|
American Hangman (2018)
1
(HEAVY BREATHING) (GRUNTING) (HEAVY BREATHING) (GRUNTING) (GRUNTING) (PANTING) (DOOR CREAKING) (HEAVY BREATHING) (PANICKED BREATHING) Where do you think you are? I don't know. You? Where do you think you are? (PANICKED BREATHING) Where do you think you are? I'm gonna fuckin' kill you, that's where I think I am! (GRUNTING) (COUGHING) Hey freak. Freak! (DOOR SLAMS) (CHAINS RATTLING) No, no, no-no-no-no. You think that's it? No, I wouldn't. Wouldn't what? I wouldn't think that that's it. Poured concrete foundation. My guess is we're in a basement. Do you have any idea how long you were in the van? Nineteen, twenty minutes. So... fourteen, fifteen miles? Do you drive for a living? I might. Well, how do I know you're not part of this? You know like how they put cops in with the prisoners in the movies? Fuck! That's what this is! What? The movie, the two guys tied up in the room and the hacksaw, that's what this is! Tied up how? You never seen it? No. Well you're lucky 'cause it's a stupid fucking movie. Chained, right, they were chained up. And then the one guy figured it out and that's when it got so sick. I told Grace it was a stupid movie... Who is Grace? My ex-wife. Uh... Wife. I told her nobody would do that... Do what? Cut off their own foot with a hacksaw. Are you certain about the fourteen miles? 'Cause this could be some crazy fucked up shit just like that. Were you counting time or do you just have a natural sense of distance? You just know. Why? I know that he picked me up first. Of that I'm certain. Um... And then we drove about half your distance, which is seven miles. Then we waited for a considerable period of time. Finally he loaded what had to be you into the van, and we drove to here. So that's fourteen and seven is twenty-one... You wanna do math when he could be coming through with a fucking hacksaw?! (DOOR RATTLING) Hey. Hey buds. Hey buddy. I didn't mean what I said before about killing you. That was nuts. That wasn't me. So we're square, right? You have to accept a guy's apology, 'cause if a guy apologizes that's good right? 'Cause I didn't mean nothin', right? (GRUNTS) What the fuck? What the fuck you doing? Please no! No! Come on. What the fuck you gonna do?! (TAZER/SCREAMS) What the fuck? (PAINFUL GROAN) What the... buddy... What are you doing? What the fuck you doing, man? Huh? (GRUNTS) (COUGHING) Okay. Okay. (GRUNTING) (TAZER/SCREAMING) (GROANING) You seeing this? Tell us your intentions, please. Hey, how come you do that for him? And how come I got the choker on? How come he doesn't? What does that mean? And how come he wasn't gagged or nothin'? You crazy fuck! What are you doing? OLIVER: Are you putting on a show of some kind? With us? You need to tell us what you're doing or I swear to God I will fucking kill you. You hear me? We're going to go live. In six, five, four, three two, one... (MESSAGE ALERT) (MESSAGE ALERT) (MESSAGE ALERT) (TYPING) (MESSAGE ALERT) (DEEP SIGH) OLIVER: Are they all on at once? Or do they take turns? HERO: Turns. They're motion and voice activated. But you'll never know which one is on in any given minute. So just direct yourself to the pilot cam. That way you won't confuse everybody watching. Understood? Everyone? Who is everyone? HERO: Tell them about yourself. OLIVER: Who exactly? HERO: They'll need to know as much about you as possible. Can only help you in the end. It'll make you seem more real. I'm not saying fuckin' nothin' to fuckin' nobody. Except get me the fuck outta here. You wanna know how real I am? Go fuck yourself! That's how real I am. (DOOR RATTLING) You think that was wrong to say that? What do you think he's doing? I think we will soon find out. (TYPING) (SNIFFLING) (DOOR RATTLING) No, no, no. No. Please, no. (TAZER/SCREAMING) (GROANING) OLIVER: What do you want me to say? HERO: Who you are. What you do. To make you real. I'm retired. I was a professional. To them, not me. I am retired. I was-I've had a profession. The legal profession. I live on the outskirts of the city. I was in my driveway when I was taken. I have been taken. I don't know what I can or cannot say if I do not know the purpose of my being here. You can discourse on whatever you want. I was physically taken. Unloading groceries from the back of my car. My wife and I have lived in that house for over thirty years. So she or one of the neighbours will see the groceries in the driveway. I don't know whether you left a ransom note or not. But obviously someone will call the police... Stop it. This only works if you tell the whole truth. What am I saying that is not true? You. Fuck you. No, no, no. Please, no. I didn't mean that. That wasn't me. That wasn't me. Uh, I do home repairs. Specialize in roofing. To the camera. Tell them your name. My name is Ron. I have two children who are expecting me home tonight for dinner. And all I was doing was going through the fucking drive-through, for Christ sake. That's a lie. What? You mean the parking lot thing? Okay, I was going to the drive-through and then I pulled over at the edge of the parking lot to check my tires like I do. And then I get out and then I get cracked on the head, and then I'm in a sack and we were pulling away and what the fuck is this about?! (TYPING) Hold it up. Hold it up. No, no, no, no, no, no, no! I know what this is. This is Turkish prisoner shit. And like I said I have two little kids so please no Turkish prisoner shit. You. Read me what's on the front page. There was an oil spill off the coast of Florida. You. What? The paper. I don't got that. The oil leak thing. I can't find that. You. Monclure... The Wall Street firm has been accused of false reporting to the SEC. I don't got that. Is it bad that I don't got that? What do you have? Uhh... The girl from the talent show is getting married. You. The murderer of the Jeeter girl was executed this morning... I got that! I got that! He kidnapped and killed the girl. I got that. HERO: You. 10,000 vehicles were recalled for faulty brake lines. I don't got that. Fuck. HERO: All right. All right what? HERO: Do we all get it now? RON: I don't get it, I don't get nothin'. You have to figure out why each of you is here and what the connection between you is. You have five minutes. You can't be serious. To prove I'm serious... What the fuck you doing with those. Keep those fucking things away from me. I'll shove those fucking things right down your throat. No-no. You're gonna need that. What are you doing?! No please! Mother of God! (SCREAMING) (GROANING) Five minutes. (TIMER TICKING) (DOOR RATTLING) The towel is for the blood. It's not working. It's not going back. The towel is for the blood. The towel is for the blood. This way it'll bind if I just hold it like this and give it enough time... Ron, stop. Stop. Listen to me. What? We have to try to be very calm. I have never seen anything work out well that was done in haste. What just happened was monstrous. But it has told us a great deal about the situation we find ourselves in. What he did was not an impulsive act on his part. The garden shears. The towel. They