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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.
Hey, wait, wait.
Hold on, hold on, hold on.
Let's go someplace else.
I got a better place.
Come on.
Where you take all your other girls?
Come on now.
You know
I don't have nobody but you.
- What's over here?
- The view is better.
What's that?
It's nothing.
It's nothing.
Relax.
Come on now.
Relax.
It's nothing.
I hear footsteps.
Look, I don't hear nothing.
What's up?
Do you want me or not?
We want you, Leon.
Who's that?
Oh, man, that's the sex police.
- Why they want you?
- It's this cop, man.
He got this thing for me
or something like that.
Not even out of prison two weeks.
I told you he's not gonna stop.
Over there.
- Come here.
- What did he do?
Come here with me.
I didn't do nothing, man.
He framed me.
- Keep right on thinking that, Leon.
- What'd he do?
How old are you?
- Fourteen.
- Oh, you's a lying ***.
Yo, man, Nashika told me
she graduated high school.
Yo, tell them I ain't forced you.
- I wanted to be with him.
- Okay.
The law says you're not old enough
to make that decision.
Now, was he gonna use protection?
We didn't talk about it.
I bet he didn't even mention
that he's *** positive, did he?
*** has the virus? Man!
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Nashika, come here.
- Settle, settle, settle.
- Yo, man, you can't give that up.
I just did.
What are you
gonna do about it?
Look at me.
It's okay.
Nashika, have you ever
had sex with him?
Tonight would have been
the first time.
Okay, let's go.
So how many little girls have you
had sex with since you been out?
Yo, man, you ain't
have no right to follow me.
Hey.
Hey.
Don't tell me
how to do my job.
Answer the question.
So you can put me away
again for nothing?
Man, listen, the young ladies
feel me, it's not my fault.
It is if they're jailbait.
They want to pleasure me,
who am I to stop them?
And if you infect them with your ***,
it's their problem, too, right?
Look, man, you ambushed us
before I even had
an opportunity to tell her.
I had protection.
Her protection is me putting
you back in your little cage.
Why don't you
just get off my case, man?
'Cause I don't like you.
All right, well, I don't have nothing else
to say until my legal aid gets here.
I'm surprised he said
as much as he did.
He has the personality of a repeater.
He can do no wrong.
Nothing is his fault.
- What was he in prison for?
- Five years, sodomy two.
After I finally convinced
one of the numerous underage girls
he had oral sex with to come forward
and file a complaint.
Now he's escalating to intercourse.
You're speculating, Elliot.
He wasn't in the act when
you stopped him.
That's a problem.
Attempted *** two,
attempted reckless endangerment,
because he didn't disclose
that he was *** positive.
Where's the problem here?
We can't hold him
based on what he might do.
So we're supposed to wait
until after he infects the girl?
She consented.
His attorney will say he was carrying
condoms and planned to use them.
We can't prove otherwise.
We know that Leon was about to have
unprotected sex with a minor.
Now, we cut him loose,
he's going to.
You got anything in your bag
of tricks, Counselor,
now is the time to pull it out.
I have something,
but I'll have to check.
And I'll have to involve
your psychiatrist.
I'll give him a call.
Get him Tate's prison history,
arrest records, whatever you could find.
Leon's rap sheet starts
when he was seven years old.
He had 11 arrests
by his 13th birthday.
The record was sealed
because he was a juvenile.
Let's get them unsealed.
Elliot, close the door.
Yeah?
I don't remember telling you
to tail Leon Tate.
I heard he was out.
Just keeping my eye on him.
Well, this squad doesn't have
enough bodies
for you and your partner
to go freelancing.
I like to think that we saved
a young girl's life tonight.
And we would need a new unit
if we were to follow every perv
that we thought might repeat.
Leon Tate did his time.
And until somebody
makes a complaint, he has rights.
This guy's *** is a deadly weapon
and he's got a thing for young girls.
They got rights, too.
Until Cabot gives us
the word, you back off.
Are we clear?
We can't charge Leon Tate
with a crime,
so you wanna lock him up
in a mental institution?
The Supreme Court in Kansas v.
Hendricks
upheld States' rights
to commit *** predators
after their prison sentences.
Yes, Kansas and 16
other states have laws
specifically for that purpose.
New York does not.
We can use the existing
mental hygiene law.
