In the city of Los Angeles,
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.
Excuse me, sir, can I see your withdrawal receipt?
Martin, please, he's okay.
Martin! No! Don't!
Call it in. We just got held up.
What the hell's the matter with you?
They've got my baby.
He handed me this picture.
He told me to give him $50,000
or his partner would kill my Tony.
He said if I tripped the alarm,
I would never see my son again.
Does your son have a cell phone?
Have you called him?
He didn't answer.
He was supposed to be at lacrosse camp this morning,
but they said he never showed up.
When was the last time you saw him?
Yesterday afternoon.
He stayed with his dad last night.
His dad dropped him off at the bus stop this morning.
But Tony texted me from the bus stop
to see if he could have a friend come over.
[Clears throat]
It's from the security cam.
Not much help.
Yeah. Our suspect's a better photographer.
Yeah, looks like it's printed on cheap photo paper.
The kind you get at a copy store.
Your son, when did he text you?
It was just after 9:30.
And this bus stop, where is that?
Ventura and coldwater.
9:30.
The suspect shows up here at 10:36.
They snatch the kid, take the photo,
and stop to make a print at a copy store.
Ventura and coldwater's only a mile and a half away.
There can't be that many copy stores
between here and there.
Please don't let them hurt him.
Promise me you'll bring him back to me.
I promise.
We'll find him.
Way to hedge our bets.
Law & Order LA Episode: 13 Reseda
Subtitle: Adriano_CSI
There is only person Who sort of could
- have been your guy with the hoodie. - What time was he here?
We just opened, so 9:30-ish.
Sir, we need that computer.
- I just paid for a half hour. - She'll refund you.
I see your pc only takes credit cards.
I'm gonna need your charge information.
Well, that's the thing.
Your guy wanted to pay cash.
He went all righteous on me.
Like, "money's money,
and it's against the law to refuse legal tender."
Bingo!
Is it just me, or does he have the same look on his face?
They photoshopped it.
- They scammed the bank teller. - And us. Guitar case.
I may be wrong,
but I don't think you use guitars at lacrosse camp.
Mom always gets it wrong.
Saturday morning is rock. Saturday afternoon is lacrosse.
Well, you can explain it to her when you see her.
This morning at the bus stop,
did anybody try and take your picture?
- Yeah. This guy on a bike. - What happened?
Nothing.
I was playing a game on my phone.
He was on a bike and was like, "hey!"
Right in my face, and he takes my picture.
Then he rode off.
I just thought he was some perv.
- Is that him?
- I can't tell.
He just had on a white t-shirt, jeans, and sunglasses.
What kind of bike was he riding?
- A Mountain bike. - Color?
- I don't know.
Flying V.
- You any good? - I kill it.
Oh! Uh, it was red with black stripes!
- That's great. - My baby!
Go... Go hug your mother.
I'm just saying, you can't go to camp for it.
You gotta live it.
Me and my friends spent three years in my garage.
I still get a ringing in my left ear.
You know, we opened for the Offspring.
- The Offspring? You must be very proud.
There we go.
Ooh, that's gotta hurt.
Yeah, there is no way he rode that bike home.
They searched a ten-block radius.
No bike.
Maybe he lives in the neighborhood and walked,
or maybe he had an accomplice down the street with a car.
- Or my vote-
he took public transportation.
- It's mostly old people who forget stuff.
You know, bags of yarn and canned salmon.
But every once in a while you'll score an iPod or something.
- That right? An iPod?
- I mean, uh, what's not claimed goes to charity.
Did you say that it was left on the 150 bus?
- Yeah, in the bike rack.
That's what the driver said.
- Here we go. All nice and safe.
We keep a log- dates, serial numbers.
- Here we go.
Line 150, Saturday morning.
- Oh, that one.
That's a nice bike.
- Sorry to ruin your Christmas.
- Latent got a set of prints off the bike.
Stanley Vaughn-40, white,
two priors, one for bank robbery in '94,
six year bid.
And a second bid in '05.
Two years for involuntary manslaughter.
- He's got out after two years on a second strike?
How'd he swing that?
- Isn't that your department, counselor?
- It wasn't my case. I'd have remembered.
