Law & Order (1990) s18e05 Episode Script
Driven
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.
(MUSIC BLARING ON SPEAKERS) JOSH: You really been over here before? Yeah, I copped some weed from those guys last week.
You copped weed from those guys? Don't be such awuss.
You wanna play with me? He will.
My mother and your mother were hanging up clothes.
My mother punched your mother right in the nose.
What color was the blood? It was turquoise.
ANDY: Let's go.
Turquoise.
T-U-R-Q-U-O-I-S-E.
A unit from the 2-5 responded to a radio run of shots fired a few minutes after 8:00.
Unit got here quick, 8:14.
Looks like she caught one in the chest.
Any witnesses come forward? TURLEY: No, nobody yet.
She's got on a necklace that says Tanya.
She must be, like, nine or 10.
Sarge! We got something! One in the neck, one in the shoulder.
The neck looks like athrough-and-through.
(WOMAN SCREAMING) Turley.
Turley.
I want the street cleared now.
Push those people back.
It's gonna hit the fan now, my friend.
VAN BUREN: Move aside, please.
CORMACK: Let's go.
Make a hole.
Go.
MAN: Oh! They got the brass up here now.
It's something now, huh? You got a white boy down now it's something.
Back it up, people! Hey, Lieutenant, nice night for a walk.
Tell me the story.
I hear two kids were shot.
Yeah.
One over there, white male, mid-teens, no ID, two shots, close range.
Yeah, and we got Tanya Anderson, one shot.
The shooting took place over here.
There was two shell casings on the ground, there's blood on the curb.
Just two shell casings? Well, the boy had athrough-and-through in his neck.
He got shot first, staggers on down the block.
The through-and-through hits the girl in the playground.
You know? This used to be a free-fire zone.
Rumor has it, it was cleaned up.
I got news for them.
Boss? Chief of D's is here with the Deputy Mayor.
If they're here to get a photo op with the dead girl's mother, she just left.
Hey,yo? Our John Doe's prints aren't in the system.
All right.
Well, I found some paint scrapings in the treads here, so maybe he was some place they were stripping paint.
Well, whoever he is, he spent some of the last hours of his young life in a swimming pool.
Smell his hair.
(SNIFFS) Chlorine.
Like from a pool at the Y or a school? No.
I'm guessing something a little more high-end than that.
Test on his hair showed the pH wasn't as harsh as what you'd find in institutional pools.
I noticed there's a couple of new luxury high-rises a few blocks from the shooting.
They advertise indoor pools on the roofs.
ALICE: Oh, my God! My God! My baby.
(SOBBING) I have to see him.
Of course.
We'll have someone drive you there.
I'll go get my coat.
What happened to my son? Tell me.
He was shot, Mr.
Kendall, over on 105th Street.
Do you know what he might've been doing there? No.
Shot, how can that happen? You went to the theater last night? Yeah.
We came home about 10:30.
David's door was closed.
We figured he was asleep.
Looks like you just moved in.
You do any renovation, strip paint off the wall, that sort of thing? What? No.
You know anyone who is doing renovations? Someone David would visit? The Steels are renovating their brownstone on 109th.
David's friends with their boys Andy and Josh.
David came over around 7:00.
He was here maybe, I don't know, an hour.
Did he tell you guys where he was going when he left? No.
He just said he was going home.
Why? Is he okay? No, ma'am.
He was shot and killed near the playground on 105th.
Hey, are you Josh or Andy? Josh.
How about it, Josh, David say anything to you? You know what, boys? Let's go, we're going be late.
Yeah.
ED: We have more questions for them.
I'm sorry, it's my morning to carpool.
And, anyway, they were home all evening with me, so And frankly, I'm not that surprised about David.
Why's that? I'd heard he'd been experimenting with drugs.
SANCHEZ: The schoolyard used to be a hot spot, but the developers moved in, and brought a bunch of yuppies with them.
There's fewer places to sling.
Still, we got one crew back here.
We ran a buy-and-bust a few weeks ago.
You collar anybody? Just the grunt who did the hand-to-hand.
The dude who has the corner goes by Ty'lan.
That's him, over there, red jacket.
Hey.
Why don't you take a walk? Hold it down.
So what'd I do? We just want to talk.
Okay.
You think Obama's gonna go all the way? You seen this boy here last night? That's the kid that was shot? What makes you think I was over here? Hey, Ed, look at that watch.
Where'd you get that, Canal Street? It's a Patek.
I don't know.
It looks like a knock-off to me.
Oh, so it's gonna be like that, huh? Yeah, I guess it's going to be like that.
Okay.
I seen that boy yesterday, just before supper.
Came with about two of his friends.
They walked by.
Two friends? Two white kids, they look alike, like brothers.
And they just walked by, that's it? That way.
With a basketball.
Then about five minutes after that, they walked right by here again, without the ball.
And one of the brothers was crying like a baby.
What happened? He get hurt? Didn't look it.
I heard some of the ballers that play down the way took the ball from them.
Can I get my Patek back now? Hey, guys? Let's go.
Hop in.
(SCHOOL BELL RINGING) Come on.
LUPO: ls there anything you'd like to add to what you told us this morning? Like the part about you being at the playground with David yesterday? You forgot that, right? We were scared.
Scared of what? Scared of the dope dealers over there.
They killed David.
We're not sure about that.
What about the guys who took your ball, made you cry? It was David's ball, and it had his initials on it.
Yeah.
And there were four of them, and they asked to borrow it, but they never gave it back.
And that's why David went back there last night, to get his basketball back? Yeah, but there was no way we were going with him.
These four guys, can you describe them? Maybe you heard their names.
They were black, and the one doing all the talking, he was wearing a throwback Earl Monroe jersey.
Number 10? JOSH: Yeah.
But it wasn't the Knicks.
It was the Baltimore Bullets.
Yeah.
You remember anything else? Yeah.
They said if we ever came around there again, they were gonna pop a cap in our white asses.
He's like, 17, 18, wears an Earl Monroe Bullets jersey.
When I come out here, I focus on my game.
(SOFT JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING) YOU, sir? Called him Black Jesus.
Who? The kid in the jersey? Earl the Pearl, Madison Square Garden, 1969.
I don't know.
I mean, a lot of kids wear throwbacks.
Yeah, but this one's special.
It's Earl Monroe? Baltimore Bullets.
Am I keeping you from something? I just don't know anything that'll help you.
What am I, new? ED: Tanya Anderson spent a lot of time in this playground.
She wasn't much older than your daughter.
Tanya was a sweet kid.
You remember her but you don't remember the boy? He played ball here a lot.
Sorry.
I don't remember the young man.
Come on, sweetie.
Man, I'm getting nothing.
You? Man, let's get out of here before I lose it.
LUPO: We've been over that neighborhood three times, we've rang every bell.
Well, maybe the Steel brothers were wrong about the jersey.
It's not just that, Loo.
Everybody gives me that don't-ask-me look before they even know what I'm looking for.
