04x06 - Pride and Joy

[bunniefuu]

(male narrator) In the
criminal justice system...

the people are represented by two
separate yet equally important groups:

the police who
investigate crime...

and the district attorneys
who prosecute the offenders.

These are their stories.

I'm home!

♪♪[radio playing]

Sean, honey.

Maureen.

Frank. Somebody help
me with these groceries.

[metallic clattering]

Sean, turn that music down.

It's not gonna help me
memorize the periodic table.

You always do fine. Stop
worrying. Where's your sister?

Oh, not again!

Where'd your father go?

B-line tenants said
there's no hot water.

He's fixing the boiler, I
think. I think he's in the shop.

I wish they'd buy a new boiler.

Frank?

[water running]

Frank?

Oh, my God.

Frank?

Oh, God. Oh, God, Frank.

Oh, God. Oh, God, Frank.

Oh, God. Oh, God, oh, God.

(Melendez) Hey, it goes
with the job these days.

The Super stops a break-in,
he gets his head bashed in.

[people chattering]

(Briscoe) Looks like he's been
moved. Who touched the body?

When we showed up, the
wife was holding him like a baby.

She won't let go. I
think she was in shock.

McKinnon, Frank, 44. Heard a
noise, came out with a hammer.

Everybody's got to be a hero.

Broke the window trying
to get the security bar.

Every piece of glass, even slivers.
Everything goes into Forensics.

Did anybody get inside?

Doesn't look like it. He was in the
boiler room. When he came out...

they were probably
still working the door.

He should've gone back in.
His tool kit had a knife in it.

At least he'd have a chance.

Should've gone back
in and called 911.

(Sean) Why'd he go out by himself?
I mean, why didn't he call me?

This is Detective Briscoe.

Mr. McKinnon's
son, Sean. Hi, Sean.

You know, if I'd worked on the
boiler like he wanted, I mean...

none of this would have
happened. I could have...

Sean, why don't you take
care of your mom. Okay?

[siren wailing]

ME says one blow
did the job. Crackhead?

Makes you mad, makes you
strong. Tell you one thing...

if we don't get good prints,
goes to the three-day and dies.

(Maureen) Sean!
Excuse me, please. Sean!

Hey, that's my sister. Let
her in. What's going on?

What the hell is this?

Oh, honey. Uncle Ned, why
are you here? What is this?

There was a break-in and
your father tried to stop them.

So, where is he? Is he okay?

Oh, my God! Oh, no!

(Maureen) No. Please!

[shushing]

There's only been two
robberies in, I don't know...

a couple of years.

Okay, so as far as you
know, he was well-liked...

no problems with anybody
in the neighborhood.

I never heard any. I mean, the
building was crazy about him.

Just this morning he
was here fixing the sink.

I mean, most Supers, you
have to open your wallet first.

Frank wouldn't take a dime.

Nancy, it's Frank McKinnon.

Some burglars beat
him up. He's dead.

Oh, my God!

It was around 9:30.
Were you home?

Did you hear any
noise, maybe shouting?

Who listens? The
whole city shouts.

(Nancy) Wait, 9:30...

Yeah, I was coming from the
video store. I did hear an argument.

I thought it was
2A, the Horowitzes.

Him and his
brother-in-law again.

Nancy, darling, they went to
the country on Wednesday.

Oh, you're right. Okay, but
you heard two men yelling, right?

Yeah, but I thought it was
Nat Horowitz. I didn't even look.

No prints on the door,
unusable partials on the hammer.

Similar M. O. In
the neighborhood?

Fire escapes, windows,
but no basements.

Break-in at 9:30.

That's not a pro.

Crackheads or kids.

Gets hit with his
own hammer. Now...

if I was the kind of kid who broke
into buildings, I'd probably be armed.

I got to admit, the same
thing occurred to me.

A g*n, at least a knife.

Hey, you want to look for holes,
I got one as big as my kitchen.

Noisy boiler room,
the guy's hammering...

and he hears glass
break in the hall?

Talk to Forensics. I'll run a
family, see if anything pops.

Suppose this guy broke
into his own building?

