Law & Order (1990) s10e24 Episode Script

NARRATOR: 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.
Who needs more wine and cheese parties? What the board should spend our money on is better elevators.
Well, I like wine and cheese parties.
I get to meet the neighbors.
Why do you want to meet them? You have me and Charlotte.
You work all the time.
I go crazy talking to Charlotte all day.
You can call me, Claudia.
Look at these stairs.
Somebody spilled something and didn't clean it up.
Look, it's everywhere.
This is what they should spend our money on.
Chris, I think it's blood.
What? Claudia, hand me the cell phone.
ED: You canvass the tenants? Uh-huh.
Nobody's missin' a guest.
But we found a guy who saw somebody outside the building around 9:00 matching the victim's description.
What was this somebody doing? He was lurking.
Tenant's exact words.
Lurking.
You ever actually see anybody lurk? Bela Lugosi.
That guy could really lurk.
So how'd this guy get in? Super figures he snuck in when he was taking out the garbage.
Well, boys and girls, what's today's special? OFFICER: Male white, Blunt force trauma to the head.
Looks like he took a header down the stairs.
Slip and slide? No, he had a lending hand.
He's got scratches on his face, his hands.
Overcoat's torn.
You check his pockets? No ID, no wallet.
Nine bucks in loose bills.
Key ring.
That's it.
Get a team and search the building.
His clothes have got some miles on them.
Shirt's from Bergstrom's custom tailor.
Sleeves are frayed.
He's got a monogram on it.
"R.
O.
T.
" Looks like the old boy hit some hard times.
Figure him for a vagrant, looking for a warm place to sleep.
Well, he found it.
(SIGHS) I can't say.
Maybe if he didn't look so bad.
His shirt was monogrammed on the right sleeve.
R-O-T.
I'd have to check.
Can you come back? Hey, we're not orderin' suits here.
We need what we need now.
Ooh! This is nice.
Hey, how much is this? Five thousand.
BRISCOE: For a suit? For a jacket.
One good hand.
Hey, I found him.
Roger Thorne.
Last time he was in here was a year ago.
I'm sorry, I don't recognize him.
What about the shirt? Something special about it? It's got your monogram on it.
No kidding.
Talk about irony.
This is funny to you? I took my website public January 10th.
January 11th, I threw away all my suits and collared shirts.
Never been happier.
This poor guy, on the other hand, wearing my old shirt.
The clothes, when you threw them away, what'd you do with them? The Salvation Army Store on 72nd picked them up.
Mmm-hmm.
He used to come in here every month for some years.
Old man on a pension.
You know his name? Mr.
Whitman.
Usually paid cash.
What did he die from? Taking a header.
You know where he lived? Oh, no.
He hasn't been around for a few months.
Not since he passed a bad check.
Do you still have the check? Got a photocopy.
We'll take it.
Hey, do you know anything about this guy besides his name? I think he was a retired professor.
He always carried this satchel with him, stuffed with newspaper articles and books.
He said he spent a lot of time in the library doing research.
Research on what? Check kiting.
Who knows? Here we go.
Samuel Whitman.
I rented Sam a room in my apartment for a couple of years.
I had to kick him out last summer.
He wasn't paying his share.
He have any family? Ex-wife.
Couple of kids he never saw.
What about friends, like over on East 63rd? That's where we found him.
I didn't know his friends.
I never heard him mention that he had any.
Where'd you know him from? Nowhere.
I put up a "Room to Rent" sign.
He saw it.
He came in.
He give any references? (CHUCKLES) Yeah.
Ben Franklin, five times.
First month's and a cleaning deposit.
ED: After you evicted him, where'd he go? Don't know.
What about his mail? Where'd you forward it? I don't.
He doesn't get any mail.
Oh, God, this guy's breaking my heart.
I might have felt sorry for him too, except he started driving me crazy with his bitching and moaning.
ED: About what? The CIA, the Navy.
Said they killed his son.
The M.
E.
Ran a tox screen on Whitman.
There were no traces of anti-psychotic drugs, no anti-depressants.
The man wasn't being medicated.
So his rantings about the CIA? Probably not delusional.
