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Michelle Clark, 16 years old.
She didn't answer when she was called
for breakfast this morning, so
her father came upstairs to wake her
found his daughter hanging from
the ceiling, cut her down with scissors.
And the parents heard?
Nothing in the night, their bedroom's
on the other side of the house.
- Chief Johnson, can I have a word?
- I'll be right there.
Yeah.
Sanchez and daniels have taken
the parents into the kitchen,
they don't have to watch their daughter
get hauled out of here on a gurney.
And Flynn's calling Michelle's friends,
just to try and find out if she was
as happy as her father described.
Okay.
Buzz, memorialize the crime scene.
Thank you.
I want to thank you for coming down.
I need a fresh pair of eyes on this.
On what, exactly?
It's... it's sensitive.
Commander, I'm, I'm happy to help.
I'm just not sure why you need
my division to investigate a suicide.
Could you come with me a moment, please?
Now...
Your mother is just outside.
She's welcome
to join us y time you like.
Or your father.
No.
No, please.
I don't want my dad
to know anything about this.
Okay. It's okay.
We can handle that.
Now...
I looked over the interview you gave
during your medical exam yesterday,
and...
It says your assailant invited you...
To his home.
Is that correct?
So, this is someone
you knew, someone...
You considered a friend?
I liked him.
I did.
It says you...
Talked and watched some tv.
Then what happened?
He had these pills,
and he wanted me to take one.
Drugs.
What kind?
Ecstasy.
I had never tried it before.
I swear.
I was so scared, but...
He said he wanted...
To be...
My boyfriend.
He said...
Michelle, is this a person
you know from school?
Can you tell me his name?
What happened to you is not your fault.
I want you to know that.
Now,
I spoke to gail,
the nurse who examined you.
And she said that during your exam,
it was suggested that
somehow your attacker might be related
to a law-enforcement officer.
Is that true?
Michelle, if there's a boy out there
who would do this terrible thing to you
hiding behind a badge,
I need to stop him.
I'll tell you, I'll tell you what.
Let's try this.
You just say his name...
One time...
And I'll handle the rest.
Can you do that?
Darren.
Darren Yates.
"Yates"?
Isn't there someone real high up
in the sheriff's department?
Commander Mark Yates.
That's...
That's Darren's father.
Buzz, could you leave us alone
for a moment, please?
- Yes, ma'am.
- Thank you.
And, nothing you heard here
leaves this room.
- I understand.
- Thank you.
- I'm gonna ask you a few questions.
- Okay.
We have *** detectives.
Why wouldn't one of them taken
Michelle's statement instead of you?
Since I heard that
the attacker might have something
to do with law enforcement,
I thought I'd be in a better position
to keep the case from being covered up.
- So you believed her statement?
- Oh, yes.
- Yes, I did.
- `cause it's been a week
since this interview,
and you haven't filed
any charges against this Darren kid.
Well, they took
*** samples off of Michelle.
I had to get something off the boy
without his knowing about it,
and I was waiting for a dna match.
Then the boy's father,
he called me yesterday screaming.
Why?
Someone at the lab tipped off
Yates that I had made
a positive dna match to his boy
off Michelle's *** kit.
And if
Yates could come at me like he did,
that, that might explain
what happened to this girl
which is why I should turn
this case over to you,
why I sought out your opinion.
Okay, you want my opinion?
Here it is.
You slow-walked this case in a way you
never would have even considered doing
if the suspect hadn't been
a relative of a sheriff's commander.
In addition, you left your victim
exposed to her attacker,
who is at school with her
on a daily basis,
while you busied yourself with the
political implications
of this investigation.
The result is a physically and
emotionally traumatized girl
who killed herself.
And speaking frankly, commander,
I just don't know how
or why you think that I could
straighten out this mess for you.
Speaking frankly, chief, you're the last
person on earth
i'd ever ask to cover my ***.
All right. That's a good point.
So, what are you asking for?
Let's say everything
you said about me is true.
That doesn't change
what happened to this girl.
And as Daniels could explain to you,
that even though there were witnesses,
I no longer have a victim,
which means I no longer have a case.
But I think you might.
The alarm at Michelle's house
wasn't set last night,
and it looked to me like
there were signs of a struggle.