Oh, sure. He forgot the key.
Blood on the broken glass.

The ME also sent over
a sample of the victim.

How close? It's perfect.

It's the same blood. What?

Well...

maybe it's one
of our guys did it...

got the victim's blood on his
gloves before he picked up the glass?

[telephone ringing] Maybe.

Medill.

Your Lieutenant calls.

Yeah, Logan.

[mumbles]

For what?

Frank McKinnon's daughter's
got a juvenile record.

Criminal Possession Four. Okay.

She got a counselor?

(Bernice) Maureen
had a big coat.

Went through Macy's,
filled it with gold...

lipsticks, and enough
clothes for an army.

I had an uncle who
had a coat like that. He

used to load up the
pockets with ashtrays.

The boy Maureen hangs
with, ashtrays aren't on his list.

Mitchell Lewis, 16, truant, runaway,
possession three, juvenile as*ault.

Just the kind of kid
I'd like for my daughter.

Not a lovely boy.

Maureen's okay, just takes
her anger out on herself.

Who doesn't?

Says her brother's smart.

One genius in a
family is enough.

And there was a problem at home.

Something about her father.

Is that a problem?

Half the kids in America don't
get along with their parents.

Not like this. Maureen's
run away a couple of times.

She won't tell me. She
might have told Mitchell.

What am I hearing? Daddy was
a little too close to the daughter?

Could make her run
away, look for protection.

Mitchell had a scream-out
with Dad. Dad called the cops.

Myself, I needed help,
I wouldn't pick Mitchell.

No, we'll pick him.
For today, at least.

Where can we find him?

(Maureen) They don't
need me at home.

[sighing]

Your dad was k*lled last night.

I don't have to be home to cry.

She don't need you for nothing.
She needs you, though, Mitch.

Just so she can
get busted again.

(Briscoe) Where were
you last night? With me.

Till I got home.
You taking me in?

'Cause we're going back to the
crib, and you ain't invited. Later.

♪♪[music playing]

[sighing]

I'm sorry, I don't know
what this is about.

We understand that Mitch didn't
get along with your husband.

No, Frank didn't like him.

We never thought he
was right for Maureen.

Look, is all this necessary?

My sister really needs her rest.

We happen to know that
Maureen ran away a few times.

So if there's anything you want
to tell us, I think now is the time.

Wait. You think
Mitch k*lled Frank?

I mean, they argued
a couple of times, but...

What about?

I told you. Frank wanted
Maureen to stop seeing him.

All right, now. Your daughter
says he was with her last night.

Could there be a reason
that she'd protect him?

Good Lord, she
thinks she loves the kid.

Even if he k*lled her father?

[stammers]

I don't know.

I can't talk about this. I just
don't know what she'd do.

Gentlemen, please.

Is your son around?

With a friend. Sandy Resnick.

She lives over on
Central Park West, 341.

You should leave Sean alone. He
has an important chem test tomorrow.

He's studying?

His father was just m*rder*d.
His father wanted him to study.

He has early
admission at Princeton.

He fails chem, they might
withdraw the acceptance.

Hey, my mom just called.
What's this about my sister?

You know her boyfriend?

Mitch.

Well, yeah, I met him.

Yeah, you see him last night?

Oh, no. I know what
you guys are thinking,

but that kid? I mean, he...

He couldn't have done it. We
heard he was angry at your dad.

Yeah, but...

No, I don't think so.

(Logan) Sean, let me
ask you something.

You were in your room studying.

Your father's outside
having a fight...

but your window's
right on the alley...

and you didn't hear anything?

Look, I don't know why
you guys are doing this, but...

I was in the kitchen
awhile and the radio was on.

I'd have gone out if
I'd heard something.

Yeah. Good luck on that test.

[Briscoe sighing]

Holes just keep getting bigger.

The mother says maybe the
daughter's boyfriend did it...

but she won't give
you enough to move.

Yeah, and admit her
husband's doing their daughter?

We gave her a chance. She'll
dance on his grave before she tells us.

Hell, she'll jump in
it before she tells us.

Something here doesn't play. Loved
by his tenants. Sweetest guy on earth.

