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close.to.home Season 2 Episode 17
We found a weapon in a trashcan at the end of the alley--
a pocketknife with a three-inch blade.
The coroner thinks he died somewhere else,
between midnight and 2:00.
The patrol car found him about 4:00 A.M.
We had dinner last night.
He was a friend.
We left the restaurant about 11:30, 11:45.
He said he wanted...
he wanted to walk back to the hotel.
He may have taken a little detour.
A hooker on calvert street saw a couple of punks
manhandling an older gent into the backseat of a car
a little after 1:00 A.M.
-Calvert street? -She id'd the judge positively.
-What about these guys who grabbed him? -Didn't get a great look.
She gave us a description of the vehicle, partial plate--
matches one stolen yesterday from a convenience store parking lot.
We're looking hard.
I can't imagine what he'd be doing
in that neighborhood at that time of night.
She said they grabbed him as he came out of a bar,
the deer hunter.
The deer hunter?
The name of the bar doesn't need to go in my report.
I appreciate that.
-Are you okay? -Rough morning.
It's all over the news.
-How well did you know him? -All my life.
He and my father were college roommates and best friends.
He gave me my start in the manhattan da's office.
-I considered him my mentor,a surrogate father. -I'm so sorry.
What about the family? Will they be coming to indianapolis?
Delores won't fly anymore.
Billy's coming out later today from dc.
He and I grew up together.
We're like brothers.
We started our careers together in the da's office under his dad.
-He still a prosecutor? -No, he's the smart one.
He got out.He's a high-powered lobbyist in dc.
We'll cover here.Why don't you go to the airport and meet him?
Too much work to do here.I'll send someone.
You two are catching this case.
-Maureen, if you could handle the coroner's office? -Sure.
Cops arrested a suspect--
matthew simmons.
Blood all over the backseat of the car
and an atm receipt on the floor
from a bank card belonging to judge sheffield.
-Bank have surveillance? -The atm footage should be here now.
-You want to look at it? -Let's go.
Matthew simmons.
Two people in the backseat.
That might be a knife.
This just proved simmons used the judge's bank card,nothing else.
Thanks.
Preliminary coroner's report.
Deep puncture wounds to the chest and abdomen.
Facial slashes were deliberate and methodical,
designed to inflict pain.
They tortured him.
I want to talk to this bastard.
Mr. Conlon.
Jeffrey.
I didn't expect to see you here.
Well, it's not every day
a distinguished visiting jurist gets murdered on the streets
of our fair city by a couple of hoodlums.
What makes you think one of those hoodlums is my client?
Security video of mr. Simmons using
the victim's bank card to withdraw money from a drive-through atm.
We could discuss pleading to that:
Fraud, larceny.
We have the car.
The lab will prove the blood in the backseat belongs to the judge.
And we found the knife, too.
Your prints, his blood.
Game over.
I don't know anything about that.
Don't waste my time, kid.
I'm not in the mood.
Make him understand he's on the hook for felony murder.
I didn't kill nobody.
There was someone else in the car in the backseat with the judge.
I want a name.
If he gives you that and a truthful account of what happened?
Well, that depends what I hear
and what turns out to be true.
Why should we talk now if you won't deal?
Johnny june.
John cooke, junior.
Everybody calls him johnny june.
We were just going to rob the old guy,
get the money from the bank,
drop him somewhere.
Why'd you torture him?
His bank code, you know--
he just wouldn't give it up.
So johnny starts...
carving on him.
And after he gave it to you?
I told johnny to stop.
But he-he wouldn'T.
We have a deal?
Not yet.
you expect me to take this piece of scum's word for it?
Tell me how it went down.
Your friend was driving,
and you were in the back with the old man?
Yeah.
Using his own tie
to tie him up with--that was smart.
Whose idea was that? Yours?
Okay.
I respect that.
Going to hang tough.
Not like your partner,
talking like there's no tomorrow.
You mean matty?
W-what he say?
He said you killed the judge.
Lab work is going to speak volumes, too.
It's going to tell us it was your bloody fingerprints all over that knife,
the backseat of the car...
judge?
He was mirandized, right?
Twice, by the police and again by ed.
He hasn't invoked right to counsel.
