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.
What do you say we close up early?
You pay me the same either way, Stan.
I pay you too much, amigo.
You got plans tonight?
Bruce Lee marathon on the DVR.
Good-looking guy like you, you should have a girl.
Who's talking?
I need that aggravation?
End of the day, I like my peace and quiet.
Yo. We get in, we get out. Easy score.
Come on, man!
Okay, baby. Yo, Angel. Let's bounce, man.
I've got to go.
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
(GROANING)
SERGEANT: A citizen flagged down a sector car.
Looks like an armed robbery that went south.
A stick-up in broad daylight.
That's pretty bold, even for this neighborhood.
LUPO: The two DOAs are the robbers?
Yeah. They ask for money, one guy starts to beat down on an employee.
Must be this one with the blood on his knuckles and the 9 next to his hand.
The owner pulls a scattergun out from under the counter, takes them all out.
The old guy? The accountant?
Stan Harkavy.
I could've used a few more like him on patrol in Kandahar.
Remington pump.
Don't mess with Grandpa.
Mr. Harkavy? Detective Kevin Bernard.
How're you doing, sir?
They wouldn't leave. I didn't want to do it.
I didn't want to kill anybody.
Gregory and I started to close up.
Three kids bust in.
One of them had a gun out, waving it around.
You ever see any of them before?
No! Never.
They yelled at me to give up my money.
There was only $30 in my cash box.
I said they were wasting their time.
The one with the gun started to hit Gregory, my helper,
kicking him in the face.
I thought, "This is it.
"We're both dead."
What happened then?
Well, the guy kept hitting Gregory.
Gregory, he's like a son to me.
I had to do something.
Who did you shoot first?
I'm not sure.
What did they do once you started firing?
I don't know.
It was so fast, I just kept shooting until they were all on the floor.
You ever use that gun before?
No!
I bought it when I first started my business.
I take it out only to clean it.
This is your first time being robbed?
Yes. Forty-five years. Never had any trouble.
I get along with everyone.
With everyone?
You're one of the few white-owned businesses in that neighborhood.
You never had an issue?
I'm no racist.
Brown, black, purple, people got to have their taxes done.
You never had trouble, why'd you buy the gun in the first place?
When we first opened, we stayed open late.
Evelyn, my wife, God rest her soul,
thought we needed protection.
Today was the first time I ever had to use it.
All this for $30?
They were all yelling, "Where is it? Where is it?" The money.
Stan said we only got $30. But they wouldn't listen.
Then the one with the gun, he starts kicking me in the face.
What did Mr. Harkavy do?
He yelled at them to leave me alone.
But the guy just kept hitting me.
And then, I didn't see exactly, but I heard these booms.
It was Stan, shooting these punks.
So it was just boom, boom, boom, boom, no breaks between shots?
I don't know. Stan just did what he had to do.
I thought they were going to kill us both.
Had these guys ever been in your office before?
No. I never seen them before.
How did Stan get along with the people in the neighborhood?
Fine. He's honest, treats people decent.
You sure?
He showed us some attitude about Hispanic people.
Stan? I've been with him three years, I never heard that.
You run with a gang, Gregory?
No, man, that's Japanese.
(SPEAKING JAPANESE)
"The fist and Zen are one." You're into martial arts?
Nidan, second-degree black belt in karate.
(SCOFFS)
Lot of good it did.
When I saw that gun, I froze.
Stan saved my life.
Stan and Gregory corroborate each other on the sequence of events.
It looks like the beat-down set it off.
The deceased have priors.
Duane Jefferson, bank robbery.
Pierre Hobbs, car-jacking, assault, CPW.
The third accomplice, the one who survived, Angel Colon.
No record and he's an applicant to be a corrections officer.
It seems like a big step from there to armed robbery.
Maybe he was building up his résumé.
CONNIE: We'll charge him as soon as he gets out of surgery.
As for Stan Harkavy, seems like textbook justification. No charges.
What about his unregistered shotgun?