Is that the picture of a
guy who molests his child?

None of this plays.
McKinnon's Mr. Clean...

he doesn't take tips, lives
in a basement apartment.

How's he afford to pay
prep school tuition for the kid?

We don't know enough about this
man. Let's ask somebody who might.

I own that building 16 years.
Frank McKinnon's been with me 11.

Anybody that honest,
you got to wonder.

That's a lovely view
of human nature.

Calling a Super crooked
is like calling the sky blue.

McKinnon?

He wouldn't steal
cheese from a rat.

Sounds like he's practically
a friend of the Tooth Fairy's.

He was soft on the tenants.

He fixes things they
should have paid for.

The only thing I
worried about...

liability insurance. I wondered.

Maybe he drank a little bit.

So did I, but it didn't make
me a bad insurance risk.

Bet you didn't break as
many bones as he did.

What? Accidents.

Four, five times
in the hospital.

I mean, it's got to
be the bottle, right?

Which hospital?

February, cracked collarbone.
He slipped on the ice.

April, steam from the boiler.
First degree burns on his back.

Who stands backwards
at a boiler that long?

The admitting nurse
wanted to know, too.

Cooked that bad, he'd have to be
against a hot pipe a good minute.

July, he's in again. Cracked
ribs. Fell off a ladder.

I admitted him.

If that man fell off a ladder, then I
got hit by a truck and stubbed my toe.

Well, people do
fall off of ladders.

I mean, I might
crack a couple of ribs.

Mr. McKinnon had no bruises.
No scratches. Just the ribs.

I asked him, "Somebody hurting
you?" He was polite enough.

But he said I should
mind my own business.

Four times in 18 months.
Nobody is that accident-prone.

All I know is somebody k*lled my
husband and you can't tell me who did it.

All right, did your
husband have any friends...

or business associates who had
a reason to put him in the hospital?

You calling my father
some sort of criminal?

Sean.

My husband worked hard.

5:00 in the morning
till 10:00,11:00 at night.

He was tired, he had accidents.

But you think your daughter's boyfriend
had a grudge against your husband, right?

I didn't say that. You did.

(Catherine) Do you
have any more questions?

We have to make arrangements
for my husband's funeral.

[cars honking]

You know, all we got
is a bunch of hunches...

and an accident-prone dead guy.

Yeah, I think we
got the wrong hunch.

Maureen's boyfriend had
one lousy fight with her father.

That's a long way
from k*lling him.

Yeah, two days ago, the mother
steers us toward the boyfriend.

Two minutes ago, she backs off.

Sure, she goes along
with anything we say.

She doesn't want
us to get anywhere.

You know what else
bothers me? Both kids.

Their father gets his skull
crushed. Where are they?

She's off with
Mr. Juvenile Record.

He's at his
girlfriend's, studying.

Who in hell studies for a test
the day after your father is k*lled?

You got trouble
with this kid? What?

I mean, you're both Irish.

You made it as
far as detective...

he's making it all the
way to the Ivy League.

Hey, the trouble I
have with this kid is...

he was the only one
home when it happened.

Let's work this through.

They say somebody broke in.
We say maybe nobody broke in.

You see the problem?

Nat Horowitz fights with
his brother-in-law all the time.

I don't know, I just assumed.

But it was definitely
two voices. Men's voices.

Well, I really wasn't paying
attention. I think it was two.

One was shouting really loud.

Mrs. Kroll, are you sure you
didn't hear any words clearly?

No, just shouting. Later, they
were throwing things at each other.

Elaine Horowitz told me
last year Nat threw a lamp.

This time, it
sounded like glass.

Wait a minute. Now, you didn't
say anything about glass breaking.

Well, it was about
half an hour later.

I was on the fire stairs
in the back hallway.

My husband won't let me
smoke in the apartment.

Mrs. Kroll, I'm gonna run
this by you one more time.

You heard shouting. Then a half-hour
later, you heard glass breaking?

Yes. I thought it was Horowitz.

Is the woman reliable?

Unless she was smoking dope on
those back steps instead of cigarettes.

