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.
Aw! Dogs.
My daughter wants a golden retriever.
(LAUGHS) Maybe a stuffed one.
(GUNSHOT)
That a gun?
(DOG BARKING)
(BIRDS CAWING)
A lady and a man! Somebody shot them!
QUINTANA: Parks Department guys are pretty sure they only heard one shot.
Why all the troops up here?
There's her shield. Must've been off duty.
Who put out the 10-13?
Does it matter?
Well, call it off. She doesn't need an audience.
Name's Dana Flynn. EMS pronounced her. Stabbed six or seven times.
The call said there were two DOAs.
The second victim isn't dead. He's male Hispanic, early 20s.
One shot to the head. He's at Columbia.
She was stabbed and he was shot?
Well...
QUINTANA: There are your weapons.
CURTIS: Nine millimeter.
Looks like department issue.
So she got off one round. Good for her.
All right, make yourselves useful.
I want a full canvass of the park.
We lost one of ours.
Kid jumps Flynn, she badges him,
he starts to stab her, she shoots him.
Maybe he'll kick, and save everybody the trouble.
(BREATHING HEAVILY) A robbery? In the middle of the day?
That's what we think.
Your wife did manage to get out her service automatic
and fire off a shot, and nail the guy.
Dead?
CURTIS: In critical.
FLYNN: Who is he?
Jesse Rosado. Early 20s.
You or your wife know him?
We don't know anybody like that.
Well, (CLEARING THROAT) here's an inventory
of your wife's personal effects.
Now, if anything's missing...
Where's her crucifix?
The necklace I gave her. She never takes it off.
Perp's still unconscious. Doctors say touch and go.
We ran his sheet. A couple of juvie arrests for robbery,
but nothing in the past five or six years.
Back to his old habits?
Tough to figure. We notified his family.
Guy has a job, a steady girlfriend.
Maybe the job doesn't pay for roller-blades.
A cop was killed for a pair of skates?
BRISCOE: There's missing jewelry.
Husband says Flynn always wore a gold crucifix.
Nothing in Rosado's pockets (PHONE RINGING)
except chewing gum and a bus transfer.
Van Buren.
Thanks.
BRISCOE: What's up?
Judge dismissed my case.
Sorry to hear that.
What are you going to do?
Appeal.
So what are you waiting for?
I knew Dana from the Academy. She was a good kid.
You two work together?
We pulled different assignments after we graduated.
Always talked about transferring to the same precinct.
CURTIS: Were you together on Monday?
Tried to get the same days off.
We worked out together, then Dana wanted me to take the bus,
go skating with her in the park.
If I'd only been with her.
Well, whoever killed her might have killed you, too.
Word is you caught the guy.
We think it's him.
We can't find the necklace Dana usually wore.
The gold cross? I think she lost it in the gym.
Dana always took it off before we went in the steam room.
When I left, she was still looking for it.
So we don't know for sure whether she left the gym
with the necklace on.
Come on, Loo, coma boy's on top of her, she's got a knife in her gut.
Which has no prints.
Rosado wore gloves. Forensics has Flynn's blood all over his pants.
They'll argue we have a suspect out there with the robbery proceeds.
Look, nail it down.
If Rosado had an accomplice, someone out there saw them together.
That bus transfer in Rosado's pocket.
The M5.
Bus driver says you're a regular.
I start work at 6:00 a.m. I take the M5 home every afternoon.
You see these people on the bus?
She's the dead officer? I don't recognize her.
Him neither.
You remember anybody from the bus?
Just the people I was sitting next to.
The old man who kept falling asleep and laying his head on my shoulder.
The girl with the loud music, she got off at 110th.
What she look like?
White girl, ring in her nose.
She had a barbed wire tattoo on her neck,
and a leather jacket, I think.
Anything else?
I asked her what kind of music she was listening to.
It was one of those homemade tapes, DJ Freaky Techno Mix.
Had a good beat.
All right, thanks.
Tattoo girl could be a witness.
And a member of the DJ Freaky fan club.
BRISCOE: DJ Freaky?
Over there.
Him? Mr. Freaky.