I think if you just
go to the morgue and look
- I've seen the body.
- Well, look again!
I'm sorry.
Please.
I...
I know I don't deserve it, Brenda,
but I'm asking that you just go
and examine the body.
Just...
Just make sure this isn't your case.
I'm telling you, it's suicide.
You're 100% sure?
Are you suggesting
someone broke into her house,
drugged her,
and hung her from the ceiling?
What happened here?
Those marks were several days old.
On this wrist, too.
From handcuffs or some such thing.
- You know she was *** last week.
- Yes.
Looks like she was restrained
during the *** assault.
She tried pretty hard to get free.
We also have carpet burns...
On her legs...
Like she was forced onto her knees,
and severe tearing of the vaginal wall.
Bruising on the buttocks from
a forcefully used flat hand,
and there was a fissure in her...
- How much of this do you want to know?
- All of it.
Sorry, pretty terrible, but
all done days before she died.
I'd appreciate it if, before you make
your final determination,
that you do a tox screen for me, please.
What would I be looking for?
Ambien, barbiturates,
***, tranquilizers.
You know what?
Do a complete workup for me, please.
I don't want to leave anything out.
Chief, i'm not sure I understand.
Understand what?
Cases involving non-stranger ***
are incredibly difficult to prove.
Lawyers will say she dated the boy,
that the sex was consensual,
and that the boy broke up with her
afterwards. Michelle got mad,
tried to
get even by accusing him of ***,
and then, being emotionally unstable,
Michelle killed herself.
I'm sure they will say that, yes.
And with the victim dead,
it's gonna be next to impossible
to get her statement entered into trial.
We won't get a *** conviction
out of this ever.
Well, that's okay, detective, because
we're not investigating her ***.
We're investigating her ***.
OK, in what universe
doesn't make sense not to notify me
that commander Yates'son
is being investigated for ***?
Actually, chief, now it's ***.
Yeah, I figured that, since you're here.
When was that decision made?
A couple hours ago.
I thought it looked like
this girl was a suicide.
"Looks like."
You weren't at the crime scene.
Even the coroner remains
undetermined as to cause of death.
- What's he waiting for?
- Tox results,
and, in addition to the physical
evidence,
Which is slight.
The victim didn't leave a note.
Am I supposed to stand aside
when the evidence is slight just
because the suspect is related to...
Stop right there. I am not
advocating that
we hide behind the blue line.
We're gonna tell them that
all we're doing is fulfilling
our legal obligation,
and that in view of that,
we need this investigation
to be beyond reproach.
And not a word to the press. Understood?
- Absolutely.
- Yes, sir.
If the commander here
had picked up the phone,
I could've cleared up
this whole mess myself.
But you understand our need to
conduct this investigation without
the appearance
of preferential treatment.
I'm happy to confirm that,
considering that you risk
stigmatizing my son's entire
future on a bogus claim from a girl
- The charge is not bogus.
Then why didn't you make an arrest?
Because that and other
investigations are on going.
Are you telling me there's more than
one investigation involving my son?
Ask him how many investigations there
ought to be, I'll see how close we are.
If this is your idea
of how fellow professionals
are supposed to be treated, i'm a little confused.
Let me ask
a few questions and clear the air.
Darren, can you account for your
where abouts last night?
- Yeah, I was out...
- Do not answer that question.
You say nothing. Not a word.
My son was with me last night,
doing his homework,
and he was not involved in... Whatever
her name was, this girl's suicide.
We're not calling it suicide here, Mark.
Sorry.
You have evidence of ***?
Let me talk to your son. I'll tell you
everything you want to know.
- This is crazy. I didn't do anything.
- What did I say?!
You sit here and shut up!
Now, you listen to me, honey.
This is ridiculous.
That girl was upset and vindictive.
And she told a bunch of lies about
Darren because he broke up with her.
He broke up pretty hard, sir.
I bring you these photographs
of Michelle Clark,
courtesy of the nurse
who performed the *** exam.
Look at them closely, sir, because
they donot look bogus to me.
You have anything to say about this,
commander Yates?
Yeah.
We're through here.
If you were going to make an arrest,
you would have done it already.