Well, I doubt anyone in my office
is gonna wanna to pursue a misdemeanor against a 70-year-old hero
who just saved his employee's life.
The guy kills two people and he just walks out of here like nothing happened?
I get the feeling he's going to remember every day what happened.
Two doers with serious priors target a storefront tax service.
They'd have to know that there'd be slim pickings.
Maybe they thought it was an easy mark.
And this boy who wanted to be a corrections officer.
Send Mr. Harkavy home and then talk to Angel Colon's people.
Find out how he got mixed up with these thugs.
I can leave?
For now. The D.A. May have more questions.
Just don't leave town.
Where else am I going to go?
I got blood on me.
Go home, take a shower.
How's the kid who went in the ambulance?
LUPO: He's still in surgery.
He going to make it?
I hope he pulls through. I didn't think they'd all die.
You know, there are going to be a lot of reporters outside.
Do you have anyone that can come pick you up?
My son's in California. I don't want to talk to any reporters.
I can put you in a cab.
We can use the back door. You got fare?
Yeah. Thanks for sneaking me out.
Don't be surprised when the reporters show up at your door.
When my wife died, I thought that was the worst day of my life.
I know this can be hard for you, Mr. Harkavy,
but if you ever need anyone to talk to, call me, night or day.
SONYA: I've never seen these two before.
They're not friends of my son.
Angel's a good boy.
He was even trying to get a job with the city.
Any idea why he would participate in a robbery?
You don't know that he did. Maybe he was there for a good reason.
He was waiting for that job.
But he was talking about getting a bigger place.
A bigger apartment.
He have a girl?
He'd go out at night, sometimes he wouldn't come home.
I didn't ask. What's going to happen to him if he pulls through?
There'll probably be charges. Is that Angel?
Is he a black belt?
(PHONE RINGING)
Nidan, second degree.
Excuse me. That might be the hospital.
Two guys, same age, same neighborhood, both black belts.
"Way of the Warrior Dojo."
(ORDERS IN JAPANESE) (CHILDREN SHOUT)
Gregory and Angel. They took night classes a couple years back.
(ORDERS IN JAPANESE)
They were friends?
I thought so. Then one night, they were paired up for a sparring exercise.
It turned into a street fight. I had to pull them apart.
(ORDERS IN JAPANESE)
What was it about?
I didn't care to ask.
I don't tolerate that.
I told them not to come back.
Karate is about maintaining control.
Excuse me. Sure.
So Gregory lied to us. That's not very Zen of him.
(ORDERS IN JAPANESE)
(ALL SHOUT)
That was Angel Colon robbing us?
I didn't recognize him with the hood and shades.
I never figured he'd end up running with a stick-up crew.
We heard you had a fight at your dojo.
Yeah, it was about this girl, Alicia Rodriguez.
She left me to hook up with Angel. I got past it.
Is that what Angel's going to say when he wakes up?
What're you talking about?
It's not hard to imagine you being the inside man on this robbery.
Inside man? Look at my face. Those dudes were going to kill us.
Except for Stan and his shotgun.
Maybe that was your plan. Get Angel killed.
A little payback for taking your girl.
Oh, that is crazy. You ask Alicia.
I saw her on the street a couple of weeks ago.
She's pregnant. I told her it's all good.
There's no hard feelings.
When are you guys going to let me open up?
It's still a crime scene.
We'll let you know when we're done processing it.
I had to get out of my apartment. The phone's driving me crazy.
They want to take my picture, interview me.
Yo, shotgun man!
That's what I'm talking about! You show 'em, baby!
I didn't ask for any of this. Why can't they leave me alone?
Come on, Stan, let's go get some arroz con pollo.
So Alicia's baby, maybe Angel's the father.
Maybe that's why he needed a bigger apartment.
Gregory congratulated me on the baby.
He seemed real happy for me.
Happy for you and Angel.
I didn't tell him Angel's the father.
I didn't want Gregory starting up something.
BERNARD: He and Angel weren't on speaking terms?