Or he hadn't popped up on the shrink radar yet.
You give the apartment building another shakedown? BRISCOE: Yeah.
Nobody but nobody says they knew the guy.
We even checked past tenants.
Employees? Former employees? You give them a good look? We went back five years.
We can go back 10 if you want.
What I want is for you to tell me what he was doing in that building.
How about his kids? We're working on 'em.
You know how many Whitmans there are in the Social Security rolls? I'm sure you'll figure it out.
The search team found this in a dumpster near the building.
S.
C.
W.
Sam Whitman.
Pencils and pens, Kleenex.
"Directory of Government Phone Numbers.
" "Central Intelligence Agency field report.
" Hmm.
This looks like a twentieth-generation photocopy.
Except for a few commas, all the text is blacked out.
VAN BUREN: Here's a bill for a mailbox at Postal Place.
Go see what's in it.
I don't know if I can do that.
It's a federal offense, yeah? Only if we open it, which we promise we won't.
Thanks.
We'll take it from here.
If you can get us Mr.
Whitman's home address? Okay, let's see.
Journal of the Americas, Latin American Review, Foreign Affairs Quarterly.
Covert Action Policy Review.
CounterPunch newsletter.
Here's something I can relate to.
A phone bill.
"Return to Sender, Moved, No Forwarding Address.
" The letter's addressed to Captain Ed Albrecht, United States Navy.
Retired, Atlanta.
Fellow conspiracy buff? Mr.
Whitman's address.
Mattawin Hotel.
I wrote it out for you.
ED: Thank you.
Cozy.
Seein' as the old guy's dead, it's all yours.
He have many visitors? Never seen anybody come up here.
BRISCOE: Hey, Ed.
"Chilean Socialist Government Overthrown by Army.
" "President Allende Killed in Coup.
" "General Pinochet takes control.
" "September, 1973.
" ED: "American College Student Missing in Chile.
" "Jason Whitman, 22, of New York City tortured and shot at close range.
" More top secret stuff from the Freedom of Information Office.
"Three days before his disappearance, "Jason Whitman was seen in the company of U.
S.
Naval Attache" The name's blacked out.
Captain Albrecht, formerly of Atlanta? If he had anything to do with killing this man's kid, he'd better run.
Twenty-seven years later or not.
Nobody named Albrecht ever lived in the building where Whitman was found.
Maybe he got the wrong address.
Someone in there killed him.
Well, we ruled out hired help.
The building employees and the domestics all checked out.
Did you run down the address on Whitman's letter? It's an apartment complex.
Edwin Albrecht moved out about a year ago.
He was admitted into a VA hospital last year with lung cancer.
He died six weeks ago.
Next of kin? There was nobody named.
His wife's dead, there's no children listed.
He's buried in a VA cemetery outside of Atlanta.
A lonely old soldier.
Lonely, maybe.
He was only 59.
(PHONE RINGING) Van Buren.
Right.
Thank you.
Sam Whitman's daughter is in town to claim his body.
Please thank your lieutenant for making the arrangements.
My mother and I are going to have my dad buried next to my brother.
BRISCOE: We found some newspaper clippings about your brother in your dad's apartment.
Jason's death tore our family apart.
My mom and dad split up.
He kept drifting from job to job.
It was like his heart was ripped out of him.
What can you tell us about what happened? He was murdered by the Chilean military.
And Dad was obsessed with finding out who was responsible.
ED: Did he ever say who it was? Pinochet.
And he thought that people from the U.
S.
Were involved.
Did he ever mention a Naval Captain named Albrecht? We think he was looking for him the night he was killed.
No, he never mentioned that name, but, you know, I called my dad a few weeks ago, and he sounded really upbeat.
He said that pretty soon the truth about Jason's death was going to come out.
I took it as another one of my dad's false hopes.
Can you excuse me? I need to call my mother.
Sure.
(SIGHS) I think it's time we honed in on this Albrecht character.
Let's check the LUDs for every apartment in that building.
That's about Maybe we can connect one of them to the VA hospital or to Albrecht's Atlanta address.
I get the feeling we're chasing ghosts here.
They seem real enough to me.
