.
- In the criminal justice system,
sexually based offenses
are considered especially heinous.
In New York City, the dedicated detectives
who investigate these vicious felonies
are members of an elite squad
known as the Special Victims Unit.
These are their stories.
- Yeah, I'll be there tomorrow morning.
No, no, no.
After eight weeks of maternity leave,
I'm definitely ready to come back.
How have you been doing after
everything you went through?
- Oh, I'm fine, Rollins.
Thank you for asking.
Don't--don't worry about me.
Look, we are all very much looking forward
to seeing you tomorrow.
- Yeah, all right.
Um, thanks, Lieutenant.
- You think I don't know anything
about your whore tricks?
Shut up.
Are you lying to me?
I can tell right now that you're lying to me.
I will get on a bus and be there by morning,
and I will toss him out the window
and kick your ass.
What are you looking at?
[growls] What did you say?
Don't talk back to me. I know you were with him.
You're gonna be sorry.
- Yeah?
Yeah.
[indistinct chattering]
Hmm.
[inhales sharply]
Mm.
[sighs]
- See? [laughs]
- [laughs] Follow me.
Yo, check it. - That girl is wasted.
- Come on. - Maybe she could use a friend.
- Yo.
What's up, babe?
Hey, girl, what you got in that bag?
Now, where you get that?
What's up, babe?
- What's your name, girl? - Hey, stop.
- Guys, people are looking.
- Just want to have some fun with you.
- You want to share with us, right?
- Oh, I'm all out. - Come on, baby.
- Oh, oh! - Oh.
- We should get out of here, man.
- You know what? That's a great idea.
Come on, let's get this lady home.
Yeah, come on, baby.
Come on. Take her purse.
Let's go.
I've got you. Come on.
Let's go, it's cool. Easy now.
- [moaning] Let go of me.
- It's cool, I got you. - Ooh, we 'gon get you home.
[overlapping chatter]
[woman muttering indistinctly]
[dramatic music]
*
Yo, my friend, she, uh--
she just partied too much, that's all.
*
- Hold her. - [grunts]
Check her bag. Check her purse. Get her keys.
Come on. Be quiet. This one. This one.
Give me the keys. Hurry.
- Come on. - Just--
- Come on! Come on, be quiet!
- Quiet. - Hey, what are you guys doing?
Who are you? - Let's go.
- You don't live here.
- Come on. Go. Go. Go. Go. - Yeah, yeah, you better run.
Yeah, I'll call the police. [door to building closes]
- Shh!
- Hold her. - What are you doing?
Let her go. - Relax.
- Yo, yo, yo, you ain't never seen one like this.
I'ma tell you. - [laughing]
- That ain't right. - Easy. Easy, just relax.
Just relax. Okay?
- Yeah, you like that?
- [gasps] No, no, no!
[screaming]
- Shut up, shut up! You want to get loud?
- Help! - She gonna get loud!
[indistinct shouting]
*
- I said hold her back. You're acting like a bitch.
[shuffling, panting]
[overlapping voices]
- [groaning] No, no!
- I want the jacket. Open the jacket.
*
[siren wailing]
- We've got head wounds, signs of sexual assault.
- Yeah, welcome back, right?
- Yeah.
- Hey, honey. Can you hear me?
Can you squeeze my hand? - [moans]
- That's good. That's good.
- Hey, we got to move. She's hypothermic.
- Okay, how long was she out in the cold--all night?
- Most likely. We got to go.
- Okay. - I'll ride along.
- Great.
- The vic is Libby Parker,
apartment B11.
Super found her in the courtyard,
7:00 a.m.
- Anyone get eyes on the perp?
- No video. No one's come forward.
- Guys, there's 100 windows up there.
Somebody saw something.
[dramatic music]
.
- She ate that much?
Okay, there is, uh, more milk in the freezer.
Right. I told you that, of course.
All right, I'll check in with you soon.
Okay, thanks.
Dr. Wilder, can I talk to Libby now?
- Not yet. She has a concussion, two cracked ribs--
between that, the hypothermia,
and the drugs in her system,
we're still trying to stabilize her.
- It's all clear in here.
- Doesn't look like a robbery.
- All right, Freddy,
I'm gonna need names of every tenant
that faces the courtyard.
