Law & Order (1990) s12e22 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.
I wish you hadn't have told them.
I hate it when the waiters sing.
You only get to hear Happy Birthday once a year.
You should enjoy it.
There is nothing enjoyable about turning 40.
Oh, come on.
Time's just an illusion.
Feels pretty real to me.
Then how come some people seem young when they're old and vice versa? Plastic surgery? (LAUGHS) It's how we perceive time.
According to Einstein, past, present and future are all happening at the same time.
(sun SHOTS) Give me your phone! (CAR HORN BLARING) Not in the future, now! Marjorie Jensen.
Address on the license is this building.
Registration in the glove box shows the car's registered to a Harold Jensen, same address.
So, she was coming out of her garage.
Yeah, it looks like she took two in the head one on the forearm.
It's a defensive wound.
She sees the guy, she puts her arm up.
Nice car.
It could have been a carjacking.
Somebody scared 'em off.
Yeah, the couple I talked to said the horn was blaring.
Listen, if he tried to get her out of the car, you might get some prints off the driver's door.
Off the front end, too.
Hood ornament's missing.
Perp probably took it as a souvenir.
Gave up on the car, figured he ought to get something for his trouble.
When are people gonna learn? Just give up the car.
It's not worth a life.
Spoken like somebody who never owned a Jag.
The Jag was my car.
Marjorie only borrowed it tonight because hers was in the shop.
We're very sorry for your loss, Mr.
Jensen.
She begged me to get a Volvo.
But I had to get a flashy car.
Clients judge how good an attorney you are by the car you drive.
What kind of practice do you have? Criminal defense.
I devote my life to defending these people.
Guess I'm not immune, huh? What time did your wife leave the apartment this evening? Must have been around 8:30 or so.
Did you know where she was going? She said she was meeting a friend for a drink.
Did she mention a name? I'm up to my eyeballs in work.
I barely looked up to say good-bye.
Do you normally use your car in the evenings? Not if I'm on trial.
You're on trial? I'm gonna put a client of mine on the stand tomorrow.
ED: What type of case? (EXHALES DEEPLY) (SCOFFS) It's a homicide.
A Chinese gang shooting.
Do you have any leads at all? We're working on it, sir.
We'll let you know of any developments.
Meanwhile, you ought to get some rest.
I wish I could, I got this case tomorrow.
Well, I'm sure the judge will give you a continuance considering the circumstances.
My client's been in custody for over a year.
No matter what's happened, I still have an obligation to him.
I know how that must sound to you, being on the opposite side and everything, but Oh, no, we understand.
When you do catch whoever did this, please make sure to do everything by the book.
I don't want some lawyer like me getting this case thrown out on a technicality.
We've been there.
Ballistics says it was a .
22 Smith and Wesson.
Never recovered.
The only prints on the car belong to the Jensens.
And the security camera didn't pick up any activity at the garage exit.
Well, the canvass turn up anything? ED: People blow their car horns all the time.
Nobody pays attention.
Well, if someone wanted to carjack her and the street was that deserted, why didn't they just go through with it? Especially if they were serious enough to use three bullets.
Did anyone else know that Marjorie Jensen would be driving her husband's car last night? No.
She decided to go out at the last minute, according to him.
And those windows were tinted, so the shooter could have thought he was taking aim at Harold Jensen.
A defense attorney's bound to make some enemies.
It could be a long list.
You say he's in the middle of a murder trial? That's where we're gonna start.
The case is a gang shooting where a little girl got hit in the cross-fire.
My client's Johnny Liu.
And he qualified for legal aid? It's a side benefit for gang bangers.
No reportable income and free counsel.
That doesn't make him guilty.
Jensen's got the co-defendant, Frank Tsung, who's claiming my client framed him.
It's one of these.
Scarecrow? Antagonistic defenses.
Antagonistic enough for your client to want Jensen out of the way? You've got to be kidding me.
Phone records from The Tombs indicate that your client called his house the minute he got back from court.
Yeah, to his family.
Or he was calling to relay some information to someone? I don't think so.
Why whack Jensen? Why not the D.
A.
? Well, you kill a D.