Same deal here.
Most people I talked to just don't seem to care.
You really believe that? I get the don't snitch thing, you know, on the white boy.
But the little girl, she's from the neighborhood.
I got news for you, Detective, you really don't get it.
We got a report from ballistics.
Yeah.
Both slugs are from the same weapon, a Raven's Arm .
25.
It's a little punk gun.
Look,Loo, we're nowhere on this.
We need somebody with some weight that can throw it around, break things up.
Jonas, both children were killed with the same gun by the same man, someone from the neighborhood.
But no one's talking to my people.
Self-preservation.
In case you haven't noticed, the neighborhood's turning white and rich.
Families are being forced out.
My officers can't afford to live in the city anymore.
That's your community, Anita.
My community's just trying to hold on to its own.
Well, if don't snitch is how you define your community, maybe it's not worth saving.
Okay.
What if I get people to come forward? Always wheeling and dealing.
It's how things that need doing get done.
Saint Rita's on They're talking about selling it to a condo developer.
There's nothing illegal in that.
Saint Rita's is the beating heart of this neighborhood.
It closes, and it's game over.
But if the church was designated a historic landmark, it would stop the deal.
I know you got friends downtown.
It's extortion.
Two children were murdered.
Durning should jump at the chance to do his civic duty.
What, you don't agree? Twisting a few arms at City Hall is something Adam Schiff used to do with his eyes closed.
He saw it as part of this job, I don't.
Not yet.
It sets a bad precedent.
Everybody'll have their hand out.
What, they don't already? VAN BUREN: There are more important things than another high-rise on the Upper West Side.
Have you ever seen Saint Rita's? It's a beautiful church.
Okay.
I'll do what I can with the Landmarks Commission.
But I better get what I bargain for.
I was at little Tanya's funeral.
I didn't see no players in their "Don't Snitch" T-shirts paying their respects.
If you want to see more dead children in our neighborhood, then keep your mouths shut, while the white boy's people cry out for justice loud and clear.
Cry out! Snitch on killers.
Run them out of our neighborhood.
Way to go, Loo.
Detective Green? Yeah, yeah.
Mr.
"I never take my eyes off my game.
" Well, sometimes I do.
The boy in the Earl the Pearl jersey, his name is Will.
He lives with his father at 228.
Across from the playground? Italked to a kid named Will.
He had a girlfriend.
Yeah.
Pretty Puerto Rican girl? LUPO: That's the one.
Never took him for a bad apple.
Thank you, sir, for coming down.
You need a ride uptown? No, I'll take the train.
Well! practically in front of the place.
That won't give us enough to get a warrant for the gun.
But we might be able to get one for a stolen basketball.
Let's go.
My son's not a thief.
Right.
He just borrowed that basketball.
Ain't that right, Will? Aren't you a little old for Snakes and Ladders? I play with my cousin, man.
Here we go.
"D.
K.
" David Kendall.
Your son's under arrest.
For what? Right now, robbery.
Feels like loaded dice.
A Raven Arms .
25.
You have the right to remain silent.
I don't need a lawyer.
I didn't do anything.
Ballistics just got the gun.
They're ready to start the tests.
ED: You know what that means, Will? In less than 10 minutes, we'll know if that gun fired the slugs that killed Tanya Anderson and David Kendall.
I want to speak to my dad.
You don't need your dad.
You man enough to kill two people, you man enough to tell the truth.
RAY: My boy's no killer.
Witnesses saw him take the ball from that boy.
Now maybe one of his friends did the shooting and Will's just hiding the gun.
Can I talk to him? He's 17.
He's not entitled to speak to a parent.
It's under the microscope now.
Look, we already know that shooting Tanya was an accident.
It was.
ED: Right.
Good.
So what happened with the boy? (CELL PHONE RINGS) LUPO: Ah.
They got a match on one slug.
Last chance, kid.
I just need to speak to my pop.
My wife died when Will was little.
It's just him and me now.
You never even dream of something like this I was worried about four different things that day, not my kid.
Well, any parent would blame themselves, Mr.
Manning.
But your son got himself into trouble.
(DOOR OPENS) What did he say? What'd he tell you? Nothing.
It's time to call the D.
A.
Ballistics got a match on both slugs.
We're charging your son with two murders.
No.
No.
I got Will into this.
What are you trying to say, Mr.
Manning? The white boys, there were three of them.
Those boys came back.
They had baseball bats.
They caught Will on the basketball court.
They chased him.
I saw them.
They would've killed him.
You saw them out of the window? Were you outside? What did you do, Mr.
Manning? I shot that boy.
I shot him so he wouldn't kill my son.
CONNIE: The defendant confessed to two murders.
The People request remand.
Well, my client is not running anywhere, not with half the news vans in the city laying siege to his house.
They are there because Mr.
Chester invited them for his daily press conference.
I have no intention of letting this city forget that the District Attorney is prosecuting a man for defending his family.
(ALL SHOUTING) (GAVEL POUNDS) Mr.
Chester, address yourself to me.
Let's move on.
We can't move on until we set the record straight on these so-called murders.
Now, I have here with me an eyewitness, my client's son, who will testify that his father acted to save him from lethal harm.
Let's swear him in right now.
Your Honor, this is not the time.
Mr.
Chester, no one is testifying today and you know it.
Bail is set at $1,000,000.
(ALL CLAMORING) (GAVEL POUNDS) Next case.
I told my community their voices counted.
Now I hear you don't care what an eyewitness has to say.
The Steel brothers deny that they were there.
And Will Manning refused to talk to my detectives about anything.
And now Clifford Chester won't let us near him.
Don't tell me you all can't get around that.
I suppose we could, if we didn't mind violating the Sixth Amendment.
Maybe if you talked to Chester What am I, the official police punk? I don't think you all really care what a young black man has to say.
I'm not sticking my neck out for you.
What's it going to take this time? You want us to move a lamp post or name a park for your favorite nephew? These people speak for Tanya Anderson as much as they do for David Kendall.
They don't deserve your contempt.
Now, Saint Rita's is fast-tracked for historic preservation.
If you want it to stay on there, you'll talk to Clifford Chester.
Do we understand each other, Mr.
Durning? I'd say you've got the hang of this job.
I don't think Mr.
Durning's going to get anywhere with Chester.
Subpoena Will Manning to testify before the Grand Jury.
The same Grand Jury we're asking to indict his father? It may be the only way to get him to talk to us.
I was on the court by myself when these three white kids came at me.
They had metal bats.
CUTTER: Did you know them? They were the same kids me and my friends kicked off the court earlier that day.
Why did you do that? I don't know, 'cause they were new kids.
I mean, we didn't do nothing wrong.
We just talked trash and took their ball.
And they came back that night? Yeah.
The one kid who got shot, he asked me for his ball back.
I said I didn't have it, so he took a swing at me.
A swing? With his bat? Yeah.
I moved out of the way and he hit the bench.
