Law & Order (1990) s07e01 Episode Script
Causa Mortis
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.
A lot of young men like you in my work.
Boys everyone gave up on.
But they turned their lives around.
So can you, Fernando.
I can help you.
I want to help you.
Get out of the car.
No, wait.
Listen to me.
Think of all the people you're going to hurt.
Your family.
You'll ruin their lives.
Come on.
Come on, move.
No, please.
Look at the picture.
Look at my little babies.
Come on.
I love them so much.
I love their father.
Please, don't take me away from him.
Come on! No! No, I don't want to die! Let go! No, stop! Shut up! Don't talk.
Oh, please! For the love of God, don't kill me! Let go! Turn around.
Please, just stop and think, Fernando.
You're making a terrible mistake.
Just stop and think.
Leave that here.
Turn around! Move! "Hail Mary, "full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Come on, move! "Blessed art thou among women, Shut up! Don't talk! "Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
" Turn around.
Turn around! Victim is a female, white, late 30s.
No ID, no purse.
The guy in the Armani found her.
He owns the lot.
He wants us out of here before the TV cameras show up.
And what's that bivouac down there? Bunch of homeless.
I got a couple of people canvassing for witnesses.
A suspect would be nice, too.
Hey, Kenny, what are we looking at? Posterior cranial fracture.
Sometime between 9:00 and 12:00 last night.
A dump job? No, Lennie.
Look at the dirt on her shoes.
She walked here.
Still got her wedding band, watch, earrings.
Could be a sex thing.
No evidence of that.
The skirt was pulled down like this to cover her legs? Mmm-hmm.
And the sweater was over her face.
Maybe the perp didn't want her catching cold.
Yeah, right.
I'll get out a warrant for my mother.
Look at the inscription.
"October 3rd, Guess again.
I kept telling him, don't jeopardize our friendship.
Besides, he's not my type.
Now, Mr.
Giuliani, that's a handsome man.
Well, I don't know if we can help you there, Sally.
The Mayor is married.
Oh, that's okay, I'm not jealous.
So, getting back to last night.
I'm pushing my wagon down the road and out of nowhere, Enzo Ferrari comes at me.
Nearly runs me over.
Do you remember what kind of car it was? One of them sushi rolls.
Put a nice ding in my wagon.
You see that tan paint? Got to get in touch with his insurance company.
Did you get a look at him? Too dark, but I saw his plate.
New York, with an M and a 2.
Tell CSU we're gonna need them down here.
Sally, we're gonna lift some of that tan paint off of your wagon.
Sure, but can you do something about those dings? Textbook whack upside the head.
Didn't kill her right away, though.
Took her another 20 minutes.
So, she bled out.
And you said he was just a pretty face.
Scalp lacerations suggest a narrow weapon.
A pipe or a steel bar.
No other injuries.
No sexual trauma.
What about recreational trauma? Mmm.
No needle marks.
Drug panel is negative.
She was clean, well groomed.
She's had kids.
More than one.
Definitely not one of your Yeah.
No better off, though.
Thanks.
Mmm-hmm.
The paint on the shopping cart gives us a late-model Nissan sedan.
DMV is running the partial plate.
We spent half the day at Missing Persons.
You wouldn't believe how many wives, girlfriends and daughters go missing in this city.
The victim's face and legs were covered? Postmortem.
I've never seen that.
Usually perps take clothes off.
But this one felt bad about leaving her out in the open.
Someone close.
A husband or a boyfriend.
Yeah, who runs over little old ladies in his Nissan.
I'll go check with DMV.
Close the door.
How is he? Sharp as a tack.
He going to his meetings? Ask him.
I did.
Now I'm asking you.
He says he is.
I don't get a note from his sponsor.
If there's going to be a problem, I want to know about it.
So, I pass? It's her job to ask.
Yeah.
It's my own fault anyway.
Come on, Lennie.
Nobody is perfect.
Nobody? DMV just faxed this.
Twenty-seven Nissans with an M and a 2 on their plates.
Check out the '95 Maxima in the middle of the page.
Registered to lan Rankin of Queens.
Friend of yours? I looked at GTA reports.
The car was stolen last night, and Mr.
Rankin made the report this morning.
Thanks, Gia.
Sure.
Hi.
Is lan Rankin at home? He'll be here this afternoon.
He's flying back from California.
He reported a car stolen? No, I did.
I'm their babysitter.
You found it? No.
What about Mrs.
Rankin? She didn't come home last night.
She teaches night school.
I called Mr.
Rankin in California.
He told me to call the police.
But they said she wasn't a missing person until she's been missing for a day.
Okay, wait, wait.
Slow down.
What's your name? Susan.
Susan Bayer.
So, I called Mr.
Rankin back.
He told me to report the car stolen.
He said the police pay more attention to cars than people.
What does Mrs.
Rankin look like? Uh, my height, light brown hair, hazel eyes.
Okay, Susan, we're going to have to ask you to come down to the station if you wouldn't mind, okay? What about the kids? I can't leave them here alone.
And Mr.
Rankin will We'll take the kids with us, and we'll send somebody out to the airport to pick Mr.
Rankin up.
Okay? How about it, kid? You want to ride around in a police car? It's her.
She called me during her break, around 8:30.
She said she was going to stop for gas and then come right home.
Was she planning to stop anywhere else? She's always home by 11:00.
Even when Mr.
Rankin is out of town on business? These people aren't like that.
They love each other.
They really do.
We have a problem.
She's dead, isn't she? I don't want to be here.
Why are we here? Mommy! I want my mommy! Why can't I talk to her? I want my mommy! Hey, hey, hey.
It's going to be all right.
Your daddy is coming to take you home.
Yes.
The unit at JFK just called.
I want my mommy! I want my mommy! They're bringing Mr.
Rankin in.
It's okay.
Daddy is coming.
He's going to take you home.
She's been teaching adult education for a year.
She used to teach high school, but they had cutbacks.
I kept telling her to quit.
Why's that? I make a good living.
But Maureen loved teaching.
She was always trying to improve herself, better her skills.
She You know, she taped her classes, she took those public speaking courses.
Was she having any problems with anybody? No.
She never said anything.
She taught high school equivalency? She must have had some real characters in her class.
Oh, sure.
About what you'd expect.
Any of them ever give her trouble? I don't know.
I went to a graduation with her.
Some of her students were ex-cons, ex-drug addicts.
They all stopped to thank her.
I was really proud of her for what she did.
I have to get back to my kids.
Hey, that was Rankin's school.
Security guard last saw her walking to her car in the parking lot.
They're going to fax over a list of students and teachers.
What, on the off chance that one of them had a beef with Rankin? We'll split them up between Gia and Profaci.
You two follow Rankin's tracks.
The sitter said she stopped to get some gas.
Eight sales? That hardly pays for the squeegees.
Accounting is not my major.
Music.
Juilliard.
That's why I took this job.
You know how hard it is to get a practice room? These eight customers, any of them a tan Nissan? No.
No tan cars.
Anybody look like this? No.
No women, either.
Excuse me.
I don't know, maybe she was grabbed in the school parking lot.
Well, assuming our perp had brains enough to read a gas gauge, maybe he stopped for gas.
She would have been in a Nissan sedan.
I know Cadillac, Rolls Royce, Mercedes, Lincoln.
The others all look the same.
Okay, this was a tan, four-door.
Oh, yes, yes, yes.
Came in right after 11:00.
A young man.
Spanish.
He bought $5 worth of petrol.
He made me very nervous.
Nervous? Why is that? He went behind the station.
Not for very long.
The dumpster.
Yup.
Rey, anything moves in there, I'm backing you up.
Hey, there's room for two here, Lennie.
Well, if I'd have brought some gloves, I'd be right in there with you.
Hey, what's this? Maureen Rankin.
Latent already went through this.
The purse was wiped clean.
All her credit cards are accounted for, plus $46 and some change.
Her husband said she recorded her classes.
So, where's the tape? No tape was found on or near the body.
We got six unmatched pairs of shoes, dozen panties, condoms by the bucketful.
Sounds like the back of my first car.
LT! Right here.
Looks like the real deal.
Yeah, with a footprint on it.
The American Revolution was a revolution of the middle class against unfair taxation.
That goes on for about 20 minutes.
Then, we get this.
Please, let me pull over.
I'll get out.
You just take the car.
Shut up.
I won't tell the police.
I swear.
I'll say I found the car stolen.