A.
, somebody might actually care.
You're not a little bit concerned that if your boy's behind all this, and things don't go well, you might be the next target? I better make sure he's found not guilty this time.
If you'll excuse me.
Guy needs to use some of his vacation days.
Disciplinary Committee gets complaints on attorneys that range from trivial all the way up to serious infractions.
Such as? Misappropriation of funds, substance abuse, you name it.
And if you do find a problem, you conduct a hearing, right? That's right.
But none of the complaints against Mr.
Jensen ever resulted in disciplinary action.
Complaints? As in plural? That's not unusual, especially with the criminal attorneys.
Someone sitting in prison with a lot of time on their hands usually has an axe to grind.
Well, what was the nature of the complaints against Mr.
Jensen? Case neglect, incompetence at trial, the types of things someone who's convicted usually claims.
We're gonna need the names of Jensen's unsatisfied customers.
I'll make you a list of these complaints.
Wait, wait, wait.
What about these? Oh.
Those are all from the same person, Leon Griggs.
MORTON: Mr.
Jensen says it's all privileged.
Everything I hear in this office.
Do you realize Mr.
Jensen's life could be at stake? Miss Morton, if he gets killed, and you could have stopped it Mr.
Griggs was on parole for a shooting when he was picked up for a theft.
According to his record, it was a carjacking.
Then you know that there wasn't much that Mr.
Jensen could do.
Have you heard from Mr.
Griggs recently? He wrote us like clockwork.
His letters started to get so abusive that I stopped opening them.
Look, the guy's stupid enough to go around stealing hood ornaments when he's on parole.
What did he expect? Griggs' phone calls from prison show anything? I'm on hold.
I pulled the original jacket from Griggs' first case.
He used a .
22.
At least the guy's consistent.
It wasn't the murder weapon, though.
It said that that was R and D'd when his appeal was denied.
Ah, okay.
Thanks.
Well, he didn't make any phone calls because he's no longer incarcerated.
He's out? As of March 5th.
Work release.
Didn't take him long to get started again.
Go talk to his parole officer.
How come I get all the winners? You have any problems with him yet? Other than him probably killing somebody already? No, no.
He's been an angel.
Whoa! It says here Griggs was supposed to attend a 12-step meeting the night of the shooting.
Yeah, that was one of the conditions of his release.
Marjorie Jensen was shot between BRISCOE: Do you know if Griggs showed up there? If he didn't, I wouldn't get formal notification for another week.
Have you got the number for that program? It's the Mission House on Avenue A.
Guy's out of prison a week! He probably stumbled on the first step.
(KNOCKING ON DOOR) Leon Griggs? Do I know you? (SIGHS) Man, I done my time.
Oh, not all your time You forget about your meeting? You two come down here 'cause I missed a meeting? Some people take parole kind of seriously, Mr.
Griggs.
Yeah, especially when a parolee commits a murder.
Murder? What you talking about? The party's over, Leon.
What? Man I demand to see a lawyer.
All right.
Just try not to shoot this one.
What basis do you have for these accusations? How about we could wallpaper the entire precinct with the threatening letters your client sent to Harold Jensen? (SCOFFS) I was mad 'cause he screwed up my case.
Why would I shoot his wife? Maybe 'cause you thought it was him? Yeah, you know, those tinted windows are nice, but sometimes you can't tell who's inside.
And bad move taking the hood ornament.
BRISCOE: Just like old times, huh, Leon? If you look at his record, you'll see Mr.
Griggs only takes hood ornaments from Mercedes.
Oh, well, in that case, let's release him.
If you have something tangible to link Mr.
Griggs to the shooting, let's hear it.
Otherwise Otherwise we get your client on a parole violation! SPENCER: My client can explain why he missed his meeting.
All right.
We're all ears.
I got a call from an old buddy of mine named Louis.
Actually, it was a friend of his, saying Louis wasn't doing real good and could I come by.
And he heard I was out.
Who was this friend? I don't know.
I never met him before.
He just said Louis told him to call me.
Louis was shot a few years ago.
He's confined to a wheelchair and he gets depressed.