I don't want to lose this on a technicality.
Everybody is real upset about it, too.
If I was you, I'd start thinking about telling my side of the story.
Can I talk to my dad?
Yeah, I'm sure he'll be here soon.
Can I talk to somebody else?
What's the matter?You don't like me?
No, I... I do.
I just need to talk to somebody else.
-Okay, that's it. -What are you doing?
He just invoked right to counsel.
I didn't hear him ask for counsel.
He asked to talk to someone else.
No technicalities, remember?
You're right.
Ed, he just invoked.It's over.
Okay.
I guess that's that until your lawyer gets here.
My dad will take care of it.
My dad is john cooke, senior.
-And you're junior, right? -Right.
I need some water.You want some?
-That's cooke with an "E." -Okay.
We live at 132 garden street indianapolis, indiana 46208.
Just you and your dad?
Matty really tell you that I killed that old man?
-The judge? -Yeah, he did.
But I know he's a liar.
No, he's not.
It's true.
I did.
-He just confessed. -That's not good.
The interview was over.He asked for a lawyer.
He just popped a confession on his own.
That's one way to look at it.
The other is ed provoked him into it, and it's inadmissible.
-James. -Roberta.
I'm representing john cooke, junior.
Somebody has to.
I know you'd prefer to play with no one on the other side of the net,
but we haven't quite come to that yet.
Motion to suppress my client's quote, unquote, confession.
You mean the one he volunteered?
I mean the one your investigator elicited
by continuing his interrogation after my client's request for counsel.
My investigator offered your client a drink of water.
Your client couldn't stop talking.
You should have stopped listening.
My client recants his confession. He'll plead not guilty.
Why else would he need you?
He needs me to protect him from a biased prosecutor
determined to seek vengeance for an old family friend.
-Billy. -Hey, jimmy.
-I'm so sorry, man. -I know.I know.
You hungry?
Uh, bar works for me.
I'll have what he's having.
The detective who drove me in brought me up to speed.
He said the killer confessed.
Then recanted.
His attorney has already moved to squash the confession.
-Well, is it wobbly? -A little.
If we lose it,is it a problem?
We have the car,the weapon, forensics.
The detective said there was a witness to the abduction.
Not the greatest: A hooker.
Well, that doesn't mean she didn't see what she saw.
She saw them grab your dad.
Bill, if he only let me give him a ride back to the hotel...
nah, this was not your fault.
We both know how stubborn he was.
Let me in, jimmy.
Let me help nail the son of a bitch.
You're the victim's son, billy.No way.
I'm not asking to sit at the table.
Just, just let me help from the side; a-a resource.
You won't even know I'm around unless you need me;
I promise.
All right.
Thank you.
There's something else, billy.
The bar that your dad came out of...
a bar.
You mean a gay bar?
You knew?
I suspected.
What about delores?
Yeah, I think my mother has spent her entire married life not wanting to know.
I don't know what to say.
I thought I knew him.
Nobody really knew the judge...
especially his family.
You think this was a hate crime?
It's unlikely.
Well, if it wasn't,
does this detail really need to come out?
I mean, what would be the point?
I'll do my best.
But if it has to, it has to...
if we need her testimony.
Okay, I understand.
Annabeth, maureen,
william sheffield.
Billy.Pleased to meet you.
I wish it were under happier circumstances.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
Thanks. That's very kind of you.
How long will you be in town?
Well, until this is resolved.
But not to worry.I just promised jimmy
I wouldn't get in your way.
You can use him as a resource.
William was a formidable litigator back in the day.
Well, until I went over to the dark side.
Good to know.
Uh, we know to make a charging decision.
Well, I'll let you get to it.
Again, here if you need me.
I'll call you later.
Ladies.
The evidence supports seeking the death penalty against john cooke, junior.
With torture and kidnapping as aggravating circumstances.
What about simmons?
We need his testimony.
Which means taking the death penalty out of the equation.
Are you worried about william sheffield's reaction?
I know what his reaction will be.
He wants the death penalty for both these guys. So do I.
But I'm more practical than he is.
I'll settle for the one who actually stabbed the judge.
So we stole a car.
-"We"? -Me and johnny june.
John cooke, junior.
Johnny's all wound up, right?
