Law & Order (1990) s24e18 Episode Script
Inherent Bias
1
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.
Cameron, you're having
a hell of a rookie season
number one draft pick,
second only to Caitlin Clark
in scoring, and after
the big win tonight,
made New York first in the division.
How do you feel?
I'm just so grateful to be here.
Shout out to my teammates
for always having my back.
I I couldn't think of a better
organization to be a part of.
- Cameron!
- Cameron!
Right here.
Any comment on the scuffle
between you and Nia Moore?
I don't waste my time
thinking about her.
My focus is on winning a championship.
It seems like you two
really don't like each other.
I have no comment on that.
Anyone have any
questions about the game?
Here, here.
When Moore threatened to,
and I quote, "end you"
- As I said, I have no comment.
- We're done here.
Thank you.
[REPORTERS SHOUTING]
Hey, you killed it tonight, girl.
- Get home safe.
- Yeah, you too.
- See you tomorrow.
- Yeah.
All right, that's it for me.
[LAUGHS]
- Hey.
- Hi!
Oh!
- Oh!
- Cameron!
Thanks for coming to the game!
Bye! Take care!
Hey! [LAUGHS]
[GUNSHOT]
- Shooter!
- What?
Shooter! [SCREAMING]
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
A single gunshot wound to the chest.
The killer used a 9 millimeter.
Jesus.
I mean, there must have been
a ton of witnesses down here.
Dozens. Problem is everyone
thought it was a mass shooter.
People started running and ducking.
But only one victim, right?
Yep, just her.
And the witnesses
couldn't give you anything?
Just that the shooter was
hooded up and wore a mask.
Good thing there's no
shortage of cameras in here.
Cameron Adler.
It's a hell of a player, man.
I mean, a real generational talent.
I didn't peg you as a WNBA fan.
Oh, my daughter's a huge fan of hers.
I mean, like, loves her.
We watch all the games together.
And the only time she's
not glued to her phone
is when Adler is on the court.
Speaking of which, did we
get her wallet and phone?
Yep. They were in her purse.
She had a hell of a game tonight.
Hit the winning shot.
At least she went out on top, huh?
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
So, uh, this is what we've got so far.
The shooter enters from the East Hall.
Do the cameras track
his movements after that?
Yeah, he, uh, went through
a maintenance hallway here.
And then through the laundry room.
And then out an employee entrance.
So whoever this was, he knew
exactly what he was doing.
Did the cameras pick him up
outside the stadium?
No, negative but my team
did find a matching hoodie
that was trampled on
just outside that entrance.
So he ditched the hoodie, and
he disappeared into the crowd?
- Yeah. Yeah.
- Smart.
And that hoodie, it was worn by, like,
half the people in attendance tonight.
- Has anyone threatened Adler?
- No. No, no, no.
We keep a list of known
and potential threats
to our players and coaches,
and none of them tried
to enter the arena tonight.
- And you're sure about that?
- Yeah, yeah.
Look, we use facial
recognition software.
This thing is state of the art.
So it scans every single face
and processes the biometric data
and matches that against our list.
So even if you're wearing
a disguise or something,
it'll know it's you.
So you have the biometric
data of everyone
who entered the stadium tonight?
Yeah, at the moment.
But the system does purge
any non-pertinent information
- after 24 hours.
- All right, well,
let's make sure
that doesn't happen tonight.
Recovered hoodie went to the crime lab,
but they haven't been able
to pull any DNA off of it.
What I don't understand is how somebody
could get a gun through
all those metal detectors
and bag checks.
Well, according to the security guy,
flu has been going around,
so they were short-handed.
But even so, with all the checkpoints,
it would be pretty difficult
for your average fan
to get access to the players' tunnel.
So that narrows it down.
Our killer's most likely an employee
or someone with a VIP pass?
Or a player.
Adler got into an altercation
with Nia Moore,
her rival on the
opposing team last night.
Yeah, I saw that.
I mean, that kind of thing
happens all the time.
Players get emotional.
Yeah, but this one owns a gun.
Three months ago,
Moore bought and registered
a 9 millimeter SIG Sauer.
I bought it for protection.
The league's got
a lot more fans these days,
but that also means a lot more creeps.
But I've never fired it,
and I would never kill Cam.
We were friends.
We all saw the fight the two
of you got in
during the game last night.
- It wasn't that big a deal.
- No?
You've been talking trash
about her for a while, right?
Saying that she was a joke,
that you were gonna kick her ass.
Come on, man. It was just talk.
Look, I get it.
I mean, the league was
built on the backs
of talented Black women like yourself.
And then these white girls
come along, right?
Cameron Adler, Caitlin Clark,
and they're instant superstars.
Everybody's saying they
put the league on the map.
And they're getting all the
endorsements and sponsorships.
Yeah, it's messed up.
You've gotta admit
there's something special
about her game, though, right?
Yeah, she's white.
But I hear you. Cam could play.
I had a lot of respect for her.
Really?
Just didn't look that way.
Come on.
It was a big game.
We're both really competitive,
and we got into it.
But that was it.
We even talked after the game
for a bit cleared the air.
Yeah, so she was good with that elbow
you threw at her face?
I wouldn't say she was good with it,
but she joked that
it was good for the game,
that it would get us
lots of media coverage.
Well, all the same,
where were you last night at 11:45 p.m.?
On the team bus back to the hotel.
I left right after the game.
The driver and the other girls
can back me up.
Would you be willing
to turn your gun into us
let us test it?
All right. Just one last thing then.
Do you know anyone who would
wanna hurt Cameron?
I know she got
into a huge fight yesterday
with her girlfriend, Rachelle.
Thank you very much.
I can't believe she's gone.
Listen, we heard you guys
got into a fight yesterday.
Yeah, but, um, it was nothing like
oh, God, you don't think
I would actually hurt Cam?
What was the fight about?
The last few weeks,
she's been playing up
this rivalry with Nia Moore.
Yeah, I noticed that.
I mean, I knew what
she was trying to do,
but I didn't like it.
How come?
The public has an inherent bias
white hero, Black villain.
Playing into that narrative
only stokes the flames.
It reinforces the racism.
So you two got into it over that?
I mean, I wanted her
to send a different message,
to let the people know
how supportive and inclusive
the league is, that it's
a safe space for all women,
regardless of race or sexuality.
But I would never, ever hurt Cam.
Still, I've gotta ask you.
Where were you last night at 11:45 p.m.?
At work.
I'm an associate
at a law firm at Skadden.
Late nights are part of the deal.
Can anyone confirm that?
Two other associates were there too.
I mean, you could ask them.
Okay. We will.
Thank you.
Adler's parents just landed from Texas.
Brady's gonna meet them.
I remember when we moved her
into this place.
She was just starting
her career, her life.
The whole world was ahead of her.
I'm very sorry for your loss.
Can I ask, when was the last time
you spoke to your daughter?
Day before yesterday.
We were very close.
Even though her life had
become so full and busy,
she never went more than
a few days without checking in.
And do you have any idea why
someone might wanna hurt her?
Or was she having problems with anybody?
No.
From what I could tell,
everyone loved her.
Wait. Greg.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Who's Greg?
Greg Dawson, Cameron's ex.
He was the last guy she dated before
Before she started dating Rachelle.
And how did that breakup go?
Not well. [PHONE BUZZES]
Yeah, but Greg still lives
back in Fort Worth.
He's a sports reporter
at our local TV station
Yes, but he's here to cover the game.
He was at the arena?
Cam told me he texted her
he was coming
wanted to see her.
She said he sounded like he
still wasn't over the breakup.
Okay.
Thank you. I'll check it out.
Greg Dawson?
NYPD, I'm Detective Riley.
I need to ask you some questions.
- About what?
- About Cameron Adler.
I have nothing to say about her.
Well, I know that you were supposed
to meet up with her yesterday,
and she blew you off, right?
Whatever. It was no big deal.
No big deal. Really?
I saw the texts you sent her, man.
You were pretty pissed off.
I mean, there were some slurs
in there I didn't think
people even used anymore.
