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.
LUISA: Tena, Daddy's waiting for us.
I'm waving to Max.
Put on your coat and your gloves. I won't tell you twice.
And bring me Elena's hat.
Can I bring Lily?
Yes, but hurry.
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
I don't see Daddy and Max.
Leon?
Leon!
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
Max! Max!
(SCREAMING IN SPANISH)
The 5-year-old died en-route to North General.
Mr. Galvez was dead at the scene.
CURTIS: What were they doing out this early?
They were going to their grandmother's in Albany.
Point of impact was here, knocked the kid right out of his boots.
BRISCOE: You got a make on the hit-and-run?
NORRIS: No. No witnesses so far.
Want to see the other one?
Other one?
Around the corner.
CURTIS: Any ID?
NORRIS: Be my guest.
I'll wager he didn't live in Harlem.
Peter Lavalle, 170 East 82nd Street.
Long way from his townhouse.
We're positing he got hit at the crosswalk.
The car swerved after the impact,
hit the curb going around the corner,
we got tire marks there, then hit the other two.
Anybody hear him hit the brakes?
No brakes. No skid marks.
Maybe no accident.
Max always followed his papa everywhere.
I don't know what I'm going to do.
We don't have any money.
Victim Services can help you with that.
We'll make sure the word gets out.
Mama, can you open the juice?
Here, let me give you a hand with that. I'm an expert.
Mrs. Galvez, when you went downstairs,
you're sure you didn't see a car?
No. I didn't see no car.
I saw a car.
You did? Where?
She was looking outside before we went downstairs.
I waved at Max and then I saw a car,
but then Mama told me to put on my coat.
What was the car doing?
It was driving on the street.
Do you know what kind of car it was?
It was black. It was big. It was driving fast.
(GAS PS)
BRISCOE: Why don't we sit down over here, Mrs. Lavalle.
Right here. Come on.
Okay.
Mrs. Lavalle, I'm sorry I have to ask you these things,
but what was your husband doing up in that neighborhood?
Well, he takes a walk every Sunday,
up Third Avenue and down First. Every week.
Can you think of anyone who might've wanted to hurt your husband?
MRS. LAVALLE: No.
Why? It was an accident, wasn't it?
Well, we're not sure what happened.
Is there anybody else in your family we can talk to?
Our children, Matthew and Daniel.
I'll get you their phone numbers.
He had a walking stick, with a sterling silver handle.
Are you sure he had it with him?
Yes, of course.
And I have to get it back.
It belonged to his father.
Officer.
I didn't see a walking stick at the scene.
Neither did I.
Somebody got there first.
We find the walking stick, maybe we find a witness.
I'll call Profaci.
Hey! Hi, Daddy!
Hey, bunny!
Hi, Lennie! Hi, Deborah. Nice to see you.
Here we go, sweetie. Hey, honey.
How was the museum?
Serena loved the bike collection.
You did? Yeah.
We brought you Chinese food.
With shrimp and noodles.
My favorites! Mine, too.
Mommy, I have to go now.
Where's the ladies room?
Upstairs. I'll take her.
No, it's okay. Come here, Serena.
Okay. Hold on.
Mr. Rogers and Mr. Jones were discussing
the merits of thunderbird versus crack,
when Mr. Jones pulled out what Mr. Rogers described as a silver hammer
and hit him upside the head with it.
A silver hammer?
Black stick with a silver handle.
(SIREN WAILING)
Let's go. He had this with him.
Meet Mr. Alternator Jones.
Alternator? Yeah.
Says his dad worked at the Ford plant in Detroit.
You gonna get me locked up again!
Hey! BRISCOE: Hey! Knock it off!
Move him down the block.
You ain't gonna give me nothing! Shut up!
That cat had it coming to him!
That's not why you're here, Mr. Jones.
You want to tell me where you found this?
It's mine. I found it on the street.
Yeah, on Pleasant Avenue, right?
Look, that old guy was already dead.
Yeah, we know. He got run over. We're hoping you saw it.
I heard it. I saw the old guy walking across the street.
I went around the corner and I heard this car gun its engine.
It accelerated?
Yeah. Then...
