In Justice S1E10 - English Transcript

Every trial results in a verdict, but not every verdict results in the truth All units, drive-by shooting. Suspects fleeing in a green two-door. Eyes on shooting suspect. Dark green two-door just turned Eastbound on Hudson. All units, suspects now traveling east on Hudson. - Turn right. He went right. - I see him. just turned south into alley into 4th and Hudson. Drop the weapon! Let's see some hands now! He's gone. Suspect now on foot. Officers in pursuit. Establish perimeter around west 4th and Hudson. - Demeo, which way? - You take the east. I'll go north. Might have suspect in metalworks yard near Hudson and International. Request backup. - Solletti? - Yeah, yeah. Backup's here. Olly, olly, oxen free. - Where's the rest of the calvary? - They're sweeping west 4th. Hey have 68 types of waffles. I'm seriously thinking about getting banana-peanut butter. They do not have banana-peanut butter. They have banana-peanut butter. Um, so not that I don't love waffles, charlotte, but-- I don't wanna bump into anyone we know. - Really? - No. Business. You know, according to the pope, we're still married. According to the pope, we couldn't do half the things we did married. I could get fired letting you see this. - What? - No. - Why not? It's a cop? - 'Cause he's a cop killer. Michael Solletti is exactly where he belongs. - You worked with him? - No, I was in homicide by then. But everybody knew he was corrupt. He helped me with some indictments last year during a prison guard scandal. It took a lot of guts to do what he did. He made a lot of enemies-- the cons, the guards - So you want me to feel sorry for-- - Goedemorgen. - Do you need another minute? - Yes. We're out of the pecan-blueberry. - Do you think she wears that at home? - He says he's innocent. A lifer who says he's innocent. Wow. He's been working his case from the inside. He wrote me saying he's onto something. So do something about it, Charlotte. You're in the D. A. 'S office. You do something. The D. A. told me to back off. He doesn't wanna open an old department wound. Neither do I. Even if I believed in Michael Solletti, which I don't-- going back there, back to my old department Just talk to him, okay? Just talk to him, really. If there's nothing there, there's nothing there. You know the only thing worse than being a cop in prison? Being an innocent cop in prison. Close it up. - I expected a lawyer. - Sorry to disappoint you. I know you. - You're a cop. - Was a cop. Conti, homicide. Heard you went over to the dark side. Well, from the looks of it, so did you. And what was it that someone told me? You killed an innocent kid in the line of duty, grew a conscience? I got him to confess. He committed suicide. Then you left the force and went to work for Swain. Wow, I thought the cops hated me. So you have a friend who thinks you might be innocent. Really? Yep. - Who? - Anonymous. That sounds about right. The day the indictments came down, just about every friend I ever had went anonymous. Prosecutors said you were sleeping with the cop you killed. - Denise. - Right, and that she threatened to tell your wife about the affair. That's why you killed her. - I don't wanna talk about her. - Why, 'cause you killed her? Because I loved her. Because the only thing worse than being blamed for her death is her being dead. Prosecutor also said that you used the manhunt as a cover, to make it look like Denise was killed in a trade of fire with Rodriguez, the gangbanger she was chasing. Butunluckily for you, Rodriguez was being arrested at the same time you were killing Denise. Well? You want me to get down on my knees and plead I didn't do it? You know, it couldn't hurt. Just imagine that you're sitting here where I am. You spend 22 hours in your cell, and you're innocent. What do you do? Man, come on, you're a cop. You were a cop. What do you do? Okay, you're innocent but you're at the scene. Right, general vicinity, not ground zero. Well, I'd establish an alibi. Right. The only way to do that is to find a new witness, one that the lawyers didn't find. So start writing people in the neighborhood. You're in prison. You got nothing but time. You found somebody? Se lo agradezco mucho. Gracias. Okay, so he hates the lead in the telenovela. - Did he mention Solletti? - Yeah, I showed him the picture. He said that he saw him clearly under the street lampabout here. Time? that's when his show comes on. Well, we're five, maybe six blocks from the scene. What was the duration of the I. D. ? Just a few minutes. He had to turn back and watch his show. So the *** was at 10:03. That's when the victim's shoulder mike was keyed and people heard shots. So that's about three minutes. - What are you doing? - I'm going for a run. Time me to the scene. From where the witness puts Solletti at 10 P. M. , to where Denise keyed an S. O. S on her mike at 10:03. so if Sifuentes saw Solletti at exactly 10 P. M Solletti had only 3 minutes to get from there to here. Which means even if he ran flat-out, he'd never make it under 4 minutes, which means Michael Solletti is innocent. The alibi witnesshe holds up? You wouldn't be here unless he did. We're investigating. Investigate this Denise was thinking about going to internal affairs a week before she died. - Why? - I don't know. You think she was killed by another cop? I think a cop found out she was gonna go see I. A. D. , decided to do something about it. Michael Solletti Life without parole. Convicted of murdering his girlfriend, Denise Kosineski, for threatening to expose their affair to his wife. What's the evidence against him? The *** weapon, a colt . 