Law & Order (1990) s13e01 Episode Script
American Jihad
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.
MAN: Because I don't want her to hear us talking, that's why.
No, she knows all Look, it doesn't matter if it was 10 years ago or yesterday.
She sees me talking to you, and she sees us mid-coitus.
What can I say? (GUN FIRING) (DOG BARKING) Oh, my God.
(FIRING CONTINUES) (DOOR SLAMMING) I think I just heard gunshots.
Lila, stop.
Lila! Oh, God.
Lila! (CAR HORN BLARING) (TIRES SCREECHING) MARTINEZ: Dog walker heard shots coming from this area and called 911.
Uniforms responding found the door wide open.
Vics are Louise and Hugh Murdoch, husband and wife.
Both PhDs.
Both full professors at Stuyvesant College.
Brainy household.
Not smart enough to lock the door.
She took three in the back.
No exit wounds.
M.
E.
Will have to dig out the slugs.
How about him? Two in the skull.
Same on the slugs.
You get a read on the weapon? No shell casings.
Could've been a.
38.
On the other hand, the lady took three in the back.
So if she's running away, could have been a semi.
Witness is outside.
I'll get it.
Was this phone here? We found the cradle upstairs.
Okay, we need the LUDs on this number, as soon as possible.
I only saw the guy for a couple of seconds, you know, only from behind.
Do the best you can.
Slight build.
Curly, dark hair.
I think he might've been Hispanic.
Why, his back look Spanish? Uh, no, it's kind of embarrassing.
The way Lila took off after that guy.
She only does that with Latinos.
Yeah.
Well, if you think of anything else.
You wouldn't think on a block like this Yeah.
Was he any help? Other than the racist dog? My aunt had a spaniel who didn't like tall men.
Detectives, we got something.
In a trashcan around the corner.
He takes the time to clean up the casings, but throws the gun in the trash can? Well, some bulbs don't burn as bright as others.
Fired recently.
Yeah, three guesses where.
BRISCOE: Forensics ran the prints from the gun through the system.
Nothing.
And you're sure this wasn't a robbery? If it was, he was an amateur.
I mean, the husband was wearing a Franck Muller Master Banker.
It's a watch.
It goes for 25,000.
BRISCOE: There's no hidden safe, the drawers were untouched.
And there's expensive artwork on all the walls.
And you're a connoisseur now? Hey, if ain't Dogs Playing Poker.
Anyway, they were both Stuyvesant College professors.
Well, no robbery means this is personal.
Neighbors said they were quite the party givers.
No, all they said was there was a lot of people coming in and out.
Hey, to me, two or more people is a party.
LUDs you wanted from the Murdochs' townhouse.
They received a three-minute call just six minutes before the dog walker's 911 call.
"Telemarketing Solutions"? I looked it up.
It's here in the city.
Maybe we'll catch a break and the caller overheard something.
You guys remember every donut you eat? Joke.
Funny.
Hey, man, your average call here lasts about 20 seconds.
This one, three minutes.
Don't tell us you don't remember.
Here's one I'll bet you don't hear too often.
I do remember.
Most people start off with a couple of negative comments about my mother, then they slam down the phone.
But this lady was nice.
She actually listened.
Did she buy? We didn't get that far.
She had to go.
All right.
So, let me ask you a question.
I get these calls that usually start off with, "This call is being recorded for quality assurance.
" A tape? Sure.
Piece of cake.
What, no donut? LOUISE: But I have good credit.
(DOORBELL BUZZING) ED: That sounds like a doorbell.
And guess who's coming to dinner.
And there's more.
SAL: Consolidating debt's a good thing.
LOUISE: What would be the interest rate? Variable or fixed? I've got to go.
That's no help.
Hmm.
To the baffled multitude, maybe.
Here we go.
By dissipating ground hum and putting a gain on the lows, I was able to enhance the far conversation when it didn't overlap the near.
MAN 1: You Professor Murdoch Ellenbar.
"Ellen Bar"? Maybe Murdoch had a really big tab and the bartender got fed up.
No, no, probably just a fragment.
But to be thorough, I looked it up.
No listings for any bars of that name in the city.
But there's more.
I knew it.
For some reason the far conversation got louder towards the end.
Probably because she got closer as she walked downstairs.
MAN 2: I only do what I In the Stuyvesant Stuyvesant.
That's where they taught.
Somebody doesn't have to hand in that term paper.
Hugh and Louise weren't just two of my best faculty members, they were dear friends.
ED: Were there any problems between them? Oh, no.
Sure, there was a rough period, maybe five or six years ago.
Two workaholics, it's to be expected.
But, uh, now they walked around campus holding hands.
What about problems with students? Louise wasn't even teaching this semester.
She took a sabbatical to write a book on the Holy Roman Empire.
ED: And the husband? One of our biggest stars.
Every year Harvard tries to poach him.
He doesn't really teach that much anymore, so If he wasn't teaching? Research.
He ran our biochemistry lab.
(PHONE RINGING) Hugh spent most of his time there.
You may want to talk to some of his post-grad researchers.
Dean Bodner.
We were on the verge.
Parkinson's Disease.
What, he had a cure? A methodology to look for one.
So, in other words, this was like whacking Jonas Salk.
Dr.
Salk didn't have a Phil Giani working for him.
ED: Meaning? Uh, I'm not saying he killed Dr.
Murdoch, but if anyone here wanted him out of the picture, it was definitely Phil.
Why? Phil was pro-Parkinson's? He thought Dr.
Murdoch should have given him credit for the research in his last paper.
And the Professor disagreed? It turned ugly.
Dr.
Murdoch fired him.
ED: Where does this Giani work now? That's the thing.
This is a very small community, word gets out you had a run in with someone of Dr.
Murdoch's stature, and You're out of the business.
Who says you can't go home again? Hacking is how I paid my way through undergrad.
Tough break.
Things'll change.
Why, because Dr.
Murdoch ain't around anymore to badmouth you? Because I'm too good a researcher.
Oh, yeah? So, what's the best way to get uptown during rush hour? What's pluripotent HES cell transference, or blastocystic trophectoderm removal with regards to stem cell research? I guess I missed that day on Sesame Street.
All this transference stuff was your idea? What Murdoch stole from me wasn't ideas.
It was a methodology.
(SCOFFS) Look who I'm talking to.
You know, since we have a lot to talk about, we might as well be comfortable.
I'll show you the best way to get downtown.
I'd love to smack that little pompous schmuck.
Me first.
ED: I hear that a lot of money comes into the school because of Dr.
Murdoch's research.
Ooh.
Subtle.
You're good.
I'm about to crack.
An ordinary guy would want a piece of that for himself.
I wouldn't know about an ordinary guy.
It doesn't bother you that you do all the work and Dr.
Murdoch gets the money? You don't go into molecular biochemistry for money.
Well, what do you go into it for? The glory? That's right.
I want to march up front in the Macy's parade.
Intellectual achievement.
Though I'm sure that means absolutely nothing to you.
Blastocystic removal, the wave of the future.
Right.
(LAUGHS) Very good.
The primate can regurgitate what it heard.
Next.
Let's move on to sentences.
Let me ask you something.
Primate? It's like a Monkey.
No.
I want to ask your opinion on Einstein's theory because I'm not sure he was right.
(CHUCKLES) Headline.
"Cop cracks relativity.
" No.
Not that theory, Phil.
His theory on genius.
See, and correct me if I'm wrong, Einstein argued that genius has no personality.
After talking to you for this short amount of time, I realized that you actually prove the negative.
You definitely have personality.
And that makes this primate wanna whup your ass.
Now say something.
Way to go, Ed.
(CELL PHONE RINGING) Van Buren.
Thanks.
Ballistics says they're ready for you.
Ballistics.
My kind of scientists.
M.
E.
Extracted three bullets from the female, two from the male.
which unfortunately I know, they tend to break into fragments.
They had to pick three of these from the male's brain alone.
Reassembling was like a jigsaw puzzle.
Did you get any kind of a match? Striations indicated a clear six-point correlation to the two slugs from the male victim.
You couldn't confirm the other three? For good reason.
They were fired from a different 9mm.
You're saying Mrs.
Murdoch was killed by a different weapon? Two guns to fire only five bullets? Well, either your guy is ambidextrous Or there were two shooters.
This bastard's got a friend.
That guy? I highly doubt it.
Wouldn't you say revenge killings are typically solo acts? Murdoch's lab guy, he said that he was doing stem cell research.
