Law & Order (1990) s19e01 Episode Script
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1 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 was pretty decent.
Yeah? Well, I can't wait to see you in action.
Okay, so let's do this.
NEIL: Hauser, are you working MDX? TODD: Yeah.
You see what's happening? You still want those puts at 38? No, uh, scratch the ticket.
(GRUNTS) Todd,youlook like hell, man.
Are you okay? Yeah, just, uh, stay away from that falafel guy on Water Street.
All right.
(GASPING) (GROANS) Cause of death was catastrophic internal bleeding.
He staggered in a little after 4:00, vomited at the admissions window and collapsed.
His Vitals had flat-lined by the time we got him on the table.
That bruising's fresh, and his forearms are swollen.
Probably from defending himself from whoever beat the crap out of him.
Expensive shoes, nice shirt.
Flip him.
Back of his shirt and the seat of his pants are all torn up.
Whoever kicked his ass had him down on the ground.
But not a mark on his face.
They didn't want it to be obvious.
Todd Hauser.
There's an address on Rivington.
He worked at Wasserman Gardner.
A stock broker, beaten to death in the middle of a work day.
In this economy, this is the kind of thing that might catch on.
Todd was hunched over his desk all afternoon yesterday, holding his stomach.
I asked if he was okay.
He just said keep away from the falafel cart on Water Street.
I thought you guys never left your desks when the market's open.
We don't.
Todd snuck out at lunch.
He was carrying rollerblades.
I thought he went blading.
We play in a street hockey league on Saturdays.
Trust me, this was no blading accident.
If somebody hurt him, Todd would've told me.
Did he have any other past-times? Drugs, gambling.
No.
Are these the skates you saw him with? NEIL: Yes.
These wheels are brand new.
Triangle Board and Skate, off Union Square.
He brought in his skates yesterday.
He wanted more traction, so we swapped out his wheels for 82A's.
Okay, what did he look like when he came in? When he dropped off his skates or when he came back? We'll take both.
The first time he was fine, but he came back like an hour later, and, man, he was dragging ass.
His girlfriend brought him some cold packs.
His girlfriend, what did she look like? She's Asian.
She's hot.
I don't know her name, but she always wears a Pixies t-shirt.
So, you've seen her before? A few times, over on the Square, handing out comps for the Grand Street Ballroom.
He hit on me in Union Square yesterday.
We hung out a little, but I'm not his girlfriend.
He's not my type- Well, you liked him enough to buy him cold packs at the skate shop.
Oh, that? It was the least I could do.
He tripped over one those metal things, you know, that they put around the trees.
No kidding? So he did all of this falling over one of those little metal things? Oh, God.
What's wrong with him? He's dead.
Somebody beat the living daylights out of him.
Well, I don't know anything about that.
Look, I gotta go.
I'm gonna be late for class.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
What did you take my picture for? In case you lied to us, Donna.
We'll need it for the wanted poster.
Look.
Pixies t-shirt and all.
Wanted poster? That's a new one.
The girl checked out, no beefs with the law.
Lives in a dorm at NYU, major in Victorian Literature.
With a minor in lying.
Find some hook into that girl and bring her back in.
Sorting through your photo collection? (CHUCKLES) Yeah.
No, this is Todd Hauser's Blackberry.
CCS broke the password.
Check out this e-mail blast he got this morning.
"It's on.
Union Square, 3:00 p.
m.
" Union Square? That's where Todd's troubles started.
Yeah.
This message was CC'd to a couple dozen people.
Yeah, including her.
"Surfer Rosa.
" Right there.
It's a Pixies album.
Yeah, the girl was wearing a Pixies t-shirt.
Well, whatevefs on at 3:00 p.
m.
, the girl's a part of it.
You've got 20 minutes to get to Union Square.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING) Yeah, over here, man.
MAN: Dude, are you ready for this? (CHATTERING CONTINUES) Feels like something's about to go down.
Yeah.
MAN 1: Yo! Here we go! It's showtime! MAN 2: All right.
Keep those punches down.
No shots to the face.
(PEOPLE CHEERING) A street fight with a referee.
Yeah.
Maybe this is how Todd got his ass kicked.
Look at this over here, man.
WOMAN: Come on.
Hit him harder.
Hey, look.
It's our friend.
I see.
Come on, man, above the waist.
Nothing in the face.
That's what I told you! You all right? We got to stop this.
Yeah.
REFEREE: You sure? You sure? You sure? Hey, You going to do your job? Oh, yeah.
Sorry.
All right.
Hook 'em both up.
For what? Just do it.
All right, all right.
Let's stop this.
Hey, come on, man, this ain't fair.
They both want to fight.
You too, Don King.
Come on.
You're coming with us.
Aren't you supposed to be in class? Let's go.
Let's take a ride.
We got rules.
No head or face shots, nothing to the groin area.
If you're some kind of pro or you got training, you've got to tell.
What's in it for you? I give lessons to some of the younger dudes.
And these lessons, they don't come for free.
You got a problem with capitalism, move to Cuba.
We got a problem when somebody gets beat to death.
You recognize him? Yeah.
Yeah, he was out there on Tuesday.
Got whopped big time.
By who? Nobody gives their name.
I didn't mean to lie.
I just didn't want to get in trouble.
LUPO: Yeah.
Well, you are in trouble.
So, why don't you tell us what happened? You know, I think she liked watching Todd get the life beat out of him.
No way, I didn't And the guy who killed him is her boyfriend.
Thafsinsane.
No,no,lHke the sound of this.
You liked watching your man kill someone, didn't you? In fact, you probably set the whole thing up.
Yeah, she probably played Todd.
Made him fight.
Unless you want a charge of conspiracy to commit assault, you better help us find this person.
Okay.
I think I saw him in one of the videos.
On the Internet.
(PEOPLE CHEERING) Hang on, this is a good one.
Watch what happens.
Did you see that? He puked! You should see about getting some counseling.
You see the guy we're looking for? No, maybe in the next one.
DONNA: Oh, wait, that's him! BERNARD: Which one? Him, with the hard hat.
VAN BUREN: Construction workers on break.
They can't be more than a few blocks from the Square.
Whatever happened to just watching pretty ladies walk by? You're looking for Vince.
He's the guy working that steel over there.
Thanks.
Hey, Vince? Detective Lupo.
This is Detective Bernard.
We'd like to talk to you for a second.
What's up, fellas? You know him? Yeah, we mixed it up at Union Square a few days ago.
Is that yuppie dip trying to press charges or something? No, you beat him till his kidneys burst.
Maybe you want to pay a fine.
Hey, he challenged me.
Come on, this is bull and you know it.
Oh, yeah? That's your opinion.
Us, we're charging you with murder.
Murder? What? No way! We'll show you the autopsy pictures.
You can order a set for your scrapbook.
(CHUCKLING) Ralph, Larry, you see what's going on? They're arresting me for fighting that guy.
My buddies aren't going to let this go.
Lupo and Bernando, remember those names, Ralph.
Bernard.
Lupo and Bernard.
Why's everybody so hostile? You got the guy, right? This guy, Vince Fonsella? That's what we heard.
You're charging him with murder? Well, we're still sorting that out.
What's to sort out? Look, I'm sorry, Mr.
Hauser, about your brother, but the fact of the matter is that he consented to the fight.
He didn't consent to be killed.
Do you believe this! They're blaming Todd.
