Law & Order (1990) s19e13 Episode Script
Crimebusters
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.
(BANGING ON DOOR) MAN: Let me in! Hey, let me in! (BABY CRYING) You know you want me.
(STAMMERS) I'm a killer! I got a gun, and I'm ready to go! (SHUSHING) Shut up, baby! (GLASS SHATTERING) COP: Witnesses heard breaking glass coming from the Recruiting Center, then a minute later an explosion.
The arson squad found what was left of a can of butane with an attached blasting cap.
Improvised incendiary device.
They broke the window and tossed it in? They probably used that brick there.
Were there any victims? COP: A female, mid-20s.
Witnesses saw her unconscious on the floor, broke down the doors and dragged her out.
EMS thinks she's going to make it.
BERNARD: Somebody deserves a medal.
Was she a soldier? Could be.
She had no ID.
She wasn't in uniform, just civvies.
Anti-war terrorists? Or our First Amendment in action.
This is Sergeant Rodney James.
He runs the Recruiting Center.
My CO got me out of bed.
What happened? Well, we're still sorting it out.
Where's Carly? Is she okay? Who's Carly? She's my buddy's wife.
She was staying here overnight.
She's at the hospital, she's going to be okay.
Uh, she had her baby with her, Mikey.
Where is he? Did you see him? Oh God.
SGT.
JAMES: Carly came in from Pennsylvania on the bus yesterday.
She didn't have any money for a hotel, so I let her stay here, just the night.
There's a cot.
Her and the baby could rest before getting back on the bus this morning.
Why'd she come to the city? Her husband Mike's MIA in Afghanistan.
She thinks the Army's not doing enough to find him.
And she thinks he's still alive? It's been four months.
She went to talk to a guy from Mike's unit at the VA in Queens.
She just wants answers.
Did anybody know that you were letting her sleep here? Are you kidding? I'm going to get busted down to private for this.
Any idea who might be behind this? We get threats, we report them to the police.
We'll look into it.
Anything happen around here yesterday? Yesterday we had Megaphone Bob.
He shows up once a week, reads off the names of casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan.
We got an ongoing issue with him, how many feet from the entrance he can stand.
Yesterday he got inside the crease.
I flagged down a patrol car to clear him out.
My officers called from the hospital.
We got the okay to talk to the girl.
LUPO: Thanks, we'll be in touch.
CARLY: (CRYING) Oh God, my baby.
The social worker just told me what It's not right.
God took my baby.
We're very sorry, Mrs.
Di Gravia.
Do you remember what happened? (SIGHS) I was in the back room, with Mikey trying to get him to sleep.
People, drunks, had been banging on the door and yelling all night.
I heard glass break, and I left Mikey on the cot to go and see, just for a minute.
Then the air just exploded into fire and I tried to find Mikey, but with the smoke LUPO: It's all right.
These drunks, you think you can describe them for us? No.
It was too dark.
Is there anybody you'd like us to contact? Your family in Pennsylvania? I just want to talk to my husband.
He's in Afghanistan.
You ask the Army.
Now they'll have to find him.
A firebomb in a recruitment center.
We need to start rounding up some old '60s radicals.
You know, that's the talk I don't want to see end up on the 6 o'clock news.
You got a war widow and a dead baby here.
The media's going to be all over this.
Now where are we on this Megaphone Bob? Two officers who moved him away from the center yesterday, didn't arrest him.
They took his name and address, but both of those are bad.
All right.
Check with the local precinct.
See if anybody else had business with him.
And get Cormack to do a news search.
Maybe someone did a story on Bob's weekly protests.
Yes, what do you have? The Comments section of the coverage of the bombing in today's paper.
You check what readers have posted, sometimes you find somebody who knows something and wants to talk.
And sometimes you just find somebody who likes to talk.
Yeah.
So listen to this, "I think we were down the street from where this happened.
"My husband was videoing me "next to the museum of sex "when we heard a window breaking.
"We got scared and ran back to the hotel.
" Well, if that's for real, we need to see that video.
WOMAN: I knew we were in danger when we heard the glass break.
I told my husband we had to get out of there.
You two are filmmakers? No.
We're teachers in Philadelphia.
We're filmmakers, too.
Here we go.
Tell me! What is the compulsion to cage wildness? The Recruitment Center is right around the corner.
Who do we fear when we encase it behind glass? Are we protecting ourselves Now here it comes.
from our teeth? (GLASS SHATTERING) (EXCLAIMS) Let's get out of here! MAN: That's all we got.
Let me see that camera.
If I wanted to play it in slow mo? MAN: This is so cool.
(LAUGHS) In the biker's hand.
What does that look like to you? A red brick.
Yeah.
We got a guy on a bike in a Panthers Football shirt carrying a brick.
Well, get Cormack working on that, too.
In the meantime the Chief of Ds sent over two ladies to help us with our case.
They have information? Not yet.
They're here to volunteer.
Since when do we take volunteers? It wasn't an option.
We are the founders of Operation Molly, a citizen army who work with the police to solve difficult cases.
And we have decided to take on this case.
You can see, we have many letters of recommendation from the detectives we've assisted.
Molly was a murdered teenager in Florida.
Her body went unidentified for five years until we intervened.
What do you mean "intervened?" We traced her tennis shoe from the manufacturer to the point of sale.
Then we accessed missing child records from that location.
We brought Molly's body home to her family.
You did all that with the internet? It says here you're web sleuths.
We use the internet initially.
Operation Molly can put hundreds of people to work on this.
VAN BUREN: Yes, well We're releasing a photo today.
A person of interest in the case, and we're asking the public to help with IDing him from his sweatshirt and his bicycle.
We've done stuff like that before.
Well, anything you find, you call me.
And of course, everything is hands off.
Am I clear? Of course.
Vigilante crime-solving.
That doesn't smell right to me.
Well, they're going to help us whether we want it or not.
We may as well keep 'em close.
The Times did a piece on your megaphone guy three months ago.
His name is Bob Tavish.
He's got a few unlawful assembly beefs back in Seattle.
A bi-coastal protestor.
Well, more like a bi-coastal firebug.
Our West Coast colleagues say that Tavish was on a short list of suspects in an arson at a condo project.
NYPD.
You Bob Tavish? You know I am.
All right, come back here! We'd like to talk to you.
I know why you're here.
I don't need a bomb to make my point.
The names of the dead speak for themselves.
Now, I'm late for work.
Excuse me, what do you think you're doing? I'm looking to buy a bike.
Kind of like yours.
By the way, the Seattle PD, they send their regards as well.
You know, they're still looking for someone on that condo fire? Yeah, I guess your point was you have to burn down the environment to save it.
Look, I put Seattle behind me, okay? I'm not looking to go back.
I didn't bomb the recruitment center.
But this guy came up to me yesterday.
His sister was killed in Iraq.
He said she enlisted at the center.
He was worked up, he wanted to make sure I had her name on my list.
What was her name? Sherman.
Linda Sherman.
Turns out I didn't have her name on my list.
DEREK: What the hell are you doing? Get away from there! We have a right to search your garbage.
BERNARD: Hey! Hey, hey, hey! LUPO: Break it up! Break it up! Relax.
He's got bricks back there! Take your people to the sidewalk.
Please.
Give me that.
You Derek Sherman? Yeah.
All right, let's go around back and talk.
My partner will handle this out here, don't worry.
Let's go.
That garbage is abandoned property.
Actually not until he puts it on the sidewalk.
What are you guys doing here anyway? We identified his sweatshirt, Panthers Football.
It had an uncommon font.
Our clothing identification traced it to a high school in Maryland.
From there it was easy to track the graduates in New York City.
Well, I'm impressed ladies, but my Lieutenant was clear with you.
You find anything, you call us.
Your investigation was moving too slow.
A precious baby is dead.
Yeah, and now these bricks you found are tainted as evidence.
You want justice, you're going to have to back off.
Now please, go back to your cars.
You're crazy! I didn't firebomb nothing.
Hey, I just report the news, okay? Were you at the Recruitment Center three days ago? Yeah.
