TV-Serie: Shark - 2x15
ladies and gentlemen The playboy mansion would like to welcome the artists of palladium records.
Abby,don't be sucha stupid bitch.
You want to go back to singing in coffee shops?
Get your hands off of me!
Fine.
Just...
come as soonasou can,okay?
Bye.
For me?
You shouldn't have.
Very funny.
Ahh...let me guess.
Trevor.
Aren't they gorgeous?
Just please tell me he didn'twrite a cheesy love poem.
Trevor is not cheesy.
He didn't even send a note.
I just kindathought that,you know,once he moved to boston...
don't start.
He's only there for a few monthsworking for his brother.
It seems to me that youmight be a little young for a long-distancerelationship.
I don't expect youto understanD.
Just to keep my mouth shut.
Exactly.
yeah.
Where?
Be right there.
What do you think?
beautiful.
Like you.
Abigail coleman.
22.
Passing car spotted heraround 5:00 A.M.
She's only been in L.A.A couple of years.
She's an up-and-coming singer.
A single on itunesand a cd coming out.
Any clue on amurder weapon?
They're lookingfor it right now.
Well,somebody really did a jobon this kid,didn't they?
Multiple blowsto the head.
Assailant wasseriously pissed off.
Yeah,lookslike she's missing an earring.
Yeah.
It was probably ripped out during the struggle.
They have a time of death yet?
The me putsthe time of death between midnightand 4:00 A.M.
But we do knowshe was at a party her record companythrew last night at the playboymansion.
Oh,which explainswhy hugh hefner left a voicemailon my cell phone.
Maybe he wants herto be miss july.
Hit song.
Album coming out.
She could have been a star.
Ladies and gentlemen...
abby colemanhas left the building.
Hef is a great guy, so let's just put the femist attitude on hold,shall we?
Hef!
Long time no see.
Jordan!
I didn't know you were gonna be here.
Oh,it's so great to see you,hef.
Thank you for coming,sebastian.
Anytime,hef.
Uh...so,anyway,this was a music industry party last night?
Palladium records.
And all the music I$ executives were here?
Yes,the usual circus.
So,what?
It's agents,a&r people,producers,musicians?
Yes,and this girl was one of our guests.
I want whoever did this caught.
We'll do whatever we can to help.
I appreciate that.
Well,I hope I see you soon.
Well,we're having a party hereex nweek.
The playmate of the year.
You're both invited.
how great is it to be you?
It doesn't suck.
Thank you.
Bye.
And you know hef how?
Wouldn't you like to know?
I would like T...
So,the valet guy said the place was mobbed last night.
He's checking with his crew.
That was the victim's sister in winnipeg.
All she knows is that abby was dating some musician named donny.
And look at this.
The victim placed a call from her cell phone to a guy named donald garland at midnight, and another one an hour later.
It's the last call she ever made.
I thin better bring mr.
Garland in for a chat.
This is crazy.
I just talked to abby last night.
What time was that?
She called around midnight.
I was in the middle of a session.
What did she say?
She sounded upset.
She was at thapat y and she wanted me to go pick her up, but we still had one more track to lay down.
Well,what time did you finally get out of there?
Well,about 1:00 A.M.
She called back.
Didn't leave a message,so I called her.
She didn't pick up.
And so I just went home.
Your girlfriend is at the playboy mansion, and you're okay with her just finding her own way home?
She was there for work.
Okay?
Abby wasn't like that.
How were you two getting along?
Fine.
Great.
Wh...
you think i killed abby?
You do havea criminal record,mr.** Possession of cocaine with intent to distribute?
Yeah.
Sure.
I used to supply the sessions.
I needed the money,but I've been clean for six years.
I loved abby.
I shoulda left the damn session the moment she called, but,I swear to god,I didn't kill her.
The record company limo dropped abby off at the playboy mansion, but she never took the return trip.
So,if the boyfriend didn't pick her up,who'd she leave with?
Me's office narrowed down the time of death to a two-hour window, sometime between 1:00 and 3:00 A.M.
Which means garland doesn't ibi out.
He got out of his session at 1:00.
That leaves him plenty of time.
I talked to some of the other musicians.
They said donny was pissed at abby.
He thought she was seeing somebody else.
Who?
Rupert stone.
The record producer?
Yeah.
Amy winehouse,norah jones...
abby coleman.
Yup.
He's palladium's go-to guy for promising female musicians.
He was at the party.
According to some of the party guests,stone's got a really bad rep with women.
They say he's seriously twisted.
That may be why he won't talk to us without his lawyer.
Okay.
Anybody else who could shed light on the relationship between stone and abby?
Yeah,gina romero.
She's the executive at palladium.
She put stone and abby together.
All right.
Go talk to her.
Abby was sleeping with this creep.
We just may have our man.
Hey,uh,gina romero?
Uh...danny reyes.
Da's office.
Thank you for taking the timeto meet with me.
Thank you.
I love these guys.
You a music fan?
We're from pasadena.
We'll be back in a bit.
Ah,a little bit.
I usedto mess around on the drums.
You know,most peoplewouldn't know good music if it smacked them in the ass and then those people end uprunning record companies.
So,I was hoping to ask youabout abby coleman.
I still can't believe it.
Were you two close?
I discovered abby.
Open mic at the rainbow.
I signed heron the spot.
She was a sweet kid.
Kind of naive,but shewas something special.
Her album wasgonna be amazing.
Is this the album thatrupert stone was producing?
Yeah.
Although,thatwasn't my decisi.
Isn't stone supposed to besome kind of a musical genius?
He is.
These days,if yourfirst record doesn't sell,you don't get a second shot.
That's why the companyuses rupert.
He delivers.
So what's the problem?
Let's just say rupert canbe difficult to deal with.
Especially for female artists?
Yeah.
Look...abby's boyfriend thoughtshe was sleeping with stone.
You know anything about that?
If you're asking meas a representative of palladium records,the answer's no.
Fair enough.
What about the partyat the playboy mansion?
Yeah,it's our biggest event ofthe year.
I was there all night.
Did you notice any tensionbetween abby and stone?
Look,I know that you're in atough position, but I really need your help tofind out what happened to abby.
Abby and rupert were arguing,which isn't unusual whenyou're making a record, but this did seempretty intense.
I was worried about abby.
Every day,I meet kids who are willing to selltheir souls to become famous.
Abby was different.
She was all about the music.
I was supposedto take care of her.
I have to say,mr.
Stone,I am a little surprised you felt the need to bringyour attorney with you.
Cut the crap,sebastian.
What happened at the party?
I stayed till 12:30.
I drove home alone...and went to bed.
You left out the part where you and abby colemanargued in the grotto.
It was a creative dispute.
Care to elaborate?
Well,without gettingtoo technical,we disagreed about the tempoof the title track.
I have 12platinum records,which is 12 good reasonsto do it my way.
And abby wasn't happyabout that?
Abby's job was to be a star.
No one saidshe needed to be happy.
And now she's dead.
As we've already established.
Well,since you drove homealone,I'm sure you won't mind if we search your car.
No.
Not as long as you can get awarrant.
Good luck with that.
Luck is for losers.
If the shoe fits.
We're done here.
She's right.
We don'thave enough for a warrant.
Don't need one.
Okay.
I would like to have acareer after this case.
You worry too much.
hold it.
Hey,hey,hey,hey!
You can't do that without a warrant.
Turns out there's an exception to thatwhole warrant thing: Exigent circumstances.
Such as when someone'sabout to destroy evidence by cleaning out their car.