38 throwdown. And for those without a program? Corrupt cops use a throwdown to cover up a bad shoot. Right, you fire at a suspect. Suspect turns out to be unarmed. You carry the throwdown so you got something to plant to keep internal affairs off your back. Is it just me or is this sounding awfully personal? Now the whole point of a throwdown is to keep it untraceable to the cop. - So how'd it get traced? - Bullet-matching. Good. Forensics matched them to a box of extra ammo Solletti had in his house. Right. Solletti owned the bullets. Therefore, he owned the gun. What else? Motive, established by the victim's partner, Ron Demeo. A week before the shooting, he heard an argument between Solletti and the victim in which she threatened to go to his wife. Am I missing something? This is the guy the victim was chasing, right? A, uh, Jorge Rodriguez? Should he not be our main suspect? Yeah, well, he was getting arrested at the same time the S. O. S. call came in on the radio. - Which was bad luck for Solletti because she was hoping that Rodriguez would get blamed for the ***. Whoops! I meantI mean, was accused of hoping you know. Why'd suspicion turn to Solletti at all? Why not one of the other cops on the scene? - He found the body. - Yeah, and the affair, the bullets. Right. Opportunity, motive, means. So, Brianna, you work the opportunity route. How many other cops were backup that night? Uh, there were four squad cars and eight cops. Look at them all. Were there any I. A. D. complaints? Any bad shootings? Any suspected use of a throwdown? Bottom line if it wasn't Solletti's throwdown, whose was it? Sonya, you and i will take motive. Just so I'm clear are we really thinking of taking on the cops? No, we're trying to exonerate one. So we're going after the cops? Look, if we can disprove the connection between Solletti and the bullets, the throwdown could be anybody's. David, why is there a saddle in your office? I'm thinking of buying a horse. Well, they say it's good for your posture. So you'll check the fed's bullet-matching evidence? Yeah, yeah. I got a friend over at the bureau. Another lady friend. Charlie, let me ask you something. This is about cops, right? And your old precinct. Right. And that's okay? What do you mean? Are we the best ones to be doing this? You mean, am I the best one to be doing this? Good question. You know Jack London square? Yeah, it's near there. There's a wonderful chinese restaurant - Excuse me? - Yes? Can I help you? May I help you? Excuse me? "May I help you?" No, thank you. I just needed a moment to sit down. Nice offices. - Who was that? - What? The man who just left. Who was that? Oh, um, I don't know. I think he was lost. Uh, no one just-- No one just sits in our reception! No one. So what the hell's wrong with you, staying away so long, partner? Well, this hasn't been the friendliest of places, Joe. Uh, this is Sonya Quintano. - Hi, Joe Gowen. - Hi, nice to meet you. So, uh, Joe we're taking on the Solletti case. I know, I know. You always did have a way with *** people off. Well, this dead officer, Denise Kosineski We think she was talking to I. A. D. What about? - We don't know. - Well, who was the target? We're trying to figure that out. Wow. Some good investigative work there, partner. Denise was telling internal affairs something about someone. Denise's partner-- he testified about this argument between Solletti and Denise. Yeah. He said he saw Denise threaten to tell the missus. You think he could be shading the truth to do right by a partner? I don't know. Ask him yourself. Demeo! Man has a question for you. - Joe. . - Nah, it's okay. What? - This here is my former-- - Yeah, I know who it is. Your old partner. What's he want? He talked to Solletti. He wants to know about that fight Denise had - Go to hell. Hey, Demeo. Don't be surprised if the D. A. comes after you for perjury. You calling me a liar, hmm? You saying I'd lie under oath? Solletti says you're only telling half the story. He said that Denise took back her threat. He agreed to leave his wife because he was in love with Denise. I don't even know who the hell you are, lady. Solletti murdered my partner. My only regret is I didn't put him in the ground. Now you wanna tell the D. A. that, your word against mine. You don't call, then you show up when I have a gun in my hand? Bold. That's why you like me. Who said I like you? Bad time to ask for a favor? Our client was convicted on the basis