Law & Order (1990) s11e02 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.
(MALE ANNOUNCER CHATTERING OVER PA) Excuse me.
Excuse me, officers, there's a homeless woman There's a homeless woman at the end of the platform, she's being eyed by some men and I'm concerned that she's vulnerable.
What do you mean vulnerable? I mean she's asleep on the bench and she's vulnerable.
All right, lady, calm down.
Show us what you're talkin' about.
What are you lookin' at? Come on, dear.
Rise and shine.
Hold on a minute.
Oh, dear God.
How come they call the squad for a DOA on a subway platform? Maybe it's a person of great renown.
Maybe they thought we didn't have anything else to do.
Come on, folks, let's go.
You two the ones found the body? Yeah.
Anybody see how it happened? Not so far.
Cause of death? Paramedic's best guess is a cerebral hemorrhage.
There's an abrasion on her scalp, maybe from a fall, maybe not.
He figures she's been dead about two hours.
Not much blood.
You got an ID? M.
E.
gave us the green light to tag and bag.
All I found were house keys, a MetroCard and some kinda receipt.
No purse? If she had one, it's gone.
ED: Well-dressed, nails done, she puts in an honest day's work and waits for the downtown local to go home.
Yeah.
She caught the express.
Single blunt force trauma to the vertex of the skull.
You know, it's hard to fall on the top of your head.
The hemorrhage was at the point of impact.
M.
E.
have any idea what was used? No.
They found particles of cement and asphalt in her scalp.
You mean, like one of those paving stones? Hey, they were workin' on the station.
That's what was laying around.
Looks like a hit-and-run.
ED: All right.
Thanks.
No one's filed a report with missing persons fitting her description.
Which could mean she was from out of town.
Oh, that's just what we need.
Female tourist beaten to death on the subway.
Nah, she was dressed more like a business woman than a tourist.
MetroCard ride history.
Thanks.
Let's see.
Repeated evening entries at the station where the body was found.
Corresponding morning entries at Franklin Street.
So not a tourist.
We'll canvas with the photo, see if somebody can tell us who she is.
Sorry.
Her MetroCard indicates that she came through here Tuesday morning.
Sorry.
Nothin' about her jumps out? Sorry.
Is this the only entrance? For uptown service.
Downtown, you have to go across the street.
I know, you're sorry Excuse me, sir, you here every day? Rain or shine, boss.
Do you recognize this woman? She don't look so good.
Well, you'll have to forgive her.
She's dead.
Take a look.
(EXHALES) If she's the lady I'm thinkin', she's a Wall Street Journal, a Times, New Yorker, Advocate.
Advocate? A gay monthly.
You notice which way she comes from? From 'cross the street.
And if she's the same lady, she always had a cup of coffee.
Thank you.
Two? We're tryin' to put a name to this woman's face.
We wanna know if she gets her morning coffee here.
Sheila does the take-out.
Sheila! Sheila! Come here a second.
These police are lookin' for this broad.
ED: We actually want to know if somebody recognizes her.
Yeah, I know her.
Comes in every morning for coffee.
I haven't seen her in a few days.
You know her name? No.
What happened to her? BRISCOE: Do you know if she lived around here? You're not gonna tell me what happened? She died.
Yeah, well, you can tell that from the picture.
Another person I know gone.
And this one had kids.
How do you know that? Every other week she's in here with new pictures that she just picked up from next door.
BRISCOE: Thanks.
Yeah.
Maybe ours, maybe not ours.
What if somebody doesn't pick 'em up right away? In here.
It's dated two weeks ago.
The name on it's Donnatelli.
Is there a first name or an account number? Only last name.
Oh, it's her.
There's a number six on the building.
We're gonna need these.
$12.
41.
I should pay? VAN BUREN: How we makin' out? BRISCOE: There's 17 Donnatellis listed in the book.
None of them with an address in that neighborhood.
Well, I don't care if we have to try her house keys door-to-door, when the Post runs that picture on the front page, we're gonna have a suspect.
Well, apparently she takes an interest in gay periodicals.