were planned. He intended to do that from the start. And he intended to do it to you. Not to me. I counted ten cameras. He said they were live. That they're transmitting images of us right now. When he instructed us to look at the pilot camera it seemed to me as if he were anticipating that a great number of people would be watching us. They might very well be watching us right now. (TYPING) (TIMER TICKING) The clock. I'm aware of the clock. He said five minutes to figure out the connection. What the hell is he gonna do when the five minutes are up? You don't get it. You don't get it because you didn't see the fuckin' movie. I'll go first. I'll tell the exact truth to you and to everyone who is watching. And I presume that includes our captor. He was correct. I did not tell the whole story earlier. My wife is not at home. She and my daughter went away on holiday this morning. I drove them to the airport. And then I went to the grocery store. I was in my driveway unloading groceries from the back of my car when a white van drove up. The driver. The man who is our captor got out and started walking towards me. I thought he was lost so I put down the groceries I had in my hand so that I could speak with him. And then he put a bag over my head and knocked the glasses off my nose. I could see them on the pavement. There were oranges rolling around and then down the driveway. I couldn't move. He had me completely restrained. And then he manhandled me into the van. When we started downhill I started counting. Now you. Ron this will not work... We have to get the fuck out of here. You were in a drive-through restaurant, or you were going to a drive-through restaurant? I have two little girls that I need to see right now. But you stopped and got out to what? To check your tires? Right now! Is this part of your daily routine? All just 'cause I missed breakfast. I wasn't even supposed to be there. What do you mean? I go to Zoop's Chicken Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Thursday, Friday I go to Steak and Shake. One or one-thirty at the latest. Everybody knows that. But this is Saturday. Yeah, I had to meet a guy out on Old Sheltham Road to talk about some damage that the storm did to his place. Is the guy at the Old Sheltham Road the only one who knows that you were going there? He cut off my finger. Did you stop and get gas first? The finger that I was born with. The finger I had from my whole life. That my mother gave me. Was the drive-through one of those restaurants you can see from the highway? And we're talking about fucking hamburgers?! You need to focus... (TIMER ALARM) (DOOR RATTLING) HERO: What did you figure out? We figured out that you're a fuckin' homo. OLIVER: Ron! The answer is obvious. Other than the fact that in the two newspapers you gave us we had one article in common. There is no connection whatsoever between the two of us. Clearly there's a purpose behind my presence. Everything about my abduction was planned. It required prior knowledge. On the other hand, Ron's abductions appears to be completely at random. No one, not even Ron would've known where he was going to be then. So I believe that he was picked up simply because he was visible from the highway. Yeah, so what the fuck am I doing here? To prove the depths he's willing to go to in dealing with me. HERO: We've got a problem in our society. Nothing that we say has any value anymore. No credibility. I say I'm gonna pay my bills it doesn't matter. The lender needs a credit check to prove that I have. To prove that I will... I'll give you $22,500 to let me go. Nobody believes anything we say anymore without proof of intention. So if I say that I'm gonna kill a man I need to prove that I have killed a man. Proof of intention. You need to stop now. I really can't do that. OLIVER: I will take you at your word. That should be good enough. With that assurance, any other proof of your sincerity is not necessary. That's true. Except it's not you I have to convince. It's them. (INDISTINCT CHATTER) (PHONES RINGING) I heard they gave you the shift today. I thought it was a joke. On me. Or probably because everyone is still too drunk from the party. How much damage could a retiring desk jockey do on a Saturday, anyway? Lt. Roy! You got an incoming! They're not wasting any time. Well the plan is the whole building be empty by Friday. The new HQ is already fully operational. They asked for the duty officer? Nope. You. By name. Darnley? Didn't we have an agreement last year? No more hacking city computer systems. Parking... Yeah. This is different. What have you done now? I'm sending you a link. Go there. Now. One of my chat groups sent me this. You ever hear of a place called Zoop's Chicken? It's up highway nine. That means whatever this is it might be local. You got it? You seeing this? What am I looking at? This is live and I'm pretty sure it's real. You don't want to do this. It is unnecessary. It's not a question of want. It's a question of need. We need to give gravitas to the procedure to come. OLIVER: What procedure? (PHONE VIBRATES) (PHONE VIBRATES) Shit! Hey, it's that creepy guy. Slosson's not gonna give me the interview. He's going to CBS. A Congressman from Ass Grease, West Virginia, and he's lied to me. The world is nothin' but creepy guys, Kaitlyn. Which one? At 53 Division. His name is Eddie. And yes he's very creepy, but creepy's how we get things done. He's devoted to me. Okay, well he just said if you don't want it, he's gonna give it to Channel 6 in four minutes. Cocksucker! Thank you. (MESSAGE ALERT) You know this is too much. HERO: How do you figure? If we're really being honest with each other, and pretty soon we're gonna have to be very honest with each other. We both know that this is absolutely necessary. This will keep it real. This will keep their attention. You don't think cutting off his finger was real enough? Live? Well, it looks live. We can't really tell. You're not in charge. Not in this room. What do you mean? This room? I'm sorry. (WHIMPERING) What is this about? Really? Justice. (WHIMPERING) (GUN SHOT) (GASPS) Holy shit. Sweet Jesus! Do I have your attention now? (PANICKED CHATTER) That was live. No, we can't verify that. It looked live! Yes, everything looks live. (GRUNTING) We need anyone we can get from tech support down here now. Yes I'll hold. Sir, shouldn't we get Lt. Lucas, sir? Someone... With more field experience? Certainly should. I don't think we're gonna have enough time. Well... Now that that's done, what should happen now? I don't understand. What should happen to me? What does the State say should be done? I don't think I'm qualified to say what should be done or what shouldn't be done. Of course you're qualified. I beg your pardon? You already said that you were in the legal profession. At the very least, someone in the legal profession would know the laws of their own state. I see what you're saying. Uh... Well then you should be arrested, incarcerated, indicted, and tried. And? If you were to be found guilty... If? If I was to be found guilty? You