You got to be kidding me.
Got something!
Found this in the upholsteryon the passenger's side.
Same one we took offabby coleman's body.
Get him out of here.
Get you hands off of me!
The search was illegal.
Mr.
Stark createdthe exigent circumstances by threatening my client.
It's immaterial,judge.
Mr.
Stone ordered the driver to clean the carand destroy evidence.
Which includeda bloody earring and a scrap of thevictim's clothing.
All of which is fruit of the poisonous treeand inadmissible.
Ms.
Westlake,last I recall,you were prosecuting the forfeitureof Mr.
Stark's home.
I don't see the relevance.
Mr.
Stark likes living on the edge,and I'm just troubled to findyou out there with him.
But I'm more troubled bythe defense's blatant attempt to destroy evidence.
The search is creative,but I'll uphold it.
Thank you,your honor.
And as to our request for a warrant to searchthe defendant's home?
You've got your warrant,but I cautionthe prosecution, you keep pushing the envelope,and I will push back...
hard.
That's all.
I ran security tapes.
Stone's car left the mansionaround 12:30 A.M.
And you can see abbyin the car.
Nice.
Anything else?
Yeah.
The me foundshards of metal embedded in the victim's skull.
Narrows down the possibilityon the murder weapon.
Okay,but the problem iswe searched every inch of the canyon from the crime sceneat stone's place and we have nothing.
Well,here's a warrant.
Whatever he usedto kill her,let's hope he took it homewith him.
Find a weapon?
No,not yet,but you definitelyneed to see this.
oh,my god!
A sex dungeon?
I guess stone likesa little s&m with his r&B.
It's hard to believepeople get off on this stuff.
Don't knock ittill you try it.
Just found thisin the garage outside.
That's blood.
Time for stoneto face the music.
okay,somebodyhad to say it.
So you're kindof a freak,rupert.
Different strokes.
Yo ainviteu bby down into thatlittle chamber of horrors you got in your basement?
Unfortunately,abbywasn't into that,despite my best efforts.
Let's,uh,geton with it.
What did you and abbyreally fight about that night?
And forget the crapabout creative differences.
She wanted to endour relationship.
There's a shocker.
She say why?
She was dating some session musician.
Hmm,how'd you take that?
Honestly?
I laughed.
I could have donea lot for her,but she preferred to sleepwith the band.
Sounds like a step up to me.
So if abby was dumping you,why'd she go homewith you?
She called her true loveto pick her up,but he couldn'tbe bothered.
I'm nothingif not a gentleman.
And how do we get to the partwhere she ends up dead by the side of the road?
My client didn't kill her.
Her blood is in your car,rupert.
Things got rough.
What,did you hit her?
Maybe.
Maybe?
Fine.
I hit her.
I'd been drinking.
Abby was going offabout the record,whining about how it wasdistorting her voice, which is total crap.
It got physical,I pulled over,kicked her out of the car.
But she was alive when I left.
You left a young girlon the side of mulholland in the middle of the night?
Yeah.
I'm a real son of a bitch.
But I'm not a murderer.
What about that bloodied love hammer we found in your garage?
That has nothing to do with this.
Until we atch mabby's dna to the bloodstains.
You know what?
I think I've had enough,so 25 to life.
We'll call it a crime of passionand keep your client off death row.
Otherwise,I get up in frontof a jury with picturesof your torture chamber.
You in a thong with a mace.
Like it?
No deal.
So far everything we've gotis circumstantial.
So we build the best circumstantial caseknown to man.
Starting with what?
Stone's got a sex dungeonin his house.
That means more girls.
Or boys,possiblyfarm animals.
Okay,so we need one who will testify that this guyis a violent psychopath.
Question is,where do we look?
Well,when a big shotrecord producer beats up a girl,who do you thinkcleans up the mess?
The record company.
Hey,give thelady a grammy.
That record exec you met,she know wherethe bodies are buried?
I don't know.
Find out.
Nice putt,gina.
We meet again.
This is the last place I'd expect to find you.
You want to playwith the big boys,you come where the big boysplay.
Who's your friend?
Jordan westlake.
I tee off with the presidentof the label in ten minutes.
So what can I do for you,jordan?
Well,you could tell us about rupert stone'shistory with women.
No comment.
Look,gina,we're hearinglots of rumors,claims of sexual harassment,abuse.
All settled quietlyby the lawyers from palladium records.
Rupert has his issues,but he's a major asset to the company,and we protect our assets.
Excuse me.
Gina,hold on.
I took a risk talking to youin the first place.
I don't appreciatebeing put in this position.
I know,and I'm sorry,but abby colemanwas murdered.
I know you cared about her.
Don't you think I wantto help you?
I can'T.
Just trust me,gina,all right?
I won't make you testify againstyour company's star producer,but I need a name.
How did you meet rupert stone?
I was a dancerin a music video he produced.
After the shoot,he invited meto come back to his place.
I was pretty drunk,and,um,rupert took me downstairsinto his basement.
I never saw anythinglike that before.
After a while,I told him atth had to go,and...
he got angry,abusive.
He slapped me around,and I...
stone was coked out of his mindthat night.
I thought he was gonna kill me.
But you never pressed charges?
Palladium records paid meto drop it.
And I just wanted to forgetit ever happened.
Test came back on the flail positive for blood.
None of it belongsto abby coleman.
Great.
We knowthis guy stone's a sicko.
We have nomurder weapon.
We still have laurel hasbrook,the girl stone assaulted before.
It's not enough.
We need to throw the kitchen sinkat this wack job.
All right,back to square zero.
Isaac,I need you to geton sid and forensics.
We know there'ssomething missing.
Find out what.
Raina,madeleine,talk to everyonewho was at that party: Guests,workers,bunnies.
I don't care who they are,find out everythingthat happened that night,okay?
Danny,so how's your relationshipwith this gina romero?
She trusts me.
Good,because I need her to testify about stone's historywith women.
Look,I promised hershe wouldn't have to do that.
And I promised my mamaI'd be a priest,but hey,things change.
Hey,look,without a murder weapon,we need every witnesswe can get.
Make it happen.
gina?
gina?!
hey.
Hey.
maybe I should just come back.
Or come in.
The water's fantastic.
I didn't bring my suit.
Even better.
You wanted to see me.
Well,here I am.
Look,gina,this is tough,and I'm really sorry, but I'm gonna need you totestify against rupert stone.
I told you I can't do that.
I'm afraid you don'treally have a choice.
If you don't agree,my boss will subpoena you.
I'll say I don't know anything.
Trust me,you don'twant to do that.
Look,stone killed abby,okay?
You can't just let himwalk away.
You think I want that?
Then help me take him down.
Hand me that towel,will you?
Thank you.
Look,I understandyour situation.
No,you don'T.
You know how many girls havebeen hospital visits,police stations?
You should put a stop to it.
I'm a cog in the machinethat rupert stone feeds, and a machine will do anythingto keep him churning out the hits.
Plus,stone knowsI have dirt on him.
You want me to end uplike abby?
I can protect you.
Yeah?
Like you kept meoff the stand?
Just do the right thing,for abbyand yourself.
I should go danny...
I can think about 500 reasonswhy this is a really bad idea.
Yeah,I know,but right now,I can't think of one.
Marcy danner?
We're from theda's office.
Can we ask youa few questions?
About what?
You were thecatering manager the night of thepalladium records party at the playboy mansion?
Yeah,I workall their music parties.
Is this about abby coleman?