If that's significant.
Hey, there's Stephanie Donnatelli.
Hey, there's the six in the photograph.
ED: DMV faxed us drivers license photos of every female Donnatelli over 21.
Hmm.
If she lives on West 18th Street, why does she get the subway at Franklin? Good question.
Maybe we should see who else lives at this address.
(DOORBELL BUZZES) MAN: Yes? New York City detectives.
Is this the home of Stephanie Donnatelli? PAUL: It's the home of her children and her ex-husband.
Why? (STAMMERS) May we come up? (DOORBELL BUZZES) I wondered why I hadn't heard from her.
She was supposed to take the kids to a matinée.
ED: You didn't call? I figured she forgot.
Even though it's not like her to forget, and I was pissed and surprised.
I figured she had a lot going on at work.
I didn't want to make a whole thing of it.
I should have called.
Steph never would've forgotten something involving the kids.
Where did she work? She was a book editor at Arcade Publishing.
They're at 23rd & Broadway.
That's a block away from the subway.
Look, I know that this is a lousy time to ask questions like this but we have to know who might have known your ex-wife.
Now, can you tell us anything about her private affairs? You mean like her sex life? Anything at all.
At the age of 30 Stephanie came to the conclusion she was gay.
She still loved me, I still loved her, she adored her kids.
We just needed to stop living together as husband and wife.
Was she involved with anyone? She hasn't been for a long time.
This last month or so she's called me up on the phone at night and we've talked and talked.
And she's told me how How lonely she is.
(CRYING) We're really sorry for your loss.
(SOBBING) Thank you.
Can you think of anything she might've had with her? Jewelry, a watch, an address book? She had one of those funny watches, a Swatch watch, I think it is, with Winnie the Pooh on it.
She had different pins, different bracelets, there wasn't one that she wore all the time.
(STUTTERS) There was a cross that my mother gave her.
A little gold cross that she did wear all the time.
Yeah.
We showed the photograph around some bars near where she lived, no one recognized her and the ex-husband says that wasn't her scene.
So some nutcase goes after a woman with a paving stone.
It's the Konchalavsky woman all over again.
That guy went away, right? It's a copycat.
Right.
Thanks.
Well, apparently even though she's dead her credit isn't.
Somebody used her American Express card.
You don't check IDs? Well, it's the cashier's responsibility to do that.
I don't know what happened in this particular instance.
The transaction record says the credit approval came in at 11:43.
MANAGER: Okay.
Fast-forwarding.
I take it those persons don't have authorization to use that credit card? Ooh, you're good.
I'll make a copy of the tape.
No.
We'll make a copy.
We're sure the cashier didn't know them? We talked to her on the way out.
She said no.
Well, when you do find the girls, I want you to add a charge of felony bad taste.
Wearing white after Labor Day.
Someone just used the card again.
Movie theater, (ALL CHATTERING) How was the movie, ladies? Do I know you? No, but I know you.
You're both under arrest for possession of stolen property.
ED: Let's go.
I found that card.
Sure.
And it just happened to be in the pocket of the woman it belonged to.
(CLICKS TONGUE) Please.
Let me break it down for you, sweetheart.
That card belonged to a woman who is now dead.
She was murdered on her way home from work.
Hold up.
We don't know nothing about that.
Possession of a stolen credit card's a felony.
If you didn't commit the murder yourselves, you're at least an accessory after the fact.
Book 'em on that and take 'em up to Central.
Hold up! Wait a minute! We didn't have We have no choice.
They're just messin' with us.
ED: You think? (KNOCKING ON GLASS) What time's the next wagon leave for Central booking? In about 15 minutes.
Add these two to the list.
Wait a minute.
Wait.
Hold up.
Darlene, don't you say nothin'.
Look, I can't be gettin' put through this! I gotta be graduatin' junior college, I can't be gettin' put though this! Who gave you the card? Don't you say nothin', Darlene! Trey Wiles gave us that card.
BRISCOE: Who's Trey Wiles? Her boyfriend.
And he works in shipping on Seventh Avenue and 39th Street.
