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.
Tracy's been doing really well since John left.
I would have gone to pieces.
Ten years, two kids, he leaves her for a private trainer?
That's what I'm saying. She hasn't gone to pieces.
She's a rock.
Maybe they just weren't meant to be together.
I read that when you meet someone,
you make subconscious contract.
When the terms of the contract are met,
the relationship automatically dissolves.
Sounds like a business deal to me.
(GAS PS)
(SIREN WAILING) All dressed up and nowhere to go.
Hey, did anybody call SVU?
BORAK: There's no evidence of a sex crime I can see.
BRISCOE: So what happened?
Mucus in the nostrils. Petechial hemorrhages.
So, she was strangled?
Sometime last night.
Pretty risky to do out here in the open.
Yeah, I'm thinking she was killed
somewhere else, dumped here.
The angle of her body,
abrasions on her right thigh and shoulder.
She was probably tossed from a car.
Expensive jewelry, nice coat, makeup.
Hey. any m?
Nothing but a house key and a couple of bucks in her coat pocket.
And this.
The handwriting's a little shaky.
Looks like a six, or a zero.
5-e-4-1-s-a.
We were thinking it's some kind of combination.
Or it could be a lotto number. A dollar and a dream.
The dream's over.
M.E. at the crime scene was right.
She wasn't attacked sexually.
So, we're looking at a straight up necktie party.
Yeah, perp probably used a wire or a cord of some type.
What about her tox screen?
Alcohol and GHB.
Somebody slipped her a roofy?
Or she took it herself.
Small dose like she had, some people say it's an aphrodisiac.
It either puts you in the mood or puts you in a coma.
We ran her prints. She was never in the system.
You canvass the neighborhood?
Nobody recognized her.
That's a hard woman to miss.
M.E. says the time of death was about 2:00 a.m., give or take an hour.
So, she was on her way home or to another party.
Got into the wrong guy's car.
Well, what about this piece of paper in her pocket?
Well, it's seven digits. It could be a phone number.
You know, if this first digit is a zero,
it could be a hack license.
Yeah. I remember her.
She ran out of a deli and caught me comin' around the corner.
A real bitch.
Is that why we found your hack license number in her coat?
She was drunk, and we got into a thing.
What kinda thing?
She crawls in the cab, and says, "16h Street."
Then she passes out.
So I drive her down there, then she goes nuts.
Turns out she meant 60th.
So, did that piss you off?
She said she was gonna call the commission on me.
So, what did you do?
I took her back up to 60th.
Off the meter.
Seriously.
Where on 60th?
The middle of the block, between West End and Amsterdam.
When was this?
A little past 1:00. What is this about?
We found her body at 93rd Street.
Maybe she went up there with her friend.
BRISCOE: Her friend?
When I dropped her off, there was a black Infiniti double-parked.
Guy called out the window, she went over and got in.
What did this guy look like?
SLATER: A white guy.
Dark hair. Look, I didn't stick around.
Does your trip sheet show where this deli was where you picked her up?
82nd and Broadway.
BRISCOE: Thanks.
Yeah, she was here. Bought a pack of smokes.
Anybody with her?
No, she was alone.
Hey, did you notice anything unusual about her?
Well, her eyes were kinda glassy.
I think she was high on something.
Weekends, I get more than a couple of these people in here.
ED: What... What do you mean, these people?
Nice clothes, jewelry, with these dumb smiles on their faces.
One guy gave me a hug because I gave him a free book of matches.
(LAUGHS) Rollin' on X.
Any idea where these people were coming from?
I asked once.
Lady laughed and said a party.
Thought I was angling for an invite.
DOORMAN: You sure she came here?
We're just checking all the buildings in the neighborhood.
She was wearing a black leather miniskirt,
black cashmere coat.
May have been a little friendlier than usual.
Ah. 18-C.
What, some kind of party?
I just watch the door.
They know the password I let 'em up.
Password? Yeah.
This time it was "Bill and Monica."
Hey, I stopped asking questions long time ago.
Thanks, bro. Yeah.
Yes, she was here last night.
You know her name?
She called herself Xena.
Xena? I think.
Well, it's probably not her real name.
Some of our guests have an alias.
What kind of party was this?
Well, you know, for adults. Invitation only.
Oh, hence the clever password.