All we have to do is prove Leon Tate
has a mental illness
that poses a likelihood
of danger to himself or to others.
You really want to risk trying
to set a precedent with this case?
Leon Tate is a *** predator with ***.
I think we have a responsibility
to protect people from him
and others like him.
All right.
You give me
something to work with.
I'll see if the D.
A.
will go for it.
Problem is even if the woman
lies about her age,
it's still the man's fault.
Ignorance is no defense.
Nashika Morris is 14.
She's not a woman, she's a girl.
What's a guy supposed to do,
check the girl's birth certificate?
I'm just as opposed to ***
as everybody else in this room,
but if she wanted to have sex,
that's her choice.
- She wasn't forced.
- She's a minor.
- What she wants isn't relevant.
- Are we interrupting?
Friendly disagreement.
Care to join in?
I came to tell you that the D.
A.
's
allowing us to move on Leon Tate.
On what grounds?
Based upon the reports
that I've read,
I think that I can make a case that
Mr.
Tate has anti-social personality disorder.
That's what I've been
saying all along.
No empathy, no conscience,
no thought for the possible
consequences of his actions.
So he knows
what he's doing is wrong.
And he doesn't care.
Most people with *** act responsibly
when it comes to practicing safe sex.
Tate either can't control
or won't control his impulses,
which make him
a repeat sex offender.
Yeah, he's a *** predator.
Now he's definitely a danger to others.
Which is the standard set
by the Supreme Court.
- Do we know how he contracted ***?
- Yeah, shooting dope.
He found out
when he was tested in prison.
One fix wipes away any self-control
that Tate has left,
making him even more likely
to have unprotected sex with a minor.
And this is already in the works?
We argue the motion for
a commitment hearing this afternoon.
It would be a big help
if you could be there in case
the judge has questions
about Tate's past.
I wouldn't miss it for the world.
Chambers of Judge Elmore
Tuesday, March 20
Your Honor, it's double jeopardy
disguised as treatment.
Supreme Court
Kansas v.
Hendricks,
civil commitment of a *** predator
is not punitive.
They arrested Mr.
Tate
and couldn't make the charges stick,
so they put a label on him
for a one-way trip to the funny farm.
I get the point, Ms.
Regal.
- Doctor Huang.
- Yes?
Other than an anti-social personality,
did you find any evidence that
the defendant has a *** disorder?
Yes.
Mr.
Tate expresses his
narcissism and his anger
by having unprotected sex
with underage, powerless girls
and not disclosing
that he's *** positive.
Detective Stabler,
when you arrested Mr.
Tate,
how did you know for certain that he
was going to have sex with the girl?
Ms.
Morris told us so.
We found condoms on Tate
when we searched him.
Well, wouldn't that indicate
that Mr.
Tate planned safe sex?
Even so, the girl's a minor.
That's *** two.
Your Honor, Detective Stabler
can in no way predict
what my client may or may not
have done that night.
Your client likes little girls
and if we don't stop him now,
- he's gonna kill one of them.
- Enough.
I agree something has to be done
about repeat *** offenders,
but I am not gonna put this man
through a civil commitment hearing
unless you can prove
that his intent was unprotected sex.
Judge was afraid
to stick her neck out.
Maybe she'll change her mind when
we wheel a body into her chambers.
Who's catching?
That would be me.
What's up?
***.
Rooftop in Harlem,
at Metro Hospital's ER.
It's Tate's MO.
We'll take it.
- Be my guest.
- Elliot.
I've got two days to finish up
the paperwork on the Wilson case
or I'm in contempt of court.
- I'll go.
- All right.
I don't want you trying to pin Tate
to every sex crime in Harlem.
I met him in the park down the block
from our apartment.
He told me he could get me
a rap audition,
that he was a promoter.
I fell for it.
Shareen, it's not your fault.
Did he tell you his name?
Andre.
He seemed nice.
Said I was smart and talented.
What happened?
He took me out
to a real restaurant.
Then he walked me home.
When we got to my door,
he said it was a beautiful night,
and that I was aglow like the stars,
that we should go to the rooftop.
He started to kiss me.
I told him to stop.
He slapped me,
pulled a knife,
ripped off my clothes,
and then he
Did he say anything
during the attack?
That I was lucky to experience him
'cause he was so handsome.
He was the love machine,
and that he was gonna make me
into a woman when he was done.
We'll be right back.