She's a spiteful bitch! She know Trey ain't had nothin' to do with this! You still gonna put us on that wagon? MAN: Keep it comin'.
Trey Wiles? Yeah? Put your hands behind your back, bro.
Hey, what's up with this? Some questions came up about your credit rating.
Yeah, we want to find out if you're eligible for the gold card.
Yeah.
Come on, man.
My boss finds out about this, I'm gonna lose my job.
Oh, you got bigger troubles than that, kid.
The American Express card you gave Shantay belonged to a woman who was murdered.
For real? Where'd you get it? Hey, look, man, don't know nothin' about no murder, man.
Okay, here's the deal, Trey.
If I have to put your ass in the back of this car, and drive down to the precinct, you're goin' upstate.
So, you tell us who gave you the card and you just had a bad day and you're home by supper.
All right.
I'll tell you where I got it.
I bought it.
From who? Street dude.
Street dude? What's his name? Raffi somethin' or somethin' Raffi, man.
I don't know.
He's a homeless dude.
He lives in the shelter on 127.
Comes around here every now and then.
Sells stuff.
That's all, man.
You better hope he's sleepin' in today.
Nah.
He's under me.
I'm the chief administrator here.
We're lookin' for a certain guest of this establishment.
A Raffi somethin'? Raffi Lorraine? Well, how many Raff I's you got? Ten beds back on the left.
Raffi Lorraine? Come on, man, it ain't time yet.
Early check out today.
Come on.
What did I do? ED: This your stuff? Yeah.
You wanna take it with you? Where am I goin'? You're comin' for a ride with us, you wanna take it with you or not? If I don't, it won't be here when I get back.
ED: You mind if I take a look? There's no weapons or anything? Anything that might hurt me? No.
This yours? Yes, sir.
BRISCOE: Buttons from the wrong side, chief.
I'm not picky about such matters.
ED: Where'd you find it? Garbage can.
Now why would somebody throw away a beautiful coat like this, huh? RAFFI: People with money get tired of their clothes sometimes.
They get tired of their gold crosses, too? Token clerk tells us you're a regular, Raffi.
Yeah.
And you're a real pain in the ass to all the passengers.
I don't bother nobody! The woman that cross belonged to was beaten to death.
Do you understand? I didn't do that.
Hey, we got you on the subway platform and we got you with the victim's possessions.
Now you have somethin' to say? Because the train's about to leave the station.
I saw who killed her.
BRISCOE: You sure it wasn't you? He was a black guy.
Maybe 30, 40.
One of them buggy guys goes off on you.
Yeah? What did you see this buggy guy do? He was walkin' around, talkin' to himself.
(IMITATES MUMBLING) Walkin' one end of the platform to the other.
The train comes in, people get on, except for that guy.
And you.
I'm workin' that platform.
I got garbage to go through.
Okay.
What did you see? This gal comes through the turnstile, stood near where the guy was, and all of a sudden he hits her with a rock! She walks a little ways away from him.
She grabs her head, drops down to a bench and he walks over and he grabs her eye glasses off her and then he walks right out of the station.
And you robbed whatever you could off the body.
That is what I did.
I'm not proud of myself for doin' it but that is all that I did! He knew about the paving stone.
Which doesn't guarantee him not being the one who used it.
His rap sheet's petty thefts and drugs.
I think he's tellin' the truth.
Okay.
Well, why don't you run down this buggy black guy story.
There was an EDP in the vicinity, maybe there was a complaint.
Officer Carlson? Yeah.
Detectives Green, Briscoe.
Sarge told me you'd be comin' around.
What's up? A few days ago you responded to an EDP in the subway.
Yeah.
Guy took a leak on the platform, female passenger took exception.
No collar? Would've just been a summons.
Why, what happened? You think you could ID him? What did he do? BRISCOE: We're lookin at him for a homicide.
I don't believe it.
Did you get a name? He wouldn't give us a name.
We tried to take him to a shelter but he refused.
Manager of an S.
R.
O.
on Eighth Avenue owes me a favor, took him over there.