I do deliveries for a deli, I was riding by, I saw this guy reading off names.
My kid sister got killed six weeks ago I wanted to make sure he had her name.
I'm sorry for your loss, Mr.
Sherman.
For what it's worth, I personally appreciate what your sister did for this country.
Yeah, yeah.
My kid sister died for nothing, but I didn't bomb that place.
I follow what you're saying, but I still have to ask you where you were three nights ago, around 11:00? (LAUGHS) I was at McMullen's Tavern.
Ask anyone.
I'm a regular.
McMullen's Down in the Flatiron District? Yeah.
Now, how about you do something and keep these crazies away from me? SGT.
JAMES: Mr.
Sherman came in drunk a few times last month to talk about his sister.
BERNARD: Oh, what did he have to say about her? She shouldn't have been in Iraq, but she got stop-lossed.
I gave him the names of support groups for service families.
That's about it, sorry.
BERNARD: We saw that you went to see Carly yesterday.
Did she talk to you about the explosion? She doesn't remember much.
It's hard to believe so much misery can fall on a couple of coal crackers.
Coal crackers? That's what Mike called him and Carly.
Why, because they're from coal country? That's why Mike enlisted.
He didn't want to follow his family into the mines.
What about Carly's family? They work in the mines too? Her dad does.
You know what he does exactly? Mike said he was a shotfirer Rodney? something like that.
Excuse me a minute.
Yeah, sure.
A shotfirer is the guy who sets off the explosives in the coal mines.
It wouldn't be hard for someone close to him to get hold of his blasting caps.
Mmm-hmm.
What was that Carly said? Now the Army will have to find her husband.
Oh, Lupes, let's hope you're wrong about this.
The fire started here, then moved to the back where the baby was sleeping.
LUPO: These blasting caps are they easy to get? No, it's a Black Cat.
It's only available industrially.
You gotta have federal and state licenses.
They used in coal mining? Yes, very common.
What about the bomb itself, how hard was it to assemble? Just take a blasting cap and you tape it to a store-bought can of butane, light the fuse on the cap, you're off to the races.
Hmm.
Okay, thanks, Detective.
Okay.
Carly had access to these blasting caps.
She had a beef with the Army, she might have thought this was a way to bring attention to it.
So she set off a bomb with her baby no more than five feet away? I'm not saying she had a well-thought-out plan.
Well according to you, she thought about it enough to bring blasting caps up from Pennsylvania.
Talk to me about our other suspects.
Megaphone Bob was leading the cheering section at the Rangers game at the time of the bombing.
He even made it onto the Jumbotron.
As for Sherman, witnesses saw him at McMullen's, but the time frame's pretty loose.
VAN BUREN: Does his bike match the one in the video? LUPO: We can't make out the make of the one in the video.
BERNARD: But both of them are the same color.
Yes, that's right.
It's metallic gray, a real one-of-a-kind.
Okay, let's forget about the bikes.
There's the sweatshirt from Sherman's high school.
And the bricks near his tool shed are a match to the brick that was found in the recruitment center.
Yeah, and Sherman does not have access to blasting caps, and Carly does.
What's your problem with the girl? My problem is you ruling her out.
Time out.
Time out.
We have everything here.
Number one, let's find out if Sherman might have had access to explosives.
And number two, have the Pennsylvania State Police check to see what kind of blasting caps they use at the mine where Carly's father works.
And three? Mike's unit was ambushed in the mountains of Afghanistan, it was snowing.
His patrol came back without him.
The buddy at the Veterans Hospital in Queens what did he tell you? He said that no one saw Mike get shot.
That's more than what the Army told me.
VAN BUREN: You're angry at them.
CARLY: They don't return my calls.
Everything with them is national security.
They weren't paying attention to you.
No, ma'am.
Did you ever think to do something that would force the Army to pay attention to you? It would serve them right.
Yeah, it would.
I bet they're paying attention now.
They've been here twice to see me, and I got a call from a Major in Washington.
He promised me they're going to find Mike.
You forced them to find your husband.
It's what any loving wife would do.
No one's going to blame you, Carly.
Blame me for what? Could you get me that stuff? So you've been getting mail? People have been leaving it downstairs.
Where'd you get this? The people from Operation Molly dropped it off.
They're helping solve the crime.
It's so weird seeing my picture on a t-shirt.
You know Carly, we're going to need you to stay a few days after you're released from the hospital.
Where would I stay? We'll put you up in a hotel.
Really? Wow.
I wonder if people are going to recognize me? She didn't even mention her baby.
She's more interested in her own publicity.
Well, it could be that she's just not be ready to deal with the loss of her baby.
Look, check with this soldier at the VA.
See what mood she was in when she talked to him.
SOLDIER: Haji had us pinned for a good hour.
The snow was falling pretty hard.
I lost sight of Mike.
We had to get our wounded out of there, and we couldn't raise Mike on his telecom so And this is what you told Carly? Yeah, I was pretty blunt with her.
I didn't expect her to show up here, with the baby, you know? Happy little guy he was.
How'd she take the news? Oh, not good.
I told her, as long as he's MIA, she can collect his salary, so she should probably just embrace the suck and take the bucks, you know? "Embrace the suck?" Well, make her peace with the situation.
The Army owes her.
She started yelling that it wasn't about the money.
(LAUGHS) That girl's got a temper, which was just what Mike always said, too.
(MOBILE PHONE RINGING) Excuse me.
Bernard.
Derek, slow down.
Where? Okay, don't do anything.
We're on our way.
Operation Molly strikes again.
DEREK: I show up to do the lunch deliveries, this guy is waiting for me.
He ran into me, knocked me off my bike Look at my face! He knocked you off on purpose? Yes.
He's one of those whackos who was at my house.
He took my backpack, and then this woman he had with him called me a baby killer.
LUPO: Where are they now? They're in that van, with my backpack.
They tried to drive away but one of the other delivery guys took the keys out of the ignition.
Stay right here.
BERNARD: Hey, let me have those keys, guys.
All right.
You guys go stand across the street.
Step out of the vehicle, both of you.
We're so glad you showed up, Officers.
Oh, yeah? We were going to drive to your precinct but these thugs stole our car keys.
You took a backpack from Mr.
Sherman? We took it as evidence.
LUPO: All right, that's it? We were bringing it to you.
Give me my backpack, you psycho.
Hey, hey, hey! What did he say? What did we say? Relax.
Ma'am, give me the backpack.
Not if you're giving it back to him.
It's evidence.
Ma'am, give me the backpack.
SHERMAN: Great.
Now can I have it? No, this is stolen property.
It's going into evidence, and you two are under arrest for assault and robbery.
Put your hands on the vehicle.
What? Put your hands on the vehicle! VAN BUREN: That was unacceptable.
That man could've been seriously injured.
We're sorry.
You and your friends have to stop now.
I'll post a recommendation on our website.
No, no.
This is not a recommendation, this is an order.
The next time any of you interfere with this investigation, you will be arrested.
We'll stay within the law, but you can't prevent us from doing our work.
You don't want to try me.
The lab found traces of butane in Sherman's backpack.
We got him.
Except the backpack was in the custody of our amateur crime-busters before we got it.
A good defense attorney will say they planted the butane.
We have good lawyers too.
Pick Sherman up.
BERNARD: Derek, hold up.
Make it quick, guys.
I got deliveries to make.
Well, we've got to make a delivery, too.
You, to Central Booking.
What? You're under arrest for murder and arson.
CLERK: "Docket Number 93250, People v.
Derek Sherman, "Arson and First Degree Murder.
" WILSON: He pleads not guilty, Your Honor.
JUDGE: People on Bail? Where's counsel for the People? Here, Your Honor.
Mr.
Sherman is charged with a terroristic act and the murder of a nine-month-old baby.
People request remand.
My client's got a job, ties to the community.
Not to mention, the People's so-called evidence was gathered by a mob of vigilantes, some of whom you can hear have joined us today.
MAN: Yo, Derek! Stop that man and confiscate his phone.
WILSON: You see my point, Your Honor? I do.