Then I came back around the corner,
and the cat was dead, that's all.
You see the car?
No, man.
Look, I can't see nothing with these glasses. Look.
Look, you go down to St. Anne's.
Father Luke will fix you up with a new pair, all right?
And stay out of Mr. Rogers' neighborhood.
Yeah. I'm gonna do that.
Okay, bruises, one on Lavalle's thigh and the other on the boy's chest.
CURTIS: From a headlight rim?
You're looking at a Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar.
You got pictures of these cars?
This one.
And that one, too.
Okay.
Mama, can I go play with Elena?
Did Victim Services get in touch with you?
LUISA: Yes.
And people sent money and cards.
People I don't know, saying they're sorry
and they're gonna pray for Max and Leon.
I want to thank them
but some of them didn't write down their names.
Do you mind if we take a look?
People have good hearts.
TENA: Mommy!
I'm sorry.
A check for $67 and a marriage proposal.
He sent his picture.
Guy must be dreaming.
Give him credit for keeping his clothes on.
Hey, Lennie, look at this one.
"Dear Mrs. Galvez, I saw the news"
"about your family on television."
"They showed your little boy at the hospital."
"He looked so small in his little parka and his yellow boots."
"I'm so sorry for all the pain you're feeling."
"I'm enclosing $500 to help with your needs."
No signature.
The kid wasn't wearing his boots at the hospital.
The boots were in the street.
No return address either. But the C-notes are real.
Brand new. With consecutive serial numbers.
We traced the bills to a bank in Murray Hill.
They were disbursed the same day they were mailed.
Did the bank happen to know who withdrew the money?
Yeah. They narrowed it down to the teller who did the transaction.
He had two clients take out $500 or more in cash
in denominations of a hundred.
No kidding.
We have a Chinese immigrant who was in Hong Kong the day of the accident.
The bank knows that because he made
a cash machine withdrawal there.
The other one's a Susan Young, 34,
divorced, no kids, no car.
But she has a driver's license.
How do you want to handle her?
I don't know. We drop in on her, she's liable to shut down.
Her bank has a stolen credit card report on her.
She got her purse snatched about seven months ago.
Good. Tell her we found it.
And ask the bank how many sugars she takes in her coffee.
Talk about a surprise. I gave up on ever getting that wallet back.
Still want me to look at mug shots?
Yeah. We'll get to that. Why don't you take a seat?
Last Sunday morning in East Harlem,
three people were killed in a hit-and-run.
I saw it on the news. It's horrible.
You know what else is horrible? We don't have any witnesses.
The driver might get away with killing those people
'cause no one wants to talk.
BRISCOE: That's kind of like piling one horror
on top of another. Wouldn't you agree?
Yes.
Good. Now, anything you want to tell us about this hit-and-run?
I don't know what you mean.
Weren't you in East Harlem, Sunday morning?
No. Why would you think I was?
The post mark is from Murray Hill,
about three blocks from where you live.
These bills trace back to your bank.
They were handed out by the same teller
on the same day he gave you $500.
BRISCOE: Now what do you bet we find your prints on these
and your DNA on the stamp you licked?
I felt sorry for that woman. I wanted to help anonymously.
Then why didn't you come out and say so?
You wrote that you saw the little boy
at the hospital with his boots on.
Where did you see that?
On the news.
He didn't have his boots at the hospital.
Maybe I read it. I don't remember. CURTIS: You're lying.
You were there at the accident.
No. BRISCOE: Why are you covering up?
What are you afraid of? Nothing.
I have to get back to work.
Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
What's this bruise here? That looks like it could be from a seat belt.
No. I fell.
You were in the car, weren't you? No.
You might not have been driving, but you were in the damn car.
That's crazy. Now, please... Look at this!
That's a picture of the little boy in the morgue.
Take a look. Look at what happened to him. Look at it, damn you!
(GROANS)
That's one way to get her to spill her guts.
She knows who was driving.
And unless she wants to tell us, we can't force it out of her.
I want to leave now.
You're sure?
Please, I don't know anything. I wasn't there.
Her bruise is on the right side.
That puts her in the passenger seat.
She have any connection to the Lavalle family?
