Law & Order (1990) s18e15 Episode Script
Bogeyman
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.
That guy at the bar? SOFIA: I've never seen him before.
I think he's with them.
Bradley, don't even go there.
Great turnout, Gretchen.
Did you forget to send out invitations? I sent out 200.
Plus ads in The Times, The Observer and Art World.
SOFIA: Bradley's not going to sell a single piece.
Maybe it's not what the market wants right now.
It's your job to tell the market what it wants.
Maybe if you were Chinese.
They're destroying us.
Bradley! Iwouldn't let that happen, baby.
The car's registered to a Sofia Cameron, address across town on Stanton.
Ms.
Cameron's description off her license matches the victim's.
Now, you got a Glock .
26 on the floor here, nine-mil casing there.
Ah, looks like a contact wound.
A lot of women suicide with a gun? I don't know, I'm just asking.
There's no hard and fast rules.
Well, I always thought with women, it was either pills or gas.
You see a note? LUPO: No, but maybe she had nothing to say.
Messages and missed calls, somebody was already missing her.
Bradley and Mom.
Hey, look at this.
What's the rule on bringing cupcakes to a suicide? BERNARD: So, what time did your wife leave, Mr.
Cameron? Mr.
Cameron? I was here in my studio.
She went to see her mother in Morristown.
She goes every Sunday.
How was her mood? I don't know.
She was okay, I guess.
She's a serious person, so Yeah.
She wrote serious books.
BRADLEY: That was her first book.
Five years ago.
She was working on her second one.
Mr.
Cameron, did your wife have a history of suicide attempts or depression? No.
It doesn't make any sense.
I don't even know where she would have gotten a gun.
This is her new book, In the Name of God? There's only three chapters here.
She was having a hard time with it.
I'm not finding anything on the computer.
Is there anywhere else she might have left a note? No.
(CELL PHONE RINGING) It's Sofia's mother.
It's okay.
Do what you need to do.
Hello.
Yeah.
Hi.
A writer who doesn't leave a suicide note.
On the other hand, three chapters in five years? That would make me suicidal.
TQLBERG: It was an ambitious book, a reflection on religious warfare in the 21st century.
I rejected several false starts.
Sofia take it hard? Nobody likes rejection.
Last month, I told her we were putting her book on the back burner.
I can't imagine that's what Well, you know.
Like you said, nobody likes rejection.
Actually, it was her husband, Bradley, that had the bigger problem with our decision.
What did he have to say? He claimed somebody was out to sabotage Sofia's book.
Did he say this somebody have a name? He kept saying they this and they that.
I tried to pin him down and he finally accused Kate Westwood.
(SCOFFS) Kate Westwood of all people.
Who's Kate Westwood? The actress, she's in three independent films this year.
She wrote a children's book our competitor is publishing next month.
You've got to wonder what she ever did to Bradley and Sofia.
I would never do anything bad to Sofia.
She was like a sister to me.
So why would her husband think you sabotaged her book? I don't know.
I haven't talked to her in three months.
That doesn't sound like sisters.
We had our ups and downs.
We grew up together.
Our first year in the city, we shared an apartment on Mulberry Street.
Then she met Bradley.
Any idea why they blamed you when her new book went south? My career has gone very well recently.
Bradley and Sofia were struggling.
Resentment holds so many people back.
Yeah, must have burned them that you had your own book coming out.
âPanda Bear Gets a Haircut.
" âTo my Lucas.
â You okay, Ms.
Westwood? Lucas was my son.
I lost him just three months ago.
We're very sorry.
The fact that you two stopped talking, it have anything to do with your baby? I told you, it was resentment.
It's what kept Bradley and Sofia from opening their hearts to their own destinies.
BRADLEY: How would I know what she means? Kate talks in hippie-trippy mumbo-jumbo.
Hey, you mind shutting that thing down? What's going on between the three of you? Nothing.
We hear nothing and our imagination just starts running wild.
Pretty actress, a baby, maybe your baby.
It explains the hostility.
That's not true.
I loved my wife.
Well, can anyone confirm that you were here yesterday afternoon? I was here trying to work.
Some fire trucks went by outside, maybe 10 minutes after Sofia left.
I saw the people across the alley arguing.
You can check.
We will.
That still leaves the beef you two had with Kate Westwood.
I don't know who I can trust.
I don't know about him, but you can certainly trust me.
Kate's baby, Sofia thought they killed him.
They did this purification, they used steam to make the baby sweat, fed him wheatgrass to detox him.
Who did this? Kate's in Systematics.
You know, the cult.
They hand out flyers in the subway.
Yeah, the self-help program.
BRADLEY: Self-help? People have lost their savings, their health.
You're saying this baby died during this purification ritual? Yes.
Kate told Sofia about it after it happened.
Sofia said they should go to the police, but Kate was too afraid.
They did it, didn't they? They killed Sofia.
Whoa, take it easy.
No, no.
Those people in Systemotics, they're crazy.
Anything's possible.
Did Sofia write any of this down? She made notes, for an article.
It'll be on her computer.
DR.
LANDRY: Kate was hysterical when she called.
I rushed right over.
The baby was already in rigor mortis.
He died in his crib during the night.
You didn't think it was strange that she called you and not 911? No.
I delivered that baby.
You see any signs of abuse, Dr.
Landry? Heat injuries, poisoning? No, of course not.
Why? Ms.
Westwood tell you her baby had been through a purification ritual? No.
Detectives, Lucas died of sudden infant death syndrome.
Just like it says on his death certificate, signed by the Medical Examiner.
LUPO: The M.
E.
never did an autopsy on the baby.
Once they get a diagnosis from the doctor, it's rubber stamp time.
The kid was cremated.
"The Life System by Ellison Conway.
"The best-selling guide to reclaiming your human destiny.
" How'd I get through life without reading this? Well, I couldn't get through it without aspirin, but there's no mention of detoxing babies.
Well, could the Camerons have imagined the whole thing? They'd have a hell of an imagination.
Sofia's notes.
She alleges that there was a conspiracy against them by Systemotics.
There's a list there of sabotaged gallery openings, of lost friendships, people following them.
People who write stuff like this usually line their hats with aluminum foil.
And sometimes commit suicide.
Or sometimes they're right and nobody believes them.
Hey.
Bradley Cameron's been leaving messages for you.
Oh, okay.
Thanks.
"Call with an update.
" Needs to know what's going on.
He's anxious.
You check his alibi? Yeah.
The fire house down the street confirmed that they had trucks go out on a call at a quarter to 2:00.
And now the neighbors across the alley told us that they did have an argument.
And the people upstairs said they heard Bradley drilling right about the time his wife was being shot.
And the gun? Untraceable.
BERNARD: Look at this.
The lab found gunshot residue on Sofia Cameron's right glove.
Looks like the lady suicided after all.
All this talk about Systematics could be Bradley's way of avoiding the truth.
Could be.
So the fact that she bought cupcakes right before she suicided, doesn't bother you anymore? Maybe she thought it would cheer her up.
Always works for me.
The Systemotics has free pre-natal audits for expectant parents.
Could be worth crashing to see if there's anything to this detox story.
We still have a dead baby here.
All right, whatever you want.
We'll borrow a UC from Narcotics.