She's got a detached retina,
concussion.
Basically, he used her face
for a punching bag.
Okay, tell the doctor
that the *** may have ***.
Okay.
Where are you going?
Back to the office.
That "love machine" line?
I've heard it before.
In '93 right after I got here,
Perp said he was gonna
make a woman out of her,
that he was the love machine.
You get anywhere on the case?
Was gonna run the DNA in '95
when they first started testing,
but back then you couldn't get it done
unless you already had the collar.
And you think
Leon Tate is our guy.
I contacted the victim.
She's got AIDS.
Perp sweet-talked her
just like Leon.
I don't know how I missed it.
Well, banging your head against
the wall isn't gonna help.
Pick Tate up.
and see if his victims are in any kind
of shape for a lineup.
I pounded on his door.
If he's
in there, he's got a bad headache.
You okay?
Yeah.
I just don't like some guy making
my home turf dangerous for young girls.
I thought you grew up in Brooklyn.
Nope.
About 10 blocks from here.
Ground zero for the '68 riots.
- What was that like?
- I was six.
My mother said the only way we're
leaving our apartment was
if somebody burned it down.
This your guy?
Son of a *** is at it again.
You, come here.
Yo, come on, man.
Yo, she's 17.
- Checked her ID.
- We didn't do nothing.
- Assume the position.
- See how they do?
So what's up, man?
The hood got you scared,
you had to bring Uncle Tom with you?
You didn't mean that.
You know something?
I think you just upset my partner.
- You should apologize.
- Yeah, go ahead with
All right, all right,
all right.
I apologize, I apologize.
You know Casanova here has ***?
- That the truth?
- Yo, man, don't believe them.
No.
Is it the truth?
Yo, I got protection.
I don't care if you got
a bulletproof vest for that thing.
- You should have told me.
- Oh, now there she go.
Yo, man, my legal aid told me
I can sue you for telling anybody.
Yeah, so go ahead and do it.
We'll say it slipped out while we
busted you for *** and assault.
Do what?
Yo, I ain't *** nobody.
Yeah, I'll bet you're not
the love machine, either.
Yo, man, what you
talking about, man?
Why y'all doing this to me?
"Doing it to me.
"
It's all about you, huh, Leon?
It's been a while.
It's okay, Vanessa.
Do you recognize any of these men?
I'm not sure.
- Take your time.
- No coaching, Counselor.
I wish I could tell you
one of them's him.
I'm sorry.
It's all right.
It's all right.
It's all right.
Okay.
Come on.
Thank you.
Okay, you ready?
They can't see you.
They can't see you.
- Help me up.
- Yeah.
Come on.
Do you recognize any of these men?
Which one?
I can't tell.
Maybe when I can see
a little better.
/ Okay.
It's all right.
I'm taking my client home now.
Cut him loose.
That son of a *** wins again.
I'm on my way home and
this flaming shoe hit the ground.
I look up and here comes
the rest of her.
Did you see anyone else up there?
No, man, I was busy
putting out the fire.
Okay, thank you.
If you remember
anything else, give us a call.
They wake you up, too?
Yeah.
I was just leaving the office
when the call came in.
I had the desk page you.
Girl on a rooftop.
I figured you'd want in.
What's with fire?
Perp lit the victim up
before he threw her off.
- Who is she?
- Aisha Thompson, 14.
Used to live about
two blocks away from here.
Tosses her off a roof.
Leon's trying to send me
a message now?
Hey.
/ Full thickness burns
to the body,
but she was dead before
he torched her.
/ How?
Ligature strangulation
after she performed oral sex on him.
We ran the Luma Light around the scene,
she has fluids on her face.
Leon lives a dozen blocks from here.
Where is she?
Where is she, man?
Hold up.
- Yo, she's my sister.
- Let him through.
Let him through.
Didn't know you had a sister.
Rodney.
Rodney.
Come on.
All right.
You know him?
He looks just like his father.
You used to come around
all the time when I was a kid.
You know, your parents and I
got busy with our lives,
fell out of touch
when I moved to Brooklyn.
How they doing?
Dad got hooked on dope,
disappeared,
and mom brought us up,
but she died two years ago,
breast cancer,
so it was just me and Aisha.
I was out all night looking for her.
When did you realize
she was missing?
She went to the library
to do a project for school,
but when she didn't
come home by 10:00,
I just started calling her friends,
but nobody saw her, so
Did she have a boyfriend?
