Male announcer: In the criminal justice system,
sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous.
In New York City, the dedicated detectives
who investigate these vicious felonies
are members of an elite squad
known as the Special Victims Unit.
These are their stories.
Ah! It hurts, Coach.
It's just a cramp.
Hold it, let me see.
Let me work on it.
Loosen up a little bit, come on.
Relax.
You can't perform when you're tense.
All right?
Loosen up a little bit, come on!
[Grunts]
Hey!
Can't that wait?
- I'll come back. - Yeah, do that.
All right? We good?
Then back to work. Come on!
[Car alarm beeps]
Unh!
[Screams]
[Stabbing]
[Screams]
[Moans]
[Whimpering]
Wow.
Whoa.
Olivia.
[Chuckles] It's a little early for Valentine's day--
Look, he and I decided that we weren't quite ready
for the whole Valentine's day dinner thing, so--
So you went for the casual pre-dinner thing.
I get that. Sorry to pull you out.
This is Alexei Belyakov,
boy's gymnastics coach.
Stabbed with an ice pick. He bled a lot.
Lucky for the vic, EMTs got here quick,
or we'd be calling Warner.
And this is our case because...
he was stabbed in a bad place?
Uh, both of them.
Uh, any chance that CSU can get prints on the weapon?
They'll have to wait till the coach gets out of surgery.
[Dramatic music]
♪
Sync & corrections by Alex1969 www.addic7ed.com
Did you see your attacker's face?
No.
I was putting my bag in the trunk.
He came from behind, slammed the hood.
He? You sure it was a man?
I'm positive.
He had on work gloves, boots.
Some kind of olive coverall.
An attack like this, uh, could be revenge.
Yeah, maybe something in your personal life?
I'm happily married.
And I'm on good relations with all of my ex-wives.
Wait. All?
Three.
I'm a romantic.
You ever been romantic with someone you shouldn't?
I learned that lesson four years ago.
A student's father accused me of being involved with his wife.
And were you?
- Did he attack you? - No.
He tried to ruin me.
In the divorce trial,
he accused me of molesting his son.
And she accused him. [Coughs]
I was a pawn.
Any other parents threaten you?
[Sighs] A student last year. Eddie.
I had to cut him.
I told his mother I can't spin straw into gold.
And the father?
Came in, threw furniture around.
These Russians, they're all liars.
Maybe-- maybe I kicked a chair.
You were mad 'cause Alexei cut your son.
He played us.
And when he wanted our money,
he said Eddie had olympic potential.
Then he charged us a fortune for private lessons.
I don't want to talk about Coach Alexei.
Well, why not, Eddie?
'Cause he cut you?
You know, all that work, private sessions.
Can you tell me about those?
He would practice with me on the bars
and help me with my stretching.
Stretching.
So when he touched you, did that ever make you feel...
uncomfortable?
Uh, what, like that?
He wasn't that way.
Not with me.
Was he that way with other kids?
I don't know.
He had a lot of private sessions.
- Coach Alexei's not gay. - Maybe not.
But he's pretty hands-on.
- You saw that? - I heard about it.
This guy at the gym, when Eddie got cut,
said Eddie was better off away from the coach.
- Another parent? - No, a young guy.
Kind of lanky.
In a jumpsuit. Probably worked maintenance.
John Dubcek.
Vandalism, possession, disorderly conduct, bar fights.
But nothing in the past five years.
- Straightened myself out. - Till last night.
Alexei almost bled out. You could have killed him.
Uh, I don't know who you're talking about.
How long you been working at that gym?
You see him every day.
I-- I see a lot of people.
We're gonna find your prints on that weapon.
N-no, you won't.
Why, 'cause you were wearing gloves?
His blood is on them. On your boots too.
You know, and I don't get it.
Your boss, your parole officer, they vouch for you.
This coach, we heard he's real arrogant, okay?
So what did he do to you? Treat you bad?
Bother your girlfriend or something?
Girlfriend? I don't have time.
I work two jobs, and I take care of my mom.
And you live with your mom, right?
Your boss told us that she was sick.
She's okay. She's not gonna die.
You want to be there for her? You gotta help yourself out.
Come on, Alexei, what did he do to you?
He disrespected you, he yelled at you,
he's complaining about you to his boss--
What he does,
he wouldn't try with me.