They never heard of her. By the way, both the Lavalle kids are alibied.
CURTIS: We checked her IUDs for the last month,
nothing jumps out that traces to the Lavalles.
So it could be just an accident.
Three people run down? To you that's just an accident?
Can't we put some paper on Ms. Young and force her to talk?
We subpoena her to the grand jury, she'll ask for immunity.
JACK: Until we know how she's involved,
I don't want to give it to her.
If you keep the pressure up, you think she'll come around?
We'll lean on her just as hard as you let us.
You sure she didn't come in the back door?
Maybe she hit a shoe sale on her way back from work. I don't know.
Thanks.
Hey, why don't we grab some food and come back?
No. Let's give it another 10 minutes.
I want her to see us when she gets here.
You know, I got in touch with Mrs. Galvez yesterday?
She has to move in with her mother.
She can't manage without her husband.
You know what you do, Rey? Grab all the life insurance you can afford.
Davey says you're waiting for Ms. Young?
She left last night with a suitcase.
Said she'd be gone for a couple of weeks.
Did she say where?
No. Sometimes she stays at her boyfriend's when he's out of town.
Where does he live? I wouldn't know.
Name?
I wouldn't know that either.
Her office says she's at her sister's in Groton.
Her boyfriend who travels?
Look at her IUDs for the week before the accident.
See these calls to Rio de Janeiro?
Every night. Minimum of 20 minutes.
Expensive heavy breathing.
Last call was made Saturday afternoon.
So the boyfriend flew back Sunday.
The accident was near the Triborough.
So if they were coming from the airport,
they might've crossed the bridge.
What? She picked him up? She doesn't have a car.
Maybe he does.
The new-guy shift, Saturday 10:00 p.m. to Sunday 6:00.
Really cuts into my booty time.
Two weeks ago Sunday, the flight from Rio.
You remember her with one of the passengers?
Yeah, sure.
Yeah? 30,000 people later, you remember her.
I remember the belligerent fool she was with.
Kept lighting up in the no-smoke zone.
You talked to him?
I talked, he yelled.
Customs was ready to take him for a cavity search
'cause he pissed them off.
Gave his lady a hard time, too.
What was his problem?
You could smell his problem, scotch.
CURTIS: So he was drunk?
Unless he uses the stuff for cologne.
CURTIS: You remember his name?
I wrote him up in my report.
BRISCOE: His name's Bernard Dressier.
His credit card company confirms he was at the hotel in Rio.
Damn! It ate my quarter.
His name's also on Young's IUDs
the whole month before the accident.
Now she hasn't called him since.
Look. Downtown is sweating my budget,
their way of saying how much they appreciate my lawsuit.
So solve this quick or hand it off to AIU.
Hey, I ran Dressier through DMV, he owns a black' 92 Jag.
Consistent with the bruises on the bodies.
And get this, he has two moving violations and a DWI from last year.
Six months probation, 12 hours drunk school and no suspension?
Must've had some lawyer.
He better hope his lawyer hasn't retired.
I had a couple of drinks, then I went to sleep. I wasn't drunk.
BRISCOE: Airport security said you were quite a handful.
You do 11 hours on a plane and see how chipper you feel.
Dena, get me David Feist in Bonn. Try the home number first.
How'd you get home from the airport?
Cab. Why?
You know Susan Young?
What's she have to do with this?
CURTIS: She picked you up from the airport, right?
No.
Somebody saw you with her.
With a blond, it wasn't Susan.
You want to stand still for a minute. So who was the blond?
It was another passenger, somebody wanting to split cab fare to Islip.
Tell me. Really. This isn't about me
causing a disturbance at the airport, is it?
That Sunday morning, three pedestrians
were killed by a hit-and-run driver.
We think Ms. Young had something to do with it.
That's not possible.
BRISCOE: Have you talked to her lately?
No. Things were cooling off before I went to Rio
and we haven't connected since.
You still own a Jaguar?
Yeah.
You still drinking and driving?
That's very funny. I learned my lesson.
BRISCOE: Good for you.
So, would you mind if we had our lab check your car?
(CHUCKLES)
If I said no?
We find a judge to say yes.