We heard this Vince guy, he kept beating on Todd even after Todd tapped out.
tapped out? Surrendered.
It's supposed to end the fight.
All right, Mr.
Hauser, you're not in your firehouse.
Where did you hear he tapped out? The Internet.
Somebody posted a comment where they have fight videos.
Well, we'll look into that.
Yeah, yeah, that's great.
You do that.
Well, if Todd tapped out, he withdrew his consent.
That ups the charge to second degree assault, maybe murder.
Those law classes are paying off.
We still need a witness to corroborate.
Well, the comments were posted on the Internet anonymously.
If you can subpoena the lSP's.
Sure, and maybe I'll get them three months from now, but I have to arraign Vince Fonsella within 24 hours.
So, I need you guys to dig up everything you can by then.
Anything we get, you get.
And next time, before you arrest someone, try bringing the ball forward a little more.
I don't like playing catch-up.
CLERK: "Docket number 08863.
"People v.
Vincent Fonseffa, Assault in the Third Degree and Disorderly Conduct.
" Assault? He killed my brother! Oh, come on, sit down! JUDGE: Quiet! (CLAMORING) JUDGE: Quiet! How do you plead Mr.
Fonsella? Not guilty.
The victim challenged my client to a fight.
This was mutual combat, a sporting event.
Your Honor, the People request remand.
For a misdemeanor assault? Mr.
Fonsella resides with his wife and children.
He's had the same job for seven years.
Pending witness confirmation, we expect to indict for murder.
I don't see a murder charge on the piece of paper in front of me right now.
Cross your T's before you get here, Ms.
Rubirosa.
The defendant is released on his own recognizance.
(CHEERING) Hey, you can't let him go! Hey, say something, lady! Do your job! Get them all out of here! Get them out! (ALL SHOUTING) The big guy tackled Todd to the ground.
He was on top of him.
I couldn't see what Todd was doing.
I don't know what you want from me.
You want me to say he tapped out? We want the truth.
I am telling the truth! They were blocking my view.
And you, the fight junkie, you didn't move to get a better look? All right, put her in holding while I talk to the D.
A.
about obstruction.
No, no, please.
Just let me think.
So, you were standing behind Vince's buddies.
Maybe they said something.
Well, they didn't say anything about Todd tapping out.
One of them just said that he pulled a Roberto-something.
A Roberto Duran? Yeah.
He said Todd pulled a Roberto Duran.
"No més, no més.
" He gave up.
Sounds like somebody saw him tap out.
Who said this about Todd? An Italian guy, long hair.
I never said nothing about Roberto Duran.
Hey, you know what? You already got Vince, so why are you harassing us? Because the guy Vince killed was trying to tap out of the fight.
And you all saw it.
Come on, guys, whatever happened to, you know, playing by the rules? Hey, nobody saw a tap-out.
(CRASHING) Whoa! All right, construction site's a dangerous place.
You and your girlfriend might want to take off.
I got nothing to say.
Do unto others.
You wind up dead, you'd want someone to speak out, right? I ain't no martyr.
I got a family.
Vince's cousin owns this outfit.
I snitch, I won't be working.
Then don't snitch, then.
Just let us know if we're on the right track with this tap-out.
Vince saw the tap-out.
He said he just wanted to get in a few last shots before the ref stopped the fight.
Wait, wait, but the ref didn't stop the fight? He was busy rapping to some girls.
Vince just kept wailing on that guy.
Put me in court, I'll deny it.
I assume this meeting means that you've come begging for a deal.
CUTTER: We don't need to beg.
A witness says Todd Hauser tapped out.
I know 20 guys who say he didn't.
Our witness also said you saw the tap-out but continued the assault.
We're offering your client Man One.
Not a chance.
This was a consensual competition between two amateurs.
On the other hand, Mr.
Gates, I'm a professional, and if you insist on going to trial, I'll ask for 20 years.
(WHISPERING) Criminally negligent homicide.
My father used to talk about the bare-knuckle street fights during the Depression.
But they were fighting for money to feed their families.
These guys, they're feeding their egos.
With police officers cheering them on from the sidelines.
Command's excuse is that because the fights are consensual, all they can do is issue tickets for disorderly conduct.
If the police won't shut this down, we will.
We need to make an example.
Except the victim in this case did challenge the defendant to a fight.
But then he threw in the towel.
Isn't that what your witness said? We used the witness to leverage the plea, but he won't testify.
Anyway, between the spectators and the girl who egged on Todd Hauser, there's enough blame here to go around.
That's a fine, mealy-mouthed sentiment.
If negligent homicide is the best you can do, take it.
But make sure Mr.
Fonsella does jail time.
Bernard, check this out.
Fonsella's high school yearbook.
Vincent Fonsella was in the Golden Gloves boxing club at his high school.
Undefeated, his senior year.
Something Fonsella forgot to tell Hauser.
Deal is, if you're atrained fighter, you're supposed to tell the other guy.
How the hell did you miss this? I thought you'd be happy we found it.
We gave Fonsella a plea on the assumption he was untrained.
This makes him liable for second-degree murder instead of the slap-on-the-wrist we agreed to.
CUTTER: This plea was predicated on the belief that the fight was consensual.
Since the defendant misrepresented his skill level, the victim's consent was fraudulently obtained.
We're moving to void the plea agreement.
Todd Hauser played college hockey.
He wasn't a pushover.
I agree.
In the street, you take your opponent as you find him.
Since the defendant knew that he'd do harm to Mr.
Hauser, he can't plead to negligence.
I'm not clogging my calendar because the D.
A.
's office didn't do its homework.
The court accepts the defendant's plea to Negligent Homicide.
CUTTER: Over our objection.
JUDGE: So noted.
The People will be requesting the maximum, four years.
Don't get your hopes up, Mr.
Cutter.
I'm leaning against giving jail time.
Negligent Homicide? What the hell is that? Todd Hauser's brother.
Mr.
Hauser, the case isn't over yet.
That's not what the judge said.
You guys screwed up.
I understand how you feel.
Understand? My kid brother was lying with his face on the pavement, his guts filling up with blood, getting beat to death while people cheered.
And the animal that did it to him is gonna walk because of you.
Probation for a murder.
Well, we all came up short on this one.
We? I don't see your boss sitting here eating crow with the rest of us.
He knew it was a dicey case to begin with.
(CELL PHONES RINGING) Looks like it still is.
Yeah.
Let's go.
Witnesses said they were 20 or 25 combatants.
They were still fighting when we got here.
We got two dead, a third may not make it, 12 injured.
(SIREN BLARING) They weren't messing around.
It's okay, we're right here, Reggie.
We're right here.
Okay, come on.
We'll follow Daddy.
Let's go.
Come on.
Up.
Todd Hauser's buddies mixed it up with Fonsella's crew.
Fonsella is one of the dead.
We have six in custody so far.
The injured are at the E.
R.
We're headed over there now to make arrests.
Justice by other means.
SEAN: I got nothing to say about it.
We're hearing Fonsella's guys started this.
Is this true? I told you.
Nothing to say.
Put him under arrest.
As soon as he's patched up, take him down to the station.
There you go.
They started dissin' Vince when we left court.
I thought we were going to throw it down right there, but the cops were all around.
Then one of the gel heads says, "We settle this, 6:00 p.
m.
, East River Field.
" Yeah, and that's where you went.
Hell, yeah.
