Presumed Innocent 1x8

1. He must've put it there. Who else?

2. You think Rusty put it there?

3. Well, who else would be desperate enough?

4. Are you okay, Tommy?

5. No.

6. She's freaking out, but I'm gonna take her upstairs.

7. Hey, what's up?

8. What?

9. It's been to the lab, tested?

10. Yeah. No DNA or fingerprints. Looks like it's been scrubbed.

11. And how do we know that this is actually Carolyn's fire poker?

12. We don't. Perhaps you do.

13. - Fuck you. - And then there's this.

14. This proves nothing, Tommy.

15. It's probative of someone trying to intimidate me or incriminate me.

16. Somebody's contempt for me.

17. It's evidence of someone's desperation.

18. Are you saying you wanna introduce it?

19. How can I? There's no chain of custody, it doesn't exculpate,

20. it can only be authenticated as being "a" fire poker, not "the."

21. Well, what about the housekeeper? Can she identify it?

22. Well, we brought her in. She says it looks the same,

23. it's from the same set, but that's all she can confirm.

24. And you said your place was fully processed?

25. Yeah. No DNA or prints. It's meticulous.

26. Forced entry?

27. No, I leave the side door open. I have a cat.

28. Sometimes if I'm working late,

29. I have the neighbor come over and check on her.

30. You have a cat?

31. - Yeah. - All right. Let me think.

32. I'm happy to call it off. Again. Declare a mistrial.

33. Anybody have a thought?

34. The prosecution is fine to proceed.

35. We just think the jury should be kept abreast of the situation.

36. We can let them know that it should not be considered as evidence.

37. What about Caldwell?

38. Why would Caldwell want to frame Tommy?

39. - Because you pissed him off— - To get you off the hot seat.

40. Your Honor, I'm going to need a moment with my client. Thank you.

41. - Thank you, Your Honor. - It's a stupid question. Sure.

42. Did you question him? That's all I ask.

43. Rusty, calm down. Rusty—

44. It's just—

45. Calm down.

46. We do not want this in, not so much as even mentioned.

47. With or without instructions.

48. But it could plant some doubt.

49. Why would Tommy come forward with this if he wasn't being truthful?

50. It's not like him being in possession of the poker exactly helps his case.

51. And with a note, "Go fuck yourself"? This feels like a plant.

52. When was the last time you as a prosecutor said,

53. "Hey, I found the murder weapon in my kitchen."

54. Yeah, I agree. This doesn't help.

55. Plus which, if we wanna maintain Liam Reynolds as a possibility,

56. - this skews that narrative. You would— - Okay, so now y—

57. now you want to maintain Liam Reynolds?

58. - He would have no motive to frame Tommy. - We should at least question Caldwell.

59. - Why would he target Molto? - I would—

60. Who knows? Who cares?

61. It's not about the truth.

62. It's just about establishing reasonable doubt.

63. Listen to me.

64. If this jury thinks that it was planted— which they probably will—

65. they're not gonna think Caldwell, they're gonna think you.

66. So they plan on making no mention of it whatsoever?

67. I mean, it's not admissible evidence, you know, which may be just as well.

68. Could look bad for me, since I would have motive.

69. But what if it leaks to the media?

70. I mean, you know, if it's beneficial to the prosecution,

71. then why wouldn't Tommy leak it?

72. Look, if it gets out, we're probably back to a mistrial,

73. which I don't think he wants, you know. I mean, he thinks he's winning.

74. And you're saying they don't even know if it's the actual poker.

75. It is.

76. There's, like, a chip in the handle. I recognized it.

77. - Did you tell them that? - No.

78. I actually used it there once to make a fire.

79. Thank God my prints weren't on it.

80. - Hey. - Hey.

81. What's wrong?

82. Can you take this out? I'll be right out.

83. Yeah.

84. If a person ate and died, say, within 20 minutes,

85. most of the food would still be in their stomach.

86. Some could move to the duodenum, the gateway to the lower intestine.

87. And was there any food in Carolyn Polhemus's stomach

88. - when she died? - There was not.

89. And how long does it take for the human stomach to empty?

90. For fluids and semifluids, they leave the stomach rather quickly,

91. under two hours. For proteins and fats, about 2.5 hours.

92. Rice and beans, about three.

93. The receipt, stamped 8:27 p.m.,

94. shows the kung pao chicken and crab rangoon

95. was delivered to Ms. Polhemus's address at 8:55 p.m.

96. - Yes. - And at time of death,

97. - her stomach was completely empty? - It was.