So, Louis and this friend will say that you were with them between 8:30 and 9:00? (SIGHS) See, I must have wrote the address down wrong or something Because where I went was an abandoned building.
Leon, that was five minutes of my life I'll never get back.
And I stopped for a pack of smokes and a lottery ticket on the way to try to find Louis.
That bodega's across town.
I'm sure you'll find his face on that security video.
(KNOCKING ON DOOR) (SIGHING) If that checks out, where are we? Square one.
Some coincidence, huh? The missing hood ornament, all those prior threats, that wild goose chase story.
Just the same, if Leon Griggs is on that security camera tape during the time of the murder, he's not our guy.
So what now? You want us to go back and look into every client Jensen ever had? Well, that would be almost impossible without Jensen's cooperation.
But we're not going to get that from a defense attorney.
Well, if he was the devoted husband he says he was, you'd think he'd do more to help.
BRISCOE: So, you didn't see him leave that night? Didn't see the wife either.
She must have taken the elevator straight down to the garage.
Hey, what was their relationship like? There's been a few rough patches but they seem to work it out.
What kind of rough patches? Mr.
Jensen works long hours, and I remember sometimes she'd get mad about that.
How often was that? Last six months.
I heard her tell him once she was sick of being alone so much.
Cab? But she didn't do anything about it? She started going out a lot more herself, mixing it up.
What do you mean? (BLOWS WHISTLE) I heard her tell the cabbie last week she wanted to go to Jack's that dive bar up on East 119th? Was that unusual? Yeah.
Mrs.
J was more the tea room type.
I figured she wanted to live a little.
I wouldn't forget her.
It's not the type we usually get in here.
She came in a few nights ago.
What did she do? Got herself killed.
Don't look at me.
Well, we just need you to tell us anything you can remember.
All I know is she came in here by herself.
She looked real uncomfortable.
BRISCOE: Did anybody join her? I think there was one guy who came in, looked like she knew him.
What makes you think that? Well, as soon as he came in, they went off and sat at one of those corner tables.
Real intimate.
You know the guy? Never seen him before either.
But he definitely did not look her type.
Why do you say that? In the first place, he was sort of sleazy-looking, and he was a lot younger than her.
Did he by any chance use a credit card to pay for drinks? She paid.
Whatever floats your boat, huh? Saks, Barneys.
Mrs.
Jensen had expensive taste.
So, she liked shoes.
Anything to link her to our mystery man? No, but check this out Harold Jensen bought over $40,000 worth of jewelry in the past six months.
Well, if he was gonna leave her alone all the time, at least she looked good.
Yeah.
And he also charged a trip to Las Vegas on his personal card, not the joint account, two tickets, round trip.
Marjorie Jensen was in New York that weekend.
Jensen's secretary said he went alone to some legal seminar.
So, Jensen's long work hours weren't all work.
Let's find out who got that jewelry.
You know, we could check with the hotel in Vegas.
If you were with somebody, the eye in the sky's gonna have it on tape.
Why don't you just save us some time and tell us the truth? Look, I have been telling you the truth.
How about the whole truth and nothing but the truth, Counselor? You know, we'd ask if you wanted a lawyer, but you are one.
What is it you want to know? How about starting with who's wearing the diamond ankle bracelet? She was a prostitute and a dancer.
I met her at arraignments one night.
We had a relationship, but it's over.
You should have told us about this before.
I didn't think she had anything to do with Marjorie being killed.
Or maybe you've been around the block before, and you thought it would make us look at you a little harder? Look, I thought I was the target.
You saw the letters I get.
ED: When did this end? About a month ago.
How'd she take it? Not well.
She threatened to kill herself.
BRISCOE: Or somebody else? No, I can't believe Jasmine would do anything like that.
Yeah, that's what they said about Amy Fisher.
We're looking for a stripper named Jasmine Blake.
Exotic dancer.
Who's asking? If you don't mind, I'm about to go on.
Hey, we're not sure where you're going yet.
Look, I don't turn tricks anymore.
We need to talk to you about Harold Jensen.
Harold? What about Harold? ED: Actually, it's about his wife.