were right here. You saw the whole thing. All these cameras were here to secure witness. If the jury were to find you guilty and recommend the maximum sentence... Well, in this state you would be condemned to pay the ultimate price... And what would that be? You would pay with your life. You would be put to death. Like the guy in the paper. Yes if you were convicted of a capital crime, but you may not be. No two cases are the same. But the punishment is the same regardless of the case, because an innocent person was killed. Cut and dry. Seems to me that's the idea. I don't quite understand what you're getting at. I picked a man up, I brought him here, I tied him up, and I killed him. As far as we know he was an innocent man who never did anything to anybody. So there's no two ways about it. We're talking about the death penalty. Right here. Both papers. Big story. The Jeeter case? The Jeeter case. Read it. Out loud to everyone. The whole thing. (PAPER RUSTLING) "Paul William Gager, the man who abducted and murdered 14 year old Claudine Jeeter six years ago, was put to death this morning at 12:01. Death was administered by lethal injection at the Six Rivers Correctional Facility in Triborough. It was the swiftest enforcement of the death penalty in the state's history." Well, I suspect there's significantly more to the story than that. Um..."A last minute appeal by Gager's lawyers was unsuccessful. Gager was convicted of Jeeter's abduction and murder after a two-year manhunt. Jeeter went missing from her house on February the 10th, six years ago." I'm not bored. "It was discovered later that Claudine had been held in a home-made facility for keeping rabbits on Gager's property, three miles from the Jeeter house. The search for Claudine Jeeter was exhaustive and emotional... I know him. ...and gained a great deal of public attention as local and state police... We all know him, don't we? ...followed lead after lead..." "...Until finally they were able to apprehend Gager and link him to the girl's death." Um... That's all there is. There isn't anymore. Maybe not in the paper, but in fact there's a lot more. But I wanna make sure I've got this right, so if the court was right in that sentence, and the state was right in exacting the ultimate punishment, then it follows... as I have clearly stated... that I should be executed for killing our dear friend Ron resting outside. No, you cannot say that for sure. I picked a man up off the street, I abducted him, I took him out of his life. But there are other issues. The mental state of the accused, the IQ... I brought him here, I tied him up, and I tortured him, and I killed him for my own reasons. What's not for sure about that? You'll need a trial to determine that. Why? Because without a trial there can be no justice. Well that's an area you would know quite a lot about, wouldn't you? ...Your Honour. (TYPING) Judge Oliver Straight. The man who tried the Jeeter case. HERO: A man is guilty for taking the life of another man. If convicted, that guilty man must be put to death. These are the rules we've established, yes? Don't say yes. In this state, yes. That "yes" means that we can be a little bit more focused, doesn't it? I have Carl on the phone for you. Tell Carl we need to control the cutting ourselves. Yeah, well he's not so crazy about going live at all. That's true to form. Which is why we're number four. Carl. I put it to you, Judge, that if that is the case, things don't look too good for you. Because surely as I shot poor innocent Ron, you're also guilty of taking an innocent man's life. What man would that be? You just read the article. The Jeeter case. Paul William Gager. I can prove that you willingly and knowingly put him, an innocent man to death. And I'm ready to try that case right here. Right now in front of this particular judge. And in front of this particular jury. I don't understand. Yes you do. They're right here. They're everywhere. And I assure you, Judge, these wheels of justice will turn very quickly. Now Carl! Now! Because they will beat us, that's why! We are not supposed to be beaten! For those joining us late... ...I'm going to conduct a trial for the life of the Judge. And whatever you decide, I will abide by, but let's be perfectly clear. We're going by the rules of the state. The Judge's rules. That means on a verdict of guilty he will be put to death. Right here. Court is in session. (INDISTINCT CHATTER) Isolate and find! Let's get on to what we know about Straight, not what we think we know. (NEWS BULLETIN MUSIC) Good afternoon. Harper Grant with a special USCN report. Here's what we know. God help us. The judge who tried the Claudine Jeeter abduction and murder trial, has himself apparently been abducted and is now being held at an undisclosed location. The abduction, however, is being broadcast live across social media. To help fill in pieces of the puzzle here is USCN's own Jean Treblis. Jean? Well Harper, It's kind of early to say, but it looks like that what's happening is... ...Some of the concerns about how Justice Oliver Straight tried the Jeeter case are coming home to roost? JEAN: You can look at it that way. Did you ever hear anyone question how Judge Straight handled the case? They will now. At the least we know that a member of the public has decided to question the trial. HARPER: And perhaps even that verdict is in question. Now Darnley made references to credit checks and overdue bills. There could be something there. Where are they pulling this stuff from? Who's this? It's the IT team. You're kidding. They're all in the new building. What can you tell me? We can't trace a stream to a social media interface. Why not? Isn't he using their server or whatever it is? Think of it as telephone that's been redirected fifteen times. So he's smart in that way? Pretty much. Can't they take him off? They could of course shut the whole thing down, but then there's nothing to say he couldn't just show up on any other platform. Yeah, it's a bad idea anyway. And we would lose our only means of knowing what he's up to. (PHONE RINGING) Can we limit the reach or whatever you call it. Possibly. Will he know if we do that? Almost certainly. How can you be so sure? He broke into one of the world's most controlled websites, bootlegged a live signal without a trace and scrambled it a half dozen times... my guess is he's smart enough to track what's happening on his own site. Okay. Thank you. Okay, so the Judge lives in Aspian County. 20 miles outside city centre. We have two cruisers there now. They found an open Volvo wagon and a whole mess of groceries spilled out onto the driveway. But we don't know when it happened. So we're running a check on all surveillance cameras and any of the... Check the cash register tape. What? In one of the bags on the driveway. It'll tell us the store and the time of purchase. If no tape, check the bags or the price stickers to figure out which store, go to the nearest one, and get the time of purchase from the manager. The receipt will give us where the Judge is. If the Judge bought his groceries at 10 a.m. and this thing went live at... 1:11. 