- Whoa, whoa. What's your hurry?
- I have a flight to catch.
Yeah, that's not gonna happen, Greg.
- You don't understand.
- How about this?
How about we take a ride downtown
and you can explain it to me there?
Let's go.
I had nothing to do
with Cameron getting shot.
We know you were at
the Garden last night.
Your press pass gives you easy
access to the players' tunnel.
We've read your texts.
And we know that you were very angry.
Sending texts isn't illegal.
In some jurisdictions,
these could be hate crimes.
I'm not proud of that.
But I was frustrated.
Cam and I dated all through college.
Then she just breaks up
with me out of the blue.
And ever since she went public
with her new relationship,
it's been a nightmare.
People saying I turned her gay
that kind of thing.
The online trolling is
it's been rough.
So you're very angry?
Yeah.
Bad enough Cam was with a woman,
but that she was also
What? That she was also Black?
I'm not saying I care
about that kind of thing,
but where I come from,
a lot of people do.
You know, all I wanted was some clarity.
I wanted Cam to tell me
if I had done anything
Made her gay.
I just wanted to understand
what happened.
I wanted her to look me in the face,
- but she blew me off.
- And that was the last straw?
So after the game, you headed
down into the tunnel and
No, I confronted her
at her place before the game,
- but I didn't get the chance.
- Why not?
Just as I got there, she was coming out
of the apartment building
with some dude.
It looked like they were
in the middle of a fight.
They got in a car. They drove off.
But I wasn't about to
get into it at the arena.
I don't let my personal life
affect my work.
And I certainly would never kill anyone.
Where were you when she was shot?
I was at the hotel bar
getting drunk.
[DOOR CLICKS SHUT]
Hey. Dawson's alibi checks out.
Bartender said he was there
and very drunk.
What about the man he claims
to have seen Adler
arguing with that afternoon?
We pulled security footage
from the lobby
of Adler's building, and we found this.
Dude seems to be pretty pissed at her.
Do we know who he is?
We ran facial rec, but no hits.
♪
Well, that doesn't
look like a cab, so
look into Adler's
Uber and Lyft accounts.
If you can track down where they went,
maybe we can figure out
who our mystery man is.
According to her Uber account,
this is where they got dropped off.
What was she doing out here?
I don't know, man. A drug deal?
[CHUCKLES]
All right, you go this way,
I'll go that way?
- Yeah.
- All right.
♪
Yo, Jalen.
HS, the same symbol that was
on the back of her phone too.
♪
[WHISTLES]
- That's a lot of marijuana.
- Jesus, I was right.
- Can I help you?
- Yeah.
You know this man?
That's Bruce.
Yo, Bruce!
Thank you.
NYPD.
This is all legal and above board,
gentlemen. We've got a license.
Yeah, we're not here about that.
We have some questions
about Cameron Adler.
Oh.
[SIGHS]
I still can't wrap my head
around what happened. I just
What was your relationship to Ms. Adler?
I'm her business manager.
This is her company.
What's a top tier athlete
like Cameron Adler doing
starting a weed business?
Smart celebrities know the real money
isn't in endorsements.
It's in starting businesses.
Sure, but pot?
Seems a little off brand for Cameron.
Not really, not these days.
She tore her ACL in college,
started experimenting with cannabis.
It helped with the pain, the recovery.
Now that it's legal in New York
and the leagues are lifting their bans,
she saw an opportunity.
Please.
So things are good between you two?
Yeah, they were great.
Why?
It didn't look so great to me.
We were arguing about the business.
You're gonna have to give me
a little more than that.
She wanted to target athletes
for pain management,
but I wanted to go bigger.
With her appeal,
especially with white women,
we could make weed
the next pinot grigio.
Were you at the game two nights ago?
Yes. I left right after.
I was already on a train back to
Connecticut when Cam was shot.
All right, we'll check that out.
Cam was one of my closest friends,
and my ticket to getting rich.
This pot company alone would
have made us a fortune.
The last thing in the world
I'd wanna do is kill her.
But I know someone who did.
So apparently,
Adler started Highest Score
that's the name of her company
with this guy, Darius Cain,
who was her physical therapist
in college after she tore her ACL.
He's the one that got her
started on weed for the pain.
Nice of her to take him along.
Yeah, but he also added a lot of value.
He's the one who actually
secured the business license
for the marijuana.
The city actually only
gave out a limited number,
and they prioritize people
who have been unfairly punished
for weed offenses in the past.
- Like, as reparations?
- It's a start.
It sounds like the beginning of
a wonderful social experiment.
What went wrong?
His offenses weren't just for weed.
He actually was convicted of
aggravated assault and attempted murder.
And that did not jive with
Cameron's girl-next-door image,
so she bought him out
against his will last week.
Potentially cutting him out
of millions of dollars.
We know where this guy is?
We got an address from his PO.
Track him down.
I've gotta be honest.
I really hope this is not our guy.
What are you talking about?
Ah, Black felon kills
America's white sweetheart?
Not exactly what my people
need right now, or ever.
I get that.
Speak of the devil.
Darius Cain!
[TENSE MUSIC]
NYPD! Stop!
- Cut through!
- Got it!
♪
NYPD!
Do not move!
Do not move! You hear me?
Do not move! Turn around.
Hands behind your back.
Get up against the rail.
You see that?
He had a gun threw it in the water.
Darius Cain, you're under arrest.
The harbor unit says
the water is too cold
for the scuba team to do a proper sweep.
It might be days before
they can get in there.
You sure you saw Cain
throw a gun in there?
Positive.
We called his name. He ran.
He tossed it before we could get to him.
And you saw a 9 millimeter?
- I think so.
- What about you?
I definitely saw him throw something,
but Vince was ahead of me.
He had a better line of sight.
- Why? What's Cain saying?
- Nothing.
He lawyered up in, like, 10 seconds.
So without the murder weapon,
we don't have enough to charge him.
Why don't you guys get a search warrant,
go over, talk to security at the Garden,
and see if his face
got scanned that night.
Done.
In the charge of murder
in the second degree,
how does the defendant plead?
Not guilty, Your Honor.
I'll hear the State on bail.
Your Honor, the defendant
shot and killed Cameron Adler,
a beloved basketball player
and pillar of the community,
point blank in the chest as retribution
for being pushed out of one of
Ms. Adler's business ventures.
In addition to motive,
facial recognition
puts the defendant at the crime scene
and a search of his home
turned up a pair of jeans
with the victim's blood on them.
And when detectives
tried to question him,
he fled and tossed a gun
believed to be the murder weapon
into the East River.
Your Honor, given
the severity of the charge
and the defendant's criminal
history, we ask for remand.
Of course the prosecution would bring up
my client's criminal history.
That, along with the color of his skin,
is the only reason he stands
here before you today.
Darius Cain had nothing to do
with Cameron Adler's murder.
He's merely the victim
of a racially biased system,
a series of unlucky,
coincidental events,
and an overzealous DA's office
looking to give the public a scapegoat.
Make the ask, Mr. Lowell.
Well, given that the People's case
is ludicrously circumstantial,
the just thing would be to
dismiss the charge entirely.
Barring that,
we ask for a reasonable bail.
Request denied.
The defendant is hereby remanded.
Next case. [GAVEL BANGS]
Well, the defense is, obviously,
aiming to make this about race.
Or hoping to distract
the jury from the fact
that we have means,
motive, and opportunity.
Were police ever able to
recover the murder weapon?
Negative. Divers were
eventually able to search the area
where Cain tossed the gun in the water,
but, unfortunately,
it was over 48 hours later,
and they came up empty.
But Detective Riley
can testify to seeing him
throw it in the water.
But we can't prove the gun
Cain threw was the one
- used to kill Cameron Adler.
- Correct.
But we still have a strong case
with a strong motive
Adler pushed Cain out of
their new business venture
and he shot her to get revenge.
Okay.
Just do your best to make the case
with the evidence, not race.
Well, Cameron knew
he'd been in prison before,
but she was the kind of person who
always believed the best in people.