Stanley's last known- 3501 Enfield Avenue, reseda.
Okay.
[Pounding on door]
- Police! Open the door!
- Hey! That door cost money!
- Hold.
Ma'am, go back inside!
- I own that house.
Stanley's never here in the daytime.
I can unlock it for you,
unless you'd like to buy me a new door.
Thanks.
It doesn't make sense.
This place was floor to ceiling junk.
You couldn't put one foot in front of the other.
- How did you not see him move out?
- Who am I, Gladys kravitz?
His rent was paid up till the end of the month.
As long as he kept that stink out of here,
I left him alone.
- What stink?
- Something he was cooking up on the stove.
Smelled to high heaven.
Stanley was a real quack scientist.
I told him to take that crap outside
if he wanted to play junior Einstein.
- It doesn't smell like he was cooking meth.
Did you notice anything else odd about him?
Once when he brought me the rent,
he tells me, "spend it while you can.
"Pretty soon what you call money
won't be worth anything."
Look at this... dates, numbers.
"L.F."
- That's gold.
The London Fix
this is the daily global rate for gold.
Stanley was tracking gold prices.
[Explosion]
[Man screaming]
Officer down at 3501 Enfield!
Officer down!
I need a rescue unit and a bomb squad team now!
What happened?
I don't know!
He was just kicking at the ground, and it just blew up!
[Officer gasping]
- Officer Brian is gonna make it. - Yeah, minus a leg.
- Here. - Thanks.
- Listen, the material in the backyard was P.E.T.N.,
explosive of choice for I. E.D.S in Iraq.
Someone planted a bomb in the yard?
- We don't think it was a constructed device.
This guy was cooking p. E.T.N. In his kitchen,
probably dumped some in the backyard to get rid of it.
It was inert until the officer kicked at it.
What did he use to make the stuff?
- We won't have a breakdown for a couple of days,
but 99% of the stuff he'd need
could be bought at a hardware store.
And the other 1%?
- The fact that he didn't blow up the whole block
means he was able to keep it stable.
He had to use a plasticizer.
- I'm guessing you can't get a plasticizer
at a hardware store.
- I sure hope not.
- And I'm telling you, there are many uses for plasticizers,
in, uh, heart medication,
in flooring. It's...
- Mr. gil...
- Well, look, you can make a bomb
out of dishwashing liquid, did you know that?
- One more time.
- Look, he bought a small,
like, six ounces of shore-a plasticizer.
Hobbyists use it all the time. It's totally harmless.
- We have a young officer with half a leg blown off
who might take a different view of "harmless."
- I, uh...
I don't sell to the general public,
and I told him that-
- do you have an invoice?
- Uh, yeah.
He-he seemed, uh...
I mean, he even gave me references.
- Cash, no address. Figures.
- What kind of references?
- Uh, he said he was a collector.
A gold collector.
Did business all over town.
He gave me the number of his broker
and said the guy could vouch for him.
- So this person gives you my name, and now I'm what?
A suspect?
I have a vast range of clientele.
- This one may have bought gold.
Maybe a lot of it. [Door buzzer]
- Somewhere in your database, who knows?
- This is my database, mister.
- Detective.
[Door buzzer]
Oops.
There goes some of your clientele.
- Oh, yeah...Stanley.
Is that what you said his name was?
- No, we didn't.
- Well, if that's him, the guy in the picture,
his name is Stanley.
He bought one gold eagle coin off of me, maybe two.
He's very knowledgeable.
He follows the fix-
the daily gold prices.
- Last time he came in?
- A couple of days ago.
- Specifically? - Monday.
Maybe Monday.
- Every gold seller I know has paper on every fleck of gold
that's passed through his hands.
This guy's security camera's not even connected.
- Why should it be, so it can tape him laundering money?
- [On radio] 211 in progress, Western trust bank,
3401 sherman way at haskell - 211 in progress.
- Another Photoshop job.
She found out 30 seconds after he left
that her daughter was safe at home.
- This is from the security camera.
No bike this time.
He got away on foot with 11 grand.
- The last time, Stanley bought gold off of Manny
right after the studio city job.
Now he's got even more disposable income.
- Maybe our boy's itching to invest.