What he does to who, Johnny?
This janitor said I abuse my student?
He's psycho.
Johnny Dubcek says that he saw something wrong.
Why would he say that?
Because he's a janitor. An idiot!
So you don't tape your sessions?
Of course I tape sessions. For the benefit of the student.
A kid has a problem with dismount? Film it.
Okay, so this rubdown that Johnny saw you taping--
who does that benefit?
Me. I started filming everything
since I was accused.
To show I have nothing to hide.
Anybody learn anything?
Yeah, 90 hours of tape, and so far his only crime
is boring me to death.
Look, we talked to a lot of his students,
both former and current.
I mean, nobody likes the guy,
but nobody called him a predator.
Well, it sounds like we owe the coach an apology.
Captain, Dubcek believes what he told us.
Look, the coach does put his hands on these kids,
and maybe Dubcek misconstrued.
And stabbed the guy in the testicles?
Something set him off.
Well, he's got one last chance to tell us what.
He's been arraigned. He's on his way to Rikers now.
Prisoner van has arrived at the facility.
Six male prisoners.
[Grunting]
Hey, I need help! He's choking him!
Let him go!
Pull him off! Pull him off!
[Indistinct chatter]
I got him.
Watch his head. Watch his head.
Put him on the deck.
[Panting]
It's not my fault.
I told them not to put me in with that!
- Put him in the car. - What the hell happened?
Dubcek went nuts on the truck,
tried to kill the inmate next to him.
What was he saying, "Don't put me in with that"?
When we had him at the courthouse loading him in,
he said he didn't want to be in the truck with this prisoner.
The prisoner threaten him?
Nah, some pedophile arraigned for touching boy scouts.
- Pedophile? - Uh-huh.
Is there any chance I can talk to Johnny?
Not here. Try arraignment.
Two violent assaults in three days, Mr. Dubcek.
I don't know what's going on with you,
but I better not see you here again.
The defendant is remanded back to Rikers.
[Gavel thumps]
I'm sorry, mom.
We're not getting to him for a while.
Yeah, you know what? In Johnny's mind,
he's gone off on two pedophiles.
Think the mother knows why?
Johnny's been clean and sober,
no trouble, no-- no fights
since he was a teenager.
Lot of boys go through trouble during that time.
- Mm. - Was his father around much?
No, Johnny's father died when he was ten.
Any other men in Johnny's life after that?
Well, a few years later,
in our neighborhood house, Clinton,
this coach took an interest
in Johnny.
He even managed to get Johnny into the open air camp upstate.
Did Johnny like it up there?
Not so much.
Coach Schultz said that Johnny was very homesick.
And when he got home from camp, he just wasn't the same.
I couldn't even drag him to Clinton house.
So we talked to Johnny Dubcek.
He admitted all he saw was Coach Alexei
helping a student stretch.
All right, so he overreacted.
Does Johnny have a history of being assaulted?
Mom says something went on one summer with a camp coach.
Okay, so we've seen this before.
Somebody suffers a sexual abuse,
then they manage to function until there's a trigger.
He sees Coach Alexei touch a boy,
and it sets him off.
Then he's chained to a pedophile?
You want to set off PTSD in someone,
couldn't have planned it better.
Well, that's all something his defense can bring up,
and I'll make sure the DA passes that along.
Hold on. That's it?
- What about this camp coach? - It's Martin Schultz.
He worked in a Clinton neighborhood house.
In the summers, he ran open air camp.
He took inner-city kids up to the Adirondacks.
Did Dubcek accuse him, or is all of this inference?
- Dubcek was pretty shut down. - So that's a no.
And if Schultz had a record, you would have told me.
Like Father Geoghan or Sandusky?
You know how it goes.
Even when people try to come forward,
it always gets hushed up.
Or it's all just a misunderstanding,
like Coach Alexei.
Okay, this Schultz--
let's at least see if he's still working with kids.
We wanted to ask you about one of your old kids,
- Johnny Dubcek. - Dubcek?
I've been working with kids for 50 years now.
I don't know, I--when was this?
It was the early '90s.
Yeah, his dad died when he was ten.
You knew him from Clinton house.
He has blue eyes, light brown hair.
Oh, Johnny, big Mets fan.
He used to wear this ratty, orange t-shirt
every day to camp.