(KNOCKING) Somebody's in there.
New York City Police Department.
Open up.
Got a key? It's okay, it's okay.
Take it easy.
All right.
Come on.
We're gonna get you up now.
Need to take you outta here.
Where you takin' me? To the police department.
We need to talk to you.
I need to finish what I'm doing.
Oh, you'll have plenty of time, don't worry.
Where is he? Interrogation room.
He's refusing to be fingerprinted.
I figured we didn't want to force the issue, have him lawyer up.
Okay.
Thanks.
You're welcome.
Sir, my name is Abby Carmichael.
I'm an Assistant District Attorney.
I understand there's some problem with you letting us fingerprint you.
Sir? (SCREAMS) Hey, hey, hey, hey! What ya doin'? He does that every so often.
I need to go outside.
Okay.
Sure.
But before you do, I want to talk to you for a little while.
Is that all right? The air in here is bad.
I need to go outside.
Can you tell me where you got your glasses? I needed 'em.
I couldn't see who was talkin' to me.
Did you take them from the woman on the subway? I couldn't see who was talkin' to me so that's why I took 'em.
Now I need to go outside.
Before I can let you go outside I need to know who you are.
I'm Regis Philbin.
Is that your final answer? Okay.
How about this? You let us fingerprint you.
When the prints come back, they'll confirm you're Regis Philbin and then everyone will know.
How's that sound? Brian Gallant.
Three misdemeanor convictions, all involving some violence.
He got out of Riker's a week ago.
Tell me he didn't get bail.
Court remanded him at his arraignment for a 730 exam.
Is he competent? Assuming Regis Philbin and all the other nutsy stuff isn't an act, I'd say borderline.
This also may not be the first attack he's responsible for.
And do you remember the attack on that Konchalavsky woman last year? Don't tell me.
Confessed, matches the composite.
(SIGHS) Okay.
I don't want to rely on the civil commitment to keep him off the streets.
Find out who's doing his evaluation.
Make sure we talk to them before they write their report.
Got it.
Then let's talk to his lawyer.
Okay.
You have no forensics linking him to the crime.
He was in possession of the victim's eye glasses.
Somebody else had the victim's coat.
Somebody else had the victim's credit card.
We also have a witness.
A homeless drug addict with a criminal record from here to Bayonne.
Mr.
Gallant made admissions to two separate attacks.
Counselors, we all know he wasn't competent to waive counsel.
The psychiatrist thinks he is competent.
Sure, they shovel medication into him, he's competent.
He killed the mother of two children.
Doesn't that enter into this for you? What are you looking for? Manslaughter first degree.
Because that's what you think he's guilty of or it looks good on your résumé? You're kidding, right? Tell me he's not insane, Jack.
I'll tell you you're not getting him off based on that.
He stole property and ran.
And flight's the one indicator juries love to rely on when they reject an insanity defense.
So it doesn't matter whether or not he's insane.
What matters most is he doesn't get to do this again.
Look at him, guys.
That's the master criminal you're looking to unleash your prosecutorial zeal on.
There's a ten-year-old and an eight-year-old who just found out they don't have a mother anymore.
Maybe you'd like to come take a look at them.
Anything less than Man One possible? Man One's it.
(SIGHS) Your Honor, I'm handing up the psychiatric report confirming this defendant's competency to enter a plea of guilty to Manslaughter in the First Degree in the death of Stephanie Donnatelli and Assault in the First Degree arising out of an attack on Nadine Konchalavsky.
You're satisfied with this report, Mr.
Jordan? Yes, I am, Your Honor.
Very well.
Mr.
Gallant, you understand that by pleading guilty you will be sentenced to a period of 10 to 20 years.
Yes.
JUDGE MIZENER: Did you kill Stephanie Donnatelli? I need you to answer for the stenographer.
Yes.
Did you attack Nadine Konchalavsky? GALLANT: Yes.
Can you tell us why you committed these crimes? No reason.
(SIGHS) Mr.
McCoy, I assume a motion to vacate the charges against the individual currently incarcerated for the attack on Miss Konchalavsky has been filed.