Anybody paying attention to her?
Aisha told me everything, okay.
She just got accepted to Stuyvesant.
You know, that
school for the gifted kids?
She was gonna be somebody.
What are you gonna do about this?
We got a line on this guy.
We think we know who he is
and we're gonna get him.
He's not gonna kill any more girls.
How does Fin know
the victim's family?
He grew up with Rodney
and Aisha's mother.
This has got Tate written all over it.
We need a warrant
for his apartment.
Do you have evidence it was him?
We believe he beat up
Shareen White when he *** her.
Maybe this time he didn't
wanna leave any witnesses.
It's not enough.
And he's missing and
the victim fits Tate's profile
and she was *** on that rooftop.
And murdered and set on fire,
neither of which
Tate has ever done.
We don't know everything
Leon Tate's done.
Now, how are we doing
on getting his records unsealed?
Motion's in, but it's gonna
take some time.
We don't have time.
We need the information now.
Corporation counsel
would have prosecuted Tate
because he was a juvie.
Maybe somebody there
remembers him.
Office of Burt Ferris
Assistant Corporate Counsel
Thursday, March 22
I keep my notes
on all my own cases.
The day I start this job,
they put that little ***'s
overstuffed file right on my desk.
Our shrink pegged him
with anti-social personality disorder.
Yeah, well, that sounds mild compared
to the psych evals I read back then.
Said little Leon was a serial killer
in the making.
Based on what?
Based on his love of torturing and killing
the neighbors' pets.
Two when he was just seven,
and that's just for starters.
What happened?
Kiddie probation.
In other words, nothing.
My luck I got a judge
sympathetic to the kid.
His sheet says he was back
six months later.
Hey, I argued he should be put away,
but Judge Bleeding Heart
wanted me to exhaust every
possible treatment option.
Don't tell me, His Honor said
Leon could be rehabilitated?
Until his last arrest,
which I handled five years later.
What made the judge
change his mind?
Leon torched the treatment facility.
Nobody else would touch him.
Leon set fires?
Nine out of his 11 collars
are for arson.
The ACC who prosecuted says
Tate told the psychiatrists
he killed puppies
to see what it felt like.
Add the pyromania and Leon scores
two out of three on the triad of sociopathy.
Bed-wetting would make him
three for three.
So Tate shows a reckless disregard
for life from the time he was seven.
And he had five years to think about
what he was gonna do when he got out.
So why didn't he kill
the first girl he seduced?
*** is about anger,
but I'm not sure it's
the women that set him off.
I think following him might have
made his anger boil over.
Oh, so Aisha Thompson's death
is our fault?
Well, that's the way he's
gonna play it every time he kills,
until you find him.
So we should have
just done nothing, right?
I'm profiling, I'm not accusing.
All right,
where are we?
Three shifts on Leon's crib
around the clock, no sign of him.
Tate have any friends
or relatives he might be holed up with?
His mother moved
rom the address in his file.
Nobody could tell us
where she went.
All right.
Well, let's just check
his phone records from prison.
If you were away for five years,
you'd call your mother, too.
If he's not with her,
have his building canvassed.
John, start pulling every ***
and *** homicide of girls
that fit the type Tate liked.
- All five boroughs.
- How far back?
Let's start with 10 years.
This guy is serial killer material.
He might have sweet-talked
a lot more girls than we know about.
Apartment of Alva Tate
Thursday, March 22
You come to take
another five years from my son?
When was the last time
you saw him?
You should know,
the way you've been
following him around.
Mrs.
Tate, when was the last time
You sent him to prison because some
So it was her fault?
Girl never led you on?
A girl was murdered last night.
He didn't kill anybody.
I told him to stay away from those girls.
Well, Leon's not taking your advice,
because he was with one
when I saw him two nights ago.
I don't know
why he's the way he is.
I tried to raise him right,
gave him plenty of love.
Now he's got this ***.
I don't know what happened.
Mrs.
Tate, if he contacts you
I'm afraid that he is
shooting dope again.
Why do you think that?
He said you were *** him,
and he wasn't sure he could handle
going back to prison.
Did he tell you that
when you saw him?
Last night.
- What do you want with me?
- You seen Leon Tate?
I mind my own business.
Why don't you try
knocking on his door?
We did.