1:11, and a man can only drive sixty five miles an hour without attracting attention, then the room they're in is no more than a hundred mile radius from the Judge's house. Now if we allow for fixing up the room and picking up the other abductee, it's probably even closer. What have you got on the other one? We went back to the start of the transmission and we figured out it's a local. Ron Price. He owns and operates Priced to Pleaze... that's spelt with a "Z". Now he has an ex-wife who's still his dispatcher. She said his first job this morning was out near Sheltenham. So if our man picked up Mr. Price after the judge, that means our location is very local. Well it's patently clear that you have thought this through thoroughly, and intelligently... Don't condescend to me. ...But you have made some fundamental errors when it comes to judicial process. You say you're going to conduct a trial. You can't. A trial, a trial... "Is the examination of evidence and applicable law by a competent tribunal to determine the specific issues of charges and claims." All right. All right. All right. Let's look at "applicable law in a competent tribunal..." But we don't have to. Because we already know what law we're talking about. Premeditated murder. And as far as a competent tribunal goes, well, I'm just picking my jury from the same pot you chose yours from. All that informs a trial are rules. We'll have those. And we'll have temperance. That makes this a trial. But we'll have something your courtroom doesn't have, or doesn't have very often. Which is? Justice. I will be the prosecutor and you will be defending yourself. Out there will be the judge and jury. The Judge speaks in a trial. This Judge will speak. TERRY: Holy Shit. From the moment Claudine Jeeter was taken she was front page news. A fourteen year old girl, straight A student, with a little pet terrier named Brownie... plucked out of her world on her way home from school. Everyone was gripped. The public, the police, the Judge to be. Everyone. We all saw the Grandmother Mrs. Solsza on our TV's practically every night, as well as the cousin, the family spokesman, Bertinad Solsza. They became fixtures in our living room, part of our news, reality. As a result, the prosecution will argue that the verdict in the Jeeter case was manufactured instead of arrived at in the courtroom. Not out of malice, but out of genuinely honest outrage and desire. A desire to see someone pay for the killing of young Claudine. But the prosecution will prove that as a result of this desire there was a race to the gallows. A race run on the fuel of police incompetence and judicial corner-cutting, civil servants recreant to their duty so an innocent man was put to death. Whether the state thought Paul William Gager was guilty or not is not the point. Does it matter if I thought Ron the roofer was guilty of some crime only later to discover that he wasn't? Of course not. All that matters is I killed him and I had no right to kill him. The state killed Paul William Gager and they had no right to kill him. The prosecution will prove this beyond the shadow of a doubt by pointing out that his arrest and trial was systematic of a justice system that is ignorant, corrupt, and bloodthirsty. This is not how it's done. Are you speaking as the defense? No. Well you can only speak if you're speaking as the defense. I can only speak as myself, I can't speak as the defense. Then you don't have a voice, unless it's as the defense addressing the court. Because, as I have already said, this is not a court. Believe me when I say you can make a great study of a dictionary and brilliantly mimic the way lawyers speak, but that does not mean you understand the law. You're saying I don't understand the law? I am saying you do not understand the law. Exhibit A for the prosecution! The Judge's error. Assumptions without reference. Judgements without support. The modus operandi of the man in the black robe to make snap judgements. This is not my kind of law. Yes this is your kind of law. And this is not my kind of courtroom. Yes, this is your kind of courtroom. The Jeeter case was a capital case. There is a judge, yes. But the verdict is reached at by the jury, and they recommend the sentence. The role of the magistrate is considerably limited. I expect you know that. But there is something else going on here that concerns me. Ah. No doubt you'll let us all know. I don't believe you have the right to try this case. Not under any circumstances. Is anybody here a lawyer? A criminal lawyer? I am. What's he saying? I believe there's a clear issue of conflict of interest, and that being the case, we cannot even begin to proceed until I ascertain whether I'm right or not, by questioning you. Except it doesn't work that way. I'm afraid it does. If I have any indication of conflict of interest I can object. And I object. I object to your objection. What happens now? So let's overrule it. (CROWD CHATTERS IN AGREEMENT) BARBARA: Jesus Christ! NEWS ANCHOR: A surprising turn of events, Harper. But as the numbers tell you, right now, people are clearly voting to support the judges objection and overrule the man who is now holding him hostage. What does it say? Well, my objection has been overruled. All right then. It appears that the voice of the people... HERO: By a vote of 47,239 to 19,640. Nearly 70,000 people taking part already. NEWS ANCHOR: More than ten percent of the people watching are actually taking part and voting. That seems a massive number to me. And I suspect that percentage is only going to grow. Holy shit. Stokely! Take a seat. What was his name? The detective who oversaw the Jeeter case. Steptoe. Do you know him? For a while, I was a junior in his unit. Not on the Jeeter case. Call him. Why? What if this guy actually has a point? About the judge? I believe the obvious question now is are you going to abide by the order from the bench? So you accept this as a courtroom now? I mean if you're saying words like "abide" and "bench"... No, this is not a courtroom. But if you abide by the ruling that says something about how you're going to address, how you're going to treat your own rulings. And that might make it a courtroom. You said there were 70,000 people right now? And more every second? Well, it would seem to me that whatever you're trying to prove would be in jeopardy if you do not follow your own rules. Go ahead. I beg your pardon? I objected. My objection was overruled. So go ahead. You said conflict of interest. What-What conflict of interest? Well, you made a speech to that camera, and you did it eloquently, very well. The girl came from an ethnic community. Some of their names were extremely difficult to pronounce. But you said them with ease. There's also the issue of the dog's name. Every news piece mentioned the dog. And the name? And the dog's name. But not the breed. I know that. Because that was one of the hold-backs the police for suspect identification. Certainly it seems that you know the Jeeter family