A resident named Kevin Morse made an overseas call to country code 56, city code 2.
That's not Atlanta.
Santiago, Chile, two weeks ago.
(PHONE LINE RINGING) Por favor.
Let me guess.
Voice mail hell, in Spanish.
Hola.
Chilean Army Headquarters.
What's this guy Morse doing calling the Chilean Army? Two weeks ago, my window frames were being replaced.
There were four Spanish guys up here working.
Did you let them use your phone? We aren't here during the day.
There's supposed to be somebody from the managing agent with them so things like that don't happen.
BRISCOE: You mind tellin' us where you were Tuesday night? Here, with my wife and daughter.
Never left the house.
Do you know anybody named Edwin Albrecht? No, I don't.
Now, if you want to find out about that call, you should ask those workers.
Thanks.
Let's find out who's sellin' window frames in Santiago.
After you phoned yesterday, I discussed this matter with the Consul General.
He would like to know if the person who was called in Chile is your murder suspect.
Why? Because we traced this call to a very prominent figure in our country.
Well, our suspect's an American.
But, who did the call go to? To Colonel Emilio Pantoya.
Director of Intelligence for Pinochet? From what I read, Pantoya's practically a war criminal.
Old history.
Chile is a democracy now.
Colonel Pantoya's a senator.
Elected? Appointed by our President.
What business would an American civilian have with him? It may have had something to do with Colonel Pantoya's illness.
He's here in New York at Landis Hill Hospital.
I have strict instructions.
No is one to see the Colonel.
Is that for some sort of medical reason? That's right.
He has kidney disease.
His doctor won't return until tomorrow.
How about we just poke our heads in and see if the Colonel's up to it? I'm sorry, I can't.
Okay.
Maybe you can help us.
ORRA: So you don't have to upset the Colonel? Yeah, right.
Your boss know a Kevin Morse or a Captain Edwin Albrecht? I don't recognize those names.
How about Sam Whitman? If the Colonel had contact with these men, I would know this.
So you see, you're wasting your time here.
Doctor comes in once a day, he can't be all that sick.
We ain't gettin' in there without a warrant.
But we know the call came from Morse's apartment.
He's not a government employee.
Maybe he's got some past connection to the military.
Kevin Morse.
Born 4l7l66 in Danbury, Connecticut.
Alumni scholarship to Annapolis, brief tour in the Persian Gulf.
How long was he in the Navy? Two years.
He resigned his commission.
Why? Doesn't say.
We got his old man's name from his rental application.
You got anything for a Franklin Morse? Born August 19th, 1942, in Milwaukee.
Drafted in '62, stationed with the Third Infantry in West Germany.
I thought Morse Junior was second-generation Annapolis.
All it says is Morse Senior graduated high school.
He was honorably discharged from the Army and married in 1975.
His son Kevin was born nine years before he was married? I'm just giving you what's here.
Do me a favor.
Run a Naval Captain Edwin Albrecht.
Captain Edwin Albrecht had one son.
Kevin.
He just happens to have the same birth date as you.
He was my father.
Then why'd you lie about it? (STUTTERING) I'm sorry.
When my mother remarried, I took my stepfather's name.
Whitman was obsessed with finding your father.
Is that why you killed him? My father's dead.
So maybe Whitman got obsessed with you.
BRISCOE: It all stacks up against you, Mr.
Morse.
Your father's posting at the embassy in Chile.
The death of Whitman's son during the coup.
The telephone call to Chilean Army Headquarters.
Maybe you better explain what happened.
When this Whitman knocked on my door, I'd never laid eyes on him before.
He started raving about a cover-up, demanding to see Captain Albrecht.
So I let him into the stairwell so he wouldn't upset my family.
So nobody could see you beat the crap out of him.
I didn't mean to hurt him I told him that my father was dead.
He went into a rage.
He said he didn't believe me.
He grabbed me.
I fought him off to try to protect myself.
He slipped.
He fell down the stairs.
I swear it was an accident.
Then why'd you try to get rid of his satchel and his I.
D.
? Because I didn't think anyone would believe me.
So why should we? I was ashamed.
Why? Because you beat an old man to death? Because of my father.