Okay, but I'm calling my lawyer.
Dena will show you where it's parked.
And if you scratch it, you fix it.
A car hits a body, something from that body's gonna get sucked
into the engine compartment. Hair, skin, fiber, blood.
There's nothing like that here.
You sure this is his car?
The VIN numbers from the dash, the frame and the engine block
all match his registration.
Also didn't find any damage or any evidence it had work.
That's too bad. I was looking forward to hooking up this guy.
MAN: Fred, I checked the fourth VIN tag.
FRED: Everybody thinks there's just three,
only the manufacturer knows where the fourth one is,
and they only tell the FBI.
It's different on every model.
This one's on the inside of the floor pan.
I had to drill a hole and use a dentist's mirror to see it.
And it doesn't match the other three.
So this isn't his car?
Same model, same year, same color. It's not his.
He probably got this one from a dealer and switched the VIN tags.
Any way to tell who had this car before Dressier?
Yes. We have a car with that VIN number. It's a '92 Jag.
It hasn't been sold?
No.
Not even to a Bernard Dressier?
No.
So, the car is here?
All these cars have been cleared for export.
I mean, they're fully documented.
Big market for used Jaguars in Russia?
Used everything. The VIN numbers match.
The right fender's new.
The grille's new. The paint's new. Bumper's been replaced.
Right spoiler bracket's bent.
This is your killer, gentlemen.
Time to come clean, Mr. Pettijohn.
Did you trade cars with Bernie Dressier?
His bank issues me letters of credit, okay?
Without them, I'm out of business.
You're out of business now.
You want to step away from the desk?
What's going on?
Your car came back from Russia, Bernie, with love.
Bernard Dressier, you're under arrest
for the deaths of Peter Lavalle, and Leon and Max Galvez.
Wait. Get away from me. Hey! Get off me...
Take it easy, Bernie! Hey! Let me go!
I said give it up!
You bastards. CURTIS: You have the right to remain silent.
You stupid bastards! Anything you say can
and will be used against you in a court of law.
$1 million for vehicular manslaughter two?
These are "D" felonies, Your Honor.
Their case is nothing but fumes.
There's no evidence my client was at the scene.
There's evidence his car was.
A bent fender bracket?
They want to put three bodies on my guy,
they'll have to do better than that.
I don't want your client joining his car in Russia.
Bail's set at $1 million.
A million bucks. He must like the cut of your skirt.
From what I hear, he'd prefer yours.
CLERK: "Docket number 026797."
Don't smile yet. It's the work-up of Dressler's car.
There's no physical evidence of the victims.
The car had been steam-cleaned bumper-to-bumper.
What about Dressler's girlfriend?
Wasn't she with him at the airport?
That ID is soft.
The police showed the guard another picture of Young,
he wasn't so sure.
So find somebody else who saw them together.
Another passenger on the plane.
I'll subpoena the manifest.
The airline refuses to comply with our subpoena.
They're saying the Warsaw Convention
protects them from actions by state courts.
They poured the booze that got Dressier drunk.
They're afraid of getting sued.
They're right about the Warsaw Convention.
The only place we can bring process
against them is in federal court.
Then go ahead, do it. I did.
The US Attorney doesn't think a couple of "D" felonies
warrant their attention.
The airlines has offices here?
Three.
They won't honor our subpoenas,
seize their furniture, computers,
whatever you can lay your hands on.
Smack them around.
They shut down our ticket offices. They took files, they took computer disks.
You can't imagine our losses.
We served them with a subpoena for a flight manifest.
They refused to honor it. A search warrant's our only recourse.
Mr. Fischer,
why doesn't VIA airlines simply give them what they want?
Judge Feldman, according to the terms
of the Warsaw Convention, we don't have to.
The spirit of the convention is to limit liability in civil suits.
It's not meant as a shield in criminal investigations.
Lawsuits are exactly what we're trying to limit.
The search warrants are valid on their face. I see no reason to void them.
Your Honor, I...
Either you comply with their subpoena,
or lawsuits will be the least of your worries.
The manifest will be on Mr. McCoy's fax machine in an hour.
Thank you. Thank you.