It has, Your Honor.
He'll be released as soon as I let Corrections know that we're done.
We're done.
We're done? Please, Mr.
Donnatelli.
You guys declare yourselves done and they're done.
You say the one and only person responsible for Steph getting killed is this lunatic, you put a line through it on your list and then you pat yourselves on the back! JUDGE MIZENER: Mr.
Donnatelli, I understand you're upset, but this isn't the time or place to address these things.
Tell me what is the time and place and I'll be there! Tell me when you're gonna hold someone accountable for turning him loose on Steph and I'll be there.
He did a year.
JACK: Misdemeanor assault.
He was released the night before he killed Stephanie Donnatelli.
CARMICHAEL: He was dropped off at the Queens Borough Plaza subway station at midnight with a token and a dollar and a half.
Who made that call? CARMICHAEL: Standard operating procedure.
We know from his medical chart that he made 11 visits to the jail's clinic, which means it's a safe bet someone knew something about his mental condition.
Yeah.
What did they know and when did they know it? Still, it's a long way from civil negligence to criminal liability.
Yes, it is.
Well, before we go after the Department of Corrections or Psychiatric Services or whoever it is who's responsible for this, I'd like to know we have a chance at winning.
We have some work to do before you make that call.
CARMICHAEL: These are the inmates treated at Riker's clinic in the first six months of last year.
These are the inmates treated in the last six months.
Quite a disparity.
That's because they stopped referring prisoners to hospitals.
Why? Six months ago the city privatized medical treatment at Riker's.
An HMO for inmates.
They gave a managed care contract to a company called SMJ Medical Services.
SMJ gets a monthly bonus when it holds down costs.
Which it does by not sending inmates to hospitals.
Which is why Brian Gallant was never referred.
JACK: Leon Greg Thirty-four.
He was awaiting trial for robbery and his weight dropped 30 pounds in less than two months.
Your medical treatment consisted of giving him an aspirin.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
This is the Chief Executive Officer of the company.
Our understanding is not that you're here to conduct an open-ended inquiry into inmate diagnosis.
In the past six months, four inmates have died at the Riker's clinic, three without ever seeing the inside of a hospital.
Those six months correspond to the period SMJ was hired to oversee the jail's medical services.
That's not fair.
Are the terms of your client's contract such that he receives a bonus for denying a prisoner access to a hospital? Absolutely not.
He receives a certain amount of incentive pay for successfully meeting targets.
An arrangement recently upheld by the United States Supreme Court, by the way.
Is it your reading of Pegram v.
Herdrich that people like Brian Gallant can get released without warning the authorities, without follow-up care? Mr.
Gallant had served his time.
My client had no choice.
Unless he was aware of the danger Gallant posed.
I've reviewed the procedures followed in Mr.
Gallant's case.
I believe they were, in all respects, correctly implemented.
Doctor's prescription? Jessie Dobbs? Is there some place we can talk? What about? Brian Gallant? I've got nothing to say.
You were his case manager.
You were transferred here the day after he was arrested.
That's a Grand Jury subpoena, Ms.
Dobbs.
Now, we can either do this here or there.
What do you want? I want to know who made the decision for Brian Gallant to be released.
Miss, I am a little person working for a big company.
It's a simple question.
You were at Riker's at the time.
And I'm not at Riker's anymore, am I? Were you sent here to keep you away from an investigation? You'd have to ask them that.
If it was your decision to release him without meds, I can understand how they might want to make sure you didn't make the same mistake twice.
It wasn't my decision.
Then whose decision was it? JACK: According to Jessie Dobbs, you were the doctor responsible for the treatment of inmates at Riker's.
I oversaw the clinic.
CARMICHAEL: So for over a year Brian Gallant was your patient.
I had limited contact with him, but technically, I guess I was his doctor.
Technically? I'm only at Riker's twice a week.
Most of his visits were handled by his case manager.
Are you suggesting a physician's assistant's qualified to diagnose his mental condition? I didn't hear the word "qualified" in what he said.
He's describing his contact with the patient.