What Whitman said was true.
He killed Whitman's son? My father was drunk one night.
He started bragging about how they'd helped the Chileans murder an American.
BRISCOE: They? Naval Intelligence.
Your father said he was involved? I didn't want to believe it at first.
American officers killing an American.
And then I killed his father.
Morse says Pantoya was calling to get in contact with his father.
Morse called him back to tell him his father was dead.
You believe him? Hey, he's sittin' at home, minding his own business.
Whitman shows up and goes off on him about something that happened 30 years ago.
Any problems with his confession? We got it all in writing with a Miranda waiver.
To tell you the truth, I think Morse was happy to get it off his chest.
Too bad he's the only one in his family with a conscience.
(SIGHS) Well, if you need anything else, let us know.
Man two? One to three.
I can live with that.
Well, we can put that one in the books.
One down, one to go.
(THUMPS TABLE) Captain Albrecht told his son he was complicit in Jason Whitman's murder.
We think it warrants a federal investigation.
We did some checking.
Albrecht was nowhere near Chile when the young man was killed.
So what? He could have had accomplices.
Chilean nationalists.
Aren't they in Santiago? Colonel Pantoya's here in New York.
Pantoya's a senator for life.
He has immunity.
His own people don't want to prosecute him.
He was given immunity to pacify the military so they wouldn't seize power from his own people.
The last thing the Justice Department wants is to meddle in the internal affairs of a sovereign country.
It's a little late to be repudiating the Monroe Doctrine.
Why don't you just look into it? It's not an American problem.
A dead American is not your problem? It's over and done with, Mr.
McCoy.
Jason Whitman grew up in Hell's Kitchen.
Graduated from Power Memorial on the Upper West Side.
Lew Alcindor's old school.
They tore it down It's time to let go, Jack.
The Feds aren't interested.
There's little or no evidence.
It's a dead end.
This could have been me.
I can't really picture you with a Che Guevara look.
You won't get your hands on Pantoya again.
Pantoya's 74 years old.
Is that an affirmative defense for mass murder? Chile's a democracy now.
Maybe it's time we stayed out of their business.
That would have been good advice for Jason Whitman.
Hey, the kid didn't deserve to die.
Whitman had a girlfriend who went with him to Chile.
Let's see if we can find her.
Jason and I fell in love during my sophomore year.
We spent the summer in Chile.
What was the attraction, Mrs.
Benson? Jason and I were into the socialists who'd just been elected.
It sounds naive now, but the whole world was changing before our eyes.
We just wanted to be a part of it.
What did you do while you were down there? Jason caught on as a stringer at one of the leftist radio stations in Santiago.
Did you ever come into contact with a U.
S.
Naval Captain named Albrecht? We were in Valparaiso right before the coup.
There were U.
S.
Warships anchored offshore.
We met Albrecht in a cantina.
He gave us lift back to our friends' house just outside Santiago.
Americans? Tino and Elena Calderon.
On the way there, he warned us that we should get the hell out of Chile.
So you got out and Jason didn't.
I begged Jason to come with me.
He told me he'd be okay at the Calderon's.
He said not to worry.
Nobody'd bother him because he was American.
Carrie and Jason.
It reminds me of a very bad time.
I thought when I came to this country I would forget.
Why didn't your husband emigrate here with you? Carrie didn't tell you? He was killed by Colonel Pantoya.
Could you tell us how it happened? When General Pinochet took over, Jason came to stay with us.
But they found him anyway.
JACK: Do you know how? I'm sorry.
We told Jason that he should try to go back home.
But he said no.
He wanted to stay and help us.
One night the soldiers knocked down our door.
La Guarda.
Colonel Pantoya's men.
Where did they take them? They just took them outside and put them in the truck.
I never saw Tino again.
They never even brought his body back to me.
Subpoenaed files from our friends at the Navy.
Maybe we'll find out if Albrecht was in Chile.
I hope you know what you're doin'.
Captain Albrecht knew where Jason Whitman was hiding.
I think he dropped the dime on him.
It could have been anyone, Jack.
Then how do you explain what Albrecht told his son? We're tilting at windmills.