Now here's mine.
Your client's remanded.
(CHEERING) These people put Trekkies to shame.
Motion to suppress the backpack and the bricks from my client's tool shed.
Wow, you have high hopes.
Well, you know what they say about being known by the company you keep? You're the one with the baby killer as a client.
Live long and prosper, Mr.
Wilson.
JACK: I can't believe the police allowed these people to come near this case in the first place.
"These people" did identify the biker in the video before the police did.
And they found two damning pieces of evidence.
Neither of which we may be able to use.
Fat lot of good it does us.
Do what you can about the motion to suppress.
But if any evidence falls out, make a deal.
A plea bargain for killing a baby? How can you defend that? By acknowledging that no reasonable person could have anticipated that a woman and her baby had been allowed to spend the night in a recruitment center.
Nice fig leaf.
It covers enough.
Suppression is a remedy that punishes police misconduct.
The police did absolutely nothing wrong here.
The bricks were stolen by civilians.
WILSON: Who'd been for all practical purposes deputized to investigate this case.
That's not accurate.
They helped identify a suspect in a photo that was released to the public.
I think I just heard a hair split, Mr.
Cutter.
Talk to me about the backpack.
Again, it was stolen from my client by the same deputized vigilantes after they mugged him.
We have affidavits from the detectives that these civilians were warned to stay away from Mr.
Sherman.
They were not working as agents of the police.
Even granting that, the People can't establish a chain of custody for the backpack.
The butane may have been planted by the vigilantes.
That you'll have to argue to a jury, Mr.
Wilson.
The backpack is coming in.
The bricks are out.
See you in court.
Fig leaf, anyone? Twelve years? But I didn't do anything.
Derek, let me talk.
I don't know anything about blasting caps or butane! I don't even own a lighter! It's 12 years now or 50 if we go to trial.
Fifty years for throwing a brick through a window? 'Cause that is all I did.
That's right.
I got drunk and I got angry about my sister.
I'm not pleading to anything but that.
Mr.
Cutter, my client and I need to talk.
There's nothing to talk about.
Mr.
Sherman, you got a taste at your arraignment of what's waiting for you out there, all those people calling you a baby killer.
When we put that child's mother on the stand, talking about her loss Don't talk to me about loss.
(CRYING) You put me on that stand, I'll tell you about my sister.
How we were in a foster home and I practically raised her.
And then the Army, they were supposed to keep her safe.
All she was going to do is drive trucks.
And then they put her in a convoy, with nothing but hillbilly armor to protect her Screw this.
And screw you.
CO, on the gate! You don't know what this means to me, Adam.
All right, good luck with Mr.
Mugabe.
Adam? Adam Schiff? Yes.
He's in Africa with Jimmy Carter, waiting for permission to enter Zimbabwe.
He read about my candidacy on the Internet of all places.
He just called to offer me his endorsement.
So that's where you've been getting your "Let's make a deal" advice.
How did that work out? Sherman passed, but not before admitting he threw a brick and nothing but a brick through the window.
A step in the right direction.
Right? Just convict Sherman.
Hey, Lieutenant Van Buren just heard from the Pennsylvania State Police.
The blasting caps Carly's father uses in the mines the same brand used to make the firebomb.
CARLY: Do you mind if I put on my make-up while we talk? No.
I made a friend and she's taking me out.
Who's the friend? Vicki.
I met her in the lobby.
Do you think this dress is pretty? Operation Molly bought it for me.
It looks fine.
Listen, Carly.
Um, the reason we're here.
We'd like you to take a lie detector test.
Why? You think I lied? Well, you're going to be testifying at Derek Sherman's trial, and we want to be sure you told the truth, all of it.
I don't know what I can testify about.
I didn't see anything.
Is there a reason you don't want to take a test? Maybe I just don't like tests.
If you're nervous about it, you should know that we can't use the results as evidence.
Evidence of what? You're accusing me, aren't you? I did not put my baby in danger.
You got some nerve accusing me.
I'll have Lupo and Bernard head down to Pennsylvania first thing in the morning.
HANK: My son married Carly right out of high school.
He tried college, then he enlisted.
He'd have done anything to stay out of the mines.
Not that we're not proud of him, but We're still hoping God'll bring him back to us.
BERNARD: Did you see Carly before she left for New York? She leaves the baby with us on a regular basis.
Was that a problem for you? She'd make plans with my wife to watch the baby for an hour and then disappear for half the day.
Not that we minded, but Carly's all about Carly.
Is that Mike? Yeah.
It looks like he's missing a couple of fingers on his right hand.
Yeah, he was 12 years old, him and his buddies thought it'd be funny if they blew up an old port-a-john.
A bomb blew up in his hand? Damn lucky he didn't get himself killed.
You remember what they used? A blasting cap and a can of butane.
The cap went off before they could tape it to the can.
Kids.
CUTTER: The dots are practically connecting themselves.
No doubt Carly knew about her husband's little bomb-making escapade.
There're easier dots to connect.
Derek Sherman already admitted to throwing a brick through the window that night.
Get it on the same page or we'll look like we're playing spin the bottle with our suspects.
Oh, great.
Look who's on tomorrow's front page.
Bomb Mom Gone Wild? Carly went on a pub-crawl with a new friend.
In an exclusive interview Carly's gal-pal, Vicki Sandusky reported that Carly told her "The Recruitment Center deserved to be burned down because the Army treats the families of its servicemen like dirt.
" Sounds like another dot connecting itself.
Talk to Miss Sandusky.
Then report to me.
I'll decide how we proceed.
VICKI: The Operation Molly message board said that Carly was staying at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, so I just hung out in the lobby and starting talking to her.
So in other words, you stalked her.
I only wanted to get to know her.
Why? Do you have something in common? Did you lose a husband or child? No.
But I read everything about Baby Mikey.
And, uh, sorry to be a buzz kill, but I started thinking you arrested the wrong person.
So I really wanted to talk to her and do some profiling.
Profiling? You work in a hair salon.
You can ask my friends.
I have this, like, amazing intuition about people.
And your intuition tells you that Carly started the fire.
I mean, come on, she's a walking Medea Complex.
Medea Complex, really? You think she killed her baby on purpose? There's something I didn't tell the newspaper.
You know how a good investigator holds something back? But now you're going to tell me.
Carly said she never wanted the baby.
It was her husband's idea, to keep her on the straight and narrow while he was away.
She said that she had friends in Florida and now that she was free she was going to move there and get a job on the beach.
I recorded her on my phone if you want to hear it.
CARLY: He said if I was at home with the baby, I wouldn't be out partying with my friends.
He was trying to control me.
She sounds drunk.
She sounds hurt and lost.
That doesn't prove anything.
The recording doesn't tell the whole story.
Who knows what this other girl told her to get her to make these statements.
Speaking of which, Carly just checked out of her hotel.
Next stop could be Florida.
What do you want to do? Arrest her.
We'll release Sherman.
Whoa, shouldn't we talk to Jack first? He's at a fund-raiser, announcing Adam Schiff's endorsement.
We screw this up for him, and there's not going to be anything left to endorse.
Go ahead.
(CROWD CHATTERING) Are we glad to see you.
What's up? So, the lady with the suitcase was trying to hail a cab, when these people in the t-shirts detained her.
One of them flagged us down, said they wanted to make a citizen's arrest.
All right, everyone move away from her! Move back.
She's fleeing the jurisdiction.
She killed Baby Mikey! She killed Baby Mikey! Please, I just want to go home.
You can't do that.
You have to come with us.
You're under arrest, Carly.
(CROWD JEERING) WOMAN: Baby killer! MC: And no one can speak more knowledgeably to Jack's dedication What is it? Find Michael Cutter.
I don't care if you have to drag him out of the bathtub, tell him to be in my office in 20 minutes.
MC: So now, live from Tanzania via the Internet, is our old friend Adam Schiff.
Are you trying to make this easier for Shalvoy? I told you I would decide how to proceed.
Do you have any idea what a minefield this case has become thanks to this arrest? You damn well better have some new and compelling evidence against her.
