Law & Order 13x12

1. the people are represented

2. by two separate yet equally important groups:

3. the police, who investigate crime

4. and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders.

5. These are their stories.

6. I thought you said you had a room.

7. I said I had a place.

8. Seriously, I've got just enough for you

9. and then cab fare.

10. No watch, no jewelry, nothing.

11. You think I want to rob you.

12. I know I'm not going near that bridge.

13. Then here.

14. Come on. It's freezing out.

15. (coyly): I'll get you warm.

16. Like I said, half and half.

17. Mm.

18. Ooh, God!

19. Oh, that's all right, baby.

20. That's okay. No, it's not.

21. Says he was partying at some club nearby.

22. Took a wrong turn home.

23. I'd find that more convincing

24. if his fly was zipped.

25. So what's his story?

26. Well, I don't want to touch him

27. until the M.E. shows up, but there's some blood on the picnic table.

28. Looks like he bopped his head.

29. His head bump is the least of his troubles.

30. This guy's got lead poisoning.

31. Any of the neighbors hear shots?

32. We just started knocking on doors.

33. All right. Tape off the area

34. and start a canvass for the murder weapon.

35. You got it.

36. Hey, Lenny.

37. Whoa. High roller, huh?

38. Separated by denomination.

39. Looks like somebody just knocked off

40. a street dealer.

41. Yeah, what a shame.

42. The vic was Scott Giddins.

43. That supposed to mean something?

44. BCI had his prints on file.

45. Five arrests in three years

46. all narcotics related.

47. He could have won a gold for skating.

48. Not a drop of time.

49. Any witnesses?

50. On woman heard two shots.

51. I, for one, admire the shooter's restraint.

52. How's that?

53. It's pretty hard to get worked up

54. over a dead drug dealer.

55. How many times do I have to remind you,

56. Detective Briscoe, all life is sacred?

57. Not when it peddles the kind of crap

58. our Mr. Giddins peddled.

59. Giddins lived around the corner

60. from where he was shot.

61. Maybe we should check out his place.

62. You want to take a walk through the projects?

63. I said go away.

64. Ed, I think we got a problem.

65. Yeah, I need a bus.

66. Breathing's shallow.

67. Possible overdose.

68. Tell them it's a rush.

69. Look, I'm not a crack whore

70. if that's what you're thinking.

71. How old are you?

72. Old enough to party with who I want.

73. Like Scott Giddins?

74. That's right.

75. Hey, I don't care one way or the other.

76. He probably doesn't either, being as how he's dead.

77. Look, I don't know what's going down here.

78. A few days ago my friend Ron introduced me to this guy.

79. And you shacked up with him?

80. I needed a fix; he was dealing.

81. Yeah, but the problem is, Gina, when we knocked on your door

82. you told us to go away

83. which tells me you thought you knew who was knocking.

84. What you wasting your time for, Lenny?

85. Just book her on possession and move on.

86. Okay.

87. A guy came around, maybe a couple days ago,

88. kept banging on the door.

89. You get a look at this guy?

90. Through the peephole.

91. He's Puerto Rican or something.

92. Had this thing on his face like a blotch.

93. What you mean, blotch?

94. On his skin.

95. This big red thing.

96. He kept saying he was owed money.

97. These were found in your boyfriend's apartment.

98. The ER doctor didn't know what they were.

99. Do you?

100. Only he told me if I touched them

101. he'd break my legs.

102. It's Nazi Speed.

103. Also known as Ya Ba.

104. Like the "sisterhood."

105. That's Ya-Ya.

106. Ya Ba is Thai for "crazy medicine."

107. You ask me, you got to be crazy to take it.

108. One mad dose, you flatline for sure.

109. Hey, you seen this guy on any of your lists?

110. Scotty...

111. What happened?

112. He must have moved up in the world.

113. Ya Ba is not the easiest thing to lay your hands on.

114. So there's probably a short list of suppliers.

115. Yeah, and I'll be damned if I know who they are.

116. Well, actually, you'll be damned if you don't.

117. I heard a rumor about some people scoring some

118. in a club on the Lower East Side.

119. Other than that, I don't know how to help you.

120. Oh, it's a good thing you're not Narcotics.

121. Oh, wait a minute. YouareNarcotics!

122. Hey, don't blame me, all right?

123. Blame the Mayor.

124. Blame Osama.

125. Half my unit's been redeployed.

126. Anyway, this spot on the lower east side.

127. Is that off the Williamsburg Bridge?

128. Yeah, a place called Gammaville.

129. Smack in the middle of the Latin Playboy turf.

130. They have a thriving production business.

131. Gang unit should have a file on these guys.

132. Red blotch on the face.

133. That ain't no gang I.D. I've ever seen.

134. Good thing you don't stick out in a crowd, Juan.

135. Might have taken us

136. more than ten minutes to find you.