Do you remember seeing herat the party?
Yeah,she was with that creeprupert stone.
You should hear the storiesabout that guy.
Trust me.
We have.
Did you hearthem arguing?
Yeah,it's pretty hard to miss.
He called her an ungratefulbitch,then gina came over.
Gina romero?
Do you know her?
I used to be a musician.
Everybody on the sceneknows gina.
She discovers you,you go places.
So after gina came over,what happened next?
Stone dragged abby out.
A few minulater,gina left,too.
She left?
Are you sure about that?
Yeah she was parkedby the service gate to avoid the mob scene at the valet.
There's no video surveillanceat the service gate.
Which is why we don't haveany footage of her leaving.
Do you knowhow long she was gone?
I don't know.
*** She couldhave been there when abby was killed.
Danny.
Oh,my god.
yeah.
Where have you been?
We tried to reach you all night.
Uh,yeah,sorry,my phone died.
You talked to gina?
Yeah.
Yeah,she'll testify.
We're all good.
No,we're not.
Gina left the party that nightaround the same time as the murder.
Came back an hour later.
Are you sure?
Well,we've got a witness and gina has a historyof covering for stone.
If she's helpi,toneng s then why the hellis she cooperating with us?
That's what I'd like to know.
Danny?
I'll call you back.
Everything okay?
Actually,no.
You said you wereat the mansion all night.
What are you talking about?
You left the party.
Then you came back,gina.
Hey,look,danny,you have to understand...
I understand that you lied to me.
I'm sorry,okay.
I was scared.
I still am.
I mean I know what was going onbetween stone and abby.
I knew what he was caple of.
Where'd you go?
I was headed to stone'sto get abby out of there before something happened.
But I was too late.
I found her on mulholland.
You found her deadand you just left her there?
I didn't know what else to do.
You could have calledthe police,gina.
Know,I know,but I panicked.
Listen,I know whatI did was wrong,but I'm tryingto make up for it.
And you'll get your chance.
Because you're testifyingto all this,or you're looking atobstruction of justice.
And that's just for starters.
wait.
Danny!
Jules,you in here?
reading my mail now?
I'm sorry.
It's okay.
It just came today.
He finally gotto the poetry. "
She walks in beauty."
Not exactly cheesy.
That's because it's lord byron.
Still no signature.
I think it's romantic.
Yeah...
you know,jules,I knowhow you feel about trevor.
What happened between you two was a big deal.
What are you talking about?
Oh,my god.
Mom told you,didn't she?
She didn't have to.
I saw the wayyou looked at him.
I heard you talk about him.
I was youngonce,too.
In a previous millennium.
I don't know what to say.
Are you ashamed of me?
Ashamed of you?
God,n ho,ey.
No.
I mean,don't get me wrong: I wish it hadn't happenedin my lifetime.
I love him,dad.
I know you do.
But he's 3,000 miles away,and you don't even knowwhen he's coming back.
It doesn't changethe way I feel.
I just don't want to seeyou hurt; that's all.
the people haveno murder weapon,no eyewitnesses, and no physical evidence to prove mr.
Stonecommitted this crime.
The defense moves for immediate dismissal.
The victim's bloody earring was in the defendant's car.
And we willproduce a witness who will providevery pertinent testimony.
When?
Tomorrow,your honor.
Very well,I'll postponeruling on a dismissal until we hear this earth-shattering testimony.
All I can say is,your little pal better deliver.
Yeah,look,about that-- there's somethingI got to tell you.
hello.
What?
No,look,you calm down.
You just wait there.
I'll be right over.
I never saw the guy before.
He just cameout of the kitchen.
Did he say anything?
Yeah,he said that this was a messagefrom rupert stone and that next timehe would be more persuasive.
Look,we're going to getthe son of a bitch,okay?
I told youwhat he was capable of.
You said that you would protect me.
I can try,but I've been downthis road before.
There are no guarantees.
damn it!
Maybe you shouldn't testify.
What are you doing?
Screw him!
He sends some goon to my houseto threaten me.
What's this?
This is my history of coveringrupert stone's ass.
Hospital reports,expunged police records,payoffs to girls he hurt.
I kept a record of all of it.
Put this bastard ay.
She scanned everythinginto her computer, including documented complaintsfrom female victims.
What does she want?
Immunity.
Forget it.
She's open to chargesof accessory after the fact.
For finding a dead body and not reporting it,you're damn right she is.
I know someone elsewho did that once.
A: My conductis not the issue here, and b: What is itwith you and this woman?
The other night-- when you sentme over there to talk to her...
come on.
Yove got to be kidding.
Look,I just didwhat you told me to do.
I told you to get information, not play hide the salami with a material witness in a murder case.
You've done worse.
Call lapd.
Put someone on gina romero.
Go home.
You're off the case.
Aw,come on...
now.
Beat it.
Look,you've got every rightto be pissed off, but e did give useverything we need against stone.
Yeah,that's my problem.
Everything we know about stonewe got from gina romero.
We've seen exactlywhat she wants us to see.
Now it's time to find outwhat she didn't want us to see.
The lab recovered the deletedfiles from gina's home computer.
Don't we need a warrantto dump someone's computer?
Not when they're inprotve custody.
Gina romero agreed to havelapd in her home.
We found payments from ginato two different women.
One of them's our victim; the other one's nameis marcy danner.
The caterer thatmadeline and I interviewed?
She used to be a musician and gina signed her topalladium records four years ago, but the labeldropped her eight months later.
What was the money for?
Rent,car payments.
Gina pretty much supportedthese girls.
Yeah,but all these arefrom gina's personal account.
There's no record of palladiumbeing billed for any of this.
You need to see this.
Red light cameraon ventura five miles pastthe murder site.
That's rupert stone's car headedhome and he's alone.
Fascinating.
What is the point?
Lookt the time stamp: 12:56 A.M.
Abby coleman calledher boyfriend donny garland at 12:58 A.M.
Which means she was still alive afterrupert stone dropped her off.
And why didn't we know thissooner?
Well,it's thedefense attorney's job to alibi rupert stone.
Wrong.
It's your job.
You want to win?
You build your case and their case.
Stone still could have gone homeand come back and killed her.
Doesn't make sense.
Look,whoever killed this girlwas in a rage.
There is no waythat he dropped her off, drove all the way down the hilland then back up to kill her.
And we have no evidenceon her boyfriend.
Which leaves uswith one viable suspect we can actually placeat the scene of the crime, and that,ladies and gtlenen,is our star witness who danny happensto be schtupping.
I was better off when I was disbarred.
All right,you're sayingthat gina killed abby.
But thenwho beat up gina?
Anything can be had at price.
Even a beating.
My clients did it.
More than once.
Why am I not surprised?
Look,the question here is motive.
Why would gina romerokill abby coleman?
Okay,guys,that was the lab.
They narroweddown the metal fibers they foundin the victim's skull.
Uh,compositegraphite and titanium.
Titanium.
Like a golf club.
What's going on,danny?
Why haven't I heardfrom you?
I'm off the case.
But I know stonealibi'd out,which means stark's comingafter you.
You were giving money to abby and someone named marcy,gina.
Yeah.
Marcy danner,she was a singer.
It didn't work out.
And why were you paying her rentout of your own pocket?
Because that's what I dowhen I believe in someone.
I support them.
Look,I really wantto believe you.
I do.
But I need you totell me the truth.
And I promise you,I'll dowhatever I can to help you.
I am telling you the truth,danny.
I swear.
Okay.
All right,I'lldo what I can.