- I'll make a list.
- No men's clothes.
- Yeah, well, someone was in her life.
Looks like, uh, kids. Maybe nieces.
[knock at door] - Officers,
is the lady all right?
- No. Who are you? You live here?
- Yeah, yeah. I live across the hall.
- Were you around last night? - Yeah.
Actually, I saw two guys
try to break in here around 1:00 a.m.
They had keys.
- Was it anybody you ever seen before?
- No. Younger than her boyfriends.
They were Spanish, maybe. - You call the police?
- No, I yelled at them, and they ran away.
- You hear anything after that?
- No, I, uh, had my headphones on.
What happened?
- That poor girl. I saw the ambulance.
- Did you hear anything last night?
- There was something going on.
- In the courtyard? - Yes.
I went to the window.
She was out there with some men.
- Can you describe them?
- They were wearing hoodies.
I couldn't really see.
- Did you hear her screams?
Then why didn't you call the police?
- Lots of lights were on.
I figured somebody else had called already.
- We know Libby.
She lives right below us. always smoking at her window.
- Craig, the woman was attacked.
I told you she was screaming.
- You heard screams?
- You said you heard a noise.
By the time I checked, it was quiet.
- And you didn't see anything?
She was lying in that courtyard all night.
- It was dark. You couldn't see a thing.
- So at least 10 residents saw or heard an assault.
- Everybody thought someone else was calling the cops.
- Police could've been here in two minutes.
Now this woman might die.
- I agree, so let's take it easy with the witnesses.
We want them to cooperate.
- Hey, you can't go in there. - I got to get my dog.
- Hey. [dog whimpering]
- Hey, that's a cute puppy.
- Hey, thanks.
- You walk her through here a lot?
- Um, well, I don't take her out on the street.
There are a lot of big dogs in the neighborhood.
- Hey, I'm not ASPCA. I'm NYPD, all right?
So you walk her through here last night?
- Last night? No.
- Did you, uh, hear anything in the courtyard?
- Um, no.
I'm sorry, I-- I wasn't home last night.
I was at a bar with my boyfriend.
- Okay, thanks.
You know what?
Say what you want about Staten Island,
but at least they have people who look out for each other.
- We caught a break.
Libby used her debit card
in the East Village last night at 11:00 p.m.
- You seen this woman?
How about you? You see this woman last night?
- Hey, buddy, what about you?
- That girl was high as a kite.
- She get her drugs here?
- There are no drugs here.
We have cameras. Keeps them away.
- Okay, how about you show me the footage
from last night?
- The system only saves the last hour.
The data slows down the server,
which makes the gamers angry.
- All right.
Anyone seen this woman last night?
Or at any time at all?
No?
Anyone like bologna sandwiches?
[overlapping chatter]
Hey, you go to Fordham, don't you?
- Uh, yeah. Do I know you?
- Yeah, maybe. I'm in night school there.
Listen, you think your midterms are hard,
wait till you get to the Bar.
- [laughing]
- You, uh--you see this woman last night?
- Yes.
Look, if this is about the drugs,
then I don't know anything, okay?
- She was assaulted.
So if you saw anything, give me a call.
Okay, you too, huh?
Nobody saw anything, all night long?
[snaps fingers]
All right, great.
Thanks for your cooperation, people.
Appreciate it.
- The cafe's a drug den.
No one saw a thing.
- Still, her building--
I mean, how many people face that courtyard?
- This one says his window was closed.
That one says she went to bed early.
- Bystander effect.
Sometimes, the more witnesses, the less help.
- Yeah, and no help from the family, either.
I found an ex-husband in Detroit.
He has sole custody of their daughters,
and he was quick to tell me that she's a junkie.
- Terrific.
- Does he know that she's in the hospital?
- He didn't seem too concerned.
- Hey, Lieutenant.
Sorry I'm late, but not only did that girl from the cafe
see Libby with three guys the other night,
but she got it on video.
- Great work, Carisi.
Try facial recognition
and get this to every TV station in the city.
- I saw the video on the news.
I'm pretty sure those boys
are from our youth center.
- We appreciate your help.
Who are they?
Ronnie Ellis, Juan Flores, and William Reeves.
Ronnie and Juan are hardcore,
but Will-- he surprised me, though.