137. Find me for what?

138. Murder of a dealer named Scott Giddins.

139. Sorry, never met the guy.

140. We have an eyewitness

141. who says you've been banging on his door.

142. I doubt you were collecting for the March of Dimes, Juan.

143. Giddins owed you money for dealing on Playboy turf?

144. Then he ends up dead?

145. Now, if you don't want to connect the dots, we will.

146. I'm not saying nothing.

147. Suit yourself, bro.

148. Come on. Why you got to move so fast?

149. Okay, okay, okay, okay.

150. Look, G was stalling me,

151. but nobody from my house laid a finger on the guy.

152. He paid up.

153. Why would we pop G over rent?

154. Dude was a seller.

155. He printed money, man.

156. The only reason why G got popped

157. is because he's apendejo.

158. Didn't always think.

159. Pissed people off.

160. What people?

161. Local yokels.

162. This guy with a lead pipe chases him for three blocks.

163. He sold some bad stuff to his kid

164. and kid o.d.'d, kicked.

165. This guy with a pipe have a name?

166. Yeah, something Parker.

167. Drives a Greyhound or something.

168. Oh, hey, hey.

169. Where you guys going?

170. You going to give me a lift back to my place, right?

171. Takes 900 calls

172. and finally you show up.

173. Excuse me?

174. Those kids across the street.

175. Can't sleep

176. with that damn boom box playing day and night.

177. What do I pay taxes for?

178. I'm sorry, ma'am. We're not patrolmen.

179. We're looking for Bill Parker.

180. We heard he lives here.

181. Yeah, sure, drag off the good guys.

182. Your tax dollars at work.

183. Sorry about the mess.

184. Oh, hey, I've been there.

185. So when's your little girl due?

186. In May. How'd you know it was a girl?

187. Our nursery had candy stripes.

188. This used to be my son's room, but, uh...

189. I know.

190. You lost him about a year ago.

191. You hear about David?

192. No. This man was shot a few blocks away from here.

193. Do you recognize him?

194. Could be anybody.

195. Any reason why I should?

196. Take a closer look, Mr. Parker.

197. Hope to God he's dead.

198. Sometimes the big guy answers your prayers.

199. You think I had something to do with this?

200. In a perfect world,

201. I'd hold him down while you smacked him

202. with that pipe you chased him with.

203. In a perfect world,

204. Davey wouldn't be dead.

205. In a perfect world,

206. the police would have arrested that bastard

207. and locked him up forever.

208. Maybe I lost my temper once,

209. but I didn't have anything to do with this.

210. Just for the record,

211. where were you on Wednesday night?

212. At our weekly meeting down the block.

213. St. Weston's— the Neighborhood Watch.

214. Unfortunately, people don't join the watch

215. until after they've been affected personally.

216. It took Davey's death to get Bill involved.

217. So, what?

218. You guys just roam the streets with weapons?

219. Flashlights. We're prophylactic, not punitive.

220. So what do you discuss at these meetings,

221. what kind of batteries to use?

222. Scheduling. Who's available when.

223. Bill Parker was at the last meeting?

224. He brought the soft drinks.

225. Good ol' Bill.

226. Do you know what kind of hell he's gone through?

227. His son died,

228. and the man who killed him was still out on the corner

229. selling poison.

230. Well, maybe instead of carrying flashlights,

231. you should carry cell phones.

232. Uh-huh. And call who, you?

233. We've tried that, thank you.

234. You people seem to have raised the white flag

235. on that War on Drugs, but we can't.

236. We live on the battlefield.

237. Do you remember what time

238. this meeting broke up on Wednesday?

239. Um, around 11:00.

240. Why? What's this about?

241. Well, let's just say when the prophylactic doesn't work

242. we're the punitive.

243. How long do you think it's going to take

244. before Father Hogan calls Bill Parker.

245. Isn't that his job?

246. To cover up a murder?

247. To offer consolation.

248. Consolation or congratulations?

249. I mean, I got the feeling this guy didn't mind

250. if his parishioner's ignored the Fifth Commandment.

251. Well, I'm just wondering if Moses would have had

252. the great good sense to turn the other cheek

253. in the case of somebody like Mr. Giddins.

254. Thou shalt not kill... except drug dealers?

255. Once they sell to kids, yeah.

256. That rewrite might be okay to Moses

257. but it ain't to Pataki.

258. We should go see if Bill Parker owned a piece.

259. Why don't you go ahead?

260. I got a couple of calls I want to make.

261. All right, man, don't forget.

262. Moses don't sign your paycheck.

263. What is this?

264. Get me drunk, I'll confess to something

265. I didn't do?

266. I just thought we'd be more comfortable here.

267. I got a problem, Bill.

268. The cards are stacking up against you.

269. Now, my partner wants

270. to bring you in for questioning, but...

