words in my mouth.
Mrs.
Franklin, we need you to be straightforward with us.
Why did you get rid of Lila? She didn't seem to bond with Gwen.
When she was off-duty, she took no interest in her at all.
Were you ever concerned that she might hurt your daughter? My husband was.
It was irrational.
He installed one of those hidden TV cameras to watch them when we weren't around.
And? Nothing.
I mean, Lila might have been a little slow to respond when she cried.
She wouldn't pick her up right away, but there was no abuse or anything like that.
But you were worried enough to want to get rid of her? Not really.
I wanted to take care of my baby myself.
And then we got tired of paying Lila's medical bills.
And what was the problem? First it was her teeth, then she got rashes.
We thought it was from our cat or the plants she kept in her room.
We paid for tests.
But it wasn't allergies.
The doctor said it was depression.
Depression? Over what? We didn't ask.
We just wanted her out.
And you didn't bother to report any of this to the agency? Lila asked us not to.
She was afraid they'd just send her home.
You see, she'd met this boy, Kevin.
He worked at the Hauser.
It was that accent.
It drove me wild.
She even moaned in British.
And they say romance is dead.
How long were you hooked up with her? I saw her a couple of times a week for a while.
I bailed a month ago.
She wanted to move in.
What, she didn't like living with the Karmels? Hated it, especially being around the kid.
That's how I met her.
Every chance she got, she'd come here.
She'd sit in the garden, she'd draw.
She could name me every plant we had, said the place reminded her of her parents' rose garden back in England.
She ever talk about going home? Only all the time.
I didn't get it.
I mean, besides the beer and the music, what's the deal with England? Well, she could've caught a plane out of JFK.
Why didn't she? Tickets cost money.
They paid her a whole Anyway, she spent her money on other things.
And since you broke up, have you seen her? I went out of my way not to.
She stopped by here a few times.
She called me at my home, like all of a sudden I was the big thing in this chick's life.
Yeah, go figure.
I found poison only in this bottle of plum purée.
Nicotine's the definite culprit.
Well, in the old news department, you're two-for-two.
I also isolated faint amounts of chlorine, sulfur, triforine and ammonium sulfate.
Giving us what? Pesticide.
Nicotine's the active ingredient.
It's a specialty item, used mostly against rose aphids.
And babies.
By someone with a green thumb.
Of course you can search her room.
You can look anywhere you want.
It's unlocked.
I've got a diary.
"Five months until I can go home.
I can hardly stand five more minutes.
"I just wish I could run away.
"The way they spoil this mewling child, it's repulsive.
"Let them clean his dirty nappies just once, "then see how much they love their precious little bundle.
" The little bitch.
Hey, Lennie, we've got chlorine, sulfur, triforine, ammonium sulfate and nicotine.
And I guess the skull and crossbones means it's not quite fit for human consumption.
Looks like a receipt.
Cash purchase, day before the baby died.
Call the station.
Tell them they've got to keep her.
It's about time.
They kept telling me they misplaced my paperwork.
We've got it straight now, Miss Crenshaw.
Turn around, please.
What's going on? Lila Crenshaw, you're under arrest for the murder of Evan Karmel.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you do say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
One question, Jack.
Why? Why not? Hell, that should really play with the jury.
Look at the evidence, Ruthie.
The poison in her room It wasn't poison.
It was some kind of plant fixer-upper.
Well, that's an interesting way to look at it.
Hey, I grew up on West 67th Street.
What do I know from plants? Whatever you want to call it, Forensics says it's what killed the baby.
"A" to "Z" is a very long road.
And Lila's diary sure eases the trip.
What, because the kid got on her nerves? It's obvious you haven't had the pleasure, Claire.
And I'm not likely to in the near future, thank you.
You should have heard what came out of my mouth when Andrew decided he was hungry or bored or lonely at 3:00 in the morning.
Every morning.
Lucky for Andrew, you had restraint.
And you can't prove this girl didn't.
Not that I don't enjoy the visit, Ruthie, but I have to get back to your original question.
Why? Old time's sake.
And just so I can bill the time, a motion to exclude your so-called evidence.
Always a pleasure.
I read the arrest report and the affidavits opposing my motion, and guess what? I didn't see the word "warrant" mentioned once.
But the word "consented" must have been in there five or six times.
Consent by whom? Nobody talked to my client.
Your client was living in the Karmels' house.
Surely Mr.
Karmel has the right to open a bedroom door on his own property.
Property set aside by the Karmels for Miss Crenshaw's sole and exclusive use.
She was a de facto tenant.
I have cases up to here that say a landlord cannot consent to a search of a tenant's quarters.
Was there a lease? Of course not.
The defendant is the Karmels' employee.
And I've got a pile of cases just as high holding that an employer's consent is binding on an employee.