But I'm more pragmatic.
And it was my job to look out
for her best interests,
which is why I made sure
there was a provision
in the contract that gave her
the right to buy him out.
And did she exercise that right?
Yes, after I learned
about Mr. Cain's past
and that it wasn't
just minor drug charges
he'd been in trouble for.
And you shared this with Ms. Adler?
She finally listened to reason,
agreed that he wasn't someone
she should be associating with,
authorized me to pay him
the $200,000 he was owed,
and sever the relationship.
And how did the defendant take the news?
Well, he was furious.
He flew into a rage in my office.
He threw a vase at me.
I I had to get security
to escort him out.
When was this?
About a week before Cam was killed.
Thank you. No further questions.
Mr. Theobald, after this scene my client
threw in your office, did you
notice anything missing?
As a matter of fact, yes
an external hard drive that
had been sitting on my desk.
I guess he's a murderer and a thief.
You never approved of Ms. Adler
going into business
with my client, did you?
I had reservations
about his criminal past.
And as it turns out,
they were well-founded.
Yeah, you made up your mind about Darius
before you even met him, correct?
I just told Cam the truth.
Are you aware that both
his aggravated assault
and attempted murder charges
occurred in prison
after he was unfairly incarcerated
for possession of marijuana?
No, but I don't see what that
has to do with anything.
Surviving in prison requires
a certain level of brutality.
He was literally fighting for his life.
Objection, relevance.
I'm getting there, Your Honor.
Overruled. But get there fast.
You were the one who originally
pointed the police in my
client's direction, aren't you?
Yes.
And they came to you
because you were a suspect.
Because you and Cameron Adler
were seen arguing
on the day she was killed.
Yes. But I explained what happened.
It was much ado about nothing.
But that's not true.
Excuse me?
It was actually about something.
Something serious.
Cameron had spoken with Darius
and learned about the circumstances
surrounding his prior convictions,
and how you intentionally
mischaracterized them to her.
She was incensed
and was going to fire you.
That's what you are arguing
about the day she was murdered.
That's a lie! He's just making stuff up.
Objection.
This entire line of questioning
lacks foundation.
I'm merely asking
the witness a question.
He can answer yes or no.
Overruled.
Darius Cain had no motive
to kill Cameron Adler.
[TENSE MUSIC]
But you did, didn't you?
That's absurd.
And besides, I was nowhere near
the Garden when Cam was shot.
Of course not.
Because rich, white guys like
you in your expensive suits
you get someone else to do
the dirty work for you.
- Objection.
- Sustained.
Nothing further for this witness.
♪
Nolan!
I hear the defense lawyer
put on quite a show.
Sure did.
But it was just that, a show.
He had nothing to back up
his outlandish claims.
There's no evidence indicating
that Cameron Adler
planned to fire her business manager,
or that she wanted to stay
in business with the defendant.
Doesn't mean they haven't
created reasonable doubt.
No, no. We're okay.
The business manager
has a rock solid alibi,
and there's no proof whatsoever
that he hired some
what, some hit man?
It's absurd. And the jury will see that.
I hope so.
Cameron Adler was beloved in this city.
Her fans will wanna see
that justice is served.
And it will be. Trust me!
I do.
So the system scans the face of everyone
that enters the arena.
And then we enter those scans
into a database of persons
of interest that we have.
It's basically
the same way that your phone
knows it's you when you use
face ID to unlock it.
So we're able to scan the
photo of any potential suspects
and enter it in the system,
and use the AI software to
determine if their face
was scanned that night.
Did you run a photo of Darius Cain?
We did. It was a match.
But the defendant claims
that he never set foot
in the building that night.
No, he was there. He's lying.
Our system is 98.6% accurate
in its results.
No further questions.
Mr. Hennessy, are you aware
of the numerous studies
on facial recognition technology
and its inherent racial bias?
I am not.
Harvard University,
the University of Texas,
the American Civil Liberties Union,
"Scientific American,"
even the federal government
of the United States
may I, Your Honor
all commissioned studies that came to
the same disturbing conclusion
that facial rec technology routinely
fails to properly identify
people of color.
As far as I can tell,
none of these studies
were done on this
specific program we use.
And it looks like the latest
study was done in 2021.
Our system is state of the art.
It's brand new.
Yeah, but the problem these
studies identify are still present.
The programmers who create the
AI utilized by these programs
are largely white and unwittingly
impart their own inherent
biases into the code.
We've been using this
software for over a year,
and I have never once seen it
misidentify a person.
But you don't have
any actual video footage
of my client at Madison
Square Garden that night.
That doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
Even though you and the NYPD
haven't been able to find it.
Yes, that's true.
So the fact is you don't
have one single frame
that we can all look at
with our own eyes and say,
"There he is. There's Darius Cain,"
which means all we really have
is the assurance of
a racially biased algorithm
tasked with assessing its own accuracy.
[TENSE MUSIC]
Nothing further for this witness.
You may call your
next witness, Mr. Price.
As soon as we identified
ourselves as police,
he ran toward the water.
We pursued.
And just before we got to him,
he reached into his backpack
and tossed what appeared to be
a firearm into the river.
Could you see what kind of gun it was?
Hard to be 100% sure, but
it looked to me like a Glock,
maybe a SIG Sauer.
Whatever it was,
it looked like it was a 9 millimeter,
which is the same caliber
as the murder weapon.
After this, did you execute a
search of the defendant's home?
We did.
We found a pair of jeans
similar to the one the killer
was wearing in the security cam footage
with a few drops of blood on them.
And was that blood tested?
It was.
The crime lab confirmed that it was,
in fact, Cameron Adler's blood.
Thank you. Nothing further.
Detective,
there's no way for you to know
when that blood got on
my client's jeans, is there?
No.
And when it comes to you
seeing him toss the gun,
a man in your line of work
knows full well
just how unreliable
eyewitness testimony can be.
It was broad daylight, and I
was 20 feet away from the man.
Oh, even in situations
seemingly as clear as that,
people often misremember
or get the facts about
what they saw wrong, don't they?
Sure, but I'm not your
typical eyewitness.
I have extensive training in observing
and identifying threats,
particularly firearms.
Let's talk about threats.
In the course of your investigation,
did you look into the dozens of
people who made online threats
towards Cameron Adler because of
her interracial relationship?
- We did.
- Mm.
And it wasn't just racists,
but homophobes,
fans of rival basketball teams,
gamblers on the wrong side
of a sports bet.
A lot of people had publicly
threatened violence against her.
We did our due diligence,
and we determined that
none of them were credible suspects.
Oh, and you also decided
that Bruce Theobald
wasn't a credible suspect, even though,
as we've established, Ms. Adler
was planning on firing him.
Well, you claim that.
I don't know that we established it.
Our investigation was thorough.
And we didn't discover
anything that would implicate
Mr. Theobald in the murder.
Now, according to your own report,
412 arena employees were
scheduled to work that night,
but security footage showed
that 415 people
entered through the employee entrance.
But you were never able to determine
the identity of those
three additional persons.
- That's correct.
- One last question, Detective.
My client knew where
Cameron Adler lived,
where she worked out,
where her office was.
So why would he choose
to shoot her in the tunnel
of Madison Square Garden?
[TENSE MUSIC]
You'd have to ask him.
The point, Detective, is that
he didn't shoot Cameron Adler.
- Objection.
- Sustained.
Nothing further.
The prosecution rests, Your Honor.
Mr. Lowell?
The defense calls Darius Cain.
♪
When the city announced
the reparations program
for marijuana licenses,
I was so excited.
But I knew somebody with my record
wouldn't be able to raise enough capital
to actually launch a company.
And then along came Cameron.
Can you explain her role
in launching Highest Score?
The city can give out licenses, sure,
but there ain't no bank handing
out a loan to somebody like me.
But, Cam, she had my back
wanted to go into business with me.
How did Cameron's blood
get on your jeans?
Honestly, I don't know.
I've tried to figure it out,
but I I just don't know.
So did the two of you spend
a lot of time together?