He wants to drive around.
And the two of you decide to rob somebody?
-You must know everything. -Go on.
We see this old guy. He looks real easy, right?
So I pull over; we brace him,
except the old guy doesn't have any cash on him.
So johnny gets in the back,ties him up,
and we drive around and look for a atm.
And when he doesn't give you his pin number?
Johnny gets frustrated.
Starts cutting him.
The old dude finally gave it up.
When we got to the atm,the old man--
he starts making a lot of noise, you know?
-Mm, begging for his life? -Basically.
So johnny tells him to shut up.
The old guy just goes on and on.
He says, "just kill me and get it over with."
So johnny does.
I hate this punk.
-The jury's going to hate him, too. -Agreed.
But simmons' story matches what we know independently,
and his description of what happened tracks with the atm footage,
tracks with forensics as well,explains why his prints were
found beneath john junior's and beneath the judge's blood.
He could have stopped him.
Bob would be here today.
Finalize the plea agreement with simmons.
File the paperwork.
We're going to seek the death penalty against john cooke, junior.
*** of murder
*specail
in support of a death sentence.
How do you plead,mr. Cooke?
Not guilty, your honor.
We request the defendant be held without bail,your honor.
Your honor, my client poses no flight risk.
He has no passport.He lives and works with his father.
We ask he be released on bail.
His father is willing to put his dry-cleaning business up
as collateral for bond.
The people are not impressed with mr. Cooke's ability
to keep his son out of trouble.
We maintain the defendant is a danger to the community.
Defendant will be held without bail pending trial.
james, can we talk?
Mr. Cooke asked me to explain to him why the state of indiana
could or would seek the death penalty against his son even though he's slow.
Most criminals are.
Mr. Cooke, you understand your son's intelligence
has no bearing on his guilt or innocence,
and can't be brought up at trial.
It's not a mitigating factor.
It can be a mitigating factor
during sentencing if his son is convicted.
Which is why I wanted to talk to you now before the trial.
Your son would have to be retarded for us
to remove the capital charge,mr. Cooke.
I believe the politically correct term is mr,
a person with mr:Mental retardation.
Okay, does your son have mr,mr. Cooke?
-You don't know? -It's not that clear-cut.
Legally, either he does or he doesn'T.
What is his iq?
We never had him tested.
His late mother and I,
we always wanted him to think of himself as normal.
What are we doing here, roberta?
My client refuses to be evaluated.
When I raised the issue with him, he lashed out;
ordered me as his attorney not to talk to you about it.
What is it that you want this office to do?
You have prosecutorial discretion.
You could evaluate john, junior independently.
The kid doesn't seem retarded to me.
He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer,
but then he wouldn't be locked up for murder, would he?
Prosecutors often flag the possibility of mr in defendants.
You want us to do your work for you?
I think you're ethically obligated.
-But not legally obligated. -Not legally, no.
Fine.
I'll ask dr. Perrin to do an evaluation.
-Thank you. -Don't thank me yet.
You might not like what we find.
-Annabeth, there you are. -Hi, william.
-How are you holding up? -okay, considering.
What's this?
I hope I'm not out of line,
but I wrote up a reply brief to richter's motion to suppress the confession.
It outlines why her motion's without merit.
I thought you might find it useful,
but don't feel obligated.
-Thanks. I'm sure it'll help. -All right.
The so-called confession is clearly inadmissible, your honor.
My client had invoked his right to counsel.
Edwards V. Arizona.
If the defendant initiates further communication
after invoking his right to counsel,
what he says is admissible.
He wasn't initiating anything.
Our investigator had terminated the interrogation.
Then why was he still talking to him, annabeth?
He was on his way out of the room
when the defendant engaged him in further conversation.
My client was in custody.
The context of this entire exchange was not casual chitchat;
it was coercive and therefore inadmissible.
I agree with ms. Richter.
The accused had asked for counsel;
the interrogation continued.
The confession is out.
It could have gone either way.
So much for sheffield's memo, although it was pretty good.
Not good enough. We'll have to rely on forensics.
And the eyewitness,the prostitute.
Conlon says he doesn't want to use her if we don't have to.
He doesn't think she's very credible.