Oh, so you know about it? I saw it in the papers.
What? You think I can't read? How about you just tell us where you were last Tuesday night between 8:00 and 9:00? Here, just like every night except Sundays and Mondays.
Two shows on Saturday.
You want to check that out? There are plenty of guys you can ask.
BRISCOE: How long were you involved with Mr.
Jensen? Hey, we can have this conversation here or we can take a trip, and I don't mean to Vegas.
Harold and I were seeing each other for about six months.
We heard you were pretty upset about the break-up.
He told us you threatened to take your own life.
That wasn't true.
What I said was I was afraid for my life.
Afraid of what? My ex-boyfriend, Bobby Caldwell.
See, Bobby got real mad when he found out about Harold.
He threatened all kinds of things.
That's why Harold left me.
He was afraid of Bobby, too.
Bobby threatened Harold? He said that he was going to tell his wife about us, you know, to break us up.
And then, if I didn't work, he said he was gonna go after Harold.
"One hour nap special.
" Sounds like one of my honeymoons.
Bobby Caldwell stays in 219.
All right, thanks.
Hey, Caldwell! You got some people here! ED: Police! Hey! (CAR HORN HONKING) BRISCOE: You got him, Ed? Bad move, bro'.
Bad move! This guy thinks he's Spiderman.
Yeah, only without the super powers.
Huh? You recognize this woman, Bobby? No? Maybe you better take a closer look.
Because the two bullets in her head kind of messed up her hairdo.
The guy at Jack's Club said the two of you had a couple of drinks a little while ago.
Come on, Bobby, your ex-girlfriend already gave you up.
You talked to Jasmine? When? BRISCOE: Right before we came to see you.
And she gave me up for what? No, no.
She couldn't have told you that.
I had nothing to do with this! She says that you're the jealous type, Bobby that you wanted to break her and Harold up, and if you couldn't, you were gonna kill him.
Only you capped the wrong Jensen, genius.
She's lyin', man! We tossed your room, man.
We found a note with the make and license of that car that she was driving the night she was killed.
Look, I was supposed to meet her that night.
BRISCOE: Mrs.
Jensen? We had an arrangement.
That's why we met at Jack's before.
What kind of arrangement? I took some pictures of Jensen and Jasmine.
I figured it was easy money, selling the wife evidence she could use in a divorce.
When Jasmine found out, she wanted a cut.
And I'll tell you another thing, anybody wanted this bitch dead, it was that bitch! The working theory is, Caldwell killed the wife, thinking it was the husband.
What does Caldwell say about that? Well, he admits selling pictures to Mrs.
Jensen, but claims it was Jasmine who really wanted her out of the way.
So she could end up with Harold? Well, the problem there is, Briscoe and Green confirmed her alibi.
So, she gets someone else to do the job.
Right now, Caldwell is the only one who had information on the car the victim was driving the night she was killed.
Well, what about a direct link? Do we have anything like traces of blood on Caldwell's clothing? The lab's working on it.
So far, nothing.
Where's Caldwell now? Central booking.
This girlfriend could be trying to get herself out of this by putting it all on Caldwell.
Or the whole thing could be a conspiracy between them both to take the wife out of the picture.
Well, if it is, we're gonna need more than their uncorroborated statements to prove it.
Excuse me.
They told me at the door that you're the manager? Yeah, six shows a week, two on Saturday.
You got to talk to Joe in the back.
He takes care of the hiring.
Whoa, whoa, hey.
Honest mistake.
I have some questions about Jasmine Blake.
Is she in some sort of trouble? I just need to know if someone's seen her with this man recently? He doesn't look familiar.
But you might wanna talk to Gabriela.
She's pretty tight with Jasmine.
Joe in the back can get you the address of her day job.
CRUZ: No one here knows.
I'm not trying to jeopardize your employment.
I just need to know about Jasmine Blake.
We used to live together.
Not anymore? Not since she got her hooks in this lawyer guy.
Harold Jensen? Now it's like she barely even knows me.
I take it you two aren't close anymore.
A married man who wants to cheat pretty much gets what he deserves.