Shut your mouth and keep driving.
That's the end of the tape.
What about the other side? I've got four kids.
What's going to happen to them? I got no choice.
You do, Fernando.
You can get out of the car right now and walk away.
Shut up.
You won't get away with it.
You know, up in Belmont, with a new car, people will talk.
Shut up! You'll shame your grandmother, your fiancée.
There's no Fernando in her class.
You heard her.
He's from Belmont.
Find him.
I did the area four times.
No tan Nissans with that plate number or without.
Okay, he was seen putting gas into the car.
We think he's a local.
Mmm.
No, sorry.
Listen, when I'm in the work zone, all I see are expired meters.
You don't even see the tenderonis buffing their rides.
No, let me get this one.
It's on me.
Oh! Here you go.
All right.
Well, we'll just have to count this as our first date.
Okay, see you later.
All right.
So, besides raising the cholesterol count at the parking bureau, this is a waste of time.
Hey, speak for yourself.
Curtis.
Good.
Stay on it.
Eight blocks away, Lennie.
Halfway down the block, on the right side.
I've been watching it for half an hour.
No one has come near it.
No, no.
We're looking for a tan Nissan.
That one is black.
Besides, the plates aren't even close.
Those plates are for a Chevy.
I did a walk-by.
The paint job is new.
Gold star, Wheeler.
We make a collar, it's yours.
All right, radio in.
Tell them we want two plainclothes units on either end of the street, all right? I thought I saw some bromo in here.
That pizza is making a comeback.
Here.
Oh, thanks.
Jeez, Rey, I didn't start carrying this stuff around till I turned 40.
Hey, once when I was young, I boosted a car with some friends.
Drove it around till we ran out of gas.
Never got caught, but I had stomach cramps for a month.
Catholic guilt.
So, what are you guilty about this month? This come with a confession attached? Hey, Lennie.
This is Unit Four.
Hit it.
Roger, Four.
Police.
Step out of the car.
Lady, don't even get in.
Come on around here.
What are you doing? Put your hands on the roof.
Don't worry about it.
Put your hands on the roof.
For your own safety, ladies, just keep your hands on the roof, please.
It's the Rankins' car.
It's my car.
I got the papers in the glove box.
It's registered to Salvatore Terra.
Look on the other side.
It's signed over to Anna Galvez.
That's me.
This is my mother.
Terra sold me the car.
It's mine.
Okay, thanks.
DMV never heard of Terra.
How much longer do we have to wait? I got to take my mother to work.
First, you're gonna tell us how you happen to own that car.
I got it two days ago from an ad at the bodega on Prospect.
It was all legal.
What did the ad say? It had a beeper number.
This guy Sal called me back and brought the car around.
Is this him? He also goes by the name of Fernando.
No.
Terra had a moustache.
He said he was moving back to San Juan.
I gave him $1,500 and he gave me the papers.
So, what are you going to do with my car? The car is stolen, Ms.
Galvez.
It's going back to the legal owner.
Stolen? That's impossible! He showed me his ID.
He had the registration.
I never had a car before.
I thought it was okay.
Hey, you help us find him, maybe you get your money back.
You still have his beeper number? No, I threw it away.
I can't believe you're taking my car.
It's not fair.
My daughter spent all her savings on that car.
Really? Talk to the owner.
Let him tell you what it cost him.
You get their phone number and walk them home.
You know, somehow I don't think that registration just walked itself out the front door of the DMV.
We check theft reports, maybe we find a thief.
It's real simple, Marty.
You tell us who you sold registrations to, we talk to the D.
A.
About your sentence.
So he admits he sold stolen registrations.
That will impress the appellate court.
What, an appeal? Who do you think you are? Claus von Bülow? I don't know what Alan dirt-for-brains here told you, but you don't stand a chance.
We're finished talking.
Marty.
Sit down.
Take a seat.
She had four little kids.
This bag of scum killed their mother.
Marty, don't say a word.
Hey, you're looking at two-and-a-half-to-five, Marty.
You really want to do the whole nickel? You know, I want to do the right thing here.
Marty For those kids and all that, you know.
Victor Driscoll.
I sold him 20 cards.
He works out of The Firefly in Crotona.
You guys are going to talk to the D.
A.
, right? First chance we get.
Watch it, I got very sensitive skin.
Get over there.
Ah! What's this? Green cards, one for everybody in the Third World.
I didn't get a good look at those badges.
You INS? We're Homicide, Mr.
Driscoll.
Whoa! Whoa! I am not a violent man.
Check my sheet.
Ask around the neighborhood.
I'm an artist, I make documents.
Well, this document is a straight shot between you and a dead woman, see? What are you talking about? Is that yours? I say yes, I'm admitting to a crime.
Say no, see what happens.
Okay, okay.
Sure, it's one of mine.
I sold it three days ago to some no-name Latin kid.
This Latin kid? Pretty close.
He gave me the right references and 500 bucks.
He just walked in off the street? I'm known in the community.
I make a quality product.
He didn't want any problems because the car was for his fiancée.
I already told you.
I saw the ad in the bodega.
Well, you must have been the only one who saw it, because nobody else remembers it.
Well, maybe I was the first one who saw it and I took it home with me.
Good answer.
But tell me something, where does a girl like you get $1,500? I saved it from my quinceañera.
Got to admit, she's quick, Rey.
Fernando is marrying himself a handful.
The only Fernando I know used to pitch for the Dodgers.
Well, this Fernando told the guy who forged the registration for him that he stole the car for his fiancée.
And that implicates you in a murder, sweetheart.
I bought the car with my own money.
Did you hear what I said? You're up to your little patootie in a death penalty case.
You talk to us now, or you're going to spend your honeymoon on death row.
My Anna didn't do anything wrong.
Mrs.
Galvez, we have a sound tape of the crime.
We know the killer's name.
We know he lives in Belmont with his grandmother.
Doesn't that sound like your daughter's fiancé? She doesn't know anyone like that.
Let me tell you about your future son-in-law, Mrs.
Galvez.
That woman he left in the field? First he violated her, then he killed her.
They didn't say that on the news.
You're lying! I'm a cop.
I don't lie.
There are certain details we don't release to the public, Mrs.
Galvez, out of concern for the victim's family, for her children.
Here, take a look at the pictures.
See for yourself how he brutally raped her.
Go ahead, open it.
Look at what kind of monster your daughter is going to marry.
Go ahead, open it.
It's Fernando Salva.
He lives on 188th Street with his grandmother, Rosa Citrone.
He told Anna he bought the car for her.
She's innocent, I swear to you.
She doesn't mind a murderer in the family, but a rapist? I'll grab a couple of guys to help with the arrest.
It's gonna take more than a couple.
Trust me.
This is it.
Police, open up! Police, open up! We've got a warrant for Fernando Salva.
Nando no here.
I don't see Nando one week now.
I'm the grandmother.
Yeah, well, listen, Grandma.
Your grandson is in a lot of trouble.
You understand? Now, if you see him, give us a call.
All right, thanks, fellas.
Let's get out of here.
Okay, so you were right.
He wasn't here.
Now what? There's a great pizza place a couple of blocks from here.
I want to try their turkey sausage.
We tried the turkey and the ham, we had two cannolis apiece.
Can we go? Salva's people had to give him the all clear by now.
Yeah, let's do it.
Stand up.
Hey, hey, don't run! Rey! Rey, he's going outside! Where are you going? Don't even breathe! Fernando Salva, you're under arrest for the murder of Maureen Rankin.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you do say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
You have the right to an attorney.
" Case number 661254.
People v.
Fernando Salva.
"Murder in the First Degree, Robbery in the First Degree.
" What is your plea, Mr.
Salva? Not guilty.
No bail, Your Honor.
The People want Mr.
Salva remanded to custody.
Your Honor, Mr.
Salva has no record, he has lived in the same apartment with his grandmother since the age of 10.
And he kills people.
This is a capital charge.
Mr.
Salva killed a total stranger, a mother of four, to steal her car.
Unlike my young colleague, I believe in litigation before incarceration, as did the Founding Fathers.
U.
S.
V.
Salerno.
There's no constitutional right to bail.
In the State of New York The New York Appellate Division ruled similarly in People ex.
Rel.
Shapiro v.
Keeper of City Prisons.
I prepared a brief.
Keeper of City Prisons.
I haven't heard that cite since law school.
Your Honor, my client fulfills all the customary standards for bail.