Then I guess I can't help you.
All right.
Well,
if you see him give me a
call.
Where to now?
Well, Leon likes rooftops.
Spent a lot of time on my rooftop
when I was a kid.
It was safe back then.
Doing the wild thing
with your girlfriend?
You know, when you live here
you can't afford a vacation to Aruba,
so you went to
"Isle of Aroofa," tar beach.
Plus the guys like to come up here
'cause this is where
the girls would come hang out.
I grew up in Queens.
All I ever wanted
was the excitement of the city.
Sounds like all you ever
wanted was quiet.
We should've traded places.
Large family in a small apartment.
I used to come up here at night, too.
Used to look at the view
and the lights in the distance, think.
About the meaning of life?
That I had to get off that rooftop.
Well, well, Leon, I guess
you wanted to get off the rooftop, too.
Who you talking to?
Check this out.
It's Leon.
Took a taste and OD'd.
He could have been up here
since last night
and nobody would have seen him.
ME says he's been
down at least 18 hours,
but he still could have
murdered Aisha Thompson.
Guy OD's two weeks out of prison.
Talk about bad karma.
Well, maybe for Leon.
For his potential victims
it's all upside.
Yeah, thanks.
Maybe not.
- What?
- Another rooftop, another body.
Guy came up to feed
the pigeons, found her.
Anybody else up here
besides him and the victim?
- Nobody.
- Thanks.
How old is this one, Doc?
I'd say no more than 16.
*** before she was killed.
- Any ID?
- Nothing on her.
Perp did a real number on her face.
- With what?
- Brick.
Pieces of it broke off in her skull.
This was on her right index finger.
May help ID her.
Well, if it's Leon's work,
he's improvising.
It couldn't have been Leon Tate.
What are you talking about?
The victim's still in rigor.
Probably killed this morning.
Tate was dead by last night.
- Elliot
- I wanted it to be Leon.
- Everything fit.
- We wasted time.
Another girl's dead because
I went down the wrong road.
You happy now?
Mrs.
Tate, I'm sorry about Leon.
Don't you dare say you're sorry.
You're glad he's dead.
He didn't kill those girls,
but you killed him anyway.
You murdered him.
Mrs.
Tate, Detective Stabler
was doing his job.
My son was innocent.
Your son was gonna
kill somebody with his ***.
We had to stop him.
We didn't put
the needle in his arm.
You didn't.
But you all stick together, don't you?
Who's our victim?
Tiffany Purcell, 14.
Mother ID'ed her ring.
Fin, thanks for taking my back
with Mrs.
Tate.
Leon was ***.
He was gonna kill some innocent girl
if you didn't stop him.
We're checking every parolee
in the last two years
who was ever collared
for anything violent against women.
None of these m.
o.
's are the same.
The pattern's in the victimology.
All the victims are black, young,
good students,
never been in trouble.
This is no wild-eyed psycho.
Your perp is most likely
well-educated, attractive.
He seems trustworthy.
He has good social skills.
Every time he cons
a girl into submission,
he's proving how much smarter he is.
Okay, that could explain
why he changes locations and MOs.
That's part of his strategy.
He knew how much harder
it would be for you guys
to put his pattern together.
He was right.
/ What about
this victim that he set on fire?
Something about her
sent him over the edge.
Maybe she physically injured him
or she said something
that would trigger that level of violence.
You mean like challenging
his manhood?
Any challenge to his sense of control.
That's what this is all about.
These men often have wives
or steady girlfriends who are submissive.
They seek unconditional approval.
Well, my old man never approved
of a single thing I ever did.
I don't go around raping
and killing young girls.
This perp was told that
he was no good
enough times
to think that it was true.
All any of these girls
has to say is "stop" and
that's likely to set him off.
A *** and two murders
in one week tells me
we're on borrowed time
before he kills again.
Get all the victims' descriptions
of the perp.
- Make a composite.
- We've got company.
I'll take him.
I thought you had him, man?
We were wrong.
We're gonna get him.
You aren't doing
a damn thing, are you?
What, 'cause it happened
north of 96th street?
You can save that
for somebody else, okay?
I know your family.
We're from the same place
and we're the same color.
Fin.
- What happened?
- Another girl.
Harlem Apartments
Friday, March 23
What do we got, Doc?
Cause of death
is ligature strangulation.
Some kind of thick shoelace,
maybe from a sneaker.