I tried to take off home, and they just ran after me.
And (sums) Tell us what happened next.
I saw my dad on the stoop.
Then I heard shots.
What happened after the shots? One of the kids fell.
My dad grabbed me and pulled me into the house.
And the other kids, they tried to help the kid who got shot, then grabbed his bat and ran off towards the park.
The park? You mean the playground? No, I mean Central Park.
That way? Are you sure? I've lived on that block all my life.
I know where Central Park is.
Will Manning said the Steel brothers ran this way, toward the Park, when they live west, that way.
Right.
If you're in trouble, why run away from home? Well, this big dent here looks fresh.
And it definitely could have been caused by a baseball bat.
Well, it's consistent with Will's testimony.
LUPO: Right.
Maybe they were running to a car parked around the corner? Yeah.
The Steel brothers are 14, 15.
I'm just saying maybe somebody drove them.
Maybe, if Sometimes the facts are simpler.
There was one boy, David Kendall, no bats.
And Will Manning shot him, not his father.
You might be able to sell that story downtown, but up here, I wouldn't even try unless we covered every lead.
Okay.
Find me the friend with a car.
(SCHOOL BELL RINGING) ED: You're on the soccer team, right? Uh-huh.
With Andy Steel.
You don't hang out with the rest of the players? Andy got kicked off the team.
Why? Too many red cards.
He I've got to get home, okay? Okay.
Well, I have been getting the preppie version of don't snitch.
You? (SIGHS) I found out that Andy got a lot of red cards in soccer.
He's got a violent streak.
I'm going to go talk to the coach.
I didn't kick Andy off.
He quit.
So you would've kept him, even with all those red cards? I could've worked with him.
He's not a bad kid.
Well, you don't give red cards for good behavior.
Yeah, listen.
Would you help us out here? We've been getting the brush-off all afternoon.
Andy's not the problem.
It's his mother.
She kept telling him to stand up for himself, don't back down.
She actually told him to head-butt another player.
I banned her from the games.
So she made Andy quit.
Excuse me.
Soccer mom-Met.
Maybe she told Kendall and her boys not to back down.
You know what? Hmm? She car-pooled them to school.
Maybe she car-pooled them to the fight.
Will told us the Steel boys tried to help Kendall.
If his blood got on them, maybe it got in the car.
GRETCHEN: All right, because I don't want to make any stops or have to come back.
Okay? Mr.
Steel? Yes? We have a warrant to search your car.
Our car? What for? It's in the warrant.
But we're going to our country house.
Not in this car.
If you need anything, you'd better take it now.
Nolan.
What? I got my briefcase in here.
Something wrong? No.
No.
ED: What's in the box? Blankets, for the country.
Here.
How about that? I don't know.
Gretch? It's just some trash.
If you It's a little early for spring training.
Gretch, what the hell is this? You don't understand.
You're under arrest, Mrs.
Steel.
NOLAN: What? No, you really don't understand! Please, if you would just allow me to explain.
You don't understand.
This is not This is not what I Gretchen? Nolan.
What's this all about? Stay there.
Possession of baseball bats? Is there some section of the penal code I don't know about? CUTTER: It's not just the bats.
Your client's garage confirmed she took the family car out the evening of the shooting.
Fine.
So, let's even assume that she drove her boys to 105th Street.
She was parked around the corner, she had no idea what was happening.
Where did she think she was taking her sons, to batting practice? No! They were going into a bad neighborhood She had no idea some maniac was going to come charging out of his house, gun blazing.
This is a respectable woman.
This is the wife of an investment banker.
There is nothing respectable about her behavior.
I'm indicting her for riot and criminal possession ofaweapon until I can figure out whether felony charges are appropriate.
Gretchen Steel is an active member of the Manhattan Valley Improvement Project.
What do they do? According to one editorial, they're a group of newly-arrived yuppies who specialize in filing nuisance complaints against the poorer residents in the neighborhood.
Who are mostly people of color.
Maybe she used her sons to send a message.
Maybe Ray Manning used his gun to send his own message.
He was facing eviction because of a rent increase.
Maybe he had a bone to pick with the white families who were displacing him.
Or maybe just the white kids trying to de-brain his son.
While you two get on the same page, what do you want to do about Gretchen Steel? Her sons are being charged with attempted assault in family court.
How about charging her with two counts of reckless manslaughter? Two irresponsible parents contributed to this tragedy.
Well, if Ray Manning gets convicted and she doesn't, I don't want to be in this city.
We could just stick them both in a room and let them duke it out.
Maybe you can, at least in the same courtroom.
Try them together, you mean? Him for murder, her for manslaughter.
Can we do that? CUTTER: It's a single criminal incident.
One trial, two legal theories.
And one jury, who will be loathe to acquit one while convicting the other.
It's absurd! Trying my client with this self-confessed murderer? It's prejudicial.
CHESTER: Yes, to my client.
Why should Mr.
Manning be tainted by this sorry excuse for a mother? GRANICK: And why would Mrs.
Steel want to be lumped together with this trigger-happy hothead? Easy, counselors.
CHESTER: Your Honor, my client and his have completely different defenses.
Which isn't grounds for severance, Your Honor? People v.
Mahoubian? He's right.
The shooting was a single event.
And there's no inherent factual conflict between their defenses.
Motion for separate trials is denied.
No.
David wasn't swinging at the black kid.
He smashed the bench just to scare him.
Then what happened? Then the black kid started running across the street.
And we chased him, like I said, just to scare him.
I mean, that was That was the whole point.
Just to let him and his friends know that they couldn't push us around.
And then we saw this black guy coming down the stoop.
It was that man right there.
He just fired.
He killed my friend and that little girl.
Now, Andy, you testified that it was David's idea to go get his ball back.
And what did your mother think of that idea? I don't know.
CUTTER: Did your mother object to David's idea? Did she forbid you and Josh from going with him? No.
She encouraged you, didn't she? Objection, leading the witness.
He's testifying against his mother.
He should be considered a hostile witness.
Quite right.
Overruled.
Mr.
Cutter.
My thanks to defense counsel.
Andy, your mother encouraged you, didn't she? Yes.
CUTTER: She told you the same things she did when you were playing soccer, to stand up for yourself? Yes.
She said that if we didn't do anything, they'd push us right out of the neighborhood.
Was it her idea to bring baseball bats? Yes.
She said that those kids, they probably had knives.
Mr.
Granick goes first.
Andy, your mother told you to bring those baseball bats for self-defense, not to hurt anybody, right? Yes.
That's right.
Young man, show me how you were holding the bat when you were chasing my client's son? Get up.
Show me.
Like that? Okay.
So, when you were chasing my client's son and you were holding the bat like that, did you yell something like, "Don't worry, kid, we're not going to hurt you.
"These bats are just for self-defense?" No.
Will was running toward me.
I saw one of the white boys right behind him, he had his bat up.
He looked like he was about to swing, so I shot at him.
You thought your son was in mortal danger, didn't you? Yes.