What windmills? Jason Whitman was tortured and murdered.
Over there.
And I've got a flesh and blood suspect right here.
So now we claim jurisdiction for every New Yorker that's killed? Well, if you're gonna get hung up on a little thing like jurisdiction.
(CARMICHAEL SIGHS) What? (SIGHS) Maybe I shouldn't tell you this.
Naval log from the day Whitman was arrested.
Captain Albrecht was in New York at the UN to brief our delegation to the Security Council.
He and his aide were registered at the Hilton.
John Groban, Lieutenant Junior Grade.
Let's find him.
Captain Albrecht was in the room right next to me at the Hilton.
The coup in Chile started the night he flew in.
I was juggling calls from West-Pac, Naval Operations Captain Albrecht make any calls to Chile? Not while I was there.
JACK: He ever mention a Chilean Colonel named Pantoya? Actually, yeah.
The night he went to the UN he had me run out and send him a telex.
Do you remember what it said? It was just an address and some initials.
What initials? I'm pretty sure it said J.
W.
You knew about this? Why didn't you tell someone? I did.
They already knew.
The telex was sent at 6:30 p.
m.
Four hours later, the National Guard rolled up to the address Albrecht provided.
A house outside Santiago belonging to Tino Calderon.
That's where they arrested Jason Whitman.
There's our jurisdiction, Adam.
You couldn't let sleeping dogs lie.
I just got off the phone with the Under Secretary of State.
They heard about the files you subpoenaed from the Navy.
They're hopping mad.
Whitman was set up from 6th Avenue and 53rd Street.
You were an A.
D.
A.
When they killed him.
You can put Pantoya in it? The telex with Whitman's address was sent directly to him.
Oh, boy.
We do this, all hell breaks loose I know.
Well? Vaya con Dios.
(CHATTER ON POLICE RADIO) Stand aside, jefe.
Yes? What is it? BRISCOE: You're under arrest, Colonel.
Arrest? What for? Conspiracy to commit murder.
(SCOFFS) I'm sorry, my friend, but I have immunity.
Blanket immunity.
Yeah, the same blanket you put over Whitman's corpse? You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can be used against you.
You have the right to an attorney.
If you do not have an attorney, one will be appointed to you.
You have no idea what a headache you've created for the administration.
You're thumbing nose at the stated policy of not only this president, but every president before him.
Which is what? Giving aid and comfort to tinhorn despots? It's an internal matter for the Chilean people.
Yeah, well, we don't see them falling over themselves to do anything about it.
Be that as it may, Mr.
Schiff, it's outside the purview of your office.
It is? A kid from the West Side? WHEELER: This isn't neighborhood politics.
You're screwing with our national interest.
Stupid me.
I was under the impression that our national interest was prosecuting people who murder our citizens.
You won't do it, I will.
We're filing an amicus brief in support of Colonel Pantoya's motion to dismiss the indictment.
Good for you.
Just don't embarrass me.
Everyone here agrees that Jason Whitman was killed in Chile.
Since no significant element of that crime took place in New York or even on American soil The information about Jason Whitman's whereabouts was sent to Colonel Pantoya by telex from a Midtown hotel.
Under New York law, the crime of conspiracy occurs where any element of the conspiracy takes place.
That telex isn't an element of any murder conspiracy.
Mr.
McCoy cannot prove that Captain Albrecht knew sending the information would result in Jason Whitman's death.
Your Honor, did Albrecht think the Colonel was going to take Jason out for a bowl ceviche? What are they gonna do? Dig him up and ask him? They cannot prove intent.
No intent, no conspiracy.
No conspiracy, Colonel Pantoya goes home, no matter what crimes he might have committed in Chile, where, by the way, he's been granted full immunity.
What that telex proves about Albrecht's intent is an issue of fact for a jury, not an issue of law for a judge.
I've got to go with Mr.
McCoy on this, Mr.
Chiles.
I have no choice.
Your motion to dismiss is denied.
Then, Your Honor, I ask that the charges be set aside on humanitarian grounds.
I have a report from three American doctors detailing Colonel Pantoya's medical status.