And to think I came down here today
expecting an apology.
Well, I am sorry for you, sir.
And that's a fact.
You're every bit the ***
I heard you were.
Move it.
Michelle Clark, high-school junior.
Got straight a-pluses
in tough courses, too.
Mom's a stay-at-home,
and dad's an airline pilot.
Lt tao, did you find anything resembling
a suicide note on her computer?
No, but I did find a partial
footprint on her windowsill
Top half of a man's sneaker.
- Prove it was put there last night.
- Exactly.
And s. i. d. Came back about the broken
mirror and bookshelves
in Michelle's bedroom.
Their best guess is that when
she stepped off the chair,
she panicked, kicked it all down.
Last-minute change of heart.
That's one explanation, lieutenant.
The other is that
she was fighting off an attacker.
Chief, I think
what the lieutenant is saying
is that we're not clear
Michelle's death was a homicide.
Thank you for the translation, sergeant,
but I see the *** just fine.
Detective Sanchez.
We found
seven calls made to michelle's cell
from Darren since the ***,
all yesterday afternoon.
Found out about the dna match,
wanted to keep her quiet.
Which brings us to Darren Yates
Senior class secretary,
b- plus student, well-rounded,
well-liked, regular prince of a fellow.
There's no record of any bad
behavior whatsoever.
No record maybe,
but we do have a recording.
A friend in the sheriff's department
just slid me this.
- May i?
- Yes.
On march 18th of this year,
a deputy responded to a ***-assault
call involving a teenage girl in a car
very near Darren's school.
Yeah, the suspect in question,
he's a pretty big fish,
so I'm not sure how
to handle the situation.
- Does the girl want to press charges?
- No, sir, that's a negative.
All right, then,
I won't send anybody else out there.
Just release the kid with a warning,
and don't write anything up.
Got it.
If we go to the sheriff's department
and ask about this recording...
They'll deny it's theirs.
Without being able to identify
the voices, it's just two people
talking on a radio. It is not evidence.
No, it's evidence, sergeant.
It's just not admissible in court.
A sheriff's commander would know that.
But I bet his son wouldn't.
Listen,
I'm trying to put this case
together in such a way
that it ends with a confession,
not a trial.
And I see the obstacles
as clearly as y'all.
But I would appreciate
it if the detectives
in my own division
would offer me at least
the same support
i'm getting from commander Taylor.
Thank you. Now,
that footprint on the windowsill,
I think that, along with
the dna match from the *** kit,
That almost buys me
a search warrant of the Yates house.
So, let's find one more thing
to convince the judge. Thank you.
He hit me like I was a horse.
And his friends...
They were in the next room.
Tony, Danny, and
Tim.
And...
Maybe even kevin.
I could hear them laughing...
When he...
Finished.
And now, when they look at me at school,
they pretend to...
Paw at the ground.
And they make these noises.
Well, that's pretty rough stuff.
Raping her with his friends in the
next room, and no one stopped him?
You'd think I'd be used to
this kind of thing by now.
Did you look at my notes?
Yeah, I did.
Well, but...
Doesn't that shoe print
say anything to you?
Well...
It says at some point in time,
someone stood on her windowsill
Not that they went inside.
There's no way to say
when it was left there. I mean,
it's not proof.
And the father gives him an alibi.
Boy, would I like to take that alibi
and pound him over the head with it.
I don't believe it for a second.
Well, homicide's not my specialty.
Maybe that's why I'm not seeing it.
To me, it's obvious.
But then I saw the body.
Yeah, the *** seems solid.
Oh, imagine those
other boys just sitting in that
next room maybe having a beer
while a girl is assaulted like that.
It makes you want to go out and arrest
every last one of them, doesn't it?
You know Darren's father
is pretty high up
in the sheriff's department?
Yes, ma'am, we are fully aware
of that fact. Believe me.
So, Darren's friends...
I'm sorry.
I don't want to turn you away,
but parents send their children
to our academy to protect them.
I assure you
the conduct of our young people
is well above high-school norm.
And with Michelle's suicide
the students have been through
so much already.
Would it be easier for them
if I told them that Michelle
was *** and murdered instead?