No. But they were never friends anyway.
How did Angel end up at Gregory's job?
He knew where Gregory worked?
No.
Are you going to arrest that old man?
He was defending his business and Gregory's life.
He could have shot them in the leg.
Angel just wanted money so he could get a better place for me and the baby.
So he robs a place with 30 bucks in the till.
No. Angel said there were gold coins.
The old man had a cigar box full of gold coins in his office.
Where did Angel hear that?
The guy who set it up told him. That's all Angel was in it for.
He didn't want to hurt anybody.
Thank you, Alicia. We'll be in touch.
Gold coins in a treasure box.
(IMITATING PIRATE)
Why should I talk to you? My mom says I'm arrested.
BERNARD: Because you have about as much chance of walking away from this
as your accomplices.
So you might think about cooperating.
Duane told me. He said the old man had Krugerrands,
over 100 grand. Enough to go around.
And how did Duane know?
No idea. But I told Duane I used to know somebody who worked there.
He would have told me if there were coins.
And this somebody was Gregory Cardenas?
Yeah. I didn't know he was still working there.
Soon as I saw him, I wanted out.
I just stood by the door and hoped he didn't recognize me.
Hmm.
(GROANING)
So when you told Duane there weren't any coins,
what did he say?
He said to keep my mouth shut and not tell Pierre.
He said coins or no coins, he was going to put money in my pocket.
I didn't know what he meant, but I needed the money,
so I went along.
Nurse! Can I get some pain killers, please?
Money or not, Duane Jefferson was walking into that store.
So the gold coins might've just been a story to get his crew to go along.
If Duane wasn't in it for the money,
I'd like to know why he and his friend died.
(PHONE RINGING) Krugerrands? I don't have any gold.
You can search the office.
Oh, we did.
Hello?
No comment. And don't call back.
A reporter, she wanted to know if the police gave me back my shotgun.
Mr. Harkavy...
Stan.
Okay, Stan. Take a look at this picture again.
His name is Duane Jefferson.
Now, are you sure you never saw him?
I'm sure.
Can you think of anyone who might have wanted to hurt you?
Yeah, the three guys I shot.
(PHONE RINGING)
Yeah.
Stan has been living above his office for the past 30 years.
He owns the building besides a few grand in an IRA.
That's it.
Nothing in the back room or the apartment, no safe, no Krugerrands.
Maybe it was just neighborhood folklore.
Yes, I'm still holding.
Well, when can Dr. Knight call me back?
Thank you.
What?
Yeah, you have a nice day too.
Um, Duane Jefferson's brother claimed his body from the M.E.
Here.
Maybe he knows what his brother was really after.
Okay.
We're sorry for your loss, Mr. Jefferson.
I'm not.
The only time Duane ever called me was to bail him out.
So you two weren't close.
Not since he sold my bike to buy drugs in sixth grade.
We'd like to know why he targeted that place.
Just like Duane.
I read in the papers there was 30 bucks there.
Can you think of any other reason why he was interested in that office?
Like I explained, we didn't talk.
Anybody here he did talk to?
Those two ladies? They wandered over from the wake next door.
Any idea where Duane hung out?
He worked the door at this after-hours poker club, on West 35th.
Last time I saw him, he wanted me to meet him
outside this diner down the street.
He was going to pay me back money he owed me.
How much money?
$1,000.
He was flashing cash, rocking a new leather coat.
The leather coat he's wearing now?
Yeah, that one.
That is a real nice coat.
Where did his good fortune come from?
There was this white kid sitting in the diner,
shaggy hair and an earring.
Duane said this kid, Max,
was a regular at the poker spot.
Said he was going to set him up on a score.
I told Duane, "Whatever, good luck."
(DOOR OPENING)
Yo, player! Let's see some ID.
What'd I do?
For starters, you're patronizing an illegal gambling operation.
You're kidding me? Let's see that ID.
We have a winner. Max Purcell.
Oh. Just the man we're looking for.