I honestly thought that boy was going to kill my son.
And I'm sorry about the little girl.
I knew her from the neighborhood, she was I can't sleep at night thinking about that.
I was just trying to save my son.
How far away from you was your son when you fired at David Kendall? Maybe from here to the table.
Ten feet.
He was running toward you, so he was one or two seconds away from safety, when you fired, correct? I don't know about one or two seconds.
My boy was in danger, so I reacted.
Well, why didn't you react by yelling stop or firing a warning shot? There wasn't time.
Because it looked like Kendall was about to swing, that's what you said.
What was I supposed to do, wait for my boy to get hurt? You didn't want to wait, did you? Isn't it a fact you'd been building up a head of steam all day? I don't know what you're talking about.
You told the police you were worried about four different things that day including an eviction notice, correct? You couldn't afford arentincrease? Yes, but All those white people moving in to your neighborhood, driving up property values.
Didn't that make you mad, sir? Wasn't it unfair? Sure it was unfair.
But That's what was going through your mind when you saw that white boy chasing your son, the injustice of it all.
L--- (STUTTERING) I don't know.
I was I just I don't know.
No more questions.
My sons and their friend were scared.
My sons said that they wanted to move out of the neighborhood.
But I said that that was out of the question, that we weren't moving.
That this was our home now.
What, if anything, did you suggest they do? Well, I let them decide what to do.
I did tell them what I've always told them, and that is that you have to stand up to bullies.
My sons had just as much right to use that basketball court as Mr.
Manning's son.
What happened after you got to 105th Street? Well, l I dropped the boys off around the corner, and I told them to come right back to the car at the first sign of trouble.
Then I heard these popping noises, and Andy and Josh came running back.
And they were terrified.
They They said that David had been shot and that somebody with a gun was after them.
And we drove away.
You know? I was going to call the police, but then I thought I thought about my sons, and, you know, the trouble that they would be in.
I don't know.
All I could do All I could do was think about protecting them.
So Is that why you lied to the police after? Yes.
Yes, it was.
It was to keep my boys out of trouble.
It's what any mother would do for her sons.
Out of trouble? Didn't you drive them into trouble in the first place? She doesn't have to answer that.
(STUTTERING) No.
You know? I would like to answer that.
My parents always taught us that you have to stand up to bullies.
Isn't going to the authorities the appropriate way to deal with bullies? Well, if this was my sons' school, absolutely.
I would go to the principal and I would let him deal with the bully's parents.
But the kids on this basketball court, I mean, who knows if there's a parent at home? How do you even begin to find them? It We're right here, lady! Talk to us! (GAVEL POUNDS) Get him out of here! Get off me.
You don't like your new neighbors, do you, Mrs.
Steel? That's not true.
People's 22.
You filed grievances against them for littering, correct? (STUTTERING) Yeah, but they leave fast food wrappers and beer bottles on my steps, so For disturbing the peace.
They congregate outside of their homes, and they drink and they play music and they talk very loudly until all hours of the night.
I mean Look, I understand that there are cultural differences, but I think that all of us want a decent, safe place to live.
Cultural differences? Yes.
You know, between our culture and theirs.
Us and them, Mrs.
Steel? You know what I mean.
I'm afraid I do.
No more questions.
Hello! I was over at 1PP.
I thought I'd track you down.
That case goes to the jury tomorrow.
I'm worried about the outcome.
You, me and the whole city.
This was found on the basketball court this morning, I was at 1PP for atactical meeting.
They're talking about mobilizing the department for the verdict.
When's the last time we offered plea bargains here? My summation's ready.
I can win this.
Famous last words.
I've even said them myself a few times.
Two guilty pleas solves a lot of problems.
Expediency instead of justice.
Justice doesn't only happen in the courtroom.
There's too much on the line here to go all in.
Make a deal.
Why should my client talk about a plea? I know I have three, maybe fourjurors, leaning his way.
And I definitely have four leaning our way.
CUTTER: And if you're wrong, will you serve the 15 to 25 years your clients are facing? Well, just to be polite, what's the offer? Five.
Ten.
GRETCHEN: Five? Five what, five years? You expect me to spend five years of my life in jail? I didn't hurt anybody.
This is all your fault, lady! Your son started it.
You shot two children, not me! I was protecting my own! I didn't do anything.
Enough! Do we have a deal or not? Hell no.
No.
Not a chance.
No.
My client didn't kill anybody.
Nor did she tell her sons to kill or attack anybody.
Nor did she have any reason to believe that her actions would bring about someone's death.
Then why, you may ask, is she here charged with two counts of manslaughter? Simple answer.
She's here because of political pressure on the District Attorney to put a white face at that defense table.
You may not like my client, you may not like her opinions, but that's no reason to convict an innocent person.
CHESTER: We all wantjustice.
We all want someone punished for these tragic deaths.
Now you can punish this father, who acted in defense of his son who was seconds away from being beaten to death, a father who told the truth because he had nothing to hide, a man who is truly remorseful for these tragic deaths.
Or you can punish this woman, who armed her sons and took them on a vengeful mission, who lied and lied again to the police, an unrepentant racist who thinks that might and money make her right.
The decision is yours, ladies and gentlemen.
Justice is in your hands.
This was a playground dispute between teenage boys over a $30 ball.
We expect teenage boys to be impulsive and irresponsible.
But teenage boys didn't turn this dispute into a tragedy.
Their parents did.
Gretchen Steel, who bullied her boys into going back to get their ball, who in defiance of common sense carpooled them to a street fight with baseball bats.
Ray Manning, who, on impulse, ran out of his house with a loaded gun, who without warning, without thinking and with callous disregard, fired into a public street.
Any reasonable adult would have kept their kids at home.
Any reasonable adult would have found away short of lethal force to get his son out of harm's way.
You may think that this white woman and black man have nothing in common.
But they share blood, the blood on their hands.
Now you've watched them point the finger at each other, shirk responsibility, acting like children.
No more, ladies and gentlemen.
Make them take responsibility.
JUDGE: Has the jury reached a verdict? We have, Your Honor.
Mr.
Manning, please rise.
On the first count of the indictment, in the death of David Kendall, murder in the second degree, how do you find? We find the defendant not guilty.
(AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) (GAVEL POUNDS) Let's have order in here.
On the second count, in the death of Tanya Anderson, murder in second degree, how do you find? We find the defendant guilty.
JUDGE: Mrs.
Steel, please rise.
On the first count of the indictment, in the death of David Kendall, manslaughter in the second degree, how do you find? We find the defendant not guilty.
(AUDIENCE GROANS) On the second count, in the death of Tanya Anderson, manslaughter in the second degree, how do you find? We find the defendant guilty.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER) JUDGE: I understand the jury has a statement they'd like to read.
FOREMAN: Yes, Your Honor.
We, the jury, think this terrible event never would have occurred without both defendants causing it, and we recommend they should get the exact same sentence.
Justice.