And you brought weapons? No comment.
They did, too.
No one leaves here without giving a statement to a detective.
Yes, I'm still holding for the Chief of Detectives.
(CLAMORING) Hey! You can't hook them up together.
All right.
Come on! Can I help you? They told me to give a statement.
Were you a witness? My husband.
My husband Yes, I'm still here.
Um Tell the Chief I'll call him back.
Yes.
What happened to your husband? We were in the park with our son.
And all these men showed up.
It all happened so fast.
My Reggie got hurt.
They just told me he was (CRYING) He was He was I'm so sorry.
Why were they fighting? Can you tell me? Why did they fight? CLERK: "Case 363421.
.
Riot in the First Degree.
" Quiet! Quiet! These are the East River brawl all-stars? Uh, Your Honor, I object to your characterization.
Mr.
Reardon, since you're the best dressed lawyer here today, I'm appointing you spokesman for this motley crew.
They're all pleading not guilty, I assume.
Absolutely, Your Honor.
YourHonon we're requesting remand across the board.
These defendants engaged in a brawl that left three dead and 12 injured.
There are different levels of culpability here.
We're still sorting that out, Judge.
When you're able to identify who did what, we'll talk.
Bail is set at $10,000 per defendant.
A mallet, a crowbar, a hatchet, it's the gangs of New York.
Open warfare because we put a thug back on the street.
We did the best we could with what we had.
We let this case get away from us.
Charge every last one of them with murder.
It was a free-for-all.
We can't prove which defendant attacked which victim.
It's too early to tap out, Mike.
Hey, Lupo found a video of the brawl on the Internet.
Yeah.
That's Right there, that's Jason Kimmel, and that's Neil Whitman from Todd Hauser's work.
And that is Adam Neville, from Todd's hockey team.
CUTTER: And now, we have them on video killing Fonsella.
Let's get them remanded immediately.
Unless we know who shot that, we're gonna have a problem getting it into evidence.
Well, who posted it on the Internet? He calls himself "I Was There.
" I don't think he's in the phonebook.
Yeah.
According to our computer guys, "I Was There" set up a phony account, and uploaded the video at an Internet cafe, so there's no way to track it.
Did you show me this video just to annoy me? This is our best evidence.
No judge is going to allow something we just found on the Internet.
Plus, we don't have the original and we can't demonstrate who made it.
Except, the defense doesn't know that.
CUTTER: No doubt that's your client.
No doubt he's helping his friends commit murder.
What's your offer? He pleads to Man One.
Ten years.
I didn't know Jason was going to go off like that.
But once he did go off, I didn't see you lift a finger to stop him.
That guy killed our friend.
We were upset.
Upset? You win the prize for understatement, Mr.
Whitman.
Ten years and he testifies against his accomplices.
Look, I'll testify.
But please I don't belong in prison.
You've got this damning piece of video, yet you're offering us Man One.
Why is that? Well, we're not looking for blood.
We understand this crime was driven by emotion.
But ten years? McCoy's practically giving away the store, and an election year to boot.
Yes or no, Mr.
Reardon? This video, you've got a problem with it, don't you? You don't know who shot it.
It's not the only evidence.
Your client's accomplices have agreed to testify against him.
Maybe you can scare them with this video.
I'm moving to exclude it.
Since the People cannot authenticate this video or even tell us who made it, I'm excluding it.
In that case, we move to dismiss the murder charges against all three defendants.
Last chance, Mr.
Cutter.
Do the People have any admissible evidence tying the defendants to this murder? At this point, no.
The murder charges are dismissed without prejudice.
I will be happy to reinstate the indictment when the District Attorney gets his act together.
This brazen violence has truly shocked our city.
We're appealing to the public for any information that will lead to the conviction of those responsible.
In particular, we ask the person who made the video of Vincent Fonsella's murder to step forward and identify himself.
(ALL SHOUTING QUESTIONS) Mr.
McCoy, the video clearly identifies Mr.
Fonsella's assailants and yet your office hasn't managed to indict anyone for murder.
That's why we're out here today.
Mr.
McCoy, wasn't your office negligent when it allowed Fonsella to remain free? That was ajudge's decision, not ours.
But didn't you allow him to plead to a reduced charge? He pled guilty to a felony homicide.
He got no favors.
I think we're done here.
Mr.
McCoy, should you decide to run, why should New Yorkers support your bid for another term as their D.
A.
? Watch what I do.
That's your answer.
I am not doing that again.
This office begging for help, looking weak and ineffectual.
Well, we won't look so weak once we get our convictions.
If we get them.
Right now, that depends on some amateur cameraman growing a spine and stepping forward.
Failing that, we'd better figure out a way to prosecute these hooligans before other gangs get the idea that they can have a bloodbath and get away with it.
I did some research, and under Article 490, we can charge them with terrorism.
That statute was written six days after 9J11 to prosecute acts of war.
Nice try, Connie.
As I recall, it was worded pretty broadly.
How would you apply it here? It applies if an individual's intent is to disrupt government institutions or to intimidate the public through acts of violence.
And these people rioted because they didn't like the way the criminal justice system did its business.
It was a rumble, Jack.
A grudge match.
In a public park, with hatchets and lead pipes.
They terrorized and killed innocent people.
Charging three brawlers with terrorism isn't justice.
I'm not charging just these three.
I'm charging them all.
We created this problem.
We're going to fix it.
Jack, the terrorism statute carries an automatic life sentence.
You think every one of those people deserve that? Ajury will decide who deserves what.
You just get me the indictments.
CUTTER: Unhappy with how a case was prosecuted, they engaged in mass vigilantism.
With the intent to subvert the authority of the District Attorney, they organized a riot in a public park.
So prosecute them for rioting.
This indictment is an insult to the real victims of real terrorist attacks.
There were real victims here, innocent bystanders killed and injured.
You're on the razor's edge, Mr.
Cutter, but if you can sell it to ajury Of course, he'll sell it.
Judge, he'll scare the pants off the jurors, simply by uttering the word "terrorism.
" The acts these defendants are accused of are what will frighten the jury.
The District Attorney is putting forth an intriguing theory.
See if you all can agree on atrial date.
We survived a motion to dismiss, that's half the game.
Just because I can parrot the party line, doesn't mean I buy into it.
BERNARD: All of the weapons had multiple sets of fingerprints on them.
There was no way to tell who was holding what, when.
All we have to go on is the video, which we can't use, right? It doesn't matter.
The good thing about the terrorism statute is that we don't have to connect an individual to a specific weapon.
So, the defendant who yelled insults pays the same price as the one who used this.
We're calling that a good thing.
You throw in with a gang, you own what they do.
I grew up in Compton.
We could've used a law like this.
LUPO: The Bloods and the Crips are not terrorists.
And neither are a bunch of hardhats and day traders with anger issues.
But it sure makes a hell of a sound bite when you're running for election.
I see.
A few law school classes, Detective, and all of sudden, you're an expert on jurisprudence? Maybe not, but I do have one credential you don't.
I spent four years chasing actual terrorists.
All the more reason I need you to testify.
At the end of the day, we all want the same thing for the city.
Safe streets, freedom from fear.
That's funny.
When a cop stretches the rules, we get slammed.
When you do it, we're supposed to hear the angels sing.
I'll testify in your terrorism trial about what I saw and what I heard.
But if you try to use my resume to sell your case, you won't like what you hear.