We'd like to talk to you about Duane Jefferson.
Who?
No, sorry.
Don't be stupid. We have a witness who saw you with him
in the diner down the street.
Okay, so I talked to him.
So, what did you and Duane talk about?
Well, the cards weren't going my way.
Guy with hole aces, sitting on the nuts,
burned me for 8 grand.
Duane fronted me a loan.
He was playing loan shark?
He was working for one.
Got me 8,000. The vig was one point a week.
I paid him back a few days before he got killed.
Dudes, I swear. I'm just a guy who really sucks at poker.
(PHONE RINGING) LUPO: His name's Max Purcell.
He's a trust fund brat, his parents are deceased.
He lives in their apartment on Fifth Avenue.
And what's the connection between Max and the accountant?
None we could find.
Van Buren.
Oh, yes, I've been waiting for her call.
(CELL PHONE BEEPING) She's not available now?
Hold on.
Stan Harkavy, marked urgent.
Go.
Yeah. Between 4:00 and 6:00 will work.
She'll have my test results?
All right.
Thank you.
(SARCASTICALLY) Have a nice day.
Have a nice day when I'm cured.
This old guy shows up, says he's got flowers for Angel Colon.
The mother freaked out.
(SONYA SOBBING)
He shot my baby!
I came here to see how he's doing.
Get out of here! Get him out of here.
Let's get a beer.
I just wanted to say I'm sorry.
Get out of here! You shot my baby! Get off me!
He shot my baby! He shot my baby.
I worked in that neighborhood 45 years.
Got along with everybody.
Just stay away from the hospital.
I wanted to show them I'm not a monster.
I know.
There was this old guy in my neighborhood where I grew up.
Mr. Miwa. He was Japanese,
owned a bodega on Crenshaw for 30 years.
He would pay me 20 bucks a week to sweep the store every day.
Kept you off the streets.
He looked out for us.
Let my mom run up a tab when she was low on cash.
That's what makes a neighborhood.
People looking out.
You'll get that back.
(SIGHS) This whole magilla, it's too much.
I get a call yesterday.
Councilman's office. They want to give me an award.
I don't think that I'm a hero.
I don't know if I can walk back into that office.
Hey, Stan. You ready to go?
What about retiring?
Neighborhood's gentrifying.
You could get a good deal.
I don't know about that.
Oh, he's right, Stan.
You're sitting on the nuts.
You play poker?
That expression...
Oh, some guy said that.
He came into the office a few weeks ago.
Stan, you remember. He wanted to buy the place.
Oh, yeah. That punk.
He offered to buy your store?
He was full of crap. He looked like a drug addict.
Did he leave a name?
Max. He had a crazy haircut, a silver earring.
Thanks.
It wasn't a robbery. It was a shakedown.
Max Purcell sent Duane in to scare Stan into selling his place.
I don't know how much ballet I can take, Grandpop, so if I cut out early...
Oh, you better not.
Our family's been paying for tutus and codpieces for 30 years.
The least you can do is suffer through one performance a year.
Max. We have a warrant for your arrest.
What're you doing?
Max, keep quiet. You call Otto Bradshaw.
Tell him I need him right away.
I'm Julian Hayworth, this young man's grandfather.
What are you arresting him for? Is it his gambling?
We don't arrest gamblers, Mr. Hayworth.
Shakedown artists, yes, but not gamblers.
People v. Maxwell Purcell. One count Attempted Robbery,
two counts Second Degree Murder.
I plead not guilty, Your Honor.
JUDGE: This is the accounting office shooting in Spanish Harlem?
The People allege that the defendant acted in concert with...
Who are these names?
The robbery team, Judge.
The dead guys? Really?
Max Purcell orchestrated this robbery to coerce the owner to sell him the building.
We contest that. And where's the vigilante who gunned down three men?
Uh, we're not prosecuting Mr. Harkavy.
Oh, I see. Jack McCoy's telling us all to arm ourselves
with unlicensed weapons and fire away at the least provocation.
