.
- 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.
- Hey, Rachel. It's me.
I know we said 7:00,
but I'm still a couple of minutes out.
I will see you soon.
[line trilling]
Hey, Rachel. It's me again.
I'm 30 minutes late, but I'm here.
I'm really sorry.
A witness interview ran long,
and I lost track of time.
Just call me back if you need to reschedule.
[ominous music]
♪
Rachel.
Oh, my God.
[gasps]
Yeah, I need an ambulance at Sutton Place Park.
- Talk to us. - Stabbing.
Single wound. Bled out.
MLI puts time of death at about 7:00 p.m.
DOA is Rachel Bender, 38 Red Hook.
- Cash and credit cards are still here.
We can cross off robbery.
- Any signs of sexual assault?
- MLI says no indications.
Found the wallet here
and got the fresh shoe print in the mud there.
- Get an imprint of that to the lab.
- I'll let them know.
- Judging by the blood trail,
it looks like she tried to make it out of the park.
- Didn't get very far.
Dialed 9.
Maybe trying to call for help.
- Witnesses?
- A park maintenance employee
said he saw the victim arguing with a guy in a long coat.
He was a ways off, so he didn't get race or age specifics.
Just figured it was a lovers' spat.
- Who found the body?
- Home team. Prosecutor.
- Counselor.
- She was a friend.
- Want to tell us what happened?
- We were supposed to meet up.
I hadn't seen her in months,
but she called me this morning.
Said she wanted my advice about something.
- Did she mention what it was about?
- No, she just said it was complicated.
- When were you supposed to meet?
- 7:00.
I was running late, so I didn't get here till 7:30.
- I'm just gonna assume that someone
can verify your whereabouts before then.
- Yeah.
- How'd you know her, Nolan?
- We worked side by side at the public defender's office
for three years.
- She was still a public defender?
- Yeah.
- Long list of people would want
someone like that dead.
- Somebody like that?
- Sorry. That came out wrong.
Boy, did I put my foot in my mouth there.
- More like both feet.
[dramatic music]
♪
- Nothing suspicious in the vic's apartment.
She lived alone.
No indication of a significant other.
- Murder weapon? - Nope.
No eyewitnesses. Nothing on canvass either.
- What about next of kin?
- Her mom is coming up from Baltimore now.
- Where was Rachel coming from before she was killed?
- Work. Public defender's office
is five blocks from Sutton Place Park.
- Vi, can we grab any footage
and track her walk from the office?
- Cameras are sparse near the park,
but I did pull something from the security cams
by her office.
Guy's following Rachel.
- Can you freeze that? - That's a clean look.
Any chance he's in the system?
- Checking now.
Owen Bardo. Yonkers address.
Long sheet of violent priors.
He's on trial for assault now.
Guess who his counsel of record is?
- Rachel Bender.
- Owen Bardo. - Yeah.
- NYPD. We need a minute.
When's the last time you saw Rachel Bender?
- Yesterday evening.
- Why were you with her?
- Wait. What's this about?
- This is about the fact that your lawyer turned up dead
after you were seen following her yesterday.
- What?
- So why were you following her?
- I wasn't.
She asked me to sign this affidavit for my case,
so I was dropping it off.
- We didn't find her with any affidavit.
- 'Cause she said she was on her way to meet a friend.
Asked me to bring it back later.
- How'd you two get along?
- We weren't best friends. She was my lawyer.
- Where'd you go after meeting with her?
- Straight to the Papaya King right around the corner.
I was there till 8:00.
Look into it. - We will.
- Look, she may have had clients
who didn't appreciate her, but not me.
When I caught up to her, she was on the phone
talking to someone about getting a protective order.
She even joked with me about it.
She said I don't have anything to worry about.
I'm not the guy she's scared of.
- When was this?
- 6:40, 6:45.
- Only two detectives?
If it was an ADA, how many would be assigned? Ten?
Plus the press conferences,
commissioner, mayor, district attorney.
But a dead public defender, who cares, right?
- Well, I'm so happy you got that off your chest, Manny.
I hope you feel better. - Just so you know,
none of that is true.
We investigate all cases the same way.