That's like a week's worth of paperwork.
You got a better idea? Yeah, but a by-the-book guy like you wouldn't like it.
Babies are born with unlimited personal power.
But we live in a world that destroys personal power with poison.
Poison that we put in our mouths, that which we take into our minds and heart.
Systematics is an antidote to the toxic society.
That makes a lot of sense, doesn't it, Jenny? Yeah,lreaHylike the part about the food.
Yeah.
Oh, Systematics has so much more to offer.
We can fit you in for an Eligibility Lab today.
The thing is we're very focused on the baby aspect.
You tell him, honey.
Well, I took some anti-anxiety drugs before I realized I was expecting.
That's okay.
Our System experts can design a cleansing program for you.
And what about for our baby? You have a detox program for newborns? Where did you hear that? Uh, we read about it somewhere? Uhâ.
Yeah.
Right? You use wheatgrass and steam baths.
(TYPING) Hi.
I'm Bill.
So, you read something about a detox program for newborns? (STAMMERING) Uh, that's why we came in.
We don't want to take any chances with our baby's health.
Where did you read about this program? Um, I don't remember.
Um But you do have a program, right? You know what, Cyrus? Your resistance troubles me.
I want to thank you both for coming in, and good luck finding your destiny.
Oh, okay.
VAN BUREN: What the hell were you thinking, Detective? Taking an administrative assistant on an undercover, and without authorization or back-up? Okay, it wasn't the smartest move.
But it's not like we were dropping in on Bin Laden.
I don't give a damn.
I brought Bernard over here because he's smart.
I can't imagine he went along with this.
Oh, no, he wouldn't.
No.
The Chief of D's will be in touch with you.
BERNARD: Uh-huh.
Right.
Okay, thanks.
(SIGHS) Don't look at me like that.
I'm not the one that snitched on you.
I guess someone beat you to it, right? Okay.
Look, I can't shake the stench of the rat squad.
My bad to expect you to be any different than everybody else.
That's the problem with using amateurs.
They don't know when to keep their mouth shut.
(CELL PHONE RINGING) Yeah, Lupo.
Yeah? All right, we're on our way.
The guy hit the awning, then landed on the sidewalk.
I was looking for an ID and found your card in his pocket.
Name's Bradley Cameron.
Yeah.
We know him.
(EXHALES) So what happened, he fell from the hotel? From the fourth or fifth floor.
We found a keycard for a room in his pocket.
He say anything? Yeah.
He said somebody threw him off the balcony.
Looks like somebody had a hockey game in here.
Lucky for him he got a room on the fourth floor.
Check this out.
The download from Systemotics's website.
Ellison Conway is holding a meeting this afternoon for Level A members right upstairs.
And you need a room key to access the top floors.
Might be the reason Bradley got a room here.
Yes, I recognize him.
He disrupted our meeting earlier this afternoon.
How did he do that? He burst in, shouting accusations.
Our facilitators escorted him out.
These are your facilitators? Yes.
What do they facilitate? Safety and good order.
Our Level A members have actualized their destinies.
What does that mean? They've reached a level of success most people only dream of, and with that comes visibility and great resentment from those who haven't achieved.
Well, seeing as Mr.
Cameron ended up flying off a fourth floor balcony, we're going to be needing your facilitators' fingerprints.
And while you're at it, we're also going to need the video off that camera.
Level A Systematics members are leaders, they' re healers.
You get to Bradley's stuff yet? It's coming up in a minute.
Think of the people in your life are sick, the way you once were sick.
BRADLEY: Murderer! You killed my wife, Conway! You kill babies! And you, you're all zombies! You're all robots! Murderers! Mind-control freaks! Bad news is those goons' prints don't match any from Bradley's hotel room.
(CELL PHONE RINGING) Bernard.
Say again? Okay.
What? Communications has a 911 call from two witnesses across the street from the hotel.
They say they saw Bradleyjump, all by himself.
FEMALE OPERATOR: Police operator 358.
State your emergency.
MAN: Uh, yeah, I want to report this guy, he might be a jumper.
I'm right across from the Penta Hotel, working on a compressor on the roof.
We can see this guy on the fourth floor balcony.
Oh, no! He just went over the railing! He jumped! l-le'slyir19- He's probably in Systemotics, check him out.
We did.
He's legit.
Stop.
You staged it, Bradley.
Your hotel room, the fight, you even aimed for the awning to break your fall.
You're trying to frame Conway.
You weren't doing anything.
I just wanted Conway to pay for what he did.
He killed my wife.
We're not so sure she was murdered.
Sofia didn't kill herself.
There was gunshot residue all over her right glove.
What glove? BERNARD: The wool ones that she was wearing.
She wouldn't wear wool gloves.
She was allergic to wool.
It gave her hives.
Those aren't Sofia's gloves.
LUPO".
Yeah, thanks.
Sofia Cameron's medical records say she had a severe allergy to wool.
So she grabbed the wrong pair of gloves.
Yeah, or the shooter put them on her.
Might be away to tell.
The lab took another look and found GSR on the inner lining of the right glove.
Well, is there any way it could have gotten there if Sofia was wearing the glove when she fired the gun? LUPO: That would be a first.
More likely the shooter was wearing the glove, took it off and put it on Sofia to stage a suicide.
Gunshot residue was transferred to the inside of the glove.
Well, maybe Bradley isn't so paranoid after all.
Hold on, look at this.
Look who's one of Conway's cadets.
Kate Westwood's baby doctor.
BERNARD: Yeah.
His dead baby story is making more sense by the minute.
KATE: So I'm in Systematics.
Why should my beliefs be any of your business? Sofia accused you and your beliefs of killing your baby.
That makes it our business.
My Lucas died of natural causes.
According to your baby doctor, who also happens to be in Systemotics.
Now, your son died after a purification ritual, didn't he? He died the day after, but I don't think that's what hurt him.
Didn't you want to get another opinion besides Dr.
Landry's? Of course! But Dr.
Landry said that a second opinion would mean an autopsy on Lucas and I couldn't bear that.
And Dr.
Landry said that no matter what the truth was, Systemotics would get blamed.
She said it would be better if we just kept everything quiet.
But you told Sofia, right? I needed a friend.
Instead, she and Bradley got on their soapbox about Systemotics, and said that she was going to expose them.
Did you tell anybody about her plan? Who did you tell? Who did you tell? You don't understand.
I owe my career to them.
They unblocked me, these people have connections.
BERNARD: Lady, we have connections in some of the finest prisons in this state.
Do you hear what I'm telling you? I told Dr.
Landry.
She said it was very serious.
What did she do about it? She discussed the situation with Ellison Conway.
They wanted me to tell them everything I knew about Sofia and Bradley.
They said if I lied, that they'd know.
How would they know? They've been following them, running background checks.
They do that.
They have a way of protecting themselves.
LUPO: Dr.
Landry's office said she's here.
Mrs.
Silver has the flu.
Is Dr.
Landry with her baby? Mrs.
Silver's baby, where is it? Is someone running a shower? Excuse me.
(BABY CRYING) Mrs.
Silver? Police.
Step out of the bathroom! Step out of the bathroom! Let's go.
Get out.
You have no right to be here.
Let go of the baby.
Give me the baby.