And they shoot abortion doctors, don't they? Well, the phone tapes, they mentioned something about Stuyvesant.
Maybe they meant the lab and not the college.
Let's go see if Murdoch's lab is on anybody's hit list.
A human cell is placed in an egg whose own nucleus has been removed.
We put it in a petri dish, zap it with a jolt of electricity, and voilà! It's all reprogrammed into a clump of between one and 200 new cells.
Then we harvest the stem cells for our studies.
And with that you can cure Parkinson's? Parkinson's, diabetes, Alzheimer's, who knows what else? But somewhere along the line what we do became a political hotbed.
We did receive some nasty letters, but the FBI checked them out.
Maybe we ought to check them out, too.
"We strongly caution you against this type of research, Dr.
Murdoch.
"It is wrong in the eyes of God.
You will be judged.
" It looks like judgment day came a little bit early for Professor Murdoch.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Murder isn't just a sin, Mr.
Scott.
It's also a felony.
Look at the name on the wall, Detective.
"Protect Life.
" We would never kill to prove a point.
Words are our only weapon.
Maybe somebody in your organization thought they weren't enough.
Perhaps, if Professor Murdoch's research violated our principles.
Which it clearly did, otherwise you wouldn't have sent that letter.
What we object to is the creation of life for the sole purpose of destroying it.
Anyway, this letter was sent before.
Before what? Before we confirmed Dr.
Murdoch was using existing cell lines.
We had no problem with Murdoch or his research.
The only problem with this guy's story is that, that the kid from Murdoch's lab said that they were creating life in that dish.
He didn't say life.
He said new cells.
And from what I hear, you kill more cells drinking a beer.
You can't tell me that when that cell hits the egg that isn't the start of life.
Okay, zygotes are people, too.
Well, they turn into people, don't they? Look, the bottom line is, Murdoch was either lying to the public about his research or those Protect Lifers are lying to us.
They're just squeaky wheels, not killers.
So, if they did do it, odds are they made a couple of mistakes along the way.
All right.
Back to letter A.
Okay, so the doorbell rings.
Mrs.
Murdoch goes to answer it.
Why? Maybe she didn't know hubby was there.
Or maybe she was the one expecting guests.
Now, what happens next? Hubby goes to answer the door.
She's in the library.
The shooter walks in all the way to his desk in the den.
Now if your main goal was to kill him, wouldn't you kill him right away? Not if I wanted to kill the wife.
I've been the department secretary for the last five years.
Nobody ever had a cross word for Louise.
ED: Louise? You called her Louise? She'd yell at anyone that called her "Professor.
" "Doctor"? Forget about it.
BRISCOE: A woman of the people, huh? And here are 12 of them.
This looks like a guest list for some kind of party the day after she was murdered.
A tea.
That's what she called them.
Although tea was the last thing she served.
From what I hear.
Yeah, I used to call it "tea," too.
They were discussion groups actually.
ED: With other professors? Professors, students, civilians.
What did they talk about? Whatever.
I'm sorry.
These are detectives, Jennifer.
Jennifer, uh You wouldn't be Jennifer Taylor? Yes.
I was just returning these books.
I was doing some research.
ED: This was for her book? I was checking footnotes and sources mostly.
I'm sorry.
Jennifer, your name's on the guest list for Dr.
Murdoch's next discussion group.
I went to a lot of them.
Was there a specific topic planned for that night? We were going to discuss gender apartheid.
That was her thing lately.
The abusive treatment of women in certain Middle Eastern countries.
She'd been throwing charity cocktail parties for years to raise funds and awareness.
I'll bet that thrilled the local Muslim men.
STEPHIE: She was always receiving literature, pamphlets really, quoting the Quran.
I can show you.
There's a shelter for abused women around the corner, and this lady's worried about suffrage in some third world country? Well, it ain't just voting rights.
Listen to this.
"Men are commanded to whip their disobedient wives.
"Women are deficient in intelligence compared to men.
" Where's that from, the Center for the Advancement of Wife Beaters? No, it's Wait.
"El Anbar Books.
" As in "Ellen Bar.
" MOGAZl: I don't have anything to do with that trash.
Your store was on the return address label, Mr.
Mogazi.
It was not me.
Talk to the kid.
What kid? Mousah Salim.
I hired him to stack books.
Then he starts mailing that nonsense from my store.
Well, if you didn't like it, why'd you let him? I didn't even know about it until this crazy woman comes here with all her friends and her picket signs.
Was this woman a college professor? Yes.
Yes.
And all her crazy friends.
Not good for business.
So I fired the kid, and now she leaves me alone.
This Mousah Salim, does he have an address? I'm sorry.
There must be some mix-up.
We're looking for Mousah Salim.
No mix-up.
I'm his mother, Francine Landen.
Uh, can we talk to him? That would be difficult.
He's in Pakistan.
Can we talk to you? Sure.
FRANCINE: Do you have kids? Yeah, in Florida.
Hopefully smoking dope, like normal teenagers.
My little angel puts a towel on his head and starts quoting the Quran at breakfast.
When I was 22, I read The Razor's Edge and I didn't eat steak for two months.
Yeah, well, you got over it.
Some things with my Greg never change.
You know what we spent on private school? Straight Cs.
Couldn't have gotten into a decent college if he wanted to, which he didn't.
He's been nothing but a disappointment.
Is something wrong? The police, looking for Greg.
You're in the wrong hemisphere.
I told them.
What? The Pakistanis don't want him around either? Actually, we thought that he might have witnessed a murder.
Greg do something useful? You've definitely got the wrong kid.
All in all, I'd say that's a pretty good alibi.
Unless he got sick of falafel and decided to come home ahead of schedule.
What, and forgot to tell his parents? If she was my mom, I'd forget, too.
I've got Customs looking into it.
So, you're thinking we've got another John Walker Lindh on our hands? Yeah, only this one actually may have pulled the trigger.
Hey, somehow, some way, this kid is connected to the killers.
Maybe someone helped him with his conversion.
Greg is highly intelligent, but had trouble fitting in.
I'm sure you know the type.
Yeah.
I read about them in the Columbine News.
No, no, he wasn't like that.
Sure, he got picked on every now and then, but he certainly wasn't one for retaliation.
He just sat back and took it? Well, he did act out once.
He and another boy were caught on campus one night setting fire to a garbage can.
Who was this other kid? I can dig out the disciplinary report.
But I do remember he wasn't a student at Strickland.
Michael's not here.
I'm his sister.
Where are your parents? Who do you wanna talk to, my dead mother or my convict father? Is this your brother? Yeah.
The dog was right.
Look, whatever's going on with Michael, I'm the parents now.
You can talk to me.
(DOOR UNLOCKING) Hey! Hey! You know, if you were on your way down to the precinct, we can give you a ride.
BRISCOE: You know what this is, Michael? It's a ballistics report.
It says that the gun that we found outside the Murdochs' townhouse is the gun that killed Hugh Murdoch.
Now this one, this is from our forensics lab.
Now, if your fingerprints are found on that gun That means that this isn't gonna be one of your better days, kid.
I don't know what you mean.
Two people are dead, Michael.
You killed one of them.
We're guessing your friend killed the other one.
Which one? (SIGHS) That's what we want you to tell us.
Time's up.
Gina Sparrow, Esquire.
I've been retained by Mr.
Sanchez's sister.
You should know better.
Questioning this kind of suspect without his lawyer present.
We didn't know he had one.
And exactly what kind of suspect is he? You want us to leave? That would be nice.
So, is this guy as dumb as he seems? There's no way this kid is the brains behind all this.
Did you reach the D.
A? She's willing to play.
Here we go.
Speaking hypothetically, what if Michael had a partner? We'd be shocked.
Would the D.
A.
Work with us? If Michael gives us a name, they'll give two counts of man two.
Running concurrently? If he gives us a location.
Michael's partner was a boy named Landen.
Greg Landen.
He was the one who shot Mrs.
Murdoch.
I guess he really did get sick of falafels.
(MEN PRAYING) "Docket number 26775, "People v.
Greg Alan Landen.
" My name is Mousah Salim.
Derek Greer for the defense, Your Honor.
Waive reading, plead not guilty.
I plead nothing.
I'm not asking you for anything.
You have no authority over me.
Tell that to the gentleman with the service revolver.
Question of bail? Remand, Your Honor.
This defendant's a flight risk.
He murdered two people shortly after returning from four months in Pakistan.