We have a recording of statements she made to her gal-pal.
Statements that weren't in the papers.
We have means, opportunity and now we have motive, not to mention evidence of flight.
She's the better case.
It's still going to look like we reversed course because we saw her chugging a beer on the front page of the Daily News.
The cops were investigating her before her late-night antics made the news.
So don't worry, you're covered.
Dismiss against Derek Sherman and make a deal with Carly.
Quietly.
How's that going to look? Better than the circus her trial would be.
I want this case closed.
And Mike, if Shalvoy's hack wins this election, don't for a second imagine you'll get away with pulling half the crap you pull with me.
CONNIE: Fifty years, Carly.
That's the sentence the judge could give you.
They're trying to scare you, honey.
The prospect of putting a war widow on trial has them grinding their teeth at night.
Do you see me wearing a retainer, Ms.
Weller? Accidentally or not, mothers who kill their babies aren't popular with juries.
In my trials, juries react to facts, not fantasies.
And the fact here is that you had a perfectly good suspect in Derek Sherman.
But because Carly didn't grieve in a manner that suited you and your mob of vigilantes, you decided to punish her.
Your client incriminated herself.
Ms.
Rubirosa.
After a dozen tequila shooters you wouldn't still be your sweet Sunday School self.
We're not interested in any deal.
Our defense is Derek Sherman and his backpack.
Oh, and tell Jack McCoy from now until the election, I'm going to nail this case to his forehead, so that when voters come across his name on the ballot, all they'll be able to see is Carly's grieving face.
Why would I have to testify at Carly's trial? I don't know anything about what she did.
CONNIE: We won't be calling you, Carly's lawyer will, to prove that Derek Sherman planted that bomb.
CUTTER: They'll put you on the stand, under oath, to say you took Sherman's backpack and kept it for the police, and never did anything to it like spray butane on it.
Do you understand what I'm saying? I think so.
Then it'll be my turn.
I'll rip your story apart, attack your credibility, dredge up every lie you ever told.
If you tampered with that backpack, we'll find out right then and there.
You'll be charged with perjury.
Oh, God.
But if you tell us the truth now, there'll be no need for you to testify.
We know your heart was in the right place.
A baby is an innocent soul.
I thought Sherman was guilty.
I didn't want him to get away with it, so I sprayed butane inside his backpack.
Please forgive me.
HANK: Carly said she's tired of being ignored.
She said if Mike didn't come back, she'd be a widow raising a child all alone and no man would give her the time of day.
Thank you, Mr.
Di Gravia.
You testified your son blew his fingers off with a bomb made with a blasting cap and a can of butane.
That's right.
And Carly knew it.
Is there anyone who can corroborate the construction of this bomb? Not really.
But why would I lie about it? Isn't it true you wanted Carly to leave little Mikey with you when she went to New York, that you called her to ask why she was staying on? Yeah, we thought Mikey should be home.
Defense's 17.
A copy of an email sent to Carly two weeks after the bombing.
Mr.
Di Gravia, did you send this e-mail? Yeah.
Please read the highlighted portions.
"Dear, Carly.
"We've been reading about you and seeing your interviews.
"You never talk about little Mikey.
"Don't you miss him too? "You don't even look sad.
What's wrong with you? "If you'd left him with us like we told you, "our angel would still be alive.
" WELLER: You blame her for his death, don't you? I don't know.
You blame her, and when the police gave you the chance, you decided to stick it to her with a lie about a butane bomb.
Objection.
Overruled.
HANK: I didn't lie! Mikey'd still be alive if she'd listened to us! But I didn't lie.
WELLER: No more questions.
CARLY: The Army thought they were dealing with some dumb coal cracker.
Now they're kissing my ass.
Wooo! Those Operation Molly weirdos gave me some money for clothes.
I went to this boutique today and look what I got.
Don't I look hot? And at this point, what did Carly do? She lifted her dress to show me a pair of silk panties, thong-type.
Thank you.
How many drinks had Carly had when this was recorded? VICKI: I wasn't counting.
But you were treating, and we have your credit card receipts.
Maybe eight or nine tequila sunrises.
Hmm.
And how many drinks had you had? One margarita.
You got her drunk, didn't you? You toyed with her like a marionette.
You planted ideas in her head.
I did not.
I just let her talk.
Isn't the reason you contacted her in the first place is because you thought she was guilty? VICKI: She fit a profile.
She only talked about her needs.
She's a narcissist.
You're quite the expert in criminal psychology.
Hey, have you ever heard of Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome? Uh, it's when people have a shock and it changes them.
A shock like almost being burned to death, and losing your child and husband.
Did that figure in your profile? No.
But the police had arrested somebody else and he didn't fit the profile.
The police had another suspect? JUDGE: Overruled.
The witness may respond.
Yes, this anti-war guy but he was into selling marijuana and hash which means his tendencies are non-violent.
And this is your professional opinion, hmm? As a hairdresser's assistant? Nothing further, Your Honor.
Weller's scoring points in there.
But I don't see her pulling it off unless she puts Carly on the stand.
Did we know Sherman dealt drugs? He was kicked out of college in Maryland for a drug-related offense, but the college sealed the record.
I need to talk to Narcotics.
I'm having flashbacks to one of my drug cases.
You have the cops drag my client out of bed, then you get me down here Has your client told you he used to deal hash oil in college? DEREK: I didn't Don't bother.
Our amateur crime-busters dug up three of your former customers from college.
Yeah, maybe he boosted a couple of CDs in high school.
What does this have to do with anything? Butane is used to extract hash oil from hashish.
You said, and I quote, "I don't know nothing about butane.
I don't even own a lighter.
" Look, I stopped dealing almost two years ago, okay? I threw away all the butane.
I swear, all I did was throw a brick! I supported dismissing the charges against Sherman because you couldn't link him to the explosive device.
Well, now we can.
We can only link him to butane.
We can link Carly to both butane and blasting caps thanks to her father-in-law.
Yeah, assuming he's not just trying to get even with her.
Do these look like the injuries of a mother who tried to save her baby from an inferno? That's not evidence.
You sound like Operation Molly.
Enough.
You two have a trial that reconvenes in 15 minutes.
Mr.
Sherman's adventures in drug-dealing are Brady material.
You have to tell Carly's lawyer about it.
WELLER: Now that Mr.
Sherman's admitted owning butane, that puts him back in play as a viable alternate theory of the crime.
I move, Your Honor, to reverse your prior ruling and allow me to present this to the jury.
He admitted owning butane two years ago.
It's hardly relevant.
I'm not sure I agree, Mr.
Cutter.
Fine, Your Honor, the People will stipulate that there was at one time another suspect in the case.
A stipulation isn't enough.
I want to call witnesses to pursue our theory that Derek Sherman threw that bomb.
Your Honor, please.
I'm going to give Ms.
Weller latitude here.
I'll need a few days, Your Honor.
Trial will resume next Monday.
I'm sorry for my behavior.
I just felt at the bottom of so much hurt.
I couldn't even say Mikey's name without Hey.
After Weller's finished putting Sherman on trial, the jury will never convict Carly.
What do you suggest we do? Dismiss against Carly and go after Sherman? Then his lawyer will use Carly as an alternate theory of the crime.
We could probably low ball a guilty plea out of Sherman.
A flip-flop like that Even I wouldn't vote for me.
Put me through to the Public Information Office.
Hi, Kate? This is Jack.
I'm going to be sending over a press release in an hour about the Army Recruitment Center bombing.
Thanks.
I'm sure you could strip the flesh off Carly's bones on cross.
She's traumatized.
You might be able to get her to say whatever you want.
And Sherman's looking at 50 years.
I don't doubt that we can ram a plea bargain down his throat now.
I'm declining to prosecute both Mrs.
Di Gravia and Mr.
Sherman because we can't say which one is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The fog of war is blinding us to the truth.
Better not to convict anyone than convict the wrong person.
I can see the headlines now.
"No Justice for Baby Mikey.
" You're going to take a lot of heat for this.
I can live with that.
(SIGHS) So can you.