- So how can I help you?
- We know Rachel called you last night
about a protective order.
We just want to know who she's afraid of.
- She didn't say.
She just wanted to know if it would
cast the office in a bad light if one of its lawyers
was getting a protective order for herself.
I told her if she needed one, she should get one.
- You know of any clients she was having problems with?
- Don't know the details, but I heard her talking
about a recent murder sentencing.
She said she was scared.
Thought someone was gonna kill her.
Don't know if she was joking or not.
- Well, she wasn't.
Do you have her calendar?
- I subbed in for the sentencing.
Rafael Cortez.
Triple homicide.
A dispute over drug proceeds.
Guidelines left me no flexibility.
- She have a problem with her client?
- Problem was with her client's son.
He tried attacking Rachel.
Called her a stupid bitch.
Said it was all her fault.
Court officers had to hold him back.
- Is he in the system now? - No.
I would have held him in contempt,
but Rachel said the family had been through enough.
I shouldn't have listened to her.
- Yo, that's out! That's out, bro!
Let's go, baby! You got it, fellas!
- Yo, who's got next?
- Luis Cortez, we need a word.
- 5-0! 5-0!
[shouting]
- Uh-uh.
Almost.
[both grunt]
- I didn't do nothing. - Yep.
Why'd you run then?
Give me your hand.
Other hand.
- I got a gun.
And a knife.
- I didn't do nothing!
- Now what's at 713 Van Brunt Street, Red Hook, huh?
- That's Rachel Bender's address.
- Well, well, well,
looks like we need to have a conversation.
Stand up.
.
- What's with the arsenal?
- Man's got a right to protect himself.
I got enemies.
- Was Rachel Bender one of them?
- It's that thing in court, right?
She should have made my pops take a plea.
He was gonna die in prison.
- You have any contact with Rachel after that incident?
- No, but I saw my pops.
He was pissed at me.
Said I should apologize.
Told me how much she had done for him.
I had her address 'cause I sent roses to her apartment.
Look it up.
- Where were you last night?
- Why? What's she saying?
- Nothing.
Somebody killed her.
- No. No way.
I was at my baby mama's house in Bensonhurst, OK?
- Not OK.
First, we're gonna check out your story.
And then you're gonna have to answer
for this gun in your bag.
- Luis Cortez's phone puts him in Brooklyn
at the time of Rachel's murder,
but his knife is not a match for the wound.
- His credit card confirms that he sent Rachel flowers
to her apartment the day before she was killed.
- So back to the drawing board.
- Well, we've been working our way through Rachel's cases,
and it seems like all of her clients with an ax to grind
are either in prison or alibi out.
- Anything back from the crime lab?
- No DNA found on Rachel,
but they were able to ID that shoe imprint
we found in the mud next to her wallet.
- Size 11. Very distinctive sole pattern.
Pegs it as a Giovanni Presario. High-end Italian loafer.
- Narrows it a little bit.
[phone chimes, buzzes]
- Rachel's mom is here.
Maybe she can help us narrow it down even more.
- Rachel was so brilliant.
I told her for years
she should get paid for her smarts
by being in private practice, but...
- We're very sorry for your loss, Ms. Bender.
And we really appreciate you coming in
on this difficult day.
Do you know if Rachel was dating anyone?
- No, not seriously.
- Did she ever mention anybody she was having a problem with?
- Like whom?
- Her clients, for instance.
- Well, they were all problems. They were criminals.
- We mean something irregular,
like a threat or a confrontation.
- Yeah, she did tell me
about an altercation she had last Friday
with a restaurant in The Village
named Luchardi's.
- Did she say with whom? - No.
But she was really shaken up.
Said she was never going back.
- Rachel was a regular.
She always ordered a caprese salad.
- I understand there was an incident with her
last time she was in.
- Yeah, it was nutty.
Rachel was over by the bathroom.
A guy is sitting, drinking at the bar.
He sees her. Starts screaming.
- About what?
- I didn't hear the nitty gritty.
I got between them quick, though.
I showed 'em the door.
- He follow her? - I couldn't tell you.
I was short-staffed that day.