You lying Qabeha! JUDGE: Looks like he wasn't there to sightsee.
Well, listen to you.
You don't even try to hide your disdain for Islam.
My disdain isn't for Islam, pal.
Defendant is remanded to the Department of Corrections without bail.
Next.
Allah akbar.
Allah akbar.
I am a slave to Allah.
Allah akbar.
Allah akbar.
I am a slave to Allah.
SERENA: I just got called a name, I don't even know what it means.
Oh, you're going to love this guy.
That bad? Greg Landen could make our new D.
A.
Pack his bags and head back to Georgia.
I don't think Lillian would let him.
Lillian? Mrs.
Arthur Branch.
She loves the smell of concrete.
Always has.
Always will.
I didn't know you were friendly with him? Bar Association dinners.
Nice fellow.
And his politics? Nice fellow.
(PHONE RINGING) Hello.
Sure.
Tell him I'll be there in an hour.
Well, I'm going to meet your Mr.
Landen.
Care to come along? I've already had the pleasure.
For reasons that should be obvious, I'd like to make this one go away.
And for those same reasons, the best I can do is two counts of man one, sentences to run consecutively.
That's hardly a bargain.
This infidel doesn't speak for me.
Quiet, Greg.
This prosecution is part of America's crusade against Islam.
I want a lawyer who sees that.
I want a Muslim lawyer.
JACK: It's dilatory, Arthur.
If every time his lawyer does something he doesn't like, he fires him, we may not get to trial for a decade.
And he'll be off the street all that time.
The Sixth Amendment guarantees his right to counsel.
Let him choose whoever he wants.
I think there's another issue we should consider.
What if Landen was indigent and Greer was court-appointed counsel? Could Landen then reject him on the basis of religion? Uh-oh.
I feel the old "bad precedent" speech coming on.
Well, that would mean that a skinhead could reject a Jewish attorney, a rapist could reject a woman.
The Constitution requires only that counsel be competent.
It doesn't say that he and his client have to be best friends.
Thank you.
Martha Stewart is the queen of domestic tranquility.
Right now, I'm not sure I'd want her near my kitchen.
No offense, but that analogy isn't even in the right ballpark.
BRANCH: Why not? There's a lot more to competence than a law degree and a modicum of courtroom skill.
The defendant and his attorney need to be able to communicate.
There should be at least a touch of trust between them.
JACK: You better watch out, Arthur, or they'll take back your invitation to the Strict Constructionists' Ball.
You see, that's where you don't understand me, Jack.
It's my job to put that son-of-a-gun behind bars.
The last thing I want to do for him is gift-wrap grounds for reversible error.
(PHONE RINGING) SERENA: Mr.
Branch's office.
Jack, it's for you.
McCoy.
Yes.
Sure.
That was Anwar Mohammed.
He's just been retained by Greg Landen.
He wants to meet me for coffee.
Oh, to be young and have parents with a bulging bankbook.
We already tried to cut a deal with Mr.
Landen.
I know.
Couldn't we work out something with no prison time? A mental facility perhaps? I'm sorry.
You've known me a long time, Anwar.
You know the political climate played no part in my decision.
Maybe it should.
The boy's one step from a terrorist.
I'm sure things haven't been easy for you this past year.
It's been a terrible year, but when people need you, somehow your ethnicity disappears.
And those who don't need you? I don't need them.
Well, Jack, if it's any consolation, I'll do my best to keep Greg's rhetoric to a minimum in the courtroom.
Have you met him yet? Yeah.
And that's why he's getting nowhere near the stand.
Believe me, I don't' want his religious beliefs in the courtroom anymore than you do.
I'm representing Greg Landen because he needs my help.
But please don't ever confuse his politics with my faith.
JACK: And why did you go with Mr.
Landen to the Murdochs' home? MICHAEL: Greg told me the Murdochs had more money than they needed.
He said if we took some, we could go away.
And where would you go, Mr.
Sanchez? The mountains.
(PRAYING IN ARABIC) Greg said we could do some fishing and some hunting.
It sounded like fun.
Allah akbar.
What happened when you got inside the Murdochs' townhouse, Mr.
Sanchez? The man took us into this room, and then Greg told me to shoot him.
(PRAYING IN ARABIC) And you did? MICHAEL: Yeah.
There was a lot of blood.
What happened next, Mr.
Sanchez? A woman came in and she started screaming.
She tried to run away, but Greg shot her.
Then I got scared, so I ran.
(CONTINUES PRAYING IN ARABIC) You didn't steal anything? No.
I guess we forgot.
Only one murder weapon was found.
Do you know whose fingerprints were on it? Yours.
Only one person was seen running from the Murdochs' house.
Do you know who it was? You.
(STAMMERING) Greg was there, too.
But nobody saw him.
How do you explain that? MICHAEL: I don't know, but he was there.
He shot the lady, and then ran the other way.
It was all his idea.
I guess it's a good thing you made a deal with the District Attorney, or we wouldn't even have your word for it.
This isn't what I told you to do.
You tell them about the U.
S.
Aggression.
ANWAR: Not now, Greg.
Tell them about the U.
S.
Government's crusade against Islam.
Sit down.
They're trying to wipe us out.
Your Honor (JUDGE BANGING GAVEL) Three thousand killed on September 11th.
Quiet down, Mr.
Landen.
GREG: Over 20,000 killed in Afghanistan.
Your taxes pay for the bombs that kill Afghani children.
You're out of order, Mr.
Landen.
You're the terrorists.
They want me to shut me up.
That's why they're trying to put me in prison.
JACK: Your Honor! Only they can't send me to Cuba like the others.
JUDGE: Mr.
Landen, that's enough! They can't treat an American like a caged animal.
Court Officer, remove the defendant from the courtroom.
I'll see counsel in chambers.
What, so you can talk behind my back? This trial is a sham! Give him a Valium.
What do I care? I'm afraid it won't be that simple, Your Honor.
It appears the only way to maintain any semblance of decorum is to remove the defendant from the courtroom.
Is that an on-the-record motion, Mr.
McCoy? Yes, Your Honor, it is.
Well, the last time I read the Constitution, all criminal defendants have an absolute right to confront their accusers, not only the well-behaved ones.
The State will provide a television hook up so he won't miss a word of the proceedings.
I'm sure you'd like to add your two cents, Mr.
Mohammed.
Actually, Your Honor, I'm not going to oppose Mr.
McCoy's motion.
What happened to representing your client zealously? I feel it would best serve his defense if he weren't permitted to disrupt the proceedings.
Please bring the defendant into my chambers.
We should at least get his opinion on the matter.
You know, there is a way to put an end to all this.
My client won't accept a deal, Your Honor.
JUDGE: Let me explain what's going on, Mr.
Landen.
Mr.
McCoy would like me to keep you out of the courtroom.
To be equitable, I'd be willing to give you another chance.
Do you think you can contain yourself? Yeah, if he would do his job.
From where I'm sitting on the bench, Mr.
Mohammed is doing an excellent job.
No, his job is to do what I tell him to do.
I want him to use my real name.
And I'd have him tell the jury about how the American government's framing me because I'm Muslim.
There's no attorney in the country that would argue that.
You know what? Fine.
Fine.
Then I'll represent myself.
That kid is an idiot savant.
Or just an idiot.
Don't fool yourself.
He's just out-lawyered our office, his own counsel, and the judicial branch.
For us to win a motion denying his request for self-representation, the court would have to find him unfit to represent himself.
Well, he is 19 and without any legal training.
To quote the Bard, ignorance often turns out to be the best defense.
If he's found unfit to represent himself, he could also be found legally incompetent to stand trial at all.
The proverbial corner, Ms.
Southerlyn.
That's what our friend has painted us into.
So, what you're saying is we're not going to oppose his motion? Look at the bright side, the judge ordered Mohammed to stay on as stand-by counsel.
Which could be a good thing or a bad thing.
Just to be safe, let's have one of our shrinks in the courtroom.
Welcome to the corner, Serena.
GREG ON TAPE: We want to talk to Mr.
Murdoch about the protest at the El Anbar HUGH ON TAPE: I only know what I read about in the Stuyvesant (STATIC) I ran this through a Kay Elemetric 5500 spectrograph, by comparing pitch, trajectory of vowel forming, and nasal resonance, I was able to locate two distinct voices.
JACK: And were you able to identify those voices? Well, the second voice I can't identify.
I can only assume it belongs to Hugh Murdoch.