Speaking of billy sheffield,
-I got an e-mail from him this morning. -About what?
He wants to help in the jury selection.
Oh, he does, does he?
I think we have to draw the line.
I think we have to make this work.
-School was hard for you? -Not so much.
I graduated.
Like my dad always says, I'm capable if I work hard.
-It's important to please your dad, isn't it? -Yeah, it is.
Could you do me a favor?
My car's in the shop.
Ted's auto body on central.
Could you look up the number for me, please?
You do know how to use the phone book, of course?
Sure, of course.
I found it.
-He seemed pretty slow to me. -But he found it.
He actually did pretty well on that test.
This is confusing.
The people that we usually think of as retarded
are usually severe cases or else they also have down syndrome.
Individuals with mild cases just blend into the population.
Many are deeply ashamed of their condition,
and greatly skilled at masking it.
-Good coping skills. -And john junior has them.
In borderline cases like his, an mr diagnosis is
as much art as science;
a judgment call that can go either way.
That's disturbing, given what's at stake here.
What side of the border is he on?
He scored 76 on the iq test I gave him.
That puts him in the bottom six percent of the population,
but an mr diagnosis requires an iq of 70 or lower.
So he's not.
According to an arbitrary standard, no.
I oppose the death penalty.
Nothing would please me more than to tell you
that john cooke, junior has mr
if it would keep him from being executed.
And no doubt the defense will find someone willing to say he does.
But in my professional opinion...
he does not.
-This feels wrong. -I know.
If he would have done a little worse on that test...
one side he lives,the other he dies?
Maybe we should get a second opinion.
Prosecutors commonly flag mental retardation in defendants.
But you didn't flag it;the defense did.
This is a capital case, billy.
We got to make sure we're bulletproof.
Oh, so now that we've lost cooke's confession,
thanks to your investigator and your prosecutor?
-She was arguing your memo. -Not very well,apparently.
What's done is done.
So how bulletproof are we now?
I think we need to find another way
to place cooke at the scene.
You're talking about putting the prostitute on the stand?
-I am. -You don't need to.
You got forensic evidence,simmons' testimony...
-I need to corroborate his statement. -Not legally, you don'T.
For the jury.
Billy, a petty criminal,a participant in the crime,
one with every reason on earth to put the blame solely on cooke.
-He's a terrible witness. -Oh, and the hooker's better?
She saw cooke push your father into the car.
You want a conviction? You want the death penalty?
It means the judge's secret is going to come out.
I'm sorry about that,for your mom's sake.
Yeah, so am I.
-This is going to destroy her. -I know delores, billy.
She's stronger than that.
She's going to have to give up her story,
the one she's told her whole life about who he was,
who they were.
Is that more important than justice for your dad?
I'll tell her.
You had three experts evaluate john junior,
and they all came back with the same diagnosis.
-Borderline mr. -Borderline means "not."
-Not in the legal sense of the word. -In their opinion.
They're the experts.
There are experts in a close call like this
that are going to give us the benefit of the doubt.
It feels so arbitrary.
Lines have to be drawn somewhere.
They're always going to be arbitrary.
Look, you kill someone a day before your 18th birthday,
you're not eligible for the death penalty.
You do it the next day, you are.
You never had a problem with that arbitrary line.
This feels different somehow.
Well, we follow the law in this office, not our feelings.
-Your views on the death penalty,ms. Mcnamara? -I'm against it.
I think it's immoral in principle and unfairly applied in practice.
Move to dismiss for cause,judge.
So ordered.
-And the death sentence,mr. Roth? -Absolutely 1,000% yes.
Society needs it.
Move to dismiss for cause.
Your honor,the prosecution in a capital case has the right to a jury composed of jurors
open to imposition of a death sentence.
You will have your death qualified jury, ms. Chase.
Motion denied, ms. Richter.
Well, I'd have to say I generally oppose it,in most cases.
I mean, I really wish we didn't have to have it,
but could I see myself voting for it?
Yeah, I could.
Depending on the circumstances.
-Move to dismiss for cause. -Sorry, ms. Chase,
but I haven't heard this gentleman say
he'd never vote for the death penalty.
You'll have to use your remaining preemptory challenge.
He's acceptable to me,your honor.