(Briscoe) Yeah, I don't think
she lost track of half an hour.

And I don't think anybody
beat him up and then broke in.

Well, fellas, I'll
buy no burglars.

In fact...

I'll buy there was
no one there at all.

Somebody stop me
before the train crashes.

We're about to say Frank
McKinnon was k*lled by his own son.

I won't stop you.

I just want to know who
smashed the window.

No question.

This glass was knocked
out. From the inside.

You just discovered this? I'm
not Columbus. I wasn't looking.

Ask me sooner, I find it sooner.

Glass is tensile.

You want to know which
side it was hit from...

match a piece on the ground
with one left in the frame...

check for radial fractures.

So, the kid broke the window,
realized he screwed up...

and then moved
the glass back inside.

And, got some of
his father's blood on it.

Kills his old man, cleans it up
and waits for Mom to come home.

That is cold.

Yeah, but Dad was in
the boiler room. Now...

why would he go outside to
stop a break-in that didn't happen?

What's the basement
floor made of? Cement.

Get us a guy with
Luminol. We're gonna spray.

[whirring]

(Logan) Well...

I guess that's not
cranberry juice.

(Granger) Straight line.

(Granger) He was
dragged the whole way.

Dead end, fellas.

Spray the pipe.

[whirring]

Right.

Well...

he hits him here, drags him out.

You think the mother knows?

I don't know.

But did you notice the daughter
the last time we were in the building?

Unhappy. And scared.

You keep coming after me. I was
with my boyfriend. I don't know anything.

Okay, look, all we want to know
is what happened to your father.

We don't think you or your
boyfriend had anything to do with it.

I'm gonna ask you
a question, okay?

Did your brother get
along with your father?

Did they ever fight sometimes?

I don't know what you mean.

Well, he was there that night.
But he says he didn't hear anything.

He said he was in the kitchen.

Maybe he wasn't
telling the truth.

What do you think happened?

I don't... You
know what I think?

I think you don't
believe him either.

Look, it doesn't matter.

My father is dead,
so just leave us alone.

[door bangs]

[sighing]

This has been very hard
for my sister and the kids.

Oh, please, sit down.

I'm sure that Catherine...

you know, told you
everything she knows.

All due respect to you, we
don't think that's the case.

What are you suggesting?

I'm suggesting that Mr. McKinnon
was in the hospital four times last year.

Was your sister's
husband a violent man?

No.

(Logan) How about Sean?

He ever hit his father?

Well, I mean, you
know, once in a while...

You know how families
are. Tempers flare, you know.

Where I come from, it was
the father who used the strap.

[mumbles]

There was this reception,
the Princeton Club.

It was for applicants
and their parents.

I went in Frank's place.

Catherine said I'd make
a good impression...

because I'm an accountant.

When we got home that night...

Frank was upset.

He said, "I'm a
Super and proud of it."

And Sean said, "Oh, a Super.
That would really help me get in."

Frank was shouting.

Sean told him to shut up.

And then, Frank went
right over to the boy...

right in his face and
he said, "Go ahead...

"do it in front of your
uncle. Take a pop at me.

"Let him see what this
family is really about."

Sean was gonna hit him.

I had to separate them.

I thought you said your
sister told us the truth.

Yeah, well, maybe I'm
not as sure as I used to be.

Broken collarbone, cracked ribs.

You were beating him up
pretty regular, weren't you?

Let's give the kid
a chance, Lennie.

Maybe you can
explain this, Sean.

You think I hit my own father?

We heard you almost hit
him in front of your uncle.

What he do this time, huh?
Something must have made you mad.

I don't know what you're talking
about. Somebody broke in.

No, actually, Sean, nobody did.

You see, what happened was this.

Somebody dragged his body
out from the boiler room outside.

(Briscoe) You didn't like
your old man, did you?

Why? 'Cause he was a Super?
'Cause he didn't go to Princeton?

I loved my father.

(Logan) Well, maybe you can
tell us about the broken window

'cause it turns out...

somebody knocked
it out from the inside.

That doesn't sound like a burglary
to me. You know what I mean?