But only for a search of the employee's work area and only for items related to the job.
Lila made it clear this bedroom was her personal space, her little bit of England, if you will.
Why do you think she had the door closed? Closed, but not locked.
I assume that neither of those piles has anything squarely on point.
I love making new law.
I am going to exclude the evidence found in the girl's room.
Your Honor Mr.
McCoy, do you have the expectation of privacy in your bedroom? Judge Beth Kreiger.
She always wanted to be Learned Hand.
Well, she just ruled us out of a conviction.
Not necessarily.
Come on, Jack, we don't have the poison.
We don't have the diary.
Lila Crenshaw fed the baby.
She's the only one who had opportunity.
Just like that Swiss nanny up in Westchester.
Right now, she's drinking cocoa and skiing down the Alps.
Because the Westchester D.
A.
Couldn't provide motive.
And we can? You're doing it to me again, Jack.
She's guilty, Liz.
And how are you so sure? Both parents were out of town, the ex-wife worked 9:00 to the au pair was the only one with opportunity.
She admitted she fed him the plums.
I just want you to shed some light.
And then you'll bitch and moan if you don't get the results you want.
It doesn't work that way, Jack.
I can't analyze someone I haven't met.
I'm not asking you to.
She's 5,000 miles from her family.
She's alone.
She's homesick.
A doctor already said she was depressed.
So she killed the baby? It was going to get her the back half of a round-trip ticket.
It's a great theory.
Why don't you get on the stand and let Ruthie Miller make a fool out of you? Because I'm not an expert.
On lonely nannies? I'm not either.
But you are on the psychology of murder.
Why, Jack, that's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me.
She killed the baby, Liz.
A jury's going to want to hear motive.
I can only reference case histories.
That's all I want.
All right.
For the record, Dr.
Olivet, have you examined the defendant? No, I haven't.
But I read the file, including the witness statements.
And what did you infer from what you read? The defendant was never trained for the care she was expected to provide.
Often that creates a lack of self-worth and feelings of isolation and helplessness.
And depression? Objection.
I'm asking a hypothetical question.
Overruled, answer the question.
Oftentimes, yes.
Have you examined a baby-care provider accused of killing one of her charges? No, I haven't, but Dr.
Karl Jaspers studied several such cases.
And what did Dr.
Jaspers find? Extreme homesickness, isolation and depression in nursemaids resulted in violence toward the babies.
In other words, they viewed the babies as the cause of their misery? Yes.
Thank you.
I was homesick at sleep-away camp.
I didn't kill my counselor.
Objection.
Sustained.
Dr.
Jaspers' study to which you refer, was that Homesickness and Crime? Yes.
And geographically speaking, where was this study conducted? In Germany.
And exactly when was it conducted? Hell, Germany in 1907, I'd be depressed, too.
Objection.
Withdrawn.
Tell me, Doctor, did any of Dr.
Jaspers' nursemaids live in a townhouse with central air, heat, a 20" color TV with VCR, unlimited long-distance telephone calls home? Objection.
Sustained.
Enough, Miss Miller.
Never you mind, Doctor.
Well, a week before Evan died, I was at my dad's house to use his computer.
Please tell the jury what you witnessed that day.
Approach, Your Honor? He's trying to impugn my client's character with irrelevant testimony.
I'm going for motive, Your Honor.
Please, you're trying to introduce prior bad acts.
You wouldn't be trying to pull a fast one, would you, Counselor? Good, because I am leading the league in contempt citations.
Keep that in mind.
You may answer the question.
Lila heated up a bottle of formula to give to Evan, but she didn't check the temperature before feeding it to him.
He screamed.
And what did Lila do? She screamed louder, like it was Evan's fault.
What exactly did she say? "Shut up.
"I hate you.
" Stuff like that.
It was the last time I saw him.
What did your dad say when you told him about the incident? I didn't tell him.
Well, what about your stepmother? I didn't tell her, either.
Thanks.
I left for Chicago on the 7:00 flight.
I had a closing for YHF.
Did you see Evan before you left? Yes.
I always kiss him goodbye.
I fed him his favorite.
Plums.
What did you do with the bottle after you were done? I put it in the refrigerator.
Did you notice anything wrong with Evan after you fed him? No, and he was fine later on that afternoon.
How do you know that, Mrs.
Karmel? I called home during one of my breaks.
Lila answered.
She was holding him.
He was giggling.
Mrs.
Karmel, were you aware when you hired Lila that she had just been dismissed by another family? Of course not.
I relied on the agency to I see.
And how much research did you do on this agency? Excuse me, I didn't quite hear you.
My secretary's sister used them.
I see.
And what was her name? My secretary? No, her sister.
The court reporter has to take this down, Mrs.
Karmel.