Every single day.
The other kids teased him something fierce.
- You're cops. - Mm-hmm.
- Yeah, he do something wrong? - He assaulted a couple of men.
He's going away for a very long time.
- Anything I can do? - Well, we're not sure.
We're trying to understand the boy who became the man.
Oh, that's always the tough one, isn't it?
He could have gone either way.
Uh, the kid had a lot of potential.
Yeah, his mom was telling us
that he was a straight-A student...
Till he went to camp here.
Hey, listen, you mind going inside?
This cold makes my joints stiff, huh?
Come on in.
Hot chocolate.
Good for the soul.
- So back to Johnny. - Mm-hmm.
Did he ever confide in you about somebody here at the camp
abusing him?
Stop right where you are.
Now, I know these days
everyone's gonna be asking these questions.
But I don't tolerate deviance.
And if I had seen a counselor
look sideways at a kid, I would have knocked him
on his ass and put him on the bus
before he knew what hit him.
Well, I get that, Mr. Schultz.
Call me Martin.
Mr. Schultz was my father.
Do all the kids call you Martin?
Yeah. They have enough authority figures
in their lives.
So you're their friend.
Counselor, coach.
Surrogate father.
I try to change these kids' lives.
I wish I could have done more for Johnny and...
some of the other kids I couldn't save.
Fatherless kids.
Try as you might, you can never fill that hole.
Isn't that right, Detective?
Excuse me?
It's all right, honey.
You've done good.
I mean, you could have gone the other way too, hmm?
Captain, he's a sociopath.
He's got this avuncular manner,
and he spent the whole time reading us.
And you got all this from a cup of hot chocolate?
Look, everything he does is premeditated.
Every word, every look.
So you're telling me he didn't confess?
Well, if this guy has worked with kids
for over 50 years and there's not one complaint--
Because he knows who to pick.
He finds single mothers who are overburdened at best,
grateful that a man has taken interest
in their lost boys.
And there may not be any complaints,
but there is plenty of damage in his wake.
I mean, so far I've found a dozen of his kids
now in prison for assault, for rape, murder.
But most survivors don't become abusers.
They're usually shamed into silence.
So whatever Schultz did to those men
when they were boys...
He's ground zero for a second generation epidemic
of assault and murder.
Okay, this isn't gonna be easy.
We're gonna have to find victims who will come forward.
You've got a whole bunch right here, Captain.
Convicted felons.
They're unreliable witnesses.
Maybe individually,
but there is a clear pattern here.
And if we can prove that all of these violent men
have one abuser in common, Martin Schultz,
we've got a shot at taking him down.
Yeah, but the problem is, prisoners don't want to admit
they were abused.
They don't want to be labeled as victims.
It makes them targets.
We only need one to start.
Reggie Rhodes, okay?
And he's not gonna be worried about being a target
because he's on death row in Ohio.
He's sentenced to die in ten days.
Yeah, I knew Johnny. From the projects.
And camp.
Martin Schultz? Can you tell us about Martin?
No, ma'am, I'd rather not.
We understand that, Reggie, but he's still up there
at that camp with other boys.
Why do they care now? They never cared before.
Because we're just finding out now...
About what he did to those boys.
And if that man is going to be punished for what he did,
then we need somebody brave enough to come forward.
I can't.
I don't want to think about him.
I don't want to think about any of them.
- Them? - The man you murdered.
At trial, they said he was a stranger.
You were just robbing him in his house.
Is there more to it than that?
Doesn't matter. I did kill him.
And I can't take that back.
I'm trying to stay at peace.
Now get the hell out of here now!
So how does this cross your desk?
Because we are tracking a career pedophile,
Martin Schultz, and we believe that Reggie
is one of a dozen victims who went on
to commit violent crimes themselves.
So are we talking about a death penalty case here
or me doing SVU's job?
A little of both.
So you're asking me for a favor.
So... you're not angry with me anymore?
- I was never angry. - No?
You had a right to be.
I blew up your relationship with David Haden.
Okay, I was angry.
But I also knew you that you were doing right by your client.
Bayard, just take a look at Reggie's case.
Okay? The DA said
that this was a robbery gone bad, but nothing was taken,
and the man that he murdered had two prior solicitations
for young black men.
And this never came out at trial?