271. You're looking out for me.

272. Well, the thing is,

273. maybe I understand the situation

274. a little better than he does.

275. Maybe you know wallpaper,

276. but you don't know anything about my situation.

277. I know the world's a better place

278. now that Scott Giddins isn't in it.

279. Where were you before Davey died?

280. Where was anybody after?

281. Knowing and proving it in court

282. are two different things.

283. She was 24.

284. A guy like Giddins killed her.

285. Did he go to jail?

286. Yeah.

287. The thing is,

288. (voice breaking): I get up every morning, I brush my teeth,

289. I shave, and I kick myself

290. for not putting a.38 between his eyes.

291. Maybe then...

292. Do not say "closure."

293. No such thing.

294. This is great.

295. My kid dies and no one lifts a finger.

296. Someone kills this creep,

297. here you are, with a thousand questions.

298. Not a thousand, Bill...

299. just one.

300. I'm telling you, this guy wants to confess.

301. He wants to call a press conference and shout,

302. "I killed the bastard!"

303. I almost had him.

304. Yeah, and if you did, it would send our case

305. directly down the crapper.

306. Come on, we were just two guys sitting at a bar.

307. Yeah, but when one of those guys

308. is a detective investigating a murder,

309. the other guy gets to have his rights read to him.

310. Unless... Unless what, Ed?

311. You think I tried to dump the case against Parker?

312. I wasn't going to say that, Lennie,

313. but since we're on the topic— a bar?

314. A first-year legal aide can get that confession tossed out

315. for I can think of at least ten reasons off the top of my head.

316. Well, then I guess I'm lucky he didn't confess.

317. Do youwantthis guy to walk?

318. No, but I can't blame him

319. for taking care of the scum

320. we didn't do anything about for a year.

321. Well, why do you suppose Parker waited so long?

322. Hey, he tried the good-citizen route. It didn't work.

323. You know, maybe something happened

324. at that Neighborhood Watch meeting

325. that set him off.

326. It was pretty routine.

327. Talked about patrol shifts, scraping together money

328. for a set of Nextels, some gang tags spotted

329. over at Jefferson Middle School.

330. Nothing that would make Bill blow a gasket.

331. Jefferson Middle School—

332. isn't that where David Parker went?

333. Our boys played

334. hoops together.

335. Davie had a hell of an outside shot.

336. Look, I know where you're headed,

337. but there's nothing there.

338. No way Bill could have killed

339. that lowlife dealer.

340. And you're so positive

341. because you're tight with him?

342. I'm positive because

343. after the meeting broke up...

344. I walked Bill home.

345. Funny he didn't mention that.

346. Yeah, well,

347. maybe you didn't ask.

348. If this guy did his job as bad as he lies,

349. he wouldn't be able to pick his nose.

350. Anyway, I'm thinking that the mention

351. of Davie's old school might have

352. stirred up some memories.

353. Couple of weeks ago, I'm sitting in this joint

354. on the East Side having a hamburger.

355. A guy sits down at the table next to me,

356. and I blurt out, "Ron!"

357. Who you talking about?

358. Lichtenstein from the One-Six?

359. Ron Darling from the '86 Mets.

360. You know what my first thought was?

361. "I gotta call Cathy."

362. She always had a thing for him.

363. She's been gone six years.

364. I don't know— you lose a kid, everything stirs up memories.

365. So, if we find one person from that meeting

366. who contradicts Mr. Locksmith, we can threaten him

367. with obstruction, force him to flip.

368. Yeah, but he probably

369. speed-dialed every member of the Watch

370. before we even hit the street,

371. meaning 25 more versions of the same damn story.

372. So we find one non-member who saw Parker come home.

373. Between 11:00 and midnight?

374. Most people are watching Leno or asleep.

375. Not with that damn boom box going day and night.

376. Why would we remember

377. what happened last Wednesday?

378. Because some old lady couldn't sleep

379. on account of this boom box.

380. Now, being public servants, we can confiscate this thing

381. as a public nuisance.

382. What time you talking about Wednesday?

383. It's between 11:00 and 11:30.

384. Can't help you.

385. All right, Ed, read the box its rights.

386. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Wait a minute.

387. What hemeansis, we can't help you

388. because, you know, we went to get some eats.

389. Didn't get back till around, like, midnight.

390. Davie's dad, he's a bus driver or something.

391. Right? Yeah.

392. We saw him when we got back

393. from the bodega.