I had a delivery to attend to.
I didn't even know Rachel was there until I saw her.
- Do you remember the guy? - Yeah.
Scraggly hairs. Big, white guy.
- You think you could find his credit card receipt?
Maybe give us a name? - Sure.
- Adam Grassley? - Yeah?
- Mr. Grassley, we're police detectives.
May we come in and ask you a few questions?
- No.
- OK, would you like to step outside,
and we can have a conversation?
- Why don't you take your toy badges and get off my porch?
- Sir, have you been drinking?
- It's a free country. - Yes, it is.
And that's why we're gonna cut you some slack
for getting so mouthy with us.
We're just gonna ask you a few questions.
- You're gonna cut me slack?
You guys are on my property... - Easy.
- And you're gonna tell me what to do?
- Easy, Grassley. - Hey.
- [grunts]
I didn't do any--
Get off of me! - Hey.
You wanted us off your property?
It's your lucky day, buddy.
You're coming with us.
- What's your beef with Rachel Bender?
- So that's what this is about, that piece of garbage?
- Hey. You've had plenty of time to sober up, buddy,
so do yourself a favor and answer our questions.
- My 16-year-old daughter was raped and murdered
by one of her clients in July.
And Bender got him acquitted last week
'cause of a warrantless search by meathead cops.
- That's terrible.
I have a teenage daughter myself.
I can't imagine the pain you're going through.
I'm sorry for your loss.
- I just wanted to ask her, like, how...
How do you represent such a vile human being?
She wouldn't answer my calls.
Then I ran into her.
- You have any further interactions?
- Why?
- Someone killed her.
- Is this where I'm supposed to say karma's a bitch?
No, I didn't do it.
It's like I told her boyfriend. I said my piece.
- Boyfriend?
When did you talk to her boyfriend?
- Luchardi's.
Guy follows me into the street
screaming at me to leave her alone.
Almost knocked his ass out too.
But I didn't.
Instead, I just went to the bar across the street
and kept drinking.
.
- Went through Rachel's emails again, texts, phone calls.
There's no sign she was dating anyone.
- Maybe the relationship was on the down-low.
- Maybe the guy is married.
- As for her dating pool, there are 200 males at her office.
Factor in full-timers at the courthouse,
guys who come in and out.
- Jeez, we're gonna need an abacus.
- They had to be out and about a little bit, right?
- Vi, dig back into Rachel's credit cards.
Look for hotels, restaurants, bed and breakfasts.
- There's not too much.
But there were three charges last month
from a café in The Village called Java Bliss.
They were all before 6:30 a.m.
And the last one was Saturday. - For an espresso?
That's a long way to go for a girl from Red Hook.
- You know, I don't know about you guys,
but if I end up in a different borough
stumbling into a coffee shop at that time of the morning...
- It's 'cause you've just spent the night
at someone's apartment.
- Reach out to Java Bliss.
See if they've got security cameras.
- We need to speak to Judge Raymer.
- He's busy.
You can't go in there.
- Francis versus Grace--
What the hell are you doing here?
- Judge, we're executing a search warrant.
- I am in the middle of a conference.
- Well, your conference is now continued.
Gentlemen, if you please.
- Rachel Bender? Is this a joke?
- It most certainly is not.
- What's the probable cause?
- We have an eyewitness who works at a coffee shop
near your home who places you in the coffee shop Saturday
having a heated argument with Rachel
because she wouldn't take you back.
- You need to get the hell out of there now.
- Judge?
Is that a cut in your right hand?
[phone chimes, buzzes]
- You have no idea
the dimensions of the mistake you're making.
- We are making no mistakes.
We just got a text from a detective
executing warrant at your house.
They found a pair of size 11 Giovanni Presario loafers
in your closet, mud still on the sole.
Matches the footprint at the crime scene.
- [whistles]
- Turn around. - I'm not gonna turn around.
You're seriously handcuffing me in my chamber?
- Hey!
You are under arrest for the murder of Rachel Bender.
[door opens]
- I've been waiting 20 minutes for a cup of coffee.
- Judge, you know how this works.
You've been in this business a very long time,
so we're gonna shoot you straight.