And Reggie never referenced a sexual relationship?
Probably too ashamed to admit it.
If we don't help him, he dies in nine days.
So if I talk to you,
Mr. Ellis will help with my defense?
I read the transcript of your two-day trial.
I'll help either way.
But my last last attorney, Mr. Amiri,
- he said it was too late. - It's not.
The governor can grant clemency
if the parole board recommends it.
Did Mr. Amiri ever tell you that?
I talked to him so long ago, I don't recall.
I'd like to talk to the governor,
if that's possible.
It would be more like Mr. Ellis would speak for you
to the parole board.
- About what? - Reggie, you murdered a man.
And you may never get out of prison.
But if something happened to you,
something bad when you were a kid,
the jury should have heard about it.
Reggie, before the trial,
did anybody ever ask you about your childhood?
Anybody ever ask you about that camp?
I met the lawyer a day before.
We didn't talk much about anything.
There's still time. That's why we're here.
We can talk about it now, okay?
Reggie, we need you to tell us
what happened at Martin's camp.
The social worker in the group used to always try
to get me to talk about it.
I know it's difficult, Reggie.
But the parole board has to know what happened to you.
It's too late. I'm letting it go.
I forgive everyone for everything.
I even forgive my mama.
Forgive her for what?
For sending me back to Martin's camp.
Does he have a chance? [Buzzer]
After the defense he had,
if Ohio executes him, it's state-sanctioned murder.
You have any vacation days accumulated?
Oh, I don't know. 50, 60 weeks.
Well, good, you're in luck.
Cleveland's lovely this time of year.
And I'm going to need your help.
Rhodes...
Reggie Rhodes.
He's one of your death row clients.
Found guilty of killing Charles Danforth,
father of three.
Repeatedly smashed his head against a stove.
Jury was out 40 minutes. What is it I can do for you?
You've yet to go to the parole board to ask for clemency.
Rhodes was the only witness for the defense.
He lied on the stand, said he wasn't at the scene.
The victim's blood was found on his shoes.
And for what it's worth, he told me he did it.
Did he also tell you that he met
his original defense attorney the day before the trial
and that lawyer was subsequently disbarred?
A defendant is only entitled to counsel,
not quality of counsel.
Mr. Amiri, we've also become aware
that Mr. Rhodes was a victim
of sexual abuse as a child.
I'm sure it's true for half of my cases.
But the governor doesn't pardon murderers
'cause they had a bad childhood.
Look, it took me 15 minutes to find out that the deceased
had a record for solicitation of young men.
I need to prove that the original defense lawyer
neglected to tell the jury about mitigating circumstances,
period.
Mr. Ellis, what we do is triage.
I've got people on death row for crimes they didn't commit.
You think you can come in and do a better job,
have at it.
Thank you.
That's all I wanted to hear.
Reggie, we need to talk to you about what happened
that night at Charles Danforth's house.
I can't go back to that place, man.
The jury was told that you had never met Danforth before.
And that night,
he just happened to hire you for an odd job?
Reggie, we know that he hired other young men,
and it wasn't for odd jobs.
How did you end up in his home?
Reggie, you've got to help yourself here.
Why are we doing this? It's over.
There's nothing you can tell this woman
that she hasn't heard.
There's nothing you could say that would make you
any less of a man in my eyes.
Why don't I give you and Ms. Benson some time together?
You need a break? How about some water?
No, thank you, ma'am.
Reggie, you said before that you didn't want to talk
about any of them.
Martin...
He wasn't the first.
How old were you when it started?
Well, the first time I can remember...
Five, maybe six.
See, my uncle...
My uncle put his mouth on me.
And he said, um,
"Now you're a big boy,
and this is what big boys do with men."
After his uncle, it was his mother's boyfriend, or pimp.
And at ten, it was a teacher in school.
I mean, predators have radar.
- And Schultz? - Three summers.
And by the end, Schultz was passing him around to other men.
So Reggie drops out of school,
he hitchhikes, and ends up here in Cleveland.
- Where he meets Danforth? - Through a mutual friend.
Danforth pays him for sex for over a year.
The "odd jobs."
Until one night, Reggie comes over.
After Danforth is finished with him,
the door opens, and three other men
walk into the garage.
They work him over all night.
The next day, Reggie comes back
and kills Danforth.