No! Let go.
Let the baby go.
No.
No.
My baby! Don't take my baby! Dr.
Landry, you're under arrest.
Arrest? For what? Let's start with steaming a kid like a hotdog and work from there.
Let's go.
The doctors found the baby to be in perfect health with no signs of abuse.
What about the baby bottles? Diluted wheatgrass juice, which would cause nothing more than mild diarrhea.
Send the child back to its mother.
Not until we know what happened to the other baby who was purified.
CONNIE: The M.
E.
doesn't think it had anything to do with the baby's death.
The purification rite is more symbolic than therapeutic.
Fine, send Dr.
Landry back to her medical practice.
We have testimony she and her cronies were targeting the Camerons.
Tread lightly.
We don't want to be accused of mounting a crusade against a religion.
A religion? Have you read their literature? It's pretty out there.
More out there than eight-armed deities or a supreme being who descends from the heavens? When it comes to faith, whatever gets you through the night is fine by me.
And by this office.
I want to see what Systemotics has on the Camerons.
Have the cops execute a search warrant.
Lighfly- PEYSER: There's nothing illegal about gathering information about your adversaries.
We don't intimidate or murder, no matter what you read on the Internet.
CONNIE: Duly noted.
We'll call you if we have any questions.
Hey, Bernard, you grew up in Compton? Yeah, how'd you know that? They got a file on you.
They got one on me, too.
How about me? Maybe after today.
(INDISTINCT) They were going through the Camerons' garbage, grocery list, flyers.
Whoa! Check this out.
"Veteran's Day Shoot-out.
"Bring this coupon in for a 25% off at the Liberty Shooting Range in Bayonne.
" It's addressed to Bradley.
ELROY: Yeah, he came in with his wife.
He wanted her to learn to shoot, which was kind of funny.
I don't get the joke.
She wasn't all that thrilled to be here.
They had a tiff, she ended up waiting for him in the car.
He ended up doing all the shooting.
With this gun? Could be.
Nine-mil for sure.
Thanks.
We still got his alibi to deal with.
He's covered for the time it took to do the crime and get home.
Forty minutes.
The fire trucks.
The guy is an artist.
Avideo artist.
It's like somebody set off a bomb in the memory.
So what are you saying, this guy's smarter than you? (LAUGHS) There's a lens in the diving helmet aimed at the apartment across the alley.
Can you get a video feed from this camera? Right here, this one.
Yeah, I think so.
Pull up anything from the day of the murder.
Is this what you're looking for? (SIRENS WAILING ON VIDEO) The couple fighting.
He made a video record of what was going on while he was out.
There's also a pre-recorded audio playback.
(MACHINE DRILLING) So the neighbors would say he was home.
CLERK: "Docket number 84862, People v.
Bradley Cameron, Murder in the Second Degree.
" I don't want this lawyer.
This is the third lawyer we've assigned for you.
How do I know he's not in Systematics? Your Honor, at this rate, it's gonna take six months just to arraign him.
My patience is at an ebb, Mr.
Cameron.
I'm entering a plea of not guilty on your behalf and remanding you.
(GAVEL POUNDS) He killed his own wife just to frame Systematics? A man who can throw himself off a balcony is capable of anything.
I thought he and his wife were of one mind.
Didn't they both blame Conway for ruining their careers? Apparently Sofia was having second thoughts.
The lab salvaged another video that Bradley tried to erase.
This one was made the night before she was killed.
We've lost all our friends, our apartment.
We're not doing the work we're meant to do.
We can't keep blaming everything bad that happens on Systematics.
Maybe it's us, Bradley.
Maybe I need some time away from you.
She's threatening to leave him.
He would've seen that as betrayal.
And another personal failure he could blame on Systematics.
That would've made it easy for him to kill her and frame them for it.
Thanks.
It looks like Bradley finally found a lawyer he could trust.
One who charges by the motion.
I'll turn on the coffee machine on the way out.
JUDGE LARAMIE: I haven't seen you in these parts before, Mr.
Pace.
I'm a civil litigator by trade.
I took this case because the subject matter interests me.
Murder? Uh, Mr.
Pace means he's built a cottage industry suing Ellison Conway and Systematics.
Awrongful death during a drug detox, consumer fraud, a civil RICO claim.
Somebody forgot to tell him Systemotics isn't on trial here.
Which brings us to the first branch of your omnibus motion, Mr.
Pace, an application to have me recused.
I'm willing to withdraw it if Your Honor goes on record as having never read anything by Ellison Conway, visited a Systemotics Center, or socialized with one of its members.
I'll do no such thing.
Then the motion stands.
Then the motion is denied.
Mr.
Pace is also moving to close the gallery to spectators.
Systematics routinely sends its members to observe legal proceedings where its interests are at stake.
That's well within their right.
They're there to intimidate witnesses, attorneys, even judges.
I've presided over mob trials.
I don't see a problem here.
Motion denied.
Thank you, Your Honor.
You've already given me two grounds for appeal.
Glad to be of service, Mr.
Pace.
Jury selection begins Monday.
How does it feel to be on the same team as the body-snatchers? Worry about your own legal strategy, nothing but innuendo and fear-mongering.
Call it whatever you want, Mr.
Cutter, but by the end of this trial, I'll have the jury believing you're one of Ellison Conway's droids.
JUDGE: We're waiting for your answer, Ms.
Westwood.
KATE: ljoined ljoined Systematics four years ago.
Did there come a time when you discussed Bradley and Sofia Cameron with your fellow members? JUDGE: Ms.
Westwood.
One moment, Your Honor.
I'd like the court to inquire if that man and woman in the second row were sent here by Systematics.
What next, Your Honor, a loyalty oath? Just to placate Mr.
Pace.
Sir, do you and your friend have any affiliation with the organization known as Systematics? Yes, sir, we do.
PACE: Your Honor, they were sent here for the purpose of intimidation.
I move that they be ejected from the courtroom.
Mr.
Cutter, you have any objection? They seem pretty harmless to me, Your Honor.
I agree.
Defense motion is denied.
YourHonon I move that you instruct the jury to ignore these individuals.
Fine.
Thejury is so instructed.
Please answer the question, Ms.
Westwood.
I can't do this.
I can't be here.
Why not? Are you afraid of something? I just can't do this.
I'm sorry.
PACE: There's no point in forcing her, Your Honor.
All right, the witness is excused.
We're in recess until 2:00.
The jury was instructed to pay no attention to the elephant in the room.
What was I supposed to do? If I let him eject that couple, I'd be conceding Systematics is a dangerous organization.
What's so funny? You're having your head handed to you by a pro.
We put a gun in Bradley's hand, then proved his wife was ready to leave him.
Perception trumps facts.
You need to get that witness back on the stand.
She's a defense witness.
Who ran off the stand in fear.
That hurts you more with the jury than anything she can say.
When your car is skidding out of control, steer into the skid.
Thanks for lunch.
If I go back in there, the only person who gets hurt is me.
Because if you testify about Systematics, Ellison Conway will be angry at you.
Yes.
Do you believe Bradley killed Sofia? Yes.
So do I.
By refusing to testify, you made Systematics look like a big, scary cult that killed Sofia.
And what will Conway think about that? If I were him, I'd want you to tell the truth, and to let the jury see you're a free and powerful person.