Mr. Harkavy acted in self-defense.
It's Mr. Bradshaw's client who put in motion
the events that caused these deaths.
It's a tough sell, Mr. Cutter.
Bail is set at $100,000. Next case.
Stan Harkavy deserves a medal.
If their strategy is to turn him into
some kind of crazed vigilante, it won't work.
I'm worried about proving motive.
What's a trust fund kid like Max Purcell want
with a rundown building in Spanish Harlem?
He wants it so bad he sends out a crew to terrorize the owner?
You know, Max's grandfather didn't bother showing up for the arraignment.
Maybe he's ready to throw the kid to the wolves.
JULIAN: Mr. Bradshaw would have my right testicle for talking to you.
But anything to clear up a misunderstanding.
Well, the misunderstanding is
your grandson doesn't appreciate how much trouble he's in.
(CHUCKLES)
That's a characteristic of the pathology of gambling, no?
He got that bad gene from my late son-in-law.
We were curious as to why he was interested in Mr. Harkavy's building.
Oh.
Maybe to turn it into a craps parlor. Who knows?
Max gets a modest stipend from his trust fund.
He couldn't afford to put a down payment on that building, much less buy it.
You own all of these buildings, don't you?
At one time or another.
Sold off most of my blue-chip properties.
The recession put the rest of my portfolio in the crapper.
Maybe your grandson thought you were going to help him get into the family business.
You'll help him buy that building.
Lord, no. Max and I don't have that kind of relationship.
He's family, so I support him.
The Carolyn Hayworth Library, Hudson University.
Did you go there?
My daughter did, my only child, Max's mother.
Whatever I have left at the end of my days, I promised to Hudson,
to build this in her memory.
Everything you have?
Max couldn't be too happy about that.
A deal's a deal.
Max has his trust fund to keep him afloat.
Anything else?
CONNIE: I don't think so.
Mike?
Oh, I'm sorry. No. No more questions.
Good meeting you, Mr. Hayworth.
Nice library. Big too.
Not something you can just put anywhere.
Mr. Hayworth committed to donate the money at the end of the year
in the form of an annuity.
He'll receive an annual payout off the interest until his death,
and the library will be fully funded.
Everybody's happy.
Well, we certainly are.
His family objected?
His grandson Max came in a few weeks ago.
He claimed his grandfather had lost a great deal of his fortune
since agreeing to the donation.
He wanted us to tear up the contract.
CONNIE: You obviously declined.
KENSEY: Well, a gift of this size doesn't come around every day.
And besides, unless we hear from Mr. Hayworth...
This is where the library's being built?
It changes every few months,
but yes, that is the latest and hopefully final plan.
Max Purcell saw this?
Yes. I told him the university's expanding up into Spanish Harlem.
Right through Stan Harkavy's building.
PEWLS: It was Stan Harkavy Day in Spanish Harlem,
where thousands of New Yorkers came out
to support latest hero in the Big Apple.
Like millions of decent, hard-working people in this city,
I want to applaud Mr. Harkavy for defending
his employee and his business against these armed predators.
Looks like Len Pewls jumped right on that bandwagon.
Stan Harkavy's a perfect excuse
for one of his thinly veiled racist commentaries.
Well, fair warning, but I'll be giving Stan his award
at his commendation ceremony tomorrow.
Why?
Well, when the defense is calling Stan a vigilante,
I thought it can't hurt to showcase his heroism.
Besides,
I respect the guy.
It can't have been easy persevering in that neighborhood all those years.
It's a free country.
I'm more interested in your case against Max Purcell.
Well, I think we nailed his motive.
His grandfather is about to give away Max's inheritance
to build a library at Hudson University.
And there was nothing Max could do about it.
Until he found out Stan's building runs smack in the middle
of the real estate Hudson needs to build the library.
CUTTER: If he got control of that property,
he could hold them up and force old man Hayworth to pay him off.
Too bad for him he ran into someone even more stubborn than his grandfather.