(Briscoe) Pretty
smart move, Sean.

But you didn't know we
could prove that, did you?

Gentlemen...

Roger Easton, Sean's lawyer.

What's he doing here?

Well, for openers, we
think he k*lled his father.

(Easton) Under pressure here?

You can't find the street scum
who did it, so you go after this boy?

I want him out of here, now.

Take a break, Counselor. Maybe,
we'll give you a ride to central booking.

Mike.

Parents beating their kids is pretty
common. But the other way around?

How often does that happen? So
this kid's the exception to the rule.

He's ashamed of his father? As a motive,
it sounds like sidewalk psychology to me.

Look, I don't care what it sounds
like. You don't buy the motive?

Go with the physical evidence.
Who broke that window?

Who the hell dragged
McKinnon's body down that hall?

The physical evidence makes
me ready to believe the motive.

Even if I am ready to believe
it, I don't know if a jury is.

We have enough to indict.

Okay. Go ahead.

Sean McKinnon...

you're under arrest for the m*rder
of Frank McKinnon. Excuse me.

You have the right
to remain silent.

Anything you do,
say, can and will be...

used against you
in a court of law.

(Bailiff) "Docket
number 680641...

"People of the State of
New York v. Sean McKinnon.

"Charge is m*rder
in the second degree."

How does the defendant plead?

Not guilty, sir.

All right.

Young man, nobody
calls me sir anymore.

Ms. Kincaid?

The People request
reasonable bail.

While there's no risk of
flight... There's also no record.

Bail is to secure appearance at
trial, Ms. Kincaid, not to punish.

(Judge Franks) Mr. Easton?

Your Honor, the McKinnon
family have limited means.

High bail would be
a terrible hardship.

Death was a terrible
hardship for the victim.

Meanwhile, your client
looks quite respectable.

You'll get a bond.
$50,000, short date. Next?

You're making a mistake.
The boy's a victim.

Sir, he's walking around
and his father is six feet under.

Mrs. McKinnon is prepared to
admit that her son k*lled her husband.

[Catherine mumbles]

I tried to stop him.

It's a couple of years now.

Sean was only defending himself.

Your husband was abusing
your son? He hit him.

He hit me, sometimes...

my daughter.

My husband was a very angry man.

Sean says...

He told me...

he was studying...

and his father was in
one of those moods.

He came after him.

Mrs. McKinnon, when
did your son tell you this?

Ben, this is not the time to
look for an accessory charge.

(Catherine) I couldn't
believe Sean had done it.

When he told me, I knew...

that I was at fault.

I should have stopped Frank.

He picked on Sean so much.

Her husband was abusive.

Mr. McKinnon was in
the hospital several times.

For God's sake, so was Sean.

He broke his arm.

His father broke his arm.

We told the doctor it was a
bike accident. He fell off his bike.

Sean was supposed
to go to Europe...

he sang with a group at school.

His father beat him...

he was black and blue...

he couldn't go.

He gave him a black eye.

We lied and said...

it was an accident. Basketball.

(Schiff) Pity the poor child.

It's a good defense,
and it works.

There is the possibility
that she's telling the truth.

You didn't even want an arrest.

I hadn't met Catherine McKinnon.

It was weird. When you
went out with Easton...

she kept saying how
sad it was for her son.

But she never
mentioned her husband.

Not even to complain about him.

I don't believe her.
(Schiff) She's not on trial.

And if she's lying,
they trumped us.

But if she's not lying, I don't
want to prosecute an abused child.

Now, why didn't she go for help?

An abusive father, he can
hold an entire family hostage...

but an abusive son? No,
she'd have called somebody.

(Kincaid) Sean McKinnon
almost hit his father...

in front of his uncle. Now,
that wasn't self-defense.

What do you think?

You want a deal?

You tell Easton, the
kid has to see Olivet.

Are you so
convinced he's guilty?

Check the mother's story.

And see if that kid
was also in the hospital.

I never thought
I'd hit him back.

(Olivet) How do you feel now?

I don't know. I mean...

what do you want me to say?

I feel bad?

Okay, I mean, I feel bad.