I may not have prepared a brief You should have, Mr.
Mercer.
The defendant is remanded to custody.
Next.
You're taking the Salva case.
Salva will plead out.
An answering machine can handle it.
Nothing on the front page of The Post is that easy.
You'll need a second chair.
I'm doing fine on my own.
You're not getting paid all that money to look up cases in the library.
If I need somebody, I can borrow Crocker for the afternoon.
Crocker.
What do you know about Jamie Ross? Not much.
She used to work at Gorton and Steinhart.
She was married to Neal Gorton.
She asked to stay on the case.
She's been in the office for less than six months.
She's had five years as a criminal defense attorney.
Eight homicide trials, seven acquittals.
And a kid in day care.
I need somebody who can put in the late hours.
To watch the answering machine? I like her.
So will you.
We're presenting the Salva case to the grand jury this afternoon.
I prepared the slip.
It's my first capital case.
I wanted to make sure I dotted all the I's.
It's fine.
Just amend it to murder two.
Murder in furtherance of a robbery is murder one.
The statute reads, " With intent to cause the death of another person.
" Salva bashed Rankin's head in and left her for dead.
His intent couldn't have been clearer.
It would be if he had used his gun.
I didn't realize I was still in the business of arguing the defense's case.
We're in the business of proving things beyond a reasonable doubt.
We can prove murder two, depraved indifference, without breaking a sweat.
So, give the jury the option with a lesser included charge.
I don't mind breaking a sweat if at the end of the day we put Salva's lights out.
An eye for an eye? No.
One worthless life for the six he destroyed.
You heard the tape.
She showed him pictures of her kids, for God's sake.
A good emotional argument.
It doesn't prove the prima facie case.
I'm surprised.
I mean, with all due respect, you witnessed Mickey Scott's execution and went right back to work.
I haven't gone soft, Ms.
Ross.
I can believe in the death penalty without being sanguine about it.
Well, don't temper your enthusiasm on my account.
This is not a capital case.
Well, I've seen this evidence of yours, Mr.
McCoy.
No prints on the purse.
No gun.
And there's the member of our Hindu community who can tell a Brahman bull from a Guernsey, but can't tell what kind of car it was that my client was allegedly driving.
Mr.
Mercer And then there is Victor Driscoll.
Counterfeiter.
What can we say about him that hasn't already been said by a dozen parole boards? We have the victim's own identification on tape.
My turn to have a brief handy, Ms.
Ross.
Motion to suppress.
Tough to suppress the fact that the car was in his fiancée's possession.
Well, then charge her with the carjacking.
What? Oh, no, it's a lawyer's joke, son.
He's very much in love with her.
Mr.
McCoy, Ms.
Ross.
Mercer's arguing that the tape can't be authenticated.
Is that right? Well, I compared the voiceprints from Salva and the voice on the tape.
It's a 20 to 40% match.
Well, 100 would be good, but I'd settle for 60 to 80.
Well, you have a muffled microphone, too much background noise, not to mention the tape was ground into the mud.
They cleaned up a tape that went through a plane crash and sat in a Florida swamp for two weeks.
This tape wasn't encased in a steel box.
You write 40% on your report, and no jury will ever hear it.
I'm not perjuring myself.
I'm just asking you to be a little bit more aggressive in your conclusions.
Expert defense witnesses do that, Ms.
Ross.
The voice can't be conclusively identified as my client's.
And we don't have the victim to authenticate when or where this tape was made.
We don't need Mrs.
Rankin to authenticate.
People v.
Brown allows the admission of a spontaneous description of events as they occur.
That's fine if Mrs.
Rankin had physically described my client, but all they have is a voice.
She elicited from Mr.
Salva his first name, where he lives and with whom.
Under People v.
McGee, that's enough to authenticate.
And if he had identified himself as Jack, a lawyer living alone on the West Side? No, the only thing the tape proves is that the killer knew my client.
I have a cite here, People v.
Theriault.
Theriault supports admitting tape recorded conversations.
Yes.
It also sets a standard for admissibility.
"A mere self-serving statement of identity "by a person whose voice is unknown to the listener "is insufficient authentication.
" Let me see that.
What possible motive would he have to lie about his identity? He knew he was going to kill her.
I'm sorry, Mr.
McCoy.
It's on point.
You need Mrs.
Rankin to authenticate.
If she were available, Your Honor, we wouldn't be here.
It's absurd.
His client benefits from killing.
That's enough.
I'm ruling for the motion.
The tape is out.
Thank you very much, Your Honor.
Abe Mercer.
Ten years ago, he was a broken-down valise.
Bad divorce, partners suing him, ethics review.
If Doc Gooden can rise from the dead, why not Abe Mercer? With a little help from Judge Scarletti.
Spilled milk.
Half the time he makes idiotic rulings in our favor.
There still a case here? Without the tape, it's the Bulls without Jordan.
Yeah, well, seven-and-a-half-to-15 is better than nothing.
Put on your game face and talk to Mercer.
In his shoes, I'd take a chance with a jury.
Yeah, well, Scarletti will take the hit in the press, and a month from now it'll be "Fernando who?" Come in.
Jack, you got a minute? This is Chuck Rodman with the U.
S.
Attorney's in the Southern District.
Chuck and I went to Columbia together.
I told him about the Salva case.
Yeah.
Jamie tells me you might have to take a plea and you're not happy about it.
I appreciate your stopping in to commiserate.
Well, I can offer more than my sympathies.
We'd like to take the case off your hands.
Under the federal anti-carjacking statutes, we don't need to prove that Mr.
Salva intended to kill Mrs.
Rankin in order to seek the death penalty.
U.
S.
V.
Holloway.
I'm familiar with the ruling.
Then you're also aware that the federal standards for authentication are much broader than New York's.
They can get the tape back in.
It's forum shopping.
I did the research.
Collateral estoppel won't prevent a federal judge from revisiting Scarletti's decision.
We can practically guarantee a conviction.
And an execution.
That would make a nice pair of antlers to hang on your wall.
I'll think about it.
The Feds have a stronger case.
I said I'd think about it.
Thanks for coming in, Mr.
Rodman.
Right.
Stacking sandbags.
You learn that from Neal Gorton? No, I learned what defense attorneys are capable of.
Mercer is halfway to an acquittal.
We lose in state court and the Feds can't touch Salva.
He's going to be free because we passed up on this opportunity.
Think how that will play in the media.
No wonder Adam likes you.
The case is dead in the water.
According to you.
You seem to think that you're the only capable attorney in this office.
I have known Chuck Rodman for 10 years.
I don't see what the problem is.
I don't like end-runs.
You want to bring in the Feds, you talk to me first.
So, this is a pissing contest? I thought if Salva gets the maximum, everybody wins.
In my office, we don't hand off the ball, we run with it.
Maureen Rankin was killed in our jurisdiction! Prosecuting her killer is our responsibility! We tossed Salva's apartment and his fiancée's.
No gun.
The car was repainted.
I read in a forensics textbook last night that paint has unique characteristics.
Right.
You can match it up to the manufacturer.
So, if we knew who in Salva's neighborhood uses this paint, that might lead us to another witness.
Well, not that we didn't think of that, but the lab says they're all backed up.
Would a call from the judge's clerk help? Consider it done.
See you.
Bye.
Lot to be said for pretty faces, Lennie.
Marino's Titanium Black? You're talking about a very popular color.
Everybody carries it.
Yeah, well, here in Belmont, everybody is you and two other places.
And we checked out their invoices.
They've been out of that color for over a month.
Look, you painted that car, eh, Mr.
Cervantes? That's destroying evidence.
Maybe even accessory to murder.
What? This is a joke.
Oh, you think that's funny? Well, just for laughs, maybe we'll close your place down for a couple of weeks while we investigate.
Hey, look, I just let Salva use my shop after hours, but I didn't know it had anything to do with any stolen car.
You saw him with the car? No.
I lent him the keys.
He used to work for me.
He came by about a week before.
Then his girlfriend stopped by.
What for? To pick out the color.
She thought that Titanium Black sounded sexy.
The paint is an exact match, but Cervantes can't put him together with the car.
Not exactly a smoking gun.
No, you had the smoking gun.
Which was left in a muddy field for three days.
I guess our screw-up was finding it.
Rey, cool it.
Come on.
The counselor is right.
We messed up.
Group effort, Detective.
If Salva walks, we're all in for it.
Unless we turn his fiancée.