- And if I don't?
- Then after the state board of equalization
completes its investigation
and you're convicted of tax evasion,
instead of getting a suspended sentence
for cooperating with the police,
you'll go away for ten years.
- You can be pen pals with Wesley snipes.
- So who's the new guy?
- He's my nephew from Seattle.
Dumber than a box of hammers,
but what can you do?
[Police radio chatter]
- You got to admit, this is priceless.
- How much is something like this?
- Oh, I think my Uncle could let you have that for $25.
- Serious? - You want to take a look at it?
- Yeah.
- Are you Manny?
I'm Emily.
Stanley sent me here to buy coins.
- Oh, yeah, the double-eagles.
I'm all out of those.
Someone just cleaned me out this morning.
- Really? You don't have any?
- I'll get some more tomorrow.
I'll have more. - Thanks.
[Police radio chatter]
- Police! Drop the backpack.
[Siren]
Hands behind your back.
[Tires screech]
- What did I do? What-
[handcuffs click]
- A little over ten grand.
- Bad move, Emily.
- Look, I swear, okay?
I didn't know it was from a robbery.
Stanley said he was turning his life around.
- Level with me, Emily. $11,000.
You didn't wonder where Stanley got it?
- He told me he'd been saving.
I've only known him three months...
- Three months,
and he trusted you to buy the gold all by yourself?
- What Stanley and me have, it's intense.
He trusts me.
Look, I'm an honest person!
- Except for priors for burglary in '95 and dope in '99.
- She owns a car.
It was in a garage around the corner.
- All I did was meet somebody who loved me.
- If she was in on the robberies,
you'd think she wouldn't have let Stanley
try and make a getaway on a busted bike.
- She already has two strikes.
Let's see how bad she wants to avoid a third.
- I've been clean for over eight years.
- Miss Watson, I'm Connie rubirosa
from the d.A.'S office.
Let me lay this out for you.
As an accomplice to two bank robberies-
- but I'm not an accomplice.
- As an accomplice, you face prosecution under three-strikes.
That's a sentence of life without parole.
- My God, please, no.
- But if you agree to help us
catch Stanley Vaughn and testify against him,
we can talk about a reduced charge,
maybe even a suspended sentence.
- I have to choose?
Stanley or jail?
- Trust me.
If a man really loves you,
he doesn't want to see you go to jail.
[Click]
[Dog barking]
- Oh, damn.
- Sit, boy.
Sit.
- Detective, I need you not to move.
- There's something flashing in here.
- Hoover's reacting. He detected explosives.
I need you to turn off your lights.
Now your phones and electronic devices.
You need to remain perfectly still
until we figure out how to disarm this.
- You're the boss, sergeant.
- Hoover, retreat.
Everybody else, out.
- I'm staying with my partner.
- That's your call.
All personnel and vehicles back 500 feet.
[Engines start outside]
- I'll bet the d.A.'S office
is looking pretty good about now.
- Her boyfriend took a job in D. C.,
so she moved with him.
- I didn't realize Stanton had a boyfriend.
- Come on, really?
- She looked pretty good in those gray skirts.
- Yeah, she did.
- Right about now, I wish I'd taken a shot.
- I'm beginning to regret that fourth cup of coffee.
- [Laughs]
- You guys okay in there?
- Yeah, couldn't be better.
- We have a visual on the suspect
ten blocks away on a bicycle.
We're gonna apprehend.
- No. Let him through.
Push all your people back, let him come in the house.
- Got it.
- Emily?
You here, sweetmeat?
- Hey, Stanley, don't move.
L.A.P.D. Put your hands on your head.
[Keys hit floor]
Okay, come on.
Snug little place you got here.
Let's go.
- How you doin', sweetmeat?
- Okay, here's the deal.
You get my partner out of there safely or you die.
- Uh, yeah, okay.
Come back out of the room,
only make sure to step on the decals.
You step on the decals, okay?
Or, uh...[Laughs]
Boom!
- [Panting]
- So everything's cool, right?
- Oh, yeah, we're cool.
But you?
You're under arrest.
People V Stanley Vaughn:
Two counts robbery, one count assault on a police officer,
one count possession of explosives.