well. You do, don't you? Who are you? I was her uncle. (INDISTINCT CHATTER) NEWS ANCHOR: This is a USCN breaking news report. HARPER: A special USCN update: The man is her uncle. That is the story according to the person holding Judge Oliver Straight hostage at an undisclosed location, in attempts to conduct what appears to be a mock trial by social media. Here to help us sort through the details is USCN analyst Josh Harkridge. Josh? What we now know is the man holding Judge Straight hostage appears to have a very specific axe to grind. And that may explain why he's taken this course of action in the first place. HARPER: Would this be some kind of a grudge? Well, that's exactly the problem, Harper. We don't know. What we do know is: this morning saw the execution of Paul William Gager. Claudine's killer. Now, if there is an axe to grind about a trial being misconducted... It's possible that the family had harboured doubts about the Gager verdict all along. I don't think we can say that. Now Josh, tell me, doesn't this bring us right back to the question surrounding Judge Straight's handling of the case? JOSH: It could. You do not have the right to try this case. Any reasonable judge would tell you... No, we don't have to speculate on what a reasonable judge would say, because we have a judge. And I don't think the judge will say that my relationship to Claudine excludes me from trying this case, because the case at hand is not about Claudine's abduction. It's about you putting an innocent man to death. That's the case at trial here. So, I say we put it to a judge's ruling. That wouldn't stand up anywhere. TERRY: It will here. It's not enough to just surround the house. Someone has to talk to the family. That's why I said the cousin. Then let me talk to them. His name is what? Bertinad, right? Then what is the problem... Lt. Elroy? Hi, Leonard Steptoe. I was in charge of the Jeeter investigation. It looks like you've got yourself in some situation, huh? I'm in the middle of a nightmare, detective. I'm here to help you any way I can. All right, now to start, there's information about the Jeeter family that you need to know. Come on, you gotta be there. Oh shit. STEPTOE: The uncle? He's dead. Say again? His car slipped into the Tremont Viaduct, so whatever this freak says he wants, it's not 'cause he's Claudine Jeeter's uncle. HARPER: And it looks like, once again the objection is overruled. Your objection has been overruled. I would like to know the judge's reasoning. Do you always give a reason when you're on the bench? You've already accepted one of the judge's rulings, so that means you accept the authority of this court. (DEEP SIGH) Let's be perfectly clear. The people who investigated and tried the Jeeter case needed and wanted a crazed, lone psychopath. And they needed one for a very simple reason. See, the killing of a young person is the worst crime that we can imagine. In order to reconcile this horror in our minds we need, we must have, and we must kill a crazed lone psychopath. Anybody who doesn't feel that longing is inhuman. And it's written all over this case. The lawyers, the police. And most of all the justice system. Every decision they made was based on their humanity. And because of the way that this shitty system is set up they were allowed to take the results of those flawed human conclusions and couple that with a power that really doesn't belong to them. The power to give and take life. You have something to add? Is that really what we're talking about here? The validity of the death penalty? I'm sorry, but for whatever reason, I thought this was going to be about something more original and substantive. Look around you, Judge. Do I strike you as someone who isn't original and substantive? This is about justice. Now I want to question you about the police work on this case. I'm afraid I cannot help you there. I am not a policeman. Well then I want to question you about your interpretation of the police work on the case. Would you say that it was thorough? Up to the standards that we expect from our police? Of course. It would not have come to or withstood trial otherwise. What would those standards be? Isn't it true that most serious crimes in this country go unsolved? By unsolved, you mean... I mean no bullshit myths, no-no dime novels, no phony TV dramas. Isn't it true that what most real police officers investigate in this country, they can't and don't solve? Isn't it true that only 18 percent of all non-violent crimes in this country are solved? 18 percent. Motherfucker. And isn't it also true that more than fifty percent of violent crimes go unsolved. And nearly a third of all murders... That bears no relevance to the Jeeter... Hell, the most devastating murder in the history of this country the assassination of a sitting American President in full view of the entire country is still unsolved. The Zodiac killer, the Lindbergh baby, Jon-Benet Ramsay, the Boston Strangler, the list goes on. Wouldn't it be stating fact to say that as a standard the police are unable to solve most crimes in this country? The Jeeter case was rock solid. There's not a person on this planet that can prove otherwise. Can you tell me what I'm pulling up here? You don't need me to tell you, it's obvious. Answer the question. Well, they're newspaper clippings. Um... articles relating to the Jeeter case. Oh, you're familiar with them? Some of them, yes. From the time of the trial? I presume so, yes. Actually, those were all from before the trial. But-but you say that they're familiar to you. Could you go ahead and tell the jury what's in them? I'm not quite sure I understand your question. That's okay. I'll answer. It's the story. The story of Paul William Gager from the moment that he was arrested. The loner living out in the country. Uncommunicative. He had that odd hobby of metal detection. That thing about building the rabbit hutches out of the roadside construction signs. The knocking out of the interior walls. But most of all, that photo, that high school photo. Is there a single person in this country that didn't find that disturbing? You saw it, right? Yes. Hm, before the trial? Um... yes. Did you find it disturbing? I found it disturbing. Yes. Yes what? Yes I found it disturbing. Well, I put it to you Judge, that you saw that photo and you put it together with all those news stories and all the evidence against him just sorta clicked together. But, I mean we can't forget about the biggest piece of evidence, right? That she was found on his property. We can't forget about that. And that little link to the shed by the side of the house. Boy that made sense. He was her killer. That was the determination of the jury. Hm... working from the facts. Yes. The facts that the police provided to the prosecution. Yes. But not all the facts, right? What are you saying? Well, isn't it true that the jury never heard about his previous criminal history, because you, the judge, deemed it inadmissible? Yes, it's true. I would not admit it. Why? For his protection. Because he had been previously