Dead about 12 hours.
***?
And she put up a fight,
tried to resist.
She's got finger-size bruises
on the inside of her thighs
where he pried her legs apart.
This wacko's out of control.
Well, I can't tell you it's the same wacko
until I compare the DNA.
I've known her since she was a baby.
It's horrible.
Tina was a sweet girl.
I try to keep the building safe.
What do you know
about Tina and her family?
Her parents are nice,
responsible people.
They're never late with the rent,
took care of their apartment.
Do they know?
Her mother does.
She's downstairs.
Father sails on cargo ships.
They're trying to reach him now.
Did you see Tina last night?
Sorry.
We're gonna need you
to take us down to her apartment.
I sent Tina to the store on the corner
for some milk and bread.
Do you remember what time?
Around 10:00 last night.
We walked out together.
I work graveyard at the post office.
This is gonna kill her daddy.
Was she here when you
came home this morning?
I did a couple of hours overtime.
I assumed Tina went to school.
Does she ever have any friends over
while you're at work?
No, only when I'm here.
How about boyfriends?
Tina is very shy around boys.
She said some kid at school
had a crush on her.
That's all I know about.
Who would do something like this?
I'll be just a minute.
Piece of paper in her room
had some numbers on it.
I'll call them and have someone
run them down.
Her mother give you anything?
Tina's last stop
was the corner store.
Yeah, she did come in here.
- I was getting ready to close.
- She come in with anybody?
No.
Some guy did come in behind her.
- They started talking.
- This him?
This guy had a shaved head
and no beard.
You ever see him in here before?
I just started working here last week.
What'd they talk about?
I didn't hear,
but they was talking and laughing
and stuff like they knew each other.
They left together, too.
- Thanks, man.
- All right.
Shaved head?
One of my tenants just went
for the cue-ball look.
- Which one?
- Malik Harris.
3B.
- Shaved his beard, too.
- When?
Last few days.
Didn't even recognize him.
Malik Harris?
That's what it says on my
birth certificate,
but I'm known professionally as King.
We wanna talk to you, Malik.
- You gonna invite us in?
- Now is not a convenient time.
Who's there, baby?
Nobody that concerns you.
I guess we're interrupting.
I told you I was busy.
Sweetie.
Baby, I was just wondering
You see I'm speaking
to these officers?
What do you want?
Are you aware
of what's going on upstairs?
I haven't been out, enlighten me.
A girl was murdered
on the rooftop.
Who?
Tina Dupree.
You know her?
Yeah, I seen her around.
Damn.
/ Somebody saw you
with her last night.
On the corner at the store.
I walked her home.
Little girl like that
shouldn't be out so late.
Can you tell us where you were
the rest of the night?
Baby, now you may dialogue.
We ain't left the apartment.
We been busy.
You know what I am saying?
"Baby, now you may
dialogue"? Please.
He was the last person to see her.
Pretty big risk if he's our serial killer,
striking where he lives.
Unless Tina was a victim
of opportunity.
Harris goes to the store,
sees her, walks her home,
knows her mother works at night,
father's out of town.
Yeah, police just putting on
a big show for us, that's all.
Just what we need.
I got this.
You got a problem?
Yeah, that you cops don't give
a rat's *** what's going on up here.
You don't think so?
Well, we're here.
You know who's not here?
The press, the TV news.
If you got any beef,
you got beef with them, not us.
They can't make money off us.
They don't care.
Word up.
Don't tell me.
Tell them.
Why don't y'all give them
a call, all right?
Meanwhile, does anybody have
any information that could help us?
Okay, people, please go back
to your business,
and let us do our job.
Not you.
Why do you wanna make this
harder on yourself than it already is?
Aisha was all I had left, all right?
Now some *** took her away,
and I'm supposed to stand here
and watch you not catch him?
What's harder than that, man?
Checked the phone numbers
we found in Tina Dupree's room.
One belongs to a girlfriend.
The other, Malik Harris.
- Harris have a rap sheet?
- Never arrested,
but came up on the computer
as a victim of vehicular assault.
- Hit by a car in '94.
- Right after the third ***.
His legs were shattered,
almost lost them.
Hospitalized in rehab
for nearly a year,
spent the next two learning
how to walk again.
So Harris was only out of action
for three years.
Our perp waited seven.
He gets social security disability.