- Your plea, Mr. Vaughn? - Not guilty, ma'am.
I would never set foot in a bank.
It is a dying institution.
The Betamax of finance.
Save it for your blog, Mr. Vaughn.
- People on bail? - We ask for remand to custody.
Mr. Vaughn is a threat to the community.
He booby-trapped his house with explosives.
I was defending my castle!
Mr. Vaughn, my castle has a dungeon,
and I'm going to throw you in it if you don't keep quiet.
Your honor, since the police
haven't actually searched his house yet,
it's premature to claim it's booby-trapped.
- They haven't searched his house
because it's booby-trapped.
And Mr. Vaughn has refused
to help the police disarm the explosives.
- My client denies there are explosives.
- You're giving me a headache, Mr. limpett.
Bail is $1 million.
- I hope that house is the jackpot
because, frankly, we're light on evidence
to sustain four counts.
- Fire department and bomb squad
won't let our people in yet.
- Unless we find the plasticizer Vaughn bought,
we can't make a match with the explosive
that blew up officer briar.
- No match, no assault charge.
Bottom line, we've got to get into that house.
- I don't know about any booby-traps.
Stanley just kept saying there are alarm systems everywhere
and I shouldn't touch anything when he's not around.
- Miss Watson, if we find out later you're lying
and someone gets hurt, our deal is off.
- I didn't know Stanley was making bombs.
He told me he was an inventor.
- An inventor? Really, miss Watson?
- Emily's a high school drop-out.
She's no chemistry major.
- She knows enough chemistry to be
a two-time convicted drug dealer.
- I'm not the kind of person you think.
My last boyfriend...
The reason I got arrested that second time was,
I found out he was HIV positive,
then I found out I was pregnant.
I didn't have insurance.
I figured if I sold a little weed,
I'd get enough money to get it taken care of.
I lost the baby in prison anyway.
Stanley knew what it was like for me.
He'd been in twice, too.
But he got lucky.
They gave him a pretty light sentence the second time,
so he told me
he was gonna be my lucky charm.
I sure can pick 'em, huh?
- Emily's held the same job for six years
at a car parts store.
I have letters from her parole officer,
testifying to her complete rehabilitation.
You don't need to hammer her.
- If her testimony's going to mean anything,
we need corroboration: The gold,
the chemicals he used to make the explosives.
Where are they?
- I don't know.
- Fair warning, Ms. fynley.
We have a seriously injured cop.
We're not gonna tolerate any nonsense from your client.
- We understand.
- How'd it go with your mom?
- Um, it's okay.
She started speech therapy this morning.
I know her first words will be
a seven-letter one followed by the word "stroke."
- She's really lucky to have you here.
- Thank you.
Stanley Raymond Vaughn...
- The bank robber.
What about him?
- He took a plea
on a manslaughter charge six years ago.
- Right. - His second offense.
He got two years.
On manslaughter.
It was your case.
- I know.
Make it plain. You think I was too lenient?
- You declined to charge it as a second strike.
- Vaughn said that he was held up
at knifepoint outside a bar.
Now, his lawyer argued that he acted in reasonable response.
The eyewitnesses, the forensics, were contradictory.
If I had applied a second strike against Vaughn,
he would've served a mandatory eight years.
- For killing a man.
- Yeah, arguably in self-defense.
Now, you may not be familiar
with California three-strikes sentencing guidelines.
- Hey, I passed the bar first in California.
- I know you know the theory.
I'm talking reality.
A second-strike conviction means double the standard sentence.
A third strike is 25 to life.
Now, six years ago, people with two strikes
were getting life for stealing a slice of pizza.
Vaughn had only one prior,
and he had been straight for five years.
- I wasn't second-guessing you.
- Yes, you were.
[Telephone rings] And you were right to do so.
Dekker.
What the hell did you say?
- We still don't know what's in there,
and I'm not risking the neighborhood.
- Sergeant, we have a warrant
allowing the police to search the premises.
- Well, frame it.
The governor declared this neighborhood
a state of emergency.
We're doing a controlled burn so we don't risk an explosion.
- Our whole case is in that house.
- Let us get what we need before you burn the place.