He was my father.

I'm sorry.

I didn't want this to happen.

I know.

When he beat me...

he was shouting...

about...

how I didn't respect
him. And about...

About how I never brought friends
home 'cause he was only a Super.

He didn't understand.

The way he let those
tenants treat him. I mean...

he lived in the basement, as
if that was all you should have.

Do you think he was
ashamed of himself?

He thought I was ashamed, but...

he was projecting.
I didn't care. I just...

I just wanted him
to be proud of me.

Well, was he?

No, he wasn't.

It didn't matter how
hard I worked. I mean, I...

I got into Princeton and everybody
else was happy, except him.

He was depressed. He was angry.

Why was that?

He said...

I thought I was better than him.

And then a week after...

he showed up at school
in work clothes. I mean...

you don't do that at Deardon.

Did that matter to you?

No.

Oh, no. I just...

I wanted to be
different, you know.

I just wanted a different life.

I wanted more.

It's a great act, but
he's a sociopath.

An ounce of doubt,
I wouldn't testify.

Liz, the son beats the father
up and the mother does nothing?



The woman is probably paralyzed.

If she admits how bad it is, she
has to admit she raised a monster.

Then maybe we should
be prosecuting her.

She's in denial. She wants
to keep her family together.

Like with alcoholics.

Daddy passes out over
dinner, we pretend he's just tired.

The cops were right. The McKinnons
had a secret. They just got the wrong one.

I wish I could be
as sure as you are.

Why don't you
want it to be true?

Am I the patient here?

Ben, you're not alone.

None of us want to believe
that kids beat up their parents.

Do you think that the
father ever hit the kid?

It would make it easier
to deal with, wouldn't it?

I think this kid doesn't
want to be who he is...

and every time he looks
at his father, he's reminded.

Maybe Mom sent him a message,
the father's no good. So, he takes over.

Do you know what he
told me? He pays the bills.

How many 17-year-olds do you know
who take care of their family finances?

I don't know.

Is it that important?

It's a textbook sign.

Journal of Family Dysfunction.

"In most cases, the adolescent is ashamed
of a parent's lack of social status.

"The child commonly takes
over parental functions...

"determining how money
is spent and paying bills.

"The parents, fearing
the child, acquiesce."

A million cases a
year of parent abuse.

I can't tell you why it
happened in this family.

But I do know that Sean McKinnon
has enough anger to blow this office apart.

[knocking on door]

The McKinnons are playing
the press. Guess what?

The father's the villain.

That's what they'll do in court.

Sean McKinnon will
make his own best witness.

The hospital only has
X-rays of Sean's broken arm.

They don't prove how it
happened. And the black eye?

Two stitches, they
sent him home.

She told us that her
husband hit the kid, right?

She told the hospital that
it was a basketball game.

So, let's find out who
he plays ball with, okay?

If we'd known Sean's
dad was beating him...

I mean, maybe we
could have helped him.

We all feel really bad about it.

Oh, he never told you?

No. Sean never
talked about his father.

I guess now we know why.

Why are you asking
me about this?

I mean, my coach said
something about me hitting him?

Last June, when
he got a black eye?

[stammers]

That was an accident.

We were playing one-on-one.

His mother claims that his
dad gave him the black eye.

No.

No, it was me. I mean,
I was sorry, but I did it.

It swelled up. He went to the
emergency room at St. Mary's.

Did Sean say it didn't happen?

Catherine McKinnon lied.

Yeah, she'll testify that she was
confused. It was another black eye.

(Stone) This whole
story plays both ways.

The father had accidents...

the son was abused.
Or the other way around.

But the father's not here to
defend himself. So a jury...

could give this kid a
college going-away party.

(Schiff) He kills his
father, mother defends him.

Doesn't the sister
have a stake in this?

Well, we scheduled her for a
statement, she didn't come in.

She's staying at her
uncle's. Should I try again?

(Stone) Why? She
never did anything before.

Why should she start now?

Before her father was just
bruised. Now he's buried.

She wouldn't be comfortable
at home right now.

I see.

She's having nightmares.

I don't want to talk to you.