We entertain a sophisticated group of people, Detective.
The password helps us screen out the bridge and tunnel crowd.
You ever see her before?
MARTHA: Maybe at another party.
She came with a friend of ours.
ED: And who's that? Andrew.
Andrew Skinner.
Do you know if she left with him?
He's very sweet. He would never hurt anyone.
Look, we're a pretty white-wine kind of crowd.
BRISCOE: Xena was on GHB.
Well, she didn't get it here.
We'll need this Andrew's phone number and address.
Yeah, and along with the rest of your sophisticated group.
I don't know her real name. Just Xena.
She was your date.
I hardly knew her.
I met her a couple of weeks ago at another party.
It's not easy for a single guy to find someone
to bring to these kind of things.
Cry me a river, bro.
Well, what's her number?
I don't have it. I lost my BlackBerry coming home last night.
Yeah, I lost mine years ago.
I was kind of wasted.
Where did you pick her up?
We met in the lobby at the party.
And what time was this?
At 10:30.
And then we split up when we got to the party.
You bring this girl to a party and then you leave her?
They only let guys in if they're paired up.
You know, keep the ratio right.
So when's the last time you saw the Warrior Princess?
SKINNER: About an hour later.
But she was in the middle of an argument with some girl.
BRISCOE: What did this girl look like?
Tall, thin, brown hair.
What were they arguing about?
Something about drugs.
And I got the feeling the brunette was dealing.
What makes you say that?
Well, I didn't see her with anybody.
And I thought I saw one guy slip her some money.
I thought that kind of thing went out in the '80s.
Different decade, different drug.
Any luck with the dealer?
We're still trying to track her down.
Forty, 50 guests at that party.
The host and hostess didn't even know all their names.
But they knew someone was dealing.
That would be a good bet.
Well, there's a law against that kind of party favor.
BRISCOE: It's called criminal facilitation.
And if you piss enough people off,
it could also be called distributing narcotics.
But we didn't do anything.
I seem to remember a couple of club owners who said that.
They're throwing parties at Sing Sing now.
Look, our parties are for adults.
As long everyone behaves themselves, we look the other way.
Yeah, well, unfortunately, we don't have that luxury here.
A woman's been murdered.
We don't allow any hard stuff like cocaine or heroin.
We just wanna make that absolutely clear.
Oh, good. Well, now that that's out of the way,
who was the woman with the dark brown hair
who was having the argument with Xena?
Alexandra Shabtai. She's the hostess at Kaleidoscope.
You knew about the argument?
HARRY: We heard about it.
What did you hear?
Just that they were fighting about money.
Xena's real name is Eliza Glazer.
Look, I'm real sorry she's dead,
but I don't see why you want to talk to me.
You two had an argument the night she was murdered.
(SCOFFS) I wouldn't call it an argument.
It was just a...
We were talking Just a what?
Well, we have some witnesses
who say it was a little bit more than that.
Wait. You don't actually think
I had something to do with Eliza's murder?
You deal the same kind of drug that was found in her system.
And a few hours before she was killed,
you two were "talking" about money.
In our neck of the woods, that adds up to a drug deal gone bad.
That's just insane.
Uh, if I were you, that defense never works.
You guys don't have a clue, do you?
I wasn't selling drugs to Eliza.
She was selling them to me.
Eliza Glazer was my doctor.
Eliza was a cosmetic dermatologist.
Botox, laser facial peels, electrolysis.
ED: And you were a patient?
I met her at one of the parties.
She had a reputation for being loose with scrips.
BRISCOE: Codeine, Valium?
Oxycodone mostly.
It's a pain reliever. The high's kind of like heroin.
How's the addiction?
I'm a recreational user.
One or two pills a day, nothing hard-core.
And what you don't use, you sell, right?
Maybe a few pills to some people at some parties.
Just a little drug trafficking between friends.
ED: The night of this party,
what happened between you and Dr. Glazer?
She told me she wasn't going to take care of me anymore.
BRISCOE: She was cutting you off.
I guess that didn't make you feel too happy?
Yeah, I was upset. But I didn't kill her.
Anybody see you leave the party?
I was with a couple. I went home with them.
Name and number.
Oxycodone
Yeah. They call it hillbilly heroin.
Some genius in West Virginia
figured it was easier to get than moonshine.