We'll risk it.
- I won't.
The amount of explosives that took that cop's leg was minute.
There could be enough material in there
to make this a beachfront.
This is how it's gotta be.
Let's go, boys. Let's go.
- District attorney hardin.
- Hi, Rachel, how are you?
- Sir, can I get your reaction to the critics
who suggest that the bank robberies
and the wounding of officer briar
are the result of your negligence?
- I beg your pardon?
- Isn't it true Stanley Vaughn was out of jail
because you declined to prosecute him
to the fullest when you had the chance six years ago?
- I'll have to get back to you on that, Rachel.
- The governor declared a state of emergency,
prompting the fire department
to conduct a controlled burn of the premises
rather than risk it. - Joe.
- Vaughn's house.
- Yeah.
Stay tuned. It gets better, thanks to you.
Did you let a repeat offender walk on a second strike?
Because I just heard that from a reporter.
- Jerry...Yes.
I declined Vaughn's second strike.
- You have any idea how that makes this office look?
- I know that, six years ago,
this office was catching heat
about how unfair the three-strikes law was.
- The law is made for guys like Vaughn!
Repeat offenders!
So that stuff like this doesn't happen!
- I didn't put the pen in your hand, Jerry.
You signed off on Vaughn's deal.
- And that makes me a fool for taking your advice!
How many counts do we have on Vaughn?
- Four-two for the robberies,
one for assault and one for explosives.
- Make them stick.
I want Vaughn put away for good this time.
- The people presented no evidence
my client manufactured the explosives
that injured the police officer.
- That evidence was in a house that was condemned
by the state of California as a safety risk.
- On the word of a dog.
- His client's booby-traps caused the house
and the evidence to be destroyed in the first place.
He shouldn't profit from it.
- I didn't write the law, your honor.
They had ten days to come up with something.
They haven't. The charges should be dismissed.
As for the robberies,
where's the money my client is accused of stealing
or the gold he allegedly bought with that money?
- Again, your honor,
the evidence was hidden in the house.
But we do have the defendant's fingerprints
on a bicycle that was used in the first bank robbery.
And we are confident
that we will find traces of the gold
in the ashes of his house.
- And I'm confident the clippers will win their division.
What matters is what's on the table now.
- Mr. dekker, he's right.
There's insufficient evidence
to hold him on the second robbery count
or for the assault and possession of explosives.
Those charges are dismissed.
- One lousy count of robbery?
Even as a second strike, it's ten years Max.
- Yeah, well, I can get 15.
- Still not good enough.
The bank robbery is the second strike.
We need a third strike to put him away once and for all.
- The one robbery is all we have.
- Find me something else. - What for example?
Like he stole a pen on the way out of the bank?
- If it'll get me a life sentence, I'll take it.
- Aw, Jerry, you know as well as I do
that that would violate the spirit of the law.
- The spirit of the law is protecting the people.
The three-strikes law has cut crime in this city in half.
- That's debatable.
I think you want Vaughn sentenced
not for what he did today,
but for what we didn't do six years ago.
- Joe, I am not too proud to admit my mistakes,
and I'm not too particular about how I correct them.
The only people we should be worried about
staring in the face are the victims
of Stanley Vaughn's crimes.
Get me the third strike.
[Door slams]
- What do you want to do?
- I think I need to take a walk.
[Inaudible conversation]
- Hey, I reviewed the evidence.
I don't see another charge.
- Yeah, well, count the pens at the bank if you have to.
We're giving the boss what he wants.
Honest, he didn't say anything About robbing any second bank.
- He used a digital camera
to take a photograph of the teller's kid.
You know where that camera is?
- Stanley only had the one camera.
It was in the house.
- This bike. It's a $2,000 bike.
Do you know where Stanley got it?
- Emily, you agreed to tell us the truth.
- You're not gonna be happy.
Stanley stole it.
- How do you know?
- Because I kinda helped him.
I was coming back from costco,
the one on mission, off the pomona freeway,
and I stopped for gas at a 76.
After Stanley pumped, this guy, he leans his bike
against the door of the mini-mart and goes in.
Stanley tells me to start the car
and meet him at this McDonald's we passed.
I told him don't do it.