Did he ever tell his original lawyer that story?
He says that the lawyer told him
that the jury didn't need to hear that.
He said it was better to say that he wasn't there at all.
That lawyer's deceased.
But the parole board's gonna want confirmation,
so we're on two tracks now.
Reggie's relationship with Danforth--
And what happened to him growing up.
My uncle abused me first.
Until I--you know...
Yeah, I know.
After you matured, he moved on to Reggie.
I was just glad it wasn't me anymore.
I would stay at the library until close
and just bury my head in my books.
But you're lucky you got out. Your brother's on death row.
I pray for him every day.
'Cause you know what he went through...
That it was more than just your uncle.
I know.
Kassandra, you couldn't protect him growing up.
Help him now.
Reggie... Reggie Rhodes?
Good God almighty.
When he showed up at this camp,
he didn't even have a toothbrush.
A pair of shorts,
a pair of old, high-top, dirty sneakers.
His mother was a crack addict, or worse.
Anything else you remember about him?
A 12-year-old kid with a rap sheet
as long as your arm.
But underneath, he's a sweet kid.
Sweet kid.
Until he found me, nobody ever looked out for him.
Anything more, Martin?
No, Pablo, you got homework for tomorrow, right?
Well, get upstairs and get going.
I thought you guys were working on the Johnny Dubcek case.
Yeah, the boys, they both went to settlement house
and your camp.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
What's that got to do with the price of coffee?
Are you trying to say this camp had something to do
with those boys' behavior?
Reggie Rhodes told detectives that he was raped
here at this camp, three summers in a row.
Yeah, the guy bashes someone's head in.
He's about to get the needle for it.
Naturally, he's going to look for some way to save his hide.
Martin, no one's saying it was you,
but you told us, any whiff of trouble,
and you'd kick the counselor out.
So anything happen while Reggie was here?
You want me to lie?
It's past the statute of limitations.
So this camp, you...
You know, we could ensure there'd be no liability.
Get the hell out of here!
I don't want that boy upstairs to hear any of this!
Go on!
Get out!
Ms. Lathrop, you were the assistant prosecutor
in the case against Reggie Rhodes?
It was my first murder trial as lead counsel.
So you had a lot riding on this case.
Frankly, it was a good one to cut my teeth on.
And I was supervised
by the lead prosecutor, Jim Harrison.
You're preparing Rhodes's clemency hearing?
Mm-hmm. And we found mitigating circumstances
that we think the jury should have heard.
Like what? It was open and shut.
Well, for one, that Danforth
may have been paying Rhodes for sex.
Is that what he's telling you now?
Everybody has a story.
Well, we think Reggie might have been abused
the night before he killed Danforth.
If you have any way to corroborate that--
- I don't. - Well, you do know
that Danforth had a record for solicitation.
- That was public information. - So the defense knew about it?
Of course. I was prepared
for him to bring it up. He never did.
There are people on death row that deserve clemency,
but Reggie Rhodes-- he deserves to die.
She seem a bit defensive to you?
I think she was helpful.
She told us that Reggie's lawyer knew Danforth had a record
and didn't use it.
That speaks of negligence.
Is that enough?
The first summer Reggie came home from camp,
I was helping with his laundry,
and his...
[Sighs]
His underwear was stained with blood.
Mama saw it, and she didn't even say a word.
She just put it in the wash.
- And when was this? - Reggie was 13.
I was 17, home visiting.
And you weren't living with your mother?
Not at that time. I felt sorry for Reggie.
But mama was using,
and I couldn't fight her and her boyfriend.
Did you tell Reggie's defense lawyer about this?
Yeah, I called him outside the courthouse.
And before I could get ten words in,
he told me to shut the "f" up,
that the jury did not need to know
that Reggie was a homo.
Thank you, Ms. Smith.
Mr. Ellis, this history of abuse is horrible.
And the fact that Mr. Rhodes's original counselor
never brought it to the attention of the jury
only compounds the negligence.
Well, thank you, Ms. Brooks.
Here are our sworn affidavits
from seven of the original jurors,
stating that, had they known this history,
they would not have sentenced Reggie Rhodes to death.
Even though your client now admits to the murder
he previously denied?
Oh, yes, they all agreed that, given this level
of defense negligence, it would be
a grave miscarriage of justice
for the state to execute Reggie Rhodes.