-Ms. Richter? -Me, too, your honor.
-I have to say I don't understand your reasoning. -I'm sorry?
Why in heaven's name did you accept that juror?
He had "mistrial" and "hung jury" written all over him.
Because we're down to the last two slots
and juror #22 has a problem with authority.
He'd never vote to convict.
So I need to hold my one remaining preemptory challenge for him.
I think you're making a huge mistake.
William, I know this matters deeply to you,
but please respect the boundaries,
which means respect my judgment.
The access you've been granted because of your friendship with conlon
is already verging on inappropriate.
What's inappropriate is a prosecuting attorney
taking the path of least resistance in a capital case.
-Least resistance? -Your heart's not in it.
I can tell.
And if I can, a jury can.
I've tried to handle it,
but it's taking time and energy that I don't have.
And what possessed me to let him in on jury selection?
Your loyalty to me,
your sense of obligation to this office, his shameless begging.
Well, trial starts tomorrow
and I'd like to have a little breathing room.
It's not that he's a bad lawyer.
It's just that he's become a pain in the ass. I'll talk to him.
-Thanks. -Done.
Look, I've decided to call the eyewitness,
the streetwalker.
I'll depose her.
There's something about her testimony you should know.
She saw the judge
just before he was abducted come out of a gay bar.
You been sitting on that?
-I didn't think it was relevant. -Not relevant?
What if this was a hate crime?
No evidence of that whatsoever.
You've seriously been considering burying a witness?
I was weighing the value of her testimony.
You've been protecting the judge's reputation.
I've been doing what's best for this case.
What's best for this case or what's best for billy sheffield and his family?
Annabeth, all I want is to see justice done for the judge.
That means getting the death penalty for a defendant who's borderline mr?
What was it you said about feelings and the law?
I'm worried, jimmy.
They've made several questionable calls.
You have got to promise me
that you're going to back off and let them do their jobs.
I'd feel much better if you took this over.
That's not going to happen.
Billy, the prosecution could not be in better hands.
I disagree.I think your people aren't fully committed
to trying this as a death penalty case.
If I felt that,I would replace them.
I hope you would, jimmy. I really do.
Believe me, I'm going to be watching them every step of the way.
This older gentleman comes out of the deer hunter,
starts walking up bridge street.
That's when the car pulls up.
These two guys hop out.
Is one of those men in the courtroom?
-Him. -The defendant.Go on.
They grabbed the old man,they tie his hands behind his back,
then he shoves him into the backseat.
The other one jumps into the driver's seat
and they take off.
Thank you.
You say you saw my client and judge sheffield.
-Yes. -What were you doing at the time?
-I was talking to this guy. -Someone you knew?
A customer.A john.
You were engaged in negotiating an act of prostitution, were you not?
-Yeah. -Is it possibleyour attentions were elsewhere
than on the events you purportedly witnessed?
I'm sorry?
You think you might have been just a little distracted?
Um... maybe.
Nothing further.
Redirect, your honor.
Did you see the defendant along with another man
accost judge sheffield that night?
-Yes. -You're sure?
Even though you were also engaged in conversation with someone else?
I'm sure.
I can do two things at once.
So one more time,for the record,
did you see who pushed the judge into the backseat of the car,
where he was later stabbed and bled to death?
-That man. -Thank you.
That hand,the hand you see thrusting six times into the judge's body,
just out of sight,
is the hand of the defendant.
And in his hand is this knife.
The jury finds the defendant,john cooke, junior,
on the charge of murder...
guilty.
Members of the jury,
thank you for your service thus far.
Let me remind you that this is a capital trial.
As such, the sentencing hearing remains,
but for now you are dismissed.
You should know we will present a full-court press
on my client's cognitive issues at sentencing.
I thought your client didn't want to raise mr as a mitigating factor.
His father finally convinced him.
We're going to raise it.
As loudly as we can.
You're putting him on the stand?
Well, if you won't do the right thing,
I think the jury, once they see and hear him, will.
Richter's going to have a field day with this.
She'll make us look bloodthirsty.
It's your job to counter that.
There's only so much I can do.
He's going to be really sympathetic on the stand.
He stabbed a man to death. How sympathetic is that?
I think your closeness to the victim and his family
is impairing your judgment.