I said I was gonna leave him out there if he did it.
- But you didn't.
- It just happened so fast.
Stanley said whoever doesn't lock up his bike
deserves to get it stolen.
I should've just left him out there like I said, shouldn't I?
- My client is charged with possession of stolen property,
which the district attorney
has decided to apply as a third strike.
[Mutes tv] - The actual theft took place
at a gas station in San Bernardino county.
But thanks to fingerprints and a bank photo,
we can prove Vaughn possessed the bike in our jurisdiction.
- My client now faces the certainty
of spending the rest of his life
in prison over a stolen bicycle.
- That's what you had in mind?
- It's exactly what I had in mind.
- ...Rejected as unjust
by the majority of the states in this country.
- I drove to McDonald's and waited for Stanley.
He rode up real fast on the bike.
He put the bike on the back seat and...
And told me to drive off.
- Is that the bike that Stanley put in your car?
- Yes, that's the one.
- Thank you.
No more questions.
- Look, I just want to say, when I first met Stanley,
I thought we could be like a safe place for each other,
where we could have a good life, nothing fancy,
maybe make a family.
Look, I'm sorry it didn't work out between us.
- Miss, you may step down.
Court is adjourned.
This preliminary hearing will resume tomorrow morning.
- Emily,
that man sent you out there alone
with stolen money to do his bidding.
He didn't protect you.
That's not love.
- I know. I know...
From now on, I'm only gonna go out with doctors and lawyers.
- Oh, let me tell you what's wrong with that plan.
- Emily Watson,
we're from the San Bernardino county sheriff's office.
We have a warrant for your arrest.
Please place your hands behind your back.
- What?
- I'm her lawyer. I want to see that warrant.
She's being charged with grand larceny
for a stolen bicycle?
What the hell kind of stunt is this?
- Deputy, this woman is a witness
in an ongoing court proceeding.
- This warrant is straight out
of the San Bernardino county d. A.'S office, sir.
You'll have to take it up with them.
- Yeah, I read her testimony.
She drove the getaway car.
In San Bernardino, we call that a bona fide accomplice.
- She testified under a grant of immunity.
- For crimes committed in your jurisdiction.
The bike was stolen in mine.
I don't see what all the fuss is.
You're prosecuting Vaughn
for possession of the same stolen bike.
- Vaughn is in a class by himself.
He's got a prior for manslaughter,
he robbed two banks, he blew up a police officer.
We're trying to put him away for life.
- That's a good thing.
Emily Watson is a felon with two strikes,
including one for drug dealing.
If we can put her away for life, that's another good thing.
- Wait, wait, what are you talking about, for life?
- I intend to apply the third strike to this larceny.
- For a stolen bike?
You can't be serious.
- Jerry hardin is not the only district attorney in socal
who's tough on crime.
- Mr. exley,
you can make your point without applying a third strike.
- I'm not playing politics, Mr. dekker.
I'm sending a law enforcement message.
You commit a crime in San Bernardino,
you're gonna pay for it.
Now, you might want to get back to L.A.
Before the 10 turns into a parking lot.
- Joe, this is wrong.
- Of course it's political.
Exley got re-elected by the skin of his teeth.
- Well, you have to talk him out of it, Jerry.
Emily Watson cooperated fully with this office.
She doesn't deserve prison, let alone a life sentence.
- Our responsibility stops at the county line.
What exley decides to do in San berdoo is his business.
- And ours.
If we weren't prosecuting Vaughn for the bike,
exley wouldn't have a case against miss Watson.
- Nothing we can do, Joe.
- There's something we can do.
We can withdraw the charge against Vaughn for the bike.
- That charge is his third strike.
That's what'll put him away for life.
- We still have the bank robbery count.
He's still looking at 15 years.
Listen, Jerry,
Emily Watson is the reason
that we have the third strike against Vaughn.
That girl trusted us.
It's worth it to lose the strike in order to save her life.
- Worth it?
For whom, Joe?
Officer briar?
His family?
Emily Watson played in the dirt.
She got dirty.
- Yeah, well, you're in the dirt now, Jerry.
You know, I thought that morales was just too thin-skinned,
but maybe he got it right.
