The Closer

Judge Blake: Superior Court of the county of Los Angeles.

The family of Turell Baylor vs. The City of Los Angeles,

Los Angeles Police Department,

Mayor Ramon Quintero,

interim Chief of Police William Pope,

Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson,

the Major Crimes division

of the Los Angeles Police Department,

and several John Does.

Case number 0-5-C-0-1-3-1.

Judge Gerald Blake presiding.

State your appearances for the record.

Peter Goldman appearing for the plaintiff, Your Honor.

Gavin Q. Baker and City Attorney Lee

for the defense, Your Honor.

I have read the defense's motion

for a summary judgment

and the papers filed in opposition.

I think there very well might be

some triable issues of material fact.

Gavin: Yes. Your Honor, I ask you to look at page six

of Mr. Goldman's pleading, where he states,

"Turell Baylor was murdered by person or persons unknown."

Defense regards this as an admission against interest.

If counsel has no idea who killed Mr. Baylor,

how do we proceed?

The Closer 7x10 Fresh Pursuit Original Air Date on September 12, 2011

Your Honor,

Deputy Chief Johnson abandoned Turell Baylor

in gang territory,

where his fellow Crips were massing to execute him.

Excuse me, Your Honor.

Chief Johnson dropped Mr. Baylor off at his house,

where he requested to go.

It's not the defendant's fault

that Mr. Baylor lived in gang territory.

Your Honor, everyone knows

Turell Baylor was murdered by members of his own gang.

Your Honor, if everyone knows this,

why has counsel submitted no evidence

substantiating this fact?

Instead, he asks the court to try his opinion --

an improper use of the justice system.

Even if one were to accept that in this instance

the Warren rule did not apply.

The Warren Rule would only apply

if Chief Johnson had been negligent.

She wasn't negligent.

She actively facilitated the murder of Turell Baylor.

This motion for summary judgment

is a feeble excuse to get that charge to just go away.

I congratulate counsel on so swiftly

dividing both our objective

and the definition of a summary judgment,

which is to immediately terminate these proceedings

in favor of the defendants

and to make these "baseless charges,"

as he puts it, just go away.

I notice defendants aren't even waiting

for Your Honor's ruling to go away.

== sync, corrected by elderman ==

Your Honor, I am saddened to announce

that just moments ago,

a Deputy Sheriff was shot and killed.

I hope Your Honor is not offended,

understanding that police officers are oftentimes

required to put public safety ahead of personal interest.

Anything further, Mr. Goldman?

[ Siren wails, helicopter blades whirring ]

Gabriel: Hey, Chief.

So, two plainclothes Deputy Sheriffs

were driving south on Crenshaw

when one of them recognized a stolen Maserati

by its license plates.

Brenda: Are these vanity plates?

It doesn't look it to me.

Anyway, they were following the stolen vehicle

when the thieves must have realized they had been made.

"Thieves" -- that's plural?

Two guys in the front seats, Chief.

Maserati turned in to this dead-end,

did a 180,

front-seat passenger came out firing -- bam-bam!

Bam-bam! Bam! --

.45 auto -- at the sheriff's vehicle,

killing Deputy Brian Rush,

who was behind the wheel.

Shooter took off on foot.

The victim's partner wasn't hit.

He was able to wrestle the cuffs on the other suspect.

Shooter's already escaped,

carjacked a woman two blocks away.

Knocked her down pretty hard, too.

She's in the hospital, but she'll live.

I put a want out on her car. It's a Honda.

Please make sure the driver of the escaped vehicle

is designated armed and dangerous.

I don't want anyone else walking into an ambush.

If the car's found parked somewhere,

it's "Stake and notify." Thank you.

Flynn: Hey, Chief.

You want to meet our newest contender

for asshole of the year?

That's the other car thief? He looks 15.

We I.D.'d him from his cellphone --

Kyle Hayes, age 22.

Got one prior for breaking and entering.

Well, Kyle just made an aggressive leap forward

in his criminal career.

Chief Johnson, Deputy Mike Burton.

Deputy, I'm -- I'm so sorry about your partner.

Do you need a minute?

No, let's go. How can I help?

Y'all were a long way from West Hollywood this morning.

Brian and I had been looking for a missing witness

in a criminal trial,

and we were headed out to Boyle Heights following a tip

when he recognized the license plates of a Maserati

right ahead of us as belonging to a stolen car.

Recognized the plates how?

Was there a special alert out on the Maserati?

No, no. I -- the, uh --

the sheriff's office has a special-problems unit,

part of a joint task force with the FBI

looking for a ring of car thieves

targeting a bunch of high-end vehicles.

They put out a list of license plates once a month.

So you found the car, started following it.

Why didn't you radio for backup?

It all happened so fast.

We saw the car, changed lanes behind it,

we turned the corner, and we were short stopped.

I mean, they must have flagged us somehow.

Chief.

Pardon me, Deputy.

Sheriff understands it's our case now.

Pope: I say we take the suspect we have,

get him into an interview room,

and see if we can convince him to give up the shooter

before he kills again.

Uh, Lieutenant Tao,

I want you to personally pull all prints from that Maserati.

See if we can identify the killer.

Buzz, please gather all security video

from businesses between here

and where the carjacking took place.

A picture of the shooter would be nice. Thank you.

And, uh, Commander,

please keep Deputy Burton close at hand.

Sheriff's protocol is Burton goes back

to his home department,

exchanges his gun, and gets his rep.

I understand that, but when we find the killer,

I may need Burton's help in identifying him.

Lieutenant Provenza,

I'd like you to supervise the search

for the escape vehicle, please.

Thank you.

Meanwhile, I'll work with the suspect we do have.

Thank you.

You can leave us alone.

You and I both know you don't have to speak,

but...

I've been at this job a while.

Met a lot of young boys who got into trouble

just from hanging around with the wrong crowd.

Does that describe you, or are you a cop killer?

I've got the Chief's interview up recording for you.

Thanks.

I ask if you're a cop killer because,

unless we find your accomplice,

the D.A. will charge you as one.

I never even pulled my gun.

Under California law,

you're as responsible for the death

of Deputy Sheriff Rush as your friend.

Now, I don't want to charge you, Kyle,

but I have to follow the law.

If you follow it with me,

I can help you out of this mess.

Give me the name of the man who was in that car with you,

and I can save you.

Now, listen to me, Kyle.

If I find the man who shot and killed a sheriff's deputy

without your help,

you're gonna spend the rest of your life on death row.

You've made a lot of bad choices today.

Don't let this be one of them.

Yes?

Yes?!

Chief, I've I.D.'d some prints.

Be back in a minute, Kyle.

You better hope I still need your help.

Altogether, I pulled 12 prints off the Maserati.

Three belonged to the owner, two belonged to Hayes,

leaving seven prints that match up

with three other known criminals.

- Three other known criminals? - Mm-hmm.

Oh, for heaven's sakes,

how many people does it take to steal a car these days?