As far as I know, they haven't canceled the wedding.
She picked out the paint color three days before the car was stolen.
She knew what Salva was up to.
It's enough to make her an accomplice.
At least for a grand jury.
Pick her up.
The charge is murder.
This is getting out of hand.
Next, you'll be warming a bed down the geriatric ward for his grandmother.
You can't get me, so you go after the women.
That make you feel like you got something between your legs? It doesn't give me the same rise you got from killing Maureen Rankin.
If you want to spare your fiancée, you know exactly what to do.
He's not admitting to anything.
What about you, Ms.
Galvez? She's not talking either.
Ms.
Galvez, unless you want to go down the same drain as Mr.
Salva, I advise you to get your own lawyer.
I don't understand what's taking so long.
I mean, you have the right guy, don't you? Yes, we do.
I see him on television with his lawyer, that superior look on his face, and I wanna just I want that punk dead, Ms.
Ross, and I want to do it myself, you know? I hate what this is doing to me.
I understand that feeling, Mr.
Rankin, but he's not your responsibility.
We'll take care of him.
Somebody will call you as soon as we have a trial date.
I appreciate that.
Thank you.
The part of the job they don't train you for.
Looks like you handled it well.
It's not hard once you identify with their hate.
What? Neal and I had a client.
James Carper.
A sex murderer.
While the D.
A.
Is describing the crime to the jury, Carper gets an erection Barnum and Bailey could have pitched a tent on.
I threw my coat over his lap so the jury wouldn't notice.
I remember the case.
Carper walked.
Yeah, even though his DNA was all over the crime scene.
Neal built his practice on the infallibility of DNA evidence.
Then he met Carper's trust fund.
New tune, DNA is unreliable.
The jury acquits.
And three months later, Carper killed again.
I believe in monsters and things that go bump in the night, Jack.
May they rot in hell along with their attorneys.
I got a call from Marcy Wrightman.
As of this morning, she represents Anna Galvez.
Looks like the wedding is off.
I'm not going to bore you with a lot of talk about soul-searching and heartbreak.
Anna spent a week in prison.
It was enough.
We're listening, Ms.
Wrightman.
Salva told her where he hid the gun he used.
She talks, she walks.
Maybe you didn't read the case file.
Mrs.
Rankin wasn't shot.
He struck her with the butt.
All the evidence you need is on the gun.
But first, all the charges against Anna disappear.
After she testifies in court.
No way.
I'm not talking against Fernando to his face.
I'll tell you where the gun is, but that's it.
Okay, deal.
Provided the gun conclusively links Salva to the murder.
He makes a wrong turn with that hook, somebody sitting on the john is in for a big surprise.
I can think of nicer ways of getting goosed in the morning.
Got it.
The grip panel is cracked.
That could be hair.
It's Rankin's hair and blood and Salva's prints.
Tell Scarletti's clerk we're ready for trial.
From Mercer, about the gun.
He's moving to suppress on a claim of privilege.
The People's knowledge of the gun's whereabouts came as a result of a privileged communication between my client and myself.
Our information came from his client's fiancée.
Mr.
Salva and his fiancée, Ms.
Galvez, were conferring with me when Mr.
Salva disclosed where he had hidden the gun.
People v.
Osorio, when a client communicates with his attorney in the presence of a third party, it's assumed he's waived privilege.
Yes, it is.
But at the time, I was both Mr.
Salva and Ms.
Galvez's attorney.
The communication was made for the purpose of mounting a common defense.
It's privileged.
Your Honor, for all we know, Mr.
Salva told his fiancée about the gun over dinner.
I direct your attention, Your Honor, to the supporting affidavits from Mr.
Salva and Ms.
Galvez attesting to the time and place the communications occurred.
Your Honor, these affidavits can't be taken at face value.
They're self-serving, and in one case, it may have been coerced.
An outrageous accusation.
Calm down, Mr.
Mercer.
I'm granting your motion.
The gun is out.
You didn't think to mention that there might be a privilege problem? She didn't tell me.
She didn't know it made a difference when Salva told her about the gun.
And you didn't ask? I assumed it was between bouts of heavy breathing.
So did you.
So, shoot us both.
She'll have to take the stand.
She'd rather eat ground glass.
Forget it.
Use your powers of persuasion.
Absolutely not.
You agreed to a plea.
We held up our end.
We gave you the gun.
You renege, try cutting a deal in this town again.
See you.
Your credibility is not a boomerang.
Give it up, it doesn't come back.
One defendant is not worth it.
We lost the tape.
We lost the gun.
I'm starting to doubt the Constitution, Adam.
Well, gotta move to Montana.
Live on a compound.
You'll love this.
Twelve years ago, Marcy Wrightman shared an office with Abe Mercer.
Where did you learn this from? A process server.
Back then, Wrightman went by her maiden name, Fletcher.
Oh, yes.
Marcy Fletcher.
They shared more than an office.
Son of a bitch.
Mercer played us.
He sent Ms.
Galvez to cut a deal knowing the gun wouldn't get in.
He got her off the hook, but we'll never prove it.
Not to sound like a broken record I'm not giving up on Salva.
The gun can't be used against Mr.
Salva, but it can be used against your client.
We have a deal.
With the State of New York, not with the United States Government.
Mr.
Rodman, this is Anna Galvez, and this is her attorney, Marcy Fletcher Wrightman.
Mr.
Rodman is with the U.
S.
Attorney's Office.
What's going on here? This letter cedes jurisdiction to the Feds.
Ms.
Galvez, you and your boyfriend will be prosecuted in federal court.
Mr.
Rodman assures me the tape will be admitted into evidence.
Both of you will face the death penalty under the anti-carjacking statute.
It's not Romeo and Juliet Just because she knew where the gun was doesn't make her an accomplice.
I'd settle for one execution.
What do you want from me? You take the stand against your boyfriend, I tear up this letter.
We need a moment alone here.
So, what am I, the dog or the pony? I don't know what you're talking about.
I blew off a staff meeting to come here for this.
Now, I came here in good faith and I expected to leave with a capital case.
I never promised you anything.
Persona non grata, Jamie.
Your calls don't get returned.
He'll get over it.
Before she agrees to testify as to what Mr.
Salva told her about the crime, my client wants an assurance from you.
Yeah? I don't want my baby to grow up without a father.
I don't want Fernando going away forever.
You have to promise me that he won't.
Ms.
Galvez, I'm sorry about your situation, but the only way you can help your boyfriend now is to keep Uncle Sam from shoving a needle into his arm.
You don't understand.
It's my fault.
I made him promise to get me a car so that I could take my mother to work at night in Brooklyn.
He has his pride.
He wanted to take care of me.
He told you he was planning to steal the car? Only after, when it was on the news.
He was so sick about it.
That's why he didn't shoot her.
That's why he covered her up.
He is not evil.
He did it for me because I wanted a car.
Oh, God.
I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry it happened.
For the record, the jury having found Fernando Salva guilty of Murder in the Second Degree, we are here for the purpose of imposing sentence.
Mr.
McCoy, are you ready to proceed? Your Honor, I renew my objection.
You excluded this tape At trial.
It's being offered at this hearing not for its probative value, but as an aggravating factor in sentencing.
Now, sit down.
Fernando, please, think about this.
All the trouble you'll get in.
You'll regret it for the rest of your life.
It's too late.
It don't matter.
I've met a lot of young men like you in my work.
Boys everyone gave up on.
But they turned their lives around.
So can you, Fernando.
I can help you.
I want to help you.
Get out of the car.
No, wait.
Listen to me.
Think of all the people you're going to hurt.
Your family.
You'll ruin their lives.
Come on.
Come on, move.
No, please.
Look at the picture.
Look at my little babies.
I love them so much.
I love their father.
Please, don't take me away from him.
Come on! No! No, I don't want to die! Let go! No, stop! Shut up! Let go! Please! For the love of God, don't kill me! Let go! Turn around.
Please, just stop and think, Fernando.
You're making a terrible mistake.
Just stop and think.
The People have nothing further, Your Honor.
The lab ran off a copy.
Good.
I'm leaving instructions to play it at Salva's parole hearing 25 years from now.
Makes you wonder how close she came to walking away from it.
She was dead the minute he said, "Drive.
" Then why didn't he shoot her? The noise.
So, you want to join me for a club soda? Not tonight.
Rain check? You know, a few weeks before it happened, she wanted to quit.
I talked her out of it.