Thank you, Counselor. We will rule within 24 hours.
This concludes the hearing.
Good job, Ellis.
You brought up enough to get the case retried.
Well, one step at a time.
Let's just focus on the stay of execution.
What do we do now?
We wait, Reggie.
Hey, you're both here. That must mean good news.
They voted five to four against us.
I'm sorry, Reggie.
But I thought-- how did this happen?
I don't know, Reggie,
but we're gonna try and find out.
Mm.
The parole board says in their own decision
that Reggie's defense was unconstitutionally deficient.
- This doesn't make sense. - Keep reading.
And then they vote five to four,
"That the negligent defense doesn't rise to the level
of invalidating the sanctity of a jury's decision."
What am I missing?
Four votes. No offense, ex-cops. COs.
I saw them rolling their eyes when the sister was testifying.
But the fifth vote, the chair.
She was asking all the right questions.
Oh, yes, she did,
which makes it harder to accuse her of bias.
Bias?
She's the former head of social services.
She also should have recused herself.
I got an off-the-record call this morning.
Ms. Brooks is married to Jim Harrison.
The lead prosecutor
who supervised DA Lathrop
as she "cut her teeth" on Reggie's trial.
Oh, my God.
This was rigged.
It's been rigged against Reggie from the get.
So that's it?
No, there may be just one last shot.
Prosecutorial misconduct?
Prosecutors make mistakes, can be negligent.
But in this case, you're alleging
that they intentionally withheld evidence?
Yes, if the prosecutors knew about Reggie's abuse
and hid that from the defense,
that's exactly what we're talking about here.
20 years, and it's never come out?
Rhodes is sentenced to die in five days.
Forgive me, Counselor,
but isn't this the definition of a hail Mary?
And as the parole board just affirmed,
the defense was unconstitutionally incompetent.
I won't grant a stay of execution.
You can have the files...
till noon tomorrow.
Your Honor, it's 5:00 PM. that's less than 24 hours.
Your client has had 20 years.
Take it or leave it.
Yes. Thank you, Your Honor.
Bayard, look at this.
Look at this.
These are the crime scene photos that were shown to the jury.
These I just found. They're wider shots.
Look at the bloody footprints, and look at the bare spot.
It's missing evidence shadows.
They sanitized the crime scene.
I'll keep going, you go see if Reggie remembers
what was on the floor.
Yeah, Danforth took pictures.
That's why I went back the next day to tell him
to give them back.
So the men took polaroids the night they worked you over?
You know, I heard clicks.
I seen flashes.
I said, "Stop it."
I said, "No more pictures."
Then I went back to Danforth. I tried to grab them from him.
They fell all over the floor.
I looked at the pictures, and I got so mad.
I don't want anybody taking pictures of me.
Not anymore.
Reggie, did somebody else take pictures of you?
[Scoffs] Pictures and movies.
They said they'd show everybody if I told.
It was humiliating.
Coach Schultz...
videotaped me and him in his basement.
[Sniffs] He said if I told, he'd show everybody.
What?
Well, it might explain why you went off on Coach Alexei
when you saw him videotaping those boys.
I don't-- I don't want anyone to know.
I don't want anyone to know.
If Schultz taped Johnny, even if he lets us use it,
the statute's run out.
But not on possession of child porn.
Look, Schultz remembered details,
I mean, what the boys wore.
It's like he's been replaying a highlight reel.
I bet he still has those tapes.
Let's call the DA and get a warrant before he starts
taping the kid he's got up there now.
With just three days to go before the execution,
activist attorney Bayard Ellis has filed a motion
alleging prosecutorial misconduct.
Damn, looks like he got rid of everything.
Do you know what happened to the videos that were in here?
Coach told me not to say.
Pablo, can I talk to you for a second?
Come on.
Ms. Lathrop, Reggie Rhodes was the first homicide
you tried as a lead prosecutor,
and it was a death penalty case.
Sounds like a lot of pressure.
It was a particularly brutal murder.
It was my duty to see that justice was done
for the victim and for his family.
And given that the defendant's life was at stake,
you of course familiarized yourself
with all aspects of this case?
Well, I had a supervisor,
but I lived with it every day
until I got that conviction.
So...[Chuckles] Yes, Counselor,
I would say that I know the facts as well as anyone.