CUTTER: So now I'd like to present this award to someone
who's dedicated his life to serving one of our communities,
and now he's demonstrated his heroism
by defending the business that he built
and the young man who worked for him.
Ladies and gentlemen, Stan Harkavy.
I'm an accountant.
I know my way around a tax form.
I'm not much for talking.
I'm not proud about what happened.
I wish those men had never stepped into my store.
I'm just glad that me and Gregory are still alive.
Thank you for the fancy plaque.
Looks like Hudson University
sent someone to kiss Stan Harkavy's ring.
That's their development officer.
The one handling the Hayworth Library gift.
I'm sure Hudson planned on buying all that real estate on the cheap.
But now that Mr. Harkavy's gotten all this public sympathy,
it's going to cost them.
Uh-oh, here comes trouble.
Ms. Rubirosa.
Thought I might run into you here.
Mr. McCoy.
What did I tell you? Motion to dismiss.
A defendant can't be charged with felony murder
if his accomplices are killed during their crime.
That presumes a common intent among the participants.
While robbery was the intent of Mr. Purcell's accomplices,
his intent was intimidation.
He makes a good point, Mr. Bradshaw.
Where is the proof that my client sent these men into that store?
It's speculation based on a single coincidence
that my client knew one of the robbers from his poker game.
Well, one man's coincidence is another man's circumstantial evidence.
Nice try, Mr. Cutter, but I take Mr. Bradshaw's point.
I'm dismissing the indictment until the People have an offer of proof
that this robbery was connected to Mr. Purcell's scheme to buy the building.
Angel can't get a fair shake in the city.
We'll be moving for a change of venue.
Try this case in Niagara Falls,
it won't change the fact your client was found wounded at the crime scene.
Are you going to claim he was there to get his tax returns done?
I know I shouldn't have been there, okay?
Is there anything you can do for me?
Let's talk about that after you do something for us.
CONNIE: You know him?
His name's Max Purcell.
Angel... It's okay.
I wish I could say I did, but I don't.
Duane ever mention Max? Maybe you heard them talking on the phone.
No. Can't you check Duane's phones?
Phones? His home and his cell?
No. Duane had two cells. His regular one and his ho phone.
His ho phone?
You know, a disposable.
So he can run around on his ladies.
The police only found one cell phone.
You happen to know any of those ladies Duane might've called?
He called Pierre's sister a few times.
Pierre wasn't too happy about that.
We traced 15 calls to Pierre Hobbs' sister back to a cell phone number
that had calls to several other women that Duane was seeing.
Duane looks like a busy guy. But I don't see any calls to Max.
But look at these. Right here.
"Desiree's House of Beauty." Duane was dating a hairdresser?
It's on the same block as Stan's store.
The calls start the day Max went to visit Stan to offer to buy his place.
Yeah, I gave him my number. He called me that night.
He didn't tell me he was a criminal.
Mmm, mmm, mmm.
Okay. Did Duane tell you why he was in the neighborhood?
I don't remember.
Girl, you don't remember anything.
He was waiting on some white boy he was driving around.
He parked across the street, leaning on his car,
staring at her through that window.
What kind of car?
A blue BMW. No doubt you remember that. (SCOFFS)
He would have stayed in here all day wasting her time
if that white boy hadn't come running back to the car.
Is this the white boy?
That's right. Mr. Harkavy was chasing him.
Duane ran out of here.
When Mr. Harkavy saw him coming, he went back in his shop.
You're saying Mr. Harkavy saw Duane?
Mmm-hmm. He sure did.
This is what you get for displaying yourself in a window.
I thought Stan Harkavy told you he'd never seen Duane
until the day of the shooting.
That's right. That's what he told us.
How can we be sure that Stan lied,
or that he even got a look at Duane?
The woman at the salon is pretty sure he did.
He backed off when he saw Duane.
Stan is 68.
In the fear and confusion of a hold-up,
he might not remember a face he only saw for a few seconds.
Well, he's sharp enough to shoot three men.