And the other voice? It's the defendant's.
Are you sure? Yes.
It was a perfect match with the voice samples taken from the defendant post-arrest.
JACK: What does that indicate? Well, that Mr.
Landen was in the Murdochs' house within minutes of the shootings.
Thank you.
This machine that you said you used, it's owned by the U.
S.
Government, right? (CHUCKLES) Uh, city of New York, actually.
And if you wanted to, you could fake a recording? Uh Well, I suppose I could, but, uh Are you Jewish? JACK: Objection.
Overruled.
Your Honor.
JUDGE: Arguably, it goes to bias.
As a Jew, isn't it your mission in life to destroy the lives of Muslims? JACK: Objection.
You hate Muslims, don't you? Sidebar, Your Honor.
Your Honor, these questions are bigoted and have no relevance.
I'm inclined to agree, Your Honor, however Mr.
Landen does have a right to his opinion.
He's got a point, Mr.
McCoy, pro se defendants are permitted extra latitude.
JACK: I show you People's Five and ask if you recognize it.
I understand this is difficult, but you are under oath, Mr.
Landen.
Yes, it's my gun.
And is it the only gun that you own? No.
I have another 9mm, a SIG-Sauer.
Where is that gun now? I don't know.
It's Missing.
JACK: Who do you think took it? Seek to treat the witness as hostile.
JUDGE: Go ahead.
You think your son took your guns, don't you? I couldn't say.
Well, how about this? Where do you keep the weapons in question? In my study.
In the bottom drawer.
Which is locked? Mr.
Landen? No.
It wasn't locked.
Did you ever cheat on your wife? JACK: Objection.
Relevance.
How can the jury believe a word he says? He's an adulterer.
Marital infidelity doesn't bear on witness credibility, Mr.
Landen.
Ask a different question.
Why didn't you have any more children? JACK: Your Honor.
Because you didn't even want to have me, did you? Objection! Sustained.
You're embarrassed by me.
(DOOR CLOSING) That's why you're trying to put me away.
You want me in jail so that you never have to see me again.
That's not true.
I love you.
How does it feel to sell out your own son, hmm? America's been trying to destroy Islam for years.
It sides with the Jews against the Palestinians because America's a Judeo-Christian country.
Since 1990, it has occupied our holy lands in Saudi Arabia.
American women walk around with their faces uncovered in our holiest city.
America doesn't respect any culture but its own.
You Honor.
Is any of this relevant? Let him talk, Mr.
McCoy.
It's his right.
You think that your way is the only way and feel that you have the right to invade anyone who disagrees.
Bosnia, Somalia, Iraq.
You're trying to assimilate the world.
America is a country that was born out of the mass murder of Native Americans and built on the backs of Africans.
If the Native Americans could've defended themselves by flying planes into buildings, don't you think they would have? If the slaves could have freed themselves by becoming martyrs, don't you think that they would have? And it wouldn't have been terrorism.
It would've been self-defense.
So, killing a woman who challenges your view of Islam is self-defense? I didn't kill her.
Michael Sanchez did.
How did he get your father's gun? I don't know.
Why would Michael Sanchez target an advocate for Muslim women? It was a robbery.
You heard him say that.
But you're not sad she's dead.
She didn't know her place.
Quran 4:34 says, "Allah made men superior to women.
" Under your perversion of the religion.
See, this is what I'm talking about.
Any religion that Americans don't understand, they call perverted.
If we could get back to the homicides, Mr.
McCoy.
Go ahead, Mr.
McCoy, go ahead, listen to the lady.
Excuse me.
No, I won't.
I will not allow a female to judge me.
That's enough for today.
We'll pick it up tomorrow, 9:30.
(JUDGE BANGS GAVEL) From what I saw, he's nowhere near legally insane.
Just your garden variety fanatic fundamentalist.
If this had been about politics, he probably would've become an anarchist.
If it was about music, he could've gotten into grunge and heavy metal.
He picked religion, specifically Islam, for a specific reason.
Adolescent rebellion.
No, he could have bought a motorcycle or pierced his tongue.
People who become fundamentalists do so because there's a part of the dogma that resonates with them.
There's something in their psyche that draws them to a distorted interpretation of an otherwise legitimate religion.
There's a sect for every nut.
Exactly.
But what is it about militant Islam that Landen finds so appealing? Hint.
Sanchez shot Hugh Murdoch.
Landen shot his wife.
"Allah made men superior to women.
" My guess is he is terrified of women.
Militant Islam eases that anxiety by making women subordinate.
Landen became a slave of Allah because he couldn't get a date? I'm not saying it's as simple as that, Jack.
But I did see how he reacted to Judge Burke.
And I saw how his mother reacted to him.
So Mommy made him do it? She walked out on him.
Castration hurts whether it's surgical or emotional.
He can't confront his mother directly.
I think he's scared to death of women, period.
And what would happen if a woman challenged him, literally? You're talking about Louise Murdoch? I'm talking about Serena.
Your Honor, with the court's permission, Ms.
Southerlyn will continue with the cross-examination.
JUDGE: That's fine with me.
How are you feeling today, Greg? I can get you a glass of water if you'd like.
I'm fine.
I'm sorry.
That's right.
I wouldn't want to be party to you violating any of your vows of self-sacrifice.
Religion is not meant to be easy.
SERENA: Like during Ramadan, when a man is drawn closer to God by disregarding his earthly needs? And what's the other one, Shu Shahadah.
Right.
That's it.
The prayer before you give your life for God.
It's an honor to die for Allah.
And Allah wanted Louise Murdoch dead? She defied his will.
So whoever actually pulled the trigger would be the true slave to Allah and should be honored to accept the consequences of that act, is that correct? Yet you keep denying it.
Is that because you're scared to accept those consequences? Scared of the Shahadah? You're just like Murdoch.
You are both enemies to Islam! She poisons women against men, she has killed her unborn child, and she serves liquor in her home! So you shot her in the back.
You don't have to say that, you know.
No, you were great, Serena.
You cracked him like a walnut.
He didn't actually crack.
Don't be so sure of that.
Landen said in court that Louise Murdoch had killed her unborn child.
I thought that was just part of his rant.
What if Louise Murdoch did have an abortion? How would he know? And how would he know about her open-door policy, or the fact she threw parties where alcohol was served? How could he possibly know about any of that? He knew her.
Anyone that gets into Louise's office has to get by me first.
And you never saw her with Greg Landen? I've been following the trial.
Believe me, if I recognized the SOB, I would have called you guys.
Maybe one of her students.
She wasn't teaching this semester.
But she did have some students helping her research the book.
Anyone who went to Strickland Academy? You should have come forward, Jennifer.
I didn't know it had anything to do with me.
(CHUCKLES) Denial's a wonderful thing, isn't it? Murdoch was your friend.
And that's why I prayed it had nothing to do with me.
Well, why don't you tell me what you do know? Greg and I were friends.
But that was way before he got into the whole Muslim thing.
Did you tell him about Louise Murdoch? Maybe there was a little hero worship going on.
She got me excited about women's rights.
She opened my eyes to what was going on in some Muslim countries.
And you opened Greg's eyes.
I guess.
Once I even dragged Greg to dinner with her.
Are you saying that you two were involved? Sure.
I guess.
If you could even call it that.
What exactly does that mean? We've already been through this.
I'm not accepting any of your deals.
JACK: You're not here as a defendant, Mr.
Landen.
I asked you here in your capacity as your own counsel.
We want to call a witness that wasn't on our initial witness list.
Call whoever you want.
I don't care.
I appreciate your amenability, Mr.
Landen.
Legally, you are entitled to question her before she takes the stand.
We both know that's going to be a waste of time.
This is our additional witness, Mr.
Landen.
Jennifer Taylor.
I think you know each other.
How could you, Greg? Did you do this because of me? JACK: Think about it, Greg.
Think about what Jennifer will say on the stand.
In front of your friends, the press, your mother, the whole world.
(MOUTHING) Shut up! Shut up! You shut up 'cause I am a man! I am a man no matter what she says about me.
Okay? You laughed at me.
You laughed.
You shouldn't have laughed.
(SOBBING) Well, at least at his allocution, Landen apologized to the entire Muslim community.
Olivet was right.
He wasn't a true believer.
He was just a humiliated adolescent.
All and all, I'd say we're damn lucky this was just one screwball kid.
Angry kid, full of rage.
Just looking for a target.
Isn't that what a terrorist is? What's scary is how easy it is to create one.