Yeah, well, I could have kept walking past that bar.
These are their stories.
A lot of young men like you in my work.
Boys everyone gave up on.
But they turned their lives around.
So can you, Fernando.
I can help you.
I want to help you.
Get out of the car.
No, wait.
Listen to me.
Think of all the people you're going to hurt.
Your family.
You'll ruin their lives.
Come on.
Come on, move.
No, please.
Look at the picture.
Look at my little babies.
Come on.
I love them so much.
I love their father.
Please, don't take me away from him.
Come on! No! No, I don't want to die! Let go! No, stop! Shut up! Don't talk.
Oh, please! For the love of God, don't kill me! Let go! Turn around.
Please, just stop and think, Fernando.
You're making a terrible mistake.
Just stop and think.
Leave that here.
Turn around! Move! "Hail Mary, "full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Come on, move! "Blessed art thou among women, Shut up! Don't talk! "Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
" Turn around.
Turn around! Victim is a female, white, late 30s.
No ID, no purse.
The guy in the Armani found her.
He owns the lot.
He wants us out of here before the TV cameras show up.
And what's that bivouac down there? Bunch of homeless.
I got a couple of people canvassing for witnesses.
A suspect would be nice, too.
Hey, Kenny, what are we looking at? Posterior cranial fracture.
Sometime between 9:00 and 12:00 last night.
A dump job? No, Lennie.
Look at the dirt on her shoes.
She walked here.
Still got her wedding band, watch, earrings.
Could be a sex thing.
No evidence of that.
The skirt was pulled down like this to cover her legs? Mmm-hmm.
And the sweater was over her face.
Maybe the perp didn't want her catching cold.
Yeah, right.
I'll get out a warrant for my mother.
Look at the inscription.
"October 3rd, Guess again.
I kept telling him, don't jeopardize our friendship.
Besides, he's not my type.
Now, Mr.
Giuliani, that's a handsome man.
Well, I don't know if we can help you there, Sally.
The Mayor is married.
Oh, that's okay, I'm not jealous.
So, getting back to last night.
I'm pushing my wagon down the road and out of nowhere, Enzo Ferrari comes at me.
Nearly runs me over.
Do you remember what kind of car it was? One of them sushi rolls.
Put a nice ding in my wagon.
You see that tan paint? Got to get in touch with his insurance company.
Did you get a look at him? Too dark, but I saw his plate.
New York, with an M and a 2.
Tell CSU we're gonna need them down here.
Sally, we're gonna lift some of that tan paint off of your wagon.
Sure, but can you do something about those dings? Textbook whack upside the head.
Didn't kill her right away, though.
Took her another 20 minutes.
So, she bled out.
And you said he was just a pretty face.
Scalp lacerations suggest a narrow weapon.
A pipe or a steel bar.
No other injuries.
No sexual trauma.
What about recreational trauma? Mmm.
No needle marks.
Drug panel is negative.
She was clean, well groomed.
She's had kids.
More than one.
Definitely not one of your Yeah.
No better off, though.
Thanks.
Mmm-hmm.
The paint on the shopping cart gives us a late-model Nissan sedan.
DMV is running the partial plate.
We spent half the day at Missing Persons.
You wouldn't believe how many wives, girlfriends and daughters go missing in this city.
The victim's face and legs were covered? Postmortem.
I've never seen that.
Usually perps take clothes off.
But this one felt bad about leaving her out in the open.
Someone close.
A husband or a boyfriend.
Yeah, who runs over little old ladies in his Nissan.
I'll go check with DMV.
Close the door.
How is he? Sharp as a tack.
He going to his meetings? Ask him.
I did.
Now I'm asking you.
He says he is.
I don't get a note from his sponsor.
If there's going to be a problem, I want to know about it.
So, I pass? It's her job to ask.
Yeah.
It's my own fault anyway.
Come on, Lennie.
Nobody is perfect.
Nobody? DMV just faxed this.
Twenty-seven Nissans with an M and a 2 on their plates.
Check out the '95 Maxima in the middle of the page.
Registered to lan Rankin of Queens.
Friend of yours? I looked at GTA reports.
The car was stolen last night, and Mr.
Rankin made the report this morning.
Thanks, Gia.
Sure.
Hi.
Is lan Rankin at home? He'll be here this afternoon.
He's flying back from California.
He reported a car stolen? No, I did.
I'm their babysitter.
You found it? No.
What about Mrs.
Rankin? She didn't come home last night.
She teaches night school.
I called Mr.
Rankin in California.
He told me to call the police.
But they said she wasn't a missing person until she's been missing for a day.
Okay, wait, wait.
Slow down.
What's your name? Susan.
Susan Bayer.
So, I called Mr.
Rankin back.
He told me to report the car stolen.
He said the police pay more attention to cars than people.
What does Mrs.
Rankin look like? Uh, my height, light brown hair, hazel eyes.
Okay, Susan, we're going to have to ask you to come down to the station if you wouldn't mind, okay? What about the kids? I can't leave them here alone.
And Mr.
Rankin will We'll take the kids with us, and we'll send somebody out to the airport to pick Mr.
Rankin up.
Okay? How about it, kid? You want to ride around in a police car? It's her.
She called me during her break, around 8:30.
She said she was going to stop for gas and then come right home.
Was she planning to stop anywhere else? She's always home by 11:00.
Even when Mr.
Rankin is out of town on business? These people aren't like that.
They love each other.
They really do.
We have a problem.
She's dead, isn't she? I don't want to be here.
Why are we here? Mommy! I want my mommy! Why can't I talk to her? I want my mommy! Hey, hey, hey.
It's going to be all right.
Your daddy is coming to take you home.
Yes.
The unit at JFK just called.
I want my mommy! I want my mommy! They're bringing Mr.
Rankin in.
It's okay.
Daddy is coming.
He's going to take you home.
She's been teaching adult education for a year.
She used to teach high school, but they had cutbacks.
I kept telling her to quit.
Why's that? I make a good living.
But Maureen loved teaching.
She was always trying to improve herself, better her skills.
She You know, she taped her classes, she took those public speaking courses.
Was she having any problems with anybody? No.
She never said anything.
She taught high school equivalency? She must have had some real characters in her class.
Oh, sure.
About what you'd expect.
Any of them ever give her trouble? I don't know.
I went to a graduation with her.
Some of her students were ex-cons, ex-drug addicts.
They all stopped to thank her.
I was really proud of her for what she did.
I have to get back to my kids.
Hey, that was Rankin's school.
Security guard last saw her walking to her car in the parking lot.
They're going to fax over a list of students and teachers.
What, on the off chance that one of them had a beef with Rankin? We'll split them up between Gia and Profaci.
You two follow Rankin's tracks.
The sitter said she stopped to get some gas.
Eight sales? That hardly pays for the squeegees.
Accounting is not my major.
Music.
Juilliard.
That's why I took this job.
You know how hard it is to get a practice room? These eight customers, any of them a tan Nissan? No.
No tan cars.
Anybody look like this? No.
No women, either.
Excuse me.
I don't know, maybe she was grabbed in the school parking lot.
Well, assuming our perp had brains enough to read a gas gauge, maybe he stopped for gas.
She would have been in a Nissan sedan.
I know Cadillac, Rolls Royce, Mercedes, Lincoln.
The others all look the same.
Okay, this was a tan, four-door.
Oh, yes, yes, yes.
Came in right after 11:00.
A young man.
Spanish.
He bought $5 worth of petrol.
He made me very nervous.
Nervous? Why is that? He went behind the station.
Not for very long.
The dumpster.
Yup.
Rey, anything moves in there, I'm backing you up.
Hey, there's room for two here, Lennie.
Well, if I'd have brought some gloves, I'd be right in there with you.
Hey, what's this? Maureen Rankin.
Latent already went through this.
The purse was wiped clean.
All her credit cards are accounted for, plus $46 and some change.
Her husband said she recorded her classes.
So, where's the tape? No tape was found on or near the body.
We got six unmatched pairs of shoes, dozen panties, condoms by the bucketful.
Sounds like the back of my first car.
LT! Right here.
Looks like the real deal.
Yeah, with a footprint on it.
The American Revolution was a revolution of the middle class against unfair taxation.
That goes on for about 20 minutes.
Then, we get this.
Please, let me pull over.
I'll get out.
You just take the car.
Shut up.
I won't tell the police.
I swear.
I'll say I found the car stolen.
Shut your mouth and keep driving.