Look, ms. Patterson,
you have two choices,
You either cooperate with me, or
I locked down this school
and go room to room
questioning each individual student
about their where abouts on the night
of Michelle's ***.
You want to know his, his best friends,
the ones he tends to hang out with?
Starting with the first names:
Tony, Danny, Tim, and Kevin.
Let me try look it.
- I'm sorry?
- Look it the net,
It's a social-network site
we set up for the school.
This is... Darren's page.
If I click on "best buds,"
let's see.
Tony...
There's Anthony Lambert.
What can you tell me about him?
He's 17, a senior here.
Anthony Lambert? You're under arrest.
Average student,
some disciplinary issues.
Beat it.
Meaning?
The coach kicked him off the tennis
team last season for fighting.
Tim swick,
also a senior.
Hands behind your head.
- Not the most driven, academically.
He was suspended in april for smoking
marijuana on school grounds.
Daniel Dobrowski
A junior.
He's on the basketball team with Darren.
Just had him in detention
for poor attendance.
Congratulations on the "above-average"
behavior of your students.
And Kevin Ward, a junior,
next-door neighbor to Darren.
A's and B's mostly.
He's actually a pretty good kid.
Kevin ward,
you're under arrest
for aiding and abetting a felony.
What?
Darren, my man.
You have a nice day, you hear?
Anthony lambert, Tim Swick,
Danny Dobrowski,
All insist that on the night of the ***
they were at the movies.
On the night of the ***,
they were driving around hollywood.
And they say Darren
was with them on both occasions.
That's funny. Mark Yates
told me that on the night michelle died,
Darren was with him.
I worry when
a suspect has extra alibis.
What about kevin here?
Kevin works part-time
at a printshop after school.
Boss clears him
of both incidents, but...
- He won't talk without a lawyer.
- He's a witness, not a suspect.
He has no right to an attorney.
I explained that to him, chief.
She did, over and over.
I think kevin is afraid `cause
we told him we'd put him
in a jail cell for the afternoon.
That was the point, commander.
I wanted him to be afraid.
How much longer can we hold him
before calling his parents?
- Maybe an hour.
- Three if you let me accidentally
send him to Harper division first.
No.
He asked for a lawyer?
We'll give him one.
- Kevin? Kevin Ward?
- Yeah?
I'm Brenda Leigh Johnson
from the public defender's office.
The police told me that you were
smart enough to ask for an attorney.
Oh, my God.
They kept telling me that I didn't have
the right to a lawyer.
You cannot trust the police.
They lie about everything.
Listen, don't you worry your little head
one more moment about these cops.
'cause once I walk out of here,
they are all gonna answer to me.
All right.
Uh, wait a minute, though.
- How... how much do you cost?
- Oh, that's darling. Aren't you sweet?
Can she do this?
As long as he doesn't say anything
they need to prosecute him for.
Don't you worry about the money.
The state pays my tab.
Besides, I think
they're after another boy.
- Yeah. Darren Yates.
- That's him.
Did they tell you why?
Well, I don't want
to get anyone in trouble.
Oh, bless your heart.
Most folks can't wait
to point the finger at someone else.
Listen. Let me explain how this works.
Everything you say to your lawyer
is completely confidential,
which means...
that I have to keep it a secret.
But in order to help you,
I need you to tell me everything.
So, what have the police
been talking to you about?
Okay. Um, well,
there's this girl... Michelle Clark.
I guess she hung herself.
- "Hanged" herself?
- Hanged... hanged herself.
No, no. Uh, the Clark girl,
she was murdered.
- Murdered?
- The police didn't tell you that?
Unbelievable. I hate it
when they manipulate children like this,
and with your entire future
hanging by a thread. Unbelievable!
Listen, Kevin,
I want you to brace yourself,
'cause the police...
consider you a suspect in both the ***
and *** of Michelle Clark.
No! What? No! What! No!
No. I... I never even spoke to Michelle,
okay? Darren's the one
that had sex with her, not me.
- He told you that?
- Yeah. Well, he sort of told everybody
when he put Michelle's picture up
on his lookit page.
- Why would he post her picture?
- Uh...
Kevin...
I can't defend you
unless I know everything.
- It's this game.