Who would have thought it?
These are their stories.
(MUSIC BLARING ON SPEAKERS) JOSH: You really been over here before? Yeah, I copped some weed from those guys last week.
You copped weed from those guys? Don't be such awuss.
You wanna play with me? He will.
My mother and your mother were hanging up clothes.
My mother punched your mother right in the nose.
What color was the blood? It was turquoise.
ANDY: Let's go.
Turquoise.
T-U-R-Q-U-O-I-S-E.
A unit from the 2-5 responded to a radio run of shots fired a few minutes after 8:00.
Unit got here quick, 8:14.
Looks like she caught one in the chest.
Any witnesses come forward? TURLEY: No, nobody yet.
She's got on a necklace that says Tanya.
She must be, like, nine or 10.
Sarge! We got something! One in the neck, one in the shoulder.
The neck looks like athrough-and-through.
(WOMAN SCREAMING) Turley.
Turley.
I want the street cleared now.
Push those people back.
It's gonna hit the fan now, my friend.
VAN BUREN: Move aside, please.
CORMACK: Let's go.
Make a hole.
Go.
MAN: Oh! They got the brass up here now.
It's something now, huh? You got a white boy down now it's something.
Back it up, people! Hey, Lieutenant, nice night for a walk.
Tell me the story.
I hear two kids were shot.
Yeah.
One over there, white male, mid-teens, no ID, two shots, close range.
Yeah, and we got Tanya Anderson, one shot.
The shooting took place over here.
There was two shell casings on the ground, there's blood on the curb.
Just two shell casings? Well, the boy had athrough-and-through in his neck.
He got shot first, staggers on down the block.
The through-and-through hits the girl in the playground.
You know? This used to be a free-fire zone.
Rumor has it, it was cleaned up.
I got news for them.
Boss? Chief of D's is here with the Deputy Mayor.
If they're here to get a photo op with the dead girl's mother, she just left.
Hey,yo? Our John Doe's prints aren't in the system.
All right.
Well, I found some paint scrapings in the treads here, so maybe he was some place they were stripping paint.
Well, whoever he is, he spent some of the last hours of his young life in a swimming pool.
Smell his hair.
(SNIFFS) Chlorine.
Like from a pool at the Y or a school? No.
I'm guessing something a little more high-end than that.
Test on his hair showed the pH wasn't as harsh as what you'd find in institutional pools.
I noticed there's a couple of new luxury high-rises a few blocks from the shooting.
They advertise indoor pools on the roofs.
ALICE: Oh, my God! My God! My baby.
(SOBBING) I have to see him.
Of course.
We'll have someone drive you there.
I'll go get my coat.
What happened to my son? Tell me.
He was shot, Mr.
Kendall, over on 105th Street.
Do you know what he might've been doing there? No.
Shot, how can that happen? You went to the theater last night? Yeah.
We came home about 10:30.
David's door was closed.
We figured he was asleep.
Looks like you just moved in.
You do any renovation, strip paint off the wall, that sort of thing? What? No.
You know anyone who is doing renovations? Someone David would visit? The Steels are renovating their brownstone on 109th.
David's friends with their boys Andy and Josh.
David came over around 7:00.
He was here maybe, I don't know, an hour.
Did he tell you guys where he was going when he left? No.
He just said he was going home.
Why? Is he okay? No, ma'am.
He was shot and killed near the playground on 105th.
Hey, are you Josh or Andy? Josh.
How about it, Josh, David say anything to you? You know what, boys? Let's go, we're going be late.
Yeah.
ED: We have more questions for them.
I'm sorry, it's my morning to carpool.
And, anyway, they were home all evening with me, so And frankly, I'm not that surprised about David.
Why's that? I'd heard he'd been experimenting with drugs.
SANCHEZ: The schoolyard used to be a hot spot, but the developers moved in, and brought a bunch of yuppies with them.
There's fewer places to sling.
Still, we got one crew back here.
We ran a buy-and-bust a few weeks ago.
You collar anybody? Just the grunt who did the hand-to-hand.
The dude who has the corner goes by Ty'lan.
That's him, over there, red jacket.
Hey.
Why don't you take a walk? Hold it down.
So what'd I do? We just want to talk.
Okay.
You think Obama's gonna go all the way? You seen this boy here last night? That's the kid that was shot? What makes you think I was over here? Hey, Ed, look at that watch.
Where'd you get that, Canal Street? It's a Patek.
I don't know.
It looks like a knock-off to me.
Oh, so it's gonna be like that, huh? Yeah, I guess it's going to be like that.
Okay.
I seen that boy yesterday, just before supper.
Came with about two of his friends.
They walked by.
Two friends? Two white kids, they look alike, like brothers.
And they just walked by, that's it? That way.
With a basketball.
Then about five minutes after that, they walked right by here again, without the ball.
And one of the brothers was crying like a baby.
What happened? He get hurt? Didn't look it.
I heard some of the ballers that play down the way took the ball from them.
Can I get my Patek back now? Hey, guys? Let's go.
Hop in.
(SCHOOL BELL RINGING) Come on.
LUPO: ls there anything you'd like to add to what you told us this morning? Like the part about you being at the playground with David yesterday? You forgot that, right? We were scared.
Scared of what? Scared of the dope dealers over there.
They killed David.
We're not sure about that.
What about the guys who took your ball, made you cry? It was David's ball, and it had his initials on it.
Yeah.
And there were four of them, and they asked to borrow it, but they never gave it back.
And that's why David went back there last night, to get his basketball back? Yeah, but there was no way we were going with him.
These four guys, can you describe them? Maybe you heard their names.
They were black, and the one doing all the talking, he was wearing a throwback Earl Monroe jersey.
Number 10? JOSH: Yeah.
But it wasn't the Knicks.
It was the Baltimore Bullets.
Yeah.
You remember anything else? Yeah.
They said if we ever came around there again, they were gonna pop a cap in our white asses.
He's like, 17, 18, wears an Earl Monroe Bullets jersey.
When I come out here, I focus on my game.
(SOFT JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING) YOU, sir? Called him Black Jesus.
Who? The kid in the jersey? Earl the Pearl, Madison Square Garden, 1969.
I don't know.
I mean, a lot of kids wear throwbacks.
Yeah, but this one's special.
It's Earl Monroe? Baltimore Bullets.
Am I keeping you from something? I just don't know anything that'll help you.
What am I, new? ED: Tanya Anderson spent a lot of time in this playground.
She wasn't much older than your daughter.
Tanya was a sweet kid.
You remember her but you don't remember the boy? He played ball here a lot.
Sorry.
I don't remember the young man.
Come on, sweetie.
Man, I'm getting nothing.
You? Man, let's get out of here before I lose it.
LUPO: We've been over that neighborhood three times, we've rang every bell.
Well, maybe the Steel brothers were wrong about the jersey.
It's not just that, Loo.
Everybody gives me that don't-ask-me look before they even know what I'm looking for.