That's the end of the tape.
What about the other side? I've got four kids.
What's going to happen to them? I got no choice.
You do, Fernando.
You can get out of the car right now and walk away.
Shut up.
You won't get away with it.
You know, up in Belmont, with a new car, people will talk.
Shut up! You'll shame your grandmother, your fiancée.
There's no Fernando in her class.
You heard her.
He's from Belmont.
Find him.
I did the area four times.
No tan Nissans with that plate number or without.
Okay, he was seen putting gas into the car.
We think he's a local.
Mmm.
No, sorry.
Listen, when I'm in the work zone, all I see are expired meters.
You don't even see the tenderonis buffing their rides.
No, let me get this one.
It's on me.
Oh! Here you go.
All right.
Well, we'll just have to count this as our first date.
Okay, see you later.
All right.
So, besides raising the cholesterol count at the parking bureau, this is a waste of time.
Hey, speak for yourself.
Curtis.
Good.
Stay on it.
Eight blocks away, Lennie.
Halfway down the block, on the right side.
I've been watching it for half an hour.
No one has come near it.
No, no.
We're looking for a tan Nissan.
That one is black.
Besides, the plates aren't even close.
Those plates are for a Chevy.
I did a walk-by.
The paint job is new.
Gold star, Wheeler.
We make a collar, it's yours.
All right, radio in.
Tell them we want two plainclothes units on either end of the street, all right? I thought I saw some bromo in here.
That pizza is making a comeback.
Here.
Oh, thanks.
Jeez, Rey, I didn't start carrying this stuff around till I turned 40.
Hey, once when I was young, I boosted a car with some friends.
Drove it around till we ran out of gas.
Never got caught, but I had stomach cramps for a month.
Catholic guilt.
So, what are you guilty about this month? This come with a confession attached? Hey, Lennie.
This is Unit Four.
Hit it.
Roger, Four.
Police.
Step out of the car.
Lady, don't even get in.
Come on around here.
What are you doing? Put your hands on the roof.
Don't worry about it.
Put your hands on the roof.
For your own safety, ladies, just keep your hands on the roof, please.
It's the Rankins' car.
It's my car.
I got the papers in the glove box.
It's registered to Salvatore Terra.
Look on the other side.
It's signed over to Anna Galvez.
That's me.
This is my mother.
Terra sold me the car.
It's mine.
Okay, thanks.
DMV never heard of Terra.
How much longer do we have to wait? I got to take my mother to work.
First, you're gonna tell us how you happen to own that car.
I got it two days ago from an ad at the bodega on Prospect.
It was all legal.
What did the ad say? It had a beeper number.
This guy Sal called me back and brought the car around.
Is this him? He also goes by the name of Fernando.
No.
Terra had a moustache.
He said he was moving back to San Juan.
I gave him $1,500 and he gave me the papers.
So, what are you going to do with my car? The car is stolen, Ms.
Galvez.
It's going back to the legal owner.
Stolen? That's impossible! He showed me his ID.
He had the registration.
I never had a car before.
I thought it was okay.
Hey, you help us find him, maybe you get your money back.
You still have his beeper number? No, I threw it away.
I can't believe you're taking my car.
It's not fair.
My daughter spent all her savings on that car.
Really? Talk to the owner.
Let him tell you what it cost him.
You get their phone number and walk them home.
You know, somehow I don't think that registration just walked itself out the front door of the DMV.
We check theft reports, maybe we find a thief.
It's real simple, Marty.
You tell us who you sold registrations to, we talk to the D.
A.
About your sentence.
So he admits he sold stolen registrations.
That will impress the appellate court.
What, an appeal? Who do you think you are? Claus von Bülow? I don't know what Alan dirt-for-brains here told you, but you don't stand a chance.
We're finished talking.
Marty.
Sit down.
Take a seat.
She had four little kids.
This bag of scum killed their mother.
Marty, don't say a word.
Hey, you're looking at two-and-a-half-to-five, Marty.
You really want to do the whole nickel? You know, I want to do the right thing here.
Marty For those kids and all that, you know.
Victor Driscoll.
I sold him 20 cards.
He works out of The Firefly in Crotona.
You guys are going to talk to the D.
A.
, right? First chance we get.
Watch it, I got very sensitive skin.
Get over there.
Ah! What's this? Green cards, one for everybody in the Third World.
I didn't get a good look at those badges.
You INS? We're Homicide, Mr.
Driscoll.
Whoa! Whoa! I am not a violent man.
Check my sheet.
Ask around the neighborhood.
I'm an artist, I make documents.
Well, this document is a straight shot between you and a dead woman, see? What are you talking about? Is that yours? I say yes, I'm admitting to a crime.
Say no, see what happens.
Okay, okay.
Sure, it's one of mine.
I sold it three days ago to some no-name Latin kid.
This Latin kid? Pretty close.
He gave me the right references and 500 bucks.
He just walked in off the street? I'm known in the community.
I make a quality product.
He didn't want any problems because the car was for his fiancée.
I already told you.
I saw the ad in the bodega.
Well, you must have been the only one who saw it, because nobody else remembers it.
Well, maybe I was the first one who saw it and I took it home with me.
Good answer.
But tell me something, where does a girl like you get $1,500? I saved it from my quinceañera.
Got to admit, she's quick, Rey.
Fernando is marrying himself a handful.
The only Fernando I know used to pitch for the Dodgers.
Well, this Fernando told the guy who forged the registration for him that he stole the car for his fiancée.
And that implicates you in a murder, sweetheart.
I bought the car with my own money.
Did you hear what I said? You're up to your little patootie in a death penalty case.
You talk to us now, or you're going to spend your honeymoon on death row.
My Anna didn't do anything wrong.
Mrs.
Galvez, we have a sound tape of the crime.
We know the killer's name.
We know he lives in Belmont with his grandmother.
Doesn't that sound like your daughter's fiancé? She doesn't know anyone like that.
Let me tell you about your future son-in-law, Mrs.
Galvez.
That woman he left in the field? First he violated her, then he killed her.
They didn't say that on the news.
You're lying! I'm a cop.
I don't lie.
There are certain details we don't release to the public, Mrs.
Galvez, out of concern for the victim's family, for her children.
Here, take a look at the pictures.
See for yourself how he brutally raped her.
Go ahead, open it.
Look at what kind of monster your daughter is going to marry.
Go ahead, open it.
It's Fernando Salva.
He lives on 188th Street with his grandmother, Rosa Citrone.
He told Anna he bought the car for her.
She's innocent, I swear to you.
She doesn't mind a murderer in the family, but a rapist? I'll grab a couple of guys to help with the arrest.
It's gonna take more than a couple.
Trust me.
This is it.
Police, open up! Police, open up! We've got a warrant for Fernando Salva.
Nando no here.
I don't see Nando one week now.
I'm the grandmother.
Yeah, well, listen, Grandma.
Your grandson is in a lot of trouble.
You understand? Now, if you see him, give us a call.
All right, thanks, fellas.
Let's get out of here.
Okay, so you were right.
He wasn't here.
Now what? There's a great pizza place a couple of blocks from here.
I want to try their turkey sausage.
We tried the turkey and the ham, we had two cannolis apiece.
Can we go? Salva's people had to give him the all clear by now.
Yeah, let's do it.
Stand up.
Hey, hey, don't run! Rey! Rey, he's going outside! Where are you going? Don't even breathe! Fernando Salva, you're under arrest for the murder of Maureen Rankin.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you do say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
You have the right to an attorney.
" Case number 661254.
People v.
Fernando Salva.
"Murder in the First Degree, Robbery in the First Degree.
" What is your plea, Mr.
Salva? Not guilty.
No bail, Your Honor.
The People want Mr.
Salva remanded to custody.
Your Honor, Mr.
Salva has no record, he has lived in the same apartment with his grandmother since the age of 10.
And he kills people.
This is a capital charge.
Mr.
Salva killed a total stranger, a mother of four, to steal her car.
Unlike my young colleague, I believe in litigation before incarceration, as did the Founding Fathers.
U.
S.
V.
Salerno.
There's no constitutional right to bail.
In the State of New York The New York Appellate Division ruled similarly in People ex.
Rel.
Shapiro v.
Keeper of City Prisons.
I prepared a brief.
Keeper of City Prisons.
I haven't heard that cite since law school.
Your Honor, my client fulfills all the customary standards for bail.
I may not have prepared a brief You should have, Mr.