Look, I'll talk to him.
Take Detective Lupo off the witness list.
I guess that's easier than deciding if he has a point.
It was a nice evening, so we took our son, Willie, to the park.
Reggie was going to throw a football with him.
When we got to the park, we saw some men coming towards us from Houston Street.
And what happened next, Mrs.
Hodges? Another group of men came from the other side.
They were carrying bats and pipes.
Before we knew it, they started to fight.
Reggie pushed Willie and me away.
And then one of them started hitting him with a tire iron for no reason.
Another one started punching him.
Reggie went down, there was blood all over him.
Willie saw his father beaten to death by this This mob.
No more questions.
I'm very sorry for your loss.
Now, you testified that you wait tables at a restaurant on Vesey Street, downtown.
Were you working there on 9/11? Yes, I was.
So you must remember what it was like that day.
I'll never forget it.
I saw people jumping from the towers.
Do you remember how you felt? Like we were in a war, but "Like we were in awar.
" Thank you.
No further questions.
BERNARD: We recovered three baseball bats, two metal pipes, a bike chain, two tire irons, a piece of rebar, a mallet, a hatchet, three pocket knives, a wrench.
What else did you observe? A lot of terrified people were trapped in that park once the fight broke out, people in the neighborhood who had seen the violence.
Nothing further.
Detective, when you interviewed the defendants, did they express any political views or any desire to disrupt any government institutions? Some of them said they weren't happy about the way the justice system worked.
So they made no political statement.
Public violence is a political statement.
Move to strike.
I grew up running to school through the alleys, so gang-bangers wouldn't jump me.
The answer is stricken.
My whole neighborhood was paralyzed in fear.
Detective! The jury will disregard the witness's answer.
No more questions, Your Honor.
Redirect, Your Honor.
Detective, you claim that the neighborhood where you grew up was the target of terrorists.
Why would you say that? Gangs had set up a nation within a nation.
A violent criminal nation with no regard for our laws.
When you have little kids too scared to go to sleep, and widowed young mothers too scared to comfort their babies, that's terrorism.
CUTTER: Thank you, Detective.
After the judge let Vince Fonsella go, I was pretty steamed.
I was on my way home and I got a text message saying that something was happening over at the ball fields.
I thought, maybe, one of my brother's buddies was going to fight Vince.
What, in fact, happened when you got to the field? There was a bunch of guys yelling at each other, Vince's guys and our guys.
But if you've ever seen a hockey fight, everybody talks smack, guys swing their sticks, sometimes two guys even throw punches But I figured that'd be the worst case scenario.
What happened? It got out of hand.
I heard this crack, and there was this guy on the ground with his head split open.
And then I'm sorry innocent people got hurt.
I Nobody deserved to die because of what happened to my brother.
But we were not trying to make a statement.
We were just hurt and angry, and stupid.
I've served six years in the Fire Department, I've run into buildings to save people.
I work with guys who lost friends in the towers.
I'm willing to be punished, but to call me a terrorist! And send me to jail for life? (SCOFFS) That doesn't make sense.
(CLEARS THROAT) You run into burning buildings and save people for a living, and in your spare time you get into street fights where innocent people are killed? I told you, we were angry.
Now, you invoked the memory of the brave men and women who went up into those towers seven years ago.
Do you think they felt scared, even terrified? Yeah, sure.
But they didn't give in to their feelings, they did their duty, just as much as you failed to do yours.
REARDON: Objection.
Withdrawn.
Mr.
Hauser, when the fight broke out, why didn't you try to stop it or call 911? I don't know.
And if you wanted to punish Vince Fonsella, did you consider filing a wrongful death suit? Lot of good that would've done.
You don't have much faith in our justice system, do you? If you guys hadn't let Vince Fonsella go, none of this would've happened.
So maybe next time, we'll think twice before we make a deal with a killer? That's right.
Maybe next time, the courts won't be so quick to release a murderer.
That's the lesson here, isn't it! Yeah.
That's the lesson.
So, that's your political statement, the message of your violent behavior.
So, I guess you did have a point after all, didn't you, Mr.
Hauser? Serious crimes were committed on those ball fields.
But for reasons known only to the District Attorney, no individual defendants have been charged for those specific crimes.
Whether it was a botched investigation or for political considerations, we can only speculate.
But the police and the prosecutors can't parse out who did what to whom.
So instead, they want you to do theirjobs for them.
They want everyone who participated to be convicted of terrorism.
This was a street fight between men who had nothing on their minds except dumb payback.
And these charges are nothing but political posturing by an ambitious prosecutor.
Justice requires you to acquit these defendants.
Make no mistake, these acts were an attack on institutions we hold dear.
Their street fight was nothing less than an attempt to substitute their brand of justice for our system of due process.
By bringing their fight to a public park and daring anyone to stop it, they would erode the public's confidence in the government's ability to protect its citizens.
Their behavior meets the criteria of a terrorist act.
Every day, we're subjected to public acts of violence.
Bare-knuckle punch-outs in Union Square, teenage girls battering each other on Internet videos, no-holds-barred extreme fighting on prime-time.
It's violence you can't escape now.
Violence that brutalizes us, excites us and terrifies us.
And we've seen what the end of this road looks like.
It's a soccer stadium filled with people forced to watch men in black turbans conduct mass executions.
And that's why you need to find these defendants guilty of what, I concede, is a severe charge.
Because when we no longer believe we live in a safe society, then we live in terror.
Five days.
It shouldn't take that long to acquit.
Don't sell yourself short.
You gave them something to chew on.
Rubirosa.
I really don't want any credit here.
This was your idea.
CONNIE: Okay, I'll come right over.
The court officers just broke up a fist fight in the jury room.
Great.
Maybe we can watch it on the Internet.
Are you happy now? This case has put the whole city on overload.
Maybe you should re-read your summation.
Something had to be done, something out of the ordinary.
Out of the ordinary, like when the Russian mob killed A.
D.
A.
Ricci, and you suspended habeas corpus? Crossing the line was one thing when Adam Schiff had your back.
Now, you're out there all by yourself.
That doesn't bother me.
No, it just makes you more stubborn.
Thejury's at each other's throats, what if they hang on the verdict? Or worse, what if they do acquit? You're gonna look like a fool, not to mention what it'll do to the credibility of this office.
Jack, you made your point.
You proved you'll protect this city come hell or high water.
Now, prove you have the wisdom to back down when you're doing more harm than good.
We hear there might be an offer? You heard right.
So, McCoy's regained his sanity.
It's all or nothing.
The three defendants who beat Vince Fonsella to death plead to Murder Two, 20-to-life.
The other defendants take two counts of Man One, five years to run consecutively.
I'd have to do 10 years? I didn't even kill anybody.
Well, right now, you have a life sentence hanging over your head, so you can whine about it or you can cut your losses.
Even though the terrorism charges were dropped, this plea bargain is ajust and fair resolution of a case that was controversial and hard-fought.
In the end, the people of our city will rest easier knowing that mob violence will not be tolerated, and thatjustice will prevail over those who engage in it.
(REPORTERS SHOUTING QUESTIONS) I'd also like to express my gratitude to Assistant District Attorney, Michael Cutter, who tried this case and who brought sense and reason to bear on the outcome.
(REPORTERS SHOUTING QUESTIONS) Thank you.
REPORTER: Mr.
McCoy, do you have plans to join the Obama administration?