But what she and that low-life boyfriend of hers were doing You knew Bobby Caldwell? Bobby would crash at our place.
He used to try to look at me in the shower.
The guy's a creep.
So what were Jasmine and Bobby doing? They were playing the guy.
You know, taking money from the lawyer, and then seeing each other behind his back? When I told her that she shouldn't be doing this guy like that, she told me she was like Robin Hood, taking from the rich to give to the needy.
Me, I ain't never seen a needy pimp.
When was the last time you saw Bobby and Jasmine together? I don't know.
Last week, maybe? I was told they broke up.
Who? Bobby and Jasmine? No.
He waits out back for her almost every night she dances.
Which brings us back to a conspiracy between the two of them.
Right.
They plan to take the wife out of the picture, Jasmine profits.
Trickle-down economics.
So does Caldwell.
Have her picked up.
Charge them both with conspiracy, then, let's put them in a room together, offer a deal and see who bites first.
SERENA: We now have evidence that your client was lying.
She never broke off her relationship with Bobby.
Oh, it's over now.
HELLMAN: Please.
That evidence gets you nowhere.
We think it get us to conspiracy.
The law is clear.
In order to establish a conspiracy, there has to be an overt act in furtherance.
Your client had the victim's information in his room.
Together with his statement to the police, we can establish he set up a meeting with her.
HELLMAN: Which means he's the only one you can tie this to.
No way! You are not leaving me holding the bag for this.
BERRY: That's enough.
One of you gets life without parole.
The other gets 15 years.
The first one to tell us what happened, wins.
I didn't have anything to do with this and she knows it.
I don't know what he's talking about.
You can't use the conspiracy to establish the murder.
And without something to connect them to the murder, there's no conspiracy.
It's a defense lawyer's dream, actually.
Caldwell was selling the wife information.
As long as she was willing to pay for it, I don't see an incentive to kill her.
Yeah, but on the other hand, Jasmine had every reason to murder the wife, so she could wind up with Harold Jensen.
Except according to Briscoe and Green, Jensen claimed they'd already broken up.
Did you confirm that? Well, not with Jasmine's ex-roommate.
She seemed to think that Jasmine was still seeing Jensen.
Well, you'd think if the affair was over, Jasmine would have told her.
Unless it wasn't over.
Jensen concealed the affair from the start.
Does he have an alibi? Home working on a summation.
Let's re-investigate him.
I want to find out what else he's been concealing.
I already told those detectives what I know.
Well, they asked about client problems.
I'm more interested in Harold Jensen's personal business.
I just take care of matters here at the office.
Look, I know that you're loyal to your boss, Miss Morton, but this is a homicide investigation.
If you don't cooperate, you may find that you need a criminal attorney yourself.
I don't know why you're doing this to him.
You should see how he tries to help people.
He already admitted to his affair with Jasmine Blake.
It went too far between them.
He knew that and he was breaking it off.
He told you that? I overheard him telling Mrs.
Jensen on the phone.
When was that? A few weeks ago.
But you should be going after the man who wrote all these terrible letters to Mr.
Jensen.
Leon Griggs? The police already cleared him.
I don't care.
All I know is Mr.
Jensen was scared of something exactly like this happening.
Your boss specifically told you he thought Griggs would be a threat? And he had me call to check on his release dates several times, so he could protect himself.
Jensen checked on Griggs' release date three times in the last four months.
If he really thought Griggs was dangerous, why didn't he tell Briscoe and Green? Well, according to them, he didn't want to implicate his innocent clients.
But if he believed Griggs was guilty, it makes no sense.
Unless Jensen wasn't checking to protect himself.
Have you got the report from Griggs' original case? Yeah.
Look, we know that Griggs couldn't have killed Mrs.
Jensen because he's on the security tape at the bodega.
Griggs got lucky that he was able to establish an alibi.
But someone sent him to that abandoned building.
Jensen set Griggs up.
Who would know how to do that better than his attorney? Jensen knew about the hood ornaments, knew Griggs used a .
22.
Where would Jensen get the gun? He's a criminal defense attorney.
How many gun cases do you think he's handled? And Griggs would have been a perfect patsy.