charged with attempted sexual abuse? It would have prejudiced the jury. But it was sexual abuse of a man, Judge. Of a man. A 36 year old man who he tried to pick up at the Sapp Brothers truck stop. (TYPING) Isn't it true that he was also ordered into a psychiatric evaluation? Not by me. But the results of that psychiatric evaluation were also deemed inadmissible by you, right? Well, help me out with something here. Would a homosexual man, who's extremely claustrophobic... so claustrophobic in fact he knocked out all the interior walls of his house choose to keep a fourteen year old girl in a seven foot by five foot shed with no windows? Because he must have spent a lot of time out there with her, right? I mean making all those dolls and the necklaces and the bracelets... So the size of the shed is the issue? The size of the shed is not the issue... No, on the contrary. I think the size of the shed is the issue. No! The size of the shed isn't the issue! The issue is the court supressing medical, psychiatric, and criminal evidence based on their own God damn personal bias. No, that's almost impossible to substantiate. It may be impossible to prove, but it is possible that it happened, right? Maybe, yes, yes, It's possible. If there's anything else he can say or uncover, I'd like to know now. (TYPING) Let me be perfectly clear. I dedicated two years of my life to Claudine Jeeter. I know I did right by her. So I don't have to take questions from anyone. Certainly not you. Why not me? Yeah, you made detective. You traded it all away for a desk. You couldn't handle the bad guys. Now you're trading in your desk for retirement. You don't have any right to question me or anyone else about the leg work we did on the Jeeter case. We got it right. (PHONE RINGS) Yes? DARNLEY: When did the police or the news media release the information about the size of the shed? Who is this? It's Darnley. And what's that stuff about the necklaces and the bracelets? It's not online, okay? And in my world if it's not online it doesn't exist. No one said it before. Well, was there anything else that was possibly suppressed in order to guarantee a conviction in this case? Wouldn't you be better able to answer that than I would? You're not her uncle. I know who you are. You better see this. Well if I am who you think I am, you really can't say it, can you? That's the bind. The judge can't say without incriminating himself. Question, if that guy withheld certain information, who would know? Family. Who else? (TYPING) Us. The victims. And... The perpetrator. The person who actually kidnapped and killed Claudine Jeeter. Were they able to absolutely and without question tie the girl to Gager's backyard shed? STOKELY: You'd have to ask Steptoe. I'm asking you. I heard the links to the shed were circumstantial. But they thought they were good because they had him dead to rights on nearly everything else. Nearly? (INDISTINCT CHATTER) Well, the judge can't talk about it without incriminating himself, but here's how it might of happened as these things go. He may have been close to her. Close enough that he saw her. Not every day but enough. Enough to know how she went about her life. Walking to and from school with her friends, and playing with her dog in the park, and when she was forced to take her brother to the corner store and she hated it, and you could tell. Her arms and legs in the summer. The shade of her skin. She was a pure thing. Slowly he realized he wanted to possess that purity. Hold it. Hold it in his hand like a snowflake. Protect it from being sullied. And then eventually he realized that he would take her. He would take her and he knew it was an awful thing. A horrible thing to do. He wrestled with it. Can you imagine? Wrestling with a thing like that? And then he just took her. In that one simple act. Seconds really. His whole life up until then just shattered. Like a... like a mirror into a million pieces. But then he saw the reaction of the news, and the press, and the police, and he was so relieved because he realized he would be caught. They would catch him. I mean, they had to. He always saw them on television. They were always saying that they were getting the job done. Working day and night. They wouldn't rest until they found the killer. But day after day went by, and day after day he wasn't caught, he wasn't captured. And he came to realize that he was not going to be caught, and the reason for that was this: They didn't know what they were doing. Sure they looked like police, but they weren't. Not really. Day after day, they waved him through their preliminary check points, and day after day he could breathe less and less and less. Now it might have been that the abductor began to test things. The first time that they questioned him he gave them two clues. Now, they weren't easy, but they weren't hard. Nothing came of it. So the next time he made it easier. Obvious even. Didn't matter, they didn't follow up on that either. So finally he mailed in an anonymous confession. He even included some of his own DNA. But the police lost it. Now if you can believe this: They were actually in the yard where she was being kept. They were right there. All they had to do was walk the three extra feet but... gosh they just couldn't bring themselves to do it. They would have found her if they had. And once he realized how lousy it all was, that the conclusion was inevitable. He would have to kill her. He would have to kill the girl. That would be the only way that they could catch him. Once they had the body, once they had the evidence then they would need to catch him. And once they caught him they would put him to death because that's the only thing that should happen to somebody like him. Someone like him that would do a thing like that to somebody like her deserves to die. So he killed her, and once he began to reckon with the real moral realities of the situation, he tipped off the police. The police came and they collected the body, and they collected the evidence, and after that they got everything wrong. They accused Paul William Gager. Paul William Gager, just because she was on his property. And because of the rabbit hutch's made out of construction signs. And of course that God damn photo. And that's what the cable news ran with. That-that photo for four days straight. Every headline. And by the time they were finished with him, the whole country knew that he did it. The trial, that was only a formality. All that was left was for you to preside over the execution. Yes. I am the prosecution's final and most irrefutable proof that you killed an innocent man. I killed Claudine Jeeter. There's not a single thing you can do that can make that not so. (LOUD CHATTER) I understand how you have come to the conclusions that you've come to. But... You have to remember... that the law is administered by people. And people are not perfect. That's not the issue. We both know that that's not the issue. The issue is... what is to be done with me? Well... if there were a trial... Well, I think we can get through