You let his son get way too involved
and influence our handling of the case from the beginning.
I'm asking you to reconsider for the sake of the office.
I can't do that.
I made billy a promise that I would get justice for his father.
This feels like vengeance,not justice.
-You know, I made him another promise, too. -What?
That if I didn't feel you were fully invested in seeking
the death penalty for john cooke, junior,
I'd remove you from the case.
Then I think you should.
I can't in good conscience argue for this.
You're off the case.
I'll handle the sentencing phase.
***********
She'll want you to examine in minute detail every hardship,
every injury the defendant has suffered in his life.
And as you listen to this,
I want you to remember judge sheffield's final moments...
how he suffered.
Remember how his cries for mercy were met with
one, two, three, four, five, six savage blows from a knife.
Remember that after he was killed...
...his body was dumped in the streets like a bag of trash.
This defendant does not deserve your pity or your mercy.
He never showed either to judge sheffield.
you face the most awesome task society can impose on you:
To decide whether a human being, just like you, lives or dies.
But you will learn that john cooke, junior
is not just like you or me.
You will learn that john cooke,junior has struggled
his entire life to mask a secret.
A secret so shameful to him that it put him in a position
where he would do anything to cover it.
John cooke, junior
lacks the mental capacity to make good judgments.
I couldn't tell you that at trial, but now I can.
And if you are persuaded by what you hear,
then according to law,you must vote to spare his life.
I feel... destroyed.
My mother and i will mourn my father for the rest of our lives.
We aren't the victims at this trial.
My father,judge robert sheffield, is.
He was a valuable member of society...
who dedicated his life to the ideals of justice,
murdered for a few hundred dollars by two petty criminals.
I ask that you impose on the man who stabbed my 68-year-old father to death
the full punishment that the law allows.
He scored a 69 on the iq test I administered.
I found several significant deficits in his adapted behavior as well.
In my professional opinion,
john cooke, junior has mental retardation.
And how does this manifest itself in daily life?
He is able to hold down only menial jobs.
He's incapable of making change,for instance,
balancing a checkbook or using a credit card.
My goodness.
How would he manage in a modern world as an independent adult?
He doesn'T. He hasn'T.
In fact, he's never lived on his own,only with his parents.
He is not a fully autonomous human being.
Thank you, doctor.
Doc, does your diagnosis of the defendant in any way indicate
that he did not know what he was doing
when he stabbed judge robert sheffield to death?
He has mr, not mental illness.
He is not insane or delusional.
So he did know that it was wrong to murder judge sheffield?
Yes.
-So he knows right from wrong? -Yes.
Thank you.
I was johnny's sixth grade teacher.
And how is it possible he went through the entire public school system
and even graduated high school
without any of his teachers suspecting he needed special ed?
It was apparent to me.
This was a boy who could not even tie his own shoes
when he came into my classroom.
Why wasn't he tested?
You have to get the parents' consent.
John's parents didn't want him tested?
I asked them repeatedly.They refused.
They insisted "our boy is normal,"
and really didn't want to hear anything to the contrary.
And you couldn't do it without their consent?
Only if the child is violent, a danger to himself or others.
Which was not the case?
Johnny was a sweetheart.
Ma'am...
how old was john cooke, junior when you had him in your classroom?
Uh, 11 to 12 years old.
Then obviously you weren't around some 12 years later
when he murdered judge sheffield, were you?
Of course not.
So then you didn't see this sweetheart repeatedly shove a knife
into another human being's chest, did you?
-Objection! -Withdrawn.
One more thing.
Could he tie his shoes by the time he left your classroom?
He did make progress, yes.
Nothing further.
You work at your dad's dry cleaner?
Yes, ma'am... full-time.
Do you work the cash register?
-Not usually. -Why not?
Somebody comes in,picks up six shirts,
two bucks each,gives you a 20,what is their change?
Um...
sorry?
Six shirts, $2 each;that's $12.
Gives you a $20 bill; what is their change?
I don'T... um...usually make change.
Do you know the change?
If I gave you a pencil, or what if you had a calculator?
As I said, I-I... I don'T...
usually do that.
-You don't ever, do you? -No.