Same deal here.
Most people I talked to just don't seem to care.
You really believe that? I get the don't snitch thing, you know, on the white boy.
But the little girl, she's from the neighborhood.
I got news for you, Detective, you really don't get it.
We got a report from ballistics.
Yeah.
Both slugs are from the same weapon, a Raven's Arm .
25.
It's a little punk gun.
Look,Loo, we're nowhere on this.
We need somebody with some weight that can throw it around, break things up.
Jonas, both children were killed with the same gun by the same man, someone from the neighborhood.
But no one's talking to my people.
Self-preservation.
In case you haven't noticed, the neighborhood's turning white and rich.
Families are being forced out.
My officers can't afford to live in the city anymore.
That's your community, Anita.
My community's just trying to hold on to its own.
Well, if don't snitch is how you define your community, maybe it's not worth saving.
Okay.
What if I get people to come forward? Always wheeling and dealing.
It's how things that need doing get done.
Saint Rita's on They're talking about selling it to a condo developer.
There's nothing illegal in that.
Saint Rita's is the beating heart of this neighborhood.
It closes, and it's game over.
But if the church was designated a historic landmark, it would stop the deal.
I know you got friends downtown.
It's extortion.
Two children were murdered.
Durning should jump at the chance to do his civic duty.
What, you don't agree? Twisting a few arms at City Hall is something Adam Schiff used to do with his eyes closed.
He saw it as part of this job, I don't.
Not yet.
It sets a bad precedent.
Everybody'll have their hand out.
What, they don't already? VAN BUREN: There are more important things than another high-rise on the Upper West Side.
Have you ever seen Saint Rita's? It's a beautiful church.
Okay.
I'll do what I can with the Landmarks Commission.
But I better get what I bargain for.
I was at little Tanya's funeral.
I didn't see no players in their "Don't Snitch" T-shirts paying their respects.
If you want to see more dead children in our neighborhood, then keep your mouths shut, while the white boy's people cry out for justice loud and clear.
Cry out! Snitch on killers.
Run them out of our neighborhood.
Way to go, Loo.
Detective Green? Yeah, yeah.
Mr.
"I never take my eyes off my game.
" Well, sometimes I do.
The boy in the Earl the Pearl jersey, his name is Will.
He lives with his father at 228.
Across from the playground? Italked to a kid named Will.
He had a girlfriend.
Yeah.
Pretty Puerto Rican girl? LUPO: That's the one.
Never took him for a bad apple.
Thank you, sir, for coming down.
You need a ride uptown? No, I'll take the train.
Well! practically in front of the place.
That won't give us enough to get a warrant for the gun.
But we might be able to get one for a stolen basketball.
Let's go.
My son's not a thief.
Right.
He just borrowed that basketball.
Ain't that right, Will? Aren't you a little old for Snakes and Ladders? I play with my cousin, man.
Here we go.
"D.
K.
" David Kendall.
Your son's under arrest.
For what? Right now, robbery.
Feels like loaded dice.
A Raven Arms .
25.
You have the right to remain silent.
I don't need a lawyer.
I didn't do anything.
Ballistics just got the gun.
They're ready to start the tests.
ED: You know what that means, Will? In less than 10 minutes, we'll know if that gun fired the slugs that killed Tanya Anderson and David Kendall.
I want to speak to my dad.
You don't need your dad.
You man enough to kill two people, you man enough to tell the truth.
RAY: My boy's no killer.
Witnesses saw him take the ball from that boy.
Now maybe one of his friends did the shooting and Will's just hiding the gun.
Can I talk to him? He's 17.
He's not entitled to speak to a parent.
It's under the microscope now.
Look, we already know that shooting Tanya was an accident.
It was.
ED: Right.
Good.
So what happened with the boy? (CELL PHONE RINGS) LUPO: Ah.
They got a match on one slug.
Last chance, kid.
I just need to speak to my pop.
My wife died when Will was little.
It's just him and me now.
You never even dream of something like this I was worried about four different things that day, not my kid.
Well, any parent would blame themselves, Mr.
Manning.
But your son got himself into trouble.
(DOOR OPENS) What did he say? What'd he tell you? Nothing.
It's time to call the D.
A.
Ballistics got a match on both slugs.
We're charging your son with two murders.
No.
No.
I got Will into this.
What are you trying to say, Mr.
Manning? The white boys, there were three of them.
Those boys came back.
They had baseball bats.
They caught Will on the basketball court.
They chased him.
I saw them.
They would've killed him.
You saw them out of the window? Were you outside? What did you do, Mr.
Manning? I shot that boy.
I shot him so he wouldn't kill my son.
CONNIE: The defendant confessed to two murders.
The People request remand.
Well, my client is not running anywhere, not with half the news vans in the city laying siege to his house.
They are there because Mr.
Chester invited them for his daily press conference.
I have no intention of letting this city forget that the District Attorney is prosecuting a man for defending his family.
(ALL SHOUTING) (GAVEL POUNDS) Mr.
Chester, address yourself to me.
Let's move on.
We can't move on until we set the record straight on these so-called murders.
Now, I have here with me an eyewitness, my client's son, who will testify that his father acted to save him from lethal harm.
Let's swear him in right now.
Your Honor, this is not the time.
Mr.
Chester, no one is testifying today and you know it.
Bail is set at $1,000,000.
(ALL CLAMORING) (GAVEL POUNDS) Next case.
I told my community their voices counted.
Now I hear you don't care what an eyewitness has to say.
The Steel brothers deny that they were there.
And Will Manning refused to talk to my detectives about anything.
And now Clifford Chester won't let us near him.
Don't tell me you all can't get around that.
I suppose we could, if we didn't mind violating the Sixth Amendment.
Maybe if you talked to Chester What am I, the official police punk? I don't think you all really care what a young black man has to say.
I'm not sticking my neck out for you.
What's it going to take this time? You want us to move a lamp post or name a park for your favorite nephew? These people speak for Tanya Anderson as much as they do for David Kendall.
They don't deserve your contempt.
Now, Saint Rita's is fast-tracked for historic preservation.
If you want it to stay on there, you'll talk to Clifford Chester.
Do we understand each other, Mr.
Durning? I'd say you've got the hang of this job.
I don't think Mr.
Durning's going to get anywhere with Chester.
Subpoena Will Manning to testify before the Grand Jury.
The same Grand Jury we're asking to indict his father? It may be the only way to get him to talk to us.
I was on the court by myself when these three white kids came at me.
They had metal bats.
CUTTER: Did you know them? They were the same kids me and my friends kicked off the court earlier that day.
Why did you do that? I don't know, 'cause they were new kids.
I mean, we didn't do nothing wrong.
We just talked trash and took their ball.
And they came back that night? Yeah.
The one kid who got shot, he asked me for his ball back.
I said I didn't have it, so he took a swing at me.
A swing? With his bat? Yeah.
I moved out of the way and he hit the bench.
I tried to take off home, and they just ran after me.