But I need you to sit tight tillyou hear from me,all right?
Gina,what are youdoing here?
Just came to giveyou a heads-up.
There'll be some das comingto talk to you about me.
And you would really bedoing me a big favor,if you just kept it simple.
You are a singer.
I signed you.
It didn't work out.
End of story.
Sure,gina.
I miss you.
You know what?
You play this right,maybe I getyou anotr shot at the label.
Are you serious?
You help me,I help you.
That's the way it works,right?
Did you really thinkyou'd slip past him?
I said I'd help you.
You should havelistened to me.
Just remember,danny,I go down,you go down with me.
You think that ginawas attracted to abby the way she wasto marcy?
It's the only thingthat makes any sense.
We got the results backon gina's golf clubs.
Now,there's no blood,and the clubs are prettywell-used except for the driver.
Which is brand-new.
Which meansshe dumped it.
Well,we searched the canyon,and we came up empty.
So we're back tocircumstanaltiase.
Marcy danner's testimonywill show a pattern of behavior.
Let's just hopethat's enough.
I was singing in a coffeehouse in hollywood.
Gina gave me her card.
Did she wantto sign you?
Yes,but the record company didn'twant to give me a contract until I had a demo.
Did your relationship with ginaturn into a romantic attraction?
Yes.
And did you returnher affections?
Gina was...
she's sweet,um...
she's really nurturing.
Not like most of the peopleyou meet in the record business.
But after a while,it's like she got...
more and more obsessed.
It became lessabout the music and more about me.
So you broke it off?
Yeah.
And how did miss romero reactwhen you ended the relationship?
She freaked out.
Did she physically harm you?
When we broke up,she...
she grabbed my throat...
luckily,we were in her office.
If we'd been alone,I don'T...
miss danner,why didn't you comeforward with this earlier?
I was scared.
Look,if there's anything I've learnedfrom this experience, it's that when gina's mad,she's capable of anything.
Mr.
Reyes,can you tell the jury who you work for,please?
I work for you.
I'm a deputy district attorney in a high-profile crime unit.
And under what circumstances did you first meet the defendantgina romero?
I interviewed her in connectionwith the death of abby coleman.
And at that time were you gathering evidence against another suspect?
Yes,the victim's record producerrupert stone.
And did gina romero give youinformation that was helpful in buildinga case against mr.
Stone?
Yes.
Did you,uh,subsequentlysee her again?
Yes,I did,several times,the last beingat her home.
And what occurredat that meinet we had sex.
wouldn't you agree that to have sex with a material witness would constitute at least the appearance of impropriety?
Yes,sir.
It was unethical and poor judgment, and I'm ashamedat my behavior.
Mr.
Reyes,did your relationshipwith the defendant have any impact on the decision of this office to prosecute the defendantfor murder?
Absolutely not.
Nothing further.
Hang on.
It's goingto get bumpy.
You say that when you firstwent to miss romero's home, it was not to have sexwith her,is that right?
That's right.
Did you findher attractive?
Yes.
What was miss romero wearingwhen you arrived at her home?
She wasn't wearing anything.
She was naked?
Yes,she was.
Did you offer to leave,or did you force herto dress in front of you?
Objection.
Overruled.
Answer the question.
I didn't force herto do anything.
No?
Yo gou over to the home of an attractive female witness in the middle of the night to make her testify?
I call that coercive.
I'm sorry.
Is there a question here?
Did you at any pointthreaten miss romero?
No.
But you said you subpoena herif she didn't testify.
You say that to every witness.
But not every witness isstanding in front of you naked.
You deliberately took advantage of my client when she was at her most vulnerable,using the authority of...
come on,man.
That is not how it was...
your honor,I'd like to request a recess.
Denied.
You accuse my clientof lying to you.
Is that correct?
Yes,did.
And then you again tried toforce her to have sex with you.
What?
Objection.
Foundation.
I'm about to present one.
Defense exhibit a,your honor.
Mr.
Reyes...
you tried to force my clientinto having sex with you.
And when she refused,you beat her.
your honor that is not how it happenedall right?
She said...
rupert stone sent somebodyover there to attack her.
your honor I'll see counsel in chambersright now.
Even if there's no truthto the defendant's accusations, mr.
Reyes' actions amount to blatantprosecutorial misconduct.
Agreed,your honor.
However...
and if there is any truth to it,we are talking about a criminaloffense.
In light of mr.
Reyes's adssions,we move to strikethe testimony of marcy danner.
On what possible grounds?
The da's officeonly learned of the existenceof marcy danner until Mr.
Reyes'sintimidation.
He forced miss romeroto reveal the contents of her computer.
No,our techs foundthat information in files the defendanthad deleted.
But you only searchedthe computer because mr.
Reyes told you what was on it.
It's closed,but I'm granting the motion.
Your honor...
we also move to strike all evidenceobtained from the computer, including records ofpayments from my client to the victim or miss danner.
Granted.
With all duerespect,judge,why don't you justdismiss our whole case?
It's funny youshould mention it.
Given these rulings,the prosecution hasno evidence,no testimony.
They can't even contrivea motive.
We move a dismissal.
Mr.
Stark?
the people will request timeto reassess our case.
You have 24 hours.
Find something that justifiesmoving forward,or I dismiss with prejudice.
Either way,I recommendingthe da's office immediately terminatedaniel reyes from his position.
The judge won't allowthe testimony or the payment records;what else is there?
It's a circumstantial case,and now we can't even presentthe circumstances.
You need some piece of direct evidence yeah,right,a murder weapon would be nice.
Well,they searchedthe canyon for three days and came up empty.
Hold on.
When they were searching,we were on rupert stone.
What differencedoes that make?
Well,because they weresearching the area between the murder sceneand stone's house.
But gina romero didn't go rightfor stone's house.
She went back the way she came-- to the playboy mansion.
We've been lookingin the wrong place.
you want to searchthe other side of the canyon?
That could take days.
Maybe we'll get lucky.
So why are we here?
So your clientcan take a plea deal and skip the wholelethal injection thing.
25 to life with parole.
Given that judge woodruffis gonna dismiss this case in,uh...
18 minutes,whyexactly would we do that?
Because we found the murderweon where you threw it, In the canyon off mulholland.
look familiar?
Don't worry.
I'm notcontaminating evidence.
Forensics already confirmedit had coleman's blood.
This is ridiculous.
Is it?
This,coupled with your credit card charge for a brand-new,identical driver the morning after the murder.
You got 16 minutes.
I give you half thatto make up your mind.
What is that,like fruitcoloring or something?
Molasses.
Gives it texture.
Nice touch.
She'll take the deal.
On one condition.
She wants to talk to you.
Alone.
You know,being a woman in my business,you haveto have a certain image.
People wanted me forwhat I could do for them.
And you never used anyone,right?
I didn't say that,danny.
But abby was different.
She was real...fei in love with her.
You have a really funny wayof showing that.
I left that party that night to protect herfrom rupert stone.
And when I found her,she was so sad and scared.
I've been holding backhow I felt for her for so long.
I$ but seeing her there...
I was supposed to protect her from the predators in this business.
And when I showed her how I felt...
oh,my god!
Abby!
She treated melike I was some kind of freak.
Leave me alone.
You're just like rupert.
Don't say that.
Like all I wanted to do was use her.
Like I was like all the others.
I just couldn't take it.
You could have walked away,gina.
I should have.
but I was hurt and I was angry and I...
I just lost it.
I'm not asking you to forgive me,danny.