(SIGHING)
These are their stories.
(BANGING ON DOOR) MAN: Let me in! Hey, let me in! (BABY CRYING) You know you want me.
(STAMMERS) I'm a killer! I got a gun, and I'm ready to go! (SHUSHING) Shut up, baby! (GLASS SHATTERING) COP: Witnesses heard breaking glass coming from the Recruiting Center, then a minute later an explosion.
The arson squad found what was left of a can of butane with an attached blasting cap.
Improvised incendiary device.
They broke the window and tossed it in? They probably used that brick there.
Were there any victims? COP: A female, mid-20s.
Witnesses saw her unconscious on the floor, broke down the doors and dragged her out.
EMS thinks she's going to make it.
BERNARD: Somebody deserves a medal.
Was she a soldier? Could be.
She had no ID.
She wasn't in uniform, just civvies.
Anti-war terrorists? Or our First Amendment in action.
This is Sergeant Rodney James.
He runs the Recruiting Center.
My CO got me out of bed.
What happened? Well, we're still sorting it out.
Where's Carly? Is she okay? Who's Carly? She's my buddy's wife.
She was staying here overnight.
She's at the hospital, she's going to be okay.
Uh, she had her baby with her, Mikey.
Where is he? Did you see him? Oh God.
SGT.
JAMES: Carly came in from Pennsylvania on the bus yesterday.
She didn't have any money for a hotel, so I let her stay here, just the night.
There's a cot.
Her and the baby could rest before getting back on the bus this morning.
Why'd she come to the city? Her husband Mike's MIA in Afghanistan.
She thinks the Army's not doing enough to find him.
And she thinks he's still alive? It's been four months.
She went to talk to a guy from Mike's unit at the VA in Queens.
She just wants answers.
Did anybody know that you were letting her sleep here? Are you kidding? I'm going to get busted down to private for this.
Any idea who might be behind this? We get threats, we report them to the police.
We'll look into it.
Anything happen around here yesterday? Yesterday we had Megaphone Bob.
He shows up once a week, reads off the names of casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan.
We got an ongoing issue with him, how many feet from the entrance he can stand.
Yesterday he got inside the crease.
I flagged down a patrol car to clear him out.
My officers called from the hospital.
We got the okay to talk to the girl.
LUPO: Thanks, we'll be in touch.
CARLY: (CRYING) Oh God, my baby.
The social worker just told me what It's not right.
God took my baby.
We're very sorry, Mrs.
Di Gravia.
Do you remember what happened? (SIGHS) I was in the back room, with Mikey trying to get him to sleep.
People, drunks, had been banging on the door and yelling all night.
I heard glass break, and I left Mikey on the cot to go and see, just for a minute.
Then the air just exploded into fire and I tried to find Mikey, but with the smoke LUPO: It's all right.
These drunks, you think you can describe them for us? No.
It was too dark.
Is there anybody you'd like us to contact? Your family in Pennsylvania? I just want to talk to my husband.
He's in Afghanistan.
You ask the Army.
Now they'll have to find him.
A firebomb in a recruitment center.
We need to start rounding up some old '60s radicals.
You know, that's the talk I don't want to see end up on the 6 o'clock news.
You got a war widow and a dead baby here.
The media's going to be all over this.
Now where are we on this Megaphone Bob? Two officers who moved him away from the center yesterday, didn't arrest him.
They took his name and address, but both of those are bad.
All right.
Check with the local precinct.
See if anybody else had business with him.
And get Cormack to do a news search.
Maybe someone did a story on Bob's weekly protests.
Yes, what do you have? The Comments section of the coverage of the bombing in today's paper.
You check what readers have posted, sometimes you find somebody who knows something and wants to talk.
And sometimes you just find somebody who likes to talk.
Yeah.
So listen to this, "I think we were down the street from where this happened.
"My husband was videoing me "next to the museum of sex "when we heard a window breaking.
"We got scared and ran back to the hotel.
" Well, if that's for real, we need to see that video.
WOMAN: I knew we were in danger when we heard the glass break.
I told my husband we had to get out of there.
You two are filmmakers? No.
We're teachers in Philadelphia.
We're filmmakers, too.
Here we go.
Tell me! What is the compulsion to cage wildness? The Recruitment Center is right around the corner.
Who do we fear when we encase it behind glass? Are we protecting ourselves Now here it comes.
from our teeth? (GLASS SHATTERING) (EXCLAIMS) Let's get out of here! MAN: That's all we got.
Let me see that camera.
If I wanted to play it in slow mo? MAN: This is so cool.
(LAUGHS) In the biker's hand.
What does that look like to you? A red brick.
Yeah.
We got a guy on a bike in a Panthers Football shirt carrying a brick.
Well, get Cormack working on that, too.
In the meantime the Chief of Ds sent over two ladies to help us with our case.
They have information? Not yet.
They're here to volunteer.
Since when do we take volunteers? It wasn't an option.
We are the founders of Operation Molly, a citizen army who work with the police to solve difficult cases.
And we have decided to take on this case.
You can see, we have many letters of recommendation from the detectives we've assisted.
Molly was a murdered teenager in Florida.
Her body went unidentified for five years until we intervened.
What do you mean "intervened?" We traced her tennis shoe from the manufacturer to the point of sale.
Then we accessed missing child records from that location.
We brought Molly's body home to her family.
You did all that with the internet? It says here you're web sleuths.
We use the internet initially.
Operation Molly can put hundreds of people to work on this.
VAN BUREN: Yes, well We're releasing a photo today.
A person of interest in the case, and we're asking the public to help with IDing him from his sweatshirt and his bicycle.
We've done stuff like that before.
Well, anything you find, you call me.
And of course, everything is hands off.
Am I clear? Of course.
Vigilante crime-solving.
That doesn't smell right to me.
Well, they're going to help us whether we want it or not.
We may as well keep 'em close.
The Times did a piece on your megaphone guy three months ago.
His name is Bob Tavish.
He's got a few unlawful assembly beefs back in Seattle.
A bi-coastal protestor.
Well, more like a bi-coastal firebug.
Our West Coast colleagues say that Tavish was on a short list of suspects in an arson at a condo project.
NYPD.
You Bob Tavish? You know I am.
All right, come back here! We'd like to talk to you.
I know why you're here.
I don't need a bomb to make my point.
The names of the dead speak for themselves.
Now, I'm late for work.
Excuse me, what do you think you're doing? I'm looking to buy a bike.
Kind of like yours.
By the way, the Seattle PD, they send their regards as well.
You know, they're still looking for someone on that condo fire? Yeah, I guess your point was you have to burn down the environment to save it.
Look, I put Seattle behind me, okay? I'm not looking to go back.
I didn't bomb the recruitment center.
But this guy came up to me yesterday.
His sister was killed in Iraq.
He said she enlisted at the center.
He was worked up, he wanted to make sure I had her name on my list.
What was her name? Sherman.
Linda Sherman.
Turns out I didn't have her name on my list.
DEREK: What the hell are you doing? Get away from there! We have a right to search your garbage.
BERNARD: Hey! Hey, hey, hey! LUPO: Break it up! Break it up! Relax.
He's got bricks back there! Take your people to the sidewalk.
Please.
Give me that.
You Derek Sherman? Yeah.
All right, let's go around back and talk.
My partner will handle this out here, don't worry.
Let's go.
That garbage is abandoned property.
Actually not until he puts it on the sidewalk.
What are you guys doing here anyway? We identified his sweatshirt, Panthers Football.
It had an uncommon font.
Our clothing identification traced it to a high school in Maryland.
From there it was easy to track the graduates in New York City.
Well, I'm impressed ladies, but my Lieutenant was clear with you.
You find anything, you call us.
Your investigation was moving too slow.
A precious baby is dead.
Yeah, and now these bricks you found are tainted as evidence.
You want justice, you're going to have to back off.
Now please, go back to your cars.
You're crazy! I didn't firebomb nothing.
Hey, I just report the news, okay? Were you at the Recruitment Center three days ago? Yeah.