And (sums) Tell us what happened next.
I saw my dad on the stoop.
Then I heard shots.
What happened after the shots? One of the kids fell.
My dad grabbed me and pulled me into the house.
And the other kids, they tried to help the kid who got shot, then grabbed his bat and ran off towards the park.
The park? You mean the playground? No, I mean Central Park.
That way? Are you sure? I've lived on that block all my life.
I know where Central Park is.
Will Manning said the Steel brothers ran this way, toward the Park, when they live west, that way.
Right.
If you're in trouble, why run away from home? Well, this big dent here looks fresh.
And it definitely could have been caused by a baseball bat.
Well, it's consistent with Will's testimony.
LUPO: Right.
Maybe they were running to a car parked around the corner? Yeah.
The Steel brothers are 14, 15.
I'm just saying maybe somebody drove them.
Maybe, if Sometimes the facts are simpler.
There was one boy, David Kendall, no bats.
And Will Manning shot him, not his father.
You might be able to sell that story downtown, but up here, I wouldn't even try unless we covered every lead.
Okay.
Find me the friend with a car.
(SCHOOL BELL RINGING) ED: You're on the soccer team, right? Uh-huh.
With Andy Steel.
You don't hang out with the rest of the players? Andy got kicked off the team.
Why? Too many red cards.
He I've got to get home, okay? Okay.
Well, I have been getting the preppie version of don't snitch.
You? (SIGHS) I found out that Andy got a lot of red cards in soccer.
He's got a violent streak.
I'm going to go talk to the coach.
I didn't kick Andy off.
He quit.
So you would've kept him, even with all those red cards? I could've worked with him.
He's not a bad kid.
Well, you don't give red cards for good behavior.
Yeah, listen.
Would you help us out here? We've been getting the brush-off all afternoon.
Andy's not the problem.
It's his mother.
She kept telling him to stand up for himself, don't back down.
She actually told him to head-butt another player.
I banned her from the games.
So she made Andy quit.
Excuse me.
Soccer mom-Met.
Maybe she told Kendall and her boys not to back down.
You know what? Hmm? She car-pooled them to school.
Maybe she car-pooled them to the fight.
Will told us the Steel boys tried to help Kendall.
If his blood got on them, maybe it got in the car.
GRETCHEN: All right, because I don't want to make any stops or have to come back.
Okay? Mr.
Steel? Yes? We have a warrant to search your car.
Our car? What for? It's in the warrant.
But we're going to our country house.
Not in this car.
If you need anything, you'd better take it now.
Nolan.
What? I got my briefcase in here.
Something wrong? No.
No.
ED: What's in the box? Blankets, for the country.
Here.
How about that? I don't know.
Gretch? It's just some trash.
If you It's a little early for spring training.
Gretch, what the hell is this? You don't understand.
You're under arrest, Mrs.
Steel.
NOLAN: What? No, you really don't understand! Please, if you would just allow me to explain.
You don't understand.
This is not This is not what I Gretchen? Nolan.
What's this all about? Stay there.
Possession of baseball bats? Is there some section of the penal code I don't know about? CUTTER: It's not just the bats.
Your client's garage confirmed she took the family car out the evening of the shooting.
Fine.
So, let's even assume that she drove her boys to 105th Street.
She was parked around the corner, she had no idea what was happening.
Where did she think she was taking her sons, to batting practice? No! They were going into a bad neighborhood She had no idea some maniac was going to come charging out of his house, gun blazing.
This is a respectable woman.
This is the wife of an investment banker.
There is nothing respectable about her behavior.
I'm indicting her for riot and criminal possession ofaweapon until I can figure out whether felony charges are appropriate.
Gretchen Steel is an active member of the Manhattan Valley Improvement Project.
What do they do? According to one editorial, they're a group of newly-arrived yuppies who specialize in filing nuisance complaints against the poorer residents in the neighborhood.
Who are mostly people of color.
Maybe she used her sons to send a message.
Maybe Ray Manning used his gun to send his own message.
He was facing eviction because of a rent increase.
Maybe he had a bone to pick with the white families who were displacing him.
Or maybe just the white kids trying to de-brain his son.
While you two get on the same page, what do you want to do about Gretchen Steel? Her sons are being charged with attempted assault in family court.
How about charging her with two counts of reckless manslaughter? Two irresponsible parents contributed to this tragedy.
Well, if Ray Manning gets convicted and she doesn't, I don't want to be in this city.
We could just stick them both in a room and let them duke it out.
Maybe you can, at least in the same courtroom.
Try them together, you mean? Him for murder, her for manslaughter.
Can we do that? CUTTER: It's a single criminal incident.
One trial, two legal theories.
And one jury, who will be loathe to acquit one while convicting the other.
It's absurd! Trying my client with this self-confessed murderer? It's prejudicial.
CHESTER: Yes, to my client.
Why should Mr.
Manning be tainted by this sorry excuse for a mother? GRANICK: And why would Mrs.
Steel want to be lumped together with this trigger-happy hothead? Easy, counselors.
CHESTER: Your Honor, my client and his have completely different defenses.
Which isn't grounds for severance, Your Honor? People v.
Mahoubian? He's right.
The shooting was a single event.
And there's no inherent factual conflict between their defenses.
Motion for separate trials is denied.
No.
David wasn't swinging at the black kid.
He smashed the bench just to scare him.
Then what happened? Then the black kid started running across the street.
And we chased him, like I said, just to scare him.
I mean, that was That was the whole point.
Just to let him and his friends know that they couldn't push us around.
And then we saw this black guy coming down the stoop.
It was that man right there.
He just fired.
He killed my friend and that little girl.
Now, Andy, you testified that it was David's idea to go get his ball back.
And what did your mother think of that idea? I don't know.
CUTTER: Did your mother object to David's idea? Did she forbid you and Josh from going with him? No.
She encouraged you, didn't she? Objection, leading the witness.
He's testifying against his mother.
He should be considered a hostile witness.
Quite right.
Overruled.
Mr.
Cutter.
My thanks to defense counsel.
Andy, your mother encouraged you, didn't she? Yes.
CUTTER: She told you the same things she did when you were playing soccer, to stand up for yourself? Yes.
She said that if we didn't do anything, they'd push us right out of the neighborhood.
Was it her idea to bring baseball bats? Yes.
She said that those kids, they probably had knives.
Mr.
Granick goes first.
Andy, your mother told you to bring those baseball bats for self-defense, not to hurt anybody, right? Yes.
That's right.
Young man, show me how you were holding the bat when you were chasing my client's son? Get up.
Show me.
Like that? Okay.
So, when you were chasing my client's son and you were holding the bat like that, did you yell something like, "Don't worry, kid, we're not going to hurt you.
"These bats are just for self-defense?" No.
Will was running toward me.
I saw one of the white boys right behind him, he had his bat up.
He looked like he was about to swing, so I shot at him.
You thought your son was in mortal danger, didn't you? Yes.