Call Mr.
Pace.
Tell him if he doesn't put you back on the stand, I will.
KATE: Dr.
Landry wanted my help collecting information on Bradley and Sofia.
Did she tell you what Systemotics would do with this information? If Bradley and Sofia started spreading lies about how my baby died, they said they would use that information to protect Systemotics.
You've been a member of other religious groups, haven't you? Yes.
I grew up Episcopalian.
In college, I did meditation and practiced Buddhism.
And when I was in LA, I studied Kabbala.
Did any of these religions ever ask you to gather information on your friends? No.
Ms.
Westwood, did you love your friend Sofia Cameron? Yes.
She was a good person.
Was really brave.
She was trying to make the world a better place, a more loving place.
She was so excited when I got pregnant.
I really miss her.
Thank you.
No more questions.
Redirect, Your Honor.
PACE: Ms.
Westwood, are you brave? I hope so.
I've been developing my personal power.
When you ran out of the courtroom earlier, was that power or fear? I can't say.
Fear that your testimony would be reported back to Ellison Conway.
Objection.
Sustained.
Enough, Mr.
Pace.
The witness is excused.
Then I call my next witness.
Ellison Conway.
Systemotics is a self-actualization phflosophy which I created from my studies in psychology and physiology.
PACE: But your academic background is engineering, isn't it? My formal credential, yes.
But I've written books on philosophy, on spiritual growth, on health, on neuroscience.
Your Honor, we renew our objection to this witness.
I have a right to present an alternative theory of the crime.
Then get to the point, Mr.
Pace.
Mr.
Conway, you compiled a dossier on Bradley and Sofia Cameron, didn't you? Not me personally.
Our Data Section did, but strictly as a defensive measure, in case we needed to take legal action against them for slander and libel.
PACE: In anticipation of a lawsuit, that was your only reason to gather information? Yes.
Mr.
Conway, are you familiar with the term Fracture Mechanics? It's an engineering term.
No, as it relates to Systematics.
Fracture Mechanics is a method of dealing with those who would suppress us.
By breaking them.
By dissipating their energies.
You're twisting my writings, Mr.
Pace, as you've done many times before.
Then please tell us the five stages of Fracture Mechanics.
I will not.
Fracture Mechanics is a core religious activity of Systemotics and as such it is protected by the Constitution.
Mr.
Conway, you kept files on the detectives investigating Sofia's murder.
Were they trying to suppress you, too? I don't know, you'd have to ask them.
What about the thousands of other people you have files on? Objection.
What about the jury, do you have files on them, too? Your Honor, Mr.
Pace's only purpose here is to frighten the jury with innuendo.
Sustained.
The testimony of this witness will be stricken from the record.
The jury is ordered to disregard it.
Conway should've never been allowed to testify in the first place.
Now it's impossible to unring the bell.
That's what summations are for.
Sure.
I just have to convince the jury Systemotics is no more dangerous than the neighborhood glee club.
This day and age, people are worried, people are scared of bogeymen.
You're not going to score points pretending those fears don't exist.
(KNOCK ON DOOR) Thejudge wants to see us.
Three jurors sent notes.
They want off the case.
How can you be so sure they don't have files on us? They know our names, they have people in the gallery watching us.
My wife is worried sick.
She wants me to quit.
Have any of you received specific threats? Yesterday afternoon, I was in the park with my kid, there was this woman, staring at us, for, like, half an hour.
That could've been anything.
I'm a make-up artist in the theater.
A lot of actors are in Systematics.
If word gets around that I'm here, I'll lose my livelihood.
We don't think we could be impartial, YourHonoL Your Honor, we don't have enough alternates to replace these jurors.
I know that.
Juror number three, you, sir, are excused.
As for you two, all you're required to do is keep an open mind and decide the case on the evidence.
I'm ordering you to carry on.
(sum-nus) Tomorrow, 9:30.
Let's wrap this up while we still have 12 jurors.
Systematics knew Sofia was going to raise hell about the death of her friend's baby.
They collected information on her, they tracked her movements.
They had motive and they had opportunity.
And not only that, they had a religious duty to destroy her.
Fracture Mechanics, a core tenet of Ellison Conway's theology, so secret, he won't even talk about it.
Given all that, is it really beyond reason that they could have killed Sofia and framed my client? Now if you don't think it is, then you have only one choice, acquit Bradley Cameron.
Mr.
Pace isn't appealing to your reason.
He's appealing to your paranoia.
And that's hard to resist, especially in an age where fear is big business, when our privacy is compromised every time we walk by one of this city's when corporations can mine our personal data and criminals can steal our identities.
Mr.
Pace has even put a name to his bogeyman, Systematics.
Yes, Systemotics is secretive.
Yes, Systematics harasses its enemies.
But its power is a self-perpetuating myth.
Oh, they'd love you to think that they can make or break a career, but the reality is, they can't.
Bradley Cameron bought into the myth.
He used Systemotics as a scapegoat for his own failures.
And his biggest failure was his crumbling marriage.
His wife was leaving him and he blamed Systematics.
Killing her and framing them was his revenge.
Sofia Cameron was brave.
She rejected her husband's paranoia.
She tried to bring him back to reality.
Honor her now by doing the same.
You have any idea what this is about? Laramie just said he needed to see us.
Congratulations, Mr.
Pace.
I now have fourjurors who want off the jury.
They're scared and refuse to deliberate.
The defense moves for a mistrial.
YourHonon that would be rewarding Mr.
Pace's bad behavior.
What choice do I have? You can talk them out of the tree.
You can order them to deliberate.
The Appellate Division would bounce a conviction so fast it'd make your heads spin.
He's right.
I'm declaring a mistrial.
Your Honor, give me three hours.
You have one.
Thank you.
A plea bargain? You're delusional.
This is a waste of time.
Come on, Bradley.
Bradley, you have a destiny, and I'm here to see that you fulfill it.
Bradley, come on.
We got a mistrial.
You know what I'm talking about, don't you, Bradley? Don't listen to him.
You know you can't win.
Well, you heard Mr.
Pace, the judge, the witnesses, even Ms.
Rubirosa.
We've all harnessed our personal power against you.
You You're one of them.
Cutter, stop this! And you know full well, Bradley, we are relentless.
We will never stop coming after you.
Oh, God.
Fifteen years, Bradley.
That's the deal.
No way.
Bradley.
Well, the alternative is far worse.
He knows what we're capable of.
You spent the whole trial proving it.
Bradley, come on.
We got a mistrial.
Okay.
Bradley, it's a bluff.
They don't bluff! I'm taking it.
They got to Sofia, they turned her against me.
At the last minute, I told Sofia I'd go with her to her mother's.
She stopped to buy cupcakes.
When she got back in the car, I shot her.
We'll draw up the papers.
You'll tell Mr.
Conway I took the deal, won't you? You convinced me.
It's stupid to resist.
Tell Mr.
Conway I'm going to use my time in jail to rid myself of the negative influences in my life, to get unblocked, and find my destiny.
The law of unintended consequences.
Looks like Systemotics has another convert.
Whatever gets him through the night.
I'm not sure that was by the book.
You convinced him you're in Systematics.