Maureen, your mom says Sean
had to protect you from your father.

Now is that true?

Your mom says your
father hit all of you.

Mom wouldn't say that about Dad.

Honey, why would
she make that up?

What did you let her in here
for? Did your father ever hit you?

I wish I could tell
you, but I wasn't there.

Yeah, why weren't you there?

Why wasn't somebody there?

I'm sorry, Maureen.
I should have been.

Maureen...

your mother and your brother
say your father beat you.

No! And that's why
you got into trouble.

It was your father's fault.

No. It's not true.

My dad never hit me. He
never hit anybody. It's not true.

Okay, okay.

[Maureen sobbing]

My daughter's been in trouble.

She has a lot of problems.
Your brother believes her.

He wasn't there when
she was arrested.

He wasn't at the police station.

He didn't have to
face the neighbors.

Mrs. McKinnon, maybe what the
neighbors think isn't the issue here.

Please, don't do this to her. I
mean, I know why she does this.

It's out of her control. She
invented the whole story?

She wasn't doing
so great at school.

So I help her out.

I help her out all the time,
and she resents me for it.

Even my dad said to her...

getting mad at me wouldn't make up
for the things that she's done wrong.

You let her send
her brother to jail...

she'll live with it for
the rest of her life.

Think what you're doing to
her. What are you doing to her?

(Easton) Catherine?

(Catherine) All
Sean's hard work.

You're destroying him.

You don't think he
played a part in that?

[door opens]

You're going to trial?

Who does a jury believe?
A girl with a felony record...

or a young man
brutalized by his father?

When he was admitted, Mr. McKinnon
didn't say anything right away.

I was ready to call the
police. And did you call them?

His wife told me not
to. That I was wrong.

That it was an accident.

And how did you respond to that?

I said, "Believe what you
want. Somebody hit this man."

Thank you.

Your witness.

Tell us, Dr. Henderson...

are you an expert
in forensic medicine?

The man wasn't having accidents.
Not in February, not in April.

Please, Doctor. Just
answer the question.

I'm not an expert.

Oh. So, Mr. McKinnon could
have had these accidents...

the kind that any building
superintendent might have.

Isn't that possible?

Yes, it's possible.

Thank you. No further questions.

Catherine left a message on my
machine and Maureen returned the call.

Her mother's putting a
lot of pressure on her.

Did she go home?
I don't think so.

I argued with her and she
ran out of the apartment.

All this time, I knew
something was wrong.

She's due to testify on Monday.

I tried. I told her
I'd always be there.

That she could live
in my apartment.

Well, she's been in trouble
before. Where'd she go then?

I'm not gonna do it. Did
your mother call you?

Her brother, too. Mitch.

Here's the headline, Counselor.

If she goes against
her brother...

her mother says
she can't come home.

I won't have anybody.

What, are you
kicking me to the curb?

I can't live with you.

You gonna live
with your brother?

He offed your old man. If you
don't do this, he gets away clean.

Hey, Maureen, you know what
your brother says about your father.

And that's what people
are always going to believe.

[people chattering]

(Maureen) He hit
him all the time.

Whenever my dad talked
back, Sean would hit him.

(Stone) Did you tell anyone?
My dad said it would stop.

My mom...

she said it was my dad's
fault. He picked on Sean.

Was that true?

Dad would do anything
Sean wanted. Anything!

Maureen, we've heard testimony
that last February your father...

broke his collarbone.

Could you tell us
how that happened?

Sean...

took $200 from my
mom to buy clothes.

My dad said it was too much...

so Sean hit him.

With a tire iron.

And last April, we heard that your
father was taken to the hospital...

with a burn on his back.
How did that happen?

There was a vacant apartment...

upstairs.

And Sean wanted my dad
to ask the landlord for it...

so we wouldn't live
in the basement.

My dad said no.

Sean called him a coward.

He followed him
to the boiler room...

and he pushed
him against a pipe.

And I tried to stop him.

My dad was just screaming...

and Sean just held him there.

Maureen, even then, you
didn't ask anyone for help. Why?

I was afraid.

Afraid of what?