I don't know.
Yeah, but I'll bet she was trustworthy, right? Objection.
You made your point.
Counselor, move on.
Does your husband work, Mrs.
Karmel? Yes.
He's an investment consultant, a partner at Moore and Chapman.
Good for you.
I bet he brings home a pretty buck.
What if he does? I see where you're going with this, and I think it's disgusting.
Let's move along, Counselor.
How often does your job require you to be out of town, Mrs.
Karmel? It's hard to say.
More than once a week? Yes.
Two days a week? Yes.
Three days? I work very hard.
And, yes, I travel, but that doesn't mean that I Yes, I know, you have a very responsible position.
Tell me, how many naps did Evan take during the day? I don't know.
What's his favorite toy? I loved my baby.
Sure you did.
You just didn't have any time to spend with him.
Objection! You didn't know anything about him because you were never home.
Objection, Your Honor.
You didn't know what the hell was going on in your house during the day because you had a responsible position.
Enough, Counselor.
I'm making my case for reasonable doubt, Your Honor.
Because Mrs.
Karmel was constantly and unnecessarily and selfishly flitting around the country, she wouldn't even know if O.
J.
Was taking tea in her kitchen.
I said enough.
After this session, you will write a check, Counselor, $500.
Fine.
One more question, Mrs.
Karmel.
What was the reason for your phone call home from Chicago the day your baby died? I was expecting some documents from Paris.
I wanted to know if they had arrived.
Hey.
Nice show today.
I love that part of the canons that requires zealousness.
Tea to go.
Come on.
I mean, the woman just lost her baby.
You made her look like Lizzie Borden.
It's funny, Lizzie Borden whacks her family and becomes a feminist cause célèbre.
And Wendy Karmel didn't, and you used her to set feminism back 50 years.
Because I showed how negligent she was? Because you're playing on the misconceptions held by half of that jury.
I see.
You think work and family are both entitlements of women.
It's a personal choice.
You work, you have a kid.
Do you think I'd be doing this if Martin didn't run off with his dentist? Wild horses couldn't drag you out of a courtroom.
I don't think your Believe it or not, Claire, I do worry about what Andrew's missing and what I'm missing.
Who knows? Maybe my priorities are a little screwy.
I never thought I'd hear that coming from your mouth.
Walk a mile in my shoes, then talk to me.
Tick-tock, girl.
Madam Foreperson, you have had three additional days to deliberate upon this charge.
Has anything changed since we last spoke? No, Your Honor.
So in your opinion, additional time would be fruitless? Unfortunately, yes.
Then I find this jury hopelessly deadlocked and incapable of rendering a verdict.
I declare a mistrial.
The attorneys will appear two weeks hence to discuss a new trial date.
The defendant's bail will be continued.
Seven-to-five against conviction.
It's unbelievable.
Five more than they got in Westchester.
Well, that's certainly gratifying.
On retrial, we'll pick a more enlightened jury.
Yeah.
Find me 12 citizens who think a woman's place is closing billion-dollar deals in Chicago.
Lila Crenshaw killed a baby, Adam.
We're not just going to let her walk.
Who knows? Maybe Ruthie won't be representing her on retrial.
Ruthie Miller, who's paying her bills? The British Consulate.
Go to tea.
Offer her a crumpet.
You schlep all the way uptown, I'm flattered.
I assume it's not to offer congrats.
Man one with a sentencing recommendation.
What does that mean? It means they're rolling over and playing dead, only they think we won't notice.
I didn't kill Evan.
Five people on that jury thought you did.
And seven thought she didn't.
Go ahead, retry the damn thing.
You keep going long enough, the parents will end up in Attica.
I hate to say it, but she might be right.
You can't attack the victim, go after the parents.
The only way to prove Lila spiked the baby food is to put Wendy Karmel on the stand.
As soon as we do that, Ruthie rips her a new one.
I never did like chasing my tail.
But it's a lot of fun when you catch it.
We've been circling in the wrong direction, Claire.
Depraved indifference? You're kidding me.
I'm very serious.
I get it, I get it.
My client, the sadist, over-sprayed her petunias.
It leaked into the jar of plums in the closed refrigerator.
Hell of a theory, Jack.
On the contrary, our theory now is that Lila had nothing to do with poisoning the food.
And she is guilty because Because she heard the baby crying and vomiting after she fed him, and she chose to ignore it.
She admitted as much to the police.
Excuse me, people, actus reus, did anybody ever hear of it? You have to actually do something to be held criminally liable.
Unless you have a duty to act and knowingly disregard it.
Miss Crenshaw was the employee entrusted with the baby's care.
In fact, as counsel proved so adequately in the first trial, she was the only one so entrusted.
Don't you see what they're doing? Let me see, changing theories, that makes the parents' testimony irrelevant.