These are their stories.
MAN: Because I don't want her to hear us talking, that's why.
No, she knows all Look, it doesn't matter if it was 10 years ago or yesterday.
She sees me talking to you, and she sees us mid-coitus.
What can I say? (GUN FIRING) (DOG BARKING) Oh, my God.
(FIRING CONTINUES) (DOOR SLAMMING) I think I just heard gunshots.
Lila, stop.
Lila! Oh, God.
Lila! (CAR HORN BLARING) (TIRES SCREECHING) MARTINEZ: Dog walker heard shots coming from this area and called 911.
Uniforms responding found the door wide open.
Vics are Louise and Hugh Murdoch, husband and wife.
Both PhDs.
Both full professors at Stuyvesant College.
Brainy household.
Not smart enough to lock the door.
She took three in the back.
No exit wounds.
M.
E.
Will have to dig out the slugs.
How about him? Two in the skull.
Same on the slugs.
You get a read on the weapon? No shell casings.
Could've been a.
38.
On the other hand, the lady took three in the back.
So if she's running away, could have been a semi.
Witness is outside.
I'll get it.
Was this phone here? We found the cradle upstairs.
Okay, we need the LUDs on this number, as soon as possible.
I only saw the guy for a couple of seconds, you know, only from behind.
Do the best you can.
Slight build.
Curly, dark hair.
I think he might've been Hispanic.
Why, his back look Spanish? Uh, no, it's kind of embarrassing.
The way Lila took off after that guy.
She only does that with Latinos.
Yeah.
Well, if you think of anything else.
You wouldn't think on a block like this Yeah.
Was he any help? Other than the racist dog? My aunt had a spaniel who didn't like tall men.
Detectives, we got something.
In a trashcan around the corner.
He takes the time to clean up the casings, but throws the gun in the trash can? Well, some bulbs don't burn as bright as others.
Fired recently.
Yeah, three guesses where.
BRISCOE: Forensics ran the prints from the gun through the system.
Nothing.
And you're sure this wasn't a robbery? If it was, he was an amateur.
I mean, the husband was wearing a Franck Muller Master Banker.
It's a watch.
It goes for 25,000.
BRISCOE: There's no hidden safe, the drawers were untouched.
And there's expensive artwork on all the walls.
And you're a connoisseur now? Hey, if ain't Dogs Playing Poker.
Anyway, they were both Stuyvesant College professors.
Well, no robbery means this is personal.
Neighbors said they were quite the party givers.
No, all they said was there was a lot of people coming in and out.
Hey, to me, two or more people is a party.
LUDs you wanted from the Murdochs' townhouse.
They received a three-minute call just six minutes before the dog walker's 911 call.
"Telemarketing Solutions"? I looked it up.
It's here in the city.
Maybe we'll catch a break and the caller overheard something.
You guys remember every donut you eat? Joke.
Funny.
Hey, man, your average call here lasts about 20 seconds.
This one, three minutes.
Don't tell us you don't remember.
Here's one I'll bet you don't hear too often.
I do remember.
Most people start off with a couple of negative comments about my mother, then they slam down the phone.
But this lady was nice.
She actually listened.
Did she buy? We didn't get that far.
She had to go.
All right.
So, let me ask you a question.
I get these calls that usually start off with, "This call is being recorded for quality assurance.
" A tape? Sure.
Piece of cake.
What, no donut? LOUISE: But I have good credit.
(DOORBELL BUZZING) ED: That sounds like a doorbell.
And guess who's coming to dinner.
And there's more.
SAL: Consolidating debt's a good thing.
LOUISE: What would be the interest rate? Variable or fixed? I've got to go.
That's no help.
Hmm.
To the baffled multitude, maybe.
Here we go.
By dissipating ground hum and putting a gain on the lows, I was able to enhance the far conversation when it didn't overlap the near.
MAN 1: You Professor Murdoch Ellenbar.
"Ellen Bar"? Maybe Murdoch had a really big tab and the bartender got fed up.
No, no, probably just a fragment.
But to be thorough, I looked it up.
No listings for any bars of that name in the city.
But there's more.
I knew it.
For some reason the far conversation got louder towards the end.
Probably because she got closer as she walked downstairs.
MAN 2: I only do what I In the Stuyvesant Stuyvesant.
That's where they taught.
Somebody doesn't have to hand in that term paper.
Hugh and Louise weren't just two of my best faculty members, they were dear friends.
ED: Were there any problems between them? Oh, no.
Sure, there was a rough period, maybe five or six years ago.
Two workaholics, it's to be expected.
But, uh, now they walked around campus holding hands.
What about problems with students? Louise wasn't even teaching this semester.
She took a sabbatical to write a book on the Holy Roman Empire.
ED: And the husband? One of our biggest stars.
Every year Harvard tries to poach him.
He doesn't really teach that much anymore, so If he wasn't teaching? Research.
He ran our biochemistry lab.
(PHONE RINGING) Hugh spent most of his time there.
You may want to talk to some of his post-grad researchers.
Dean Bodner.
We were on the verge.
Parkinson's Disease.
What, he had a cure? A methodology to look for one.
So, in other words, this was like whacking Jonas Salk.
Dr.
Salk didn't have a Phil Giani working for him.
ED: Meaning? Uh, I'm not saying he killed Dr.
Murdoch, but if anyone here wanted him out of the picture, it was definitely Phil.
Why? Phil was pro-Parkinson's? He thought Dr.
Murdoch should have given him credit for the research in his last paper.
And the Professor disagreed? It turned ugly.
Dr.
Murdoch fired him.
ED: Where does this Giani work now? That's the thing.
This is a very small community, word gets out you had a run in with someone of Dr.
Murdoch's stature, and You're out of the business.
Who says you can't go home again? Hacking is how I paid my way through undergrad.
Tough break.
Things'll change.
Why, because Dr.
Murdoch ain't around anymore to badmouth you? Because I'm too good a researcher.
Oh, yeah? So, what's the best way to get uptown during rush hour? What's pluripotent HES cell transference, or blastocystic trophectoderm removal with regards to stem cell research? I guess I missed that day on Sesame Street.
All this transference stuff was your idea? What Murdoch stole from me wasn't ideas.
It was a methodology.
(SCOFFS) Look who I'm talking to.
You know, since we have a lot to talk about, we might as well be comfortable.
I'll show you the best way to get downtown.
I'd love to smack that little pompous schmuck.
Me first.
ED: I hear that a lot of money comes into the school because of Dr.
Murdoch's research.
Ooh.
Subtle.
You're good.
I'm about to crack.
An ordinary guy would want a piece of that for himself.
I wouldn't know about an ordinary guy.
It doesn't bother you that you do all the work and Dr.
Murdoch gets the money? You don't go into molecular biochemistry for money.
Well, what do you go into it for? The glory? That's right.
I want to march up front in the Macy's parade.
Intellectual achievement.
Though I'm sure that means absolutely nothing to you.
Blastocystic removal, the wave of the future.
Right.
(LAUGHS) Very good.
The primate can regurgitate what it heard.
Next.
Let's move on to sentences.
Let me ask you something.
Primate? It's like a Monkey.
No.
I want to ask your opinion on Einstein's theory because I'm not sure he was right.
(CHUCKLES) Headline.
"Cop cracks relativity.
" No.
Not that theory, Phil.
His theory on genius.
See, and correct me if I'm wrong, Einstein argued that genius has no personality.
After talking to you for this short amount of time, I realized that you actually prove the negative.
You definitely have personality.
And that makes this primate wanna whup your ass.
Now say something.
Way to go, Ed.
(CELL PHONE RINGING) Van Buren.
Thanks.
Ballistics says they're ready for you.
Ballistics.
My kind of scientists.
M.
E.
Extracted three bullets from the female, two from the male.
which unfortunately I know, they tend to break into fragments.
They had to pick three of these from the male's brain alone.
Reassembling was like a jigsaw puzzle.
Did you get any kind of a match? Striations indicated a clear six-point correlation to the two slugs from the male victim.
You couldn't confirm the other three? For good reason.
They were fired from a different 9mm.
You're saying Mrs.
Murdoch was killed by a different weapon? Two guns to fire only five bullets? Well, either your guy is ambidextrous Or there were two shooters.
This bastard's got a friend.
That guy? I highly doubt it.
Wouldn't you say revenge killings are typically solo acts? Murdoch's lab guy, he said that he was doing stem cell research.