What about Jasmine Blake? She was his Plan B.
Now, you think my client was in a conspiracy with a different person.
We believe Harold Jensen tried to frame a former client for the murder.
We know your client was still involved with him.
JACK: Once we tie Jensen to the phone call to Leon Griggs, sending him to that abandoned building, he's going down for this.
The only question is, whether you'll be taking the trip with him.
What's on the table? Let's hear what she has to say first.
He was more than willing to point the police in your direction in the first place.
What do you think he's gonna do now? Um It was his idea all along.
To kill his wife? She found out about us when Bobby tried to sell her those pictures.
Once that happened, Harold said she had to go.
I tried to tell them you were on with a client.
Harold Jensen, you are under arrest for the murder of Marjorie Jensen.
What are you talking about? It was your girlfriend that did the talking.
I'm on a call right now.
Don't worry about it.
If your client's in jail, you'll see him in person in about an hour.
If you're gonna take the word of a stripper, who's already admitted lying, over a respected attorney Your client tried to set up a man for murder, using information that he learned while he represented him as his lawyer.
I think he's lost any claim to respect.
And when it failed, he tried to implicate his lover.
This is just so typical.
SWAN: Harold No, I may not have gone to Harvard, but I know how these guys operate.
They need a conviction, another notch in their belt, so they come after me.
Going on the offensive is the oldest trick in the book, Counselor.
Accuse the prosecution, create a smokescreen to distract from the truth.
The truth is you're probably salivating at the thought of prosecuting a defense attorney.
All right, that's enough.
You've got your dream case, huh, McCoy? I'll let you tell your client to save his theatrics for the courtroom.
There's no plea offer.
JENSEN: And you can save your theatrics when I sue you for malicious prosecution.
Mr.
Jensen represented me on a gun case a few years back.
JACK: And you plead guilty to those charges? I was released about a year ago.
Have you had any contact with Mr.
Jensen since that time? About two months ago.
I work in my cousin's carpet store.
And Mr.
Jensen came in.
At first I thought it was just a coincidence.
But then he said he remembered me telling him I could hook him up.
How do you mean, "hook him up"? I told him, if he ever needed a piece, all he had to do was ask.
He wanted you to get him a gun? Said it had to be a .
22 Smith and Wesson.
And did you get him that gun? Yeah, I did.
About a week later.
You don't work for your cousin anymore, do you? STILES: No.
Because you're currently in jail on a drug charge, aren't you, Mr.
Stiles? Yes.
Tell the jury, then, how the D.
A.
came to find you.
You found them, didn't you? Well, I had information I thought they'd be interested in.
And in exchange for your information, the D.
A.
's agreed not to file a parole violation against you, isn't that right? We cut a deal.
And that's just what you do, isn't it, Mr.
Stiles? Cut deals? Same as when Mr.
Jensen represented you.
You gave up some information that time, too, didn't you? Objection.
Funny how there's always someone to rat out when you need it.
I met Harold, Mr.
Jensen, in court.
I asked him for change for the pay phone.
JACK: Did you see him again after that? A couple of weeks later, he came to see me dance.
We started dating after that.
How serious was it? He talked about leaving his wife.
But he didn't? No.
He said that if he did, she could get half of everything he had.
Even his law practice.
So, he broke it off? No.
He told me that he loved me, and that we would be together.
How was that going to be possible? He was going to kill his wife.
He told you that? She found out about us.
My boyfriend sold her some pictures of us, of Harold and me.
Anyway, he said he needed to do something pretty fast.
What was he going to do? He was gonna try and set up some other guy, but if the cops ever came to ask me anything, I was just supposed to make them think that Bobby was the one who did it.
That he was going to make it look like he was the target, not his wife.
What was your role going to be in this? I was supposed to find out when Bobby was going to meet her.
Then, Harold said he would take care of the rest.
The defendant told you that he was going to shoot his wife himself? He was worried that if he had somebody else do it, they could start asking him for money.
You know, blackmail him.
What about you? Wasn't he worried you could try to blackmail him? I loved him.
But you were still seeing Bobby Caldwell, weren't you? That's because Bobby Caldwell wasn't your boyfriend.