- Okay.
We called it "cherry picking."
- Never heard of it.
- That's 'cause we made it up.
See, we...
We each put in 50 bucks, to see...
who could, you know...
sleep with the most virgins this year.
- And, uh...
- I get it.
- And whoever picks the most cherries...
- Wins the pot. Yeah.
Well, boys will be boys.
And, uh, Michelle was one
of Darren's cherries?
Yeah. But Darren had to work it...
You know, pretend he was
all in love with her,
took her on a few dates...
And he could push it a little bit
harder than the rest of us.
Why?
Because his dad's this big deal
in the sheriff's department.
You know, that's how Darren gets away
with all of this stuff,
like the time that he got caught
with "x" when he was speeding.
They just let him go.
And with these girls, like Michelle,
they... he just,
you know, took a few shortcuts.
He said he got a couple
of girls that way.
- Hmm.
- Yeah.
They're still posted
on his webpage.
Darren's lookit page.
Scrolling down. And...
Here's a bunch...
of pictures of girls.
Whoa. Four rows of three.
Dated...
tagged with little cherry icons.
That one, Ally. March 18th.
On the recording that we got
from the sheriff's department,
what night did the deputy report
finding a "big fish"
- involved in a *** assault?
- March 18th.
Lieutenant Tao, would you print out
this picture for me, please?
- Sure.
- Detective Sanchez, sergeant Gabriel,
Uh, let's find out who's telling
the truth here.
If Darren was driving around Hollywood
with his friends last night, I'd like
to know about it. And, lieutenant Flynn,
I believe that we have earned
a search warrant for the Yates house.
Find me a shoe that matches
the tread on the windowsill.
- Thank you.
- Look, I hate to be a spoilsport here,
but you asked Kevin not one question
about ***, and as regard to the ***,
everything he said is hearsay.
He observed nothing.
So you can't charge Darren
with either crime.
Where does that statement lead us?
To another victim.
Ally. Ally Mitchell?
Hi, Ally. I'm deputy chief
Brenda Leigh Johnson of the L.A.P.D.
Miss Johnson would like
to ask you a few questions
about Michelle Clark.
I didn't really know her very well,
and, I'm losing my ride home.
I could give you a lift.
It won't take long,
and I could really use your help.
I knew her mostly from choir
our first year,
but then Michelle went
hard-core academics.
I'm more of a painter.
So, she was murdered?
But first she was ***... Badly.
Did you ever see Michelle
with a boy named Darren Yates?
Um... I don't remember, really.
You need to take at right
at the next stop sign.
But you know who Darren is, right?
I thought you wanted to ask me
about Michelle.
About what you and Michelle
had in common.
For example, she had her picture up
on Darren's lookit page too,
right next to yours,
which went up some time
after march 18th.
- So I can't...
- That was after you called the sheriff.
I didn't call anyone.
You don't understand!
And you missed my turn!
My house is totally back that way!
Hey!
- Where are you going?
- Nowhere fast unless you help me.
Listen, Ally, Michelle thought
Darren was her new boyfriend.
They went out on a couple of dates,
he gained her trust,
and then he handcuffed her
and *** her on the floor of his house.
Does any of that sound familiar?
It should,
because something
like that happened to you...
... right here.
This is where a sheriff's deputy
picked you upon the night of march 18th
and drove you home, while sending
Darren off with a slap on the wrist.
Now I can't talk to Michelle anymore,
so I need you to help me,
or else Darren's gonna sexually
assault another young girl.
- Is that what you want?
- No.
I just want to forget
it ever happened.
So did Michelle.
Look what happened to her.
Ally.
Ally?
Ally.
Darren's only the second boy
who ever asked me out.
I know. Hard to believe, huh?
How'd you end up here?
He...
He took me to the movies first.
We hadn't been there very long
when he just...
Reached over and grabbed my hand.
My heart was beating so fast,
I thought he would hear it,
or maybe it would just
jump out of my chest.
Afterwards, we went driving
for a while, talking.
Then he parked here.
"Just for a minute," he said.
And we kissed.
And while I was thinking,
"wow, this is what it's like
to fall in love,"
he pushed my seat back all the way
and rolled over on top of me.