The evidence against you is very strong.
We got your fancy size 11 loafers at the crime scene.
You got a cut on the palm of your right hand,
the stabbing hand.
And a man matching your description
was seen arguing with our vic
shortly before she was murdered.
- Plus we have motive.
The victim dumps your ass a few days before she was murdered.
- Get out ahead of this, Judge.
Tell us your side of the story.
- [scoffs]
You want me to confess.
Please.
I had nothing to do with Rachel's death.
So uncuff me right now,
and I'll pretend that this was nothing more
than an ill-informed error of judgment--
a simple but stupid mistake.
- That's not the way to play this.
Your Honor.
- I want a lawyer now.
- Judge Raymer?
- Hard to believe, I know.
- The facts say what they say.
- No, I agree he's our man.
But I reviewed the file.
Evidence is solid, except it's all circumstantial.
Is there anyone else who can help nail this down?
Add some context to Raymer's personality,
or better yet, provide some more evidence?
- There may be.
Raymer called his law clerk at 5:40
the night that Rachel was killed.
- That's less than two hours before the murder.
- Which is why we're on our way to talk to him now.
- I'm coming with you.
- Are you sure about that?
- I am.
- No, that's impossible.
Judge Raymer would never hurt anybody.
- We appreciate your loyalty, Tyler.
We just have a few questions, and we'll be on our way.
Did you know about his relationship
with Rachel Bender?
- No.
- Why did Raymer call you at 5:40
the night Rachel was killed?
- I was grabbing a slice
across the street from the courthouse.
I drive the judge to and from work.
He wanted me to take him home.
- Is that what you did? - Yes.
I drove him to his place in The Village,
then came up and worked on an opinion.
I was with him till about 9:00.
- Wait, hold on.
You're telling us that you were at your boss' house
for three hours that night with him?
- Yes.
- Wow, your judge, what a lucky guy.
You just handed him the perfect alibi.
- Hey, guys, could you give us a minute?
Yeah, I was a clerk back in the day.
I know what your boss means to you.
- Judge Raymer is a brilliant man.
Is a good man. - No.
I felt the same way about Judge Munson.
And I wouldn't change that experience for anything,
even though the hours were really long
and I felt like an indentured servant.
- [chuckles]
Nothing's changed in that regard.
Trust me. - No, I know.
Some things will never change, no matter what.
But here's the thing, Tyler.
Indentured servants don't socialize with their bosses.
- Excuse me? [chuckles nervously]
- You lied about being with Judge Raymer
at his place on the night Rachel was killed.
Did you know they were dating?
- I suspected.
She came by the chambers a lot.
And then last week, I heard raised voices.
She dumped him.
- And where did you drop him that night?
- Public defender's office.
- Why?
- Because he said he had business.
I know he had a contentious divorce, right?
But he would never hurt Rachel, OK?
That's not who he is.
.
- I already spoke to the detectives.
My ex-husband is a powerful man.
I'm not comfortable saying anything else about him.
- Respectfully, Ms. Raymer, he's on trial for murder.
Your comfort is not our chief concern.
- You filed a restraining order against him.
Why don't you tell us what your ex-husband did?
- What he did was stalk me after I moved out.
Hit me.
Said if I left him, he would kill me.
- Well, then why did you decide not to pursue charges?
- He's a judge.
It would have been my word against his.
Plus, there's no alimony if your ex is behind bars.
If I testify against him--
- Ms. Raymer, a woman is dead.
And he has to be held responsible.
So we are gonna subpoena you.
And if you won't testify,
I will seek to hold you in contempt.
Do you understand?
- Mr. Price is attempting
to introduce Ms. Raymer's testimony as a prior bad act.
- Goes to pattern, Your Honor.
- There is no pattern.
Ms. Raymer is not dead. - Judge, please.
- Can we call this for what it is:
a shameless ploy to poison the jury against my client
to cover for the prosecution's lack of evidence?
- The defendant's penchant for stalking women
and committing acts of violence is highly relevant
to this trial. - Enough.
The probative value of the testimony sought here
is clearly outweighed by its prejudicial impact.
I'm precluding it.