It's his lack of contact that concerns us.
Eleven visits over a year's time, Doctor.
On three occasions Miss Dobb's notes indicate Gallant was complaining of hearing voices, having hallucinations.
I gave him medication.
But you never had him evaluated.
Don't respond.
JACK: You're lawyer's right.
Save your explanation for a jury.
On what charge? Manslaughter.
If he was aware of the danger Gallant posed and recklessly ignored it.
Do you know how many inmates I see on any given day? How many? Don't respond.
They want to try to get an indictment, let them.
What are you nuts? Look, I did the best I could.
I was paying off medical school loans, a mortgage, I have two kids.
Doesn't excuse what you did, Doctor.
I wasn't allowed to have him evaluated! You were told that? Andrews fired a doctor for making too many referrals.
Same day he calls me in, he asks if I heard about the firing and if I was familiar with SMJ's policy limiting referrals.
He told me he hoped I didn't make the same mistake.
This is a very courageous man you have sitting here.
I assume we'll be able to work something out.
If he testifies his job was threatened, there won't be any charges I will ask him to surrender his medical license for a year.
That's not right, that's not right.
He took an oath.
And it wasn't to an HMO.
He was doing the best he could under the circumstances.
Stop.
CARMICHAEL: Brian Gallant was kept sedated without ever being referred out for treatment or evaluation.
Was SMJ aware of the danger he posed to the public? Dr.
Sanders will testify that Phillip Andrews fired another doctor at Riker's for excessive hospital referrals and then threatened to fire him if he did the same thing.
Which, of course, Phillip Andrews will deny doing.
If it comes down to credibility, I think we're in good shape.
Nah.
It comes down to more than that.
If we go in there and start taking pot shots at HMOs, first of all, you're flying in the face of Pegram v.
Herdrich and then secondly, what if we prevail? I mean, what does that do to a healthcare system that depends on HMOs to provide their treatment? You're not suggesting we give them a free pass because of that? No.
I'm suggesting we look at the fallout that's likely to ensue.
And be sure and differentiate the conduct of this HMO from the conduct of HMOs in general.
That said, I'd like nothing better than to hang their heads on our wall.
Phillip Andrews? Yes? You're under arrest for manslaughter in the death of Stephanie Donnatelli.
Manslaughter? What is this? A prank? No prank.
Then there's been a big fat mistake.
Get your commanding officer on the phone.
I want to hear from him that I should be arrested.
On your feet, pal.
Your coverage doesn't provide for a second opinion.
Brian Gallant was a patient at the clinic throughout his incarceration at Riker's Island? Yes For what complaint? He originally presented with periodic auditory command hallucinations, some delusional behavior.
What was done for him? He was given varying doses of Halcion, Ativan, and Valium.
Was he ever referred to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation? No.
Why not? Mr.
Gallant didn't meet the criteria established by my employer for a psychiatric referral.
Which criteria were those? Mr.
Gallant was controllable with medication.
If I made the referral, I'd have been fired.
Objection.
Introduces facts not in evidence.
Overruled.
JACK: Why do you say you would've been fired? Objection.
Calls for speculation.
Overruled.
You're annoying me, Mr.
Axtell.
Another physician at the clinic had referred an inmate under a similar situation and was terminated.
Phillip Andrews warned me not to make the same mistake.
JACK: What was your last contact with Mr.
Gallant prior to his release? SANDERS: That would've been on September 8th.
What, if anything, transpired on that occasion? I gave him his medication.
September 8th was four days before Mr.
Gallant's release.
Yes.
Was he examined on the day of his release? SANDERS: No.
Was he given any medication for him to take subsequent to his release? No.
Why was that? He wasn't SMJ's problem anymore.
Objection.
That's sustained.
Nothing further.
AXTELL: Dr.
Sanders, to the best of your knowledge Phillip Andrews is not, himself, a doctor, isn't that right? I don't believe he is, no.
So, you understood, did you not, that he relied on the determinations of doctors, such as yourself, to assess treatment? Yes.
Did you ever tell him you believed Brian Gallant to be psychotic? No, I didn't.