394. At midnight.

395. Yeah, at midnight.

396. That's how I remember.

397. I saw him walking some priest out.

398. All right.

399. That's funny.

400. Father Hogan never mentioned a midnight house call.

401. Confessions R Us— we deliver.

402. I'm sure you know

403. I'm not at liberty to discuss

404. conversations I have with my parishioners.

405. Does that include lying

406. about whether the conversations ever took place?

407. You asked me when Bill left,

408. not whether I had seen him later that evening.

409. You sure you want to be splitting hairs

410. with the police, Father?

411. No, no, I respect the law, Detective.

412. But until the Vatican tells me otherwise,

413. any conversation I have with a congregant

414. remains between them, me and God.

415. All right, well, if God happens to tell you

416. how Bill Parker got a gun,

417. would you please give us a call?

418. 'Cause however he got it, it wasn't legal.

419. Thank you, Father.

420. The other day I took a cab to the squad.

421. What's that, 40 bucks from your place?

422. I didn't say I was at my place.

423. Anyway, the point is, the driver had a piece

424. right out in the open on the seat next to him.

425. Oh, and you're thinking,

426. bus drivers do the same thing.

427. Hey, what country doyoulive in?

428. Port Authority policy prohibits

429. drivers from carrying firearms of any kind.

430. So what would you do if you found a driver was packing?

431. I wouldn't.

432. Well, what about passengers?

433. Is it like boarding an airplane?

434. Some bus companies search passengers at random.

435. Guy sees that happening, he ditches the gun

436. in the men's room, the garbage, whatever.

437. You know, you could take on all of al-Qaeda

438. with the crap these companies find.

439. What do you do

440. with the weapons they confiscate?

441. Evidence locker.

442. Suppose I'm a driver,

443. could I get into that locker?

444. Only way in is if you had

445. one of these special-issue non-repro keys.

446. Or a friend who could pick a lock.

447. The fact is, we had a hiccup last week.

448. A.44 was, uh, misplaced.

449. Sounds like probable cause to me.

450. You get out of my boy's room.

451. I'm sorry, Mr. Parker, the search warrant

452. authorizes us to search the entire apartment.

453. What could you possibly think

454. that you'll find in here?

455. A revolver.

456. Do you really think that I would hide a gun in David's room?

457. Hey, Ed, remember what this looked like two days ago?

458. Ours took a week to finish.

459. Officer, we're gonna need

460. to break through this Sheetrock.

461. More insulation.

462. Uh-uh-uh.

463. The.44-caliber kind.

464. William Parker, you're under arrest

465. for the murder of Scott Giddins.

466. You have the right to remain silent.

467. Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law.

468. I understand why you lied

469. to me before, Bill.

470. Nobody wants to go to jail,

471. not with a little girl on the way

472. but you gotta know,

473. if the slug that we took from that dealer's body

474. came from that gun,

475. you're gonna miss your girl's first steps,

476. her first communion, her confirmation.

477. If I was you, I'd try to help myself.

478. He killed Davie.

479. That's right, he did, but guys like him,

480. they don't stop with just one death.

481. Guys like Giddins,

482. they've been known to get violent, get physical,

483. been known to threaten innocent citizens.

484. Judges know that.

485. So do juries and DAs.

486. Hell, Bill, people get let off

487. on self-defense every day of the week.

488. You can take the cop out of the father, but...

489. The problem is, Giddins wasn't armed when we found him.

490. Lieutenant,

491. there's some priest here named Hogan.

492. Says he's got information on the Giddins homicide.

493. Send him in.

494. Father.

495. You have the wrong suspect in custody.

496. All due respect, Father, it's not looking that way.

497. My detectives found the murder weapon

498. in his apartment.

499. I can explain that.

500. Be careful, Father Hogan.

501. We have witnesses that put you with the Parkers

502. at the night of the murder, so if he confessed to you

503. and you're lying to protect him, that's obstruction.

504. I'm not lying.

505. Bill Parker didn't confess to me.

506. I confessed to him.

507. I killed Scott Giddins.

508. Bill Parker was a sculptor.

509. Did you know that?

510. Uh, metalwork.

511. He would take these pieces of industrial steel—

512. just junk, really—

513. and turn them into works of great beauty.

514. When David died, he stopped.

515. It was as if Scott Giddins had ripped out his soul

516. and stomped on it.

517. I understand why he'd seek vengeance.

518. I reminded him

519. that he still had a wife and a baby on the way.

520. But still he felt that if he did nothing,

521. he would be tortured in this life,

522. and if he acted, he would be damned in the next.

523. That's why I told him to give me the gun.

524. Hold on, Richard.

525. No.

526. I appreciate your help, Jim.

527. This is something Ihaveto do.

528. Bill Parker gave me his gun.

529. This conversation is over.

530. A week later, I used it

531. to kill Mr. Giddins.