Yeah, yuppies and housewives
who don't want to see themselves as users get it from their doctors.
And the insurance companies foot the bill.
Mmm-hmm. Until they stop paying
and then they gotta go to the guy on the corner.
Pills go for about a dollar a milligram on the street.
80 milligram pills, 100 pills to a bottle.
That's 8,000 bucks a bottle.
That's not a bad profit margin.
BRISCOE: Turns out Dr. Glazer had a track record.
State of Oregon suspended her medical license
three years ago for irresponsible prescription of amphetamines.
She comes east, sets up shop in New York.
Well, if Glazer was running a pill mill,
someone in her office had to know about it.
I've been thinking about getting a little work done anyway.
I'm really gonna miss working here.
You never knew who would walk through that door.
Actors, models...
Drug addicts.
Excuse me?
Well, from what we hear, some of the prescriptions Dr. Glazer wrote
weren't exactly standard for a cosmetic dermatology office.
No, I was with Dr. Glazer for two years.
If she was doing anything unprofessional, I think I'd know.
Hey, did you ever see her writing these scrips for Oxycodone?
Not many.
You're sure?
Would you have a record of the Oxycodone prescriptions she wrote?
Say, for the past year.
It's a C2 narcotic, like morphine.
Every prescription has to be filled out in triplicate.
The DEA has to get a copy.
They should all be in there.
ED: So, what are these?
Uh, I don't know.
These are all prescriptions for Oxycodone.
Each one has a name and address.
I guess we're gonna be making some house calls.
What's this doctor's name again?
Eliza Glazer. Her office is on Park Avenue.
(BABY CRYING)
I'm sorry. I still don't understand.
What does this have to do with me?
ED: Two months ago she wrote you
a prescription for Oxycodone.
The office records show there have been two refills since then.
That's a lot of pain to be in, Miss Thomas.
Well, there must be some mistake.
I've never even heard of a Dr. Glazer.
Well, that is your name and address, right?
It is, but it isn't me.
Look, I just had a baby.
Two months ago I wasn't even allowed to drink coffee.
Well, did you lose your wallet or have it stolen recently?
In December.
Somebody got a hold of all my credit card information
and went to town.
Did you report it? Of course.
I had to change all my cards,
pin numbers, bank accounts. It was a nightmare.
I don't recall ever seeing this doctor's name before.
Do you, Philip?
No, can't say I have.
Thirty years in business, you get to know people.
Used to mean something. Not anymore.
These prescriptions were from your store.
They were clearly filled here.
We have verification from the DEA.
Well, have you spoken with Peter?
ED: Who's Peter?
Oh, he's our son-in-law.
He runs the shop during the week for us.
So, he's a pharmacist?
(LAUGHS) Yeah, well, we've been
sort of semi-retired for a few years now.
ED: ls your son-in-law also in charge of inventory,
ordering supplies?
Yes, he does all that.
We come in a few times a week,
you know, mostly out of habit.
Have you noticed anything unusual lately?
Didn't you mention something to me last month?
Mr. Clark?
Well, we're talking about our daughter's husband.
I don't wanna speak out of turn.
Mr. Clark, the doctor who wrote
those prescriptions was murdered.
We think there may be a connection.
Philip.
All right.
For the past few months I've noticed that our orders for Oxycodone
were a little higher than usual.
BRISCOE: How much higher?
A lot.
Oh, no.
I told Peter. Well, he said he'd look into it.
PETER: I don't know what you're talking about.
The paperwork's all in order.
Well, maybe that's what you thought when you filed it,
but we double-checked.
None of those people went to see Dr. Glazer
or got their prescriptions filled by you. They were all forged.
We check ID. But sometimes people can, you know, get around that.
Especially when they've had their identities stolen.
Must have been a sweet deal you had with Glazer.
What was your cut once she flipped the drugs on the street?
I don't know what you're talking about.
BRISCOE: We're talking about serious drug offenses.
Not to mention murder.
I had nothing to do with that.
Oh, but you had something to do with the rest of it.
Let's finish this conversation down at the precinct.
Look, I never actually met Dr. Glazer.
Somebody else was involved?
We need a name, Pete.
I can't. He'll kill me if I talk.
Maybe he'll kill you to keep you quiet.
You don't have a whole lot of options, kiddo.
We're the only friends you got right now.