And they shoot abortion doctors, don't they? Well, the phone tapes, they mentioned something about Stuyvesant.
Maybe they meant the lab and not the college.
Let's go see if Murdoch's lab is on anybody's hit list.
A human cell is placed in an egg whose own nucleus has been removed.
We put it in a petri dish, zap it with a jolt of electricity, and voilà! It's all reprogrammed into a clump of between one and 200 new cells.
Then we harvest the stem cells for our studies.
And with that you can cure Parkinson's? Parkinson's, diabetes, Alzheimer's, who knows what else? But somewhere along the line what we do became a political hotbed.
We did receive some nasty letters, but the FBI checked them out.
Maybe we ought to check them out, too.
"We strongly caution you against this type of research, Dr.
Murdoch.
"It is wrong in the eyes of God.
You will be judged.
" It looks like judgment day came a little bit early for Professor Murdoch.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Murder isn't just a sin, Mr.
Scott.
It's also a felony.
Look at the name on the wall, Detective.
"Protect Life.
" We would never kill to prove a point.
Words are our only weapon.
Maybe somebody in your organization thought they weren't enough.
Perhaps, if Professor Murdoch's research violated our principles.
Which it clearly did, otherwise you wouldn't have sent that letter.
What we object to is the creation of life for the sole purpose of destroying it.
Anyway, this letter was sent before.
Before what? Before we confirmed Dr.
Murdoch was using existing cell lines.
We had no problem with Murdoch or his research.
The only problem with this guy's story is that, that the kid from Murdoch's lab said that they were creating life in that dish.
He didn't say life.
He said new cells.
And from what I hear, you kill more cells drinking a beer.
You can't tell me that when that cell hits the egg that isn't the start of life.
Okay, zygotes are people, too.
Well, they turn into people, don't they? Look, the bottom line is, Murdoch was either lying to the public about his research or those Protect Lifers are lying to us.
They're just squeaky wheels, not killers.
So, if they did do it, odds are they made a couple of mistakes along the way.
All right.
Back to letter A.
Okay, so the doorbell rings.
Mrs.
Murdoch goes to answer it.
Why? Maybe she didn't know hubby was there.
Or maybe she was the one expecting guests.
Now, what happens next? Hubby goes to answer the door.
She's in the library.
The shooter walks in all the way to his desk in the den.
Now if your main goal was to kill him, wouldn't you kill him right away? Not if I wanted to kill the wife.
I've been the department secretary for the last five years.
Nobody ever had a cross word for Louise.
ED: Louise? You called her Louise? She'd yell at anyone that called her "Professor.
" "Doctor"? Forget about it.
BRISCOE: A woman of the people, huh? And here are 12 of them.
This looks like a guest list for some kind of party the day after she was murdered.
A tea.
That's what she called them.
Although tea was the last thing she served.
From what I hear.
Yeah, I used to call it "tea," too.
They were discussion groups actually.
ED: With other professors? Professors, students, civilians.
What did they talk about? Whatever.
I'm sorry.
These are detectives, Jennifer.
Jennifer, uh You wouldn't be Jennifer Taylor? Yes.
I was just returning these books.
I was doing some research.
ED: This was for her book? I was checking footnotes and sources mostly.
I'm sorry.
Jennifer, your name's on the guest list for Dr.
Murdoch's next discussion group.
I went to a lot of them.
Was there a specific topic planned for that night? We were going to discuss gender apartheid.
That was her thing lately.
The abusive treatment of women in certain Middle Eastern countries.
She'd been throwing charity cocktail parties for years to raise funds and awareness.
I'll bet that thrilled the local Muslim men.
STEPHIE: She was always receiving literature, pamphlets really, quoting the Quran.
I can show you.
There's a shelter for abused women around the corner, and this lady's worried about suffrage in some third world country? Well, it ain't just voting rights.
Listen to this.
"Men are commanded to whip their disobedient wives.
"Women are deficient in intelligence compared to men.
" Where's that from, the Center for the Advancement of Wife Beaters? No, it's Wait.
"El Anbar Books.
" As in "Ellen Bar.
" MOGAZl: I don't have anything to do with that trash.
Your store was on the return address label, Mr.
Mogazi.
It was not me.
Talk to the kid.
What kid? Mousah Salim.
I hired him to stack books.
Then he starts mailing that nonsense from my store.
Well, if you didn't like it, why'd you let him? I didn't even know about it until this crazy woman comes here with all her friends and her picket signs.
Was this woman a college professor? Yes.
Yes.
And all her crazy friends.
Not good for business.
So I fired the kid, and now she leaves me alone.
This Mousah Salim, does he have an address? I'm sorry.
There must be some mix-up.
We're looking for Mousah Salim.
No mix-up.
I'm his mother, Francine Landen.
Uh, can we talk to him? That would be difficult.
He's in Pakistan.
Can we talk to you? Sure.
FRANCINE: Do you have kids? Yeah, in Florida.
Hopefully smoking dope, like normal teenagers.
My little angel puts a towel on his head and starts quoting the Quran at breakfast.
When I was 22, I read The Razor's Edge and I didn't eat steak for two months.
Yeah, well, you got over it.
Some things with my Greg never change.
You know what we spent on private school? Straight Cs.
Couldn't have gotten into a decent college if he wanted to, which he didn't.
He's been nothing but a disappointment.
Is something wrong? The police, looking for Greg.
You're in the wrong hemisphere.
I told them.
What? The Pakistanis don't want him around either? Actually, we thought that he might have witnessed a murder.
Greg do something useful? You've definitely got the wrong kid.
All in all, I'd say that's a pretty good alibi.
Unless he got sick of falafel and decided to come home ahead of schedule.
What, and forgot to tell his parents? If she was my mom, I'd forget, too.
I've got Customs looking into it.
So, you're thinking we've got another John Walker Lindh on our hands? Yeah, only this one actually may have pulled the trigger.
Hey, somehow, some way, this kid is connected to the killers.
Maybe someone helped him with his conversion.
Greg is highly intelligent, but had trouble fitting in.
I'm sure you know the type.
Yeah.
I read about them in the Columbine News.
No, no, he wasn't like that.
Sure, he got picked on every now and then, but he certainly wasn't one for retaliation.
He just sat back and took it? Well, he did act out once.
He and another boy were caught on campus one night setting fire to a garbage can.
Who was this other kid? I can dig out the disciplinary report.
But I do remember he wasn't a student at Strickland.
Michael's not here.
I'm his sister.
Where are your parents? Who do you wanna talk to, my dead mother or my convict father? Is this your brother? Yeah.
The dog was right.
Look, whatever's going on with Michael, I'm the parents now.
You can talk to me.
(DOOR UNLOCKING) Hey! Hey! You know, if you were on your way down to the precinct, we can give you a ride.
BRISCOE: You know what this is, Michael? It's a ballistics report.
It says that the gun that we found outside the Murdochs' townhouse is the gun that killed Hugh Murdoch.
Now this one, this is from our forensics lab.
Now, if your fingerprints are found on that gun That means that this isn't gonna be one of your better days, kid.
I don't know what you mean.
Two people are dead, Michael.
You killed one of them.
We're guessing your friend killed the other one.
Which one? (SIGHS) That's what we want you to tell us.
Time's up.
Gina Sparrow, Esquire.
I've been retained by Mr.
Sanchez's sister.
You should know better.
Questioning this kind of suspect without his lawyer present.
We didn't know he had one.
And exactly what kind of suspect is he? You want us to leave? That would be nice.
So, is this guy as dumb as he seems? There's no way this kid is the brains behind all this.
Did you reach the D.
A? She's willing to play.
Here we go.
Speaking hypothetically, what if Michael had a partner? We'd be shocked.
Would the D.
A.
Work with us? If Michael gives us a name, they'll give two counts of man two.
Running concurrently? If he gives us a location.
Michael's partner was a boy named Landen.
Greg Landen.
He was the one who shot Mrs.
Murdoch.
I guess he really did get sick of falafels.
(MEN PRAYING) "Docket number 26775, "People v.
Greg Alan Landen.
" My name is Mousah Salim.
Derek Greer for the defense, Your Honor.
Waive reading, plead not guilty.
I plead nothing.
I'm not asking you for anything.
You have no authority over me.
Tell that to the gentleman with the service revolver.
Question of bail? Remand, Your Honor.
This defendant's a flight risk.
He murdered two people shortly after returning from four months in Pakistan.