532. Where did it happen, Father?

533. North of the Williamsburg Bridge underpass.

534. Do you recall what Mr. Giddins was wearing?

535. A leather jacket, brown;

536. blue jeans; a gray shirt.

537. I shot him in the stomach.

538. The police showed him photos.

539. This man was a plague on the Earth—

540. a drug pusher whose poison killed children.

541. The police could arrest him, butnobody

542. could convict him.

543. Why did you return the gun to the Parkers?

544. I went to the Parkers

545. to tell them justice had been done.

546. He hid the gun to protect me.

547. You stop. That's enough.

548. Now, you and Parker may think you're being clever,

549. but I'm not going to sit in the front row

550. while you commit suicide.

551. I'm still his counsel, and I'm ending

552. this interview right now.

553. Father Hogan's looking

554. for martyrdom or sainthood

555. or whatever other ridiculous thing

556. you get these days for being entirely selfless.

557. In the secular world, I believe they call

558. what he's looking for "reasonable doubt."

559. And this bogus confession raises

560. more than enough for an acquittal.

561. Unless we don't charge Bill Parker.

562. You want to indict

563. Father Hogan?

564. Why not?

565. Hedidconfess.

566. Oh, come on, Jack. Whatever problems

567. you might personally have with the Church...

568. Have nothing to do withthis.

569. I'm just proposing that, if the two of you are right

570. and this is all a scheme to confuse a jury,

571. let's do an end run of our own.

572. One confession, one defendant, no doubt.

573. He's got a point.

574. My guess— by confessing

575. to something he didn't do,

576. the padre's already scored enough points

577. to impress the pants off St. Peter.

578. And what if he doesn't feel the same way?

579. We've got about 20 hours

580. before we have to charge them or let them go.

581. Now, if you want to come up with another plan, be my guest.

582. If you think

583. I'm going to turn on my husband, you're crazy.

584. That's not why I'm here.

585. Actually, I'm here for Father Hogan.

586. He sent you?

587. In a way.

588. He confessed to the crime.

589. So, why is Bill still in jail?

590. Because it's obvious to us

591. that Father Hogan is lying to protect him.

592. Did Bill say he killed Giddins?

593. He's scared.

594. He hasn't said anything.

595. But he didn't say Father Hogan did it?

596. No.

597. So, I can't do anything then, can I?

598. You can help me to convince Father Hogan

599. that there's a better way to help your husband

600. than by throwing his own life away.

601. I'm sure you don't want

602. the wrong man to be convicted.

603. I'm not asking you

604. to incriminate your husband,

605. but if you could just tell me anything.

606. You bastards.

607. Bastards.

608. If only you did your job,

609. a good man like that wouldn't have to...

610. He did it for us,

611. you know.

612. He did it so Bill wouldn't have to.

613. Wait a minute.

614. Are you saying that Father Hogan didkill Scott Giddins?

615. You'll be happy to know that we released Bill Parker.

616. Thank God.

617. Oh, come on!

618. Jack, I'm not going to fall for that.

619. None of us here wants a trial, Father.

620. We're prepared to accept your confession and offer you a...

621. I will not accept a deal.

622. Richard, please.

623. Just go ahead and tell them how you made up the whole thing.

624. I don't think he can do that, Jim.

625. We found this jacket in the Father's closet at the rectory.

626. So, he has bad taste in clothes? That's not a crime.

627. The people in the Neighborhood Watch

628. wear them when they go out at night.

629. The sleeve tested positive for gunshot residue.

630. I can offer you ten years, Father.

631. Give us a minute.

632. No, that won't be necessary.

633. You should listen to your lawyer, sir.

634. With the coat and the confession,

635. you don't stand a chance with a jury.

636. I will not plead guilty.

637. Then you're looking at 25 years to life.

638. I confessed to killing Scott Giddins.

639. I didnotconfess to committing a crime.

640. Killing is not a crime when it's God's will.

641. Is he serious?

642. Here's Wheeler's Notice of Affirmative Defense to prove it.

643. Justification?

644. "Yes, I killed, but God told me to."

645. Well, you got to admit,

646. it's a lot more creative than "The Devil made me do it."

647. Next stop, virgin sacrifice.

648. The fact is, this country could use

649. a double does of whatever God's got on special today.

650. Perhaps, but not in a courtroom.

651. Why not?

652. Are we one nation under God?

653. Don't tell me you believe

654. Father Hogan's "orders from above" defense.

655. On the contrary.

656. Goes against everything Idobelieve.

657. The law recognizes situations

658. where killing is justified—

659. self-defense,

660. defense of others, the death penalty...