With all I've achieved? What makes you so sure I'm not?
These are their stories.
That guy at the bar? SOFIA: I've never seen him before.
I think he's with them.
Bradley, don't even go there.
Great turnout, Gretchen.
Did you forget to send out invitations? I sent out 200.
Plus ads in The Times, The Observer and Art World.
SOFIA: Bradley's not going to sell a single piece.
Maybe it's not what the market wants right now.
It's your job to tell the market what it wants.
Maybe if you were Chinese.
They're destroying us.
Bradley! Iwouldn't let that happen, baby.
The car's registered to a Sofia Cameron, address across town on Stanton.
Ms.
Cameron's description off her license matches the victim's.
Now, you got a Glock .
26 on the floor here, nine-mil casing there.
Ah, looks like a contact wound.
A lot of women suicide with a gun? I don't know, I'm just asking.
There's no hard and fast rules.
Well, I always thought with women, it was either pills or gas.
You see a note? LUPO: No, but maybe she had nothing to say.
Messages and missed calls, somebody was already missing her.
Bradley and Mom.
Hey, look at this.
What's the rule on bringing cupcakes to a suicide? BERNARD: So, what time did your wife leave, Mr.
Cameron? Mr.
Cameron? I was here in my studio.
She went to see her mother in Morristown.
She goes every Sunday.
How was her mood? I don't know.
She was okay, I guess.
She's a serious person, so Yeah.
She wrote serious books.
BRADLEY: That was her first book.
Five years ago.
She was working on her second one.
Mr.
Cameron, did your wife have a history of suicide attempts or depression? No.
It doesn't make any sense.
I don't even know where she would have gotten a gun.
This is her new book, In the Name of God? There's only three chapters here.
She was having a hard time with it.
I'm not finding anything on the computer.
Is there anywhere else she might have left a note? No.
(CELL PHONE RINGING) It's Sofia's mother.
It's okay.
Do what you need to do.
Hello.
Yeah.
Hi.
A writer who doesn't leave a suicide note.
On the other hand, three chapters in five years? That would make me suicidal.
TQLBERG: It was an ambitious book, a reflection on religious warfare in the 21st century.
I rejected several false starts.
Sofia take it hard? Nobody likes rejection.
Last month, I told her we were putting her book on the back burner.
I can't imagine that's what Well, you know.
Like you said, nobody likes rejection.
Actually, it was her husband, Bradley, that had the bigger problem with our decision.
What did he have to say? He claimed somebody was out to sabotage Sofia's book.
Did he say this somebody have a name? He kept saying they this and they that.
I tried to pin him down and he finally accused Kate Westwood.
(SCOFFS) Kate Westwood of all people.
Who's Kate Westwood? The actress, she's in three independent films this year.
She wrote a children's book our competitor is publishing next month.
You've got to wonder what she ever did to Bradley and Sofia.
I would never do anything bad to Sofia.
She was like a sister to me.
So why would her husband think you sabotaged her book? I don't know.
I haven't talked to her in three months.
That doesn't sound like sisters.
We had our ups and downs.
We grew up together.
Our first year in the city, we shared an apartment on Mulberry Street.
Then she met Bradley.
Any idea why they blamed you when her new book went south? My career has gone very well recently.
Bradley and Sofia were struggling.
Resentment holds so many people back.
Yeah, must have burned them that you had your own book coming out.
âPanda Bear Gets a Haircut.
" âTo my Lucas.
â You okay, Ms.
Westwood? Lucas was my son.
I lost him just three months ago.
We're very sorry.
The fact that you two stopped talking, it have anything to do with your baby? I told you, it was resentment.
It's what kept Bradley and Sofia from opening their hearts to their own destinies.
BRADLEY: How would I know what she means? Kate talks in hippie-trippy mumbo-jumbo.
Hey, you mind shutting that thing down? What's going on between the three of you? Nothing.
We hear nothing and our imagination just starts running wild.
Pretty actress, a baby, maybe your baby.
It explains the hostility.
That's not true.
I loved my wife.
Well, can anyone confirm that you were here yesterday afternoon? I was here trying to work.
Some fire trucks went by outside, maybe 10 minutes after Sofia left.
I saw the people across the alley arguing.
You can check.
We will.
That still leaves the beef you two had with Kate Westwood.
I don't know who I can trust.
I don't know about him, but you can certainly trust me.
Kate's baby, Sofia thought they killed him.
They did this purification, they used steam to make the baby sweat, fed him wheatgrass to detox him.
Who did this? Kate's in Systematics.
You know, the cult.
They hand out flyers in the subway.
Yeah, the self-help program.
BRADLEY: Self-help? People have lost their savings, their health.
You're saying this baby died during this purification ritual? Yes.
Kate told Sofia about it after it happened.
Sofia said they should go to the police, but Kate was too afraid.
They did it, didn't they? They killed Sofia.
Whoa, take it easy.
No, no.
Those people in Systemotics, they're crazy.
Anything's possible.
Did Sofia write any of this down? She made notes, for an article.
It'll be on her computer.
DR.
LANDRY: Kate was hysterical when she called.
I rushed right over.
The baby was already in rigor mortis.
He died in his crib during the night.
You didn't think it was strange that she called you and not 911? No.
I delivered that baby.
You see any signs of abuse, Dr.
Landry? Heat injuries, poisoning? No, of course not.
Why? Ms.
Westwood tell you her baby had been through a purification ritual? No.
Detectives, Lucas died of sudden infant death syndrome.
Just like it says on his death certificate, signed by the Medical Examiner.
LUPO: The M.
E.
never did an autopsy on the baby.
Once they get a diagnosis from the doctor, it's rubber stamp time.
The kid was cremated.
"The Life System by Ellison Conway.
"The best-selling guide to reclaiming your human destiny.
" How'd I get through life without reading this? Well, I couldn't get through it without aspirin, but there's no mention of detoxing babies.
Well, could the Camerons have imagined the whole thing? They'd have a hell of an imagination.
Sofia's notes.
She alleges that there was a conspiracy against them by Systemotics.
There's a list there of sabotaged gallery openings, of lost friendships, people following them.
People who write stuff like this usually line their hats with aluminum foil.
And sometimes commit suicide.
Or sometimes they're right and nobody believes them.
Hey.
Bradley Cameron's been leaving messages for you.
Oh, okay.
Thanks.
"Call with an update.
" Needs to know what's going on.
He's anxious.
You check his alibi? Yeah.
The fire house down the street confirmed that they had trucks go out on a call at a quarter to 2:00.
And now the neighbors across the alley told us that they did have an argument.
And the people upstairs said they heard Bradley drilling right about the time his wife was being shot.
And the gun? Untraceable.
BERNARD: Look at this.
The lab found gunshot residue on Sofia Cameron's right glove.
Looks like the lady suicided after all.
All this talk about Systematics could be Bradley's way of avoiding the truth.
Could be.
So the fact that she bought cupcakes right before she suicided, doesn't bother you anymore? Maybe she thought it would cheer her up.
Always works for me.
The Systemotics has free pre-natal audits for expectant parents.
Could be worth crashing to see if there's anything to this detox story.
We still have a dead baby here.
All right, whatever you want.
We'll borrow a UC from Narcotics.
That's like a week's worth of paperwork.