Yeah.
I was her physical therapist, too,
so we were together all the time.
She must have gotten cut
at some point or something.
I don't know.
Darius, did you run from detectives
when they tried to question you?
Yeah, I did.
I was scared.
If you had nothing to do
with Cameron's murder,
what did you have to be scared of?
When Bruce Theobald and I
were talking about the buyout,
I saw a hard drive on his desk,
and I thought that it might
have documents on there
that could prove that
Highest Score was my idea.
So you took it?
Yeah. I'm not proud of it.
But this business
means everything to me.
So I threw the vase against the
wall to create a distraction,
and I snatched it.
So you thought that was what the police
were coming to talk to you about?
Yeah. I assumed Bruce reported me.
So that's what I threw into the water.
The hard drive. Not a gun.
♪
What's wrong?
I think he's telling the truth.
[SIGHS] Cain is telling the truth.
Uh, at least about not throwing
the gun in the river.
Why would you say that?
I was there I saw him toss
something metal
into the river, but it didn't have
a barrel, it didn't have a trigger.
It was flat, it was small,
it was rectangular
like an external hard drive.
Man, I don't understand.
You said before that you
didn't know what you saw.
Because I didn't know what I saw
until I heard Cain explain
about the hard drive.
And and you were positive
that you saw a gun that day.
I'm still positive.
Okay, well, why would Cain
wait until now to reveal that?
Exactly he's obviously lying.
It's possible his lawyer
told him not to say anything.
Mentioning the hard drive
would be admitting to a crime,
and divers never did find a gun.
Never found a hard drive, either.
Okay, but what are the chances
that he comes up with a lie
that perfectly matches with what I saw?
What about what I saw, man?
- You think I'm lying?
- Of course not.
I'm saying that maybe
you saw what you subconsciously thought
you were supposed to see.
So I was hallucinating?
No.
We knew certain things about Cain
when we approached him.
And maybe some of those things
might've caused your brain
to jump to certain conclusions.
Okay.
Like what?
Like his animosity towards Adler,
his, uh, his criminal record.
The fact that he was a Black man.
I mean, yeah.
Don't take that personal. Come on.
I'm not saying that
you're a racist, obviously.
- Uh-huh.
- What I'm saying
is that everybody has inherent biases.
It would be impossible not to.
Okay, okay, um,
is there any way that
what you saw was not a gun?
No, I am positive that I saw a gun.
I had a clear line of sight.
And I'm positive I did not see one.
Okay.
We need to notify the defense.
This doesn't have to be a thing, man.
Agreed.
We'll both just do what we have to do
and tell the truth as we know it.
They're both excellent detectives.
There's no way to know which
one's account is correct.
So what does this do to our case?
It doesn't help it. That's for sure.
The defense is gonna call Shaw
to rebut Riley's testimony,
to say the defendant
threw a hard drive
in the water, not a gun.
Which means you're gonna
have to cross-examine Shaw.
Yeah. It is what it is.
Isn't there a bigger question here?
I mean, what if Shaw is right?
And if he is,
that means there's a chance
we have the wrong guy.
Uh, I'm not so sure that's true, Sam.
The evidence is pretty substantial.
But it's all circumstantial.
And the defense has done a good job
of undermining each piece of it.
And if Cain wasn't actually disposing
of the murder weapon
Are you suggesting we plead
him out to a lesser charge?
- Or drop the charges.
- Look.
I agree the evidence is circumstantial,
but there's a lot of it.
The number of coincidences that
would have to have occurred
here for him to be innocent
It doesn't mean it's not possible.
It's obvious he's lying.
Well, it's obvious to you, maybe.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
If Cain didn't kill Adler, then who did?
Because the alternative suspects
the defense has offered up
aren't remotely credible.
It doesn't matter.
The burden's on us, not them.
Yeah, and we put on a good case.
If we knew Shaw disagreed
about Cain throwing a gun,
maybe we would have waited
for more evidence
before charging him,
but that ship has sailed.
Jeopardy has attached.
We drop the charges now,
he gets away with murder.
If you believe in the case
and the evidence, move forward.
At the end of the day,
it's up to the jury.
♪
Detective Shaw,
were you with Detective Riley
when you saw my client
throw something into the river?
Yes, sir, I was.
And did you see him throw a gun?
I don't believe so, no.
Could it have been
an external hard drive,
as Mr. Cain has asserted?
It's possible, yes.
How do you account for the disparity
between what you saw
and what your partner saw?
I'm not sure.
It all happened very quickly,
and in charged situations like this,
it's not uncommon for eyewitnesses,
including police officers,
who only see
bits and pieces of something,
to unconsciously fill in the gaps
and see what makes sense to them.
In other words, you believe
that Detective Riley
saw a gun because that's what
he expected to see,
and not because it was what Darius Cain
actually had in his hand?
That's correct. That's what I believe.
Thank you.
No further questions.
Detective.
If it's not uncommon for witnesses
to misidentify things
in these types of scenarios,
isn't it just as possible that
you're the one who has it wrong
here, not Detective Riley?
It's possible, but I think
the difference is that
you can't argue that my brain
was filling in gaps.
What I saw didn't even
make sense to me at the time.
Not just at the time
for quite a while.
In fact, you made no mention
of any of this
in your incident report,
and you only brought it up
midway through this trial.
Right, but I made it
very clear in my report
that Detective Riley
was the one who saw a gun.
But you didn't refute his account.
I wasn't confident at the time
that I understood exactly
what I had seen.
But you understand now?
I wouldn't be up here otherwise.
[SIGHS]
Detective Shaw, isn't it true
that you told your partner
you didn't want Darius Cain
to be guilty of this murder
because it would be bad
for the Black community?
[SIGHS]
[TENSE MUSIC]
Answer the question, Detective.
Yes. Yes, I said that.
But that was prior
to any of this happening,
and that was just me making
a personal observation.
And in no way did that sentiment
affect my objectivity as we
investigated him as a suspect.
Until right now, when you suddenly
remembered what you saw.
Again, it's not that I remembered.
It's what I finally understood.
Right.
No further questions.
♪
Hey. How'd it go?
"How'd it go?"
That's the question you wanna
ask me right now?
What? What's up?
What's up is you felt
the need to tell Price
that I didn't want Cain to be guilty?
Yeah.
Look, I wanted to give you
a heads up about that, man,
but you're a defense witness.
You know I can't talk
to you about that stuff.
I I don't need a warning, okay?
I'm not talking about that.
I'm talking about the fact
that you felt the need
to bring it up at all.
Price wanted to know
what happened that day.
He asked a lot of questions,
and I told the truth.
And you thought it was
important to tell him
an offhanded comment that I made to you,
- my partner, my friend.
- Whoa, whoa.
Look, slow down, man, okay?
I was doing my job.
Price wanted to know what kind of mood
you were in that day,
whether you were tired or not,
whether you'd been out
drinking the night before.
- You just don't get it, huh?
- Get what?
That I told the truth?
I mean, you did say that
you didn't want the guy to be guilty.
I did. I said that.
But that doesn't change what
I saw and what I didn't see.
And what I didn't see was a gun.
Exactly.
Look, inherent bias works
both ways, man.
I see what I see. You see what you see.
And like it or not, the jury
does have a right to know
what was on your mind that day.
Okay.
Look, I was doing my job, man.
And I am sure that I saw a gun.
And I'm sure I didn't.
Then it's up to the jury to decide.
And see, that right there,
that's the problem.
How is that the problem?
That jury is gonna take one look at me
and one look at you,
and who do you think
they're gonna side with?
♪
[SIGHS]
[ENGINE TURNS OVER]
Mr. Foreperson, has the jury
reached a verdict?
We have, Your Honor.
In the charge of murder
in the second degree,
we find the defendant,
Darius Cain, guilty.
What?
♪
No. This this can't be happening!
You've made a mistake.
No. Wait a minute.
No! I'm innocent!
I'm innocent! Please!
No, you can't do this!
You can't do this! No!
I'm innocent! Please!
Please! No!
Please!