He's been trying to straighten out.
- Aren't they locked in at night?
- They're supposed to be.
We've been having issues with the night guards.
- And where are they now?
- Told them to wait in the game room.
[dramatic music]
*
.
- Bobby, you said you don't know where your bunkies went,
but do you mind if we look around?
- Do they have cell phones? - Old ones.
- So no GPS. How about social media?
- Of course.
They don't have data plans for texting,
so they communicate via Twitter and Facebook.
- There's nothing here.
- We're gonna need their account names.
- I'll get you what I can, but they all use street names
on multiple accounts.
- Did they have friends here? - Not really.
Ronnie's been kicked out of three shelters.
Juan came from an abusive foster family,
and Will was rescued from
a sex trafficking ring.
- And they run as a pack? - Mm-hmm.
- Okay, Linda, these boys are in trouble.
Where would they hide?
- Back on the street. - Dealing?
- Ronnie and Juan for sure, but Will...
he was picked up last year for solicitation.
Brooklyn.
[dramatic music]
*
- Got to be a tough way to make a living.
- Once they hit the streets,
half these runaways are hooking within a couple days.
*
- Right there. Right there.
[siren wailing]
Will Reeves,
hands in the air--right now.
Right now. - Hey, New Jersey--
- Move the car. Get out of here.
*
- That's you, Will.
Social worker says the other two are bad news.
She's disappointed you got caught up.
- I didn't hurt that lady, I swear.
- Okay, Will. Somebody did.
Somebody dragged her to a building,
raped her,
and left her for dead in the courtyard.
- I'll telling you--
- We have witnesses who saw the whole thing.
- I'm telling you, it wasn't me.
- You just the fall guy? It's all on Ronnie and Juan?
- Yeah, that's right. - We can work with that.
Where are they? - I don't know.
They out hustling. - Okay, so DM them.
- No way. Ronnie will kill me.
I can't. Please.
Can I just talk to Linda?
- You got to talk to us first.
- This kid's wetting the bed. He's no thug.
- Look, we have Will's phone.
If he won't contact his friends, we're gonna do it for him.
- I'll get a warrant for social media accounts
on all three.
- Good news.
Libby's doctor says she just came to.
- Great. Let's just hope she remembers what happened to her.
- Yeah, the last thing we want to do
is rely on our see-no-evil witnesses.
- The doctor said I've been out of it
for over two days now.
- Yeah. You almost died.
Libby, is there anybody that we could call for you?
- Um, no.
Not really. - Okay.
Libby, you were found unconscious
in the courtyard.
Do you have any idea how you got there?
- Everything's fuzzy.
- You had a concussion.
- And they also found alcohol
and ketamine in your system.
- Please don't say anything to my ex-husband.
Please. I was trying to do better.
- He doesn't need to know,
but, Libby, you were attacked.
You were beaten
and possibly sexually assaulted.
Remember anything at all?
- I remember pavement on my back
and being so cold.
[somber music]
I was floating outside of my body, like--
like a bad dream.
- And what about your attackers?
Do you remember what they looked like or sounded like?
- No. No.
- Okay, so how about we go back
to the last thing that you do remember?
*
- I was having a bad night. - Okay.
- So I had more than a few drinks at the bar.
Then I went to the cafe to get coffee
and, you know, sober up.
That's when this guy offered--
offered me Special K.
*
I--I was stupid.
- All right. Okay.
Do you recognize any of these guys?
You can scroll through.
*
- No.
Why, did some of them do this to me?
- All we know is what we've seen from a video.
Three of them did surround you
there at the cafe, and you all left together.
- We did?
- Yeah, you don't--
you don't recall that? [clears throat]
They took you back to your apartment.
- Did I invite them back?
- Well, they had your keys
and they were trying to get into your apartment,
and they got scared off, so...
then they must have assaulted you in the courtyard.
- I don't remember that...
or any of them, but...
if I was in the courtyard, some--
somebody must have seen what happened to me.
- We're going to speak with all your neighbors
and just trying to put the pieces together.
*
Well, her memory may come back.
- Forget the head injury-- the drugs?
I wouldn't count on that.
- There's nothing on the rape kit.
There's not much on that video.
- Mm-mm. - Look, we got to go back
and lean on those neighbors. - Yeah, but good luck with that.