98. And yet Dr. Kumagai found that she died around 10 p.m.

99. He's wrong. I would put the time of death between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m.

100. How could he have missed by that much?

101. No idea. For her stomach to be empty,

102. it would need to be at least four hours after she ate.

103. What if she never consumed the rangoon?

104. She ordered it, it arrived.

105. Well, can you rule out that someone else didn't arrive at around the same time

106. and kill her before she had an opportunity to eat?

107. There was a half-filled container of Chinese food in the kitchen, so...

108. Did you find any evidence of Chinese food in her duodenum?

109. There was evidence of some food in her duodenum.

110. Could it have been her lunch?

111. I suppose anything is possible.

112. Can you state to a medical certainty that the victim consumed Chinese food?

113. No.

114. Thank you.

115. So, just to be clear,

116. you work exclusively now as an expert witness for defense teams?

117. You're given a report, you give an opinion,

118. and after that, defense lawyers decide whether to engage you or not,

119. and should you not give a pro-defense opinion,

120. - you don't get hired? - I am a professional.

121. You are a professional defense witness who only gets paid

122. if you give pro-defense opinions,

123. and your opinion today goes to a time of death based off stomach contents

124. which your opinion assumes the victim ate Chinese food at 10 p.m.

125. But you can't state to a medical certainty or even likelihood that she did.

126. I have that right? Thank you.

127. Okay. Let's assume that we were successful today

128. in getting the jury to believe, or at least consider,

129. that Carolyn was murdered at midnight, or sometime after.

130. We need to establish that you were home at that time. Can we do that?

131. I can do that. I can vouch for him.

132. We cannot call her.

133. Why not?

134. Because you're biased, and because you offer an easy opportunity

135. for them to repaint your husband in a negative light.

136. "Isn't it true, Mrs. Sabich,

137. that you didn't know that he was sleeping with the victim?"

138. "Isn't it true, Mrs. Sabich,

139. that even after he said the affair was over, it started up again?"

140. "Isn't it true that he failed to share with you

141. that he was there the night she was murdered?

142. That he got her pregnant?"

143. "Did you have an open relationship, Mrs. Sabich?"

144. "Does he know everything about you?"

145. "We all have secrets.

146. Does he know about Clifton, friendly neighborhood bartender?"

147. What the fuck?

148. Have you been following me?

149. We sometimes hire private investigators on the theory that the truth can help us.

150. Sometimes it does.

151. We rest.

152. We have reasonable doubt. Why risk it?

153. I think I agree.

154. And I'll close.

155. Oh, no.

156. No. On that, I take issue.

157. - It's my life. I will close. - Rusty,

158. you have absolutely no credibility with that jury.

159. Why would they believe a word that you have to say at this point?

160. I mean, Jesus Christ.

161. In Maine, where I'm from, if you went out to feed pigs,

162. you'd have to get somebody else to call them. Jesus Christ.

163. I will close. And let me just say this. Doubt from a jury, that works for me.

164. But doubt from my lawyers, that doesn't work.

165. And from my best friend, that doesn't work either.

166. You should withdraw.

167. That's not possible.

168. Of course it's possible. If he refuses to follow your counsel...

169. Judge Lyttle would never let me out at this point.

170. It would be deemed prejudicial.

171. He's not well.

172. Well or not, innocent or not, he'll be ready.

173. Honey, this trial already almost killed you once.

174. After this, I retire. I promise.

175. I'll go for walks, mow the lawn, I'll drink ice tea with you,

176. I will go full Thornton Wilder and embrace the ordinary...

177. but we are a long way from that right now.

178. There's no physical, or forensic or testimonial evidence.

179. Nico Della Guardia—

180. And there's also Liam Reynolds...

181. Caldwell, other uninvestigated...

182. me from the beginning...

183. victim. Well, so did I.

184. It's exactly what—

185. Never in my 15 years of being a prosecutor for this great city would I ever, ever...

186. mistrial, and he told you that he had feelings for the victim.

187. Well, so did I. I loved her very much.

188. I miss her very much, and I wanna know who did this,

189. like many people do. And I understand—

190. Hey.

191. Hey.

192. I'm just practicing my closing.

193. I can see that.

194. Do you need any help?

195. I took AP astronomy,

196. so I could probably tell if something's coming from another planet.

197. Et tu, daughter?

198. He was kind of mad in the end, you know.

199. Well, you know, getting stabbed by all your friends...

200. Can get under a man's skin.

201. Dad, for real?

202. The summation?

203. Your mom tell you to come in here?

204. I'm my best chance, Jay.

205. I've done this before.

206. I got this.

207. Okay.

208. Okay.

209. Just the elements.

210. Don't be going off on how Tommy's the real killer

211. or Liam Reynolds, or the ex-husband.