JUDGE FELDMAN: Oh, Mr. McCoy,
you know, it's not an accident
that this case was assigned to me.
I believe drunk driving to be a plague on our society.
If you hit any snags, you let me know.
Sounds like the makings of a stump speech.
It is. He's planning a run for Adam's job next spring.
And drunk driving is the cause he's embracing?
It's not world peace.
Shouldn't Dressler's lawyer know about Feldman's bias?
I'm not gonna tell him.
Come on, Jamie, a judge with an agenda, this is news to you?
Dressier, yeah. That loudmouth, he complained about the food,
the wine selection, the service.
What did he think it was, Lutece up there?
Do you know how much he drank?
No. But every time I looked over, he had a drink in his hand.
BRISCOE: And?
Yeah, that's her. Yeah. I saw them leave the terminal together.
Why did you notice them?
It was hard not to.
That poor woman, he was bellowing
and gesticulating at her. A real bully.
Thank you for coming in.
BRISCOE: Thanks.
Okay. That's three passengers who saw them together.
What about flight attendants?
Two in first class. They're both in South America.
The airline will let us know next time they're in town.
How about Ms. Young?
I didn't go out all morning.
I don't know how Bernie got home from the airport.
Three people saw you with him.
Look, you're here under a material witness warrant.
That means we keep you until you cooperate.
You'll be in the tombs with crack addicts and prostitutes
for as long as it takes.
It gets worse. We can place you and Mr. Dressier in the car.
I don't care which one of you was driving.
This is a triple homicide and somebody's going to pay for it.
We can give you protection, Ms. Young.
Once he's convicted and sent to prison, he can't hurt you.
What if he doesn't go to prison?
He's gotten off before, in Massachusetts.
He hit a teenage girl. He told me.
You get us the evidence, this time he goes to jail.
Look, as bad as you feel about that little boy,
how you gonna feel the next time he kills somebody?
(SIGHS)
I wasn't home one night when Bernie called me from Rio.
He thought I was with someone else. He was furious.
As soon as he saw me at the airport, he started ranting.
He grabbed the keys.
(SIGHS)
He yelled at me the whole way into the city.
He said if he found out who I was with, he'd kill them.
He didn't think I believed him. Then we saw the old man.
I yelled at Bernie to stop.
But he sped up right into him.
He killed Mr. Lavalle on purpose?
I don't know, I can't imagine...
What about the other two?
The little boy,
his father stepped into the street and waved at us to stop.
Bernie didn't even try to miss them.
How drunk was he?
I don't know. I can never tell with Bernie.
I never know what he's going to do.
Dressier keeps a country house in East Lenox.
He ran a red light there two years ago,
hit a little girl on a bicycle.
She spent eight months in the hospital.
JACK: Why didn't the police know?
ROSS: It's not on his record here.
He has two driver's licenses, one in New York and one in Massachusetts.
The judge there suspended his license
for five years because of the accident.
Which automatically suspends his driving privileges here.
That ups the charge to first degree vehicular manslaughter.
Not enough. We're gonna make an example of Mr. Dressier.
JACK: What do you have in mind?
This was a multiple killing.
First degree murder.
Murder one requires intent.
JACK: He accelerated into one victim.
He made no effort to avoid two others. That's intent.
Not if he was drunk.
Maybe he meant to hit the brakes instead of the gas?
A couple of drinks don't negate intent.
But we don't know how much he had to drink.
If we don't know, the grand jury won't either.
But at trial the...
ADAM: Get an indictment. Scare the pants off him.
Maybe he pleads to murder two. We've sent a message.
First Feldman, now Adam. The bandwagon's getting crowded.
I agree with Adam. And I'm not running for anything.
Murder one? Where the hell is this murder one? Iran?
Try section seven sub-section one,
paragraph eight of the statute.
He took three lives with intent.
He wasn't even in the car.
Not according to his girlfriend.
What, that bitch? How do you know she wasn't driving?
We believe her. We don't believe you.
I still don't see an intentional murder.
Two witnesses saw him accelerate into Mr. Lavalle.
Given your client's driving record, here and in Massachusetts,
a jury's not going to split hairs over intent.
This is nuts. You want to give me the death penalty?