No! [DOORS SLAM]
♪
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.
Cameron, you're having
a hell of a rookie season
number one draft pick,
second only to Caitlin Clark
in scoring, and after
the big win tonight,
made New York first in the division.
How do you feel?
I'm just so grateful to be here.
Shout out to my teammates
for always having my back.
I I couldn't think of a better
organization to be a part of.
- Cameron!
- Cameron!
Right here.
Any comment on the scuffle
between you and Nia Moore?
I don't waste my time
thinking about her.
My focus is on winning a championship.
It seems like you two
really don't like each other.
I have no comment on that.
Anyone have any
questions about the game?
Here, here.
When Moore threatened to,
and I quote, "end you"
- As I said, I have no comment.
- We're done here.
Thank you.
[REPORTERS SHOUTING]
Hey, you killed it tonight, girl.
- Get home safe.
- Yeah, you too.
- See you tomorrow.
- Yeah.
All right, that's it for me.
[LAUGHS]
- Hey.
- Hi!
Oh!
- Oh!
- Cameron!
Thanks for coming to the game!
Bye! Take care!
Hey! [LAUGHS]
[GUNSHOT]
- Shooter!
- What?
Shooter! [SCREAMING]
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
A single gunshot wound to the chest.
The killer used a 9 millimeter.
Jesus.
I mean, there must have been
a ton of witnesses down here.
Dozens. Problem is everyone
thought it was a mass shooter.
People started running and ducking.
But only one victim, right?
Yep, just her.
And the witnesses
couldn't give you anything?
Just that the shooter was
hooded up and wore a mask.
Good thing there's no
shortage of cameras in here.
Cameron Adler.
It's a hell of a player, man.
I mean, a real generational talent.
I didn't peg you as a WNBA fan.
Oh, my daughter's a huge fan of hers.
I mean, like, loves her.
We watch all the games together.
And the only time she's
not glued to her phone
is when Adler is on the court.
Speaking of which, did we
get her wallet and phone?
Yep. They were in her purse.
She had a hell of a game tonight.
Hit the winning shot.
At least she went out on top, huh?
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
So, uh, this is what we've got so far.
The shooter enters from the East Hall.
Do the cameras track
his movements after that?
Yeah, he, uh, went through
a maintenance hallway here.
And then through the laundry room.
And then out an employee entrance.
So whoever this was, he knew
exactly what he was doing.
Did the cameras pick him up
outside the stadium?
No, negative but my team
did find a matching hoodie
that was trampled on
just outside that entrance.
So he ditched the hoodie, and
he disappeared into the crowd?
- Yeah. Yeah.
- Smart.
And that hoodie, it was worn by, like,
half the people in attendance tonight.
- Has anyone threatened Adler?
- No. No, no, no.
We keep a list of known
and potential threats
to our players and coaches,
and none of them tried
to enter the arena tonight.
- And you're sure about that?
- Yeah, yeah.
Look, we use facial
recognition software.
This thing is state of the art.
So it scans every single face
and processes the biometric data
and matches that against our list.
So even if you're wearing
a disguise or something,
it'll know it's you.
So you have the biometric
data of everyone
who entered the stadium tonight?
Yeah, at the moment.
But the system does purge
any non-pertinent information
- after 24 hours.
- All right, well,
let's make sure
that doesn't happen tonight.
Recovered hoodie went to the crime lab,
but they haven't been able
to pull any DNA off of it.
What I don't understand is how somebody
could get a gun through
all those metal detectors
and bag checks.
Well, according to the security guy,
flu has been going around,
so they were short-handed.
But even so, with all the checkpoints,
it would be pretty difficult
for your average fan
to get access to the players' tunnel.
So that narrows it down.
Our killer's most likely an employee
or someone with a VIP pass?
Or a player.
Adler got into an altercation
with Nia Moore,
her rival on the
opposing team last night.
Yeah, I saw that.
I mean, that kind of thing
happens all the time.
Players get emotional.
Yeah, but this one owns a gun.
Three months ago,
Moore bought and registered
a 9 millimeter SIG Sauer.
I bought it for protection.
The league's got
a lot more fans these days,
but that also means a lot more creeps.
But I've never fired it,
and I would never kill Cam.
We were friends.
We all saw the fight the two
of you got in
during the game last night.
- It wasn't that big a deal.
- No?
You've been talking trash
about her for a while, right?
Saying that she was a joke,
that you were gonna kick her ass.
Come on, man. It was just talk.
Look, I get it.
I mean, the league was
built on the backs
of talented Black women like yourself.
And then these white girls
come along, right?
Cameron Adler, Caitlin Clark,
and they're instant superstars.
Everybody's saying they
put the league on the map.
And they're getting all the
endorsements and sponsorships.
Yeah, it's messed up.
You've gotta admit
there's something special
about her game, though, right?
Yeah, she's white.
But I hear you. Cam could play.
I had a lot of respect for her.
Really?
Just didn't look that way.
Come on.
It was a big game.
We're both really competitive,
and we got into it.
But that was it.
We even talked after the game
for a bit cleared the air.
Yeah, so she was good with that elbow
you threw at her face?
I wouldn't say she was good with it,
but she joked that
it was good for the game,
that it would get us
lots of media coverage.
Well, all the same,
where were you last night at 11:45 p.m.?
On the team bus back to the hotel.
I left right after the game.
The driver and the other girls
can back me up.
Would you be willing
to turn your gun into us
let us test it?
All right. Just one last thing then.
Do you know anyone who would
wanna hurt Cameron?
I know she got
into a huge fight yesterday
with her girlfriend, Rachelle.
Thank you very much.
I can't believe she's gone.
Listen, we heard you guys
got into a fight yesterday.
Yeah, but, um, it was nothing like
oh, God, you don't think
I would actually hurt Cam?
What was the fight about?
The last few weeks,
she's been playing up
this rivalry with Nia Moore.
Yeah, I noticed that.
I mean, I knew what
she was trying to do,
but I didn't like it.
How come?
The public has an inherent bias
white hero, Black villain.
Playing into that narrative
only stokes the flames.
It reinforces the racism.
So you two got into it over that?
I mean, I wanted her
to send a different message,
to let the people know
how supportive and inclusive
the league is, that it's
a safe space for all women,
regardless of race or sexuality.
But I would never, ever hurt Cam.
Still, I've gotta ask you.
Where were you last night at 11:45 p.m.?
At work.
I'm an associate
at a law firm at Skadden.
Late nights are part of the deal.
Can anyone confirm that?
Two other associates were there too.
I mean, you could ask them.
Okay. We will.
Thank you.
Adler's parents just landed from Texas.
Brady's gonna meet them.
I remember when we moved her
into this place.
She was just starting
her career, her life.
The whole world was ahead of her.
I'm very sorry for your loss.
Can I ask, when was the last time
you spoke to your daughter?
Day before yesterday.
We were very close.
Even though her life had
become so full and busy,
she never went more than
a few days without checking in.
And do you have any idea why
someone might wanna hurt her?
Or was she having problems with anybody?
No.
From what I could tell,
everyone loved her.
Wait. Greg.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Who's Greg?
Greg Dawson, Cameron's ex.
He was the last guy she dated before
Before she started dating Rachelle.
And how did that breakup go?
Not well. [PHONE BUZZES]
Yeah, but Greg still lives
back in Fort Worth.
He's a sports reporter
at our local TV station
Yes, but he's here to cover the game.
He was at the arena?
Cam told me he texted her
he was coming
wanted to see her.
She said he sounded like he
still wasn't over the breakup.
Okay.
Thank you. I'll check it out.
Greg Dawson?
NYPD, I'm Detective Riley.
I need to ask you some questions.
- About what?
- About Cameron Adler.
I have nothing to say about her.
Well, I know that you were supposed
to meet up with her yesterday,
and she blew you off, right?
Whatever. It was no big deal.
No big deal. Really?
I saw the texts you sent her, man.
You were pretty pissed off.
I mean, there were some slurs
in there I didn't think
people even used anymore.