He has kidney disease, diabetes, he suffered a stroke last year.
His health is failing.
Prosecuting this sick old man serves no useful purpose.
Your Honor, we prosecute criminals who have cancer and AIDS.
Why make an exception? I'll need a few days to review these reports.
I don't need this, Adam.
That makes two of us.
Then rein him in.
What's he doing chasing murderers south of the border? Don't you give him enough to do up here? (CLICKS TONGUE) What are you going to do? (SCOFFS) I can set free a mass murderer.
I can set off an international crisis.
Adam, I have no illusions.
I am no John Sirica.
I am not taking on the President's men.
Doesn't the Colonel have a note from his doctors? Maybe get a second opinion.
How does that get me off the hook? If it's off the hook you want, you should have stayed in municipal court.
You told me once you want to do some good.
Here's your chance.
MRS.
WHITMAN: The first we heard of it was on the evening news.
They said there was fighting down there in Chile, that the army had killed the President.
So, Sam, my husband, tried to call Jason.
He got through to the hotel, but Jason wasn't there.
The hotel operator told him that there were tanks and shooting in the streets.
What did you and your husband do? We waited.
We were sure that Jason would be okay like he'd always been, no matter what foolhardy thing he did.
Then we didn't hear for three days.
Sam called the American embassy down there.
We couldn't get any information.
Did you eventually find out what happened to your son? Yes.
We got an anonymous call from someone in Chile.
They said, um, they'd seen Jason alive in this sports stadium where the army put their prisoners.
Sam took some money from the bank.
He was going to bring Jason home.
When he got to Chile, someone from the embassy told him they'd found Jason, and they took Sam to a police station and Jason was there, lying on a dirty floor with other young people, dead.
Sam could hardly recognize him.
He'd been beaten up, his whole face was Um They said that maybe the Communists had killed Jason but Sam didn't believe them.
What did your husband do? The embassy people told him to go home, they said they would take care of getting the body released.
(STUTTERS) So, Sam came home by himself.
Two months after that, they sent Jason home in a wood box.
His bones were broken.
His private parts had burns from electric shocks.
He had three bullet holes in the back of his head.
That man killed my little boy, he killed my family.
Thank you.
I'm very sorry for your loss.
While Jason was at NYU, he was arrested a number of times, isn't that right? For demonstrating against the Vietnam War.
A lot of young people did that.
I doubt many were arrested six times, including once for throwing a bottle at a police officer.
My son collected food for poor people.
He helped underprivileged children learn to read.
And he participated in violent demonstrations.
Do you know what he did in Chile? He had a summer job at a radio station.
Station FPG.
In Spanish, those letters stand for the Guevara Popular Front.
You know who Che Guevara was? I'm not sure.
He was a communist revolutionary.
He was a friend of Fidel Castro.
He went to Bolivia to start a revolution.
He killed innocent people.
Jason wasn't like that.
He was just a big-hearted boy.
A big-hearted boy with a taste for violence and for communist rhetoric.
A foolhardy boy who went to a foreign country to preach revolution, just like his hero, Che Guevara.
Objection.
Sustained.
Dial it down, Mr.
Chiles.
No further questions, Your Honor.
I was an accountant for the Agrarian Reform Movement of President Allende.
I was arrested four days after the coup.
I was taken to the National Stadium in Santiago.
What happened once you got there? It was filled with thousands of political prisoners.
Many people I knew.
I met a young American, that boy, Jason Whitman.
He had been interrogated by the National Intelligence Directory.
The DINA.
A force commanded by Colonel Pantoya.
Yes.
He had been beaten up in the face and on his body.
He tried to make jokes, but he was in very much pain.
He was very frightened.
There were many people like him at the stadium.
Many people who had been tortured.
What happened to him? Two days after I got there, the soldiers came in the night and took him away.
I never saw him again.
McCOY: Were you also interrogated by Colonel Pantoya's men? Yes.
And what happened to you in those interrogations? Objection.
I don't see the relevance in I do.
Overruled.
Go ahead, Mr.
Reyes.
They hung me upside down by my ankles and burned me with cigarettes.
They put electrodes on my tongue and my eyelids.