Ergo, you cannot libel them around the courtroom.
How am I doing, Counselor? Very well, Your Honor, only there's more.
Under this theory of the case, motive becomes irrelevant as well.
I'm impressed.
Defense motion to dismiss is denied.
Thanks for schlepping downtown, Ruthie.
Cute.
So is that deal still on the table? I told you, we don't just roll over and play dead.
How many times has Mom told me, " Ruthie, you got a big mouth?" What happened to your client's innocence? Went out with the bath water.
I guess that isn't funny.
We'll talk.
Do me a favor, Claire.
Re-prep all our witnesses.
Wait a minute, now.
That lawyer of hers is not going to start ripping me apart this time.
Well, we'll do our best.
Now, Jack will want to ask you about that milk incident.
Just say the same thing as last time.
Is there anything else you remember, anything at all that might make Lila look irresponsible? There was this one time.
I saw the stroller all alone on the steps.
Evan was in there crying.
Okay.
Where was Lila? She said she was checking the mail or something.
Did she say anything else? She said I should stop snooping around when Dad was out of town.
Is there something wrong, Ben? I know if I say anything, that lawyer's just going to make it look like I'm responsible.
Okay, tell me.
If we don't have to bring it up, we won't.
I knew she had that plant stuff.
I saw it in her room.
I had no idea what she was going to do with it.
He actually saw the pesticide? That's what he said.
If he said it before the first trial, we might've had a shot.
He's a kid, Jack.
He didn't know.
Is he going to hold up this time? It's pretty cut-and-dried.
He saw Lila leave the baby alone on the front steps.
And that boiling milk incident, blah-blah-blah.
Let me see the trial transcript.
Okay, the police report.
What? At the trial, he said the last time he saw Evan was a week before the murder, that milk incident.
So? So Lila bought the pesticide the day before Evan died.
He's lying, Jack.
This wouldn't be good news.
Is it ever? There's a chance the Karmel boy's lying.
Is there a chance that the English girl didn't do it? There might be.
Trial's when, tomorrow? Which means the jury's already been sworn on the case against the girl.
Jeopardy's attached.
We drop it, we can't retry.
Ben Karmel made it through one trial.
There's no reason to think he won't make it through another.
Well, just because he's a kid doesn't mean he has to be handled with kid gloves.
You want me to beat up on my own witness? Ruthie Miller loves to go for blood on cross.
Open the door for her.
See what happens.
Evan was in the stroller.
He was crying.
I renew my objection.
And I renew my prior decision.
Overruled.
Please continue.
Lila was in the house.
She told me she was just checking the mail.
When, if ever, did you see Miss Crenshaw use pesticide on her plants? I never saw her actually use it, but I did see it in her room.
Thank you.
No more questions.
You owe me.
You loved your brother, didn't you? Sure.
So it must have occurred to you that telling a little lie might help the prosecution convict Lila Crenshaw.
I'm not lying.
Okay, maybe exaggerating a little.
Everything I said is exactly what happened.
Good.
Now that we've got that out of the way, where were you the day Evan died? In school.
And if we check the school records, that's what we'd find? Yeah.
Good.
Because my assistant is on the telephone with the school right now.
Okay, look, maybe I ditched a few classes.
And do you have a key to your dad's house? What's going on? Please answer the question.
Yeah.
And were you in the house the day Evan died? No! I think we've got what philosophers call a conundrum, Ben.
Let's review, okay? We've already established that you're telling the truth.
We've also established that the last time you were in the house was A week before.
Yes.
That's right.
But here's the confusing part.
You saw the damn pesticide.
What's the paper I just handed you, Ben? Looks like a receipt for the pesticide.
And when is it dated? March 31st.
The day before your brother died.
Let's probe further, shall we? When you ditched school, where did you go? Met game.
Hey, opening day.
I was there, too, with my son.
Who'd you go with? Friends.
What are their names? I don't know.
You guys must be tight.
Where did you sit? I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'd like to see counsel in chambers.
Before we go any further, son, I just want you to know, you are entitled to speak with a lawyer.
What's a lawyer going to do? You weren't at the game, were you? You went to your dad's house.
We were supposed to go to the game.
We went every year.
You killed Evan because your dad forgot? Because he forgot everything.
I'm supposed to be his son, too, you know.
I'll get the court officer.
Hey, what the hell's going on? Where is he? You son of a I'll break your neck.
Go ahead, Dad.
What can I say? When I'm right, I'm right.
Come on, you were ready to send her away for 10 on man one.
But thanks to your massive egos You know, we're all full of crap.
What's with him? You won, Jack.
The bad guy is in jail.
It's guilt.
Another round will wash that all away.
Damn.
Rain check, okay? I should have been home for the kid an hour ago.