212. You hear me?

213. Rusty?

214. Yeah, I hear you.

215. All right.

216. We'll hear from the defense.

217. My name, as you already know, is Rusty Sabich.

218. I am the accused.

219. Accused of murder.

220. The pain of having to say that in this room...

221. in front of my wife and my children...

222. What the evidence did prove is I betrayed my family,

223. the people I love most.

224. I will never be able to undo the anguish that I caused my wife,

225. and I will never most likely be able to earn the respect back from my children.

226. But what the evidence did not prove is that I killed Carolyn Polhemus,

227. because I did not kill her.

228. I had an affair with Carolyn, one that I kept secret.

229. I got her pregnant, and that was something I only learned after her passing.

230. And I was there that night, as I was on other nights,

231. but that is all the evidence could or did prove.

232. There were no eyewitnesses, there was no blood

233. or forensic evidence on my person and on my clothes, in my car, in my home.

234. My fingerprints are in her apartment,

235. because I was there that night and on other nights,

236. but that is all the evidence could prove.

237. Now, Tommy Molto, he stood here at the beginning of the trial,

238. and he told you that he had feelings for the victim.

239. Well, so did I.

240. I cared for her so much.

241. I loved her so much.

242. And I miss her so much.

243. And I, like many people, want to know who did this.

244. I want to get who did this.

245. As do the police, as does the district attorney, Tommy Molto.

246. So much so, that despite having certitude,

247. he will settle for the next best thing, namely me.

248. And boy, do I fit the bill.

249. Circumstances point to me. I'll admit that.

250. But not only me.

251. There were other people who had fixations on Carolyn.

252. There is Michael Caldwell, the victim's son,

253. who was also there that night.

254. Who was also very, very angry at his mother.

255. And who had access to the Bunny Davis file.

256. Now, his clothes, his person, his home were never investigated.

257. There was no warrant issued for his father, Dalton Caldwell,

258. who was very angry at the victim as well,

259. and who could have possibly had access to the Bunny Davis files.

260. Now, is any of that evidence to prove that Michael Caldwell

261. or Dalton Caldwell killed Carolyn Polhemus?

262. Of course not, but it certainly makes you wonder.

263. Now, I'm on trial. I'm biased.

264. But I will tell you that in the 15 years that I have been a prosecutor

265. for this great city, I will tell you,

266. I would never bring charges against someone

267. without the burden of proof being possibly satisfied,

268. and that is exactly what the prosecution has done here.

269. They have charged me with a crime,

270. and they have no evidence that they can remotely prove.

271. There is no physical, testimonial, forensic evidence.

272. There is no murder weapon.

273. There are other possible uninvestigated suspects.

274. And let's add Liam Reynolds, who threatened the victim on record.

275. Also, there is no actual time of death. So reasonable doubt exists in abundance.

276. Which begs the question...

277. why are we even here?

278. In high-profile cases, the burden on the prosecutors—

279. who are politicians, by the way— is to satisfy the public.

280. They need to hold somebody accountable. They need to find somebody accountable.

281. Anybody. And in this case, I am their best shot.

282. I am Tommy Molto's best shot.

283. And he has wanted to get me from the beginning.

284. His resentment, his contempt, it has been on full display.

285. He is on a mission.

286. This case. It's not about Tommy Molto,

287. it's not about me, it's not even about Carolyn—

288. at least not the application of justice— it's about you.

289. You took an oath. You swore to a duty,

290. that to convict you must find proof without a reasonable doubt.

291. I accept your contempt.

292. I deserve your contempt.

293. As a husband...

294. As a father...

295. And as a man.

296. But I did not kill Carolyn Polhemus,

297. which is why there is no evidence that I did.

298. I am not honorable.

299. But the irony is, I hope that you are.

300. Thank you.

301. The defendant spoke of his love for the victim,

302. but I think what came out during the trial,

303. and Mr. Sabich admitted to, is it wasn't just love.

304. It was an obsession.

305. He said that he wanted to get the person who did this.

306. Well, as chief deputy prosecutor, he had a unique opportunity to do so.

307. In fact, he headed the investigation.

308. Let me tell you, the first 48 hours following any homicide

309. are crucial to solving it.

310. And what did he do during that critical time?

311. He withheld information, he obstructed,

312. he told our lead detective to share evidentiary materials with him alone.

