Does the defense wish to make a motion?
PPainter
CPL 290.10. The defense moves to set aside the jury's verdict.
McCoyObjection! The prosecution proved its case!
What case, Mr. McCoy? Have we gone so far down the road of political correctness that sex between willing partners is now called rape?! The girl said yes!
McCoy
She has the mind of a child!
Well, she's mature enough to be plenty intrigued by her own sexuality. Face it, counselor. She had the time of her life. Case dismissed.
Now, Valerie, Hayden called you a retard, and you told him you weren't. Is that right?
And after that, did he keep on calling you a retard?
Did you like what the boys did to you?
VValerie
I did what I wanted.
PPainter
Your honor, the defense requests you deny the state's motion to reverse your prior ruling.
McCoy
You set aside the jury's verdict, because you unfairly held the state responsible for proving the boys' prior knowledge. The state has now done so, and you STILL refuse?!!
Mr. McCoy, it's over! There is no case here. There never was!
McCoy
How would you know?! You made up your mind before you heard the first word of testimony!
You're on thin ice, counselor! The defense request is granted! The state's motion is denied! You want to appeal?! Be my guest!
McCoy
Doctor, you'll probably get a call from an attorney named Considine. He represents Jesse Castillo. He'll ask about Malika's condition. I'd like you to tell him that Malika has become aware of her surroundings, and the chances of her recovery are good. I know what I'm asking you to do.
CDr. Charters
Good. Then you know why I can't.
McCoy
You know more than anyone what was done to that little girl.
CDr. Charters
Yes, but I have an ethical duty...
McCoy
So do I. Mine is stopping monsters like Jesse Castillo, and yours is keeping more Malika Richardsons from turning up in your emergency room.
McCoy
I could probably get an indictment for manslaughter.
Manslaughter?! They never gave that baby a chance. They faked an identity for her. They never told anyone she needed medical attention.
I don't see any intent here to kill this baby.
It's depraved indifference. Murder-2. They knew the baby was going to die. They didn't care one way or the other.
Assumption. Charge them with Man-one.
We send a message that it's sort of okay to kill a baby? This isn't a couple of teenagers who killed their newborn because they were scared. These are two adults who went to a lot of trouble to dump a dying child and to cover their tracks. I may be the new kid here, but to me this sounds like murder.
McCoy
They'll be pariahs for the rest of their lives.
They lose a few friends. That's your idea of justice?
McCoy
3-6 years in a state prison is not a cake walk. How many drug dealers got a free pass from you?
The ones who could give me someone bigger in return. All the Connerys have to offer is their plea-bargained remorse. She's still trying to blame it on Kostov. Did you see her husband cut her off?
McCoy
She's the least culpable of the 3.
[exasperated] Oh, gentlemen, please! That sorry excuse for a woman has a hole in her soul.
McCoy
I can take care of myself, Adam.
Then remain objective. It was Edward Connery's actions that directly caused the little girl's death, and he's an attorney. He knew what he was doing.
McCoy
The Connerys will never do this again. Kostov has and will, over and over again.
Are Kostov's children better off in the new homes?
All but Marianna. [beat] I have a solution that will make us all happy.
McCoy
What's that?
No deals for anybody. Let's hang 'em all.
[after Kostov and the Connerys have been convicted of the baby's death]
Man-1 all around. I'll start working on the pre-sentencing reports. Any suggestions?
McCoy
You mean who should spend more time in prison? Kostov or the Connerys? Don't get me started.
We can always skip the report and take no position. Leave it to the judge.
McCoy
Let's do that for the sake of world peace.
The Warings filed a petition to get their son back. We have until the end of the week to file our objections.
McCoy
Can you and I agree that we're too busy?
McCoy
Your first death sentence. You OK with it?
I only have one thing bothering me. Ray-Ray, the squeegee man? The cops told him which one was Fortelli.
McCoy
I know, I told them to. Perfectly legal. We were never going to use the identification at trial anyway.
McCoy
Major felonies, Abbie. Welcome to the bigs.