Am I that easy to find?
Music critic at the Ludlow Voice said here, or at the compound.
BRISCOE: Actually, we're looking for one of your fans.
I can't help you.
Fine. We'll just take a couple of your tapes,
see whose samples you're stealing.
What's he look like?
She. Blue-streaked hair, eyebrow ring...
Sounds like a lot of girls.
BRISCOE: She wears a leather jacket.
Tattoo on her neck.
She bought one of your tapes, the techno mix.
Monica.
CURTIS: Where can we find her?
Come back tonight, I spin a rave here.
Monica usually gets greased in.
I take it you got all that.
(TECHNO MUSIC PLAYING)
A few quick questions, and you're back with your friends.
How am I gonna get back in?
Try paying this time.
You dragged me out. You pay.
Monday afternoon, Monica. You were on the M5 uptown.
I don't take the bus.
Somebody we talked to says you do.
Hey, we can always talk about this down at the precinct.
(CLICKING TONGUE)
I forgot. I went to a store on Broadway and 108th.
They got cool shoes.
That lady cop who got killed, she was on your bus.
Maybe you saw something?
A cop got killed?
You see her on your bus?
Oh, yeah. She got off at my stop.
BRISCOE: Anybody else get off?
(SIGHING) Yeah. There was this Spanish guy with a North Face jacket.
This him?
I think so.
Yeah. He got off, followed her right down the stairs into the park.
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
Give me your name, address, and phone number.
Curtis. Yeah. What's up?
"Monica Summers"?
Yeah.
CURTIS: Yeah. Can I go now?
Bye.
Rosado just came to.
My client has no memory of what happened.
There's a surprise.
If it's going to be this way, you can just turn around.
He'll talk to us?
WILLIS: You up for it, Jesse?
Yeah, it's okay.
What happened, Mr. Rosado?
They say I got shot robbing a cop.
I don't remember it.
What do you remember?
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
I took the bus uptown, got off at 110,
saw the bus coming,
then nothing.
So the last thing you remember is waiting for the crosstown?
Yeah, I swear.
That's enough for now.
We're gonna need a fuller interview.
Maybe in a day or two.
So, he was waiting across the street. It's a possible alibi.
He was there, Rey.
Let's talk to the crosstown driver.
I tell you why I remember the man.
Riverside's my first stop on the West Side.
He was waiting there, I pulled over...
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
Suddenly he turns and starts running.
Curtis. Hold on. Detective Mallory, Brooklyn Narcotics.
Yeah? So where was he running to?
Toward the park. Like something caught his attention.
Did you hear anything?
No. My bus is pretty loud.
So what did you do?
Closed up. Kept on going.
I got a schedule.
All right, thanks.
Everything okay, Lennie?
Yeah, fine. What did I miss?
Well, he corroborates Rosado. Puts him at the crosstown bus stop.
Rosado hears something, bolts into the park.
Well, didn't the girl say he shadowed Flynn down the stairs?
The girl lied. She killed Flynn. Rosado tried to stop her.
(BUS ENGINE STARTING)
Well, about six months ago,
Maimonides Hospital noticed some script drugs
wandering away from their dispensary.
So, we sent in one of our undercovers as a nurse's aide.
How much did she sell?
Six hundred units of Demerol, 200 of Dilaudid, and another 200 of Dexedrine.
That's B felony weight. She could walk away with probation.
D.A. on the case is a true believer.
Already spoke to her about flipping on the guy she supplies.
Danny Jones.
Can I talk to her alone? Yeah. Sure thing.
Lennie, look, she might have some kind of problem herself.
Oh! Your weapon.
(DOOR LOCK CLANGING)
(PEOPLE CHATTERING DISTANTLY)
What are you doing here?
Detective Mallory called me.
I don't need you here, Dad. I called a lawyer.
(SIGHING) Hey, Cath, I want to help.
Did anybody call Martin?
We broke up about eight months ago.
Yep. (CHUCKLES) It's been a while. I'm sorry.
Are you on this stuff? What are you taking?
(SIGHING) Speed, okay. I'm not shooting it.
We can get you help for that.