This guy, Tommy. Tommy Avakian.
Nicky Avakian's kid?
We went to high school together.
He came to me with an idea.
He had this doctor, she was gonna provide the scrips.
All I had to do was fill them.
It was supposed to be no big deal.
But then it got complicated.
It always does.
RICH: Two years ago Tommy Avakian
had muscled in on prescription drugs.
Hits big with Oxycodone.
Now, he's cornered the market
in every major city on the East Coast.
(LAUGHS) A real entrepreneur.
Chip off the old block.
And word is his father's back in New York now.
I thought the Feds had the old man
in Witness Protection somewhere.
After he ratted out his friends in the Russian mob,
he split the program.
So, Junior keeps the seat warm
while he waits for Daddy to come back?
No. These young guys are sophisticated and they're impatient.
They're not interested in loan-sharking or extortion.
Now, it's pump and dumps.
Identity scams, anything high tech.
Almost makes me nostalgic for an old-fashioned numbers racket.
Well, good news is Tommy keeps a pretty high profile.
Runs his organization from a spot out in Brooklyn.
COP: Okay, everybody keep it nice and quiet.
You touch that buzzer, you're goin' upstate.
Nobody move!
Oh, nice TV. MSNBC.
What, are you keeping up on world events, Tommy?
What's this about?
It's about organized crime in the new millennium.
Oxycodone. I pulled a muscle.
You got a prescription?
I didn't think so.
You know, your old man would have at least had a card game going.
I have no idea what you guys are talking about.
I never met no Dr. Whoever-you-said.
Glazer. And that's funny
because we have a witness who puts you two together selling drugs.
Oxycodone
The same stuff we found in your pocket.
I told you, I got back problems.
We also have a witness that saw her
get into your car the night she was killed.
Black Infiniti, right?
I was at my bar.
I'm sure 10, 20 people will back me up on that.
No, see, you don't even know
what night we were talking about.
Doesn't matter.
You guys are just tryin' to rail road me on a murder.
There's no need to rail road you, Tommy.
We already have enough evidence to hold you right now.
And the night's still young.
Yeah, you're right.
So how about some coffee while I wait for my lawyer?
Light, two sugars.
Tommy Avakian? The U.S. attorney's office
is going to be extremely interested in this.
With their history with his father?
I'm surprised your phone isn't ringing off the hook already.
Is there any way to link Avakian Sr. to this?
We don't have anything solid that says he's back in the game.
This guy admits to over a dozen murders
and he just walks out of Witness Protection?
I'd like to put him back behind bars.
You, me, and the rest of New York law enforcement.
(LAUGHS)
So, what about the son? Did he make a statement?
You know, these guys might as well
have their lawyers' phone numbers tattooed on their arms.
So what do we have that directly links him to the murder?
Well, the cab driver who dropped Glazer off
says Avakian's car is similar to the one she got in.
Did he get a good look at him?
He's not sure, so I figured
we run a line-up and find out.
OFFICER: All right, everybody hit your mark, turn and face the window.
Okay, Mr. Slater.
What am I supposed to do?
SERENA: There's nothing to worry about.
If the person's there, you'll let us know.
And if he's not there, you'll let us know that, too.
This is not your procedure, Miss Simels.
Either shut up or leave.
Take a look at the men and tell us if you recognize anyone
and where you recognize him from.
I don't know.
VAN BUREN: Take your time.
(SIGHS)
It could be number two.
Would it help if they turned sideways?
Maybe.
Everyone please turn to your right.
Number two looks like the guy.
SERENA: Number two looks like the man you saw in the car that night?
Yes. He looks like the guy,
but you're not sure if he is the guy, right?
Out, Counselor.
Out.
I guess I'm really not sure.
All right, Mr. Slater. Thank you for your help.
Did I do okay? You did fine.
Any forensics that can put Glazer in his car that night?
We impounded it, tore it apart. No trace evidence.
But he had it cleaned.
Anyone see him in her neighborhood?
The police canvassed with his photo.
Three grams of Oxycodone
were recovered from Avakian's person.
We're holding him on misdemeanor possession.
How does a Park Avenue doctor
cross paths with a Tommy Avakian anyway?
I went through her patient records.
There wasn't anything obvious there.
If this was Avakian's idea
of settling a business dispute,
why kill his cash cow?