From '97 to last year,
his checks were sent
to an address in Detroit.
Harris has a sister who lives there.
Get Detroit Homicide on the phone,
see if they have any unsolved killings
matching our victim profiles.
Fin, my office, now.
I just got off the phone with the Deputy
Commissioner for public information.
Now, he wants to know
why one of my detectives
is bad-mouthing the media
up in Harlem.
I was just telling them the truth.
What the hell were you thinking?
That those people were right.
That's not your judgment to make.
If these girls were murdered in the Village
or the Upper West Side,
the media would be all over it.
Five black girls
aren't even on their radar.
- Are you finished?
- No, I'm just getting started.
This is no different
than any other investigation.
No?
An East Side socialite disappears,
we got 50 cops on it.
Black girls start getting executed,
we got four cops.
That sounds equal to you?
Look, I know where you're coming from.
No, you don't know
where I'm coming from.
There's no way you can know
where I'm coming from.
Don't you dare presume to know
what's in my head.
No matter what you say, Captain,
you're not black
and you're not from the hood.
Slow down.
That crowd could have turned ugly.
I diffused it.
Cragen didn't know that.
Who you defending?
Him or me?
Both of you.
Just take a deep breath.
- No time for that.
- Where are we going?
I'm going to meet an informant.
Alone.
I'm busy.
This better be good.
How about a little respect.
Time is money,
and I'm losing it talking to you.
What the hell are you doing
back there? Sit up like a man.
Yeah, I get seen with you,
my customers go elsewhere
for their merchandise.
You got something for me, Benny,
or did you just come here
to run your mouth?
Word's out you're looking
to jam up King.
- Where you hear that?
- I got sources just like you.
What do your sources
know about him?
That King's a rap promoter wannabe.
Manages a few unknowns,
but doesn't have
the goods to make it big.
He uses the rap line
mostly to pick up women.
So far you're boring me.
How about he buys his coke
and dope from one of my corner boys?
Now you're talking.
Where's he get his cash?
King's a kept man.
Smooth-talks one of his ladies
into paying for his lifestyle,
till they wise up, dump him.
What's in this for you, Benny?
I don't like him.
Consider it a freebie.
Harris admits to walking
Tina Dupree home,
and we got witnesses
that saw them together.
That doesn't mean he killed her.
We took the composites
from all the rapes
and had the artist remove the hair.
That's Malik Harris dead-on.
A judge isn't going to give us
a search warrant based on that.
- What about a lineup?
- We risk tipping our hand.
I got an informant, a drug dealer
I busted a few years ago.
He says his boys sell Malik Harris
dope and coke on a regular basis.
Well, write the warrant
for the drugs only.
That'll allow you to search
almost everywhere.
Anything you find
on top of that is gravy.
Trax Recording Studio
Saturday, March 24
I can't talk to you right now.
I'm cutting a track here.
Yeah, maybe you should be
recording jailhouse rock.
Man, what are you talking about?
- You're under arrest.
- For what?
Possession of narcotics
in the third degree.
What?
We tossed your crib.
What you gonna do?
Make her a star and then kill her, too?
What is up with that?
You're putting me through all of this
for some recreational pharmaceuticals?
You like big words, King?
How about execution or lethal injection?
What, you gonna give me the death penalty
for a little *** and ***?
Your handiwork.
Remember?
Poor girls.
And you think that I have
something to do with killing them?
You were the last one with Tina
before she was found dead.
Feel free to dialogue.
I told you I walked her home.
Anything after that
I'm not accountable for.
And, of course,
you've met my lovely alibi.
Who'll say anything
once you doped her up.
I am innocent.
Then you won't mind
taking a little trip with us.
Open wide, please.
This'll only take a moment.
What are you doing?
Just taking a little DNA sample
to prove your innocence.
I can't allow that.
You got something to hide?
It violates my religious tenets.
I'm a Jehovah's Witness.
Prove it.
He doesn't have to.
He says it,
I can't take the sample.
We haven't been
properly introduced.
I'm King.
We should get together sometime
under circumstances more conducive.
You fill in the blanks.
She's choice.
Don't you ever want to
Your thoughts aren't very religious.
Well, we all worship
in our own way.
You know how much
those cost, man?
Sorry about that.
Let me get that for you.
- Oh, man.
- Shoot.
Partner, you gotta be more careful.