Anything else, Mr. Price?
Mr. Price, do you mind telling me what you're staring at?
- A photo of you and the defendant.
- Yes. We went to Harvard together.
- I knew that.
I just didn't realize how close you were.
- Is there something you'd like to say, Counselor?
- Yes, respectfully,
the victim's family and the press
could misconstrue
your relationship with the defendant.
And the people have no choice
but to move for your immediate recusal in this matter.
- We oppose.
This is a bald-faced attempt at judge-shopping.
- No, it's worse than that.
It's an unfounded attack on the integrity of my courtroom.
And I won't stand for it.
Motion denied.
- Judge Benning-- - Denied.
Openings tomorrow, 9:00 a.m.
Goodbye, Mr. Price.
- Thank you, Judge. - Thank you, Judge.
- Judges have an immense amount of power in the courtroom.
Outside of the courtroom, that power is circumscribed,
like it is for every one of us.
This is a story
of a judge who would not accept those limits.
The evidence will show that the victim
ended her relationship with the defendant,
rejected his desperate attempt to reconcile,
and so, he hunted her down and stabbed her to death
in a brutal and deranged exercise of power
and one he has to answer for.
- This case is about power--
the prosecution's abuse of it.
Because Mr. Price is twisting a simple breakup
into a fantasy of murder.
Why do this on what will become clear
is a flimsy evidentiary foundation
to eliminate an enemy--
Mr. Price's enemy?
Because Mr. Price has been on the wrong end
of Judge Raymer's rulings over and over.
- Objection. Foundation. Move to strike.
- Overruled. Sit down, Mr. Price.
And don't interrupt again.
- At the end of the prosecution's so-called case,
I will ask you to send a message:
that the judiciary is independent
and can't be intimidated.
I will ask you to acquit Judge Raymer
of this baseless charge.
- I manufactured the case to eliminate an enemy?
It's offensive on its face and sanctionable.
- So then there's no truth to Strawn's contention
that you've been on the losing side
of a majority of Raymer's rulings?
- Well, of course there is,
like every other prosecutor in the building.
Raymer is notoriously pro-defense.
- Then the defendant is entitled
to make the argument that Raymer's bias stoked yours.
Speaking of Benning's bias, if you'd asked me,
I would have argued against that motion to recuse.
- He's compromised, Jack, and his prejudice
will manifest itself in ways big and small
throughout the trial, even if it's unconscious.
- Maybe, but you're seasoned enough
to know that any judge who admits to being partial
is acknowledging his failings.
Your motion didn't stand a chance.
All it did was infuriate him.
- Defense counsel suggested I'm framing his client.
The trial judge is pals with the defendant.
I think I was expecting you to share in a bit of my outrage.
- Our outrage isn't gonna convince the jury of anything.
Feeding them evidence is.
I suggest you focus your energies on that.
.
- At some point, Mr. Minter, did you become aware
that the defendant and Ms. Bender
were engaged in a relationship? - Yes.
- When did you become aware of that?
- When I overheard them talking in chambers.
- And what was the substance of their conversation?
- It was about...
the relationship.
- Mm-hmm.
Do you recall overhearing that Miss Bender wanted
to end that relationship?
- I don't remember overhearing that.
- What do you remember overhearing?
- Not much.
The walls are thick.
- Well, which is it, Mr. Minter?
You don't remember the victim telling the defendant
she wanted to break up, or you couldn't hear the victim
telling the defendant she wanted to break up?
- Both, I guess.
- Did you or did you not inform me
that you heard the victim break up with the defendant?
- I said no such thing.
- All right. Let's move on.
Did you drop the defendant off outside Ms. Bender's office
shortly before she was stabbed to death?
- No, I dropped him off at his apartment
and worked on a case with him for three hours.
- You told me you dropped the defendant off
outside Ms. Bender's place of work
shortly before she was killed, correct?
- I don't recall.
- Mr. Minter, did you discuss your testimony
with the defendant in advance of your appearance here today?
- No. - Yet suddenly,
you are contradicting everything you told me?
- That's not true. - All right.
Will the court please remind Mr. Minter
that he is testifying under penalty of perjury?