I do deliveries for a deli, I was riding by, I saw this guy reading off names.
My kid sister got killed six weeks ago I wanted to make sure he had her name.
I'm sorry for your loss, Mr.
Sherman.
For what it's worth, I personally appreciate what your sister did for this country.
Yeah, yeah.
My kid sister died for nothing, but I didn't bomb that place.
I follow what you're saying, but I still have to ask you where you were three nights ago, around 11:00? (LAUGHS) I was at McMullen's Tavern.
Ask anyone.
I'm a regular.
McMullen's Down in the Flatiron District? Yeah.
Now, how about you do something and keep these crazies away from me? SGT.
JAMES: Mr.
Sherman came in drunk a few times last month to talk about his sister.
BERNARD: Oh, what did he have to say about her? She shouldn't have been in Iraq, but she got stop-lossed.
I gave him the names of support groups for service families.
That's about it, sorry.
BERNARD: We saw that you went to see Carly yesterday.
Did she talk to you about the explosion? She doesn't remember much.
It's hard to believe so much misery can fall on a couple of coal crackers.
Coal crackers? That's what Mike called him and Carly.
Why, because they're from coal country? That's why Mike enlisted.
He didn't want to follow his family into the mines.
What about Carly's family? They work in the mines too? Her dad does.
You know what he does exactly? Mike said he was a shotfirer Rodney? something like that.
Excuse me a minute.
Yeah, sure.
A shotfirer is the guy who sets off the explosives in the coal mines.
It wouldn't be hard for someone close to him to get hold of his blasting caps.
Mmm-hmm.
What was that Carly said? Now the Army will have to find her husband.
Oh, Lupes, let's hope you're wrong about this.
The fire started here, then moved to the back where the baby was sleeping.
LUPO: These blasting caps are they easy to get? No, it's a Black Cat.
It's only available industrially.
You gotta have federal and state licenses.
They used in coal mining? Yes, very common.
What about the bomb itself, how hard was it to assemble? Just take a blasting cap and you tape it to a store-bought can of butane, light the fuse on the cap, you're off to the races.
Hmm.
Okay, thanks, Detective.
Okay.
Carly had access to these blasting caps.
She had a beef with the Army, she might have thought this was a way to bring attention to it.
So she set off a bomb with her baby no more than five feet away? I'm not saying she had a well-thought-out plan.
Well according to you, she thought about it enough to bring blasting caps up from Pennsylvania.
Talk to me about our other suspects.
Megaphone Bob was leading the cheering section at the Rangers game at the time of the bombing.
He even made it onto the Jumbotron.
As for Sherman, witnesses saw him at McMullen's, but the time frame's pretty loose.
VAN BUREN: Does his bike match the one in the video? LUPO: We can't make out the make of the one in the video.
BERNARD: But both of them are the same color.
Yes, that's right.
It's metallic gray, a real one-of-a-kind.
Okay, let's forget about the bikes.
There's the sweatshirt from Sherman's high school.
And the bricks near his tool shed are a match to the brick that was found in the recruitment center.
Yeah, and Sherman does not have access to blasting caps, and Carly does.
What's your problem with the girl? My problem is you ruling her out.
Time out.
Time out.
We have everything here.
Number one, let's find out if Sherman might have had access to explosives.
And number two, have the Pennsylvania State Police check to see what kind of blasting caps they use at the mine where Carly's father works.
And three? Mike's unit was ambushed in the mountains of Afghanistan, it was snowing.
His patrol came back without him.
The buddy at the Veterans Hospital in Queens what did he tell you? He said that no one saw Mike get shot.
That's more than what the Army told me.
VAN BUREN: You're angry at them.
CARLY: They don't return my calls.
Everything with them is national security.
They weren't paying attention to you.
No, ma'am.
Did you ever think to do something that would force the Army to pay attention to you? It would serve them right.
Yeah, it would.
I bet they're paying attention now.
They've been here twice to see me, and I got a call from a Major in Washington.
He promised me they're going to find Mike.
You forced them to find your husband.
It's what any loving wife would do.
No one's going to blame you, Carly.
Blame me for what? Could you get me that stuff? So you've been getting mail? People have been leaving it downstairs.
Where'd you get this? The people from Operation Molly dropped it off.
They're helping solve the crime.
It's so weird seeing my picture on a t-shirt.
You know Carly, we're going to need you to stay a few days after you're released from the hospital.
Where would I stay? We'll put you up in a hotel.
Really? Wow.
I wonder if people are going to recognize me? She didn't even mention her baby.
She's more interested in her own publicity.
Well, it could be that she's just not be ready to deal with the loss of her baby.
Look, check with this soldier at the VA.
See what mood she was in when she talked to him.
SOLDIER: Haji had us pinned for a good hour.
The snow was falling pretty hard.
I lost sight of Mike.
We had to get our wounded out of there, and we couldn't raise Mike on his telecom so And this is what you told Carly? Yeah, I was pretty blunt with her.
I didn't expect her to show up here, with the baby, you know? Happy little guy he was.
How'd she take the news? Oh, not good.
I told her, as long as he's MIA, she can collect his salary, so she should probably just embrace the suck and take the bucks, you know? "Embrace the suck?" Well, make her peace with the situation.
The Army owes her.
She started yelling that it wasn't about the money.
(LAUGHS) That girl's got a temper, which was just what Mike always said, too.
(MOBILE PHONE RINGING) Excuse me.
Bernard.
Derek, slow down.
Where? Okay, don't do anything.
We're on our way.
Operation Molly strikes again.
DEREK: I show up to do the lunch deliveries, this guy is waiting for me.
He ran into me, knocked me off my bike Look at my face! He knocked you off on purpose? Yes.
He's one of those whackos who was at my house.
He took my backpack, and then this woman he had with him called me a baby killer.
LUPO: Where are they now? They're in that van, with my backpack.
They tried to drive away but one of the other delivery guys took the keys out of the ignition.
Stay right here.
BERNARD: Hey, let me have those keys, guys.
All right.
You guys go stand across the street.
Step out of the vehicle, both of you.
We're so glad you showed up, Officers.
Oh, yeah? We were going to drive to your precinct but these thugs stole our car keys.
You took a backpack from Mr.
Sherman? We took it as evidence.
LUPO: All right, that's it? We were bringing it to you.
Give me my backpack, you psycho.
Hey, hey, hey! What did he say? What did we say? Relax.
Ma'am, give me the backpack.
Not if you're giving it back to him.
It's evidence.
Ma'am, give me the backpack.
SHERMAN: Great.
Now can I have it? No, this is stolen property.
It's going into evidence, and you two are under arrest for assault and robbery.
Put your hands on the vehicle.
What? Put your hands on the vehicle! VAN BUREN: That was unacceptable.
That man could've been seriously injured.
We're sorry.
You and your friends have to stop now.
I'll post a recommendation on our website.
No, no.
This is not a recommendation, this is an order.
The next time any of you interfere with this investigation, you will be arrested.
We'll stay within the law, but you can't prevent us from doing our work.
You don't want to try me.
The lab found traces of butane in Sherman's backpack.
We got him.
Except the backpack was in the custody of our amateur crime-busters before we got it.
A good defense attorney will say they planted the butane.
We have good lawyers too.
Pick Sherman up.
BERNARD: Derek, hold up.
Make it quick, guys.
I got deliveries to make.
Well, we've got to make a delivery, too.
You, to Central Booking.
What? You're under arrest for murder and arson.
CLERK: "Docket Number 93250, People v.
Derek Sherman, "Arson and First Degree Murder.
" WILSON: He pleads not guilty, Your Honor.
JUDGE: People on Bail? Where's counsel for the People? Here, Your Honor.
Mr.
Sherman is charged with a terroristic act and the murder of a nine-month-old baby.
People request remand.
My client's got a job, ties to the community.
Not to mention, the People's so-called evidence was gathered by a mob of vigilantes, some of whom you can hear have joined us today.
MAN: Yo, Derek! Stop that man and confiscate his phone.
WILSON: You see my point, Your Honor? I do.
Now here's mine.