You lying Qabeha! JUDGE: Looks like he wasn't there to sightsee.
Well, listen to you.
You don't even try to hide your disdain for Islam.
My disdain isn't for Islam, pal.
Defendant is remanded to the Department of Corrections without bail.
Next.
Allah akbar.
Allah akbar.
I am a slave to Allah.
Allah akbar.
Allah akbar.
I am a slave to Allah.
SERENA: I just got called a name, I don't even know what it means.
Oh, you're going to love this guy.
That bad? Greg Landen could make our new D.
A.
Pack his bags and head back to Georgia.
I don't think Lillian would let him.
Lillian? Mrs.
Arthur Branch.
She loves the smell of concrete.
Always has.
Always will.
I didn't know you were friendly with him? Bar Association dinners.
Nice fellow.
And his politics? Nice fellow.
(PHONE RINGING) Hello.
Sure.
Tell him I'll be there in an hour.
Well, I'm going to meet your Mr.
Landen.
Care to come along? I've already had the pleasure.
For reasons that should be obvious, I'd like to make this one go away.
And for those same reasons, the best I can do is two counts of man one, sentences to run consecutively.
That's hardly a bargain.
This infidel doesn't speak for me.
Quiet, Greg.
This prosecution is part of America's crusade against Islam.
I want a lawyer who sees that.
I want a Muslim lawyer.
JACK: It's dilatory, Arthur.
If every time his lawyer does something he doesn't like, he fires him, we may not get to trial for a decade.
And he'll be off the street all that time.
The Sixth Amendment guarantees his right to counsel.
Let him choose whoever he wants.
I think there's another issue we should consider.
What if Landen was indigent and Greer was court-appointed counsel? Could Landen then reject him on the basis of religion? Uh-oh.
I feel the old "bad precedent" speech coming on.
Well, that would mean that a skinhead could reject a Jewish attorney, a rapist could reject a woman.
The Constitution requires only that counsel be competent.
It doesn't say that he and his client have to be best friends.
Thank you.
Martha Stewart is the queen of domestic tranquility.
Right now, I'm not sure I'd want her near my kitchen.
No offense, but that analogy isn't even in the right ballpark.
BRANCH: Why not? There's a lot more to competence than a law degree and a modicum of courtroom skill.
The defendant and his attorney need to be able to communicate.
There should be at least a touch of trust between them.
JACK: You better watch out, Arthur, or they'll take back your invitation to the Strict Constructionists' Ball.
You see, that's where you don't understand me, Jack.
It's my job to put that son-of-a-gun behind bars.
The last thing I want to do for him is gift-wrap grounds for reversible error.
(PHONE RINGING) SERENA: Mr.
Branch's office.
Jack, it's for you.
McCoy.
Yes.
Sure.
That was Anwar Mohammed.
He's just been retained by Greg Landen.
He wants to meet me for coffee.
Oh, to be young and have parents with a bulging bankbook.
We already tried to cut a deal with Mr.
Landen.
I know.
Couldn't we work out something with no prison time? A mental facility perhaps? I'm sorry.
You've known me a long time, Anwar.
You know the political climate played no part in my decision.
Maybe it should.
The boy's one step from a terrorist.
I'm sure things haven't been easy for you this past year.
It's been a terrible year, but when people need you, somehow your ethnicity disappears.
And those who don't need you? I don't need them.
Well, Jack, if it's any consolation, I'll do my best to keep Greg's rhetoric to a minimum in the courtroom.
Have you met him yet? Yeah.
And that's why he's getting nowhere near the stand.
Believe me, I don't' want his religious beliefs in the courtroom anymore than you do.
I'm representing Greg Landen because he needs my help.
But please don't ever confuse his politics with my faith.
JACK: And why did you go with Mr.
Landen to the Murdochs' home? MICHAEL: Greg told me the Murdochs had more money than they needed.
He said if we took some, we could go away.
And where would you go, Mr.
Sanchez? The mountains.
(PRAYING IN ARABIC) Greg said we could do some fishing and some hunting.
It sounded like fun.
Allah akbar.
What happened when you got inside the Murdochs' townhouse, Mr.
Sanchez? The man took us into this room, and then Greg told me to shoot him.
(PRAYING IN ARABIC) And you did? MICHAEL: Yeah.
There was a lot of blood.
What happened next, Mr.
Sanchez? A woman came in and she started screaming.
She tried to run away, but Greg shot her.
Then I got scared, so I ran.
(CONTINUES PRAYING IN ARABIC) You didn't steal anything? No.
I guess we forgot.
Only one murder weapon was found.
Do you know whose fingerprints were on it? Yours.
Only one person was seen running from the Murdochs' house.
Do you know who it was? You.
(STAMMERING) Greg was there, too.
But nobody saw him.
How do you explain that? MICHAEL: I don't know, but he was there.
He shot the lady, and then ran the other way.
It was all his idea.
I guess it's a good thing you made a deal with the District Attorney, or we wouldn't even have your word for it.
This isn't what I told you to do.
You tell them about the U.
S.
Aggression.
ANWAR: Not now, Greg.
Tell them about the U.
S.
Government's crusade against Islam.
Sit down.
They're trying to wipe us out.
Your Honor (JUDGE BANGING GAVEL) Three thousand killed on September 11th.
Quiet down, Mr.
Landen.
GREG: Over 20,000 killed in Afghanistan.
Your taxes pay for the bombs that kill Afghani children.
You're out of order, Mr.
Landen.
You're the terrorists.
They want me to shut me up.
That's why they're trying to put me in prison.
JACK: Your Honor! Only they can't send me to Cuba like the others.
JUDGE: Mr.
Landen, that's enough! They can't treat an American like a caged animal.
Court Officer, remove the defendant from the courtroom.
I'll see counsel in chambers.
What, so you can talk behind my back? This trial is a sham! Give him a Valium.
What do I care? I'm afraid it won't be that simple, Your Honor.
It appears the only way to maintain any semblance of decorum is to remove the defendant from the courtroom.
Is that an on-the-record motion, Mr.
McCoy? Yes, Your Honor, it is.
Well, the last time I read the Constitution, all criminal defendants have an absolute right to confront their accusers, not only the well-behaved ones.
The State will provide a television hook up so he won't miss a word of the proceedings.
I'm sure you'd like to add your two cents, Mr.
Mohammed.
Actually, Your Honor, I'm not going to oppose Mr.
McCoy's motion.
What happened to representing your client zealously? I feel it would best serve his defense if he weren't permitted to disrupt the proceedings.
Please bring the defendant into my chambers.
We should at least get his opinion on the matter.
You know, there is a way to put an end to all this.
My client won't accept a deal, Your Honor.
JUDGE: Let me explain what's going on, Mr.
Landen.
Mr.
McCoy would like me to keep you out of the courtroom.
To be equitable, I'd be willing to give you another chance.
Do you think you can contain yourself? Yeah, if he would do his job.
From where I'm sitting on the bench, Mr.
Mohammed is doing an excellent job.
No, his job is to do what I tell him to do.
I want him to use my real name.
And I'd have him tell the jury about how the American government's framing me because I'm Muslim.
There's no attorney in the country that would argue that.
You know what? Fine.
Fine.
Then I'll represent myself.
That kid is an idiot savant.
Or just an idiot.
Don't fool yourself.
He's just out-lawyered our office, his own counsel, and the judicial branch.
For us to win a motion denying his request for self-representation, the court would have to find him unfit to represent himself.
Well, he is 19 and without any legal training.
To quote the Bard, ignorance often turns out to be the best defense.
If he's found unfit to represent himself, he could also be found legally incompetent to stand trial at all.
The proverbial corner, Ms.
Southerlyn.
That's what our friend has painted us into.
So, what you're saying is we're not going to oppose his motion? Look at the bright side, the judge ordered Mohammed to stay on as stand-by counsel.
Which could be a good thing or a bad thing.
Just to be safe, let's have one of our shrinks in the courtroom.
Welcome to the corner, Serena.
GREG ON TAPE: We want to talk to Mr.
Murdoch about the protest at the El Anbar HUGH ON TAPE: I only know what I read about in the Stuyvesant (STATIC) I ran this through a Kay Elemetric 5500 spectrograph, by comparing pitch, trajectory of vowel forming, and nasal resonance, I was able to locate two distinct voices.
JACK: And were you able to identify those voices? Well, the second voice I can't identify.
I can only assume it belongs to Hugh Murdoch.
And the other voice? It's the defendant's.