I just want you to understandhow I felt.
I don't care how you felt.
Abby,don't be sucha stupid bitch.
You want to go back to singing in coffee shops?
Get your hands off of me!
Fine.
Just...
come as soonasou can,okay?
Bye.
For me?
You shouldn't have.
Very funny.
Ahh...let me guess.
Trevor.
Aren't they gorgeous?
Just please tell me he didn'twrite a cheesy love poem.
Trevor is not cheesy.
He didn't even send a note.
I just kindathought that,you know,once he moved to boston...
don't start.
He's only there for a few monthsworking for his brother.
It seems to me that youmight be a little young for a long-distancerelationship.
I don't expect youto understanD.
Just to keep my mouth shut.
Exactly.
yeah.
Where?
Be right there.
What do you think?
beautiful.
Like you.
Abigail coleman.
22.
Passing car spotted heraround 5:00 A.M.
She's only been in L.A.A couple of years.
She's an up-and-coming singer.
A single on itunesand a cd coming out.
Any clue on amurder weapon?
They're lookingfor it right now.
Well,somebody really did a jobon this kid,didn't they?
Multiple blowsto the head.
Assailant wasseriously pissed off.
Yeah,lookslike she's missing an earring.
Yeah.
It was probably ripped out during the struggle.
They have a time of death yet?
The me putsthe time of death between midnightand 4:00 A.M.
But we do knowshe was at a party her record companythrew last night at the playboymansion.
Oh,which explainswhy hugh hefner left a voicemailon my cell phone.
Maybe he wants herto be miss july.
Hit song.
Album coming out.
She could have been a star.
Ladies and gentlemen...
abby colemanhas left the building.
Hef is a great guy, so let's just put the femist attitude on hold,shall we?
Hef!
Long time no see.
Jordan!
I didn't know you were gonna be here.
Oh,it's so great to see you,hef.
Thank you for coming,sebastian.
Anytime,hef.
Uh...so,anyway,this was a music industry party last night?
Palladium records.
And all the music I$ executives were here?
Yes,the usual circus.
So,what?
It's agents,a&r people,producers,musicians?
Yes,and this girl was one of our guests.
I want whoever did this caught.
We'll do whatever we can to help.
I appreciate that.
Well,I hope I see you soon.
Well,we're having a party hereex nweek.
The playmate of the year.
You're both invited.
how great is it to be you?
It doesn't suck.
Thank you.
Bye.
And you know hef how?
Wouldn't you like to know?
I would like T...
So,the valet guy said the place was mobbed last night.
He's checking with his crew.
That was the victim's sister in winnipeg.
All she knows is that abby was dating some musician named donny.
And look at this.
The victim placed a call from her cell phone to a guy named donald garland at midnight, and another one an hour later.
It's the last call she ever made.
I thin better bring mr.
Garland in for a chat.
This is crazy.
I just talked to abby last night.
What time was that?
She called around midnight.
I was in the middle of a session.
What did she say?
She sounded upset.
She was at thapat y and she wanted me to go pick her up, but we still had one more track to lay down.
Well,what time did you finally get out of there?
Well,about 1:00 A.M.
She called back.
Didn't leave a message,so I called her.
She didn't pick up.
And so I just went home.
Your girlfriend is at the playboy mansion, and you're okay with her just finding her own way home?
She was there for work.
Okay?
Abby wasn't like that.
How were you two getting along?
Fine.
Great.
Wh...
you think i killed abby?
You do havea criminal record,mr.** Possession of cocaine with intent to distribute?
Yeah.
Sure.
I used to supply the sessions.
I needed the money,but I've been clean for six years.
I loved abby.
I shoulda left the damn session the moment she called, but,I swear to god,I didn't kill her.
The record company limo dropped abby off at the playboy mansion, but she never took the return trip.
So,if the boyfriend didn't pick her up,who'd she leave with?
Me's office narrowed down the time of death to a two-hour window, sometime between 1:00 and 3:00 A.M.
Which means garland doesn't ibi out.
He got out of his session at 1:00.
That leaves him plenty of time.
I talked to some of the other musicians.
They said donny was pissed at abby.
He thought she was seeing somebody else.
Who?
Rupert stone.
The record producer?
Yeah.
Amy winehouse,norah jones...
abby coleman.
Yup.
He's palladium's go-to guy for promising female musicians.
He was at the party.
According to some of the party guests,stone's got a really bad rep with women.
They say he's seriously twisted.
That may be why he won't talk to us without his lawyer.
Okay.
Anybody else who could shed light on the relationship between stone and abby?
Yeah,gina romero.
She's the executive at palladium.
She put stone and abby together.
All right.
Go talk to her.
Abby was sleeping with this creep.
We just may have our man.
Hey,uh,gina romero?
Uh...danny reyes.
Da's office.
Thank you for taking the timeto meet with me.
Thank you.
I love these guys.
You a music fan?
We're from pasadena.
We'll be back in a bit.
Ah,a little bit.
I usedto mess around on the drums.
You know,most peoplewouldn't know good music if it smacked them in the ass and then those people end uprunning record companies.
So,I was hoping to ask youabout abby coleman.
I still can't believe it.
Were you two close?
I discovered abby.
Open mic at the rainbow.
I signed heron the spot.
She was a sweet kid.
Kind of naive,but shewas something special.
Her album wasgonna be amazing.
Is this the album thatrupert stone was producing?
Yeah.
Although,thatwasn't my decisi.
Isn't stone supposed to besome kind of a musical genius?
He is.
These days,if yourfirst record doesn't sell,you don't get a second shot.
That's why the companyuses rupert.
He delivers.
So what's the problem?
Let's just say rupert canbe difficult to deal with.
Especially for female artists?
Yeah.
Look...abby's boyfriend thoughtshe was sleeping with stone.
You know anything about that?
If you're asking meas a representative of palladium records,the answer's no.
Fair enough.
What about the partyat the playboy mansion?
Yeah,it's our biggest event ofthe year.
I was there all night.
Did you notice any tensionbetween abby and stone?
Look,I know that you're in atough position, but I really need your help tofind out what happened to abby.
Abby and rupert were arguing,which isn't unusual whenyou're making a record, but this did seempretty intense.
I was worried about abby.
Every day,I meet kids who are willing to selltheir souls to become famous.
Abby was different.
She was all about the music.
I was supposedto take care of her.
I have to say,mr.
Stone,I am a little surprised you felt the need to bringyour attorney with you.
Cut the crap,sebastian.
What happened at the party?
I stayed till 12:30.
I drove home alone...and went to bed.
You left out the part where you and abby colemanargued in the grotto.
It was a creative dispute.
Care to elaborate?
Well,without gettingtoo technical,we disagreed about the tempoof the title track.
I have 12platinum records,which is 12 good reasonsto do it my way.
And abby wasn't happyabout that?
Abby's job was to be a star.
No one saidshe needed to be happy.
And now she's dead.
As we've already established.
Well,since you drove homealone,I'm sure you won't mind if we search your car.
No.
Not as long as you can get awarrant.
Good luck with that.
Luck is for losers.
If the shoe fits.
We're done here.
She's right.
We don'thave enough for a warrant.
Don't need one.
Okay.
I would like to have acareer after this case.
You worry too much.
hold it.
Hey,hey,hey,hey!
You can't do that without a warrant.
Turns out there's an exception to thatwhole warrant thing: Exigent circumstances.
Such as when someone'sabout to destroy evidence by cleaning out their car.
You got to be kidding me.
Got something!