Your client's remanded.
(CHEERING) These people put Trekkies to shame.
Motion to suppress the backpack and the bricks from my client's tool shed.
Wow, you have high hopes.
Well, you know what they say about being known by the company you keep? You're the one with the baby killer as a client.
Live long and prosper, Mr.
Wilson.
JACK: I can't believe the police allowed these people to come near this case in the first place.
"These people" did identify the biker in the video before the police did.
And they found two damning pieces of evidence.
Neither of which we may be able to use.
Fat lot of good it does us.
Do what you can about the motion to suppress.
But if any evidence falls out, make a deal.
A plea bargain for killing a baby? How can you defend that? By acknowledging that no reasonable person could have anticipated that a woman and her baby had been allowed to spend the night in a recruitment center.
Nice fig leaf.
It covers enough.
Suppression is a remedy that punishes police misconduct.
The police did absolutely nothing wrong here.
The bricks were stolen by civilians.
WILSON: Who'd been for all practical purposes deputized to investigate this case.
That's not accurate.
They helped identify a suspect in a photo that was released to the public.
I think I just heard a hair split, Mr.
Cutter.
Talk to me about the backpack.
Again, it was stolen from my client by the same deputized vigilantes after they mugged him.
We have affidavits from the detectives that these civilians were warned to stay away from Mr.
Sherman.
They were not working as agents of the police.
Even granting that, the People can't establish a chain of custody for the backpack.
The butane may have been planted by the vigilantes.
That you'll have to argue to a jury, Mr.
Wilson.
The backpack is coming in.
The bricks are out.
See you in court.
Fig leaf, anyone? Twelve years? But I didn't do anything.
Derek, let me talk.
I don't know anything about blasting caps or butane! I don't even own a lighter! It's 12 years now or 50 if we go to trial.
Fifty years for throwing a brick through a window? 'Cause that is all I did.
That's right.
I got drunk and I got angry about my sister.
I'm not pleading to anything but that.
Mr.
Cutter, my client and I need to talk.
There's nothing to talk about.
Mr.
Sherman, you got a taste at your arraignment of what's waiting for you out there, all those people calling you a baby killer.
When we put that child's mother on the stand, talking about her loss Don't talk to me about loss.
(CRYING) You put me on that stand, I'll tell you about my sister.
How we were in a foster home and I practically raised her.
And then the Army, they were supposed to keep her safe.
All she was going to do is drive trucks.
And then they put her in a convoy, with nothing but hillbilly armor to protect her Screw this.
And screw you.
CO, on the gate! You don't know what this means to me, Adam.
All right, good luck with Mr.
Mugabe.
Adam? Adam Schiff? Yes.
He's in Africa with Jimmy Carter, waiting for permission to enter Zimbabwe.
He read about my candidacy on the Internet of all places.
He just called to offer me his endorsement.
So that's where you've been getting your "Let's make a deal" advice.
How did that work out? Sherman passed, but not before admitting he threw a brick and nothing but a brick through the window.
A step in the right direction.
Right? Just convict Sherman.
Hey, Lieutenant Van Buren just heard from the Pennsylvania State Police.
The blasting caps Carly's father uses in the mines the same brand used to make the firebomb.
CARLY: Do you mind if I put on my make-up while we talk? No.
I made a friend and she's taking me out.
Who's the friend? Vicki.
I met her in the lobby.
Do you think this dress is pretty? Operation Molly bought it for me.
It looks fine.
Listen, Carly.
Um, the reason we're here.
We'd like you to take a lie detector test.
Why? You think I lied? Well, you're going to be testifying at Derek Sherman's trial, and we want to be sure you told the truth, all of it.
I don't know what I can testify about.
I didn't see anything.
Is there a reason you don't want to take a test? Maybe I just don't like tests.
If you're nervous about it, you should know that we can't use the results as evidence.
Evidence of what? You're accusing me, aren't you? I did not put my baby in danger.
You got some nerve accusing me.
I'll have Lupo and Bernard head down to Pennsylvania first thing in the morning.
HANK: My son married Carly right out of high school.
He tried college, then he enlisted.
He'd have done anything to stay out of the mines.
Not that we're not proud of him, but We're still hoping God'll bring him back to us.
BERNARD: Did you see Carly before she left for New York? She leaves the baby with us on a regular basis.
Was that a problem for you? She'd make plans with my wife to watch the baby for an hour and then disappear for half the day.
Not that we minded, but Carly's all about Carly.
Is that Mike? Yeah.
It looks like he's missing a couple of fingers on his right hand.
Yeah, he was 12 years old, him and his buddies thought it'd be funny if they blew up an old port-a-john.
A bomb blew up in his hand? Damn lucky he didn't get himself killed.
You remember what they used? A blasting cap and a can of butane.
The cap went off before they could tape it to the can.
Kids.
CUTTER: The dots are practically connecting themselves.
No doubt Carly knew about her husband's little bomb-making escapade.
There're easier dots to connect.
Derek Sherman already admitted to throwing a brick through the window that night.
Get it on the same page or we'll look like we're playing spin the bottle with our suspects.
Oh, great.
Look who's on tomorrow's front page.
Bomb Mom Gone Wild? Carly went on a pub-crawl with a new friend.
In an exclusive interview Carly's gal-pal, Vicki Sandusky reported that Carly told her "The Recruitment Center deserved to be burned down because the Army treats the families of its servicemen like dirt.
" Sounds like another dot connecting itself.
Talk to Miss Sandusky.
Then report to me.
I'll decide how we proceed.
VICKI: The Operation Molly message board said that Carly was staying at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, so I just hung out in the lobby and starting talking to her.
So in other words, you stalked her.
I only wanted to get to know her.
Why? Do you have something in common? Did you lose a husband or child? No.
But I read everything about Baby Mikey.
And, uh, sorry to be a buzz kill, but I started thinking you arrested the wrong person.
So I really wanted to talk to her and do some profiling.
Profiling? You work in a hair salon.
You can ask my friends.
I have this, like, amazing intuition about people.
And your intuition tells you that Carly started the fire.
I mean, come on, she's a walking Medea Complex.
Medea Complex, really? You think she killed her baby on purpose? There's something I didn't tell the newspaper.
You know how a good investigator holds something back? But now you're going to tell me.
Carly said she never wanted the baby.
It was her husband's idea, to keep her on the straight and narrow while he was away.
She said that she had friends in Florida and now that she was free she was going to move there and get a job on the beach.
I recorded her on my phone if you want to hear it.
CARLY: He said if I was at home with the baby, I wouldn't be out partying with my friends.
He was trying to control me.
She sounds drunk.
She sounds hurt and lost.
That doesn't prove anything.
The recording doesn't tell the whole story.
Who knows what this other girl told her to get her to make these statements.
Speaking of which, Carly just checked out of her hotel.
Next stop could be Florida.
What do you want to do? Arrest her.
We'll release Sherman.
Whoa, shouldn't we talk to Jack first? He's at a fund-raiser, announcing Adam Schiff's endorsement.
We screw this up for him, and there's not going to be anything left to endorse.
Go ahead.
(CROWD CHATTERING) Are we glad to see you.
What's up? So, the lady with the suitcase was trying to hail a cab, when these people in the t-shirts detained her.
One of them flagged us down, said they wanted to make a citizen's arrest.
All right, everyone move away from her! Move back.
She's fleeing the jurisdiction.
She killed Baby Mikey! She killed Baby Mikey! Please, I just want to go home.
You can't do that.
You have to come with us.
You're under arrest, Carly.
(CROWD JEERING) WOMAN: Baby killer! MC: And no one can speak more knowledgeably to Jack's dedication What is it? Find Michael Cutter.
I don't care if you have to drag him out of the bathtub, tell him to be in my office in 20 minutes.
MC: So now, live from Tanzania via the Internet, is our old friend Adam Schiff.
Are you trying to make this easier for Shalvoy? I told you I would decide how to proceed.
Do you have any idea what a minefield this case has become thanks to this arrest? You damn well better have some new and compelling evidence against her.