313. Specifically not with me.

314. And he failed to disclose

315. that he was embroiled in a sexual relationship with the victim,

316. that he was in the throes of a volatile breakup,

317. that he was at her house the night that she was murdered.

318. He sat on all of that.

319. That's not the behavior of an innocent man,

320. certainly not one vested with the responsibility of catching her killer.

321. He lied.

322. Concealed.

323. And he sought to bribe and extort others into giving false confessions.

324. He physically attacked our chief medical examiner,

325. and he beat up a potential witness.

326. That is not consistent with innocence, nor is it consistent with non-violence,

327. which the defendant represented himself to be.

328. Now, his own very good friend, Eugenia Milk,

329. said that he was acting outside himself

330. in these days leading up to the murder, losing himself to Carolyn.

331. He sent 30 texts on the day that she was murdered,

332. including this one, "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

333. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

334. He was there, he was seen there,

335. his DNA and fingerprints are there,

336. and then he says to you with a straight face,

337. with this very charming face, right—

338. He says to you, "There's no real evidence."

339. Really?

340. Well, the defendant is a very, very good liar.

341. And a murderer.

342. Look what was done to her.

343. On the day he went there,

344. on the day he texted her, on the day she rejected him,

345. and on the night that he was last seen with her,

346. look what was done.

347. And he gets up here, and he says,

348. "Hey, it could've been Liam Reynolds, or it could've been her ex-husband."

349. Or I think he alluded to that it could've been me.

350. It could've been me. Okay.

351. That's all just garden-variety desperation.

352. It's normal.

353. What is not normal is him alluding to or accusing her son

354. in all of this.

355. It's diabolical.

356. It's sociopathic.

357. Look, the defendant, as chief deputy prosecutor,

358. had an opportunity to catch the person who killed Carolyn Polhemus.

359. And what did he do?

360. He concealed.

361. He obstructed.

362. Why?

363. Because he knew that the killer wasn't out there somewhere.

364. The killer was right here.

365. There is an opportunity for justice that is alive today, and it falls to you.

366. All right?

367. He's put my— What did he call it?

368. My contempt!

369. My contempt, my demeanor at issue.

370. Fine. He's begging you to look at me.

371. Look at me. Take a good, hard look at me.

372. But then...

373. take a good, hard look at this man.

374. This is the worst part.

375. The waiting. Or second worst. I guess losing would be even worse.

376. I wouldn't know.

377. Right. Because you're too special to lose.

378. Well, that's what I assume.

379. Seriously, what are we gonna make of it? The wait.

380. The longer the jury deliberates, you know, the more it favors the defense.

381. Hey.

382. We might as well go home.

383. You know, they could be out a while.

384. Besides, I do worry about the cat.

385. - You think that's funny? - It's a joke, Tommy. Come on.

386. - I'm just saying, it's like... - I know.

387. waiting for a pot to boil here.

388. Let's go get a drink or something.

389. See, I think it was his insurance policy.

390. Like, all along.

391. - Huh? - The poker?

392. Okay— If he loses,

393. then he has something to exploit for a new trial or— Somehow.

394. All right, yeah. You think that Rusty left the poker in your house?

395. God, what the fuck did she ever see in him?

396. Can I ask you a personal question?

397. How much did you love her?

398. Really.

399. Guys, verdict.

400. All right.

401. Go ahead and stand, Mr. Sabich.

402. Madam Clerk, if you'll read the verdict.

403. Yes, Your Honor.

404. "Superior Court of Illinois, Cook County, in the matter of

405. the People of the State of Illinois v. Rozat K. Sabich,

406. case number 6710098,

407. we the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant Rozat K. Sabich...

408. not guilty of the crime of murder

409. in violation of penal code section 609.195,

410. a felony, upon Carolyn Polhemus, a human being,

411. as charged in the count one of the information."

412. It almost doesn't feel real.

413. It's over, right?

414. They can't appeal or go for another trial?

415. Yeah, prosecution won't appeal. It's over.

416. But the sooner they hear from me, the sooner they'll clear out.

417. I mean, obviously I'm gratified here by the verdict.

418. Legal justice was done.

419. As well as moral justice...

420. in that I'm an innocent man, and I did not commit this crime.

421. But justice by no means is complete here.

422. Justice has not been realized for Carolyn Polhemus.

423. Her killer is still out there, and her murder is still unsolved.

424. The justice system, especially the prosecutor's office,

425. has failed Carolyn Polhemus.

426. She deserved better. Much better.

427. And the reason that she didn't get better

428. was because those entrusted with serving justice were compromised

429. by ambition, and I suspect emotion.