(SCOFFS)
So, you already talked to the D.A., right?
They want to get this guy Danny.
They said I'd do jail time if I don't help.
Believe me, you're not going to jail.
I can't rat on this guy, Dad. He'll come after me.
I'll talk to the D.A.
Don't worry, honey. It's all gonna be all right.
"Monica Johnson, a.k.a. Monica Summers, a.k.a. Crystal Summers."
"And nine arrests. Assault, attempted robbery, disorderly conduct."
We haven't even seen her juvie sheet.
How old's this girl?
Depends at what birth date you're looking at.
Mean statistical average makes her 19.
You run down her addresses?
Profaci did. Most of them are fictional.
What about that shoe store she mentioned on 108th?
Check it out.
Hey, Lennie, how's your daughter? Cathy?
(SIGHS) She got herself jammed up real good.
You wouldn't happen to know an A.D.A. named Kreiger over in Brooklyn?
Ugh. I know the name.
Look, if you need any time...
Thanks.
(SIGHS)
CURTIS: Do you remember this girl?
Oh, yeah. She rob someone?
Well, something like that.
I'm not surprised.
She told us that she was in here Monday afternoon.
We're closed Mondays.
She a regular customer?
She's been in here a few times.
I wouldn't call her a customer.
Window shopper?
More like a tryer-oner.
The one time she bought a pair of boots,
her boyfriend returned them an hour later.
You have his name and address on the store credit?
I refunded cash 'cause I like the guy.
Isaac from Carmel Hardware, down the block.
Trouble looking for Monica. What else is new?
I mean, we broke up a couple of weeks ago.
You're not giving us the rope-a-dope?
Believe me, I wish I could find her.
We talking about the same Monica?
Well, she's a pretty messed up girl.
Sounds like you feel sorry for her.
Her mother was a doper, just split one day.
Her father took it out on her.
She gets sucked in by gorillas.
One guy broke her front teeth. She wears a plate, you know.
And you never lay a hand on her, huh?
ISAAC: I tried to teach her about respect.
Respect me, respect yourself.
No drugs. No alcohol.
So why did you two split up?
Couple of weeks ago, my brother comes by,
rags on her, tells me I should dump her.
She heard the whole thing from the bedroom.
Next day, she's gone.
So is the $400 in my drawer.
She back on drugs?
I don't know.
When a few of her old friends came by looking for her,
she ripped them off, too.
On top of all her other accomplishments, Monica gets around.
Broken up with Isaac two weeks, she's got a new boyfriend.
Things don't work out, sometimes
you go back to the devil you know.
How about an old boyfriend?
She was arrested a few times with a Louis Salvi.
Profaci ran his sheet. Salvi's not the new man in her life.
He was arrested two weeks ago.
Judge set bail. He's on Rikers.
I just got out of jail, Ma. Why'd you let the cops in?
They're not looking for you, Louie. They have questions.
Oh, that's what they always say.
We wouldn't lie to you, Mr. Salvi.
We're looking for a friend of yours.
Why should I help you?
This is why you're always in trouble!
Shut up, Ma! Go make coffee!
CURTIS: Monica Johnson.
LOUIS: Don't know her.
We looked at your surety papers. She bailed you out.
CURTIS: Where is she? I got no idea.
Is she the one that marked up your face?
Yeah, she puts up a grand so she could claw me.
If we put in a good word with the D.A., could help your case.
BRISCOE: Maybe a bad word.
You're threatening me?
You catch on fast.
That's it. Why don't you get the hell out of here?
Don't be rude, Louie. Stay out of this, Ma!
Don't talk to me like that. This is my house.
Pop pays for it.
The scratches on his face, the night he got released, he used my car.
He stayed out all night.
He came back with those marks... Shut the hell up, Ma!
You shut up, or I'll scratch the other side.
Do you know where he went, Mrs. Salvi?
Came home so high he couldn't drive.
I took the subway to pick the car up.
It was parked across from a boarded-up building.
These people were hanging around. Scariest place I ever saw.
I'll kill you, bitch! You come back here one more time,
I'm gonna carve... Get off her, Monica.