We have a recording of statements she made to her gal-pal.
Statements that weren't in the papers.
We have means, opportunity and now we have motive, not to mention evidence of flight.
She's the better case.
It's still going to look like we reversed course because we saw her chugging a beer on the front page of the Daily News.
The cops were investigating her before her late-night antics made the news.
So don't worry, you're covered.
Dismiss against Derek Sherman and make a deal with Carly.
Quietly.
How's that going to look? Better than the circus her trial would be.
I want this case closed.
And Mike, if Shalvoy's hack wins this election, don't for a second imagine you'll get away with pulling half the crap you pull with me.
CONNIE: Fifty years, Carly.
That's the sentence the judge could give you.
They're trying to scare you, honey.
The prospect of putting a war widow on trial has them grinding their teeth at night.
Do you see me wearing a retainer, Ms.
Weller? Accidentally or not, mothers who kill their babies aren't popular with juries.
In my trials, juries react to facts, not fantasies.
And the fact here is that you had a perfectly good suspect in Derek Sherman.
But because Carly didn't grieve in a manner that suited you and your mob of vigilantes, you decided to punish her.
Your client incriminated herself.
Ms.
Rubirosa.
After a dozen tequila shooters you wouldn't still be your sweet Sunday School self.
We're not interested in any deal.
Our defense is Derek Sherman and his backpack.
Oh, and tell Jack McCoy from now until the election, I'm going to nail this case to his forehead, so that when voters come across his name on the ballot, all they'll be able to see is Carly's grieving face.
Why would I have to testify at Carly's trial? I don't know anything about what she did.
CONNIE: We won't be calling you, Carly's lawyer will, to prove that Derek Sherman planted that bomb.
CUTTER: They'll put you on the stand, under oath, to say you took Sherman's backpack and kept it for the police, and never did anything to it like spray butane on it.
Do you understand what I'm saying? I think so.
Then it'll be my turn.
I'll rip your story apart, attack your credibility, dredge up every lie you ever told.
If you tampered with that backpack, we'll find out right then and there.
You'll be charged with perjury.
Oh, God.
But if you tell us the truth now, there'll be no need for you to testify.
We know your heart was in the right place.
A baby is an innocent soul.
I thought Sherman was guilty.
I didn't want him to get away with it, so I sprayed butane inside his backpack.
Please forgive me.
HANK: Carly said she's tired of being ignored.
She said if Mike didn't come back, she'd be a widow raising a child all alone and no man would give her the time of day.
Thank you, Mr.
Di Gravia.
You testified your son blew his fingers off with a bomb made with a blasting cap and a can of butane.
That's right.
And Carly knew it.
Is there anyone who can corroborate the construction of this bomb? Not really.
But why would I lie about it? Isn't it true you wanted Carly to leave little Mikey with you when she went to New York, that you called her to ask why she was staying on? Yeah, we thought Mikey should be home.
Defense's 17.
A copy of an email sent to Carly two weeks after the bombing.
Mr.
Di Gravia, did you send this e-mail? Yeah.
Please read the highlighted portions.
"Dear, Carly.
"We've been reading about you and seeing your interviews.
"You never talk about little Mikey.
"Don't you miss him too? "You don't even look sad.
What's wrong with you? "If you'd left him with us like we told you, "our angel would still be alive.
" WELLER: You blame her for his death, don't you? I don't know.
You blame her, and when the police gave you the chance, you decided to stick it to her with a lie about a butane bomb.
Objection.
Overruled.
HANK: I didn't lie! Mikey'd still be alive if she'd listened to us! But I didn't lie.
WELLER: No more questions.
CARLY: The Army thought they were dealing with some dumb coal cracker.
Now they're kissing my ass.
Wooo! Those Operation Molly weirdos gave me some money for clothes.
I went to this boutique today and look what I got.
Don't I look hot? And at this point, what did Carly do? She lifted her dress to show me a pair of silk panties, thong-type.
Thank you.
How many drinks had Carly had when this was recorded? VICKI: I wasn't counting.
But you were treating, and we have your credit card receipts.
Maybe eight or nine tequila sunrises.
Hmm.
And how many drinks had you had? One margarita.
You got her drunk, didn't you? You toyed with her like a marionette.
You planted ideas in her head.
I did not.
I just let her talk.
Isn't the reason you contacted her in the first place is because you thought she was guilty? VICKI: She fit a profile.
She only talked about her needs.
She's a narcissist.
You're quite the expert in criminal psychology.
Hey, have you ever heard of Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome? Uh, it's when people have a shock and it changes them.
A shock like almost being burned to death, and losing your child and husband.
Did that figure in your profile? No.
But the police had arrested somebody else and he didn't fit the profile.
The police had another suspect? JUDGE: Overruled.
The witness may respond.
Yes, this anti-war guy but he was into selling marijuana and hash which means his tendencies are non-violent.
And this is your professional opinion, hmm? As a hairdresser's assistant? Nothing further, Your Honor.
Weller's scoring points in there.
But I don't see her pulling it off unless she puts Carly on the stand.
Did we know Sherman dealt drugs? He was kicked out of college in Maryland for a drug-related offense, but the college sealed the record.
I need to talk to Narcotics.
I'm having flashbacks to one of my drug cases.
You have the cops drag my client out of bed, then you get me down here Has your client told you he used to deal hash oil in college? DEREK: I didn't Don't bother.
Our amateur crime-busters dug up three of your former customers from college.
Yeah, maybe he boosted a couple of CDs in high school.
What does this have to do with anything? Butane is used to extract hash oil from hashish.
You said, and I quote, "I don't know nothing about butane.
I don't even own a lighter.
" Look, I stopped dealing almost two years ago, okay? I threw away all the butane.
I swear, all I did was throw a brick! I supported dismissing the charges against Sherman because you couldn't link him to the explosive device.
Well, now we can.
We can only link him to butane.
We can link Carly to both butane and blasting caps thanks to her father-in-law.
Yeah, assuming he's not just trying to get even with her.
Do these look like the injuries of a mother who tried to save her baby from an inferno? That's not evidence.
You sound like Operation Molly.
Enough.
You two have a trial that reconvenes in 15 minutes.
Mr.
Sherman's adventures in drug-dealing are Brady material.
You have to tell Carly's lawyer about it.
WELLER: Now that Mr.
Sherman's admitted owning butane, that puts him back in play as a viable alternate theory of the crime.
I move, Your Honor, to reverse your prior ruling and allow me to present this to the jury.
He admitted owning butane two years ago.
It's hardly relevant.
I'm not sure I agree, Mr.
Cutter.
Fine, Your Honor, the People will stipulate that there was at one time another suspect in the case.
A stipulation isn't enough.
I want to call witnesses to pursue our theory that Derek Sherman threw that bomb.
Your Honor, please.
I'm going to give Ms.
Weller latitude here.
I'll need a few days, Your Honor.
Trial will resume next Monday.
I'm sorry for my behavior.
I just felt at the bottom of so much hurt.
I couldn't even say Mikey's name without Hey.
After Weller's finished putting Sherman on trial, the jury will never convict Carly.
What do you suggest we do? Dismiss against Carly and go after Sherman? Then his lawyer will use Carly as an alternate theory of the crime.
We could probably low ball a guilty plea out of Sherman.
A flip-flop like that Even I wouldn't vote for me.
Put me through to the Public Information Office.
Hi, Kate? This is Jack.
I'm going to be sending over a press release in an hour about the Army Recruitment Center bombing.
Thanks.
I'm sure you could strip the flesh off Carly's bones on cross.
She's traumatized.
You might be able to get her to say whatever you want.
And Sherman's looking at 50 years.
I don't doubt that we can ram a plea bargain down his throat now.
I'm declining to prosecute both Mrs.
Di Gravia and Mr.
Sherman because we can't say which one is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The fog of war is blinding us to the truth.
Better not to convict anyone than convict the wrong person.
I can see the headlines now.
"No Justice for Baby Mikey.
" You're going to take a lot of heat for this.
I can live with that.
(SIGHS) So can you.
(SIGHING)