Mike, I know you're in the Stan Harkavy fan club,
but he's been looking at Duane's mug shot for the last two weeks.
It's incomprehensible he didn't remember seeing him.
Okay. Okay. So, if he did recognize Duane
from the time he saw him with Max, then he might've figured out
that it wasn't a hold-up and it was just intimidation.
And that his life and Gregory's weren't really in danger.
Stan was behind the counter and I was over here.
I was down on the floor and the guy was kicking me in the face.
And then, um, this guy...
Where was this guy?
He was over there, he was yelling, "Give it up, bitch!"
And then I heard the first boom.
Who did Stan shoot first?
The guy hitting me. He was standing over me.
LUPO: Are you sure about that?
See, our lab analyzed these blood spatters on the wall,
and Pierre's blood, the guy who was beating you,
was on top of Duane's.
Which means Duane got shot first.
Maybe you want to take another run at that answer.
(SIGHS)
Uh, yeah, yeah. I guess that's right.
Stan shot that Duane dude first.
Why did you lie?
Before the cops came,
Stan told me it would look better
if we said the first guy he shot was the one beating me.
All right, before we all jump to conclusions,
let me talk to the man.
The kid was by himself when he came in to buy my building.
But you had an argument. You chased him outside.
Come on, Stan. This is important.
Okay, so maybe I went outside.
Did you see the black guy that was with Max?
I didn't see any black guy.
There's a witness that says you did.
A witness who knows what I saw.
Who is this person?
It doesn't matter.
It matters to me!
Why are you doing this? I thought you were my friend.
Did you recognize one of those robbers, Stan, the guy that was with Max?
Tell me the truth.
You did, didn't you?
I'm an old man.
I don't remember what I saw.
I see you have something here from Kingsley Properties.
They're a commercial real estate broker.
How do I know? It's junk mail.
Hand-addressed junk mail.
Mr. Harkavy came to see me to get an informal appraisal on his property.
This was before the robbery?
Yes. Somebody made him an offer,
and he wanted to find out if it was a good deal.
Was it?
Not by a long shot.
I knew Hudson University was eyeballing the area.
I called my sources over there,
and they confirmed their expansion plans
tracked right through Mr. Harkavy's block.
So Stan knew the value of his building was about to skyrocket?
I told him to sit tight.
Hudson will pay far more than any private developer.
And now with all this attention,
he can tack on another 10% just for the sympathy factor.
Before those three thugs came into his store,
Stan Harkavy knew he was sitting on a gold mine.
Ever since, he's been milking it to drive up the price.
Let's assume that that's true.
Why would Stan intentionally gun down men
he knew were only sent to intimidate him?
CONNIE: Maybe to get Max off his back,
or just to send a message that he wouldn't be pushed around.
I see. And he made all those fine calculations in a few seconds.
Maybe he was just pissed off at the men who were trying to scare him.
(SIGHS)
I don't know.
You don't know, or you don't want to think about
all the crow you'll have to eat if we charge him?
Folk heroes.
That's the problem with these Joe the Plumber types.
More often than not, they come back to bite you in the ass.
You now have a witness
who can put Max Purcell with Duane Jefferson.
Re-charge him. See if he'll deal.
And what about Stan?
Go to the grand jury and ask for an indictment for murder.
You sure?
Even if he recognized Duane Jefferson,
his office was still being robbed.
His employee was still being beaten.
The homicides were legally justified.
He recognized Jefferson and he lied about it.
That's consciousness of guilt.
He shot these men because he had his own agenda.
I tried to talk to my grandfather.
I tried to talk to the university.
All I kept hearing was, "A deal's a deal."
So I thought if I bought a property
right where they wanted to put that damn library,
I'd have leverage.
So you targeted Stan Harkavy's store?
It was the only thing I could afford.
I was a little nervous about the neighborhood so I took Duane Jefferson with me.
I left him outside and I went in to talk to Stan.
But Stan was too stubborn to listen.