You got a better idea? Yeah, but a by-the-book guy like you wouldn't like it.
Babies are born with unlimited personal power.
But we live in a world that destroys personal power with poison.
Poison that we put in our mouths, that which we take into our minds and heart.
Systematics is an antidote to the toxic society.
That makes a lot of sense, doesn't it, Jenny? Yeah,lreaHylike the part about the food.
Yeah.
Oh, Systematics has so much more to offer.
We can fit you in for an Eligibility Lab today.
The thing is we're very focused on the baby aspect.
You tell him, honey.
Well, I took some anti-anxiety drugs before I realized I was expecting.
That's okay.
Our System experts can design a cleansing program for you.
And what about for our baby? You have a detox program for newborns? Where did you hear that? Uh, we read about it somewhere? Uhâ.
Yeah.
Right? You use wheatgrass and steam baths.
(TYPING) Hi.
I'm Bill.
So, you read something about a detox program for newborns? (STAMMERING) Uh, that's why we came in.
We don't want to take any chances with our baby's health.
Where did you read about this program? Um, I don't remember.
Um But you do have a program, right? You know what, Cyrus? Your resistance troubles me.
I want to thank you both for coming in, and good luck finding your destiny.
Oh, okay.
VAN BUREN: What the hell were you thinking, Detective? Taking an administrative assistant on an undercover, and without authorization or back-up? Okay, it wasn't the smartest move.
But it's not like we were dropping in on Bin Laden.
I don't give a damn.
I brought Bernard over here because he's smart.
I can't imagine he went along with this.
Oh, no, he wouldn't.
No.
The Chief of D's will be in touch with you.
BERNARD: Uh-huh.
Right.
Okay, thanks.
(SIGHS) Don't look at me like that.
I'm not the one that snitched on you.
I guess someone beat you to it, right? Okay.
Look, I can't shake the stench of the rat squad.
My bad to expect you to be any different than everybody else.
That's the problem with using amateurs.
They don't know when to keep their mouth shut.
(CELL PHONE RINGING) Yeah, Lupo.
Yeah? All right, we're on our way.
The guy hit the awning, then landed on the sidewalk.
I was looking for an ID and found your card in his pocket.
Name's Bradley Cameron.
Yeah.
We know him.
(EXHALES) So what happened, he fell from the hotel? From the fourth or fifth floor.
We found a keycard for a room in his pocket.
He say anything? Yeah.
He said somebody threw him off the balcony.
Looks like somebody had a hockey game in here.
Lucky for him he got a room on the fourth floor.
Check this out.
The download from Systemotics's website.
Ellison Conway is holding a meeting this afternoon for Level A members right upstairs.
And you need a room key to access the top floors.
Might be the reason Bradley got a room here.
Yes, I recognize him.
He disrupted our meeting earlier this afternoon.
How did he do that? He burst in, shouting accusations.
Our facilitators escorted him out.
These are your facilitators? Yes.
What do they facilitate? Safety and good order.
Our Level A members have actualized their destinies.
What does that mean? They've reached a level of success most people only dream of, and with that comes visibility and great resentment from those who haven't achieved.
Well, seeing as Mr.
Cameron ended up flying off a fourth floor balcony, we're going to be needing your facilitators' fingerprints.
And while you're at it, we're also going to need the video off that camera.
Level A Systematics members are leaders, they' re healers.
You get to Bradley's stuff yet? It's coming up in a minute.
Think of the people in your life are sick, the way you once were sick.
BRADLEY: Murderer! You killed my wife, Conway! You kill babies! And you, you're all zombies! You're all robots! Murderers! Mind-control freaks! Bad news is those goons' prints don't match any from Bradley's hotel room.
(CELL PHONE RINGING) Bernard.
Say again? Okay.
What? Communications has a 911 call from two witnesses across the street from the hotel.
They say they saw Bradleyjump, all by himself.
FEMALE OPERATOR: Police operator 358.
State your emergency.
MAN: Uh, yeah, I want to report this guy, he might be a jumper.
I'm right across from the Penta Hotel, working on a compressor on the roof.
We can see this guy on the fourth floor balcony.
Oh, no! He just went over the railing! He jumped! l-le'slyir19- He's probably in Systemotics, check him out.
We did.
He's legit.
Stop.
You staged it, Bradley.
Your hotel room, the fight, you even aimed for the awning to break your fall.
You're trying to frame Conway.
You weren't doing anything.
I just wanted Conway to pay for what he did.
He killed my wife.
We're not so sure she was murdered.
Sofia didn't kill herself.
There was gunshot residue all over her right glove.
What glove? BERNARD: The wool ones that she was wearing.
She wouldn't wear wool gloves.
She was allergic to wool.
It gave her hives.
Those aren't Sofia's gloves.
LUPO".
Yeah, thanks.
Sofia Cameron's medical records say she had a severe allergy to wool.
So she grabbed the wrong pair of gloves.
Yeah, or the shooter put them on her.
Might be away to tell.
The lab took another look and found GSR on the inner lining of the right glove.
Well, is there any way it could have gotten there if Sofia was wearing the glove when she fired the gun? LUPO: That would be a first.
More likely the shooter was wearing the glove, took it off and put it on Sofia to stage a suicide.
Gunshot residue was transferred to the inside of the glove.
Well, maybe Bradley isn't so paranoid after all.
Hold on, look at this.
Look who's one of Conway's cadets.
Kate Westwood's baby doctor.
BERNARD: Yeah.
His dead baby story is making more sense by the minute.
KATE: So I'm in Systematics.
Why should my beliefs be any of your business? Sofia accused you and your beliefs of killing your baby.
That makes it our business.
My Lucas died of natural causes.
According to your baby doctor, who also happens to be in Systemotics.
Now, your son died after a purification ritual, didn't he? He died the day after, but I don't think that's what hurt him.
Didn't you want to get another opinion besides Dr.
Landry's? Of course! But Dr.
Landry said that a second opinion would mean an autopsy on Lucas and I couldn't bear that.
And Dr.
Landry said that no matter what the truth was, Systemotics would get blamed.
She said it would be better if we just kept everything quiet.
But you told Sofia, right? I needed a friend.
Instead, she and Bradley got on their soapbox about Systemotics, and said that she was going to expose them.
Did you tell anybody about her plan? Who did you tell? Who did you tell? You don't understand.
I owe my career to them.
They unblocked me, these people have connections.
BERNARD: Lady, we have connections in some of the finest prisons in this state.
Do you hear what I'm telling you? I told Dr.
Landry.
She said it was very serious.
What did she do about it? She discussed the situation with Ellison Conway.
They wanted me to tell them everything I knew about Sofia and Bradley.
They said if I lied, that they'd know.
How would they know? They've been following them, running background checks.
They do that.
They have a way of protecting themselves.
LUPO: Dr.
Landry's office said she's here.
Mrs.
Silver has the flu.
Is Dr.
Landry with her baby? Mrs.
Silver's baby, where is it? Is someone running a shower? Excuse me.
(BABY CRYING) Mrs.
Silver? Police.
Step out of the bathroom! Step out of the bathroom! Let's go.
Get out.
You have no right to be here.
Let go of the baby.
Give me the baby.
No! Let go.
Let the baby go.