Mercer.
The defendant is remanded to custody.
Next.
You're taking the Salva case.
Salva will plead out.
An answering machine can handle it.
Nothing on the front page of The Post is that easy.
You'll need a second chair.
I'm doing fine on my own.
You're not getting paid all that money to look up cases in the library.
If I need somebody, I can borrow Crocker for the afternoon.
Crocker.
What do you know about Jamie Ross? Not much.
She used to work at Gorton and Steinhart.
She was married to Neal Gorton.
She asked to stay on the case.
She's been in the office for less than six months.
She's had five years as a criminal defense attorney.
Eight homicide trials, seven acquittals.
And a kid in day care.
I need somebody who can put in the late hours.
To watch the answering machine? I like her.
So will you.
We're presenting the Salva case to the grand jury this afternoon.
I prepared the slip.
It's my first capital case.
I wanted to make sure I dotted all the I's.
It's fine.
Just amend it to murder two.
Murder in furtherance of a robbery is murder one.
The statute reads, " With intent to cause the death of another person.
" Salva bashed Rankin's head in and left her for dead.
His intent couldn't have been clearer.
It would be if he had used his gun.
I didn't realize I was still in the business of arguing the defense's case.
We're in the business of proving things beyond a reasonable doubt.
We can prove murder two, depraved indifference, without breaking a sweat.
So, give the jury the option with a lesser included charge.
I don't mind breaking a sweat if at the end of the day we put Salva's lights out.
An eye for an eye? No.
One worthless life for the six he destroyed.
You heard the tape.
She showed him pictures of her kids, for God's sake.
A good emotional argument.
It doesn't prove the prima facie case.
I'm surprised.
I mean, with all due respect, you witnessed Mickey Scott's execution and went right back to work.
I haven't gone soft, Ms.
Ross.
I can believe in the death penalty without being sanguine about it.
Well, don't temper your enthusiasm on my account.
This is not a capital case.
Well, I've seen this evidence of yours, Mr.
McCoy.
No prints on the purse.
No gun.
And there's the member of our Hindu community who can tell a Brahman bull from a Guernsey, but can't tell what kind of car it was that my client was allegedly driving.
Mr.
Mercer And then there is Victor Driscoll.
Counterfeiter.
What can we say about him that hasn't already been said by a dozen parole boards? We have the victim's own identification on tape.
My turn to have a brief handy, Ms.
Ross.
Motion to suppress.
Tough to suppress the fact that the car was in his fiancée's possession.
Well, then charge her with the carjacking.
What? Oh, no, it's a lawyer's joke, son.
He's very much in love with her.
Mr.
McCoy, Ms.
Ross.
Mercer's arguing that the tape can't be authenticated.
Is that right? Well, I compared the voiceprints from Salva and the voice on the tape.
It's a 20 to 40% match.
Well, 100 would be good, but I'd settle for 60 to 80.
Well, you have a muffled microphone, too much background noise, not to mention the tape was ground into the mud.
They cleaned up a tape that went through a plane crash and sat in a Florida swamp for two weeks.
This tape wasn't encased in a steel box.
You write 40% on your report, and no jury will ever hear it.
I'm not perjuring myself.
I'm just asking you to be a little bit more aggressive in your conclusions.
Expert defense witnesses do that, Ms.
Ross.
The voice can't be conclusively identified as my client's.
And we don't have the victim to authenticate when or where this tape was made.
We don't need Mrs.
Rankin to authenticate.
People v.
Brown allows the admission of a spontaneous description of events as they occur.
That's fine if Mrs.
Rankin had physically described my client, but all they have is a voice.
She elicited from Mr.
Salva his first name, where he lives and with whom.
Under People v.
McGee, that's enough to authenticate.
And if he had identified himself as Jack, a lawyer living alone on the West Side? No, the only thing the tape proves is that the killer knew my client.
I have a cite here, People v.
Theriault.
Theriault supports admitting tape recorded conversations.
Yes.
It also sets a standard for admissibility.
"A mere self-serving statement of identity "by a person whose voice is unknown to the listener "is insufficient authentication.
" Let me see that.
What possible motive would he have to lie about his identity? He knew he was going to kill her.
I'm sorry, Mr.
McCoy.
It's on point.
You need Mrs.
Rankin to authenticate.
If she were available, Your Honor, we wouldn't be here.
It's absurd.
His client benefits from killing.
That's enough.
I'm ruling for the motion.
The tape is out.
Thank you very much, Your Honor.
Abe Mercer.
Ten years ago, he was a broken-down valise.
Bad divorce, partners suing him, ethics review.
If Doc Gooden can rise from the dead, why not Abe Mercer? With a little help from Judge Scarletti.
Spilled milk.
Half the time he makes idiotic rulings in our favor.
There still a case here? Without the tape, it's the Bulls without Jordan.
Yeah, well, seven-and-a-half-to-15 is better than nothing.
Put on your game face and talk to Mercer.
In his shoes, I'd take a chance with a jury.
Yeah, well, Scarletti will take the hit in the press, and a month from now it'll be "Fernando who?" Come in.
Jack, you got a minute? This is Chuck Rodman with the U.
S.
Attorney's in the Southern District.
Chuck and I went to Columbia together.
I told him about the Salva case.
Yeah.
Jamie tells me you might have to take a plea and you're not happy about it.
I appreciate your stopping in to commiserate.
Well, I can offer more than my sympathies.
We'd like to take the case off your hands.
Under the federal anti-carjacking statutes, we don't need to prove that Mr.
Salva intended to kill Mrs.
Rankin in order to seek the death penalty.
U.
S.
V.
Holloway.
I'm familiar with the ruling.
Then you're also aware that the federal standards for authentication are much broader than New York's.
They can get the tape back in.
It's forum shopping.
I did the research.
Collateral estoppel won't prevent a federal judge from revisiting Scarletti's decision.
We can practically guarantee a conviction.
And an execution.
That would make a nice pair of antlers to hang on your wall.
I'll think about it.
The Feds have a stronger case.
I said I'd think about it.
Thanks for coming in, Mr.
Rodman.
Right.
Stacking sandbags.
You learn that from Neal Gorton? No, I learned what defense attorneys are capable of.
Mercer is halfway to an acquittal.
We lose in state court and the Feds can't touch Salva.
He's going to be free because we passed up on this opportunity.
Think how that will play in the media.
No wonder Adam likes you.
The case is dead in the water.
According to you.
You seem to think that you're the only capable attorney in this office.
I have known Chuck Rodman for 10 years.
I don't see what the problem is.
I don't like end-runs.
You want to bring in the Feds, you talk to me first.
So, this is a pissing contest? I thought if Salva gets the maximum, everybody wins.
In my office, we don't hand off the ball, we run with it.
Maureen Rankin was killed in our jurisdiction! Prosecuting her killer is our responsibility! We tossed Salva's apartment and his fiancée's.
No gun.
The car was repainted.
I read in a forensics textbook last night that paint has unique characteristics.
Right.
You can match it up to the manufacturer.
So, if we knew who in Salva's neighborhood uses this paint, that might lead us to another witness.
Well, not that we didn't think of that, but the lab says they're all backed up.
Would a call from the judge's clerk help? Consider it done.
See you.
Bye.
Lot to be said for pretty faces, Lennie.
Marino's Titanium Black? You're talking about a very popular color.
Everybody carries it.
Yeah, well, here in Belmont, everybody is you and two other places.
And we checked out their invoices.
They've been out of that color for over a month.
Look, you painted that car, eh, Mr.
Cervantes? That's destroying evidence.
Maybe even accessory to murder.
What? This is a joke.
Oh, you think that's funny? Well, just for laughs, maybe we'll close your place down for a couple of weeks while we investigate.
Hey, look, I just let Salva use my shop after hours, but I didn't know it had anything to do with any stolen car.
You saw him with the car? No.
I lent him the keys.
He used to work for me.
He came by about a week before.
Then his girlfriend stopped by.
What for? To pick out the color.
She thought that Titanium Black sounded sexy.
The paint is an exact match, but Cervantes can't put him together with the car.
Not exactly a smoking gun.
No, you had the smoking gun.
Which was left in a muddy field for three days.
I guess our screw-up was finding it.
Rey, cool it.
Come on.
The counselor is right.
We messed up.
Group effort, Detective.
If Salva walks, we're all in for it.
Unless we turn his fiancée.
As far as I know, they haven't canceled the wedding.