JACK: Unless you plead to second degree murder.
What's that?
Twenty-five-to-life.
God. Bernie.
(EXHALES)
Didn't any of your witnesses tell you he was drunk?
They saw him with a drink. Doesn't make him legally intoxicated.
The flight attendant who served him knows how much he had.
I stopped counting at 12.
Puts him well over the legal limit
and well beyond the ability to form intent.
Even if he was driving, we're back to vehicular manslaughter.
There's nothing in Westlaw.
If it was two or three drinks, we could still argue intent,
but 12... According to him.
If he can prove it, he's off the hook.
He kills three people and hides behind a bottle.
The law says he can.
The law. Probably written on a cocktail napkin.
Intent follows the bullet. It shouldn't matter
if it was fired by a drunk or by Carry Nation.
The airline's lawyer called.
Dressler's flight attendant's coming in tonight.
I served Mr. Dressier fifteen drinks.
We ran out of scotch in first class
so I took some bottles from coach.
JACK: How was he behaving?
He was difficult.
Was he drunk?
He wasn't climbing on the beverage cart.
But he slurred his words, spilled a drink on himself.
I had to fill out his Customs declaration for him.
He couldn't even sign his name.
Thank you, Ms. Barra.
Mr. Fischer, can we have a word with you outside?
We want fair warning before she testifies.
This case is already front page of the Daily News.
I appreciate Ms. Barra's testimony might prove embarrassing.
I see here she's a Colombian national.
You realize, as long as she doesn't return to this country,
she can't be compelled to testify.
The District Attorney's authority
doesn't extend to foreign citizens abroad.
What the hell are you doing?
You don't want Dressier to prove how drunk he was,
so you're telling a witness to leave the country?
Don't worry about it.
The airline's giving me the run-around.
They said she's been reassigned
to the Bogota-Buenos Aires route.
Why tell me? I know you talked to her.
Did you take a statement?
I've complied with Rosario, Brady
and all relevant discovery procedures.
Whatever she said, if she said it, is not discoverable.
I don't know what you're up to, McCoy,
but I'm gonna compel you to turn over her statement.
Knock yourself out.
Ms. Barra's a witness. If she gave Mr. McCoy a statement,
I'm entitled to it.
She's not our witness.
If Mr. Billings wants her to be his witness, he can subpoena her.
BILLINGS: Beside the point.
I believe Mr. McCoy has a statement that exculpates my client.
JACK: I don't believe it does, Your Honor.
Mr. McCoy, do you have her statement in writing?
Yes. May I see it, please?
Thank you.
(CLEARING THROAT)
I don't see anything here, Mr. Billings.
I'd like to see it, Your Honor. I already have.
I've made my ruling. Your motion to compel is denied.
She told us he drank enough booze to float the Queen Mary.
Her statement is exculpatory.
Only if Feldman says it is.
Jack, I know his agenda. What's yours?
The maximum penalty for first degree vehicular manslaughter
is 5 to 15 years.
Put a girl in a coma, killed three people,
and he walks away with five years?
He isn't even sorry. It isn't justice.
Neither is concealing evidence. You could get disbarred.
That's up to you. This is what I'm gonna do.
NORRIS: We looked at a number of factors
to determine the force at impact.
For example, we know that a human thigh bone
breaks under 1,100 pounds of pressure per square inch.
As a result of your calculations,
can you tell us how fast Mr. Dressler's car
car was traveling when it struck Mr. Lavalle?
Yes. The car was moving in excess of 30 to 35 miles per hour.
What, if any, evidence did you find
that Mr. Dressier tried to avoid hitting his victims?
None. There were no skid marks, no yaw marks.
All three victims were struck head-on.
JACK: Thank you.
Detective Norris, isn't it common not to find skid marks
in drunk-driving accidents?
Objection. The defendant is not charged with drunk driving.
JUDGE FELDMAN: Sustained.
Detective, is it unusual for an intoxicated driver
to step on the accelerator when he intended to...
Objection.
Sustained.
(EXHALES)
Let's talk reaction times, detective. Sober versus intoxicated...
Sustained.
Mr. Billings, next question.
No more questions.