of bullet-matching evidence. Yeah, well, it's bogus. Bogus? Well, I know you're good-- - No, David, I read. Two years ago, the national research counsel released a study. Bullet-matching isn't like ballistics, tracing a bullet from a fired gun. It's tracing a bullet to a box of ammo, and it's all bogus. But hasn't this technique been used. . - in thousands of cases. Yeah, lots of people get prosecuted on old scientific assumptions, and then years later, everyone goes, "Oops, we were wrong. " See, everyone thought bullet lead was like a fingerprint. You break it down to its seven trace elements, and it's gonna match one of the other bullets in its package because they all came from the same smelt of lead. I love it when you say "smelt. " So in theory, all these bullets match. And they shouldn't match this box. - Right. Because in theory they come from different batches of smelt? The only problem-- the original manufacturer doesn't give a damn which bullet ends up in which box. So you've got one lot of bullets mixing with another lot of bullets, right? Before they're all packaged and sent out. So Michael Solletti is serving a life sentence in prison based on. . An obsolete science, yep. Hey, Galileo was in prison because we thought the sun orbited the earth. This is progress. - I guess. What's wrong? So Swain was able to undercut the bullet-matching. Oh, that is great news. Does Swain think we have enough for a habeas? I mean, he's gonna get a court-- - You've gotta be-- - What? - I don't know. I'm getting pulled over. Brianna, stay on the line, okay? - Sure. License and registration. Yeah, what's going on, officer? Stay here. You know, you need reasonable suspicion to pull me over. You took that last turn just a little too wide. - Come on, are you serious? - Step out of the car, miss. - Step out of the car. - What? - Place your hands on the roof, please. - What-- Hands on the roof. Ma'am. Go back to the officer, ma'am. - Step away from the officer. - Take a step back, ma'am. I can't believe you're doing this, officer Demeo. You--go get Conti. Go! Put that phone away! No. I am documenting this. I'll need your names and addresses. Witnesses for a federal civil rights violation. section 1983. Hey, leave her alone! - Unbelievable. - Yeah. Okay. Okay, we're done here. Watch yourself, lady. The police are here to protect you. Can I have my license back, please? Certainly, miss Quintano of 1218 terra garden, Oakland. Have a nice day, ma'am. Get moving! Gonna buy yourself a collar for assault a police officer? Next time you wanna go after someone, my address is 5893 west Lincoln. - Yeah? That's good to know. I got a glock in my bedside table and a rifle in my closet. Come after me, you son of a ***! Hey, you back off! This is personal. - So what happened? Denise saw you carried a throwdown, threatened to go to I. A. D. ? Maybe you didn't split up that night. Maybe you followed her, killed her, and then set up Solletti. Yeah, and maybe I killed John Lennon, too. Back off, you psycho. Oh, yeah. That sounds like Demeo. He always was a hothead. Did Denise ever mention anything about him carrying a throwdown? No. She always thought he was pretty clean. I mean, a real ***, but clean. And what about you? Were you clean? Was I clean? Yeah. I'm not gonna say that I wasn't tempted. Those stacks of cash from drug busts Didn't seem worth it. I loved the job too much. You miss it? Yeah. Three generations of cops in my family. Now look at me. I'm sorry. It's okay. It's okay. - We're working it, Mike. - Thanks. - Conti? - Yeah? Have you thought about matching ballistics to the colt 38? What do you mean? Where does a corrupt cop get a throwdown? Well, from a bust. You pocket the gun, never log it in as evidence. And if ballistics matches an earlier crime? Then see if Demeo was the arresting officer. Then you know where he got his throwdown. Hey, were you a cop or something? This is nonsense, your honor. The D. A. placed all his chips on the bullet-matching evidence, and we have shown that the test utilized by the prosecution is more wishful thinking than actual science. And how does the D. A. answer this? Don't stipulate to anything whatsoever right now. Counsel? I'm listening. Your honor, request a 5-minute recess. Five minutes. Yeah, this is Swain. Hello. How'd you get this number? I'm not going to answer that. My name is Richard Rocca. I've been hired by the attorney general. To annoy his political enemies? The attorney general is tired of you putting a revolving door on the prison system, mr. Swain. Well, tell him to stop convicting the wrong people. He has a better idea--stop you. - So your job is to harass me? - My job is to assist local D. A. s to make sure you don't coerce witnesses. You may perceive that as harassment, mr. Swain, but let me assure you, the attorney general merely wants to dot every "I" and cross every "T. " And if a few innocent people rot in prison, so what? No one is innocent, mr. Swain. Get used to losing. - How'd it go? - I lost. Bullet-matching was just one plank on the