These are their stories.
That was pretty decent.
Yeah? Well, I can't wait to see you in action.
Okay, so let's do this.
NEIL: Hauser, are you working MDX? TODD: Yeah.
You see what's happening? You still want those puts at 38? No, uh, scratch the ticket.
(GRUNTS) Todd,youlook like hell, man.
Are you okay? Yeah, just, uh, stay away from that falafel guy on Water Street.
All right.
(GASPING) (GROANS) Cause of death was catastrophic internal bleeding.
He staggered in a little after 4:00, vomited at the admissions window and collapsed.
His Vitals had flat-lined by the time we got him on the table.
That bruising's fresh, and his forearms are swollen.
Probably from defending himself from whoever beat the crap out of him.
Expensive shoes, nice shirt.
Flip him.
Back of his shirt and the seat of his pants are all torn up.
Whoever kicked his ass had him down on the ground.
But not a mark on his face.
They didn't want it to be obvious.
Todd Hauser.
There's an address on Rivington.
He worked at Wasserman Gardner.
A stock broker, beaten to death in the middle of a work day.
In this economy, this is the kind of thing that might catch on.
Todd was hunched over his desk all afternoon yesterday, holding his stomach.
I asked if he was okay.
He just said keep away from the falafel cart on Water Street.
I thought you guys never left your desks when the market's open.
We don't.
Todd snuck out at lunch.
He was carrying rollerblades.
I thought he went blading.
We play in a street hockey league on Saturdays.
Trust me, this was no blading accident.
If somebody hurt him, Todd would've told me.
Did he have any other past-times? Drugs, gambling.
No.
Are these the skates you saw him with? NEIL: Yes.
These wheels are brand new.
Triangle Board and Skate, off Union Square.
He brought in his skates yesterday.
He wanted more traction, so we swapped out his wheels for 82A's.
Okay, what did he look like when he came in? When he dropped off his skates or when he came back? We'll take both.
The first time he was fine, but he came back like an hour later, and, man, he was dragging ass.
His girlfriend brought him some cold packs.
His girlfriend, what did she look like? She's Asian.
She's hot.
I don't know her name, but she always wears a Pixies t-shirt.
So, you've seen her before? A few times, over on the Square, handing out comps for the Grand Street Ballroom.
He hit on me in Union Square yesterday.
We hung out a little, but I'm not his girlfriend.
He's not my type- Well, you liked him enough to buy him cold packs at the skate shop.
Oh, that? It was the least I could do.
He tripped over one those metal things, you know, that they put around the trees.
No kidding? So he did all of this falling over one of those little metal things? Oh, God.
What's wrong with him? He's dead.
Somebody beat the living daylights out of him.
Well, I don't know anything about that.
Look, I gotta go.
I'm gonna be late for class.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
What did you take my picture for? In case you lied to us, Donna.
We'll need it for the wanted poster.
Look.
Pixies t-shirt and all.
Wanted poster? That's a new one.
The girl checked out, no beefs with the law.
Lives in a dorm at NYU, major in Victorian Literature.
With a minor in lying.
Find some hook into that girl and bring her back in.
Sorting through your photo collection? (CHUCKLES) Yeah.
No, this is Todd Hauser's Blackberry.
CCS broke the password.
Check out this e-mail blast he got this morning.
"It's on.
Union Square, 3:00 p.
m.
" Union Square? That's where Todd's troubles started.
Yeah.
This message was CC'd to a couple dozen people.
Yeah, including her.
"Surfer Rosa.
" Right there.
It's a Pixies album.
Yeah, the girl was wearing a Pixies t-shirt.
Well, whatevefs on at 3:00 p.
m.
, the girl's a part of it.
You've got 20 minutes to get to Union Square.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING) Yeah, over here, man.
MAN: Dude, are you ready for this? (CHATTERING CONTINUES) Feels like something's about to go down.
Yeah.
MAN 1: Yo! Here we go! It's showtime! MAN 2: All right.
Keep those punches down.
No shots to the face.
(PEOPLE CHEERING) A street fight with a referee.
Yeah.
Maybe this is how Todd got his ass kicked.
Look at this over here, man.
WOMAN: Come on.
Hit him harder.
Hey, look.
It's our friend.
I see.
Come on, man, above the waist.
Nothing in the face.
That's what I told you! You all right? We got to stop this.
Yeah.
REFEREE: You sure? You sure? You sure? Hey, You going to do your job? Oh, yeah.
Sorry.
All right.
Hook 'em both up.
For what? Just do it.
All right, all right.
Let's stop this.
Hey, come on, man, this ain't fair.
They both want to fight.
You too, Don King.
Come on.
You're coming with us.
Aren't you supposed to be in class? Let's go.
Let's take a ride.
We got rules.
No head or face shots, nothing to the groin area.
If you're some kind of pro or you got training, you've got to tell.
What's in it for you? I give lessons to some of the younger dudes.
And these lessons, they don't come for free.
You got a problem with capitalism, move to Cuba.
We got a problem when somebody gets beat to death.
You recognize him? Yeah.
Yeah, he was out there on Tuesday.
Got whopped big time.
By who? Nobody gives their name.
I didn't mean to lie.
I just didn't want to get in trouble.
LUPO: Yeah.
Well, you are in trouble.
So, why don't you tell us what happened? You know, I think she liked watching Todd get the life beat out of him.
No way, I didn't And the guy who killed him is her boyfriend.
Thafsinsane.
No,no,lHke the sound of this.
You liked watching your man kill someone, didn't you? In fact, you probably set the whole thing up.
Yeah, she probably played Todd.
Made him fight.
Unless you want a charge of conspiracy to commit assault, you better help us find this person.
Okay.
I think I saw him in one of the videos.
On the Internet.
(PEOPLE CHEERING) Hang on, this is a good one.
Watch what happens.
Did you see that? He puked! You should see about getting some counseling.
You see the guy we're looking for? No, maybe in the next one.
DONNA: Oh, wait, that's him! BERNARD: Which one? Him, with the hard hat.
VAN BUREN: Construction workers on break.
They can't be more than a few blocks from the Square.
Whatever happened to just watching pretty ladies walk by? You're looking for Vince.
He's the guy working that steel over there.
Thanks.
Hey, Vince? Detective Lupo.
This is Detective Bernard.
We'd like to talk to you for a second.
What's up, fellas? You know him? Yeah, we mixed it up at Union Square a few days ago.
Is that yuppie dip trying to press charges or something? No, you beat him till his kidneys burst.
Maybe you want to pay a fine.
Hey, he challenged me.
Come on, this is bull and you know it.
Oh, yeah? That's your opinion.
Us, we're charging you with murder.
Murder? What? No way! We'll show you the autopsy pictures.
You can order a set for your scrapbook.
(CHUCKLING) Ralph, Larry, you see what's going on? They're arresting me for fighting that guy.
My buddies aren't going to let this go.
Lupo and Bernando, remember those names, Ralph.
Bernard.
Lupo and Bernard.
Why's everybody so hostile? You got the guy, right? This guy, Vince Fonsella? That's what we heard.
You're charging him with murder? Well, we're still sorting that out.
What's to sort out? Look, I'm sorry, Mr.
Hauser, about your brother, but the fact of the matter is that he consented to the fight.
He didn't consent to be killed.
Do you believe this! They're blaming Todd.