- Whoa, whoa. What's your hurry?
- I have a flight to catch.
Yeah, that's not gonna happen, Greg.
- You don't understand.
- How about this?
How about we take a ride downtown
and you can explain it to me there?
Let's go.
I had nothing to do
with Cameron getting shot.
We know you were at
the Garden last night.
Your press pass gives you easy
access to the players' tunnel.
We've read your texts.
And we know that you were very angry.
Sending texts isn't illegal.
In some jurisdictions,
these could be hate crimes.
I'm not proud of that.
But I was frustrated.
Cam and I dated all through college.
Then she just breaks up
with me out of the blue.
And ever since she went public
with her new relationship,
it's been a nightmare.
People saying I turned her gay
that kind of thing.
The online trolling is
it's been rough.
So you're very angry?
Yeah.
Bad enough Cam was with a woman,
but that she was also
What? That she was also Black?
I'm not saying I care
about that kind of thing,
but where I come from,
a lot of people do.
You know, all I wanted was some clarity.
I wanted Cam to tell me
if I had done anything
Made her gay.
I just wanted to understand
what happened.
I wanted her to look me in the face,
- but she blew me off.
- And that was the last straw?
So after the game, you headed
down into the tunnel and
No, I confronted her
at her place before the game,
- but I didn't get the chance.
- Why not?
Just as I got there, she was coming out
of the apartment building
with some dude.
It looked like they were
in the middle of a fight.
They got in a car. They drove off.
But I wasn't about to
get into it at the arena.
I don't let my personal life
affect my work.
And I certainly would never kill anyone.
Where were you when she was shot?
I was at the hotel bar
getting drunk.
[DOOR CLICKS SHUT]
Hey. Dawson's alibi checks out.
Bartender said he was there
and very drunk.
What about the man he claims
to have seen Adler
arguing with that afternoon?
We pulled security footage
from the lobby
of Adler's building, and we found this.
Dude seems to be pretty pissed at her.
Do we know who he is?
We ran facial rec, but no hits.
♪
Well, that doesn't
look like a cab, so
look into Adler's
Uber and Lyft accounts.
If you can track down where they went,
maybe we can figure out
who our mystery man is.
According to her Uber account,
this is where they got dropped off.
What was she doing out here?
I don't know, man. A drug deal?
[CHUCKLES]
All right, you go this way,
I'll go that way?
- Yeah.
- All right.
♪
Yo, Jalen.
HS, the same symbol that was
on the back of her phone too.
♪
[WHISTLES]
- That's a lot of marijuana.
- Jesus, I was right.
- Can I help you?
- Yeah.
You know this man?
That's Bruce.
Yo, Bruce!
Thank you.
NYPD.
This is all legal and above board,
gentlemen. We've got a license.
Yeah, we're not here about that.
We have some questions
about Cameron Adler.
Oh.
[SIGHS]
I still can't wrap my head
around what happened. I just
What was your relationship to Ms. Adler?
I'm her business manager.
This is her company.
What's a top tier athlete
like Cameron Adler doing
starting a weed business?
Smart celebrities know the real money
isn't in endorsements.
It's in starting businesses.
Sure, but pot?
Seems a little off brand for Cameron.
Not really, not these days.
She tore her ACL in college,
started experimenting with cannabis.
It helped with the pain, the recovery.
Now that it's legal in New York
and the leagues are lifting their bans,
she saw an opportunity.
Please.
So things are good between you two?
Yeah, they were great.
Why?
It didn't look so great to me.
We were arguing about the business.
You're gonna have to give me
a little more than that.
She wanted to target athletes
for pain management,
but I wanted to go bigger.
With her appeal,
especially with white women,
we could make weed
the next pinot grigio.
Were you at the game two nights ago?
Yes. I left right after.
I was already on a train back to
Connecticut when Cam was shot.
All right, we'll check that out.
Cam was one of my closest friends,
and my ticket to getting rich.
This pot company alone would
have made us a fortune.
The last thing in the world
I'd wanna do is kill her.
But I know someone who did.
So apparently,
Adler started Highest Score
that's the name of her company
with this guy, Darius Cain,
who was her physical therapist
in college after she tore her ACL.
He's the one that got her
started on weed for the pain.
Nice of her to take him along.
Yeah, but he also added a lot of value.
He's the one who actually
secured the business license
for the marijuana.
The city actually only
gave out a limited number,
and they prioritize people
who have been unfairly punished
for weed offenses in the past.
- Like, as reparations?
- It's a start.
It sounds like the beginning of
a wonderful social experiment.
What went wrong?
His offenses weren't just for weed.
He actually was convicted of
aggravated assault and attempted murder.
And that did not jive with
Cameron's girl-next-door image,
so she bought him out
against his will last week.
Potentially cutting him out
of millions of dollars.
We know where this guy is?
We got an address from his PO.
Track him down.
I've gotta be honest.
I really hope this is not our guy.
What are you talking about?
Ah, Black felon kills
America's white sweetheart?
Not exactly what my people
need right now, or ever.
I get that.
Speak of the devil.
Darius Cain!
[TENSE MUSIC]
NYPD! Stop!
- Cut through!
- Got it!
♪
NYPD!
Do not move!
Do not move! You hear me?
Do not move! Turn around.
Hands behind your back.
Get up against the rail.
You see that?
He had a gun threw it in the water.
Darius Cain, you're under arrest.
The harbor unit says
the water is too cold
for the scuba team to do a proper sweep.
It might be days before
they can get in there.
You sure you saw Cain
throw a gun in there?
Positive.
We called his name. He ran.
He tossed it before we could get to him.
And you saw a 9 millimeter?
- I think so.
- What about you?
I definitely saw him throw something,
but Vince was ahead of me.
He had a better line of sight.
- Why? What's Cain saying?
- Nothing.
He lawyered up in, like, 10 seconds.
So without the murder weapon,
we don't have enough to charge him.
Why don't you guys get a search warrant,
go over, talk to security at the Garden,
and see if his face
got scanned that night.
Done.
In the charge of murder
in the second degree,
how does the defendant plead?
Not guilty, Your Honor.
I'll hear the State on bail.
Your Honor, the defendant
shot and killed Cameron Adler,
a beloved basketball player
and pillar of the community,
point blank in the chest as retribution
for being pushed out of one of
Ms. Adler's business ventures.
In addition to motive,
facial recognition
puts the defendant at the crime scene
and a search of his home
turned up a pair of jeans
with the victim's blood on them.
And when detectives
tried to question him,
he fled and tossed a gun
believed to be the murder weapon
into the East River.
Your Honor, given
the severity of the charge
and the defendant's criminal
history, we ask for remand.
Of course the prosecution would bring up
my client's criminal history.
That, along with the color of his skin,
is the only reason he stands
here before you today.
Darius Cain had nothing to do
with Cameron Adler's murder.
He's merely the victim
of a racially biased system,
a series of unlucky,
coincidental events,
and an overzealous DA's office
looking to give the public a scapegoat.
Make the ask, Mr. Lowell.
Well, given that the People's case
is ludicrously circumstantial,
the just thing would be to
dismiss the charge entirely.
Barring that,
we ask for a reasonable bail.
Request denied.
The defendant is hereby remanded.
Next case. [GAVEL BANGS]
Well, the defense is, obviously,
aiming to make this about race.
Or hoping to distract
the jury from the fact
that we have means,
motive, and opportunity.
Were police ever able to
recover the murder weapon?
Negative. Divers were
eventually able to search the area
where Cain tossed the gun in the water,
but, unfortunately,
it was over 48 hours later,
and they came up empty.
But Detective Riley
can testify to seeing him
throw it in the water.
But we can't prove the gun
Cain threw was the one
- used to kill Cameron Adler.
- Correct.
But we still have a strong case
with a strong motive
Adler pushed Cain out of
their new business venture
and he shot her to get revenge.
Okay.
Just do your best to make the case
with the evidence, not race.
Well, Cameron knew
he'd been in prison before,
but she was the kind of person who
always believed the best in people.
But I'm more pragmatic.