prosecutor's blah, blah, blah. Victoria? Get me everything you can on a Richard Rocca. What do you got? Maybe something. - So you ran the gun through ballistics? - I did. It matched something? An earlier crime-- a video story robbery. Male latino suspect fired twice into the sign, fled. The same gun that killed Denise? And a witness at the scene thought the assailant ditched the gun, but the detective-- - Never entered the gun into evidence? Okay. So why am I getting such a strong sense of reluctance here? Because of the detective on the scene. - Who? Demeo? No. Your old partner, Gowen. - Are you going home? - Yeah. You really think it's him? I don't know. I liked him. Me, too. Did you ever see anything? When he was my partner? No. Are you gonna talk to him? If I can put the gun in his hand, yeah, we'll talk. I used to love how everything was so clear back then, you know? Good. Bad. Friend. Enemy. Yeah, it's not that clear anymore, is it? Well, maybe it wasn't that clear then either, but it was just easier to think so. You okay? You ever get scared? Of what? I don't know. I'll let you get back to it. Sonya? Nothing. Good night. So six years ago, a latino kid-- he came right up here. My dad was unloading some cd players, and ***! The kid shot over his head. The kid ran off with a few players. That's about it. Your dad thought the robber ditched the gun? - Nah, the detective did. - The detective did? Where'd he think he ditched it? - The dumpster over there. Dad said he got inside to see if he could find it. And what did your dad say he did then? - The shooter? - No, no, the detective. He climbed inside the dumpster. Do you know if he found the gun? I don't know. Why don't you ask him yourself? You following me, Joe? So one friend on the force is one friend too many, is that it? You wanna *** me off, too? What happened to the colt 38, Joe? - What are you talking about? - Oh, this doesn't look familiar? Three months before Denise was killed, you worked a robbery here. A 38 was used. - And you're pissed because, what? I didn't clear it? That colt was the same gun used to kill Denise. And we both know that perps usually dump their weapons after shootings. Screw you, you hear me? The number of times I backed you up? The number of times we-- - Did Denise go to I. A. D about you? - Denise went to I. A. D. over a job! I talked to them. She was applying to internal affairs. What about the gun, Joe? Don't you think there might be some other reason the gun here is the same gun that killed Denise? Don't you think there's a chance I didn't find the gun here because the robber didn't ditch the gun? Or is it always the cops who are guilty until proven innocent? He's still out there. - Who? - Rocca. Just sitting in his car. Hello. Hey, Rocca. I just wanna make sure you haven't fallen asleep yet. Where'd you get the ballistics on the 2000 cop shooting, mr. Swain? Oh, same place I got your law school transcript. Stumbled a bit in secured transactions, didn't we? Don't you know it's a federal crime to steal or divulge internal D. A. files? Where'd you get the ballistics on that 2000 cop shooting, Charlie? - Why? - Rocca just brought it up. You got somebody exposed here? I'm on it. Okay, what are you doing? Well, we've been thinking all this time it was a throwdown, right? I've been thinking it was a throwdown. It isn't? Why even jump to that conclusion? It's not even the most obvious. I mean, why a cop throwdown, not just an untraceable gun? Because "a"-- a gangbanger was arrested. And "b"--there weren't any other suspects in the area, Charlie. Right? What is it? I had us looking at cops. We should've been looking at criminals. Mr. Rodriguez? If you're a cop, I got a parole officer and a legit business. You need your car detailed? Half price. I'm not a cop. I just need some information. One night six years ago, you shot up the home of Ruben Cubano-- his daughter's party. All right, fine. Does your yuppie clientele know who your investors are? Mr. ***? Mr. Crack? Not cool, man. I'm 100% legit now. Yeah, you're restoring my faith in rehabilitation. Why you hassling me about that drive-by anyway? - It's ancient history. - So I'm an historian. What's this? I don't know, skid marks? Right, the marks your car left in front of the scene. I was driving fast. I feel bad. See how they start stop and start up again? That doesn't happen with an automatic. You were driving a manual transmission which means you were steering, shooting and shifting gears all at the same time. That's quite a trick, Rodriguez. Do you do kids' parties? That's the way it happened what can I tell you? Yeah, well, luckily, I got a manual transmission right here. Let's see how good you are with a gear shift. You were sitting in the passenger seat, and you were firing out the side. So who was driving? You're a smart guy, right? You think what I didn't tell the cops then, I'm gonna tell you now? Just give me a name, and no one will know. He'll know. I'm not risking that. Take away my business, throw me in jail--whatever. At least I'd