No.
Did you ever tell him Brian Gallant constituted a threat to himself or others? No.
Was that information on his chart? No.
Was he supposed to sense it from crystals or magical beans? Objection.
JUDGE MIZENER: Sustained.
Wasn't it your responsibility, Doctor, to tell him? He wanted me to take care of it the cheapest way possible.
Period! The State Board of review has revoked your license to practice medicine, isn't that so, Doctor? Yes.
I'll bet you got somebody else to blame for that, too.
JACK: Objection.
Withdrawn.
I hear these voices inside my head.
Sometimes it's worse than other times.
How was it during the time you were incarcerated on Riker's Island? Bad.
Did you bring that to the attention of the prison doctor? Yes.
What did he do? Gave me medicine.
Were you ever examined by a psychiatrist? GALLANT: No.
Did you ever ask to be examined by a psychiatrist? I told 'em I was havin' trouble with voices.
I told 'em it was keepin' me up nights.
My bad uncle and my good uncle.
Sayin' about bringin' the car down from Yonkers.
I said I ain't bringin' no car down from Yonkers.
That's right.
On the day you were released, were you given any medication? No.
Thank you.
Nothing further.
(LAUGHS) (AXTELL CLEARS THROAT) What did you do with the token they gave you? Used it.
Used it to go into Manhattan? Where you hit a woman over the head with a paving stone and killed her.
I'm sorry.
Oh, I know you say you're sorry, but You did know what you were doing, didn't you, Mr.
Gallant? Objection.
Irrelevant.
This man's state of mind is what my client is on trial for, Your Honor.
No, Counselor.
Your client is on trial for what he allegedly did.
I will allow you some leeway on cross.
AXTELL: On the day you pled guilty to manslaughter, Mr.
Gallant, did you or did you not, in front of this same judge, say that you were the person responsible for the death of Stephanie Donnatelli? Yes.
I'm done.
JACK: Redirect, Your Honor.
Mr.
Gallant, can you tell us why you committed this horrible crime? My bad uncle.
Your bad uncle told you to? Yes.
Does he talk to you all the time? No.
When doesn't he talk to you? When I take my medicine.
Then he stays in Yonkers.
I have nothing further.
Three weeks ago we said Brian Gallant was responsible, now we seem to be saying someone else is responsible, that's gotta hurt us.
He was found competent by a court-appointed psychiatrist.
And if that psychiatrist hadn't found him competent, I would've found another one who did.
It's called prosecuting.
In any event, this one could go either way.
You have a defendant responsible for sending a dangerous psychotic out among the citizens of New York.
Whatever excuses he has, whatever excuses the two of you have, now that you've gone after him, I want you to run him to ground.
SMJ ls a for-profit company.
I'm not ashamed to admit that.
But at no time did I ever allow finances to dictate the course of medical treatment.
To what do you attribute the decline in hospital referrals? Well, I attribute it to improved medical service at the jail.
By focusing on efficiency, we've been able to cut the need for hospitalization.
What about in Brian Gallant's case? I suspect Mr.
Gallant's case would present a challenge to any clinician, given that the severity of it was never communicated to me, I was in no position to effectively monitor his treatment regimen.
Had it been, maybe there would've been a different outcome.
Thank you.
Inmates diagnosed with heartburn who turn out to have coronaries, HIV patients left untreated, psych patients left unevaluated.
Is that your idea of improved medical service, Mr.
Andrews? I'm not satisfied with our diagnostic success rate.
And I think you're gonna see a steady improvement on that score.
What you have to keep in mind is we're still in the "shake-out cruise" of a new program.
You're responsible for the bottom line on the "shake-out cruise," are you not, Mr.
Andrews? Yes, I am.
And there's no question but that the bottom line is helped the fewer hospital referrals are made.
Like it or not, medical care is a business today.
No HMO can survive without conducting a realistic cost-benefit analysis of its treatment protocols.
Brian Gallant was treated 11 times.
Three violent altercations.
Another five visits for irrational behavior.