He might have thought the police were on to her.
Or she was getting cold feet.
Tear their life apart.
If they were doing any business together,
there's gotta be a trace of it somewhere.
What about her bank records?
She definitely had an increase in cash flow,
but it's not like we're gonna find
any canceled checks or anything.
You'd think being part of a drug ring
would at least show up on phone records.
Maybe she was smart enough not to use the phone.
Personal contact.
Did Avakian ever try to visit her?
BRISCOE: Nobody in Glazer's office
ever remembers seeing him before.
Doorman didn't either.
Well, maybe they met at one of his so-called
legitimate places of business.
'Cause it seems like he's got quite a few.
Neptune Bar, Kaleidoscope, Astro Park.
Kaleidoscope?
Yeah. Alexandra Shabtai works there.
I thought I told you everything you needed to know.
Yeah, well, as it turns out you left a few things out.
Like who your employer is.
Yeah, why didn't you tell us
Dr. Glazer was dealing with Avakian?
I didn't know.
ED: Look, you were in business with Glazer.
Glazer was in business with Avakian.
Avakian turns out to be your boss.
I'm telling you I had no idea.
You know, I get the feeling if we went to your place
and looked around, we'd find your stash.
Now, either we can do that
or you can tell us everything right now.
When Tommy found out about the Oxy,
he asked me to introduce him to Eliza.
And when Tommy asks, it's really not a question.
So you got them together?
I set up a meeting. But that's all I did.
How often did Dr. Glazer come here after that?
A few times that I know about.
ED: Any idea how the business was going?
Oh, don't stop now.
Eliza told me she was getting nervous
about doing business with Tommy,
and that he kept asking her to write too many bogus scrips.
She wanted out?
I told her she just couldn't walk away from Tommy.
I don't think she realized who she was dealing with.
LEWIN: So now we have motive.
JACK: And the pharmacist and Alexandra Shabtai,
either one of whom could back out of testifying.
Avakian's reputation precedes him.
I've seen it happen before.
(RINGING)
Yes?
Yes, Janine. Bring her right in.
Feds have arrived.
Jack. Good to see you again, Janet.
Miss Naiman called about Tommy Avakian's indictment.
I hope you're not here to poach our case.
Just curious.
I'm sure you know our history with the family.
Yes, we hear Avakian Sr. might be back in the game?
That's what we hear, too.
You must be eager to get a case going against him.
NAIMAN: I never liked the fact he only did 20 months,
even if he did hand us the top three guys in the Russian mob.
So how's your case going?
JACK: We're lining up our ducks.
What kind of evidence do you have?
Nothing to implicate Avakian Sr.
LEWIN: I'm sorry, Counselor,
but is there something specific you wanted to know?
Oh, like I said, I just stopped by out of curiosity.
So, let us know if there's any way we can help.
Actually, there is. I spoke with your boss.
He mentioned that you have electronic surveillance
on several of Avakian Sr.'s businesses.
We'd like to listen to those tapes
and see if there's anything that could help our case against Junior.
Those taps haven't yielded much
but I'll see what we have.
Now, don't wait for her to get back to you.
NAIMAN: I had Agent Blum go through the tapes
to see if Tommy Avakian was on them,
and if he made any references to Dr. Glazer or Oxycodone.
There's one conversation we're pretty sure is with your Dr. Glazer.
Anything relevant?
They argue. He threatens her.
Sounds pretty relevant.
There's only one problem.
You can't use 'em.
Why not?
You use it and the old man'll know the place is hot.
Why even tell me about it then?
Because my boss is making nice with your boss.
If you heard this threat on tape,
why didn't you do anything about it?
His son's drug ring wasn't our top priority.
Yeah, but now a woman is dead.
Look, I had 18 agents who spent every waking hour
cooped up in sound vans
doing surveillance on this guy five years ago.
They weren't too happy when he flipped
and walked away the first time.
Well, that problem's in your family.
When we land him now, we want it to stick.
NAIMAN: Look, the best I can do is to let you listen to the tape.
Now, maybe there's something on it that can help.
But I can't let you use it in court.
The FBI filtered out most of the background conversation
to enhance the tape.
GLAZER ON TAPE: You can't ask me to write any more.
AVAKIAN: You wanna bet?