Get off me! Get off me!
Damn!
(MONICA SCREAMING)
Get off me! Right now! BRISCOE: You all right, Rey?
Yeah. It's gonna take a couple of stitches.
Ow! You're hurting me!
You try anything else cute, and you're really gonna get hurt!
That's enough! What the hell's going on?
Where are you taking me? What the...
Get off me!
I said get off of me, you pig!
You've got one phone call coming. You want it now?
Hey, she's talking to you.
You know, you're in a lot of trouble, young lady.
For starters, attempted assault on your friend.
I should've cut that bitch.
What did she do to you?
Hit on my boyfriend. BRISCOE: Louie?
Yeah.
Is that why you went after my detective?
I didn't know he was a cop.
That's crap.
That girl had me all bugging. I didn't mean to cut him, okay?
Look, you don't have to keep me.
Well, you have a bigger problem than what happened in that dump.
Now, you know what I'm talking about, don't you, Monica?
What?
You killed a cop.
(LAUGHING) You're out of your mind. I didn't...
Monday. Riverside Park. We have witnesses who put you there.
It was that Spanish dude I told you about.
The guy who tried to stop you?
The mayor's giving him a medal.
It wasn't me, man. I was buying shoes.
The shoe store's closed on Mondays, Monica.
You can't even make up a good lie.
Well, screw you, and your dead cop!
Just let me have 10 minutes with her, Lieutenant.
Oh, you couldn't last 10 minutes with me, old man.
Take a walk, Lennie.
(DOOR CLOSING)
You want to drop the gangster girl routine for a minute?
You know, Monica, I'm not stupid.
I'm sure you've had a tough life.
That could work in your favor now.
Maybe you didn't see the officer's badge.
Look, talk to me, and this doesn't go down so hard.
You know something, bitch? I don't care how this goes down.
I beg your pardon?
You heard me,
bitch.
Oh, you want to take me on, little girl?
Let me tell you something,
you'd better be packing more than a dirty mouth.
(DOOR OPENING)
BRISCOE: Loo.
We found Rosado's blood on your Walkman. Puts you right on the stairs.
You're under arrest for the murder of Dana Flynn.
Arrest this, you bastards! Damn it!
Take her out. You're not gonna arrest... No!
You have the right to remain silent.
Get off me!
Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law.
I want a damn lawyer! I want a lawyer!
You have a right to an attorney.
Murder one, two counts assault, resisting arrest,
drug possession, larceny. Some week.
Yeah. Girls just want to have fun.
How's Rey?
Oh, he's doing pretty well considering what happened.
He got a cut tendon, took 18 stitches.
But he'll be back in a couple of days.
There was blood on the girl's walkman?
Yeah. Just from the good Samaritan. Nothing from Officer Flynn.
"Ms. Johnson severed Officer Flynn's carotid artery and aorta."
She must've been swimming in blood.
Yeah. We haven't recovered any bloody clothing or gloves.
You retraced her steps?
She's got a history with Children's Services and Welfare.
Her social worker might know where she hangs her hat.
I talked to the A.D.A. in Brooklyn.
He's under a lot of pressure to make drug cases.
He can't be seen playing favorites.
So it's Cathy's bad luck that she's the daughter of a white cop.
This A.D.A., can't you scratch his back a little bit?
I offered to beg off on a couple of cases with concurrent jurisdiction.
He turned me down. I got nothing else to offer him.
He's a dog with a bone.
Yeah. The bone happens to be my kid.
I know, Lennie. I'm sorry.
Thanks anyway.
(PHONE RINGING)
Yeah? I'll be right there.
ANDERTON: (ON TV) I have been by Adam Schiff's side
through the best and the worst of times,
and he has no greater admirer or friend than me.
But old men like Adam and me,
we like to think we're indispensable.
Here it comes.
God knows I'm not.
Neither is my friend Adam.
It's time for some new blood. That's why I'm here today,
to welcome with you the next District Attorney of New York County,
the Honorable Judge Gary Feldman.
Thank you, thank you. And thank you, Carl Anderton.
I intend to restore honor and commitment
to the office of District Attorney.