He was your pimp.
Isn't that right? I wasn't turning tricks anymore.
Of course you weren't.
Not with the money Mr.
Jensen was giving you.
Only he told you he wanted to break it off, didn't he? No.
His secretary heard him tell his wife he was ending the affair with you.
Objection! JUDGE: Sustained.
First you lie to the police, then you blame Bobby Caldwell for the crime I'm telling the truth now.
That would be a first.
JACK: Objection! Ask a question, Miss Swan.
You're only testifying against my client to protect yourself from prosecution, aren't you? The gravy train dried up when my client broke off your relationship after his wife found out.
That's a lie.
You and Bobby Caldwell are the ones who wanted Marjorie Jensen out of the way, so you could get back together with Harold.
He's the one who killed her.
Only all the evidence points to you.
I used to talk about my cases to Jasmine sometimes.
Nothing privileged, but she likes to hear some of the war stories.
SWAN: And that's how she would have known about Leon Griggs? Yes, I had gotten threatening letters from Mr.
Griggs almost every week.
Naturally, I talked about him a lot.
What about the .
22 they're alleging you bought to kill your wife? Complete fiction.
When we first started seeing each other, Jasmine asked me if I could tell her where she can get a gun that she could keep in her purse.
She'd had some lunatic follow her out of the bar one night and it scared her.
She said she'd feel safer if she had it.
So, you helped her out? I gave her Lonnie Stiles' number and said he might be able to help.
Jasmine must have, um, convinced him to tell these lies about me.
Look, I take full responsibility for the affair.
But not the murder.
The affair was a mistake and I tried to correct it.
I broke up with her and I tried to make it up to Marjorie.
Until the two of them killed her.
You claim they cooked up this whole elaborate scheme to frame a former client of yours? I guess when Jasmine found out that Leon was getting released, she figured it was the perfect opportunity.
The only way she knew his release date is that you checked on it three times.
Right.
I was worried about my safety because of the letters he wrote.
Then, why didn't you tell the police? I didn't want to implicate him in the murder if he didn't have anything to do with it.
I'm a defense attorney, Mr.
McCoy.
I hold the prosecution to a burden of proof every day.
How could I not do the same for myself? So, Jasmine Blake, Bobby Caldwell, and Lonnie Stiles are framing you? You know as well as I do that witnesses commit perjury to save themselves every day.
Including you.
Objection! JUDGE: Sustained.
JACK: You claim you ended the affair with Jasmine Blake, but that is not the truth, is it? It's absolutely the truth.
On what date did it end? Because photos don't lie, Mr.
Jensen.
These are the pictures Bobby Caldwell took of you and Jasmine to sell to your wife.
Those were taken before we broke up.
Which would be on what date? Are you really sure that you checked through them all, Mr.
Jensen? Your Honor, if we could have a brief recess? So her client can conform his testimony? Answer the question, Mr.
Jensen.
I'm not sure of the exact date.
There's nobody left to blame for that, is there? My client informs me he's dissatisfied with my representation and he wants to take over the case.
We're already well into trial, Mr.
Jensen.
I want to represent myself and it's my right to do so! I won't have this trial delayed or turned into a circus.
I'm ready to go forward immediately with re-direct.
Of yourself? He wants to get up and make a self-serving speech.
You know the old adage about the attorney representing himself having a fool for a client.
I'm only a fool if I let this trial continue without standing up for the truth.
JENSEN: When I testified before, about the affair being over, that wasn't the truth.
I wanted to tell you but my attorney told me that wouldn't be a good idea.
I listened to some bad advice.
I was silent when Mr.
McCoy asked me about the dates because (SIGHS) I didn't want to lie anymore.
I was still seeing Jasmine.
I was told that would make me look guilty, even though I had nothing to do with my wife's murder.
(SIGHS) That's what our system's come to.
That someone would think a lie would better reflect the truth of a situation than the actual truth.
I'm sorry about that.
And I'm taking over my defense so that doesn't happen again.
Is that all, Mr.
Jensen? May I approach, Your Honor? Step LIP- I have one more witness, Your Honor.
Mr.