Look, I'm the one taking all the risk here.
My license is on the line. I'm getting out.
Listen, bitch, you'll do what I tell you to do.
And if you don't, you'll be needing
to take this Oxy stuff yourself.
You told them we wouldn't use that?
They wouldn't even let me listen to it without an agreement.
It's frustrating to have this and not be able to use it.
Depends on what you mean by use.
Are you suggesting that we break an agreement
Serena made with the U.S. Attorney?
I don't think we have to.
There's no reason Avakian has to know
how we came by that information.
It's possible he'll remember the circumstances.
He was in a bar, right?
We can't lie to his lawyer
and tell him we have a witness that doesn't exist.
We do have a witness. Avakian himself.
We just don't have to make that particularly clear.
JACK: If your client wants to go to trial,
he's looking at 25 to life for murder.
Your case died at the line-up.
Investigations don't stop because you'd like them to, Miss Simels.
Yes, and evidence doesn't just appear
because you'd like it to either.
We have a witness who heard your client
threaten Eliza Glazer over their drug venture.
Abracadabra, Counselor.
What are you talking about?
According to our witness, it was a pretty vivid discussion.
SIMELS: Who's this witness?
We're not obligated to tell you that.
AVAKIAN: Then tell me what he said.
So you can figure out who it was and intimidate him?
This is a bluff.
Dr. Glazer expressed her concern about her medical license.
You told her she might need to take Oxycodone.
Somebody dimed me out.
Out of curiosity, what kind of time are we talking about?
Fifteen to life.
I thought this was a real conversation.
Let's go, Tommy. Sit down.
What? What are you doing? Be quiet a second.
Okay, here's the deal.
I walk on everything.
No time. And I go into Witness Protection.
What could you possibly offer
that would justify that demand?
A lot.
Tommy, whatever it is you're trying to do...
I told you to shut up.
My father's behind the whole Oxy operation.
He provides all the financing, all the muscle.
You give me this deal, I'll give you my father.
Nicky Avakian's own son is going to roll on him.
He says his father took over that end of the business.
Told his dad ordered Glazer's murder when she wanted out.
Do we believe him?
He also gave up the father on the two ecstasy dealers
murdered in Chelsea last January.
The two college kids?
Maybe it's worth it.
I'm not happy about giving a murderer a walk
to get a guy the Feds already had.
What do you mean, a walk?
There's no deal if there's any jail time attached.
Daddy taught him well.
Yeah, but you've got to admit Avakian Sr.'s a very tempting catch.
His son garroted a woman and tossed her body out of a car.
But if we make the deal, we have a very good shot
of getting Avakian Sr. off the street for life.
And Eliza Glazer's case gets lost in the shuffle.
If we don't accept the son's offer,
you'll be trying a case without the only piece of evidence
that links him to the murder.
Go pick up Papa.
FRASER: Three counts Murder One.
Three counts Conspiracy to Commit Murder One.
A little active since you left Witness Protection, huh, Mr. Avakian?
People on bail?
The People are asking for remand, Your Honor.
The charges in this case speak for themselves.
And this defendant's past history
is well-known to the court.
We believe he's a serious flight risk.
LYNCH: On the contrary.
Five years ago, Mr. Avakian testified
for the United States government at tremendous personal risk.
And rather than fleeing New York City he's returned.
Where he's picked up the pieces
and has taken over his son's criminal enterprise.
Are there any RICO charges in this indictment?
Just capital murder charges.
Enough.
Just because you were the government's friend once, Mr. Avakian,
doesn't mean you still are.
Remand. (GAVEL BANGS)
Nice job, Counselor.
What can I do for you, Mr. Lynch?
It's what we can do for you.
Tell your boss I have a present for him.
There's no offer, Mr. Lynch.
If your client wants to plead to Murder One,
we'll agree to leave sentencing up to the judge.
Come on, Counselor. You came all the way down here,
you must be a little curious about what my client has to say.
What if I were to tell you that Mr. Avakian
has information that the Feds would die to get their hands on?
My answer would be, I'd be skeptical.
Know anything about urea?
Or sulfate?
They're chemicals used to make a homemade explosive compound.
Like the guy who wanted to blow up LAX a few years ago had.
These chemicals also have legitimate commercial uses.
What are you telling us, Mr. Avakian?