No.
No.
My baby! Don't take my baby! Dr.
Landry, you're under arrest.
Arrest? For what? Let's start with steaming a kid like a hotdog and work from there.
Let's go.
The doctors found the baby to be in perfect health with no signs of abuse.
What about the baby bottles? Diluted wheatgrass juice, which would cause nothing more than mild diarrhea.
Send the child back to its mother.
Not until we know what happened to the other baby who was purified.
CONNIE: The M.
E.
doesn't think it had anything to do with the baby's death.
The purification rite is more symbolic than therapeutic.
Fine, send Dr.
Landry back to her medical practice.
We have testimony she and her cronies were targeting the Camerons.
Tread lightly.
We don't want to be accused of mounting a crusade against a religion.
A religion? Have you read their literature? It's pretty out there.
More out there than eight-armed deities or a supreme being who descends from the heavens? When it comes to faith, whatever gets you through the night is fine by me.
And by this office.
I want to see what Systemotics has on the Camerons.
Have the cops execute a search warrant.
Lighfly- PEYSER: There's nothing illegal about gathering information about your adversaries.
We don't intimidate or murder, no matter what you read on the Internet.
CONNIE: Duly noted.
We'll call you if we have any questions.
Hey, Bernard, you grew up in Compton? Yeah, how'd you know that? They got a file on you.
They got one on me, too.
How about me? Maybe after today.
(INDISTINCT) They were going through the Camerons' garbage, grocery list, flyers.
Whoa! Check this out.
"Veteran's Day Shoot-out.
"Bring this coupon in for a 25% off at the Liberty Shooting Range in Bayonne.
" It's addressed to Bradley.
ELROY: Yeah, he came in with his wife.
He wanted her to learn to shoot, which was kind of funny.
I don't get the joke.
She wasn't all that thrilled to be here.
They had a tiff, she ended up waiting for him in the car.
He ended up doing all the shooting.
With this gun? Could be.
Nine-mil for sure.
Thanks.
We still got his alibi to deal with.
He's covered for the time it took to do the crime and get home.
Forty minutes.
The fire trucks.
The guy is an artist.
Avideo artist.
It's like somebody set off a bomb in the memory.
So what are you saying, this guy's smarter than you? (LAUGHS) There's a lens in the diving helmet aimed at the apartment across the alley.
Can you get a video feed from this camera? Right here, this one.
Yeah, I think so.
Pull up anything from the day of the murder.
Is this what you're looking for? (SIRENS WAILING ON VIDEO) The couple fighting.
He made a video record of what was going on while he was out.
There's also a pre-recorded audio playback.
(MACHINE DRILLING) So the neighbors would say he was home.
CLERK: "Docket number 84862, People v.
Bradley Cameron, Murder in the Second Degree.
" I don't want this lawyer.
This is the third lawyer we've assigned for you.
How do I know he's not in Systematics? Your Honor, at this rate, it's gonna take six months just to arraign him.
My patience is at an ebb, Mr.
Cameron.
I'm entering a plea of not guilty on your behalf and remanding you.
(GAVEL POUNDS) He killed his own wife just to frame Systematics? A man who can throw himself off a balcony is capable of anything.
I thought he and his wife were of one mind.
Didn't they both blame Conway for ruining their careers? Apparently Sofia was having second thoughts.
The lab salvaged another video that Bradley tried to erase.
This one was made the night before she was killed.
We've lost all our friends, our apartment.
We're not doing the work we're meant to do.
We can't keep blaming everything bad that happens on Systematics.
Maybe it's us, Bradley.
Maybe I need some time away from you.
She's threatening to leave him.
He would've seen that as betrayal.
And another personal failure he could blame on Systematics.
That would've made it easy for him to kill her and frame them for it.
Thanks.
It looks like Bradley finally found a lawyer he could trust.
One who charges by the motion.
I'll turn on the coffee machine on the way out.
JUDGE LARAMIE: I haven't seen you in these parts before, Mr.
Pace.
I'm a civil litigator by trade.
I took this case because the subject matter interests me.
Murder? Uh, Mr.
Pace means he's built a cottage industry suing Ellison Conway and Systematics.
Awrongful death during a drug detox, consumer fraud, a civil RICO claim.
Somebody forgot to tell him Systemotics isn't on trial here.
Which brings us to the first branch of your omnibus motion, Mr.
Pace, an application to have me recused.
I'm willing to withdraw it if Your Honor goes on record as having never read anything by Ellison Conway, visited a Systemotics Center, or socialized with one of its members.
I'll do no such thing.
Then the motion stands.
Then the motion is denied.
Mr.
Pace is also moving to close the gallery to spectators.
Systematics routinely sends its members to observe legal proceedings where its interests are at stake.
That's well within their right.
They're there to intimidate witnesses, attorneys, even judges.
I've presided over mob trials.
I don't see a problem here.
Motion denied.
Thank you, Your Honor.
You've already given me two grounds for appeal.
Glad to be of service, Mr.
Pace.
Jury selection begins Monday.
How does it feel to be on the same team as the body-snatchers? Worry about your own legal strategy, nothing but innuendo and fear-mongering.
Call it whatever you want, Mr.
Cutter, but by the end of this trial, I'll have the jury believing you're one of Ellison Conway's droids.
JUDGE: We're waiting for your answer, Ms.
Westwood.
KATE: ljoined ljoined Systematics four years ago.
Did there come a time when you discussed Bradley and Sofia Cameron with your fellow members? JUDGE: Ms.
Westwood.
One moment, Your Honor.
I'd like the court to inquire if that man and woman in the second row were sent here by Systematics.
What next, Your Honor, a loyalty oath? Just to placate Mr.
Pace.
Sir, do you and your friend have any affiliation with the organization known as Systematics? Yes, sir, we do.
PACE: Your Honor, they were sent here for the purpose of intimidation.
I move that they be ejected from the courtroom.
Mr.
Cutter, you have any objection? They seem pretty harmless to me, Your Honor.
I agree.
Defense motion is denied.
YourHonon I move that you instruct the jury to ignore these individuals.
Fine.
Thejury is so instructed.
Please answer the question, Ms.
Westwood.
I can't do this.
I can't be here.
Why not? Are you afraid of something? I just can't do this.
I'm sorry.
PACE: There's no point in forcing her, Your Honor.
All right, the witness is excused.
We're in recess until 2:00.
The jury was instructed to pay no attention to the elephant in the room.
What was I supposed to do? If I let him eject that couple, I'd be conceding Systematics is a dangerous organization.
What's so funny? You're having your head handed to you by a pro.
We put a gun in Bradley's hand, then proved his wife was ready to leave him.
Perception trumps facts.
You need to get that witness back on the stand.
She's a defense witness.
Who ran off the stand in fear.
That hurts you more with the jury than anything she can say.
When your car is skidding out of control, steer into the skid.
Thanks for lunch.
If I go back in there, the only person who gets hurt is me.
Because if you testify about Systematics, Ellison Conway will be angry at you.
Yes.
Do you believe Bradley killed Sofia? Yes.
So do I.
By refusing to testify, you made Systematics look like a big, scary cult that killed Sofia.
And what will Conway think about that? If I were him, I'd want you to tell the truth, and to let the jury see you're a free and powerful person.