We heard this Vince guy, he kept beating on Todd even after Todd tapped out.
tapped out? Surrendered.
It's supposed to end the fight.
All right, Mr.
Hauser, you're not in your firehouse.
Where did you hear he tapped out? The Internet.
Somebody posted a comment where they have fight videos.
Well, we'll look into that.
Yeah, yeah, that's great.
You do that.
Well, if Todd tapped out, he withdrew his consent.
That ups the charge to second degree assault, maybe murder.
Those law classes are paying off.
We still need a witness to corroborate.
Well, the comments were posted on the Internet anonymously.
If you can subpoena the lSP's.
Sure, and maybe I'll get them three months from now, but I have to arraign Vince Fonsella within 24 hours.
So, I need you guys to dig up everything you can by then.
Anything we get, you get.
And next time, before you arrest someone, try bringing the ball forward a little more.
I don't like playing catch-up.
CLERK: "Docket number 08863.
"People v.
Vincent Fonseffa, Assault in the Third Degree and Disorderly Conduct.
" Assault? He killed my brother! Oh, come on, sit down! JUDGE: Quiet! (CLAMORING) JUDGE: Quiet! How do you plead Mr.
Fonsella? Not guilty.
The victim challenged my client to a fight.
This was mutual combat, a sporting event.
Your Honor, the People request remand.
For a misdemeanor assault? Mr.
Fonsella resides with his wife and children.
He's had the same job for seven years.
Pending witness confirmation, we expect to indict for murder.
I don't see a murder charge on the piece of paper in front of me right now.
Cross your T's before you get here, Ms.
Rubirosa.
The defendant is released on his own recognizance.
(CHEERING) Hey, you can't let him go! Hey, say something, lady! Do your job! Get them all out of here! Get them out! (ALL SHOUTING) The big guy tackled Todd to the ground.
He was on top of him.
I couldn't see what Todd was doing.
I don't know what you want from me.
You want me to say he tapped out? We want the truth.
I am telling the truth! They were blocking my view.
And you, the fight junkie, you didn't move to get a better look? All right, put her in holding while I talk to the D.
A.
about obstruction.
No, no, please.
Just let me think.
So, you were standing behind Vince's buddies.
Maybe they said something.
Well, they didn't say anything about Todd tapping out.
One of them just said that he pulled a Roberto-something.
A Roberto Duran? Yeah.
He said Todd pulled a Roberto Duran.
"No més, no més.
" He gave up.
Sounds like somebody saw him tap out.
Who said this about Todd? An Italian guy, long hair.
I never said nothing about Roberto Duran.
Hey, you know what? You already got Vince, so why are you harassing us? Because the guy Vince killed was trying to tap out of the fight.
And you all saw it.
Come on, guys, whatever happened to, you know, playing by the rules? Hey, nobody saw a tap-out.
(CRASHING) Whoa! All right, construction site's a dangerous place.
You and your girlfriend might want to take off.
I got nothing to say.
Do unto others.
You wind up dead, you'd want someone to speak out, right? I ain't no martyr.
I got a family.
Vince's cousin owns this outfit.
I snitch, I won't be working.
Then don't snitch, then.
Just let us know if we're on the right track with this tap-out.
Vince saw the tap-out.
He said he just wanted to get in a few last shots before the ref stopped the fight.
Wait, wait, but the ref didn't stop the fight? He was busy rapping to some girls.
Vince just kept wailing on that guy.
Put me in court, I'll deny it.
I assume this meeting means that you've come begging for a deal.
CUTTER: We don't need to beg.
A witness says Todd Hauser tapped out.
I know 20 guys who say he didn't.
Our witness also said you saw the tap-out but continued the assault.
We're offering your client Man One.
Not a chance.
This was a consensual competition between two amateurs.
On the other hand, Mr.
Gates, I'm a professional, and if you insist on going to trial, I'll ask for 20 years.
(WHISPERING) Criminally negligent homicide.
My father used to talk about the bare-knuckle street fights during the Depression.
But they were fighting for money to feed their families.
These guys, they're feeding their egos.
With police officers cheering them on from the sidelines.
Command's excuse is that because the fights are consensual, all they can do is issue tickets for disorderly conduct.
If the police won't shut this down, we will.
We need to make an example.
Except the victim in this case did challenge the defendant to a fight.
But then he threw in the towel.
Isn't that what your witness said? We used the witness to leverage the plea, but he won't testify.
Anyway, between the spectators and the girl who egged on Todd Hauser, there's enough blame here to go around.
That's a fine, mealy-mouthed sentiment.
If negligent homicide is the best you can do, take it.
But make sure Mr.
Fonsella does jail time.
Bernard, check this out.
Fonsella's high school yearbook.
Vincent Fonsella was in the Golden Gloves boxing club at his high school.
Undefeated, his senior year.
Something Fonsella forgot to tell Hauser.
Deal is, if you're atrained fighter, you're supposed to tell the other guy.
How the hell did you miss this? I thought you'd be happy we found it.
We gave Fonsella a plea on the assumption he was untrained.
This makes him liable for second-degree murder instead of the slap-on-the-wrist we agreed to.
CUTTER: This plea was predicated on the belief that the fight was consensual.
Since the defendant misrepresented his skill level, the victim's consent was fraudulently obtained.
We're moving to void the plea agreement.
Todd Hauser played college hockey.
He wasn't a pushover.
I agree.
In the street, you take your opponent as you find him.
Since the defendant knew that he'd do harm to Mr.
Hauser, he can't plead to negligence.
I'm not clogging my calendar because the D.
A.
's office didn't do its homework.
The court accepts the defendant's plea to Negligent Homicide.
CUTTER: Over our objection.
JUDGE: So noted.
The People will be requesting the maximum, four years.
Don't get your hopes up, Mr.
Cutter.
I'm leaning against giving jail time.
Negligent Homicide? What the hell is that? Todd Hauser's brother.
Mr.
Hauser, the case isn't over yet.
That's not what the judge said.
You guys screwed up.
I understand how you feel.
Understand? My kid brother was lying with his face on the pavement, his guts filling up with blood, getting beat to death while people cheered.
And the animal that did it to him is gonna walk because of you.
Probation for a murder.
Well, we all came up short on this one.
We? I don't see your boss sitting here eating crow with the rest of us.
He knew it was a dicey case to begin with.
(CELL PHONES RINGING) Looks like it still is.
Yeah.
Let's go.
Witnesses said they were 20 or 25 combatants.
They were still fighting when we got here.
We got two dead, a third may not make it, 12 injured.
(SIREN BLARING) They weren't messing around.
It's okay, we're right here, Reggie.
We're right here.
Okay, come on.
We'll follow Daddy.
Let's go.
Come on.
Up.
Todd Hauser's buddies mixed it up with Fonsella's crew.
Fonsella is one of the dead.
We have six in custody so far.
The injured are at the E.
R.
We're headed over there now to make arrests.
Justice by other means.
SEAN: I got nothing to say about it.
We're hearing Fonsella's guys started this.
Is this true? I told you.
Nothing to say.
Put him under arrest.
As soon as he's patched up, take him down to the station.
There you go.
They started dissin' Vince when we left court.
I thought we were going to throw it down right there, but the cops were all around.
Then one of the gel heads says, "We settle this, 6:00 p.
m.
, East River Field.
" Yeah, and that's where you went.
Hell, yeah.