They would not let me sleep.
They tried to drown me.
Three times they put a gun at my head and pretended to shoot me.
They did this to me for two months.
And you're positive that the people who tortured you were under the command of Colonel Pantoya? Yes.
He visited the prison many times.
The man you laughed at, the man hanging like a pig, it was me! Through my blood and my tears, I saw you, Colonel.
PANTOYA: There was war and anarchy in my country.
Allende and his pack of communists were stealing private property, bankrupting the country with their irresponsible ideas.
Then we acted to save the republic, and we acted with the support of the American government.
CHILES: Is it true that you imprisoned the supporters of the Allende regime? Yes.
To preserve our democracy.
Many of these prisoners were tortured? Ah, well, they (EXCLAIMS) They were interrogated, let's say, vigorously.
I mean, these people were very dangerous people.
I mean, many of them belonged to armed groups financed by Cuba and by the Soviet Union.
Some of them were executed? Only the ones, uh, that were found guilty of treason by a military tribunal.
How do you explain Jason Whitman's death? A mistake.
A regrettable mistake, during time of crisis.
It was not sanctioned by me or by anyone under my command.
I am not stupid enough to pick a fight with the United States by killing one of its citizens.
Thank you, Colonel.
Are you familiar with the "Caravan of Death," Colonel? (SIGHS) I will not answer.
It was a Chilean military death squad that executed hundreds of political prisoners.
Isn't that right? I'm not responding to fables.
Fables? Yes.
People's Fifty-eight.
Colonel, according to these reports from reputable human rights groups, over 4000 people disappeared under your regime.
Another 50,000 were systematically tortured.
Objection.
Colonel Pantoya is not on trial for these alleged crimes.
Sustained.
The jury will disregard.
Move it along, Mr.
McCoy.
We heard testimony that Captain Albrecht telexed Jason Whitman's whereabouts to you.
What did you do with that information? I will not answer.
I have immunity from my government.
You had him executed, didn't you? Who are you to judge what I did in defense of my country? You had the planes, the tanks, the guns.
What did Jason Whitman have? A tape recorder? If you go to a fox hunt, don't dress as fox.
And Mrs.
Whitman's little boy went to Chile to help the communists destroy my country.
JACK: So it's his fault he's dead? PANTOYA: I'm not answering.
You broke his body, and then you put three bullets in his head.
Isn't that right? I have immunity.
Not from these 12 people, Colonel.
Your Honor, since the witness refuses to testify.
I move to strike his entire testimony.
Motion granted.
The jury will disregard Mr.
Pantoya's testimony.
JACK: Thank you, Your Honor.
Mr.
Foreman, has the jury reached a verdict? We have, Your Honor.
BUSEY: Will the defendant please rise.
(WHISPERS) Your Honor, could my client be excused from rising for reasons of health? No, no.
I refuse.
I can stand, but I refuse.
Mr.
Pantoya.
PANTOYA: I'm a Colonel and a Senator, and I do not recognize your right to judge me.
So I will not stand.
Fine.
Let him sit.
Mr.
Foreman, on the sole count of the indictment, conspiracy in the first degree.
How do you find? We the jury in the above entitled action, find the defendant, Emilio Sandoval Amando Pantoya guilty.
(PEOPLE MURMURING) (SIGHS) ADAM: This is my favorite.
"Jury Fries The Colonel.
" (LAUGHS) If I didn't know better, I'd offer you a drink.
We'll see how it does on appeal.
Try to enjoy something while it lasts.
I'm happy about the verdict but, by all rights, Pantoya should been tried by a jury of his peers.
By his fellow countrymen, in a Chilean court.
Murder is murder, wherever.
(KNOCK ON DOOR) As long as justice gets done.
Yes? If you think you heard a shoe drop, you did.
(SIGHS) Thanks to our friends in the Attorney General's Office, Pantoya's gotten himself an emergency expedited hearing before the Supreme Court on a writ of habeas corpus.
Of course.
You don't really think that the right wing of the Supreme Court is going to let you get away with this? Not to mention Madam Justice from Arizona.
She isn't in anybody's pocket.
Fine.
One wild card.