I can give you the name of the guy who sells this stuff
to anybody who walks in the door.
LYNCH: This man doesn't ask questions,
doesn't ask for a customer's hazardous substance license,
doesn't care what federal watch lists they're on.
If you get my drift.
My client can give you a name.
No. The name.
Write it down. We'll check it out.
LYNCH: First, we set the parameters of the deal,
then my client starts talking.
Why should we believe him?
Why did you believe his son?
Let's assume for a minute
that what your client says is true.
There's no way to prosecute a case
based on that information alone.
Come on, McCoy.
We both know there are better uses
for what I got than in court.
The only deal we'd even consider
is one contingent on corroboration.
(LAUGHS)
Transactional immunity from prosecution
for all my client's past offenses
as of right now, just for the name.
If I didn't know better, I'd swear the counsel room at Rikers was wired.
Nicky Avakian's lawyer called me.
He hopes you can talk us into making a deal.
He's smart enough to know how valuable
his client's information might be.
I'm not the one who's going to make the call here, Janet.
And I have to take this to Washington.
Then why are we standing here spinning our wheels?
Because you have influence with Lewin.
How do we know this isn't a con job
by a man who'd say anything to avoid a life sentence?
I think it's worth the risk.
It's easy for you to say
when you don't have to answer to the victim's families.
I can't afford to be concerned about that right now.
Do me a favor, Jack.
Before you talk to your boss,
think about what's at stake here.
I've gotten seven or eight calls.
Justice, FBI, CIA.
I just got off the phone with a deputy attorney general.
How many times will they let Avakian bargain his way out of jail?
Well, some would say as many times
as he can give us what we need.
We don't even know if his information's any good.
Is there any way to get some idea if it's legit?
JACK: No.
The defense won't give us a crumb
until they get his deal in place.
The U.S. attorney's office doesn't seem to mind that?
All he has to do is imply a connection to terrorism
and everybody starts drooling.
Now, even if the information doesn't pan out in the long run,
don't we have a responsibility to see where it takes us?
That's a tough call.
It means walking away from three murders
and a significant drug trafficking case
for what's probably just pie in the sky.
Yeah, but isn't part of our job to make people feel safer?
JACK: Nobody's going to be any safer
if we let violent criminals use our fear of terrorism as currency.
And how do we know that the father and son
didn't plan this from day one?
Either one gets caught, they roll on the other.
The chemical dealer is their ace in the hole.
What troubles me is we have no way
to figure out if this is all a bluff.
(TELEPHONE RINGING)
Yes.
Thank you. (PHONE CLICKS)
Federal Judge Anthony Vallone would like a word with us.
And the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District, Franklin Praeger.
LEWIN: Why do I have the feeling
I'm about to have both my arms twisted?
VALLONE: Not at all, Nora. Mr. Praeger asked me to mediate.
I do that sort of thing on occasion, you know.
You're aware that we're in the process
of building a strong case against Nikolas Avakian
for homicide and distribution of narcotics.
What's the big deal?
Avakian's got information everybody wants.
You cut deals all the time.
LEWIN: Yes, but this isn't your standard plea bargain.
He wants a walk on three murders
and several A-felony counts of narcotics distribution.
For information that may turn out to be worthless.
That may not even exist.
PRAEGER: What if it does?
What if someone blows up a building
and we didn't do anything about it?
What about all the people the Avakians are already killing?
Do we not prosecute anyone anymore for anything?
You're talking about drug dealers.
We're talking about national security.
Our case has broader implications, too.
We're talking about a potential scourge
on the order of crack cocaine.
I mean, what if we'd been able to prevent that from taking hold?
Well, arresting Avakian won't prevent Oxycodone
from being the next designer drug.
There's always someone ready to step in.
The same would be true with the people who black-market chemicals.
Well, if you put this to your constituents,
I think I know which one they would choose.
LEWIN: Yes, but I'm not sure I want to let their fear dictate my decision.
We're talking about three flesh and blood murder victims here.
Well, none of us has the corner on the greater evil here, Nora.
And no one can force the district attorney's office
to do something it doesn't want to do.
Are you absolutely sure this is the call you want to make, Nora?
No.
I'm not absolutely sure about anything, Your Honor.
But I do think it's irresponsible
to put our faith in someone like Nikolas Avakian.
He came through for us five years ago.