I honestly thought that boy was going to kill my son.
And I'm sorry about the little girl.
I knew her from the neighborhood, she was I can't sleep at night thinking about that.
I was just trying to save my son.
How far away from you was your son when you fired at David Kendall? Maybe from here to the table.
Ten feet.
He was running toward you, so he was one or two seconds away from safety, when you fired, correct? I don't know about one or two seconds.
My boy was in danger, so I reacted.
Well, why didn't you react by yelling stop or firing a warning shot? There wasn't time.
Because it looked like Kendall was about to swing, that's what you said.
What was I supposed to do, wait for my boy to get hurt? You didn't want to wait, did you? Isn't it a fact you'd been building up a head of steam all day? I don't know what you're talking about.
You told the police you were worried about four different things that day including an eviction notice, correct? You couldn't afford arentincrease? Yes, but All those white people moving in to your neighborhood, driving up property values.
Didn't that make you mad, sir? Wasn't it unfair? Sure it was unfair.
But That's what was going through your mind when you saw that white boy chasing your son, the injustice of it all.
L--- (STUTTERING) I don't know.
I was I just I don't know.
No more questions.
My sons and their friend were scared.
My sons said that they wanted to move out of the neighborhood.
But I said that that was out of the question, that we weren't moving.
That this was our home now.
What, if anything, did you suggest they do? Well, I let them decide what to do.
I did tell them what I've always told them, and that is that you have to stand up to bullies.
My sons had just as much right to use that basketball court as Mr.
Manning's son.
What happened after you got to 105th Street? Well, l I dropped the boys off around the corner, and I told them to come right back to the car at the first sign of trouble.
Then I heard these popping noises, and Andy and Josh came running back.
And they were terrified.
They They said that David had been shot and that somebody with a gun was after them.
And we drove away.
You know? I was going to call the police, but then I thought I thought about my sons, and, you know, the trouble that they would be in.
I don't know.
All I could do All I could do was think about protecting them.
So Is that why you lied to the police after? Yes.
Yes, it was.
It was to keep my boys out of trouble.
It's what any mother would do for her sons.
Out of trouble? Didn't you drive them into trouble in the first place? She doesn't have to answer that.
(STUTTERING) No.
You know? I would like to answer that.
My parents always taught us that you have to stand up to bullies.
Isn't going to the authorities the appropriate way to deal with bullies? Well, if this was my sons' school, absolutely.
I would go to the principal and I would let him deal with the bully's parents.
But the kids on this basketball court, I mean, who knows if there's a parent at home? How do you even begin to find them? It We're right here, lady! Talk to us! (GAVEL POUNDS) Get him out of here! Get off me.
You don't like your new neighbors, do you, Mrs.
Steel? That's not true.
People's 22.
You filed grievances against them for littering, correct? (STUTTERING) Yeah, but they leave fast food wrappers and beer bottles on my steps, so For disturbing the peace.
They congregate outside of their homes, and they drink and they play music and they talk very loudly until all hours of the night.
I mean Look, I understand that there are cultural differences, but I think that all of us want a decent, safe place to live.
Cultural differences? Yes.
You know, between our culture and theirs.
Us and them, Mrs.
Steel? You know what I mean.
I'm afraid I do.
No more questions.
Hello! I was over at 1PP.
I thought I'd track you down.
That case goes to the jury tomorrow.
I'm worried about the outcome.
You, me and the whole city.
This was found on the basketball court this morning, I was at 1PP for atactical meeting.
They're talking about mobilizing the department for the verdict.
When's the last time we offered plea bargains here? My summation's ready.
I can win this.
Famous last words.
I've even said them myself a few times.
Two guilty pleas solves a lot of problems.
Expediency instead of justice.
Justice doesn't only happen in the courtroom.
There's too much on the line here to go all in.
Make a deal.
Why should my client talk about a plea? I know I have three, maybe fourjurors, leaning his way.
And I definitely have four leaning our way.
CUTTER: And if you're wrong, will you serve the 15 to 25 years your clients are facing? Well, just to be polite, what's the offer? Five.
Ten.
GRETCHEN: Five? Five what, five years? You expect me to spend five years of my life in jail? I didn't hurt anybody.
This is all your fault, lady! Your son started it.
You shot two children, not me! I was protecting my own! I didn't do anything.
Enough! Do we have a deal or not? Hell no.
No.
Not a chance.
No.
My client didn't kill anybody.
Nor did she tell her sons to kill or attack anybody.
Nor did she have any reason to believe that her actions would bring about someone's death.
Then why, you may ask, is she here charged with two counts of manslaughter? Simple answer.
She's here because of political pressure on the District Attorney to put a white face at that defense table.
You may not like my client, you may not like her opinions, but that's no reason to convict an innocent person.
CHESTER: We all wantjustice.
We all want someone punished for these tragic deaths.
Now you can punish this father, who acted in defense of his son who was seconds away from being beaten to death, a father who told the truth because he had nothing to hide, a man who is truly remorseful for these tragic deaths.
Or you can punish this woman, who armed her sons and took them on a vengeful mission, who lied and lied again to the police, an unrepentant racist who thinks that might and money make her right.
The decision is yours, ladies and gentlemen.
Justice is in your hands.
This was a playground dispute between teenage boys over a $30 ball.
We expect teenage boys to be impulsive and irresponsible.
But teenage boys didn't turn this dispute into a tragedy.
Their parents did.
Gretchen Steel, who bullied her boys into going back to get their ball, who in defiance of common sense carpooled them to a street fight with baseball bats.
Ray Manning, who, on impulse, ran out of his house with a loaded gun, who without warning, without thinking and with callous disregard, fired into a public street.
Any reasonable adult would have kept their kids at home.
Any reasonable adult would have found away short of lethal force to get his son out of harm's way.
You may think that this white woman and black man have nothing in common.
But they share blood, the blood on their hands.
Now you've watched them point the finger at each other, shirk responsibility, acting like children.
No more, ladies and gentlemen.
Make them take responsibility.
JUDGE: Has the jury reached a verdict? We have, Your Honor.
Mr.
Manning, please rise.
On the first count of the indictment, in the death of David Kendall, murder in the second degree, how do you find? We find the defendant not guilty.
(AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) (GAVEL POUNDS) Let's have order in here.
On the second count, in the death of Tanya Anderson, murder in second degree, how do you find? We find the defendant guilty.
JUDGE: Mrs.
Steel, please rise.
On the first count of the indictment, in the death of David Kendall, manslaughter in the second degree, how do you find? We find the defendant not guilty.
(AUDIENCE GROANS) On the second count, in the death of Tanya Anderson, manslaughter in the second degree, how do you find? We find the defendant guilty.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER) JUDGE: I understand the jury has a statement they'd like to read.
FOREMAN: Yes, Your Honor.
We, the jury, think this terrible event never would have occurred without both defendants causing it, and we recommend they should get the exact same sentence.
Justice.
Who would have thought it?