661. And in all of those instances,

662. the use of deadly force must be in response

663. to an imminent threat and be reasonable.

664. Here comes the part where he tells you

665. belief in God isn't reasonable.

666. A priest claiming

667. heheardGod?

668. How does a jury determine credibility?

669. We ask juries to dive

670. into deeper deductive waters all the time.

671. Wedon'task them to ponder the existence of God.

672. But we don'thaveto.

673. The Court already acknowledges His existence.

674. "In God We Trust."

675. That's the building, not the law.

676. My point is,

677. how can both the Court and the Legislature acknowledge

678. the existence of God, yet deny a defense

679. premised on that existence?

680. If a layperson tried to assert

681. a God-told-me-to defense,

682. the Court would render him incompetent to stand trial.

683. So, if you talk to God, you're pious,

684. and if He talks back, you're crazy?

685. You said it; I didn't.

686. Well, then let's give Father Hogan

687. an Article 730 exam and see if he's competent to stand trial.

688. God bless.

689. Do you believe in God, Dr. Olivet?

690. Yes.

691. And yet you question whether I'm crazy

692. for claiming I received His guidance.

693. I'm simply doing my job.

694. I'm sure the Roman soldiers said that, too,

695. when nailing Jesus to the cross.

696. Do you think of yourself as Jesus?

697. No.

698. No, no.

699. I'm just noting a parallel.

700. Jesus could return tomorrow,

701. and people would write him off

702. as an illusionist, the next David Blaine.

703. Society has a habit of explaining away miracles

704. and then saying, "God must not exist,

705. because there are no miracles."

706. And you're going to prove them wrong?

707. I'm not on a crusade, Dr. Olivet.

708. A man was destroying my community,

709. poisoning my neighbors.

710. I prayed for guidance,

711. and the guidance I received was that I should kill him.

712. At the time,

713. did you know that it's wrong to kill someone?

714. I knew that killing is usually wrong.

715. I knew that my actions were against the laws of man.

716. And I...

717. I knew that they were against

718. every instinct I have

719. as a human being.

720. Then why did you do it?

721. Because

722. that's what God asked of me.

723. And you had no choice

724. but to follow His instructions?

725. We all have a choice.

726. We all know what God expects of us.

727. The question is, are we strong enough to do it?

728. He understands the charges against him

729. and is capable of aiding in his defense.

730. But he doesn't seem to understand

731. the difference between right and wrong.

732. On the contrary.

733. He understands perfectly.

734. He can't be wrong if God told him to do it.

735. And that's not crazy?

736. Father Hogan believes he gains enlightenment through prayer.

737. If that's crazy, then half the world

738. should be committed.

739. One man's delusion is another man's faith.

740. And we're supposed to convince a bunch of jurors

741. that they were delusional

742. all those Sundays that they went to church?

743. No, you need to convince Father Hogan

744. to look reality in the eye.

745. I understand your predicament, Mr. McCoy.

746. Do you understand mine?

747. Actually, I do.

748. I'd think it would include

749. a willingness to accept punishment.

750. I'm willing to be punished,

751. but what I'm not willing to do is to plead guilty.

752. Are you sure you want to do this, Father?

753. Do you really want to put religion on trial?

754. Religion is already on trial.

755. Islam is being tainted by fanatics.

756. Judaism is being threatened

757. by the recent rise in anti-Semitism.

758. The Catholic Church is crippled by a sex scandal.

759. For the first time in the world's history,

760. three major faiths are in crisis.

761. Then perhaps that makes this

762. the worst time in history to challenge their validity.

763. No, on the contrary.

764. Maybe now, more than ever, God wants us

765. to reexamine our faith.

766. And if those are the consequences

767. of my defense, amen.

768. And if you lose?

769. You contact Bishop Durning?

770. He'll be more than happy to testify.

771. Of course he will.

772. He can't have murder

773. added to the mounting list of priestly iniquities.

774. You're really enjoying this, aren't you?

775. There's nothing quite like walking into a trial

776. with an uncontested confession.

777. Yeah, that's what I thought.

778. Smile, Serena.

779. This is ourlnherit the Wind.

780. This is where we get to prove in a court of law

781. that there is no big guy up there with a white beard

782. pulling invisible strings.

783. So what did those nuns do to you?

784. That's irrelevant.

785. Anybody who knows that he knows gets my hair up.

786. If you want my advice, Jack

787. I think you should just let Father Hogan's confession

788. speak for itself.

789. No good can come out of

790. debating religion.

791. Maybe I should have told that to the nuns.

792. I thought he just took my gun

793. to stop me from doing something stupid.

794. I had no idea that he would take matters into his own hands.

795. So he didn't tell you beforehand what his plans were?

796. No. I would have never let him.

797. Because even through your grief

798. you realized that killing was wrong?