a trial pretty quickly. I'm saying that I did it. I mean I've got all the proof to back it up. I'd say I've got rock solid guilt coming and going. There's the question of intent. Let's talk about intent. Was it your intention when you first entered that courtroom on the very first day to see Claudine Jeeter's killer put to death if the jury found him guilty? I believed what they told me. There isn't a single person out there who isn't going to vote to convict. And when that happens I will own the story one way or... Carl... Carl! Shit. I need to talk to you. Harper. Why did you float that crap about people questioning the judge? And all that shit about the verdict? Kaitlyn, listen to me. The story will be forgotten tomorrow. But not who told it. STEPTOE: You don't get the urgency of this? We're watching it on television. I mean, bring that to the commissioner's office... What are you doing? I'm getting authorization to take over this whole thing. All right, technically it's not just a homicide, it's part of the Jeeter case, and... Come on. Look, we both know they are gonna want me to take this over now. Oh yeah. I believe that. You know the new building is finally ready? And I'm not gonna make it in there. 37 years on the force and it will all have been spent in this rat hole. This precinct was famous. Did you know this building is 120 years old? They redid it in 1960, but it was the original HQ for all of Metro. Remember Frank Stoppard? Oh yeah. Every night he'd be on TV talking to the press about, "We're investigating this." And "we're investigating that." 'Cause you know, the 70's were bad. They sure were. Violent. But no matter how ugly it was, you just felt better looking at Frank. He looked... right. A touch of gray. Always wore the right suite. All the other guys were slobs. Then I realized they looked like that because they spent their lives knocking on doors. Been working the phones, and chasing down leads. Frank was just a front man. They all knew it. Including Frank. Today... everyone's a Frank. I didn't take a desk because I couldn't stand the heat. I took a desk because I saw it all coming apart. And I wanted to do something that at least felt like real police work. But this... Terrible as it is... Let's start with one simple question: Were there marks on her wrists and neck? Yes. What did Stapleton say about that? Stapleton didn't do the post mortem. It's all in the reports. We had Baker do the post mortem... Stapleton's got 40 years with homicide. Yes, I know that. An experienced pathologist would have made something of the marks... We wanted to pick up Gager anyway. Our hero here, just told us the two of them made bracelets and necklaces together. If he knows that and it's a match, then he's our guy, and he's close by. That's a very big reach Lieutenant. He told us. "Walking with her friends back and forth from school... The trips to the corner store... In the park with a dog..." He had to see her do all three. You saying we didn't comb the neighbourhood? Because that's the first thing we did. No. I don't think you did. I'm telling you right now. We combed that neighbourhood. No. HARPER: So, this is the original Jeeter stuff? TOM: I dug up everything we had from the first day. I heard the radio... one of the police radios, and they were talking about the girl. So... I hope nothing bad's happened. HARPER: What else do you have? There's a string of older houses among the north block but only four of them could have sight lines to the school, park, or corner store. But none of them see Claudine's house, though. He didn't talk about seeing her house. He talked about seeing her at the park, and at the corner store. Specifically the corner store. There! Go back. Don't get me wrong, there's not a person here that doesn't feel terrible about Claudine. We're all praying for her. But for sure our civil liberties are being stepped on here. Go back. The guy in the grey shirt in the back. But for sure our civil liberties are being stepped on here. What's he saying? (INDISTINCT MUMBLING) It could be anything. Due civil process. "Due civil process." Who else you heard lately talks like that? Can you cap him? Can we upload this? TOM: Why would we do that? To put ourselves where we belong, Tom. In a way, this case has already been tried. The conclusion reached and the punishment locked in stone. My life for Claudine's, my life for Ron's. I'm sure none of you will object to that. But applying the same rules, who will answer for the life of Paul William Gager? Applying the same logic, someone has to, because if they don't. You might as well set me free. That doesn't work. There really is only one person. One person who had access to all the facts. One person who had ultimate control over which facts were given to the jury, and one person who had the authority to say "stop" in the event that justice wasn't being served. Most of all, the person who said, "Paul William Gager I sentence you to death." That person is right here. He denies that responsibility because for the first time, he's being called out on an authority that he's always so naturally assumed. Up until now he's only ever supported the system. That's a system that elected him. The system that couldn't find Claudine Jeeter while she was alive. And the system that couldn't find her killer when she was dead. And the system that sentenced Paul William Gager, an innocent man, to death. With one key stroke you're going to pronounce him guilty. And together we can finally get right what the system has always gotten so wrong. Anything else would be unjust. (LOUD CHATTER) (INDISTINCT CHATTER) JEAN: As you can see from our monitors, a huge number of people are voting to convict Judge Straight. It may not be due process, but it does seem to have gripped viewer imaginations. (PHONE RINGING) Yeah? Is there any way to stop the voting? Clog it or slow it down or stop it? We're getting closer, but I need more time. Maybe, but don't you have guys to do that? Not really. But we both know you can do it. And right now I need someone who doesn't care about the rules. DARNLEY: Let me see what I can do. (RAPID TYPING) (ALARM) (RAPID TYPING) NEWS ANCHOR: Some sort of stutter in the voting process. What'd you just do? DARNLEY: I think I paused the voting. Bought you three, four minutes. Not much more. Okay, and if you could... What's that? TECH: A source at USCN texted it. It's a neighbour they found in old footage. LT. ROY: Our guy said he was interviewed. Cross reference this against our records. TECH: Of course. (TYPING) Got it. Henry David Cole. 43 Glenmount. Six houses down and across the street from the Jeeter house. (TIMER TICKING) I presume this is when you intend that I make the summation for the defense? I have already said this is not a real courtroom. We've not had a trial. No real evidence has been presented. No real allowance has been made for the reputation of hearsay or conjecture. Um... It's important that we all recognize when a jury reaches a verdict, and is delivering it to the court it is doing so as the duly elected