By the time I tried to shove him off,
he...
He already handcuffed my hands
behind my back and pulled my jeans down.
So I screamed.
But he put his hand over my mouth
and said that if I'd just shut up,
I'd enjoy it.
When it was over and I told him
I was calling the police,
he grabbed my phone and started dialing
the sheriff's office himself.
And when he hung up, he said...
He told me to take a good look
in the mirror.
"They're never gonna believe
that I had to *** someone
who looks like you."
And...
he was right.
I mean, I'm not a supermodel.
So I should be, like, grateful, right?
Ally,
- you're very, very pretty.
- Oh, yeah, thanks. I know.
Look.
I know you've been through
so much already. But...
and it's hard to consider,
if you could press charges
against Darren,
Oh, no way! Forget it! Take me home!
I'm not saying it would be easy.
It wouldn't.
It would be very, very tough.
But I would be with you
every step of the way. I promise.
You could help me stop him.
I tried stopping him once.
I can't do it again.
I can't. I'm sorry.
- Here.
- No, no, no. No, don't be sorry.
You've already done enough things
you didn't want to do.
- Wait a minute.
- What?
This UNY sweatshirt
hanging from the ceiling...
- What about it?
- Darren got a scholarship to UNY.
It's where he's going to college.
Do you really think
you're gonna get a confession
from this kid in front of his father?
Commander Yates knows as much
about *** investigations
as anyone in this building.
I counted on that, Will. That's why
he's here without an attorney.
He knows that unless I arrest his son,
they can leave whenever they want.
Which is why I'm trying to find out
if we were able to break Darren's alibi.
So, may I?
- Yeah.
- Thank you.
- So, the story the kid...
- Shh, shh, shh.
Sorry.
The story the kids we arrested told us
checks out on both sides.
At the time Michelle died,
Darren and his best buds
were in the Hollywood Highland area.
We have them on time-coded film
at about three different places.
- The alibi is solid.
- That is exactly what I wanted to hear.
Now, if y'all wouldn't mind
waiting here for a minute.
Thank you.
So sorry to keep y'all waiting.
Let us acknowledge,
just for the sake of the records,
that your rights have
been read to both of you
and that you have waived those rights
and are cooperating with us
in the investigation of the ***
and *** of Michelle Clark.
What, does she think, I'm an idiot?
Yes, I was read my rights,
as was my son.
Which I would have found to be
the most insulting moment of my career
had it not been for the L.A.P.D.
executing a search warrant
at my home earlier today...
in front of all my neighbors!
No one regrets the necessity
of that search more than I, Sir.
And had you shown
the customary cooperation
one would expect from a fellow
law-enforcement officer...
You... are going to tell me
about the respect due fellow officers?
- Really?
- Calm down, Commander.
Okay, let's forget about
respect, duty, and honor here
because you have all proven
that they are *** to you.
Now, what I want to know, lady,
is whether an arrest is going
to be made here today or not.
That all depends on where your son,
Darren was
the night before last
during the time of the ***
and on our ability
to confirm that alibi.
And as I've already told you,
night before last,
my son was with me
at home.
All right, then.
Commander Yates, given that,
if you wouldn't mind stepping outside
for a quick conference
with commander Taylor and me,
I would be able to pass on a little
information of a personal nature.
And then I should be able to wrap up
this investigation
in a matter of minutes.
I'll be right back.
- After you, Sir.
- Oh, no, please.
Does anybody know
what's going on here at all?
I know you've had a lot of time
in the sheriff's department, Commander,
so I'm sure you'll understand
what I'm about to do.
Because the alibi that you provided
for your son
is contradicted by physical evidence.
- What are you about to do?
- Mark Yates,
you're under arrest for aiding
and abetting a felony after the fact.
You can't arrest me!
- Hey, easy! Easy!
- Let me go!
Now, unless you immediately
back off, Sir,
I will happily add resisting
arrest to this charge... Happily!
- Do you understand me, Sir?!
- All right. All right!
- Now you've got a lawsuit.
- Have we?
No.
If you'll excuse me, I need
to finish up with Darren.
Whoa, whoa, wait a minute.
- I want an attorney for my son.
- Your son is 18, Sir,
and legally recognized as an adult.