430. Tommy Molto.

431. He put the blinders on from day one.

432. He lost the plot. It was a ready, fire, aim process,

433. and the district attorney's office, they failed miserably here.

434. They prioritized a vendetta over the truth,

435. and they most failed Carolyn Polhemus.

436. Tommy, you tried a magnificent case.

437. You did.

438. We had a circumstantial set of facts, and you tried your best.

439. He beat me.

440. I let her down.

441. Her death will go unavenged 'cause I wasn't good enough.

442. No. Tommy, listen.

443. You need to move on, all right?

444. This is Chicago.

445. There are so many wonderfully heinous people for you to go after.

446. We need to move on and do our job, all right?

447. And personally, you need to move on from Rusty Sabich.

448. You do.

449. There is work to be done. Let's get on with it.

450. I guess we can take that vacation now. I see you're all packed.

451. Yeah.

452. It was Dr. Rush's advice...

453. should there be a next time.

454. A next time?

455. Yeah.

456. Should you ever again impulsively strike to destroy this family.

457. A next time?

458. I actually knew from the beginning, and then I didn't know.

459. And then I knew again for sure.

460. Rusty, I have no idea what you're talking about.

461. All that was going through my head was just,

462. "This was my doing. This was my fault. This was my doing."

463. And I had to do what I had to do to protect my family, to protect you,

464. so I did.

465. No.

466. But what didn't compute was that you just seemed so utterly normal the next day.

467. Just disaffected.

468. I didn't know that you could kill somebody and not even wobble.

469. You think I killed Carolyn?

470. No, it was somebody else, but somebody in your body,

471. like it was probably somebody else in my body who tied her up.

472. What do you mean you tied her up?

473. To cover for you.

474. What?

475. I went back there that night.

476. Oh, my God.

477. Carolyn? Carolyn!

478. No, no! Carolyn?

479. What—

480. And I first went for my phone to call 911

481. in case, by some chance, she was still alive,

482. though clearly she... wasn't.

483. Oh, fuck. Fuck!

484. And then it hit me.

485. There was only one person who could've done this.

486. So I didn't call 911, to protect that one person,

487. so that suspicion wouldn't fall to her.

488. What about all that stuff with...

489. Liam Reynolds?

490. False confessions are easy to extract. We do it all the time.

491. We— I offered him less jail, which is usually enough.

492. It was worth a shot.

493. - Rusty, you're sick. - But then I start to think,

494. "You know, my God, I must have this wrong."

495. But then Jaden, she was telling me about disassociation,

496. how a person can be severed from the self,

497. that they can compartmentalize off an act from the person.

498. And I just started to realize, that's exactly what happened.

499. You just snapped with Carolyn, and then the next day,

500. it became as if somebody else had committed the act.

501. You're insane.

502. And you're wrong!

503. I'm not wrong.

504. After your thing with the bartender, I tracked your car, B.

505. What?

506. I know that it was you who went to Tommy Molto's house to plant that poker.

507. I mean, I'm assuming to ostensibly help me, but you went there.

508. No, she didn't.

509. I did.

510. What?

511. I—

512. I thought you were going to be convicted after your testimony.

513. It was the only thing I could think to do.

514. Wait.

515. What—

516. I drove there in Mom's car.

517. What?

518. I put the poker in his kitchen.

519. Jay. Jay?

520. No.

521. How did you have the fire poker?

522. I just went there to confront her, and...

523. Hey.

524. No.

525. You sure you don't want any tea?

526. No.

527. tell her to stay away from you.

528. Stay away from our family.

529. It's not me, it's your father.

530. He won't leave me alone.

531. That isn't true.

532. You need to quit your job and stay away from my family forever.

533. Stay the fuck away.

534. I will stay away from him.

535. But our lives are going to be intertwined a little.

536. 'Cause I'm pregnant...

537. with his child.

538. And then I was driving home,

539. and I thought it was just a dream.

540. And it wasn't.

541. And when you guys went to breakfast, I said I wasn't feeling well,

542. and I cleaned the car,

543. and I buried the poker.

544. Okay, listen to me.

545. We will never speak of this.

546. Listen really carefully, Jay.

547. This is something that came out of you

548. in a form of self-defense...

549. in defense of this family.

550. And it was put into motion by me.

551. This is my doing.

552. We will survive as a family.

553. Okay?

554. We love each other.

555. We're a family, and we love each other.

556. Yeah!

557. Yes!

558. So perfect.

559. Anyone want gravy?

560. Thank you.