And you brought weapons? No comment.
They did, too.
No one leaves here without giving a statement to a detective.
Yes, I'm still holding for the Chief of Detectives.
(CLAMORING) Hey! You can't hook them up together.
All right.
Come on! Can I help you? They told me to give a statement.
Were you a witness? My husband.
My husband Yes, I'm still here.
Um Tell the Chief I'll call him back.
Yes.
What happened to your husband? We were in the park with our son.
And all these men showed up.
It all happened so fast.
My Reggie got hurt.
They just told me he was (CRYING) He was He was I'm so sorry.
Why were they fighting? Can you tell me? Why did they fight? CLERK: "Case 363421.
.
Riot in the First Degree.
" Quiet! Quiet! These are the East River brawl all-stars? Uh, Your Honor, I object to your characterization.
Mr.
Reardon, since you're the best dressed lawyer here today, I'm appointing you spokesman for this motley crew.
They're all pleading not guilty, I assume.
Absolutely, Your Honor.
YourHonon we're requesting remand across the board.
These defendants engaged in a brawl that left three dead and 12 injured.
There are different levels of culpability here.
We're still sorting that out, Judge.
When you're able to identify who did what, we'll talk.
Bail is set at $10,000 per defendant.
A mallet, a crowbar, a hatchet, it's the gangs of New York.
Open warfare because we put a thug back on the street.
We did the best we could with what we had.
We let this case get away from us.
Charge every last one of them with murder.
It was a free-for-all.
We can't prove which defendant attacked which victim.
It's too early to tap out, Mike.
Hey, Lupo found a video of the brawl on the Internet.
Yeah.
That's Right there, that's Jason Kimmel, and that's Neil Whitman from Todd Hauser's work.
And that is Adam Neville, from Todd's hockey team.
CUTTER: And now, we have them on video killing Fonsella.
Let's get them remanded immediately.
Unless we know who shot that, we're gonna have a problem getting it into evidence.
Well, who posted it on the Internet? He calls himself "I Was There.
" I don't think he's in the phonebook.
Yeah.
According to our computer guys, "I Was There" set up a phony account, and uploaded the video at an Internet cafe, so there's no way to track it.
Did you show me this video just to annoy me? This is our best evidence.
No judge is going to allow something we just found on the Internet.
Plus, we don't have the original and we can't demonstrate who made it.
Except, the defense doesn't know that.
CUTTER: No doubt that's your client.
No doubt he's helping his friends commit murder.
What's your offer? He pleads to Man One.
Ten years.
I didn't know Jason was going to go off like that.
But once he did go off, I didn't see you lift a finger to stop him.
That guy killed our friend.
We were upset.
Upset? You win the prize for understatement, Mr.
Whitman.
Ten years and he testifies against his accomplices.
Look, I'll testify.
But please I don't belong in prison.
You've got this damning piece of video, yet you're offering us Man One.
Why is that? Well, we're not looking for blood.
We understand this crime was driven by emotion.
But ten years? McCoy's practically giving away the store, and an election year to boot.
Yes or no, Mr.
Reardon? This video, you've got a problem with it, don't you? You don't know who shot it.
It's not the only evidence.
Your client's accomplices have agreed to testify against him.
Maybe you can scare them with this video.
I'm moving to exclude it.
Since the People cannot authenticate this video or even tell us who made it, I'm excluding it.
In that case, we move to dismiss the murder charges against all three defendants.
Last chance, Mr.
Cutter.
Do the People have any admissible evidence tying the defendants to this murder? At this point, no.
The murder charges are dismissed without prejudice.
I will be happy to reinstate the indictment when the District Attorney gets his act together.
This brazen violence has truly shocked our city.
We're appealing to the public for any information that will lead to the conviction of those responsible.
In particular, we ask the person who made the video of Vincent Fonsella's murder to step forward and identify himself.
(ALL SHOUTING QUESTIONS) Mr.
McCoy, the video clearly identifies Mr.
Fonsella's assailants and yet your office hasn't managed to indict anyone for murder.
That's why we're out here today.
Mr.
McCoy, wasn't your office negligent when it allowed Fonsella to remain free? That was ajudge's decision, not ours.
But didn't you allow him to plead to a reduced charge? He pled guilty to a felony homicide.
He got no favors.
I think we're done here.
Mr.
McCoy, should you decide to run, why should New Yorkers support your bid for another term as their D.
A.
? Watch what I do.
That's your answer.
I am not doing that again.
This office begging for help, looking weak and ineffectual.
Well, we won't look so weak once we get our convictions.
If we get them.
Right now, that depends on some amateur cameraman growing a spine and stepping forward.
Failing that, we'd better figure out a way to prosecute these hooligans before other gangs get the idea that they can have a bloodbath and get away with it.
I did some research, and under Article 490, we can charge them with terrorism.
That statute was written six days after 9J11 to prosecute acts of war.
Nice try, Connie.
As I recall, it was worded pretty broadly.
How would you apply it here? It applies if an individual's intent is to disrupt government institutions or to intimidate the public through acts of violence.
And these people rioted because they didn't like the way the criminal justice system did its business.
It was a rumble, Jack.
A grudge match.
In a public park, with hatchets and lead pipes.
They terrorized and killed innocent people.
Charging three brawlers with terrorism isn't justice.
I'm not charging just these three.
I'm charging them all.
We created this problem.
We're going to fix it.
Jack, the terrorism statute carries an automatic life sentence.
You think every one of those people deserve that? Ajury will decide who deserves what.
You just get me the indictments.
CUTTER: Unhappy with how a case was prosecuted, they engaged in mass vigilantism.
With the intent to subvert the authority of the District Attorney, they organized a riot in a public park.
So prosecute them for rioting.
This indictment is an insult to the real victims of real terrorist attacks.
There were real victims here, innocent bystanders killed and injured.
You're on the razor's edge, Mr.
Cutter, but if you can sell it to ajury Of course, he'll sell it.
Judge, he'll scare the pants off the jurors, simply by uttering the word "terrorism.
" The acts these defendants are accused of are what will frighten the jury.
The District Attorney is putting forth an intriguing theory.
See if you all can agree on atrial date.
We survived a motion to dismiss, that's half the game.
Just because I can parrot the party line, doesn't mean I buy into it.
BERNARD: All of the weapons had multiple sets of fingerprints on them.
There was no way to tell who was holding what, when.
All we have to go on is the video, which we can't use, right? It doesn't matter.
The good thing about the terrorism statute is that we don't have to connect an individual to a specific weapon.
So, the defendant who yelled insults pays the same price as the one who used this.
We're calling that a good thing.
You throw in with a gang, you own what they do.
I grew up in Compton.
We could've used a law like this.
LUPO: The Bloods and the Crips are not terrorists.
And neither are a bunch of hardhats and day traders with anger issues.
But it sure makes a hell of a sound bite when you're running for election.
I see.
A few law school classes, Detective, and all of sudden, you're an expert on jurisprudence? Maybe not, but I do have one credential you don't.
I spent four years chasing actual terrorists.
All the more reason I need you to testify.
At the end of the day, we all want the same thing for the city.
Safe streets, freedom from fear.
That's funny.
When a cop stretches the rules, we get slammed.
When you do it, we're supposed to hear the angels sing.
I'll testify in your terrorism trial about what I saw and what I heard.
But if you try to use my resume to sell your case, you won't like what you hear.