I don't know.

That Sean would be taken away.
My mom and dad would break up.

I didn't know what would happen.

Maureen, thank you.

(Stone) Your witness.

Maureen, do you get
along with your brother?

No.

Isn't it true you
resent your brother?

That you feel he got everything
from your parents and you got nothing?

No. So you're not
envious of him?

That's hard to understand.

Did you run away from
home several times?

I couldn't stand being there.

I couldn't stand... Your
brother being so successful.

How much do you hate him?

Enough to invent
things that aren't true?

Enough to make up these stories?

(Stone) Objection.
Enough to lie to this court?

Your Honor, he's quietly
badgering the witness.

Sustained.

If your brother goes
to jail, Maureen...

then you get all the attention
that you want, isn't that right?

Your Honor. Withdrawn.

No further questions.

I've always said my
husband was a good man.

When your husband was violent,
did you consider professional help?

A psychiatrist, perhaps?

We wouldn't do that.

Sick people go to them.
My husband wasn't sick.

Did your son ever
hit your husband?

Sean never defended himself.

Only this...

This time.

Thank you, Mrs. McKinnon.

Your witness.

Mrs. McKinnon,
a doctor testified...

that your husband's injuries were
caused by as*ault and not by accident.

Is she lying?

Yes, she is lying.

Your daughter said that your
son repeatedly att*cked his father.

Is your own daughter lying?

Yes, she is lying.

Mrs. McKinnon, isn't it true that
your son took control of your family...

and you couldn't stop him?

And can you give us
one reason to believe...

that these witnesses are lying
and you are telling the truth?

Because...

Because I am his mother.

But isn't that all
the more reason...

for you to say anything
at all to protect him?

[exhales]

Thank you.

No further questions.

It wasn't easy.

I still loved my dad.

(Easton) Even
though he beat you?

I didn't blame him for it.

He had a hard life.

He worked hard for us.

Tell us about that night.

He asked me to help
him fix the boiler...

and I liked doing it.

It made me...

feel useful to him.

And I had this pair of pliers...

and...

I dropped them and
he lost his temper...

like usual, out of nowhere.

And he swung at me.

He hit me in the arm and I fell
down and then he hit me again.

I don't know what
happened then. I...

I guess all those
times he beat me.

I think I grabbed the hammer,
and I must have hit him.

[Sean sobs]

I don't remember it.

All I remember is the blood.

Thank you, Sean.
No further questions.

Mr. McKinnon...

how did you feel after
you k*lled your father?

I don't remember.

How did you feel when
you dragged his body...

36 feet to the service alley?

How did you feel when you
cleaned his blood off the hall...

and when you broke the window
to make it look like a burglary?

I don't remember any of it.

Do you remember shoving
him up against a steam pipe?

No!

Do you remember
hitting him with a tire iron?

No!

Would you please
tell the court...

what you wrote...

on your college financial aid
application, under the heading...

of father's occupation?

Didn't you write
Building Manager?

Why didn't you write
Superintendent?

I wanted to get the scholarship.
It sounded better than Super.

But you said you were not
ashamed of your father...

and that he was
jealous of you, right?

Yes, it wasn't my fault. It was
something I had to live with.

Did you have to live with the fact
that he paid for your prep school tuition?

And that he worked
12 hours a day...

to put expensive
clothes on your back?

Hey, I worked
hard, too. Did you?

I helped with the building.

I helped my sister out.
I got into Princeton...

in spite of...

In spite of what?

Of what he was?

No, I didn't say that.

You claim that you loved
your father. I did love him.

How do you show your love?

By hiding your father
from your friends?

And by telling him that
he's not worth anything?

You may call that love.

Most of us call that shame.

No further questions.

(Judge Leon) Has the
jury reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor.

On the sole count...

of the indictment, m*rder in the
second degree, how does the jury find?

We find the defendant guilty.

Two more months, he'd
have gone to college.

Everything would have been fine.

It's scary.

No, what's scary is that if
it hadn't been his father...

it would have been
somebody else.

That much anger doesn't go away
with a B. A. Not even from Princeton.

[car honking]