And the law.
Please don't tell him I showed you this.
Martin asked you to burn these?
The day after you guys were here.
He had boxes of them.
You know, old sports tapes.
Boxes.
Well, that would have taken a long time.
The fire went out. I didn't get to them all.
And I'm sure you thoroughly investigated
both the victim and the defendant's personal histories.
I'm a prosecutor, not a social worker.
But I did my job.
So you were aware that, as a young boy,
Reggie Rhodes was serially abused by a number of adult men.
Neither he nor his defense attorney brought that up.
Well, Ms. Lathrop, at the trial, you told the jury
that this was a murder between strangers.
A robbery gone bad, correct?
And the jury agreed with me.
They handed down the appropriate sentence.
Were you aware of a prior relationship
between Mr. Rhodes and the victim?
I don't recall ever hearing that.
And yet detectives were able to track Reggie Rhodes down
because the victim's wife ID'd him as someone
the husband often hired as a handyman.
It's been 20 years, but my memory
is that forensic evidence led to his being apprehended.
Forensic evidence. That would include footprints?
Hey. Hey!
What the hell are you people doing here, huh?
Get off my property!
Got a warrant to search your crib, Coach.
This is for my house! You got no business in my shed!
This is an illegal search!
Anything you find in there will be inadmissible.
You need your reading glasses. It says property, not house.
I give you one thing to do, and you can't even finish that.
Martin, I'm sorry. I tried.
You sold me out, you little bastard.
Hey, hey.
You can't talk to him unless I'm present.
He's 13. It would be inadmissible.
It won't stand up! I'm his legal guardian!
Not for long. You're under arrest, Mr. Schultz.
You think you're protecting these kids by arresting me?
You idiots.
I'm the only father they ever had!
Yes, I see the bare patch and the bloody footprint.
I have no idea what might have caused it.
Did any detectives ever tell you
about polaroids found on the kitchen floor?
Incriminating photographs of Mr. Danforth
and other men having sex with Reggie?
The police never told me that.
Because if he had, you would have turned that
- over to the defense. - Of course.
So just to recap,
you didn't investigate Mr. Danforth's criminal history
of soliciting young men.
You knew nothing about Mr. Rhodes's history
of sexual abuse, and you knew nothing
about Mr. Danforth paying Mr. Rhodes for sex?
To the best of my recollection.
And you did not intentionally hide
any of this information from the defense?
Absolutely not.
Is it possible that there was some negligence
due to my inexperience?
In hindsight, yes.
But I would never purposefully withhold evidence
to put a man on death row.
Ms. Lathrop, are these your notes?
I don't immediately recognize them.
- Is this your handwriting? - Yes.
Can you read what's on the outside of the envelope?
"To Mr. Harrison from ML."
ML. Marnie Lathrop.
And the next line?
"FYEO."
For your eyes only.
In other words, not to be shared with the defense.
And now...
on this page.
Still your handwriting?
Can you read what it says for the court?
Your Honor, I'm not comfortable using this language.
You wrote it,
and now you're not comfortable reading it?
Read it, Ms. Lathrop.
"Further notes on the faggot squad."
Go on.
"Reggie Rhodes's 'odd jobs' for Danforth
may refer to sexual favors."
And at the bottom?
"Enclosed envelope contains photos found at scene.
Sexually explicit images of victim and defendant."
Does this jog your memory about whether or not
the lead detective mentioned polaroids at the scene?
I have no idea how these--
Would you open this and show these photos to the court?
No. No, I couldn't--
Just like you couldn't show them to the defense.
No. That's not what I was saying.
Even when this became a death penalty case!
You didn't share ese with anyone
but your supervisor, did you?
No.
Thank you. No further questions.
Never in 30 years on the bench have I seen
a more blatant example of prosecutorial misconduct.
I am going to grant a stay of execution for Mr. Rhodes.
His death warrant is due to expire in two days.
I strongly advise the county prosecutors
to allow that warrant to lapse.
[Buzzer]
- So this time we won? - A stay of execution.
We won, Reggie.
And the state will be looking at your case.
And we may even get you a new trial.
In the meantime, we're gonna get you transferred
to a different prison.
Thank you!
[Chuckles]
[Laughs]
Sync & corrections by Alex1969 www.addic7ed.com