- Objection.
Asked and answered. Badgering.
If the prosecution doesn't like Mr. Minter's testimony,
they shouldn't have called him. - Sustained.
The witness' testimony is clear.
You're done here, Mr. Price.
Your witness, Mr. Strawn.
- We have nothing, Judge Benning.
- You were right.
Raymer clearly had a chat with Minter.
Called him early this morning.
Conversation lasted an hour and a half.
- Kid's always been shaky.
- Well, we can open a perjury investigation.
- No, there's no point. We couldn't prove it.
And even if we could, he's been completely burned
as a witness. [knocks at door]
- Nolan Price? - Yes.
Thank you.
- What's that?
- It's a subpoena for my testimony.
- I discovered the victim's body.
The defense is entitled to inquire about that
and nothing else.
- Says Mr. Price.
We're entitled to inquire
about his private conversation with Mr. Minter.
- It's called interviewing a witness.
- Yes, with no one else present
and referencing that conversation repeatedly
during Mr. Minter's questioning.
- You could have objected to those references.
You did not.
- But it's part of the record now,
making you a party to a conversation
that is central to the outcome of this case,
whether you like it or not. - Your Honor--
- As someone who is so concerned
with the appearance of impropriety,
Mr. Price, you, of all people,
should know that it would be highly improper of me
to deprive the defense the opportunity
to impeach your testimony.
Mr. Price will take the stand.
- Mr. Price, how often have you appeared before Judge Raymer?
- Perhaps a half dozen times.
- Eight, actually.
And you've lost three of those cases, right?
- Yes, but they were jury verdicts.
- Each of which involved
numerous motions crucial to the case's outcome--
motions you lost.
- Objection. Relevance.
- Make your point, Mr. Strawn.
- You dislike appearing before Judge Raymer.
- No, I have no animus towards Judge Raymer as a judge.
I do, however, despise him for the heinous act
the evidence establishes he committed.
- You and the victim, Rachel Bender,
were colleagues at the public defender's office
for three years. - Yes.
- At the time of her death,
were you two romantically involved?
- No. - Objection. Relevance.
- A little latitude, Judge.
- I'll allow it.
- I'd like to offer the following photo
as defense exhibit 34.
- Judge, may we approach?
Mr. Price's past relationship with the victim
has absolutely nothing to do with this case.
- But it has everything to do
with his decision to bring this case.
Mr. Price's relationship with Ms. Bender
establishes prosecutorial overreach and bias.
- I'll allow it. Step back.
- Judge-- - Ms. Maroun, step back.
Mark it as defense exhibit 34.
You can put it up.
- Mr. Price, can you tell us what this photo depicts?
- It's an office holiday party.
I think it was 2012.
- It's a photo of you kissing Rachel Bender, right?
- That's correct.
- So let me rephrase my question.
Did you ever have a romantic relationship with Ms. Bender?
- A brief one. Decade ago.
- But you still loved her, correct?
- No, I was never in love with her.
- And you hated the fact Judge Raymer was dating her.
- Objection. This is preposterous.
- Overruled.
- There were no witnesses to Ms. Bender's killing, correct?
- None that we've located.
- But you're the one that found the body.
Your fingerprints were on her driver's license.
How do we know you didn't kill her?
- Objection. - How do we know
this entire trial isn't a frame job
by a jealous man who killed the lover
he was still obsessed with? - Judge, please.
- And the man you're framing was also ruling against you
in case after case-- a two-for-one deal, right?
- Objection.
- Sustained. Enough, Mr. Strawn.
- Nothing further.
[tense music]
♪
.
- You think it might have dawned on you
to inform co-counsel the victim was an ex-girlfriend?
- It was a casual thing, Sam. It was more than a decade ago.
- You went after Benning because he's Raymer's friend.
You are just as compromised as he is.
- Look, I am sorry I didn't bring you into the loop,
but it was irrelevant.
- Well, that may be true, but we're on life support.
I mean, the jury may not believe
you framed Raymer for the murder,
but they could believe you overreached,
that you are not seeing things clearly.
We need more evidence.
- I agree.
Maybe we take another run at Tyler Minter.