The write-up of the interview with Ms. Young has a TPO glitch.
The accident was at 6:10, Rey wrote down 16:10.
I'll mention it to Jack. I think we're done.
Has he talked to you about this case?
McCoy? Yeah. Briefings, witness preps...
I don't mean that.
You mean, has he said, "This one's for Claire Kincaid"?
No.
That guy got 12 months at Mount McGregor.
Yeah, I know. I pulled the file. You were in the car with her.
Yeah. I was catching a ride home.
Claire came down to the bar to pick up McCoy, he'd already split.
Bad timing all around.
Listen, this hump Dressier,
I'm keeping them crossed he gets what he deserves.
I told him to stop, to help those people. He kept driving.
He dropped me off at my apartment.
I don't know what he did after that.
What, if anything, did he say to you before he left?
Objection. JUDGE FELDMAN: Overruled.
Please answer, Ms. Young.
He told me that if I said a word to anyone,
I'd be as dead as those three people.
JACK: Thank you.
You said Mr. Dressier accused you of sleeping with another man
and threatened to kill him. Does he always behave this way?
He's very possessive.
But when he's drunk, his jealousy's out of control, isn't it?
It gets worse.
He rants and raves, he imagines things?
Yes.
Because in fact, you've never been unfaithful to him, have you?
No.
So that morning when he screamed and threatened,
he did so because he was drunk, isn't that right?
Objection.
Gentlemen.
Your Honor, I'm establishing a pattern of behavior.
When my client's drunk, he's insanely jealous and delusional.
So conversely,
when he's insanely jealous and delusional, he's drunk.
Ms. Young is an accounts supervisor,
she's not a behavioral psychologist.
My client's state of mind is the crux of my case.
Then get an expert. Your line of questioning is inappropriate.
Now step back.
The jury will disregard the witness' responses
to Mr. Billings in their entirety.
I have nothing more, Your Honor.
JUDGE FELDMAN: Court's recessed until tomorrow morning.
(GAVEL BANGS)
Lucky break.
You made your point. Man one on all counts.
Not interested.
ADAM: Man one's a good offer.
You want me to call his lawyer back?
Your case. Your idea.
I haven't seen the fear in his eyes yet.
This is People v. Dressier you're trying, isn't it?
Long as we're on the same page.
Are you just playing chicken with Dressier, Jack?
Because it looks like you and Feldman
are tag-teaming to commit legal murder.
In your opinion.
It's not even a fair fight. If Dressier had the flight attendant...
She didn't force-feed him that scotch
or steer him into those people.
He did that. He punched the accelerator.
Or he made a mistake! No!
Anyway, that's for the jury to decide.
How can they?
They don't have the whole story.
You're making them accomplices.
So I'm wrong because I want an appropriate sentence?
Instead of 12 months at Mount McGregor?
You don't know what you're talking about.
You won, Jack.
Just call Dressler's lawyer.
The discussion is over, Jamie.
I'm not done! I am!
This is the District Attorney's office. We prosecute criminals.
If you could stop thinking like a defense attorney,
maybe you'd grasp the concept.
I know why I'm here.
I think you're the one who's forgotten.
The stewardess told me that she ran out of scotch
and I said I'd drink anything.
And so she went back into coach and got more.
How many drinks had you had by then?
Twelve.
I'd lined the little bottles up on the tray.
I counted them. After that, I don't remember much. Just flashes.
Susan at the airport, driving on the expressway.
I often black out when I drink too much.
How about Mr. Lavalle,
Mr. Galvez and his son, any recollection of hitting them?
No.
I wish I could say I did.
I'm very sorry I killed them.
I swear I could never kill anyone intentionally.
Mr. Dressier,
you really don't remember anything about that morning?
No, I don't.
You don't remember getting behind the wheel of your car,
even though your driving privileges had been suspended?
No.
Even though you'd run over a young girl two years ago
and put her in a coma?
I told you, I don't remember.
So, isn't it possible at some point
you decided to speed up and kill Mr. Lavalle
and you just don't remember it?
No!
How can you be so sure, when you don't remember anything?
I swear if I did that I'd remember it.
HOW?