McCoy.
I'll excuse the jury for the day.
And then we can take this up.
This is just another stunt! I have a right to call Mr.
McCoy.
He tried to prosecute Caldwell and Jasmine for the same crime.
I am entitled to cross him on that.
The police testified to the course of the investigation.
But you were lead counsel! Mr.
McCoy was responsible for decisions involving charging others for the same underlying facts.
Based on what we knew at the time.
(CHUCKLING) It wasn't until he realized that he couldn't convict them that he decided to go after me.
That's argument, Counsel.
Not evidence.
I'm the attorney of record in this case.
If I testify I'd have to withdraw.
He's looking for a mistrial.
Nice try, Counselor, but I'm not granting a mistrial.
Motion's denied.
But feel free to argue your theory in your closing.
Let me see if I can get this straight.
One of my clients did it.
No, wait It was the stripper.
It was the stripper's boyfriend.
No, wait, it was the two of them together.
No, wait It was me.
Perhaps I should've used charts and diagrams to try to follow all of that, but I was confused myself.
Did Mr.
McCoy ever tell you about those arrests? Did he ever tell you that he only came after me once he saw he had no case against them? Of course he didn't.
Because it's all about winning, not about finding the truth.
(SCOFFS) I've been an attorney for over 20 years.
I try cases in these courtrooms every day.
I see firsthand how the system doesn't work.
And now, you've seen it, too.
When gamesmanship takes the place of truth, this is what you get.
I loved my wife.
We were married for almost 25 years.
We never filed for divorce.
Ever.
I didn't commit this crime.
And the fact is, the way you're all looking at me, you know, wondering, means you aren't sure I did it either.
Others were initially investigated for this crime because the defendant, himself, set up evidence to incriminate them.
And despite what he wants you to believe, this case is not about the system.
It's not about prosecutors and defense attorneys.
It's about a vicious, cold-blooded murder.
Harold Jensen is the one who lost his moral compass.
He's used to playing games in court, and he couldn't keep that separate from his real life.
So, he tapped the resources that were available to him, his former clients, to carry out a plan to murder his wife, so he wouldn't lose his shirt in the divorce.
He tried to frame one client for the murder, he contacted another to get the gun to do it.
When his plan to frame Leon Griggs didn't work, he set the police on the trail of Jasmine Blake and Bobby Caldwell.
He set up the evidence, the very circumstantial evidence, that implicated others.
Now, he wants to make the jury an accomplice.
The defendant is being prosecuted for one reason.
Because the evidence establishes his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
This isn't about the system manipulating the truth, it's about Harold Jensen trying to manipulate the system.
And the game is over.
Has the jury reached its verdict? We have.
On the charge of murder in the second degree, we find the defendant, Harold Jensen, guilty.
I need to talk to you.
What is it, Mr.
Jensen? I'm about out of patience.
I've got a deal to propose.
In case you hadn't noticed, it's a little late for that.
I can give you enough information on my clients and their associates to keep you busy for years to come.
You want to sell out your clients? I can show you where the bodies are buried.
Hell, I can give you a map to the graveyard.
He offered to violate his attorney-client confidentiality? Not just violate it, forget it entirely.
If clients didn't want to kill their lawyers before now, they would if we made this deal.
He said he had information on his client's associates.
That isn't confidential.
But he got his information through his clients.
But if it helped to generate independent leads? But how independent could they be if we wouldn't have found them without the confidential information? It's possible that confidentiality may have been waived if he played some role in the misconduct.
This is just another manipulation on his part.
But if it isn't? What do you tell the victims of the crimes we might have prevented? I don't think we can rely on anything Harold Jensen has said.
His credibility is zero.
No, even if his information is right, we can't assist an attorney in violating his professional duty to his clients.
We decided not to take you up on your offer.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Sure you won't reconsider? The best I can do is get you a window seat on the bus ride to Sing Sing.
I think we'll be seeing each other before that.
I've got a good appeal.
We both know I had a right to call you as a witness no matter what that judge said.
The safest play for you was to withdraw.
But your desire to win got the best of you.
I was counting on that.
See you in court, McCoy.