McCoy
The New York County District Attorney's Office can't - no, won't - knowingly convict a man of the wrong crime. What are you thinking?
I'm just taking a page from the Jack McCoy playbook. Nobody gets to bend the rules but you?
McCoy
I've bent the rules to convict the right person of the right crime. This isn't bending. It's turning the law against itself.
You once hid a witness to get the result you wanted.
McCoy
And I was wrong then. You're wrong now. Don't wait until until you're facing a disciplinary committee to realize it.
A week from tomorrow, you'll be on a plane, sandwiched between 2 of Houston's finest.
BBergstrom
[panicked] You can't do this!
You'll have a speedy trial. Your lawyer will file a couple of appeals. He'll lose. And before you know it, bang, there's that pesky needle.
BBergstrom
[to McCoy] What are you doing? You're just sitting there. Make her shut up!
McCoy
Miss Carmichael...
I'm not done. I'm going to be there, and if they'd let me do it, I'd push one of the plungers, and pray it's the one that delivers the fatal dose.
BBergstrom
Get her out of here! Get her out!
How does it feel, Mr. Bergstrom? You killed all those women, and now a woman is going to return the favor.
Pretty damn ironic, isn't it?
BBergstrom
You won't kill me, I won't let you.
BBergstrom
I'll plead to one of the other ones. The one by the train tracks.
McCoy
Murder-1, life without parole.
BBergstrom
Yeah, okay! She doesn't say what happens to me!
[pause] Fine. If you change your mind, I'll be waiting...
BBergstrom
No, you sit! You listen to what I did to her. [with relish] I cut her, and she screamed. I burned her, and she screamed louder. I pushed my fist into her, and she passed out. I made her say she admired me. I had total control. Total.
McCoy
Your good friend Wendy told us that you'd been dumped before. Is that right?
McCoy
By a rich boy who treated you like trash. Your father owned a souvenir stand, right?
McCoy
Is that why the boy dumped you?
SStephanie
There is nothing wrong with the souvenir stand.
McCoy
Then why were you so desperate to get out of there?
SStephanie
I had some bad memories.
McCoy
Of being dumped because you were poor trash?
SStephanie
Look, I was an idiot! He wanted one thing: My body, and he got it!
McCoy
You weren't gonna let that happen again, were you?
McCoy
From then on, you were going to be the one using people.
SStephanie
I don't use people!
McCoy
How 'bout the used car king? How 'bout your husband?
SStephanie
I helped my husband in a lot of ways!
McCoy
The chairman of a multi-million-dollar software company? How exactly does a drug-whacked daughter of a souvenir stand owner help him?!
SStephanie
There were plenty of things my husband didn't understand. Him and his friends. Jane Austen, like that matters.
McCoy
He understood you, though, didn't he?
SStephanie
What do you mean?
McCoy
He finally understood that you were just a hick town party girl who didn't belong here.
PPaulsen
Objection! He's harassing the witness.
JMJudge Manheim
Sustained. Watch it, Mr. McCoy.
SStephanie
I belong here as much as any of them!
McCoy
Did he tell you he was shipping you out?!
SStephanie
Nobody ships me anywhere!
McCoy
He'd be able to face his friends again, wouldn't he?
SStephanie
Bunch of snobs!
PPaulsen
Your honor, may we have a recess?
McCoy
It's not being a snob if they're really better than you!
SStephanie
The women were jealous of me! The men all wanted to get me in bed!
McCoy
And you were happy to oblige!
SStephanie
No! Not anymore! Nobody takes advantage of me anymore!
McCoy
You were on your way back to that souvenir stand, weren't you?! Where you belong?
SStephanie
I am smarter than all of them! They had it handed to them! I had to work for it! They think I was trash! They don't know anything!!
McCoy
No crime, no cover up. 3 people dead, and no one's accountable.
Justice on a budget. What'd you end up charging them with?
Tampering with evidence. An E felony.
We arraigned them, they posted bail. $2,000. Then they walk away from 3 murders.
McCoy
We can always hope they jump bail.
Law & Order · 1,255 quotes