still be alive. Brianna, you ever fired a gun? Where did that come from? Just curious. Have you? No, have you? No, but did you ever want to? Is this about the Demeo thing? With them pulling you over? No. Okay, everybody, case board. Let's go. If you wanna talk, I'm here. So we started with a bad assumption-- thought our suspect was a cop. So how did we get here? Well, Rodriguez was being arrested at the time of the ***, never gave up an accomplice, so the cops looked elsewhere. Well, right, they focused on Solletti due to the affair, the overheard argument and the bullet-match. Yeah, but we now think that Rodriguez had a partner. The partner carried the same gun used to kill Denise. Right. So, whose was it? How are we gonna put a name to someone no one even knew was part of the drive-by? We don't. We don't have to. We just have to answer who may have had it out for someone at the party that night. Well, right, but according to the crime report, there were no rival gangs there. - So why the drive-by? Thank you for coming in, mr. Cubano. We're looking into who was responsible for shooting up your daughter's party. I know who was responsible -- this Jorge Rodriguez. But he got off on a technicality. But we think he might not have been alone that night. The cops said otherwise. Can you think of anyone who might wanna hurt you or your family? Or anyone else at the party that night? Any friends or kids? They were all Bonita's friends. She's a good girl. She doesn't spend time with troublemakers. Well, was there anyone she didn't invite? You think that some idiota shot up my girl's quincea�era because he wasn't invited? Well, I think that you don't fire an mp5 from this distance without hitting a single person unless you only wanna make a point. That would be crazy. Yeah, so do you know anyone at your daughter's school that might fit that description? Assistant D. A. Charlotte, we got a new suspect in the Solletti case--Vincent Moya. Could you hold on a second, dear? "Dear"? Look, I need you to check his rap sheet. Do you have any further questions, mr. Rocca? Rude or otherwise? - No, no, take your call. Oh, it's personal. Thank you so much. Well, then, we'll talk later, won't we? I can't wait. Joe, hey, we need to talk. I don't think so. I'm kinda tired of fielding accusations. I have some thoughts about who killed Denise. The guy who robbed the loading dock? Used the same gun that killed Denise. I think it was the wheelman in the drive-by. But it would help to know for sure, wouldn't it? - This is crap! - Shut up! - I'm a legitimate businessman! - So you keep saying. - This is police harassment. - No, it's not, Rodriguez. - He's not even a cop. - Give him up. - Give up your partner. - You're crazy! - This guy's crazy! - No argument there. But he's right about one thing. . you having a partner in that drive-by. I was cleared. You were cleared of cop-killing, Rodriguez, not conspiracy. And that's a whole other crime. Carries a 25-year jolt, minimum. That's right. So, Jorge, tell us where we can find mr. Moya. Vince Moya? Vincent! Vince Moya, start talking. Forget it, forget it. Go! Son of a he's gone! Code 33, suspect now on foot. Demeo, which way? You take the east. I'll go north. Freeze! - That's what Moya testified to. - So what? I'm sorry. Did mr. Rocca from the attorney general's office just say, "so what?" Yes, I did. So what? Well, perhaps he doesn't realize the state has had the wrong man in prison for the past six years. The D. A. won't stipulate to that. All I can do is vacate a sentence, which I intend to do, mr. Rocca. There's more than enough evidence to suggest officer Solletti's innocence. But it's up to the D. A. to retry. I have no control over that. The next hole in my docket is in june. You get ten minutes to tell me whether I'm filling it. Thanks, Norm. Of course we plan to retry this. I told you, no more free rides. Tell mr. Solletti to make himself comfortable. He's not going anywhere. Oh, Michael Solletti is not spending one more day in prison. I heard you were a magician, but that'll be a pretty neat little trick. - What's this, a white rabbit? - A complaint. Mr. Solletti doesn't need to be criminally exonerated to file a civil complaint for wrongful incarceration, malicious prosecution, and, just for fun, civil rights violations. Oh, you're named personally. "Rocca"--that's two C's, right? # These mist-colored mountains # # are a home now for me # # but my home is the lowlands # # and always will be # # someday you'll return to # # your valleys and your farms # # and you'll no longer burn to be brothers in arms # # through these fields of destruction # # baptisms of fire # # I've witnessed your suffering # # as the battle raged on # - Ready, two. Forward, march. # And though they did hurt me so bad # # in the fear and alarm # # you did not desert me my brothers in arms # - Hey - Hi. - Thank you - No, no, thank you. From Solletti too. I like you better these days. Really? My haircut? Hey I'm taking off. Do you need anything? Good night. - I gotta go too - Do you?