He got angry and when I left, he ran out after me, calling me a punk.
CONNIE: Where was Duane when this happened?
He came running out of this hair salon.
When Stan saw him coming,
he got scared and ran back into his store.
You're sure that Mr. Harkavy saw Mr. Jefferson?
Oh, yeah. His eyes got real big.
Duane was a scary-looking dude.
Did you try again to buy the building?
I figured I had to soften Stan up at first.
So I paid Duane $8,000 to send some guys to shake him up,
make it look like a robbery.
It never dawned on me that Stan might have a gun.
Are you giving this testimony in exchange for anything, Mr. Purcell?
I made a deal to plead guilty to attempted extortion.
They promised me five years in jail if I told the truth.
I opened that office 45 years ago.
Evelyn, my wife,
God rest her soul,
and me, we put everything we had in it.
My first customers, now their grandchildren, bring me their tax returns.
I hire kids from the neighborhood,
go to their graduations, their weddings.
That office is like a part of me,
like my lungs and my heart.
I got my whole life in there.
So when these punks come to rob me
and beat up the young man who worked for me,
I couldn't stand there and let them do it.
I just couldn't.
I'm not happy I killed them.
But they shouldn't have come in my office to do what they did.
Max Purcell came into your store and offered to buy it, isn't that right?
That's right. I told him to go to hell.
In fact, you followed him all the way to his car.
I had to tell that punk what I thought of his offer.
And at that time, you saw Duane Jefferson.
No, I didn't. Anybody who says that, they're lying.
Then when the three men came into your store, why did you shoot Mr. Jefferson first?
I didn't.
We heard forensic testimony that proves you shot Mr. Jefferson first.
I was scared. They were beating Gregory.
Then why didn't you shoot the man who was assaulting your employee?
I could've shot Gregory.
Gregory testified he was on the ground.
You had a clear shot at the man who was kicking him,
the only man who was armed.
I don't know. It was very confusing.
I don't think you were confused at all, Mr. Harkavy.
A realtor told you how much your building was worth.
You recognized Duane Jefferson.
You knew this was just a shakedown,
but you weren't going to take it.
You were going to send a message to that punk Max Purcell.
I didn't plan this.
All I wanted to do was go home that night, watch my programs,
do a crossword puzzle.
But they came in looking for trouble.
And I stood up for myself.
There's nothing wrong with that and you know it.
Ever since he has become district attorney,
Mr. McCoy has used his office
to pursue some quixotic liberal wet dream.
Mr. McCoy, why are you prosecuting Stan Harkavy?
I can't comment. Grand jury proceedings are secret.
Then when are you going to stop displaying such a decidedly liberal bias
in your prosecutions?
Since when is it liberal bias to stand up for human dignity and human life,
for fairness under the law?
You should re-examine your own values, Mr. Pewls,
before you start questioning mine.
(SIGHS) The jury's been deliberating for almost four hours.
We heard some raised voices.
No doubt about it, it's a hot potato.
Not to mention Stan's a real charmer.
(BUZZING)
Thank you.
No true bill.
Sorry, Jack.
These are the rules we play by.
I guess that grand jury's made up of average Joes like me,
and when push came to shove,
they couldn't fault me for standing up for myself.
That's all I have to say.
I won't be doing any more interviews.
Goodbye.
I didn't hear you come in.
You got a 1040 you want me to take care of?
No, I just came to see how you were doing.
I'm doing fine.
The university made me an offer.
I'm going to buy a condo in Palm Beach.
Move down there.
So you got what you wanted.
I didn't want it, not like this.
It fell in my lap.
Maybe so.
But I know you felt bad about it
and you had a chance to come clean.
You didn't.
What do you know about anything?
Talk to me in 40 years.
(DOOR OPENING)
Can I help you, ma'am?
I do my own taxes, Mr. Harkavy.
I just wanted my son to meet a real live hero.
What's your name, young man?
Eddie.
Nice to make your acquaintance, Eddie.
Ripped & Corrected By mstoll