And it was my job to look out
for her best interests,
which is why I made sure
there was a provision
in the contract that gave her
the right to buy him out.
And did she exercise that right?
Yes, after I learned
about Mr. Cain's past
and that it wasn't
just minor drug charges
he'd been in trouble for.
And you shared this with Ms. Adler?
She finally listened to reason,
agreed that he wasn't someone
she should be associating with,
authorized me to pay him
the $200,000 he was owed,
and sever the relationship.
And how did the defendant take the news?
Well, he was furious.
He flew into a rage in my office.
He threw a vase at me.
I I had to get security
to escort him out.
When was this?
About a week before Cam was killed.
Thank you. No further questions.
Mr. Theobald, after this scene my client
threw in your office, did you
notice anything missing?
As a matter of fact, yes
an external hard drive that
had been sitting on my desk.
I guess he's a murderer and a thief.
You never approved of Ms. Adler
going into business
with my client, did you?
I had reservations
about his criminal past.
And as it turns out,
they were well-founded.
Yeah, you made up your mind about Darius
before you even met him, correct?
I just told Cam the truth.
Are you aware that both
his aggravated assault
and attempted murder charges
occurred in prison
after he was unfairly incarcerated
for possession of marijuana?
No, but I don't see what that
has to do with anything.
Surviving in prison requires
a certain level of brutality.
He was literally fighting for his life.
Objection, relevance.
I'm getting there, Your Honor.
Overruled. But get there fast.
You were the one who originally
pointed the police in my
client's direction, aren't you?
Yes.
And they came to you
because you were a suspect.
Because you and Cameron Adler
were seen arguing
on the day she was killed.
Yes. But I explained what happened.
It was much ado about nothing.
But that's not true.
Excuse me?
It was actually about something.
Something serious.
Cameron had spoken with Darius
and learned about the circumstances
surrounding his prior convictions,
and how you intentionally
mischaracterized them to her.
She was incensed
and was going to fire you.
That's what you are arguing
about the day she was murdered.
That's a lie! He's just making stuff up.
Objection.
This entire line of questioning
lacks foundation.
I'm merely asking
the witness a question.
He can answer yes or no.
Overruled.
Darius Cain had no motive
to kill Cameron Adler.
[TENSE MUSIC]
But you did, didn't you?
That's absurd.
And besides, I was nowhere near
the Garden when Cam was shot.
Of course not.
Because rich, white guys like
you in your expensive suits
you get someone else to do
the dirty work for you.
- Objection.
- Sustained.
Nothing further for this witness.
♪
Nolan!
I hear the defense lawyer
put on quite a show.
Sure did.
But it was just that, a show.
He had nothing to back up
his outlandish claims.
There's no evidence indicating
that Cameron Adler
planned to fire her business manager,
or that she wanted to stay
in business with the defendant.
Doesn't mean they haven't
created reasonable doubt.
No, no. We're okay.
The business manager
has a rock solid alibi,
and there's no proof whatsoever
that he hired some
what, some hit man?
It's absurd. And the jury will see that.
I hope so.
Cameron Adler was beloved in this city.
Her fans will wanna see
that justice is served.
And it will be. Trust me!
I do.
So the system scans the face of everyone
that enters the arena.
And then we enter those scans
into a database of persons
of interest that we have.
It's basically
the same way that your phone
knows it's you when you use
face ID to unlock it.
So we're able to scan the
photo of any potential suspects
and enter it in the system,
and use the AI software to
determine if their face
was scanned that night.
Did you run a photo of Darius Cain?
We did. It was a match.
But the defendant claims
that he never set foot
in the building that night.
No, he was there. He's lying.
Our system is 98.6% accurate
in its results.
No further questions.
Mr. Hennessy, are you aware
of the numerous studies
on facial recognition technology
and its inherent racial bias?
I am not.
Harvard University,
the University of Texas,
the American Civil Liberties Union,
"Scientific American,"
even the federal government
of the United States
may I, Your Honor
all commissioned studies that came to
the same disturbing conclusion
that facial rec technology routinely
fails to properly identify
people of color.
As far as I can tell,
none of these studies
were done on this
specific program we use.
And it looks like the latest
study was done in 2021.
Our system is state of the art.
It's brand new.
Yeah, but the problem these
studies identify are still present.
The programmers who create the
AI utilized by these programs
are largely white and unwittingly
impart their own inherent
biases into the code.
We've been using this
software for over a year,
and I have never once seen it
misidentify a person.
But you don't have
any actual video footage
of my client at Madison
Square Garden that night.
That doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
Even though you and the NYPD
haven't been able to find it.
Yes, that's true.
So the fact is you don't
have one single frame
that we can all look at
with our own eyes and say,
"There he is. There's Darius Cain,"
which means all we really have
is the assurance of
a racially biased algorithm
tasked with assessing its own accuracy.
[TENSE MUSIC]
Nothing further for this witness.
You may call your
next witness, Mr. Price.
As soon as we identified
ourselves as police,
he ran toward the water.
We pursued.
And just before we got to him,
he reached into his backpack
and tossed what appeared to be
a firearm into the river.
Could you see what kind of gun it was?
Hard to be 100% sure, but
it looked to me like a Glock,
maybe a SIG Sauer.
Whatever it was,
it looked like it was a 9 millimeter,
which is the same caliber
as the murder weapon.
After this, did you execute a
search of the defendant's home?
We did.
We found a pair of jeans
similar to the one the killer
was wearing in the security cam footage
with a few drops of blood on them.
And was that blood tested?
It was.
The crime lab confirmed that it was,
in fact, Cameron Adler's blood.
Thank you. Nothing further.
Detective,
there's no way for you to know
when that blood got on
my client's jeans, is there?
No.
And when it comes to you
seeing him toss the gun,
a man in your line of work
knows full well
just how unreliable
eyewitness testimony can be.
It was broad daylight, and I
was 20 feet away from the man.
Oh, even in situations
seemingly as clear as that,
people often misremember
or get the facts about
what they saw wrong, don't they?
Sure, but I'm not your
typical eyewitness.
I have extensive training in observing
and identifying threats,
particularly firearms.
Let's talk about threats.
In the course of your investigation,
did you look into the dozens of
people who made online threats
towards Cameron Adler because of
her interracial relationship?
- We did.
- Mm.
And it wasn't just racists,
but homophobes,
fans of rival basketball teams,
gamblers on the wrong side
of a sports bet.
A lot of people had publicly
threatened violence against her.
We did our due diligence,
and we determined that
none of them were credible suspects.
Oh, and you also decided
that Bruce Theobald
wasn't a credible suspect, even though,
as we've established, Ms. Adler
was planning on firing him.
Well, you claim that.
I don't know that we established it.
Our investigation was thorough.
And we didn't discover
anything that would implicate
Mr. Theobald in the murder.
Now, according to your own report,
412 arena employees were
scheduled to work that night,
but security footage showed
that 415 people
entered through the employee entrance.
But you were never able to determine
the identity of those
three additional persons.
- That's correct.
- One last question, Detective.
My client knew where
Cameron Adler lived,
where she worked out,
where her office was.
So why would he choose
to shoot her in the tunnel
of Madison Square Garden?
[TENSE MUSIC]
You'd have to ask him.
The point, Detective, is that
he didn't shoot Cameron Adler.
- Objection.
- Sustained.
Nothing further.
The prosecution rests, Your Honor.
Mr. Lowell?
The defense calls Darius Cain.
♪
When the city announced
the reparations program
for marijuana licenses,
I was so excited.
But I knew somebody with my record
wouldn't be able to raise enough capital
to actually launch a company.
And then along came Cameron.
Can you explain her role
in launching Highest Score?
The city can give out licenses, sure,
but there ain't no bank handing
out a loan to somebody like me.
But, Cam, she had my back
wanted to go into business with me.
How did Cameron's blood
get on your jeans?
Honestly, I don't know.
I've tried to figure it out,
but I I just don't know.
So did the two of you spend
a lot of time together?
Yeah.