- His testimony is useless.
You said it yourself. - I know.
But he seems to know more about Raymer than anybody else.
- I'm not talking.
I believe in Judge Raymer's innocence.
He's gonna be acquitted, and he'll be back on the bench
in a week. - I understand the sentiment.
But you will have to pay a price for it.
- Excuse me?
- You're still relatively new to the legal profession,
so let me educate you.
This is a murder trial,
and you lied on the stand.
I can't allow that to go unchecked.
- Y-you're gonna indict me?
You'll never prove it.
- Maybe.
But are you really willing to take that risk?
- Tyler, if you don't talk to us,
you're gonna force our hand.
- [sighs]
- You told me you didn't know
why Judge Raymer wanted to be dropped off
at the public defender's office
on the day that Rachel was killed.
That's not true, is it?
- The judge... [distant chatter]
He bought a diamond ring.
He was gonna propose to her in Dewey Park.
It's a block from the public defender's office.
It's where they had their first date.
Can I go?
- So we got the proposal.
- Problem is what comes next.
The street vendor stops his cart right in front of them.
Obstructs the view.
- By the time the cart moves again,
Raymer is storming off.
- So Raymer thinks he can get her back by proposing to her.
She turns him down flat.
- He stews over it.
An hour later, she's dead two blocks away.
- But there is a guy standing right behind him.
He had to have seen the whole thing.
- Yeah, maybe he can provide some context
and fill in some of the gaps for the jury.
- Can you zoom in on his jacket?
- Yeah, I was on my break having a smoke.
Saw the guy flame out.
- Can you run through what you saw, Drew?
- It was pretty quick. He got down on one knee.
She said, sorry, but it was over.
He gets up. Starts screaming at her.
- Anything else?
- Yeah, the last thing he said stuck with me.
He said she would be sorry.
Told her he was gonna get her.
- I appreciate you, brother.
We'll be in touch. - Sure thing.
Yo, the guy was a real prick. - Mm.
- How's the doorman's trial prep going?
- Afraid we've hit a snag.
- What do you mean?
- He's got a prior conviction
for harassing an ex-girlfriend.
Pled guilty in 2015.
The defense could spin this to its advantage
and turn him into an obsessive predator
who met the victim right before she was murdered.
Make it look like he's the killer.
- [sighs]
Not if we don't use him.
Look, the Java Bliss barista.
Plus, we have the cut on Raymer's right palm
and his shoes at the crime scene.
And the jury will put it together.
- But we still have to turn over information
about Drew to the defense.
- It's not our job to present alternative theories
to the defense.
- No, but it is our job
to turn over exculpatory evidence.
- You really think that there is a reasonable probability
that this information would result in a different verdict?
- Is that opinion based on your legal interpretation
or your desire to get justice for your friend?
- Both.
- Well, what would you say
if you were still a defense attorney?
- It doesn't matter.
I'm a prosecutor.
It's my call, Sam.
[tense music]
♪
- Thank you, Hannah.
Any word on the jury?
- No. It's been two days, so...
- I just hope your passion for the victim
doesn't cloud their assessment of the facts.
- I did what I thought was right for the case
and for Rachel's family.
- Winning the case is what's right.
And we have 20 other homicide prosecutors here
who could have handled--
- But I'm the best.
And you know it.
- What you are is compromised.
If I had known you found the victim's body
and you slept with her,
I wouldn't have let you within a time zone of this!
- I took this on because
I thought I could maximize the chance of a conviction.
- Because you cared so deeply for the victim.
- Correct.
- I rest my case.
[phone chimes, buzzes]
- Jury's back.
♪
- Counsel, please rise.
Madam foreperson,
in the matter of the people versus Ephraim Raymer,
has the jury reached a verdict?
- We have, Your Honor.
- On the sole count of murder in the second degree,
how do you find?
- We find the defendant guilty.
[crowd murmuring]
- Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
thank you for your service.
Court is adjourned. [gavel slams]
- Nice work, Sam.
- We did what we had to do.
Just hope your friend, Rachel, wasn't looking down.
♪
.
[dramatic music]
♪
[wolf howl]