They all made it pretty clear they don't really care for her.
- Well, maybe so, but we have to.
- I--You know-- I know there's no such thing
as a perfect vic,
but this lady has got two little girls.
She's doing drugs. God knows what else.
You know how hard it is for a woman to lose custody?
- Addiction is addiction, Rollins.
- Yeah, but she's got kids.
You don't get to make those kind of mistakes anymore.
- Okay.
- I mean, it's just not her life to ruin.
- I hear you.
Hold on. We have a lead.
Ronnie just DM'ed Juan.
They're moving some weed out on Atlantic avenue.
[dramatic music]
*
- Excuse me. Hey, excuse me.
Have you seen these two?
Hello?
Excuse me, have you seen these two at all?
- You got anything? - No, I got nothing.
- All right, no sign of them. Any luck over there?
- We just pulled up. Nothing yet.
*
- Hey, excuse me, guys. NYPD.
Did you buy that around here?
- It's medicinal.
- Uh-huh, okay. Where did you get it?
- Over there, by the subway.
*
- I got eyes on both of them. Atlantic and 4th Avenue.
- Straight ahead!
*
- Oh-- Come on.
- NYPD! Stop!
[tense music]
- Out of the way! Move!
- Yo! Over there! Over there!
Let's go! Let's go!
- Move! Move!
- This way.
- Oh, damn!
- Police!
- Yo, hop the gate!
[all grunting]
- Arms behind your back!
Arms behind your back! - You're under arrest.
- [groans] Ah, man.
- I don't have anything.
- Shut up! Don't talk!
- Okay, get them out of here, guys. Now.
*
Good job.
Come on, guys, move along. Move it.
- What you looking at, man?
- Thanks a lot, people.
No, thank you.
Citizens of New York, I applaud you.
Give yourselves a hand.
.
- Come on. I'm staying out of trouble.
- Is that why you ran? - You people were chasing me.
- Where were you Wednesday night, Juan?
- I'm not sure.
What did Ronnie say?
- Man, we met the waste case at the cafe.
All we did was try to help her get home.
- You mean you dragged her home, beat her, and raped her.
- It wasn't us.
As soon as we got right outside the cafe,
she got all belligerent and took off.
- Then why do we have witnesses that put you at her building?
- That's a bluff.
I saw the news.
No one called 911.
- Will, your friends
are giving you up.
- They are?
- So how about you tell me your side of the story?
- Linda from the shelter-- she knows I wouldn't do--
- Yeah, Linda can't help you now, Will.
Help yourself.
- I didn't hurt no one.
I didn't do nothing.
- Where are we on these boys? - Nowhere.
Ronnie and Juan are lying as we speak.
- Well, Will wasn't any help, either.
- Ronnie had a second cell phone on him.
The call log was deleted.
- Send it to TARU, see what they find?
- Yeah, and in the meantime,
get a photo array over to Libby's building.
- Maybe one of our Good Samaritans can make an ID.
- Yeah.
[sighs]
[dramatic music]
- This one.
- Okay, good. - Actually--actually, wait.
*
Actually, this one.
Maybe both of them.
- Okay, um, why don't we
try the others and come back to this group?
- Just take your time, Mrs. Weissman.
*
- I think he was there.
*
- Are you sure? - Should I be?
Am I wrong?
Which one is it?
- I don't recognize any of them.
- We told you. We barely saw anything.
Come on, we're late.
- We still need you to take a look.
- I don't want to be involved with a trial.
- You're an eyewitness.
You know the DA can subpoena you to testify.
- Do you have any idea what this has been like?
It's all over the news.
People are blaming us for what happened to Libby,
claiming we don't care. - Well, then, show you do care.
Help us now.
*
- So no one could ID all three?
- Couple of them made one ID,
but couldn't make the other two.
- Which does more harm than good.
Try harder.
Counselor Henderson--
- Mr. Barba, just the man I was looking for.
I got a call from the youth center.
I'm representing Will Reeves.
- This isn't exactly a civil rights case.
- Will's barely 18.
He's been a victim of sex traffickers.
No one's ever really looked out for him.
- Okay, which doesn't make him innocent.
We have him on video with the victim.