- Before you do something rash,
let me remind you what you said when you took this job.
You said you wanted to work for change from the inside.
You quit, you're an outsider.
You are ineffective.
- You promised she wouldn't be prosecuted.
- We can't control Mr. exley.
Emily's testimony is part of the public record,
and he can use it against her.
- I swear, if there was a way to make this right, I'd do it.
- And while we'll answer the people's evidence
on the bank robbery charge at trial,
we dispute that the people have shown cause
to proceed to trial
on the charge of possession of stolen property,
namely the bike.
The charge requires the intent to possess stolen property.
The only evidence the people have
that my client knew the bike was stolen
is the testimony of a former girlfriend,
a convicted drug dealer.
- The credibility of a witness
is for a jury to decide at trial.
- The flimsiness of their evidence would be laughable
if it weren't for the fact that they're trying to bootstrap
a third strike on my client.
This is a transparently political prosecution.
It shames the office of the district attorney
and this court.
- Mr. dekker, would you like to respond?
- Your honor, my response to Mr. limpett's charges...
Is the testimony of the person
who decided to apply
the third strike against Mr. Vaughn.
I call to the stand district attorney Gerald hardin.
- Mr. hardin, will you take the stand?
Swear the witness in.
- Do you swear to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
- I do.
- State your name and occupation.
- Gerald hardin,
district attorney, Los Angeles county.
- Thank you, Mr. hardin.
Please explain the decision
to apply the third strike against Mr. Vaughn.
- Mr. Vaughn is a repeat offender,
and while possession of a stolen bicycle
is not of the same order as the bank robbery charges,
it is a felony
and it falls within the sentencing guidelines
of the three-strikes law.
- So you were guided by the law.
- And the facts of the case.
- And what do you say to the defense's claim
that this attempt to get life in prison
for Mr. Vaughn by any means necessary
is for political gain?
- Well, that would be a very cynical calculation
on our part if it was the case.
But as you pointed out, counselor,
our office was guided by the law.
- And the facts of the case.
- Yes.
- And wouldn't you agree
that's why you were elected to your office,
to enforce the laws?
- Yes.
- To do what's right, not what's popular?
- I try to do that.
- So you disregarded the public outcry
when it became known that Mr. Vaughn
had been released years ago
because your office decided not to apply
a second strike to a manslaughter conviction?
- I don't know about "disregarded."
- Well, you were upset by the public reaction?
- Well, I felt that we had failed
the people of Los Angeles in that instance.
- And justice hadn't been served.
- That's right.
- And you were intent
on correcting that mistake this time around,
no matter the facts of the case,
as long as Mr. Vaughn spent the rest of his life in jail.
- Maybe.
- Mr. hardin,
as the chief law enforcement officer of the county,
as one who sets the example
for every prosecutor in your office,
is that what you mean by justice?
- No, it's not.
- No more questions.
- No cross, your honor.
- The witness is excused. - Thank you.
You made your point.
Withdraw it.
- Your honor, at this time,
the people withdraw the charge
of possession of stolen property.
- The charge is dismissed.
As for the remaining charge of robbery,
the court rules there's sufficient evidence
to proceed to trial.
- You can send Vaughn on an all-expense-paid trip
to Disneyland for all I care.
It doesn't affect my case against Ms. Watson.
I still have her statement
admitting she helped steal that bike.
- About that statement...
- When the police and I questioned Emily,
we were looking for evidence to use against Vaughn.
Emily wasn't a suspect.
But when she started talking about the bike theft
and her involvement in it,
at that point, she became a suspect.
- So you mirandized her.
- Since we had no intention of prosecuting her,
no, we didn't.
- Her lawyer must have known she was a suspect.
- She didn't have a lawyer present.
- That would make her statement-
and any evidence derived therefrom-inadmissible.
- Mmm.
- I am so sorry about your case, Mr. exley.
- You better hope you never get a ticket in San berdoo.
- You know I wanted Vaughn down for life, too.
- Mm-hmm.
- But 15 years,
it's something.
- Well, by the time he gets out,
it'll be some other D.A.'S problem.
Let's hope whoever it is is up to the task.
- Oh, he will be.
- Is that right?