Found this in the upholsteryon the passenger's side.
Same one we took offabby coleman's body.
Get him out of here.
Get you hands off of me!
The search was illegal.
Mr.
Stark createdthe exigent circumstances by threatening my client.
It's immaterial,judge.
Mr.
Stone ordered the driver to clean the carand destroy evidence.
Which includeda bloody earring and a scrap of thevictim's clothing.
All of which is fruit of the poisonous treeand inadmissible.
Ms.
Westlake,last I recall,you were prosecuting the forfeitureof Mr.
Stark's home.
I don't see the relevance.
Mr.
Stark likes living on the edge,and I'm just troubled to findyou out there with him.
But I'm more troubled bythe defense's blatant attempt to destroy evidence.
The search is creative,but I'll uphold it.
Thank you,your honor.
And as to our request for a warrant to searchthe defendant's home?
You've got your warrant,but I cautionthe prosecution, you keep pushing the envelope,and I will push back...
hard.
That's all.
I ran security tapes.
Stone's car left the mansionaround 12:30 A.M.
And you can see abbyin the car.
Nice.
Anything else?
Yeah.
The me foundshards of metal embedded in the victim's skull.
Narrows down the possibilityon the murder weapon.
Okay,but the problem iswe searched every inch of the canyon from the crime sceneat stone's place and we have nothing.
Well,here's a warrant.
Whatever he usedto kill her,let's hope he took it homewith him.
Find a weapon?
No,not yet,but you definitelyneed to see this.
oh,my god!
A sex dungeon?
I guess stone likesa little s&m with his r&B.
It's hard to believepeople get off on this stuff.
Don't knock ittill you try it.
Just found thisin the garage outside.
That's blood.
Time for stoneto face the music.
okay,somebodyhad to say it.
So you're kindof a freak,rupert.
Different strokes.
Yo ainviteu bby down into thatlittle chamber of horrors you got in your basement?
Unfortunately,abbywasn't into that,despite my best efforts.
Let's,uh,geton with it.
What did you and abbyreally fight about that night?
And forget the crapabout creative differences.
She wanted to endour relationship.
There's a shocker.
She say why?
She was dating some session musician.
Hmm,how'd you take that?
Honestly?
I laughed.
I could have donea lot for her,but she preferred to sleepwith the band.
Sounds like a step up to me.
So if abby was dumping you,why'd she go homewith you?
She called her true loveto pick her up,but he couldn'tbe bothered.
I'm nothingif not a gentleman.
And how do we get to the partwhere she ends up dead by the side of the road?
My client didn't kill her.
Her blood is in your car,rupert.
Things got rough.
What,did you hit her?
Maybe.
Maybe?
Fine.
I hit her.
I'd been drinking.
Abby was going offabout the record,whining about how it wasdistorting her voice, which is total crap.
It got physical,I pulled over,kicked her out of the car.
But she was alive when I left.
You left a young girlon the side of mulholland in the middle of the night?
Yeah.
I'm a real son of a bitch.
But I'm not a murderer.
What about that bloodied love hammer we found in your garage?
That has nothing to do with this.
Until we atch mabby's dna to the bloodstains.
You know what?
I think I've had enough,so 25 to life.
We'll call it a crime of passionand keep your client off death row.
Otherwise,I get up in frontof a jury with picturesof your torture chamber.
You in a thong with a mace.
Like it?
No deal.
So far everything we've gotis circumstantial.
So we build the best circumstantial caseknown to man.
Starting with what?
Stone's got a sex dungeonin his house.
That means more girls.
Or boys,possiblyfarm animals.
Okay,so we need one who will testify that this guyis a violent psychopath.
Question is,where do we look?
Well,when a big shotrecord producer beats up a girl,who do you thinkcleans up the mess?
The record company.
Hey,give thelady a grammy.
That record exec you met,she know wherethe bodies are buried?
I don't know.
Find out.
Nice putt,gina.
We meet again.
This is the last place I'd expect to find you.
You want to playwith the big boys,you come where the big boysplay.
Who's your friend?
Jordan westlake.
I tee off with the presidentof the label in ten minutes.
So what can I do for you,jordan?
Well,you could tell us about rupert stone'shistory with women.
No comment.
Look,gina,we're hearinglots of rumors,claims of sexual harassment,abuse.
All settled quietlyby the lawyers from palladium records.
Rupert has his issues,but he's a major asset to the company,and we protect our assets.
Excuse me.
Gina,hold on.
I took a risk talking to youin the first place.
I don't appreciatebeing put in this position.
I know,and I'm sorry,but abby colemanwas murdered.
I know you cared about her.
Don't you think I wantto help you?
I can'T.
Just trust me,gina,all right?
I won't make you testify againstyour company's star producer,but I need a name.
How did you meet rupert stone?
I was a dancerin a music video he produced.
After the shoot,he invited meto come back to his place.
I was pretty drunk,and,um,rupert took me downstairsinto his basement.
I never saw anythinglike that before.
After a while,I told him atth had to go,and...
he got angry,abusive.
He slapped me around,and I...
stone was coked out of his mindthat night.
I thought he was gonna kill me.
But you never pressed charges?
Palladium records paid meto drop it.
And I just wanted to forgetit ever happened.
Test came back on the flail positive for blood.
None of it belongsto abby coleman.
Great.
We knowthis guy stone's a sicko.
We have nomurder weapon.
We still have laurel hasbrook,the girl stone assaulted before.
It's not enough.
We need to throw the kitchen sinkat this wack job.
All right,back to square zero.
Isaac,I need you to geton sid and forensics.
We know there'ssomething missing.
Find out what.
Raina,madeleine,talk to everyonewho was at that party: Guests,workers,bunnies.
I don't care who they are,find out everythingthat happened that night,okay?
Danny,so how's your relationshipwith this gina romero?
She trusts me.
Good,because I need her to testify about stone's historywith women.
Look,I promised hershe wouldn't have to do that.
And I promised my mamaI'd be a priest,but hey,things change.
Hey,look,without a murder weapon,we need every witnesswe can get.
Make it happen.
gina?
gina?!
hey.
Hey.
maybe I should just come back.
Or come in.
The water's fantastic.
I didn't bring my suit.
Even better.
You wanted to see me.
Well,here I am.
Look,gina,this is tough,and I'm really sorry, but I'm gonna need you totestify against rupert stone.
I told you I can't do that.
I'm afraid you don'treally have a choice.
If you don't agree,my boss will subpoena you.
I'll say I don't know anything.
Trust me,you don'twant to do that.
Look,stone killed abby,okay?
You can't just let himwalk away.
You think I want that?
Then help me take him down.
Hand me that towel,will you?
Thank you.
Look,I understandyour situation.
No,you don'T.
You know how many girls havebeen hospital visits,police stations?
You should put a stop to it.
I'm a cog in the machinethat rupert stone feeds, and a machine will do anythingto keep him churning out the hits.
Plus,stone knowsI have dirt on him.
You want me to end uplike abby?
I can protect you.
Yeah?
Like you kept meoff the stand?
Just do the right thing,for abbyand yourself.
I should go danny...
I can think about 500 reasonswhy this is a really bad idea.
Yeah,I know,but right now,I can't think of one.
Marcy danner?
We're from theda's office.
Can we ask youa few questions?
About what?
You were thecatering manager the night of thepalladium records party at the playboy mansion?
Yeah,I workall their music parties.
Is this about abby coleman?
Do you remember seeing herat the party?
Yeah,she was with that creeprupert stone.