Are you sure? Yes.
It was a perfect match with the voice samples taken from the defendant post-arrest.
JACK: What does that indicate? Well, that Mr.
Landen was in the Murdochs' house within minutes of the shootings.
Thank you.
This machine that you said you used, it's owned by the U.
S.
Government, right? (CHUCKLES) Uh, city of New York, actually.
And if you wanted to, you could fake a recording? Uh Well, I suppose I could, but, uh Are you Jewish? JACK: Objection.
Overruled.
Your Honor.
JUDGE: Arguably, it goes to bias.
As a Jew, isn't it your mission in life to destroy the lives of Muslims? JACK: Objection.
You hate Muslims, don't you? Sidebar, Your Honor.
Your Honor, these questions are bigoted and have no relevance.
I'm inclined to agree, Your Honor, however Mr.
Landen does have a right to his opinion.
He's got a point, Mr.
McCoy, pro se defendants are permitted extra latitude.
JACK: I show you People's Five and ask if you recognize it.
I understand this is difficult, but you are under oath, Mr.
Landen.
Yes, it's my gun.
And is it the only gun that you own? No.
I have another 9mm, a SIG-Sauer.
Where is that gun now? I don't know.
It's Missing.
JACK: Who do you think took it? Seek to treat the witness as hostile.
JUDGE: Go ahead.
You think your son took your guns, don't you? I couldn't say.
Well, how about this? Where do you keep the weapons in question? In my study.
In the bottom drawer.
Which is locked? Mr.
Landen? No.
It wasn't locked.
Did you ever cheat on your wife? JACK: Objection.
Relevance.
How can the jury believe a word he says? He's an adulterer.
Marital infidelity doesn't bear on witness credibility, Mr.
Landen.
Ask a different question.
Why didn't you have any more children? JACK: Your Honor.
Because you didn't even want to have me, did you? Objection! Sustained.
You're embarrassed by me.
(DOOR CLOSING) That's why you're trying to put me away.
You want me in jail so that you never have to see me again.
That's not true.
I love you.
How does it feel to sell out your own son, hmm? America's been trying to destroy Islam for years.
It sides with the Jews against the Palestinians because America's a Judeo-Christian country.
Since 1990, it has occupied our holy lands in Saudi Arabia.
American women walk around with their faces uncovered in our holiest city.
America doesn't respect any culture but its own.
You Honor.
Is any of this relevant? Let him talk, Mr.
McCoy.
It's his right.
You think that your way is the only way and feel that you have the right to invade anyone who disagrees.
Bosnia, Somalia, Iraq.
You're trying to assimilate the world.
America is a country that was born out of the mass murder of Native Americans and built on the backs of Africans.
If the Native Americans could've defended themselves by flying planes into buildings, don't you think they would have? If the slaves could have freed themselves by becoming martyrs, don't you think that they would have? And it wouldn't have been terrorism.
It would've been self-defense.
So, killing a woman who challenges your view of Islam is self-defense? I didn't kill her.
Michael Sanchez did.
How did he get your father's gun? I don't know.
Why would Michael Sanchez target an advocate for Muslim women? It was a robbery.
You heard him say that.
But you're not sad she's dead.
She didn't know her place.
Quran 4:34 says, "Allah made men superior to women.
" Under your perversion of the religion.
See, this is what I'm talking about.
Any religion that Americans don't understand, they call perverted.
If we could get back to the homicides, Mr.
McCoy.
Go ahead, Mr.
McCoy, go ahead, listen to the lady.
Excuse me.
No, I won't.
I will not allow a female to judge me.
That's enough for today.
We'll pick it up tomorrow, 9:30.
(JUDGE BANGS GAVEL) From what I saw, he's nowhere near legally insane.
Just your garden variety fanatic fundamentalist.
If this had been about politics, he probably would've become an anarchist.
If it was about music, he could've gotten into grunge and heavy metal.
He picked religion, specifically Islam, for a specific reason.
Adolescent rebellion.
No, he could have bought a motorcycle or pierced his tongue.
People who become fundamentalists do so because there's a part of the dogma that resonates with them.
There's something in their psyche that draws them to a distorted interpretation of an otherwise legitimate religion.
There's a sect for every nut.
Exactly.
But what is it about militant Islam that Landen finds so appealing? Hint.
Sanchez shot Hugh Murdoch.
Landen shot his wife.
"Allah made men superior to women.
" My guess is he is terrified of women.
Militant Islam eases that anxiety by making women subordinate.
Landen became a slave of Allah because he couldn't get a date? I'm not saying it's as simple as that, Jack.
But I did see how he reacted to Judge Burke.
And I saw how his mother reacted to him.
So Mommy made him do it? She walked out on him.
Castration hurts whether it's surgical or emotional.
He can't confront his mother directly.
I think he's scared to death of women, period.
And what would happen if a woman challenged him, literally? You're talking about Louise Murdoch? I'm talking about Serena.
Your Honor, with the court's permission, Ms.
Southerlyn will continue with the cross-examination.
JUDGE: That's fine with me.
How are you feeling today, Greg? I can get you a glass of water if you'd like.
I'm fine.
I'm sorry.
That's right.
I wouldn't want to be party to you violating any of your vows of self-sacrifice.
Religion is not meant to be easy.
SERENA: Like during Ramadan, when a man is drawn closer to God by disregarding his earthly needs? And what's the other one, Shu Shahadah.
Right.
That's it.
The prayer before you give your life for God.
It's an honor to die for Allah.
And Allah wanted Louise Murdoch dead? She defied his will.
So whoever actually pulled the trigger would be the true slave to Allah and should be honored to accept the consequences of that act, is that correct? Yet you keep denying it.
Is that because you're scared to accept those consequences? Scared of the Shahadah? You're just like Murdoch.
You are both enemies to Islam! She poisons women against men, she has killed her unborn child, and she serves liquor in her home! So you shot her in the back.
You don't have to say that, you know.
No, you were great, Serena.
You cracked him like a walnut.
He didn't actually crack.
Don't be so sure of that.
Landen said in court that Louise Murdoch had killed her unborn child.
I thought that was just part of his rant.
What if Louise Murdoch did have an abortion? How would he know? And how would he know about her open-door policy, or the fact she threw parties where alcohol was served? How could he possibly know about any of that? He knew her.
Anyone that gets into Louise's office has to get by me first.
And you never saw her with Greg Landen? I've been following the trial.
Believe me, if I recognized the SOB, I would have called you guys.
Maybe one of her students.
She wasn't teaching this semester.
But she did have some students helping her research the book.
Anyone who went to Strickland Academy? You should have come forward, Jennifer.
I didn't know it had anything to do with me.
(CHUCKLES) Denial's a wonderful thing, isn't it? Murdoch was your friend.
And that's why I prayed it had nothing to do with me.
Well, why don't you tell me what you do know? Greg and I were friends.
But that was way before he got into the whole Muslim thing.
Did you tell him about Louise Murdoch? Maybe there was a little hero worship going on.
She got me excited about women's rights.
She opened my eyes to what was going on in some Muslim countries.
And you opened Greg's eyes.
I guess.
Once I even dragged Greg to dinner with her.
Are you saying that you two were involved? Sure.
I guess.
If you could even call it that.
What exactly does that mean? We've already been through this.
I'm not accepting any of your deals.
JACK: You're not here as a defendant, Mr.
Landen.
I asked you here in your capacity as your own counsel.
We want to call a witness that wasn't on our initial witness list.
Call whoever you want.
I don't care.
I appreciate your amenability, Mr.
Landen.
Legally, you are entitled to question her before she takes the stand.
We both know that's going to be a waste of time.
This is our additional witness, Mr.
Landen.
Jennifer Taylor.
I think you know each other.
How could you, Greg? Did you do this because of me? JACK: Think about it, Greg.
Think about what Jennifer will say on the stand.
In front of your friends, the press, your mother, the whole world.
(MOUTHING) Shut up! Shut up! You shut up 'cause I am a man! I am a man no matter what she says about me.
Okay? You laughed at me.
You laughed.
You shouldn't have laughed.
(SOBBING) Well, at least at his allocution, Landen apologized to the entire Muslim community.
Olivet was right.
He wasn't a true believer.
He was just a humiliated adolescent.
All and all, I'd say we're damn lucky this was just one screwball kid.
Angry kid, full of rage.
Just looking for a target.
Isn't that what a terrorist is? What's scary is how easy it is to create one.