I was her physical therapist, too,
so we were together all the time.
She must have gotten cut
at some point or something.
I don't know.
Darius, did you run from detectives
when they tried to question you?
Yeah, I did.
I was scared.
If you had nothing to do
with Cameron's murder,
what did you have to be scared of?
When Bruce Theobald and I
were talking about the buyout,
I saw a hard drive on his desk,
and I thought that it might
have documents on there
that could prove that
Highest Score was my idea.
So you took it?
Yeah. I'm not proud of it.
But this business
means everything to me.
So I threw the vase against the
wall to create a distraction,
and I snatched it.
So you thought that was what the police
were coming to talk to you about?
Yeah. I assumed Bruce reported me.
So that's what I threw into the water.
The hard drive. Not a gun.
♪
What's wrong?
I think he's telling the truth.
[SIGHS] Cain is telling the truth.
Uh, at least about not throwing
the gun in the river.
Why would you say that?
I was there I saw him toss
something metal
into the river, but it didn't have
a barrel, it didn't have a trigger.
It was flat, it was small,
it was rectangular
like an external hard drive.
Man, I don't understand.
You said before that you
didn't know what you saw.
Because I didn't know what I saw
until I heard Cain explain
about the hard drive.
And and you were positive
that you saw a gun that day.
I'm still positive.
Okay, well, why would Cain
wait until now to reveal that?
Exactly he's obviously lying.
It's possible his lawyer
told him not to say anything.
Mentioning the hard drive
would be admitting to a crime,
and divers never did find a gun.
Never found a hard drive, either.
Okay, but what are the chances
that he comes up with a lie
that perfectly matches with what I saw?
What about what I saw, man?
- You think I'm lying?
- Of course not.
I'm saying that maybe
you saw what you subconsciously thought
you were supposed to see.
So I was hallucinating?
No.
We knew certain things about Cain
when we approached him.
And maybe some of those things
might've caused your brain
to jump to certain conclusions.
Okay.
Like what?
Like his animosity towards Adler,
his, uh, his criminal record.
The fact that he was a Black man.
I mean, yeah.
Don't take that personal. Come on.
I'm not saying that
you're a racist, obviously.
- Uh-huh.
- What I'm saying
is that everybody has inherent biases.
It would be impossible not to.
Okay, okay, um,
is there any way that
what you saw was not a gun?
No, I am positive that I saw a gun.
I had a clear line of sight.
And I'm positive I did not see one.
Okay.
We need to notify the defense.
This doesn't have to be a thing, man.
Agreed.
We'll both just do what we have to do
and tell the truth as we know it.
They're both excellent detectives.
There's no way to know which
one's account is correct.
So what does this do to our case?
It doesn't help it. That's for sure.
The defense is gonna call Shaw
to rebut Riley's testimony,
to say the defendant
threw a hard drive
in the water, not a gun.
Which means you're gonna
have to cross-examine Shaw.
Yeah. It is what it is.
Isn't there a bigger question here?
I mean, what if Shaw is right?
And if he is,
that means there's a chance
we have the wrong guy.
Uh, I'm not so sure that's true, Sam.
The evidence is pretty substantial.
But it's all circumstantial.
And the defense has done a good job
of undermining each piece of it.
And if Cain wasn't actually disposing
of the murder weapon
Are you suggesting we plead
him out to a lesser charge?
- Or drop the charges.
- Look.
I agree the evidence is circumstantial,
but there's a lot of it.
The number of coincidences that
would have to have occurred
here for him to be innocent
It doesn't mean it's not possible.
It's obvious he's lying.
Well, it's obvious to you, maybe.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
If Cain didn't kill Adler, then who did?
Because the alternative suspects
the defense has offered up
aren't remotely credible.
It doesn't matter.
The burden's on us, not them.
Yeah, and we put on a good case.
If we knew Shaw disagreed
about Cain throwing a gun,
maybe we would have waited
for more evidence
before charging him,
but that ship has sailed.
Jeopardy has attached.
We drop the charges now,
he gets away with murder.
If you believe in the case
and the evidence, move forward.
At the end of the day,
it's up to the jury.
♪
Detective Shaw,
were you with Detective Riley
when you saw my client
throw something into the river?
Yes, sir, I was.
And did you see him throw a gun?
I don't believe so, no.
Could it have been
an external hard drive,
as Mr. Cain has asserted?
It's possible, yes.
How do you account for the disparity
between what you saw
and what your partner saw?
I'm not sure.
It all happened very quickly,
and in charged situations like this,
it's not uncommon for eyewitnesses,
including police officers,
who only see
bits and pieces of something,
to unconsciously fill in the gaps
and see what makes sense to them.
In other words, you believe
that Detective Riley
saw a gun because that's what
he expected to see,
and not because it was what Darius Cain
actually had in his hand?
That's correct. That's what I believe.
Thank you.
No further questions.
Detective.
If it's not uncommon for witnesses
to misidentify things
in these types of scenarios,
isn't it just as possible that
you're the one who has it wrong
here, not Detective Riley?
It's possible, but I think
the difference is that
you can't argue that my brain
was filling in gaps.
What I saw didn't even
make sense to me at the time.
Not just at the time
for quite a while.
In fact, you made no mention
of any of this
in your incident report,
and you only brought it up
midway through this trial.
Right, but I made it
very clear in my report
that Detective Riley
was the one who saw a gun.
But you didn't refute his account.
I wasn't confident at the time
that I understood exactly
what I had seen.
But you understand now?
I wouldn't be up here otherwise.
[SIGHS]
Detective Shaw, isn't it true
that you told your partner
you didn't want Darius Cain
to be guilty of this murder
because it would be bad
for the Black community?
[SIGHS]
[TENSE MUSIC]
Answer the question, Detective.
Yes. Yes, I said that.
But that was prior
to any of this happening,
and that was just me making
a personal observation.
And in no way did that sentiment
affect my objectivity as we
investigated him as a suspect.
Until right now, when you suddenly
remembered what you saw.
Again, it's not that I remembered.
It's what I finally understood.
Right.
No further questions.
♪
Hey. How'd it go?
"How'd it go?"
That's the question you wanna
ask me right now?
What? What's up?
What's up is you felt
the need to tell Price
that I didn't want Cain to be guilty?
Yeah.
Look, I wanted to give you
a heads up about that, man,
but you're a defense witness.
You know I can't talk
to you about that stuff.
I I don't need a warning, okay?
I'm not talking about that.
I'm talking about the fact
that you felt the need
to bring it up at all.
Price wanted to know
what happened that day.
He asked a lot of questions,
and I told the truth.
And you thought it was
important to tell him
an offhanded comment that I made to you,
- my partner, my friend.
- Whoa, whoa.
Look, slow down, man, okay?
I was doing my job.
Price wanted to know what kind of mood
you were in that day,
whether you were tired or not,
whether you'd been out
drinking the night before.
- You just don't get it, huh?
- Get what?
That I told the truth?
I mean, you did say that
you didn't want the guy to be guilty.
I did. I said that.
But that doesn't change what
I saw and what I didn't see.
And what I didn't see was a gun.
Exactly.
Look, inherent bias works
both ways, man.
I see what I see. You see what you see.
And like it or not, the jury
does have a right to know
what was on your mind that day.
Okay.
Look, I was doing my job, man.
And I am sure that I saw a gun.
And I'm sure I didn't.
Then it's up to the jury to decide.
And see, that right there,
that's the problem.
How is that the problem?
That jury is gonna take one look at me
and one look at you,
and who do you think
they're gonna side with?
♪
[SIGHS]
[ENGINE TURNS OVER]
Mr. Foreperson, has the jury
reached a verdict?
We have, Your Honor.
In the charge of murder
in the second degree,
we find the defendant,
Darius Cain, guilty.
What?
♪
No. This this can't be happening!
You've made a mistake.
No. Wait a minute.
No! I'm innocent!
I'm innocent! Please!
No, you can't do this!
You can't do this! No!
I'm innocent! Please!
Please! No!
Please!
No! [DOORS SLAM]
♪