He has been read his rights
and waived his right to an attorney.
I demand an attorney for my son,
or that I'm allowed back in there
before any further questioning.
You may not be aware of this,
but the constitution gives you
the right to an attorney, not a father.
A lawyer was offered and declined.
Book him, please! Thank you.
Let's go. Let's go, Commander!
Darren, don't say anything!
I'm gonna get you for this, I swear!
Darren!
- Get him outta here!
- Darren! Don't!
Do you have enough evidence
to make an arrest for ***?
No.
But I'm gonna try and get a confession
all the same.
- Where's my father?
- Sorry about that.
I had to arrest your dad.
He lied about your alibi.
You were out with your best buds
the night before last...
your fellow cherry-picking friends,
weren't you?
You were caught on film a few times
when your dad said that you were
at the house doing homework.
- Caught on film? What?
- Guess your father didn't think
that your "friends" alibi would hold up.
Look familiar? They're from your closet.
- So what?
- So, the tread matches this print
that you left on Michelle's windowsill
when you climbed into her room
- on the night that you killed her.
- What?
The night you strangled her
and strung her up
to make it look like a suicide!
I never did anything
like that! Never! Never!
You got a scholarship to college
next year. Where is it?
- Why?
- What school?
UNY... the University of New York.
You recognize this?
That's the sweatshirt you used to hang
Michelle from the beam in her room.
That's not mine!
It's the same sweatshirt
you're wearing in this picture.
I took from your lookit page, right down
to the tear in the left-hand pocket.
And if I find your DNA on this, Darren,
you're looking at ***
in the first degree
with special circumstances,
which carries with it the death penalty!
Wait. Okay. I gave her that sweatshirt
one night
- when w-we were...
- After you ripped her clothes off,
so she'd have something to cover
herself up in when she went home
- after you *** her!
- We had sex. She was high.
She tore her clothes
when she was taking them off,
but she wanted it, okay? She wanted it!
Is that what she wanted?
Is that what your best buds,
who've been in lock-up all day,
will say Michelle wanted, when I charge
them with conspiracy to commit ***?
Do you think...
are you really dumb enough to believe,
that your cherry-picking friends
- are going to trial to cover for you?
- Okay, look.
I was the first person in our entire
school who even asked Michelle out.
Now, I'm sorry
about what happened to her.
Maybe I got carried away.
- You call *** getting carried away?
- I didn't *** her.
- Look at these marks! Look at 'em!
- That happened over a week
- before she killed herself!
- How d'you know how and when
- she got these marks?
- Because I put them there...
While we were having sex!
But she wanted it.
She wanted it. She loved me.
That's what she told me. She loved me.
I have girls throwing themselves
at me all the time,
and if she would've just relaxed,
if she would've just gone along with it,
it would've been fine.
So if you want to call that ***,
okay, maybe she looked at it that way,
but I didn't kill her!
I know.
- I know.
- "I know"? Did she just say, "I know"?
I guess without a victim
to press charges,
chief Johnson must've seen the only way
to make a *** assault stick,
was if Darren confessed to it.
You're telling me this whole
*** investigation
was some kind of strategy to get
the kid to confess to the ***?
Oh, I wouldn't know, Sir.
Chief Johnson doesn't confide in me.
You know that I didn't... kill Michelle?
Is that what you're saying?
As hard as it is for me to accept,
you are not liable for her death.
The justice system will just have
to be satisfied with the *** charge.
Hold on here. Wait a minute.
Does this mean that I...
You're under arrest for the ***
assault of Michelle Clark.
And if you think...
that being the son of a sheriff's
commander made you popular at school,
just wait until you get to prison.
Convicts even play some of the same
games as you and your best buds.
I imagine you'll end up in their...
cherry-picking club
in no time at all.
Goodbye, Darren.
My father is never gonna
let this happen. Never!
Do you hear me? Never!
Commander.
I wanted to say "thank you."
I just wish I could hold him
accountable for her death.
'cause even if Michelle tied
that knot around her own neck,
he killed her just the same.
And one count of *** won't...
put him away for life.
But establishing
a pattern of behavior could.
- Good night, Chief.
- Good night, Commander.