799. I lost a child, Mr. McCoy.

800. Do you have any idea how much that hurts?

801. It's like a knife in your heart that won't go away.

802. I'm sorry, Mr. Parker, but I have to...

803. I know.

804. Please tell us about the night Scott Giddins was murdered.

805. It was late.

806. Father Hogan came to my apartment.

807. That's when I noticed...

808. There were little specks of blood on his fingers.

809. Did he tell you where the blood came from?

810. No.

811. He didn't have to. I knew.

812. Did Father Hogan tell you why he killed Scott Giddins?

813. He said that God wanted him to do what man

814. refused to do.

815. That God wanted that child killer off the street.

816. That He wanted to keep our neighborhood safe.

817. He wanted to ease the grief

818. that Scott Giddins caused my wife and me.

819. And you believed him?

820. Do I believe in God?

821. Mr. Wheeler... Yes, I do.

822. That's not what I asked, Mr. Parker.

823. What I want to know is if you actually believe

824. God put the gun in Father Hogan's hand

825. and told him to shoot.

826. Nobody can prove to me that He didn't.

827. Although, the Church doesn't condone violence

828. God has historically been used to justify murder—

829. from the Crusades to 9-11—

830. by men who believed they were instruments of His will.

831. But this belief is usually a product of either mental illness

832. geo-political ambition or misinterpretation.

833. Did you hear Dr. Olivet testify that Father Hogan was sane?

834. Yes.

835. Do you have any evidence to the contrary?

836. No.

837. Any evidence that he's a political zealot?

838. No, he's a good man.

839. So under your paradigm

840. if Father Hogan received a message from the Almighty

841. he misinterpreted it?

842. That's correct.

843. The Almighty teaches us to save the sinner, not kill him.

844. He also teaches you to pray for His guidance.

845. Yes, but if that guidance calls for an act like murder

846. we should be skeptical.

847. I should hope so.

848. But that's what confuses me, Bishop Durning.

849. When it comes to something as important as murder

850. don't you think that God would be

851. as specific as He could possibly be to eliminate

852. any margin for error?

853. Of course He would.

854. Otherwise, what kind of God would he be?

855. Mr. Wheeler?

856. Nothing, Your Honor.

857. Looks to me like the bishop just made our case.

858. Really, then why do you supposed

859. Wheeler didn't cross examine him?

860. What could he possibly ask?

861. The top gun in the local church

862. just said Father Hogan made a mistake.

863. Yeah, that's one explanation.

864. The other is that he realized

865. your tactics were turning off the jury.

866. Why? How?

867. Because an imperfect God is no God at all.

868. Did it ever cross your mind

869. that the triers of fact in a murder case

870. might not want to hear you air your disrespect of their faith?

871. That's not what I was doing at all.

872. I can't beat this sanctimonious defense by tip-toeing around.

873. Besides, how do you know they wouldn't like it?

874. If nobody's watching cheat on their wives

875. cheat on their taxes

876. impose the death penalty all without remorse

877. all without worrying about redemption.

878. Most people want comfort, hope...

879. They want to believe in something

880. bigger than themselves.

881. You know what I believe?

882. I believe that Father Hogan's

883. pious platitudes and calm certainties

884. ain't necessarily so.

885. I believe that anyone who wraps themselves

886. in the flag or in the cloth to excuse themselves

887. from the rules the rest of us mortals have to obey

888. is pulling a fast one.

889. Pisses me off to no end.

890. "I know what God wants."

891. Come on, Serena, it's ego or hubris or narcissism.

892. So "God's dead."

893. I'm proud to say I don't know.

894. But I do know this—

895. Father Hogan's right to his convictions

896. stopped at Scott Giddins' nose.

897. The first shot missed.

898. My hand was shaking... I never held a gun before.

899. Bur you managed to hit Mr. Giddins with the second shot.

900. When I saw him fall back

901. I couldn't help but think, "God steadied my hand."

902. God steadied it?

903. God gave me the strength to follow His guidance.

904. But he wasn't the one who pulled the trigger, was he?

905. No.

906. Scott Giddins was a drug dealer

907. who terrorized a neighborhood

908. for no other reason than his own greed.

909. He was a sinner.

910. What happened to the Fifth Commandment, Father?

911. Scott Giddins caused the death of a young boy.

912. Exodus20:13 may say "Thou shalt not kill"

913. butExodus21:12says "He that smiteth a man

914. so that he die, shall surely be put to death."

915. Just to be clear, you killed Scott Giddins?

916. Yes.

917. So under oath you're admitting

918. you're guilty of breaking the law?