No more political ass-kissing. That's right. You heard me.
I'm making a commitment to the citizens of this county,
and I make a commitment to the men and women in blue.
I will not tolerate criminals killing police officers with impunity.
I say this here today, if you take the life of a cop,
the State will take your life. And that's the bottom line.
Thank you.
(GRUNTS)
How's the case against Monica Johnson?
It's shaping up...
I should nail her to the wall.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
Some kids, by the time they hit five, you know they're finished.
You can hug them until your arms fall off,
won't make a damn bit of difference.
You've been her case worker that long?
Only since she turned 16.
But her and her sisters have been foster home regulars since she was three.
She didn't give us a current address.
She's had five in the past two years.
The last one, January. A nice couple in Tarrytown.
Monica trashed their collection of glass miniatures before she left.
What about her sisters?
One lives with the mother up near Albany.
The other's in the Tryon Girls Center. There's a father.
Al Johnson, 413 East 12th.
Are they close?
He got close enough to use her head to mop the floor
and stub cigarettes out on her back.
Monica? What did she say I did?
It's not about what you did. Have you seen her in the past two weeks?
Well, I'm gonna have to think about that. You looking for her?
She's at Rikers. She killed a cop.
No kidding. Come on in.
Hey, don't worry. I don't hit women anymore.
I'm a recovering domestic abuser.
I feel much better. Just keep the door open.
(LAUGHS) Whatever. Yeah, Monica was here a week ago, Monday.
Around 6:00.
Did you notice anything about her clothing, maybe bloodstains?
No. She was freezing. She didn't have no jacket,
no gloves. Gave her one of my sweaters.
So what did she kill a cop for?
Robbery. Robbery?
There a reward?
COP-SHOT is offering $10,000.
(SNIFFS)
Monica had this cross, you know, with a gold chain.
I bought it from her for 20 bucks and the sweater.
I gave it to my girlfriend.
We're going to need it.
Hey, wake up.
WOMAN: Hey, what are you doing?
JOHNSON: I need that.
No, it's mine. Hey, come on!
Shut up. You're gonna break it.
Hey! You're hurting me!
I said shut up! (SLAPPING)
(WOMAN GROANING)
Ten thousand bucks.
FLYNN: Yes, that's it.
The one I gave her. When will I get it back?
Sometime after the trial.
This girl, did she say anything about Dana?
About being sorry she killed her?
No. Nothing like that.
I hope she burns in hell.
I called in every marker I had,
but this prosecutor won't budge.
Look, I talked to Detective Mallory.
You're going to be covered six ways from Sunday
when you go into that guy's apartment.
It won't work. They want me to wear a wire.
I can't do that. Danny always checks me.
They won't make you wear a wire.
(SIGHING) I won't do it.
Kiddo, you don't want to go to jail.
This isn't fair. My lawyer said people like me,
first offense, you get probation.
It's politics, Cath.
If I didn't wear the badge, they'd probably cut you some slack.
Being your kid just doesn't have an upside, does it?
Have you told your mom? Don't worry. She'll probably blame me.
You going to the treatment program?
Yeah. (SCOFFS) Carrying on a family tradition.
Look, sweetheart, if I could go through this instead of you...
Forget it. It's my fault for thinking you could help me.
Just don't worry about it anymore. It's my problem, okay?
Cath.
Johnson's lawyer is looking for a plea. Murder two, 25-to-life.
Off the record, she'll take murder one, life without parole.
You have a problem saying no?
We can prove murder.
It gets sticky proving Johnson knew Flynn was a cop.
Her badge was in plain sight.
There's reasonable doubt that Johnson saw it.
What about our good Samaritan, Mr. Rosado?
JACK: His recollection's still spotty.
By the time we go to trial,
he might remember if Flynn identified herself.
Late trial date, stall long as you can,
and keep walking Mr. Rosado down memory lane.
While you were waiting for the M110 bus, what, if anything, happened?
I heard a woman scream in the park.
I saw the girl from the bus.
JACK: The defendant? Yes.
She had a woman on the ground,
and she was stabbing her.
What did you do?
I tried to stop her.
