Conviction

Woman: The latest in a long line of racially charged incidents

occurred yesterday, rocking the city.

Last night, 15-year-old Andre Watkins

was accidentally shot and killed by the police

as he played basketball with his friends.

15 years old.

Just a few years older than my son.

The police believed Andre was armed

and that he'd been involved in a robbery that occurred nearby.

He matched a description of the suspect.

Let me guess... "black" and "male".

That's a little harsh. You weren't there.

I've been there plenty of times.

Including when you actually committed a crime, of course.

As citizens of this great city, we all have a choice in this moment...

Lash out or band together in peace, in strength.

I urge every one of you, remain calm and obey the law.

No pajamas today?

My brother let me out of the doghouse

and back into his apartment.

The bed is more comfortable than my couch,

but I do miss walking around the office naked.

I'm never sitting in any of these chairs again.

On behalf of everyone in law enforcement,

I extend our deepest condolences to Andre's family.

Wallace might not be able to keep the lid on this powder keg.

He can't. But we can hit it head on.

Mitchell Alan... African-American.

The prosecutor refereed to him as "King Kong" at trial.

He got 15 years for armed robbery.

Or Levon Cartwright...

also black... shot and killed

a white trespasser claiming self-defense,

serving 25 years,

unlike a white defendant in a similar case

who received a suspended sentence.

- - I'm sensing a theme here.

- Oh. - Susan Jefferson,

serving life for killing her abusive boyfriend.

Her court-appointed lawyer

was a card-carrying member of the KKK.

What about Porscha Williams?

No. That's a bad idea.

- - If by bad you mean perfect, I agree.

Porscha Williams is a radical black activist

serving life for murdering a white cop.

After having her trial moved out of the city to Albany

and being found guilty by an all-white jury in under three hours.

Just because they were white doesn't mean they were wrong.

She was seen shooting an NYPD officer when her peace rally turned into a riot.

A riot, a riot.

Why do I feel like if it was a group of white people,

you'd be calling it a demonstration?

Call it what you will, the demonstrators

did not cooperate with the police.

Who showed up in riot gear like a bunch of storm troopers.

Have you ever been hit with a rock or a bottle?

It hurts no matter what race is throwing it at you.

- That's... - Could we all please just...

What, get along? Hell no.

This is more fun, more honest, more productive.

It's a case, not a conversation starter.

It can be both.

A black teenager was just killed by the cops.

Do we really want to take on something so racially charged?

The city needs to know that the CIU is fighting for justice,

which is supposed to be blind but is clearly not color-blind.

Porscha's case gets another look.

Porscha Williams organized a rally to protest racial inequality six years ago.

Sergeant Kelsey Blake was among the officers

assigned to crowd control.

Things got heated between Porscha's group and the cops.

There was some shouting, pushing.

A shot was fired.

Sergeant Kelsey Blake died at the scene.

An eyewitness, Charlie Rossmore,

testified that he saw Porscha fire the shot

that killed Sergeant Blake.

Three other eyewitnesses...

Jin Lee, Marcus Rodriguez, and George Stayner...

say they saw a gun in her hand.

Just because they said that doesn't make it true.

Porscha had no criminal history.

She was committed to nonviolent protest,

and the gun and bullet were never found.

Sergeant Blake was shot with a 9 millimeter.

Porscha owned a 9 millimeter.

She had gunshot residue on her hands

and obviously a temper.

Everyone's picking a side. What about you?

The only side I'm on is the truth.

Still, out of 150 potential witnesses,

more than four people should have come forward.

Welcome to the Cop's Dilemma... Nobody wants to get involved.

What if we don't need them to want to?

I mean, the rally was during the age of smartphones.

Meaning smartphone cameras and Instagram, Facebook,

which means all sorts of images from the rally

are potentially out there waiting for us.

Wouldn't the cops have looked at those sites?

Six years ago, NYPD was just starting to use social media

as an investigatory tool.

I can cross-reference geo-tags

with time stamps from the metadata, on images from the rally.

Gesundheit.

Go talk to the prosecutor.

You and I will take a run at Porscha.

Truth is, I am guilty.

That was quick.

Guilty of trying to make a difference,

guilty of seeking equality,

guilty of wanting a real conversation

between the police and the people of New York City.

But not guilty of killing Sergeant Blake.

No, despite what 12 uptight, angry white folks from Albany say.

Did those white folks also buy that 9m and register it in your name?

I got rid of that gun in a buyback program

when I found out I was pregnant,

a full year before the rally.

All I had in my hand that day was a cellphone.

You didn't get arrested with a cellphone.

It got knocked out of my hand.

Must have been stolen or kicked into a subway grate.

I have a master's degree

in Social Justice and Community Development.

I was trying to work with law enforcement.

I saw the picture of you screaming in Sergeant Blake's face.

Is that you working with law enforcement?

Last year, police killed over 100 unarmed black people,

five times the number of unarmed whites.

What was I supposed to do, whisper?

Sometimes when you shout, the message gets lost.

And when we sit quietly in our place, they ignore us.

"They?"

Reducing white people to a monolith

sounds a little like racism to me.

Not racism, anger.

State of the world today,

all black people should have some.

A whole movement agrees with you,

grew from what you started.

I'm proud of that.

Glad to be an inspiration.

For my daughter, most of all.

How old is she?

Sophie just turned 7.

I get to see her every other week.

Only 144 hours with her since I've been in here.

She's my inspiration.

Soon as she was born,

I knew I had to make the world better

so I don't have to worry about my daughter's safety every second.

Welcome to motherhood.

- My son is 12. - Then you know.

We got to work twice as hard to protect our kids,

from the cops, even.

On my little girl's life, I swear to you,

I did not kill that woman.

Thanks.

Let me guess... small coffee and a maple scone.

That's right.

Thanks.

Thanks.

Now I know who's been leaving all the monster tips.

Thank you.

It's like Facebook exploded across all these monitors.

I'm combing through every social-media platform

for user uploads of the rally.

EXIF data tells me when and where they were taken.

Then the photo stitching software goes to work,

merging images into a mosaic of overlapping tiles.

A virtual location.

When the photo stitch is done,

hopefully, we'll have a 360 view

of the moment Sergeant Blake was shot.

Porscha Williams got a fair trial.

And as the prosecutor who handled the case,

I don't appreciate you insinuating otherwise.

I'm just trying to...

Accuse me of perverting justice for the "White Cause"?

Call me a racist for putting her in jail?

I used to be an ADA in the gang unit,

so I can relate to what you're going through.

So why did you move trial to Albany?

Mayor didn't want race riots dirtying up his recently scrubbed image.

And the all-white jury?

It's just that Albany has a greater percentage

of African-Americans than New York City.

Not my fault they couldn't afford to show up for jury duty.

You excused the three people of color who did.

That's a potential Batson problem.

Those were legitimate pre-empts.

You suggested to the jury that Porscha's politics were contagious,

that convicting her was crucial

to keeping their neighborhood safe.

You sure you used to be a D.A.?

I put a cop killer in jail.

By playing on the jury's fear.

My job as a prosecutor is to win.

End of story.