representatives of the society, of our state. TERRY: He's losing everyone. That's fundamental. And it's very important that you understand that the um... I should start again. May I start again please? I don't think you have time, Your Honour. But it's crucial for me. For me it's crucial that they understand how a judgement is constituted. It's not my choice, it's not-It's not my choice, it's the law. Metro Police. Search warrant! Go-go-go. Everybody in the house! Down! Clear the room. Coming inside. Watch my back. Clear the kitchen. This is Metro Police! We have a search warrant! The floor is clear. Sir, they need to get to the basement. He's not in the basement. He's in the basement. No. We're being played. Secure the door, move back. Sounds like a portable generator. Somebody's been doing construction. What the hell is that? It's a ventilator or something. It looks like it has been diverted off the property. I got something over here. Easy... Jesus Christ. LT. ROY: Find out where it leads. It's not an emotional process. It's not an emotional process. Um... It's a sequence of rules. Backyard access to the ravine here. To the back. All the way to the back. The idea that one man could control the entire criminal code... Spread out. That went out 500 years ago with the divine right of Kings. There's something back here. There is no divine right of judges. What the fuck is this? He's here. He's here. Cover me. Cover. Be very careful. My God. She was fourteen, not six. (INDISTINCT CHATTER) HARPER: Moments ago, an emergency task force team broke into this house. Less than half a block from the Jeeter home. The police are working from information that they received from USCN. They may in fact be looking for THIS MAN: Henry David Cole. Now with closing arguments... Coming to a climax, the clock is literally running out for Justice Oliver Straight. So Cole has a record. Endangerment. But he got off on a technicality. But get this. He's some sort of IT guy. (TIMER ALARM) You cannot ask the law to be perfect. The most you can ask the law for is a result. Sometimes any result. Any result you can work with. THE PILGRIMS: When they landed at Plymouth Rock, you think that was their intent? No. It was a mistake. But now-a-days we call it their-their plan. Why? Because it makes us feel better. You want fairy tales. Look in the history books. You want the truth? Here it is. It's about getting as close as you can. If Paul Gager wasn't the right man, he was close enough. As such, a trial was held. A verdict was reached. And there was satisfaction. And if you don't like it, well then you convict the woman who wrote those newspaper articles. You convict the neighbours who talked too much. You convict the cop who can't read, let alone read evidence. And you convict the detective who was three feet away from where she was when she was alive. And he didn't go that extra three feet because he was thinking of what? Of getting laid that night? Who knows? Convict them all. But you can't. So you get as close as you can. You have a ceremony. Where torches are lit. You walk a man up the stone stairs, and you put him to death on the stone alter. Maybe it doesn't matter if he's the right man or the wrong man. He's close enough. Because someone had to be sacrificed for the death of that girl. Justice is that she didn't die. Satisfaction is that someone died for her. And if you don't like that. If it reminds you that we are all still primitives, too bad. The best you can get from the law is close enough. As long as we are who we are. We are him. We are you... I'm done. (INDISTINCT CHATTER) (PHONES RINGING) Wait a minute. We've been staring at this thing since this began. I said this place was ancient the day that I got here. They'd already done a big renovation in 1960. Okay, so what does that mean? That means they sealed off a big part of the basement... right... here. What better place to hold a trial for judgement than the police station? We are going to come to a conclusion very soon. (RAPID TYPING) And while USCN has been working to create it's own projections based on our own telephone and online pole, we can tell you that whatever has caused the log jam on the original site. The abductor's site, seems to... I lost the hold. A whole lot of people are about to do a whole lotta voting. Numbers that seem to suggest we're going to come to a verdict very quickly, base on the algorithm of the number of people watching, relative to the number of people taking part. And right now it looks neck and neck for the judge to be acquitted or found guilty. I suppose you're looking for 50 plus one. Anything as quaint as a hung jury would be... would be boring, wouldn't it? HARPER: Josh, we don't know why, but it appears that the police are suddenly racing away from the Cole home for an undisclosed location. We don't know where they're going, but we're definitely going to track where this takes us, and bring you the story live an in full detail as events unfold. JOSH: I have to cut you off and let you and our viewers know that based on numbers coming in, our USCN analysts are now making a solid projection that... Well there's no other way to put it, but... this is terrible news for the judge. Perhaps a major upset. All numbers suggest the judge will be found guilty. Repeat The judge will definitely be found guilty. As soon as we can, we will show you how those numbers broke down. We're both done. It says so on cable news. So it must be true. Go, go, go, go! We're in. Move, move, move! Let's go, let's go. Go, go, go. You can't do this. Yes I can. (DOOR UNLOCKING) (HEAVY BREATHING) Stand up straight. The verdict is in. The people have spoken. (HEAVY BREATHING) Oliver Straight, you have been found guilty by a jury of your peers for taking the life of an innocent man. As such, it is the decision of this court that your own life should be taken for his. (HEAVY BREATHING) Are you a religious man, Your Honour? "And thine eye shall not pity." Did you pity, Judge? No. Louder! No I did not. (HEAVY BREATHING) Where are we going? "And thine eyes shall not pity." Repeat after me. "But life shall go for life." Life shall go for life. (HEAVY BREATHING) Eye for eye. Eye for eye. Tooth for tooth. Tooth for tooth. Hand for hand. Hand for hand. Foot for foot. Foot for foot. Go! Everybody get down! Hold! Gun! (GUN SHOTS) Stop! (GUN SHOTS CONTINUE) I said hold up! Hold up! Hold fire! Holding fire. (INDISTINCT WHISPERING) Oh shit. No gun. Fuck. Jesus Christ. Why'd you have the gun? He gave it to me. Someone get me a bus! He knew. He knew. He knew about you. Knew what? That you were the executioners. Fuck. Fuck. Lieutenant, we clearly apprehended a lethal threat here. We had no choice but to protect ourselves. Weapons check! Good? We're good. There may not be words for what we've just witnessed. There probably aren't. We go now to our reporter on scene who has been a witness to today's events, Harper Grant. Josh, we were only bystanders in all of this. But there was no question that we have witnessed tragedy. Here's what we've been able to figure out... |
|