Look, I'll talk to him.
Take Detective Lupo off the witness list.
I guess that's easier than deciding if he has a point.
It was a nice evening, so we took our son, Willie, to the park.
Reggie was going to throw a football with him.
When we got to the park, we saw some men coming towards us from Houston Street.
And what happened next, Mrs.
Hodges? Another group of men came from the other side.
They were carrying bats and pipes.
Before we knew it, they started to fight.
Reggie pushed Willie and me away.
And then one of them started hitting him with a tire iron for no reason.
Another one started punching him.
Reggie went down, there was blood all over him.
Willie saw his father beaten to death by this This mob.
No more questions.
I'm very sorry for your loss.
Now, you testified that you wait tables at a restaurant on Vesey Street, downtown.
Were you working there on 9/11? Yes, I was.
So you must remember what it was like that day.
I'll never forget it.
I saw people jumping from the towers.
Do you remember how you felt? Like we were in a war, but "Like we were in awar.
" Thank you.
No further questions.
BERNARD: We recovered three baseball bats, two metal pipes, a bike chain, two tire irons, a piece of rebar, a mallet, a hatchet, three pocket knives, a wrench.
What else did you observe? A lot of terrified people were trapped in that park once the fight broke out, people in the neighborhood who had seen the violence.
Nothing further.
Detective, when you interviewed the defendants, did they express any political views or any desire to disrupt any government institutions? Some of them said they weren't happy about the way the justice system worked.
So they made no political statement.
Public violence is a political statement.
Move to strike.
I grew up running to school through the alleys, so gang-bangers wouldn't jump me.
The answer is stricken.
My whole neighborhood was paralyzed in fear.
Detective! The jury will disregard the witness's answer.
No more questions, Your Honor.
Redirect, Your Honor.
Detective, you claim that the neighborhood where you grew up was the target of terrorists.
Why would you say that? Gangs had set up a nation within a nation.
A violent criminal nation with no regard for our laws.
When you have little kids too scared to go to sleep, and widowed young mothers too scared to comfort their babies, that's terrorism.
CUTTER: Thank you, Detective.
After the judge let Vince Fonsella go, I was pretty steamed.
I was on my way home and I got a text message saying that something was happening over at the ball fields.
I thought, maybe, one of my brother's buddies was going to fight Vince.
What, in fact, happened when you got to the field? There was a bunch of guys yelling at each other, Vince's guys and our guys.
But if you've ever seen a hockey fight, everybody talks smack, guys swing their sticks, sometimes two guys even throw punches But I figured that'd be the worst case scenario.
What happened? It got out of hand.
I heard this crack, and there was this guy on the ground with his head split open.
And then I'm sorry innocent people got hurt.
I Nobody deserved to die because of what happened to my brother.
But we were not trying to make a statement.
We were just hurt and angry, and stupid.
I've served six years in the Fire Department, I've run into buildings to save people.
I work with guys who lost friends in the towers.
I'm willing to be punished, but to call me a terrorist! And send me to jail for life? (SCOFFS) That doesn't make sense.
(CLEARS THROAT) You run into burning buildings and save people for a living, and in your spare time you get into street fights where innocent people are killed? I told you, we were angry.
Now, you invoked the memory of the brave men and women who went up into those towers seven years ago.
Do you think they felt scared, even terrified? Yeah, sure.
But they didn't give in to their feelings, they did their duty, just as much as you failed to do yours.
REARDON: Objection.
Withdrawn.
Mr.
Hauser, when the fight broke out, why didn't you try to stop it or call 911? I don't know.
And if you wanted to punish Vince Fonsella, did you consider filing a wrongful death suit? Lot of good that would've done.
You don't have much faith in our justice system, do you? If you guys hadn't let Vince Fonsella go, none of this would've happened.
So maybe next time, we'll think twice before we make a deal with a killer? That's right.
Maybe next time, the courts won't be so quick to release a murderer.
That's the lesson here, isn't it! Yeah.
That's the lesson.
So, that's your political statement, the message of your violent behavior.
So, I guess you did have a point after all, didn't you, Mr.
Hauser? Serious crimes were committed on those ball fields.
But for reasons known only to the District Attorney, no individual defendants have been charged for those specific crimes.
Whether it was a botched investigation or for political considerations, we can only speculate.
But the police and the prosecutors can't parse out who did what to whom.
So instead, they want you to do theirjobs for them.
They want everyone who participated to be convicted of terrorism.
This was a street fight between men who had nothing on their minds except dumb payback.
And these charges are nothing but political posturing by an ambitious prosecutor.
Justice requires you to acquit these defendants.
Make no mistake, these acts were an attack on institutions we hold dear.
Their street fight was nothing less than an attempt to substitute their brand of justice for our system of due process.
By bringing their fight to a public park and daring anyone to stop it, they would erode the public's confidence in the government's ability to protect its citizens.
Their behavior meets the criteria of a terrorist act.
Every day, we're subjected to public acts of violence.
Bare-knuckle punch-outs in Union Square, teenage girls battering each other on Internet videos, no-holds-barred extreme fighting on prime-time.
It's violence you can't escape now.
Violence that brutalizes us, excites us and terrifies us.
And we've seen what the end of this road looks like.
It's a soccer stadium filled with people forced to watch men in black turbans conduct mass executions.
And that's why you need to find these defendants guilty of what, I concede, is a severe charge.
Because when we no longer believe we live in a safe society, then we live in terror.
Five days.
It shouldn't take that long to acquit.
Don't sell yourself short.
You gave them something to chew on.
Rubirosa.
I really don't want any credit here.
This was your idea.
CONNIE: Okay, I'll come right over.
The court officers just broke up a fist fight in the jury room.
Great.
Maybe we can watch it on the Internet.
Are you happy now? This case has put the whole city on overload.
Maybe you should re-read your summation.
Something had to be done, something out of the ordinary.
Out of the ordinary, like when the Russian mob killed A.
D.
A.
Ricci, and you suspended habeas corpus? Crossing the line was one thing when Adam Schiff had your back.
Now, you're out there all by yourself.
That doesn't bother me.
No, it just makes you more stubborn.
Thejury's at each other's throats, what if they hang on the verdict? Or worse, what if they do acquit? You're gonna look like a fool, not to mention what it'll do to the credibility of this office.
Jack, you made your point.
You proved you'll protect this city come hell or high water.
Now, prove you have the wisdom to back down when you're doing more harm than good.
We hear there might be an offer? You heard right.
So, McCoy's regained his sanity.
It's all or nothing.
The three defendants who beat Vince Fonsella to death plead to Murder Two, 20-to-life.
The other defendants take two counts of Man One, five years to run consecutively.
I'd have to do 10 years? I didn't even kill anybody.
Well, right now, you have a life sentence hanging over your head, so you can whine about it or you can cut your losses.
Even though the terrorism charges were dropped, this plea bargain is ajust and fair resolution of a case that was controversial and hard-fought.
In the end, the people of our city will rest easier knowing that mob violence will not be tolerated, and thatjustice will prevail over those who engage in it.
(REPORTERS SHOUTING QUESTIONS) I'd also like to express my gratitude to Assistant District Attorney, Michael Cutter, who tried this case and who brought sense and reason to bear on the outcome.
(REPORTERS SHOUTING QUESTIONS) Thank you.
REPORTER: Mr.
McCoy, do you have plans to join the Obama administration?