Not much to hang your reputation on.
You let us worry about our reputation.
Hmm.
I'm thinking about Adam Schiff's reputation.
You in lose in D.
C.
, and how long do you think it'll take the voters to realize what a massive waste of time and resources this has been? What damage has been done to the credibility of the District Attorney's Office? And they will take it out on him, McCoy.
You asked for this meeting.
You got anything besides the guilt trip? Agree to probation.
You make your point, you save face, Colonel Pantoya goes home.
I might as well spit in the jury's eye.
I'd rather have an acquittal than give your client probation.
Fine.
(DOOR SHUTS) Probation would at least preserve the verdict.
You'd win on principle.
I'll remember that the next time you push for the death penalty.
Well, then, maybe I've misunderstood.
I thought this case was about principle because it certainly not been about the law.
You don't think I've followed the letter of the law? I think you've skated on the thin edge of the page.
Maybe it's time to take your winnings off the table.
We haven't won anything yet.
(SIGHS) Guess we go to Washington.
Upholding the conviction of Colonel Pantoya would fly in the face of the immunity granted him by the very people he allegedly oppressed and tortured.
If a state such as Iraq or Libya were to grant immunity to a criminal, must we be bound by it? Madam Justice, Chile is not a renegade terrorist state.
Its present government was democratically elected and it is an ally to the United States.
The prosecution of former ministers of a sovereign state for transgressions committed in Chile would violate treaties between our countries.
It trespasses on the constitutional powers of our executive branch to conduct foreign policy.
But, Mr.
Chiles, if a jurisdictional nexus has been established, why should the prosecution of serious crimes become hostage to foreign policy? If this conviction stands, it will be end of foreign policy.
Imagine our President, while on a visit to a foreign country, being arrested on warrant issued by China for the bombing of their embassy in Serbia.
Or a former Secretary of State being tried in Cambodia for the killing of civilians during the Vietnam War.
This conviction would legitimize such prosecutions.
How could any President conduct foreign policy under these circumstances? Only the narrowest reading ofjurisdictional statutes must apply.
The sovereignty of democratically elected governments in judicial manners must be respected.
The alternative is anarchy, under the guise of criminal prosecution.
CHIEF JUSTICE: Thank you, Mr.
Chiles.
Mr.
McCoy.
Thank you, Mr.
Chief Justice.
May it please the Court.
Man has only the rights he can defend.
Our most basic right is life.
It's enshrined, not only in our Constitution, but in the charter of the United Nations.
The prohibition against taking a life is found in our most ancient texts and in the statutes of every nation.
Every murder, whether in Brooklyn, Santiago, Rwanda or Kosovo demands punishment by whatever legal means possible.
Otherwise, the right to life is just an empty promise.
But, Mr.
McCoy, doesn't using a jurisdictional fig leaf to propel prosecution undermine the statutes you refer to? On the contrary, Madam Justice.
Timidity in the pursuit of murderers is no virtue.
The Founding Fathers affirmed life as an absolute right.
If the laws protecting that right are to have any meaning, they must be given the broadest interpretation.
What about the appellant's contention that upholding this conviction would open a Pandora's box and hinder the conduct of our foreign policy.
The precedent has already been set.
Heads of state can be tried for war crimes.
An American President sent the Marines to Panama to arrest President Noriega for drug smuggling.
And if this case gives our own leaders pause before they drop a load of napalm on a village full of children in a neutral country, that can't be a bad thing.
The law against murder applies to all.
No matter the perpetrator, the victim or the country where the murder is committed.
It's the one moral law that recognizes no national, racial or religious boundaries.
It can tolerate no exceptions.
There is one law.
One law.
And when that law is broken it's the duty of every officer of any court to rise up in defense of that law and bring their full power and diligence to bear against the lawbreaker.
Because man has only those rights he can defend.
Only those rights.
Thank you.
Well, we wait here another five hours or go back to the hotel? The clerk said it might not be too much longer.
Quick turnaround for this court.
Doesn't sound promising.
Win, lose.
You fought the good fight.
Amen to that.
Well, if that isn't reason for hope.
Here comes the clerk.
Looks like she's holding the decision.