You should hear the storiesabout that guy.
Trust me.
We have.
Did you hearthem arguing?
Yeah,it's pretty hard to miss.
He called her an ungratefulbitch,then gina came over.
Gina romero?
Do you know her?
I used to be a musician.
Everybody on the sceneknows gina.
She discovers you,you go places.
So after gina came over,what happened next?
Stone dragged abby out.
A few minulater,gina left,too.
She left?
Are you sure about that?
Yeah she was parkedby the service gate to avoid the mob scene at the valet.
There's no video surveillanceat the service gate.
Which is why we don't haveany footage of her leaving.
Do you knowhow long she was gone?
I don't know.
*** She couldhave been there when abby was killed.
Danny.
Oh,my god.
yeah.
Where have you been?
We tried to reach you all night.
Uh,yeah,sorry,my phone died.
You talked to gina?
Yeah.
Yeah,she'll testify.
We're all good.
No,we're not.
Gina left the party that nightaround the same time as the murder.
Came back an hour later.
Are you sure?
Well,we've got a witness and gina has a historyof covering for stone.
If she's helpi,toneng s then why the hellis she cooperating with us?
That's what I'd like to know.
Danny?
I'll call you back.
Everything okay?
Actually,no.
You said you wereat the mansion all night.
What are you talking about?
You left the party.
Then you came back,gina.
Hey,look,danny,you have to understand...
I understand that you lied to me.
I'm sorry,okay.
I was scared.
I still am.
I mean I know what was going onbetween stone and abby.
I knew what he was caple of.
Where'd you go?
I was headed to stone'sto get abby out of there before something happened.
But I was too late.
I found her on mulholland.
You found her deadand you just left her there?
I didn't know what else to do.
You could have calledthe police,gina.
Know,I know,but I panicked.
Listen,I know whatI did was wrong,but I'm tryingto make up for it.
And you'll get your chance.
Because you're testifyingto all this,or you're looking atobstruction of justice.
And that's just for starters.
wait.
Danny!
Jules,you in here?
reading my mail now?
I'm sorry.
It's okay.
It just came today.
He finally gotto the poetry. "
She walks in beauty."
Not exactly cheesy.
That's because it's lord byron.
Still no signature.
I think it's romantic.
Yeah...
you know,jules,I knowhow you feel about trevor.
What happened between you two was a big deal.
What are you talking about?
Oh,my god.
Mom told you,didn't she?
She didn't have to.
I saw the wayyou looked at him.
I heard you talk about him.
I was youngonce,too.
In a previous millennium.
I don't know what to say.
Are you ashamed of me?
Ashamed of you?
God,n ho,ey.
No.
I mean,don't get me wrong: I wish it hadn't happenedin my lifetime.
I love him,dad.
I know you do.
But he's 3,000 miles away,and you don't even knowwhen he's coming back.
It doesn't changethe way I feel.
I just don't want to seeyou hurt; that's all.
the people haveno murder weapon,no eyewitnesses, and no physical evidence to prove mr.
Stonecommitted this crime.
The defense moves for immediate dismissal.
The victim's bloody earring was in the defendant's car.
And we willproduce a witness who will providevery pertinent testimony.
When?
Tomorrow,your honor.
Very well,I'll postponeruling on a dismissal until we hear this earth-shattering testimony.
All I can say is,your little pal better deliver.
Yeah,look,about that-- there's somethingI got to tell you.
hello.
What?
No,look,you calm down.
You just wait there.
I'll be right over.
I never saw the guy before.
He just cameout of the kitchen.
Did he say anything?
Yeah,he said that this was a messagefrom rupert stone and that next timehe would be more persuasive.
Look,we're going to getthe son of a bitch,okay?
I told youwhat he was capable of.
You said that you would protect me.
I can try,but I've been downthis road before.
There are no guarantees.
damn it!
Maybe you shouldn't testify.
What are you doing?
Screw him!
He sends some goon to my houseto threaten me.
What's this?
This is my history of coveringrupert stone's ass.
Hospital reports,expunged police records,payoffs to girls he hurt.
I kept a record of all of it.
Put this bastard ay.
She scanned everythinginto her computer, including documented complaintsfrom female victims.
What does she want?
Immunity.
Forget it.
She's open to chargesof accessory after the fact.
For finding a dead body and not reporting it,you're damn right she is.
I know someone elsewho did that once.
A: My conductis not the issue here, and b: What is itwith you and this woman?
The other night-- when you sentme over there to talk to her...
come on.
Yove got to be kidding.
Look,I just didwhat you told me to do.
I told you to get information, not play hide the salami with a material witness in a murder case.
You've done worse.
Call lapd.
Put someone on gina romero.
Go home.
You're off the case.
Aw,come on...
now.
Beat it.
Look,you've got every rightto be pissed off, but e did give useverything we need against stone.
Yeah,that's my problem.
Everything we know about stonewe got from gina romero.
We've seen exactlywhat she wants us to see.
Now it's time to find outwhat she didn't want us to see.
The lab recovered the deletedfiles from gina's home computer.
Don't we need a warrantto dump someone's computer?
Not when they're inprotve custody.
Gina romero agreed to havelapd in her home.
We found payments from ginato two different women.
One of them's our victim; the other one's nameis marcy danner.
The caterer thatmadeline and I interviewed?
She used to be a musician and gina signed her topalladium records four years ago, but the labeldropped her eight months later.
What was the money for?
Rent,car payments.
Gina pretty much supportedthese girls.
Yeah,but all these arefrom gina's personal account.
There's no record of palladiumbeing billed for any of this.
You need to see this.
Red light cameraon ventura five miles pastthe murder site.
That's rupert stone's car headedhome and he's alone.
Fascinating.
What is the point?
Lookt the time stamp: 12:56 A.M.
Abby coleman calledher boyfriend donny garland at 12:58 A.M.
Which means she was still alive afterrupert stone dropped her off.
And why didn't we know thissooner?
Well,it's thedefense attorney's job to alibi rupert stone.
Wrong.
It's your job.
You want to win?
You build your case and their case.
Stone still could have gone homeand come back and killed her.
Doesn't make sense.
Look,whoever killed this girlwas in a rage.
There is no waythat he dropped her off, drove all the way down the hilland then back up to kill her.
And we have no evidenceon her boyfriend.
Which leaves uswith one viable suspect we can actually placeat the scene of the crime, and that,ladies and gtlenen,is our star witness who danny happensto be schtupping.
I was better off when I was disbarred.
All right,you're sayingthat gina killed abby.
But thenwho beat up gina?
Anything can be had at price.
Even a beating.
My clients did it.
More than once.
Why am I not surprised?
Look,the question here is motive.
Why would gina romerokill abby coleman?
Okay,guys,that was the lab.
They narroweddown the metal fibers they foundin the victim's skull.
Uh,compositegraphite and titanium.
Titanium.
Like a golf club.
What's going on,danny?
Why haven't I heardfrom you?
I'm off the case.
But I know stonealibi'd out,which means stark's comingafter you.
You were giving money to abby and someone named marcy,gina.
Yeah.
Marcy danner,she was a singer.
It didn't work out.
And why were you paying her rentout of your own pocket?
Because that's what I dowhen I believe in someone.
I support them.
Look,I really wantto believe you.
I do.
But I need you totell me the truth.
And I promise you,I'll dowhatever I can to help you.
I am telling you the truth,danny.
I swear.
Okay.
All right,I'lldo what I can.
But I need you to sit tight tillyou hear from me,all right?