919. Man's law, not God's.

920. And you believe that the law of God should trump the law of man?

921. That's how I've lived my life.

922. That's why I couldn't ignore His wishes.

923. You heard His voice, did you?

924. It wasn't a person-to- person call, Mr. McCoy.

925. I acted upon the enlightenment that I received through prayer.

926. That's all, no burning bush, no pillar of fire?

927. If you're asking for proof, I can't give you any.

928. That's the very essence of faith, Mr. McCoy

929. belief despite absence of proof.

930. And God wanted Scott Giddins killed?

931. Mr. Giddins caused a lot of suffering.

932. You thought he should be

933. punished for his sins, did you?

934. Yes. Well, that's certainly convenient—

935. your desires matching those of God.

936. Objection.

937. I'm just wondering who spoke to whom?

938. Enough, Counselor.

939. After you received

940. your marching orders

941. did you think about getting a second opinion?

942. I mean, you know, check with your superiors at the church?

943. To doubt God, that would be hubris.

944. On the other hand, some might think it hubris not to.

945. Objection.

946. Counsel is testifying.

947. Withdrawn.

948. Did your lawyer tell you that an insanity defense

949. was available to you?

950. He told me a lot of things.

951. But I know in my heart that I am not guilty.

952. I also know in my heart that a jury will believe me.

953. Then why did you hide the murder weapon?

954. Mr. Parker, said...

955. Oh, I see

956. seeking the advice of man is wrong

957. when it comes to committing a crime

958. but it's okay when it comes to covering one up.

959. Is there any chance

960. you simply wanted to avoid man's punishment

961. for breaking his laws?

962. Maybe we can come back to that.

963. Tell me this, Father Hogan...

964. the suffering you said Scott Giddins caused

965. the people in your neighborhood

966. specifically you're talking about

967. the Parkers? That's correct.

968. And in your mind, murdering Scott Giddins

969. would ease the pain of losing their only son?

970. In God's mind.

971. Now that's interesting.

972. Because if I remember correctly

973. Mr. Parker testified that losing his son

974. was like a knife through his heart

975. which would not go away.

976. A knife through the heart

977. hurts, Father Hogan.

978. Your Honor...

979. So if God wanted to ease the Parkers' pain

980. he really screwed the pooch

981. on this one.

982. All right, that's enough.

983. Tell me, Father Hogan

984. isn't it your job to comfort your parishioners?

985. Yes.

986. But you couldn't do it, could you?

987. You were impotent to ease the Parkers' pain.

988. Maybe it wasn't God who screwed the pooch, Father Hogan.

989. Maybe it was you.

990. It's your meeting, Mr. Parker.

991. We have to be in court, sir.

992. No.

993. Call it off.

994. It's a little late for that.

995. But I did it.

996. Father Hogan didn't do anything.

997. He shouldn't be punished.

998. This is very noble of you, Mr. Parker, but...

999. He confessed and you believe him.

1000. Now why won't you believe me?

1001. The gun was in my house...

1002. Excuse me, this is a private meeting.

1003. This is stupid, Bill.

1004. I won't let you take responsibility for what I did.

1005. Don't listen to him. I'm ready to go to jail.

1006. Bill...!

1007. Don't you see what he is doing to you?

1008. He's mocking everything that you believe.

1009. If the jury... They won't.

1010. If they lose faith...

1011. Then we still have ours.

1012. What if that's not good enough?

1013. I prayed for the strength...

1014. And your prayer was answered through me, Bill.

1015. Well, this certainly makes things interesting.

1016. You don't really believe him.

1017. It's not my call. It's up to a jury.

1018. Eight and a third to 25.

1019. Richard, don't.

1020. This gives us reasonable doubt.

1021. I can't let this man put himself in harm's way for me.

1022. Going, going...

1023. Fine. I accept.

1024. Are you staying?

1025. Can I ask you something?

1026. Tommy Sudor.

1027. He lived two doors down from us on Damen Avenue.

1028. He was a couple years older than me

1029. and as far back as I can remember

1030. I followed him around like a puppy.

1031. A VA hospital in 1968

1032. was no place for a puppy.

1033. It was pretty grisly and it smelled bad.

1034. The boy in the bed beside Tommy's had already passed away.

1035. Tommy's right leg was somewhere in the basement.

1036. What was left of his face was tar paper.

1037. I squeezed in beside a priest

1038. who's urging Tommy to make a deathbed recantation

1039. of his sins.

1040. Tommy smiles with the part of his mouth that still works

1041. and says...

1042. "What difference would it make?"

1043. Priest moves on to the next bed, Tommy says to me

1044. "God forgive me if I'm wrong."

1045. I think that's the last thing he ever said.

1046. Took a lot of guts.

1047. I thought it was right.

1048. Me, I'm still tagging along after Tommy.

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