Mr. Cooke, I'm going to read you a list of things
that you are capable of doing on a daily basis,
-and you let me know if i get anything wrong, okay? -Okay.
Shop for food, drive a car, wash your clothes,follow instructions at work...
-how am I doing so far? -I can do all that.
Find your way around town on your own?
-Deposit your paycheck? -Sure, no problem.
I-I can even fill out the bank slip for the teller.
A simple "yes" or "no" will be fine, mr. Cooke.
I don't like the machine, but I can do it with the teller.
I see.
Richter plays the pity card.
You take him to a place where he's eager to show how smart he is.
-That's brilliant. -Thanks.
I can't tell you how grateful I am you took this on.
It's like I was doing it myself.
Don't tell me you're worried?
The jury liked him, billy. Hell, I liked him.
Yeah, he threw lots of doubt.
Now they'll debate if he was capable,
and they'll have to go back to the evidence.
-The evidence is strong. -Incredibly.
These guys may wonder who this kid in court is,
but once they get back to that tape,
that's him in the backseat, torturing and killing my dad.
That's who he is. That's john cooke, junior.
The judge would be proud of you.
-what are we looking for? -Look at simmons.
Adjusting the mirror,playing with the seat,
like he just got behind the wheel.
You think he switched seats?
If john cooke, junior was driving when they pulled up to the atm,
he would have froze in front of the machine.
But we didn't see that on the tape.
If he couldn't work the atm, he wouldn't have activated the camera.
What about our prostitute who said
she saw him get in the back with the judge?
She said she saw john cooke, junior push the judge into the car.
She admitted she might have been distracted.
She looked away for a moment
-and simmons got in the backseat... -and cooke got in the driver's seat.
She looks up again.Car's driving away.
She assumes,like the rest of us, that cooke is in the backseat.
If it was simmons...
he's the one who tortured the judge.
I need to tell you me the truth now, john.
Who drove up to the atm that night?
Was it you or matty?
Matty got the money out of the machine.
That's not what I'm asking you.
Did you drive the car that night?
I was in the backseat with the judge.
Tie a knot for me, john.
Show me how you tied the judge's hands behind his back, john.
-You can't even tie a knot, can you? -Yes, I can.
Show me.
Is that the only knot you know?
That's the one I use.
You didn't tie the judge up with this knot, did you?
Simmons said that he got in the backseat with the judge and tied him up.
Our witness said she saw the judge's hands tied behind his back on the street.
Matty made me promise not to tell.
-And you always do what matty says, right? -Right.
So you were driving that night.
And when you got to the atm machine,
you didn't know what to do.
No.
So you switched places.
Matty kept yelling out the numbers and the old man was moaning
and I couldn't get the card in right and matty was getting mad.
Why didn't you say anything,son?
Because it was me that killed him, dad.
Matty's my friend.He shouldn't get in trouble.
After you switched places, matty gave you the knife, didn't he?
He told me he was hurt,and he was moaning.
And it was making me upset and...
he said that he wanted to die.
And matty said that if I killed him...
at least he'd be quiet.
Both of them accosted my father and kidnapped him,
but he killed him.
Because someone told him to?
Well, what kind of defense is that?!
John cooke, junior did kill your father,
and he did participate in his kidnapping, no question.
Thank you.
But he didn't torture him, billy,
and he acted under the substantial domination of another human being,
and that's a mitigating factor.
For the jury to decide!
I can't, in good conscience,leave that to a jury.
You're dropping the death penalty?
Jimmy...
jimmy, when you promised me justice, you promised dad justice.
This is not justice!
Billy, these two men are going to spend the rest of their lives in prison.
I know that's not what you wanted,
but it's the best we can do under the circumstances.
Is it?Is it really?
-I should have come clean with billy. -About what?
The judge wasn't just in town for a meeting.
He came in to talk to me.
He wanted me to run for attorney general.
You didn't cause his death.
I know. It's irrational.
You took a really awful situation and you got the best possible outcome.
You did the right thing.
Yeah? Then why don't i feel any better?
Whoever said doing the right thing makes you feel better?
And for whatever it's worth,
I think you'd make a pretty outstanding ag.
Yeah, well...
even if you are a carpetbagger.
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close.to.home Season 2 Episode 17
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