And I think he spent all the real capital he had then.
So yes, I think I've made my decision.
SERENA: How did Avakian's lawyer take the news?
Be glad you missed the fireworks.
It was the first time I saw him anything but smug.
He probably never considered the possibility we'd say no.
So where do we stand?
His own son testifying against him is powerful
but it's still a one witness case.
Not anymore. Avakian Jr.'s lawyer.
They're withdrawing his offer of cooperation.
JACK: Your client never intended to testify.
This whole thing was a scam,
coordinated by father and son in advance.
That is ridiculous, Judge.
My client and I simply reassessed our case
and we both feel he has a legitimate shot at an acquittal.
Your client already gave a complete statement,
one we fully intend to use against him.
SIMELS: That statement was given in the context of plea negations.
My client proffered what he was willing to testify to
so that Mr. McCoy could decide
whether he was interested in the information.
He can't turn around now
and decide to use those statements against him.
KERNER: What about it, Mr. McCoy?
He's trying to circumvent the spirit of the plea-bargaining process.
SIMELS: Judge, if you rule in their favor,
then defendants have no protection.
They could offer up everything they know
and Mr. McCoy could just say,
"No, I'm not interested in that
"but thanks for the confession."
Except I never said I wasn't interested. We had an agreement.
All we had was an agreement to agree.
Until my client allocates in open court,
he's free to change his mind.
KERNER: I'm afraid she's right, Mr. McCoy.
But if Mr. Avakian takes the stand in his defense,
these statements will be admissible against him.
That, Counselor, is a promise you can count on.
Without his statement or the eavesdropping evidence, both Avakians walk away.
It's the nature of the beast.
And it will be as long as we're forced to rely on unreliable people
to prosecute these kind of criminals.
I'm not ready to throw in the towel.
Maybe we can get the Feds to change their mind
about letting us use the tape.
At least we can proceed against Avakian Jr.
No, I already ran that by Franklin Praeger.
Let's just say he's not in the mood to be gracious.
So all we have is the drug misdemeanor.
Which might be enough to nail both Junior and Senior.
If we're going to have a revolving door
on the front of the courthouse,
maybe it's time we tried to spin it in our direction.
Why should he plead? You have no case now.
JACK: On the murder charge, maybe not.
But you're forgetting the Oxycodone
he had in his possession when we arrested him.
You're right. I did forget the bag
of twelve pills he was busted with.
Possession with intent. It's a B-felony.
You can't make out intent with that amount.
With the pharmacist's testimony
that he was in cahoots with your client, it shouldn't be that hard.
You think that wimp is actually gonna show up at court?
We have him in protective custody as a material witness.
So then my client will take the stand
and say that this guy's lying,
that the pills the police found on him were for his bad back.
JACK: Except your client can't testify.
According to Judge Kerner's ruling,
if he takes the stand, we can introduce his murder confession.
So, I blow trial on the drugs, I do a few years.
You don't just do a little jail time.
You have two felony convictions.
SERENA: Which makes you a discretionary persistent felon.
You're facing a life sentence,
just as if we were trying you on a murder charge.
JACK: Your client goes down on the narcotics felony, it's strike three.
Unless he gives us his father.
Last time it was just a scam.
This time you have to decide whether you'll do it for real.
You want me to rat out my own father, you son of a bitch?
Is that what this country is coming to?
It was your idea, Mr. Avakian.
And now that you've played us,
I'm going to do my best to see that it comes to fruition.
How much time we talkin' about?
Whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing?
It's called saving his ass.
We need to talk to your father about this.
No, we don't.
It's got to be the same deal as before.
You're not getting a walk, Mr. Avakian.
This time it's 10 to 20 for killing Eliza Glazer.
But I'm giving you my father.
We'll throw in the drug charge.
Take it or leave it.
I'll take it. SIMELS: Tommy!
Are you my lawyer or my father's?
But you gotta put me in a federal prison,
and then Witness Protection.
GARRISON: Any redirect, Mr. McCoy?
JACK: No, Your Honor.
The witness may step down.
The jury is dismissed for the day.
Tommy. Look at me.
You did what you had to do.
If it was me,
I would probably do the same thing.
Come on, let's go.
Better watch your back, Tommy.
Come on.
Some people pass down pocket watches.
Tradition.