Was your failure to authorize even one psychiatric referral part of that cost-benefit analysis? I was relying on the clinic physician's observations to determine a course of treatment.
You had him on tranquilizers non-stop.
I didn't have him on anything.
That was Sanders' call.
And by the way, according to his chart, he was responding to the medication.
So you were reviewing his medical chart.
Mr.
Andrews? Periodically.
Yes.
You were being kept aware of his progress or lack thereof, periodically.
Yes.
And you were authorizing his medication.
I was authorizing the expenditure, I'm not the prescribing physician.
Tell the jury what Mr.
Gallant's complaint was the last three times he was seen at the clinic.
There's no complaint indicated.
No complaint? In a company as cost-conscious as yours, isn't it a fact that the only reason you would be spending money on medication when there was no complaint would be to prevent what was otherwise inevitable? No.
Because you knew that it was inevitable that without medication Brian Gallant would become violent! That's not true.
And when the time came, you were only too happy to see him go because a hospital stay or a psychiatric evaluation would've been contrary to your cost-benefit analysis.
AXTELL: Objection.
Counsel's making speeches.
Ask a question, Mr.
McCoy.
Isn't it a fact that you knew exactly what kind of danger Brian Gallant posed upon being released? I didn't know.
You didn't want to know.
The big bad HMO.
Uncaring, unfeeling.
Placing profits before people in its savage quest to make money.
A convenient political target if ever there was one.
Criminally responsible for one man killing another man? Not on your life.
If there were an outbreak of tuberculosis or if prisoners were dying due to negligent medical care, Phillip Andrews would have to answer for that.
If he took a money-be-damned approach and dispensed medical care at Riker's Island as if it were the Mayo Clinic, he would have to answer for that, too And I might add, answer to you, the taxpayers, as well.
So, he does his job professionally, compassionately.
And for doing his job, they want to send him to jail.
A few short weeks ago, Brian Gallant pled guilty to Manslaughter in the First Degree, a plea that could only be entered with the approval of this prosecutor.
And now, this same prosecutor is back here with bigger fish to fry.
Don't let the political ambitions of a District Attorney pervert this court of law.
Whatever political capital Mr.
McCoy and his boss can extract from it, don't let it be done to our system of justice.
Don't let it happen to this innocent man.
No one should be heard to say that providing medical care at Riker's Island is easy, nor is it the position of this District Attorney's office that there aren't legitimate financial constraints on the provider.
We've heard that the defendant operating under those constraints is just a simple man doing the best he could.
Let's look at that a little bit.
Brian Gallant was at Riker's for a year.
He was medicated on a daily basis by the defendant's company, with the defendant's knowledge.
On the day he was released, he was hallucinating and disoriented.
Nonetheless, he was handed over to the Department of Corrections who dropped him off at a subway station in the middle of the night.
He was given no medication, no referral for ongoing care, not an address to go to, not a phone number to call.
This was not done by accident or oversight.
This was the express instruction of the defendant.
Was not the violent behavior of Brian Gallant a foreseeable event? Was not the defendant well aware, not only of Mr.
Gallant's propensities, but of the risk he constituted for every person he came in contact with? The answer is, of course he was aware of it.
Of course, he chose to ignore it.
Of course, it was his recklessness that brought about this woman's death.
Find him guilty, ladies and gentlemen.
He deserves it.
JUDGE MIZENER: Madam Forelady, I understand the jury's reached a verdict? We have.
On the first count of the indictment charging Manslaughter in the Second Degree, we find the defendant not guilty.
On the lesser included charge of criminally negligent homicide, we find the defendant guilty.
Okay, thanks.
Bye-bye.
Dateline wants to interview me about the verdict.
CARMICHAEL: Jane Pauley or Stone Phillips? Stone Phillips.
He'll probably try to get you to say it opens the door to massive malpractice claims.
Well, it's worth it if it changes the way HMOs do business in this city.
How much time will Andrews serve with good behavior? Under a year.
LEWIN: Good.
That means jail, not state prison.
He'll serve it at Riker's.
Let's hope he has a good immune system.