Gina,what are youdoing here?
Just came to giveyou a heads-up.
There'll be some das comingto talk to you about me.
And you would really bedoing me a big favor,if you just kept it simple.
You are a singer.
I signed you.
It didn't work out.
End of story.
Sure,gina.
I miss you.
You know what?
You play this right,maybe I getyou anotr shot at the label.
Are you serious?
You help me,I help you.
That's the way it works,right?
Did you really thinkyou'd slip past him?
I said I'd help you.
You should havelistened to me.
Just remember,danny,I go down,you go down with me.
You think that ginawas attracted to abby the way she wasto marcy?
It's the only thingthat makes any sense.
We got the results backon gina's golf clubs.
Now,there's no blood,and the clubs are prettywell-used except for the driver.
Which is brand-new.
Which meansshe dumped it.
Well,we searched the canyon,and we came up empty.
So we're back tocircumstanaltiase.
Marcy danner's testimonywill show a pattern of behavior.
Let's just hopethat's enough.
I was singing in a coffeehouse in hollywood.
Gina gave me her card.
Did she wantto sign you?
Yes,but the record company didn'twant to give me a contract until I had a demo.
Did your relationship with ginaturn into a romantic attraction?
Yes.
And did you returnher affections?
Gina was...
she's sweet,um...
she's really nurturing.
Not like most of the peopleyou meet in the record business.
But after a while,it's like she got...
more and more obsessed.
It became lessabout the music and more about me.
So you broke it off?
Yeah.
And how did miss romero reactwhen you ended the relationship?
She freaked out.
Did she physically harm you?
When we broke up,she...
she grabbed my throat...
luckily,we were in her office.
If we'd been alone,I don'T...
miss danner,why didn't you comeforward with this earlier?
I was scared.
Look,if there's anything I've learnedfrom this experience, it's that when gina's mad,she's capable of anything.
Mr.
Reyes,can you tell the jury who you work for,please?
I work for you.
I'm a deputy district attorney in a high-profile crime unit.
And under what circumstances did you first meet the defendantgina romero?
I interviewed her in connectionwith the death of abby coleman.
And at that time were you gathering evidence against another suspect?
Yes,the victim's record producerrupert stone.
And did gina romero give youinformation that was helpful in buildinga case against mr.
Stone?
Yes.
Did you,uh,subsequentlysee her again?
Yes,I did,several times,the last beingat her home.
And what occurredat that meinet we had sex.
wouldn't you agree that to have sex with a material witness would constitute at least the appearance of impropriety?
Yes,sir.
It was unethical and poor judgment, and I'm ashamedat my behavior.
Mr.
Reyes,did your relationshipwith the defendant have any impact on the decision of this office to prosecute the defendantfor murder?
Absolutely not.
Nothing further.
Hang on.
It's goingto get bumpy.
You say that when you firstwent to miss romero's home, it was not to have sexwith her,is that right?
That's right.
Did you findher attractive?
Yes.
What was miss romero wearingwhen you arrived at her home?
She wasn't wearing anything.
She was naked?
Yes,she was.
Did you offer to leave,or did you force herto dress in front of you?
Objection.
Overruled.
Answer the question.
I didn't force herto do anything.
No?
Yo gou over to the home of an attractive female witness in the middle of the night to make her testify?
I call that coercive.
I'm sorry.
Is there a question here?
Did you at any pointthreaten miss romero?
No.
But you said you subpoena herif she didn't testify.
You say that to every witness.
But not every witness isstanding in front of you naked.
You deliberately took advantage of my client when she was at her most vulnerable,using the authority of...
come on,man.
That is not how it was...
your honor,I'd like to request a recess.
Denied.
You accuse my clientof lying to you.
Is that correct?
Yes,did.
And then you again tried toforce her to have sex with you.
What?
Objection.
Foundation.
I'm about to present one.
Defense exhibit a,your honor.
Mr.
Reyes...
you tried to force my clientinto having sex with you.
And when she refused,you beat her.
your honor that is not how it happenedall right?
She said...
rupert stone sent somebodyover there to attack her.
your honor I'll see counsel in chambersright now.
Even if there's no truthto the defendant's accusations, mr.
Reyes' actions amount to blatantprosecutorial misconduct.
Agreed,your honor.
However...
and if there is any truth to it,we are talking about a criminaloffense.
In light of mr.
Reyes's adssions,we move to strikethe testimony of marcy danner.
On what possible grounds?
The da's officeonly learned of the existenceof marcy danner until Mr.
Reyes'sintimidation.
He forced miss romeroto reveal the contents of her computer.
No,our techs foundthat information in files the defendanthad deleted.
But you only searchedthe computer because mr.
Reyes told you what was on it.
It's closed,but I'm granting the motion.
Your honor...
we also move to strike all evidenceobtained from the computer, including records ofpayments from my client to the victim or miss danner.
Granted.
With all duerespect,judge,why don't you justdismiss our whole case?
It's funny youshould mention it.
Given these rulings,the prosecution hasno evidence,no testimony.
They can't even contrivea motive.
We move a dismissal.
Mr.
Stark?
the people will request timeto reassess our case.
You have 24 hours.
Find something that justifiesmoving forward,or I dismiss with prejudice.
Either way,I recommendingthe da's office immediately terminatedaniel reyes from his position.
The judge won't allowthe testimony or the payment records;what else is there?
It's a circumstantial case,and now we can't even presentthe circumstances.
You need some piece of direct evidence yeah,right,a murder weapon would be nice.
Well,they searchedthe canyon for three days and came up empty.
Hold on.
When they were searching,we were on rupert stone.
What differencedoes that make?
Well,because they weresearching the area between the murder sceneand stone's house.
But gina romero didn't go rightfor stone's house.
She went back the way she came-- to the playboy mansion.
We've been lookingin the wrong place.
you want to searchthe other side of the canyon?
That could take days.
Maybe we'll get lucky.
So why are we here?
So your clientcan take a plea deal and skip the wholelethal injection thing.
25 to life with parole.
Given that judge woodruffis gonna dismiss this case in,uh...
18 minutes,whyexactly would we do that?
Because we found the murderweon where you threw it, In the canyon off mulholland.
look familiar?
Don't worry.
I'm notcontaminating evidence.
Forensics already confirmedit had coleman's blood.
This is ridiculous.
Is it?
This,coupled with your credit card charge for a brand-new,identical driver the morning after the murder.
You got 16 minutes.
I give you half thatto make up your mind.
What is that,like fruitcoloring or something?
Molasses.
Gives it texture.
Nice touch.
She'll take the deal.
On one condition.
She wants to talk to you.
Alone.
You know,being a woman in my business,you haveto have a certain image.
People wanted me forwhat I could do for them.
And you never used anyone,right?
I didn't say that,danny.
But abby was different.
She was real...fei in love with her.
You have a really funny wayof showing that.
I left that party that night to protect herfrom rupert stone.
And when I found her,she was so sad and scared.
I've been holding backhow I felt for her for so long.
I$ but seeing her there...
I was supposed to protect her from the predators in this business.
And when I showed her how I felt...
oh,my god!
Abby!
She treated melike I was some kind of freak.
Leave me alone.
You're just like rupert.
Don't say that.
Like all I wanted to do was use her.
Like I was like all the others.
I just couldn't take it.
You could have walked away,gina.
I should have.
but I was hurt and I was angry and I...
I just lost it.
I'm not asking you to forgive me,danny.
I just want you to understandhow I felt.
I don't care how you felt.