- Hypothetically, if my client were present
but didn't participate in the assault in any way--
- He'd still be on the hook for rape.
- Even if he were willing to testify
against the other suspects?
Ronnie and Juan have records. Robbery, drugs.
- I have no way of knowing who did what.
- Will's only prior is for solicitation.
He's attending classes.
He's an A student. - Good for him.
I can offer felony assault or sexual misconduct.
- You need my client's testimony.
According to the "Daily News,"
no one in the victim's apartment building saw anything.
- Okay, so which is it?
He was there, he didn't participate,
or he wasn't there?
What about his friends?
Won't they have sob stories too?
- I gave you an opportunity to wrap this up,
but if the guilty need to walk
for my client to walk, so be it.
- Lieutenant.
I just heard back from TARU about Ronnie's second cell.
- Okay, any texts or photos from that night?
- No, but there was a 911 call made from the phone
around the time of the rape.
Only lasts for a few seconds.
- He wouldn't call the cops on himself.
- So it's not his phone.
Most of the contacts are Hispanic females.
- So call them all.
Tell them that you're trying to return the phone.
This is your phone, right, Maria?
- Yeah. Thank you, uh--
like I said, I must've dropped it.
- Do you remember where? - No, I don't.
- We just have a few questions.
You mind if we come in?
- Was it in the building where that woman was assaulted
a few nights ago?
- We read your texts,
and we know that you nanny for a family that--
that lives there.
- I didn't see anything.
- Wow, what happened to your eye?
- [sighs] I fell. - On your eye?
- [sighs] - Maria...
you did the right thing by calling 911.
- I should not have.
- Now you need to finish what you started
by telling us what you saw.
- That woman was passed out.
There were three boys with her.
I knew something was wrong, so I called 911.
[somber music]
It barely rang before the black boy hit me.
I was on the ground. He had my phone.
He said he knew who I was, and if I called the cops
that he would kill me. - Okay.
*
- So I ran.
- Did you get a good look at their faces?
*
- Number three.
*
Number six.
*
[voice cracks] Number two.
- Thank you, Maria. Thank you.
- Ready to talk, Mr. Guthrie?
*
- You've got one good witness
and 40 bad ones.
- Maria's believable and consistent.
She says Ronnie assaulted her and stole her phone.
He was found in possession of that phone.
Shall I go on?
- My client won't deny that he was there.
- Oh, so now you're changing your story?
- Well, he was afraid if he told you what happened,
you would jump to conclusions.
- Really?
- Look, we went back to her building.
She was high, horny.
Said she wanted all of us at once.
- She said that?
Even though she had blacked out and could barely walk?
*
- Well, and that's exactly why we said no.
She was messed up.
Kept saying she wanted it rough,
but we not like that, so we bounced.
- Your victim must have gone back on the prowl.
How about misdemeanor assault on the nanny?
.
- I saw the three of them dragging Libby Parker
towards the building. - Uh-huh.
Ronnie Ellis, Juan Flores, and William Reeves?
What happened next? - I called 911.
But that one-- Ronnie,
he came backed at me, punched me,
and took my phone.
Said he'll kill me if I told anyone.
- Did you see them hurting Ms. Parker?
- They were dragging her.
- Or trying to help her up.
Did you see them raping her?
- No.
- But you did see them outsider her apartment door?
- Yeah, uh, those two
were trying to get inside.
They had her keys.
- What did you do?
- I yelled at them and they ran.
- So you never actually saw
any of the defendants with the victim?
- No.
- What did you hear outside? - A woman screaming.
I went to the window to check.
- Could you see what was happening?
- There were three men surrounding her--
teenagers, really.
One black, two others maybe Hispanic.
- Did you provide that description to the police
before the defendants were arrested?
- No.
It was dark. I was confused at first,
but I'm sure I saw them.
- Why didn't you call the police?
- I saw the other tenants
watching from their windows.
Nobody seemed upset.
I assumed nothing bad was happening.
- You were wrong. - Yes.
Libby was screaming for help.
- If you had heard her crying for help,
wouldn't you have called the police?
- I guess I wasn't sure what I heard.
- So you came to the conclusion
that she was screaming for help after the police
told you she'd been assaulted?
- I told the police what I saw.
- Initially, ma'am,
you said you didn't see their faces.
