Prince of the City Page #14

So help me God,

I'll never get involved with cops again.

Gus.

Where are your guards?

Outside.

What good they gonna do you

out there?

They knew I was coming to see you.

They think I wouldn't hurt you?

I think you wouldn't hurt me.

You think that?

Well, think again.

They're taking you in, Gus.

I just want you to know

I told them everything.

F*** you, Ciello.

I don't want your confessions

or your guilt about Bill.

He was a drunk, so f*** him

and f*** you.

I'm not coming in.

I ain't pulling a Mayo,

and I ain't pulling a Ciello.

And until they come after me,

I'm going right on with my work.

I got seven Mafiosos on tape...

...six truckers, couple of union guys

and maybe 16 assorted hoods.

At least 29 indictments.

And you know what?

Not a cop among them.

Tell that to your prick friends.

It was on around May 25th...

Get out of that chair,

I'll f***ing kill you.

Don't let those pricks

talk you into anything.

- You okay?

- There's an interrogation going on.

We can have you arrested.

Are you nuts?

- Keep your f***ing hands off me.

- Danny.

- Get him out of here.

- Danny, stop. Danny!

- Are you okay?

- I'm okay. I'm okay.

All of a sudden, I had this feeling,

I got scared for you.

- You okay?

- Come on, Dan.

I just wanna get out of here.

I wanna tell them what they wanna

know, and I'm gonna get out.

Hey, Gus. Did you hear about Gus?

He's gonna stay out. He's not afraid.

He's terrific.

He's gonna make them prove it, okay?

Take them to trial.

Listen to this. If he's convicted,

he'll tell his daughter he was framed.

- That's one mean Jew.

- I'll tell you something...

...it's f***ing fantastic, man.

Somebody's telling them

to go f*** themselves, you know?

- One of us.

- We were a hell of a unit.

Go on home, Danny.

Get some sleep. Eat something.

- Wanna call my sister?

- No, I'm okay.

- You can stay at her place.

- I'm okay.

I'm okay.

I'm okay.

Don't hate me, Joe.

I could never hate you, Danny.

- Good morning, gentlemen.

- Good morning, sir.

- Is everybody here?

- Yes.

- Everyone you called for this meeting.

- Good.

Well, let's get down to it.

The decision as to whether

the government will or will not...

...indict and prosecute

Detective Daniel Ciello...

...is the responsibility of this office.

That decision is mine.

However, I will be persuaded by

what I hear in the next few days...

...from you men who know him...

...who worked with him,

who worked against him.

I trust you're all familiar

with this remarkable document...

...Detective Ciello's confessions.

Three little acts of misconduct

have grown into 84 pages.

A copy of this tome must make things

very easy for Mr. Blomberg's attorney.

It's all there, detective,

in your own words.

Clearly admitted details of the perjury

you committed 22 months ago...

...in this same courtroom

before this same judge.

Perjury that caused the conviction

of Michael Blomberg.

We're losing sight

of the real problem...

...which is the corruption

of a narcotics agent.

I want you to see this graph.

It shows

the direct and absolute correlation...

...of police corruption to drug traffic.

You cannot have one

without the other.

No matter how you slice it,

Ciello is a corrupt narcotics agent.

And what this is all about,

finally, is narcotics.

Sorry.

- Did you take Valium this morning?

- Yes.

- Only one?

- More than one.

- How many more?

- I took three.

It takes three Valium to calm you

before you testify?

- Objection.

- Sustained.

I cannot believe how eager you all are

to just forget what he has accomplished.

The risks he took for us.

And why he did it.

Oh, for God's sake, Rick.

He's your baby, so, okay, but don't

try to sentimentalize him to me.

And why he did it is not relevant.

It's damned relevant to some of us.

He did it because he was

trying to get back.

Look, I think, for most cops...

...corruption creeps up slowly.

Almost imperceptibly.

But getting back is something...

...that can only be done in one great big,

dangerous leap.

A leap...

...that risks...

...everything.

If we wipe out this man now...

No cop will ever come forward again.

If the druggist gives you Valium

without a prescription...

...does he give you other drugs

without prescription?

- No.

- What about other drugs.

Marijuana.

Do you use marijuana, detective?

- No, I don't use marijuana.

- But you've tried it.

I've tried it.

Cocaine?

I've tried it

in order to recognize the effects.

- Heroin?

- Never.

- Uppers?

- I've used them on a long surveillance.

- Hashish?

- Once.

To recognize its effects?

You know, when I became

a prosecuting attorney...

...I accepted the fact

I was not in a popularity contest.

Now, I think some of you guys

have it all mixed up.

You've fallen in love with this

perpetrator. You feel responsible for him.

You want him to love you.

But you are prosecutors...

...sworn to prosecute the guilty.

Ciello is a law officer

who has admitted...

...to over 40 instances of perjury.

Gentlemen, my grandfather was

a lawyer, my father was a lawyer...

...and I became a lawyer...

...because the law means

everything to me.

And if any arm of the law is corrupt,

nothing can work. Nothing.

It's as simple as that.

Detective, I know you're familiar

with the China Blossom Motel.

Could you tell us

what kind of motel it is?

We're prepared to agree that

the China Blossom Motel...

...for all intents and purposes,

is a brothel.

- And a drug market.

- And a drug market.

Now, once again, detective...

...weren't you frequently at

the China Blossom Motel...

...when you were

supposed to be on duty?

Counselor, it was up to the

SIU detectives themselves to decide...

...when they were on duty.

So sometimes...

Quite a lot of times, actually.

- you decided you were not on duty...

...and went to

the China Blossom Motel.

Didn't you?

Sometimes.

Our police have a code,

and Ciello was trying to honor it...

...and still work with us.

Unless you gentlemen want to call in

the National Guard...

...to patrol this city and this country

for 14 years while we pick kids at 7...

...and train them to be police at 21...

...you better understand

and acknowledge that code.

Paige, cops aren't the only people

who have codes.

- Lawyers and doctors do.

- Right, lawyers and doctors.

I've never known a lawyer

to risk his life or his livelihood...

...to expose the crooks

in his profession.

And where's the doctor

who ever exposed Medicaid fraud?

Or unnecessary or botched operations?

Or even dope for that matter.

What doctor ever came in? Dan Ciello

came in, and I don't care why.

To me, Danny Ciello's a hero...

...and we're trying to decide whether

to put him in jail or not.

Detective, isn't it true...

...most female prostitutes are junkies?

- Yes.

- Did you use them as informants?

- Sometimes.

And you'd supply them with heroin as

long as they gave you what you wanted.

No.

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