I tried to pull her off from the woman.
JACK: Did you see anything lying on the ground next to the victim?
A badge. A cop's badge.
A badge like this one?
Yes. Are you sure?
Yeah. I couldn't help seeing it. It was right next to her.
Thank you.
Mr. Rosado, do you remember being shot in the head by Officer Flynn?
No. They told me I was.
Mmm-mmm.
There's a lot you don't remember from that day, isn't that right, Jesse?
Your medical chart says, "Patient suffers from post-traumatic amnesia",
"intermediate amnesia."
Yeah, yeah, that's what it says.
Did she shoot you in self-defense because you were stabbing her?
I didn't stab her.
What color gloves was Officer Flynn wearing?
I don't remember.
She was wearing bright red and blue ski gloves.
Kind of hard to miss. But you remember seeing a policeman's badge?
Yeah.
Was it to the right or the left of Officer Flynn?
I'm not sure.
Was it turned upside down or right side up?
(SIGHING)
Come on, Jesse, this is the badge you couldn't help seeing.
Upside down or right side up?
I saw it.
The fact is, you didn't see a badge, did you, Jesse?
Because the badge was planted after the fact by the investigating officers.
Objection. Withdrawn.
Thank you, Jesse. No more questions.
I was on the M5 bus, and that guy that got shot,
he was standing next to me.
PETERSEN: Go on.
And I noticed that he had a shaving cut on his neck.
And he bumped up against me, he bumped up against my walkman.
What happened after that?
I got off the bus,
and I saw that guy.
What did he do?
He followed the policewoman into the park,
and then I went to a shoe store on 108th and Broadway,
but it was closed.
And later that day, did you go back to that same bus stop?
I went through the park first, and I found a necklace
with a gold cross on it.
I sold it to my dad.
Monica.
Did you kill Officer Flynn?
No.
Please show us on this diagram
exactly where you found the necklace.
I can't tell from that.
Which path were you on?
Was it this one? Or this one?
I don't know.
Ever seen this knife before?
I'm not sure.
You might've seen it?
I don't know.
We heard testimony from people who saw you
with a knife just like this one
in the days before Officer Flynn was murdered.
Did you ever own a knife like this?
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
Yes.
Where is that knife now?
(MUMBLING)
I don't know.
Did you lose it?
Ms. Johnson, please answer his question.
No.
I want to say something.
This is my knife.
I killed that policewoman with it.
Your Honor!
That's enough, Ms. Johnson.
I saw her badge,
but I didn't care.
I'm sorry.
Oh, God, I'm so sorry.
In my chambers.
Jury instructions aren't enough, Your Honor.
You can't just unring the bell.
You have to declare a mistrial.
Because she freely confessed? He took a flyer putting her on the stand.
He lost. Tough luck.
My client had a mental breakdown.
Whatever she said cannot be held against her.
She seemed lucid from where I was sitting, Your Honor.
Ms. Johnson, how do you feel?
I'm okay. For the first time I see things clear.
I don't want to lie anymore.
Your Honor, she cannot diagnose her own...
Mr. Petersen, her testimony stays in.
The jury can consider her statements during the deliberations.
(SIGHS)
Will the defendant please stand?
On the first count of the indictment,
murder in the first degree, how do you find?
We find the defendant, Monica Johnson, guilty.
So say you all?
Yes, Your Honor.
Remand continued.
Counselors, please pick a day next week to begin the sentencing hearing.
(GAVEL POUNDS)
(INAUDIBLE)
Here's to the short, unhappy life of Monica Johnson.
She might just save your ass come election day
assuming you have the cojones to actually execute her.
Out of my hands now. Up to the jury.
Already rehearsing your apologia, huh?
Is that what you wanted to talk about?
My campaign's having a hard time getting
the usual people to open their checkbooks.
I know.
They put their money where you tell them to.
It's called the democratic process.
Gary Feldman is a fool. He's not worthy of your support.
He's not you, Adam. That is good enough for me.
All because of your grandson?
Whatever gave you the idea that the District Attorney's office
was your family law firm?
Whatever gave you the idea it wasn't?