You don't even remember killing Peter Lavalle
or Leon Galvez
or Max Galvez.
You don't remember them at all, do you?
God.
I didn't mean to.
I was so drunk.
I swear. I'm not a monster.
Please forgive me.
Please?
Mr. Dressier, we have only your word
that you drank upwards of 12 scotches on the plane, is that right?
Yes.
Do you know that you were so drunk
that you couldn't sign your own name
to a Customs declaration form?
Mr. McCoy, what's the basis for your question?
I'm offering People's 43 for identification.
Let me see it.
I really don't like surprises, Mr. McCoy!
May I see the evidence, Your Honor?
Sure.
This is the statement you got from the flight attendant?
Yes.
Your Honor, I have no objection.
This statement cannot be authenticated. I'm not admitting it.
I'll stipulate to its authenticity, Your Honor.
If Mr. McCoy also stipulates, that should be enough.
Mr. McCoy, before we proceed,
you are familiar with the provisions of Title I, are you not?
Yes, Your Honor. I am.
Just asking. Excuse me.
What was that all about? What's Title I?
It's what they now call sections 195 and 195.05 of the penal law.
Official misconduct and obstruction? He just threatened you.
That's right.
Mr. Billings, does defense agree to stipulate
to the authenticity of People's 43?
We certainly do, Your Honor.
JUDGE FELDMAN: Mr. McCoy, are the People also prepared to so stipulate?
Yes, Your Honor.
People's 43 is admitted. Go on, Mr. McCoy.
Mr. Dressier, this is a statement given to the District Attorney
by Gabrielle Barra, the flight attendant on your flight from Rio.
She states that she served you 15 drinks. Is that an accurate count?
I only remember the first 12.
She states you slurred your words
and spilled a drink on yourself.
Do you recall that?
No.
She states you were disoriented, at one point
locking yourself in the washroom
and requiring assistance to get out. Do you recall that?
No.
Given this statement, is it fair to say that you were so intoxicated
as to be unable to think or act rationally?
Yes.
No more questions.
I don't know what happened in there. You dismantled your case.
I removed the needle from his arm is what happened.
The offer is vehicular manslaughter
first degree, three counts, 5-to-15.
We'll take it. Send me the papers.
Make no mistake, Mr. Dressier, I'll be present
for every one of your parole hearings.
Feldman still has to sign off on this.
Five years? You think this is just?
JACK: It's what the statute provides.
Statute. I don't give a damn about the statute.
I was presiding over a landmark case.
You turned it into an embarrassment.
You made a fool out of me.
Judge... I had my statements written
for his sentencing, for the imposition of the death penalty,
you give me a plea down to a "C" felony.
If by some fluke you get elected D.A.,
you can lobby to re-write the drunk-driving laws.
That's cute. This isn't over, McCoy. I'm not accepting this plea.
You're sending the case to the jury.
Absolutely not.
Absolutely not. Let me warn you, counselor.
I know the shell game you played with that flight attendant.
You either send this case to the jury,
or you go before the ethics committee.
That cuts both ways, Judge. No.
I have absolute judicial discretion.
Any ruling I made will hold up to scrutiny
anywhere, any place, any time, okay.
It's not what's on the record, Judge.
You tipped your hand in front of Ms. Ross and myself.
If you're impugning my judicial...
I don't want to hear it.
I have no excuse for what I did. Neither do you.
You accept this plea or I'll go to the ethics committee.
Before I impose sentence, does the defendant have anything to say?
Just that I'm sorry, Your Honor.
I'm sorry.
I'm just very sorry.
Pursuant to the plea agreement, the court sentences you
to a term of not less than five and to no more than 15 years.
Though I'm bound by statutes, this sentence in no way reflects
the wanton destruction you inflicted
on the families of your victims,
nor the outrage your crimes aroused in our community.
Your behavior offends us, Mr. Dressier,
but no more so than the inadequate penalties
provided by the statutes.
We're adjourned.
ADAM: Good picture of Feldman. Nice quote.
I gotta make some calls. Line up a campaign manager.
I'm meeting David for dinner at Primavera. You want to come?
Three's a crowd.
He'd like to meet you.
I'll be there for dessert. I promise.