Call Mr.
Pace.
Tell him if he doesn't put you back on the stand, I will.
KATE: Dr.
Landry wanted my help collecting information on Bradley and Sofia.
Did she tell you what Systemotics would do with this information? If Bradley and Sofia started spreading lies about how my baby died, they said they would use that information to protect Systemotics.
You've been a member of other religious groups, haven't you? Yes.
I grew up Episcopalian.
In college, I did meditation and practiced Buddhism.
And when I was in LA, I studied Kabbala.
Did any of these religions ever ask you to gather information on your friends? No.
Ms.
Westwood, did you love your friend Sofia Cameron? Yes.
She was a good person.
Was really brave.
She was trying to make the world a better place, a more loving place.
She was so excited when I got pregnant.
I really miss her.
Thank you.
No more questions.
Redirect, Your Honor.
PACE: Ms.
Westwood, are you brave? I hope so.
I've been developing my personal power.
When you ran out of the courtroom earlier, was that power or fear? I can't say.
Fear that your testimony would be reported back to Ellison Conway.
Objection.
Sustained.
Enough, Mr.
Pace.
The witness is excused.
Then I call my next witness.
Ellison Conway.
Systemotics is a self-actualization phflosophy which I created from my studies in psychology and physiology.
PACE: But your academic background is engineering, isn't it? My formal credential, yes.
But I've written books on philosophy, on spiritual growth, on health, on neuroscience.
Your Honor, we renew our objection to this witness.
I have a right to present an alternative theory of the crime.
Then get to the point, Mr.
Pace.
Mr.
Conway, you compiled a dossier on Bradley and Sofia Cameron, didn't you? Not me personally.
Our Data Section did, but strictly as a defensive measure, in case we needed to take legal action against them for slander and libel.
PACE: In anticipation of a lawsuit, that was your only reason to gather information? Yes.
Mr.
Conway, are you familiar with the term Fracture Mechanics? It's an engineering term.
No, as it relates to Systematics.
Fracture Mechanics is a method of dealing with those who would suppress us.
By breaking them.
By dissipating their energies.
You're twisting my writings, Mr.
Pace, as you've done many times before.
Then please tell us the five stages of Fracture Mechanics.
I will not.
Fracture Mechanics is a core religious activity of Systemotics and as such it is protected by the Constitution.
Mr.
Conway, you kept files on the detectives investigating Sofia's murder.
Were they trying to suppress you, too? I don't know, you'd have to ask them.
What about the thousands of other people you have files on? Objection.
What about the jury, do you have files on them, too? Your Honor, Mr.
Pace's only purpose here is to frighten the jury with innuendo.
Sustained.
The testimony of this witness will be stricken from the record.
The jury is ordered to disregard it.
Conway should've never been allowed to testify in the first place.
Now it's impossible to unring the bell.
That's what summations are for.
Sure.
I just have to convince the jury Systemotics is no more dangerous than the neighborhood glee club.
This day and age, people are worried, people are scared of bogeymen.
You're not going to score points pretending those fears don't exist.
(KNOCK ON DOOR) Thejudge wants to see us.
Three jurors sent notes.
They want off the case.
How can you be so sure they don't have files on us? They know our names, they have people in the gallery watching us.
My wife is worried sick.
She wants me to quit.
Have any of you received specific threats? Yesterday afternoon, I was in the park with my kid, there was this woman, staring at us, for, like, half an hour.
That could've been anything.
I'm a make-up artist in the theater.
A lot of actors are in Systematics.
If word gets around that I'm here, I'll lose my livelihood.
We don't think we could be impartial, YourHonoL Your Honor, we don't have enough alternates to replace these jurors.
I know that.
Juror number three, you, sir, are excused.
As for you two, all you're required to do is keep an open mind and decide the case on the evidence.
I'm ordering you to carry on.
(sum-nus) Tomorrow, 9:30.
Let's wrap this up while we still have 12 jurors.
Systematics knew Sofia was going to raise hell about the death of her friend's baby.
They collected information on her, they tracked her movements.
They had motive and they had opportunity.
And not only that, they had a religious duty to destroy her.
Fracture Mechanics, a core tenet of Ellison Conway's theology, so secret, he won't even talk about it.
Given all that, is it really beyond reason that they could have killed Sofia and framed my client? Now if you don't think it is, then you have only one choice, acquit Bradley Cameron.
Mr.
Pace isn't appealing to your reason.
He's appealing to your paranoia.
And that's hard to resist, especially in an age where fear is big business, when our privacy is compromised every time we walk by one of this city's when corporations can mine our personal data and criminals can steal our identities.
Mr.
Pace has even put a name to his bogeyman, Systematics.
Yes, Systemotics is secretive.
Yes, Systematics harasses its enemies.
But its power is a self-perpetuating myth.
Oh, they'd love you to think that they can make or break a career, but the reality is, they can't.
Bradley Cameron bought into the myth.
He used Systemotics as a scapegoat for his own failures.
And his biggest failure was his crumbling marriage.
His wife was leaving him and he blamed Systematics.
Killing her and framing them was his revenge.
Sofia Cameron was brave.
She rejected her husband's paranoia.
She tried to bring him back to reality.
Honor her now by doing the same.
You have any idea what this is about? Laramie just said he needed to see us.
Congratulations, Mr.
Pace.
I now have fourjurors who want off the jury.
They're scared and refuse to deliberate.
The defense moves for a mistrial.
YourHonon that would be rewarding Mr.
Pace's bad behavior.
What choice do I have? You can talk them out of the tree.
You can order them to deliberate.
The Appellate Division would bounce a conviction so fast it'd make your heads spin.
He's right.
I'm declaring a mistrial.
Your Honor, give me three hours.
You have one.
Thank you.
A plea bargain? You're delusional.
This is a waste of time.
Come on, Bradley.
Bradley, you have a destiny, and I'm here to see that you fulfill it.
Bradley, come on.
We got a mistrial.
You know what I'm talking about, don't you, Bradley? Don't listen to him.
You know you can't win.
Well, you heard Mr.
Pace, the judge, the witnesses, even Ms.
Rubirosa.
We've all harnessed our personal power against you.
You You're one of them.
Cutter, stop this! And you know full well, Bradley, we are relentless.
We will never stop coming after you.
Oh, God.
Fifteen years, Bradley.
That's the deal.
No way.
Bradley.
Well, the alternative is far worse.
He knows what we're capable of.
You spent the whole trial proving it.
Bradley, come on.
We got a mistrial.
Okay.
Bradley, it's a bluff.
They don't bluff! I'm taking it.
They got to Sofia, they turned her against me.
At the last minute, I told Sofia I'd go with her to her mother's.
She stopped to buy cupcakes.
When she got back in the car, I shot her.
We'll draw up the papers.
You'll tell Mr.
Conway I took the deal, won't you? You convinced me.
It's stupid to resist.
Tell Mr.
Conway I'm going to use my time in jail to rid myself of the negative influences in my life, to get unblocked, and find my destiny.
The law of unintended consequences.
Looks like Systemotics has another convert.
Whatever gets him through the night.
I'm not sure that was by the book.
You convinced him you're in Systematics.
With all I've achieved? What makes you so sure I'm not?