Gary Feldman understands about loyalty.
You want to hurt this city because of a personal grudge?
When you sent Terry to that psychiatric hospital,
you put me in hell, Adam.
I'll never forgive you.
I did my job.
Remember what I.B.J. said when they were hammering him about Vietnam?
Felt like a hitchhiker on a highway in a Texas hailstorm.
Can't run, can't hide, can't make it stop.
I'm putting you on that highway, Adam.
If that Johnson girl doesn't die, for whatever reason,
I'm gonna make sure that this city takes out its vengeance on you.
You're desperate, Carl.
It's pitiful.
I know you're scared.
That is pitiful.
Stay. Finish your Scotch.
Good night.
Her little epiphany on the stand might just keep her
out of the death chamber.
Any chance it wasn't spontaneous?
It's a big risk to sway the jury.
JACK: Or it was designed to create an appealable issue.
Did it?
Because the judge didn't grant a mistrial?
Jamie checked the case law.
Looks like clear sailing.
So her confession, expression of remorse, could be the real thing?
If it is genuine, how hard do we push to put a repentant killer to death?
She's a cop killer, people. Can't be weak. Pedal to the metal.
We talked about having kids all the time.
We were gonna start when Dana was more established in her job.
Four. We wanted four, maybe five.
Dana said that she'd imagine sitting around the dinner table on Sunday,
seeing all the happy little faces.
We had plans. We were gonna grow old together.
I got nothing left now.
I want my wife back.
I want the life that we had.
Thank you, Mr. Flynn.
No more questions.
No questions here, Your Honor. Thank you.
Mr. Flynn, you're excused.
The People have nothing further, Your Honor.
Mr. Petersen, call your first witness.
We have nothing to offer, Your Honor.
JUDGE MIZENER: Mr. Foreman,
have you reached a unanimous decision as to the sentence?
Yes, Your Honor.
Please go ahead.
We find the defendant, Monica Johnson,
should be sentenced to death as prescribed by Article 22-B
of the correction law of the State of New York.
Yeah, I see. Thank you.
Feldman's people sent out feelers.
He wants to debate me on television.
A lot of good it did Nixon.
I just spoke to Monica Johnson's attorney.
She's instructed him to take no further action on her behalf.
She's not appealing her conviction?
She's not even appealing her sentence.
She waived all her rights, in writing.
It's a straight shot to the needle.
Are we being set up?
She gets executed. What's the downside?
This woman may be suicidal.
Forget about the moral issue of executing her.
How's this gonna sound to the court of appeals?
Her lawyer could argue a stay based on her inability to assist counsel.
Find out what she's up to.
Does your client understand the ramifications of what she's doing?
Talk to her.
I made a motion to be relieved as her counsel.
The whole thing is insane.
I know what's going to happen.
They're going to set a date for my execution.
You can appeal.
Why should I appeal? I got a fair trial.
You could just appeal the death sentence.
I'm no better than anyone else on death row.
If they spare me, they should spare everybody.
The appeal process on a capital case could take five or 10 years.
You could use that time to make peace with what you did.
I'm at peace. After all the sin in my life,
I'm finally with Jesus.
You found Jesus after six months in prison?
I know it's not a long time,
but I've read a lot about faith and about my redemption.
And why didn't you bring this up at your sentence hearing?
Why should I? The way I feel now is between me and God.
I don't get it, Ms. Johnson.
Do you want to die? Is that what this is about?
Of course I don't want to die.
But it's out of my hands now.
And into your lap, McCoy.
That's not what I meant.
My fate is in the hands of a higher power now.
She waives her appeals because of religious conviction?
She put her fate in God's hands.
Sounds like a publicity stunt.
We talked to her chaplain at Rikers Island.
He's convinced she's a different person
than the one we sent to prison.
He describes her as a work in progress.
A work in progress?
Maybe she thinks you won't execute a born-again zealot.
JACK: Quite a bluff.
Or a brilliant legal strategy.
Her death wish becomes an appeals issue.
If she thinks that she can play chicken with me...
I don't think so, Adam.
She doesn't seem to care whether she lives or dies.