Don't worry.
We'll replace them
by tomorrow morning.
Frames are from Italy.
You have our sincerest apologies.
Most people secrete oils
right onto the lenses.
The cells I found that were usable
were on the nose pieces.
So what's the verdict?
His Majesty's DNA is a match
on all six murders and eight rapes.
- Got him.
- Thanks.
Chambers of Judge Seligman
Monday, March 26
This motion to suppress
is totally without merit.
Malik Harris's right
to genetic privacy was violated.
The police have gotten DNA off
of coffee cups, lipstick, telephones,
even a suspect's spit
on the street.
All of it upheld in court.
People discard coffee cups
and spit voluntarily.
Detective Tutuola assaulted my client
and stole his glasses.
When Mr.
Harris's sunglasses fell,
he demanded the detectives replace them.
He discarded them,
which makes them fair game.
So what we're saying here
is that the police, at any time,
can obtain a person's
genetic code?
The DNA obtained by the police
conclusively links the defendant
to the murders of a half a dozen
teenage girls.
What about their rights?
Mr.
Harris's guilt or innocence
isn't the issue here.
How the police gathered
the evidence is.
Your Honor, reasonable deception
on the part of the police
has been upheld
by the Supreme Court.
Yes, and if the police had tricked
Mr.
Harris into giving up his sunglasses,
we'd be out of here.
They forced him,
that's coercion,
the DNA is out.
The DNA is all the police have
tying my client to these murders.
Then I have no other choice
but to drop the charges against Mr.
Harris.
And when your detectives
blame the judge,
tell them that they're
the ones that blew it.
No, no, no.
We didn't screw up.
We got Harris off the street.
Your judge let him go.
- What did you expect?
- A little justice.
Then maybe you
should have done better.
We got you all the evidence
you needed.
If you'd done it legally,
this wouldn't have happened.
All right, come on.
This isn't
getting us anywhere.
What do we have left?
Possession three on the drugs
that we found in his apartment.
Is there anything we can do with that
to keep him off the street?
First offense,
Harris'll make bail.
Just gonna give up?
I will ask for remand,
but the judge will never go for it.
And I can't mention the murders.
Harris gets out,
we stick with him.
I want all four of you
in the courtroom for the arraignment.
Don't let him out of your sight.
If he so much as sneezes,
I want the Kleenex.
Remand, Ms.
Cabot?
On a third degree possession charge?
Mr.
Harris provided the drugs
to young women.
The People believe he is a danger
to the community.
Counsel approach.
Ms.
Cabot, I have 40 more cases
on the docket
and you're wasting my time
on this frivolous garbage?
Your Honor, it is
the People's position that we
You screwed up your *** case
and now you want me
to do your dirty work for you.
Not gonna happen.
Step back.
Bail is set at $2,000,
cash only.
Next case.
Let's go.
Son of a ***!
- You killed my sister, man!
- Order.
Officer.
/ He's a cold-blooded
murderer.
Officer.
Officer, clear the court!
*** bit me!
*** bit me!
- Bring it.
Come on, bring it.
- Remove that man!
- Officer, order.
- All right, we'll take him.
You'll take me?
Yeah, you're under arrest
for assault.
Whoa.
Hold it.
He gets away
with murdering my sister,
- and you taking me?
- Shut up!
Harris, let's see your hands, now.
You're under arrest.
It's over, Your Highness.
You ain't got nothing on me.
Just taking a bite out of crime.
Just like you took a bite
out of Rodney Thompson's arm.
And left your DNA.
Thought you were
smarter than that.
- Fin?
- Counselor?
You and Rodney Thompson
put on quite a performance
when you led him out of court.
What are you talking about?
Setting Harris up by telling Thompson
the only way we were going to get
Harris's DNA is if he attacked him.
Thompson's not a perp.
I can't force him to do anything.
No, but you could have
given him the idea.
Did you?
You really want to know?
No.
It was a setup.
We arranged for your client
to bite Rodney Thompson?
I don't think so.
Bit yourself in the ***
with your big mouth this time, King.
This is entrapment.
Ask your attorney.
She'll tell you it's not.
I just heard from Detroit.
Malik's DNA.
Matches four homicides, five rapes,
all during the time
he was living with his sister.
I want a deal.
You want a deal?
How about right before we
execute you for killing those girls,
I bring you your last meal?
How's that?