- Well... they were wearing hoodies
like the ones those boys on the news had.
- [laughing]
You don't think every boy wearing a hoodie
is a rapist, do you?
- No, of course not.
- I--I went to the cafe.
Um...
a man offered me Special K...
and I took some.
I'm not proud of that.
- What happened next? - I'm not sure.
My memory of that night
did not completely come back.
- Do you remember giving consent for a sexual encounter?
- No.
And I never would have consented, ever,
to three strangers outside in public.
That is not me.
- Thank you.
- I'm sorry about what happened to you, Ms. Parker.
- [sighs]
- It sounds like you've struggled with drugs.
Was this the first time you used ketamine?
- No.
- So you're familiar
with one of its main side effects:
the loss of memory?
- Objection. - I'll allow.
- Yes.
- And you don't remember anything
after taking it?
Meeting the defendants in the cafe, leaving with them...
- No, it was-- it was caught on video.
- But you don't remember going back to your building
with them, do you?
- No.
- And you don't remember begging them to have rough sex?
- I didn't ask to be raped.
- I'm sorry about your injuries, Ms. Parker,
but you can't even remember if those injuries were sustained
during rough, consensual sex, can you?
- Objection-- badgering.
- Overruled.
Witness will answer.
[dramatic music]
- I don't... like rough sex.
I never would've told them that I did.
- Yet you don't remember leaving the cafe,
or arriving home?
You don't remember if the sex was consensual,
or even if there was sex.
You don't remember if it was even the defendants
who were with you in the courtyard.
You don't remember anything, do you, Ms. Parker?
- [sighs]
*
No.
*
No, I--
I don't remember.
*
That was awful.
They're gonna get off, aren't they?
- Well, the--
the jury heard what you went through.
That--that counts for something.
[knocking at door]
- Excuse me.
- Hi. - Doug.
Hi.
- We wanted to see if you're feeling better.
- Uh, come in.
Not really.
- Tough day in court.
- I got your flowers.
I should've thanked you.
Um, these are--
- Yeah, I remember him.
Um, why don't I come back later?
- Okay.
- Nice of him to stop by. - Yeah.
Doug, he's-- he's an odd duck,
but he's-- he's been a friend.
You know, we're both single.
No family, no support--
except AA.
- He's in AA?
- Yeah, uh, we both are.
Uh, you know, I'm not real good with sobriety,
but Doug, he's--
he's an old-timer.
He works his program.
Yeah, he gets real mad--
he's real mad when I slip.
- Um, excuse me one second.
I'll be right back. - Yeah.
- Take your time.
- Excuse me, Doug.
Can I ask you a few questions?
- What about?
- Well, actually, it's about what happened
to your friend Libby. - I wish I could help,
but like I told you, I wasn't home that night.
- Yeah, you did, but here's the thing, Doug.
You also told me that you were out a bar with your boyfriend
and Libby just told me that you're in AA and you're single.
Now, that's two lies right there.
You were home that night, weren't you?
- I didn't see anything.
- Yeah, but you were home.
Listen, Doug,
Libby needs your help right now.
These guys--they're gonna get away with this.
- Better than having them kill me.
They know where I live.
- They're not gonna do that-- not if you testify.
You put them away.
[dramatic music]
I don't get this.
All you had to do was call 911.
- I froze. I'm--I'm--I'm--
I'm not good in high-stress situations.
- It's just a phone call! - I know.
But I didn't. I couldn't, and--
and then it was too late.
- No, not for an ambulance, it wasn't.
- I got drunk. I screwed up.
That's what I do.
My whole life.
I don't know why.
That's what I do.
- Okay, listen to me. Everybody screws up, okay?
Everybody.
But Libby got hurt again on that stand today.
And if you don't testify,
this case is over.
*
- I'm not even sure putting this guy on the stand
is a great idea. - What, you got a better one?
- He's worse than all the others.
And that's no easy task. - Hey, Barba--
- Well, at least they admitted that they were there.
- Okay, well, we're here now, all right?
And he was there that night.
He's the only person close enough
to see their faces, to see what they did to her.
- And the jury believes him because--
- Because I went over his story
backwards and forwards, all right?
This guy never varied.
He gave a spot-on description of each suspect.