The American Civil Rights Committee cares.
They're making noises about litigating on her behalf.
What else is new?
Emily Schoener, American Civil Rights Committee.
You didn't mention you were bringing a colleague.
Ross Sanders, Christian Alliance.
You two are together?
Executions make strange bedfellows, Mr. McCoy.
The last thing we both want is to see this young lady put to death.
JACK: We talked to Monica Johnson.
She doesn't want your help, or yours.
The A.C.R.C. is not going to sit back
and let Monica Johnson commit legally sponsored suicide.
I thought you people were the watchdogs of personal choice?
Not when it comes to the death penalty.
The Christian Alliance has no problem with capital punishment.
But on a young Christian woman who's so obviously rehabilitated herself,
that's not what our country's values are about.
What value do you find so compelling,
the "woman" part or the "Christian" part?
If Adam Schiff wants to run his campaign on a platform of decency and morality,
he'd be well-advised to put a stop to this.
Monica Johnson was sentenced to death. Adam Schiff is bound by that.
Just so Mr. Schiff knows,
we're going public with our opposition.
Neither of your organizations has legal standing to intervene.
SCHOENER: Tell it to Judge Slattery in Albany.
He's calendared our joint motion in the Court of Appeals.
There's not a single authority that says
a competent defendant can't waive appeal.
Is there anything that says a defendant facing a death sentence can?
Do I detect a chink in your armor?
What if Monica Johnson has undergone an awakening?
Don't we at least need time to explore it?
You wouldn't be saying this if she were a 250-pound thug.
She's a human equivalent of a baby seal.
That's not what this is about. Isn't it, Jack?
Follow the logic of your position.
If you're for the death penalty, you're for the death penalty.
Even if the condemned murderer is cute and cuddly.
It's not that she's cuddly, it's that she seems sincere.
Well, then there should be room for everybody to say they're sorry.
If you spare her and not the others,
you're admitting that the death penalty is unfairly applied.
And if we don't spare Monica Johnson,
we're proving that the death penalty is inhumane.
Rock and a hard place.
You're enjoying this, aren't you?
You're the one with the crisis of conscience.
I'm against the death penalty.
SCHOENER: Our society acts in loco parentis.
We tell people they can't use drugs, we legislate sexual activity.
Why shouldn't we say to Monica Johnson,
"We won't execute you until we're damn sure we're doing the right thing"?
Am I hearing you right?
Is the A.C.R.C. arguing that we should tell all criminal defendants,
"We know what's best for you."
Where will it end?
Soon you'll be telling the defendants they have to testify at their own trials
because that's in their best interest.
SANDERS: Your Honor, these are abstractions.
We're missing the human side of the equation.
Why the rush to execute her?
If the basis for delaying her sentence is that she's white,
female, and Christian,
you're treating her differently than everybody else on death row.
The entire death penalty is then open to attack
because it's not being equitably applied.
Mr. Sanders, are you suggesting we stop the clock
for any condemned prisoner who claims a religious enlightenment?
I can only speak about Monica Johnson.
It's clear she's repented her crimes, and she has been reborn in Christ.
Do you dispute that, Mr. McCoy?
How can anyone know?
If we're turning the death penalty
into a test of religious conviction,
you better dust off the rack.
We're back to the Inquisition.
REPORTER: Monica, when you received word
the Court of Appeals denied the A.C.R. C.'s motion,
were you disappointed?
Not really. That was tried without my permission.
How will you be spending your last days?
Well, I'll be praying a lot, of course,
asking God for his guidance, his forgiveness.
And I pray that Dana Flynn's husband
can find it in his heart to forgive me.
(SIGHING) Any final thoughts on everything that's happened?
I'm focusing on the bigger picture now.
Thinking about the glorious place where I'll be going.
That was the last interview with Monica Johnson,
recorded three days ago.
She was executed at 12:01 this morning in a death chamber
just down the hall from here...
(TV TURNS OFF)
In her mind, she went from hell to heaven.
I won't hear the end of it till the primary.
Politics and religion, it doesn't get more volatile than that, Adam.
Politics, religion, and death.