She picked out the paint color three days before the car was stolen.
She knew what Salva was up to.
It's enough to make her an accomplice.
At least for a grand jury.
Pick her up.
The charge is murder.
This is getting out of hand.
Next, you'll be warming a bed down the geriatric ward for his grandmother.
You can't get me, so you go after the women.
That make you feel like you got something between your legs? It doesn't give me the same rise you got from killing Maureen Rankin.
If you want to spare your fiancée, you know exactly what to do.
He's not admitting to anything.
What about you, Ms.
Galvez? She's not talking either.
Ms.
Galvez, unless you want to go down the same drain as Mr.
Salva, I advise you to get your own lawyer.
I don't understand what's taking so long.
I mean, you have the right guy, don't you? Yes, we do.
I see him on television with his lawyer, that superior look on his face, and I wanna just I want that punk dead, Ms.
Ross, and I want to do it myself, you know? I hate what this is doing to me.
I understand that feeling, Mr.
Rankin, but he's not your responsibility.
We'll take care of him.
Somebody will call you as soon as we have a trial date.
I appreciate that.
Thank you.
The part of the job they don't train you for.
Looks like you handled it well.
It's not hard once you identify with their hate.
What? Neal and I had a client.
James Carper.
A sex murderer.
While the D.
A.
Is describing the crime to the jury, Carper gets an erection Barnum and Bailey could have pitched a tent on.
I threw my coat over his lap so the jury wouldn't notice.
I remember the case.
Carper walked.
Yeah, even though his DNA was all over the crime scene.
Neal built his practice on the infallibility of DNA evidence.
Then he met Carper's trust fund.
New tune, DNA is unreliable.
The jury acquits.
And three months later, Carper killed again.
I believe in monsters and things that go bump in the night, Jack.
May they rot in hell along with their attorneys.
I got a call from Marcy Wrightman.
As of this morning, she represents Anna Galvez.
Looks like the wedding is off.
I'm not going to bore you with a lot of talk about soul-searching and heartbreak.
Anna spent a week in prison.
It was enough.
We're listening, Ms.
Wrightman.
Salva told her where he hid the gun he used.
She talks, she walks.
Maybe you didn't read the case file.
Mrs.
Rankin wasn't shot.
He struck her with the butt.
All the evidence you need is on the gun.
But first, all the charges against Anna disappear.
After she testifies in court.
No way.
I'm not talking against Fernando to his face.
I'll tell you where the gun is, but that's it.
Okay, deal.
Provided the gun conclusively links Salva to the murder.
He makes a wrong turn with that hook, somebody sitting on the john is in for a big surprise.
I can think of nicer ways of getting goosed in the morning.
Got it.
The grip panel is cracked.
That could be hair.
It's Rankin's hair and blood and Salva's prints.
Tell Scarletti's clerk we're ready for trial.
From Mercer, about the gun.
He's moving to suppress on a claim of privilege.
The People's knowledge of the gun's whereabouts came as a result of a privileged communication between my client and myself.
Our information came from his client's fiancée.
Mr.
Salva and his fiancée, Ms.
Galvez, were conferring with me when Mr.
Salva disclosed where he had hidden the gun.
People v.
Osorio, when a client communicates with his attorney in the presence of a third party, it's assumed he's waived privilege.
Yes, it is.
But at the time, I was both Mr.
Salva and Ms.
Galvez's attorney.
The communication was made for the purpose of mounting a common defense.
It's privileged.
Your Honor, for all we know, Mr.
Salva told his fiancée about the gun over dinner.
I direct your attention, Your Honor, to the supporting affidavits from Mr.
Salva and Ms.
Galvez attesting to the time and place the communications occurred.
Your Honor, these affidavits can't be taken at face value.
They're self-serving, and in one case, it may have been coerced.
An outrageous accusation.
Calm down, Mr.
Mercer.
I'm granting your motion.
The gun is out.
You didn't think to mention that there might be a privilege problem? She didn't tell me.
She didn't know it made a difference when Salva told her about the gun.
And you didn't ask? I assumed it was between bouts of heavy breathing.
So did you.
So, shoot us both.
She'll have to take the stand.
She'd rather eat ground glass.
Forget it.
Use your powers of persuasion.
Absolutely not.
You agreed to a plea.
We held up our end.
We gave you the gun.
You renege, try cutting a deal in this town again.
See you.
Your credibility is not a boomerang.
Give it up, it doesn't come back.
One defendant is not worth it.
We lost the tape.
We lost the gun.
I'm starting to doubt the Constitution, Adam.
Well, gotta move to Montana.
Live on a compound.
You'll love this.
Twelve years ago, Marcy Wrightman shared an office with Abe Mercer.
Where did you learn this from? A process server.
Back then, Wrightman went by her maiden name, Fletcher.
Oh, yes.
Marcy Fletcher.
They shared more than an office.
Son of a bitch.
Mercer played us.
He sent Ms.
Galvez to cut a deal knowing the gun wouldn't get in.
He got her off the hook, but we'll never prove it.
Not to sound like a broken record I'm not giving up on Salva.
The gun can't be used against Mr.
Salva, but it can be used against your client.
We have a deal.
With the State of New York, not with the United States Government.
Mr.
Rodman, this is Anna Galvez, and this is her attorney, Marcy Fletcher Wrightman.
Mr.
Rodman is with the U.
S.
Attorney's Office.
What's going on here? This letter cedes jurisdiction to the Feds.
Ms.
Galvez, you and your boyfriend will be prosecuted in federal court.
Mr.
Rodman assures me the tape will be admitted into evidence.
Both of you will face the death penalty under the anti-carjacking statute.
It's not Romeo and Juliet Just because she knew where the gun was doesn't make her an accomplice.
I'd settle for one execution.
What do you want from me? You take the stand against your boyfriend, I tear up this letter.
We need a moment alone here.
So, what am I, the dog or the pony? I don't know what you're talking about.
I blew off a staff meeting to come here for this.
Now, I came here in good faith and I expected to leave with a capital case.
I never promised you anything.
Persona non grata, Jamie.
Your calls don't get returned.
He'll get over it.
Before she agrees to testify as to what Mr.
Salva told her about the crime, my client wants an assurance from you.
Yeah? I don't want my baby to grow up without a father.
I don't want Fernando going away forever.
You have to promise me that he won't.
Ms.
Galvez, I'm sorry about your situation, but the only way you can help your boyfriend now is to keep Uncle Sam from shoving a needle into his arm.
You don't understand.
It's my fault.
I made him promise to get me a car so that I could take my mother to work at night in Brooklyn.
He has his pride.
He wanted to take care of me.
He told you he was planning to steal the car? Only after, when it was on the news.
He was so sick about it.
That's why he didn't shoot her.
That's why he covered her up.
He is not evil.
He did it for me because I wanted a car.
Oh, God.
I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry it happened.
For the record, the jury having found Fernando Salva guilty of Murder in the Second Degree, we are here for the purpose of imposing sentence.
Mr.
McCoy, are you ready to proceed? Your Honor, I renew my objection.
You excluded this tape At trial.
It's being offered at this hearing not for its probative value, but as an aggravating factor in sentencing.
Now, sit down.
Fernando, please, think about this.
All the trouble you'll get in.
You'll regret it for the rest of your life.
It's too late.
It don't matter.
I've met a lot of young men like you in my work.
Boys everyone gave up on.
But they turned their lives around.
So can you, Fernando.
I can help you.
I want to help you.
Get out of the car.
No, wait.
Listen to me.
Think of all the people you're going to hurt.
Your family.
You'll ruin their lives.
Come on.
Come on, move.
No, please.
Look at the picture.
Look at my little babies.
I love them so much.
I love their father.
Please, don't take me away from him.
Come on! No! No, I don't want to die! Let go! No, stop! Shut up! Let go! Please! For the love of God, don't kill me! Let go! Turn around.
Please, just stop and think, Fernando.
You're making a terrible mistake.
Just stop and think.
The People have nothing further, Your Honor.
The lab ran off a copy.
Good.
I'm leaving instructions to play it at Salva's parole hearing 25 years from now.
Makes you wonder how close she came to walking away from it.
She was dead the minute he said, "Drive.
" Then why didn't he shoot her? The noise.
So, you want to join me for a club soda? Not tonight.
Rain check? You know, a few weeks before it happened, she wanted to quit.
I talked her out of it.
Yeah, well, I could have kept walking past that bar.