Now, maybe he's a coward, yeah, uh-huh,
but he's credible.
- So good memory, no morality. Fantastic.
- When you prepped him, did you tell him
what time to show up, since he's an hour late?
- He'll show. - If you say so.
If not, I'll just vamp.
- Ah, I'm here, I'm here.
- Mr. Nelson, I am ADA Barba.
You're prepared to testify? - Yes, I am...
prepared to testify.
- Doug, have you been drinking?
- Yes, I have... been drinking.
I'm drunk, but I'm still eidetic.
- All right, so can we get a postponement?
- I have no one else to call.
- I'm gonna get him some air.
- Just get him coffee.
.
- I was walking my dog
when I saw them in the middle of the courtyard.
Libby looked barely awake.
I saw him and him
taking turns forcing themselves inside her mouth.
- For the record, the witness has identified
the defendants Ronnie Ellis and Juan Flores.
Who else did you see?
- The other defendant.
- William Reeves. - He was holding her down.
- What did you do next? - I went home.
I know I should have called the police,
but I didn't. I...
started drinking instead, until I forgot.
I will never forgive myself for that.
- Thank you.
- Before the night in question,
when was the last time you'd had a drink, Mr. Nelson?
- Almost five years.
- Is it possible a relapse like that
could've affected your memory?
- I know what I saw.
I learned how to function while drunk a long time ago.
- Did you ever describe the suspects to the NYPD
before they were arrested?
- No, I waited too long to come forward.
- When you found out that your friend
had been seriously injured, did you feel bad?
- Yes.
- Bad enough to positively ID whichever suspects NYPD
had in custody, even though you were too drunk
to remember what they actually looked like?
- Objection. - Withdrawn.
- Mr. Nelson, are you intoxicated right now?
- Yes. Yes, I am.
[people mumbling]
- Thank you. Nothing further.
- Redirect, Your Honor. - I'll allow.
- Why did you get drunk that night?
- Because what I'd seen was horrible,
but I failed to help Libby.
I was mad at myself for being a coward.
- And why did you get drunk this morning?
- [sighs] I was afraid to testify.
I was afraid of what everyone would think of me.
- Fair enough.
Um...
Mr. Nelson, can you remember
the questions that Mr. Henderson just put to you?
- When was the last time I had a drink?
Would a relapse have affected my memory?
Did I give the police a description of the suspects
before they were arrested?
Shall I continue? - That's all right.
Can you remember what the defendants
were wearing that night?
- Blue hoodie,
black vest,
black hoodie
with leather sleeves.
- Thank you.
Mr. Nelson, can you--
can you look away from the jury
and close your eyes?
- Your Honor, are we gonna have him
touch his finger to his nose?
- Just bear with me.
- This better be good, Mr. Barba.
- Mr. Nelson, can you describe
the makeup of the jury to me?
[dramatic music]
- Six men, six women.
Four African-Americans.
Two female Hispanics,
one Asian woman...
[murmuring]
Three Caucasian men,
two Caucasian women.
Do--do you want to know which ones are where?
- No.
You can open your eyes now.
*
- Nothing further.
*
- Mr. Barba!
My client would like to testify against the others.
- It's too late, Counselor. I don't need him.
- He was a bystander. You just heard that.
He tried to stop them. - Not hard enough.
*
- What should I say to her?
- You could try "I'm sorry."
*
- Libby...
I am so, so sorry.
- So am I.
*
- Will the defendants please rise?
*
Members of the jury, have you reached a verdict?
- We have, Your Honor.
- What say you?
- On the charge of criminal sexual acts
in the first degree,
we find the defendants Ronnie Ellis,
Juan Flores, and William Reeves guilty.
[indistinct murmuring]
- Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
the state of New York thanks you for your service.
The defendants will be remanded until sentencing.
[raps gavel]
*
- Maybe Libby can move on now.
- Oh, you think she's gonna change her life? I don't.
I think she'll be drinking again by Friday night.
- You just got back. You're tired.
Let me drive you home.
*
- Good job.
[somber music]
- He's good. He's sleeping like a baby.
Me? I'm fine.
I took the mandatory time off, and--
Yes, I'm seeing my shrink.
Well, that does sound like more fun.
Rain check?
Okay.
Okay, me too.
Bye.