- Come on, sleepy head.
You've got 15 minutes.
Wake up, wake up, wake up.
I'm not hearing you.
- Good morning, gentlemen.
- Morning.
- There you go.
Eat it all up.
- Mama, Sharonda wants peanut butter.
- You finish your cereal?
Okay, go ahead.
You talkin' for your sister.
Sharonda got a mouth.
All right.
crash!
Ooh.
Oh, come on, baby.
It's all right.
Oh, calm your nerves, baby.
It ain't nothing but an old jar.
- All right, guys, let's mount up.
Let's look sharp and be safe, okay?
- Good morning, Sheriff.
How are you?
- Morning, Commander.
- Morning, boss. - How you doing?
- Ready to rock.
- Yeah. Your men here?
- They're right here, ready to go.
- Good, I got 28 names on this list.
- Pick it up, pick it up.
We got to get to grandma's house.
Running late. Come on.
Come on now.
Fix your sister's shirt.
Now, watch yourself.
Where you at, Sherice?
- Hey, Dee.
- Hey, Gladys.
Come on. Come on.
Go to grandma.
Bye, y'all. - Bye.
I love you, Mommy. - Bye, baby.
- Good morning, glories. Come on.
- Hey, Mama. - Hey, girl.
Come on up here.
Grandma got y'all some grits.
- All right, you guys behave in there.
- The core campaign is counting on liberal interest groups,
especially those on environmental fronts,
to warn their constituencies Bush could win.
- Another apparently warm day for November,
with temperatures topping out in the mid 60s.
Traffic on the southbound 84 continues to be slow
due to roadwork near exits.
- George W. Bush hammers on his charge that Al Gore-
- Morning, Ben.
Some coffee?
- Please. Thanks, Dee.
- As a uniter in chief.
- He scares the elderly for political gain.
- Good morning.
How you doing now? Want some coffee?
- Yes, please.
- Did you get your hair done?
- Sure did.
- It looks good.
We get a hair show this weekend.
Texas championship, grand prize: $5,000.
- You going with Lavosha again?
- Mm-hmm.
We've been practicing for months.
I'm hoping to win enough to start up at junior college.
- Oh, good luck to you, honey.
- Thank you.
Thank you. I'll be right back.
- Mobile units on the way.
- Roger that.
- Grandma, can I go see Andres?
- Mm-hmm.
Sherice, take him my good bowl there.
Hold it with both hands.
My grandma gave me that from Alabama.
- Bye-bye, Grandma.
- Bye-bye.
- All units in position.
- Go on your command.
- Go, go, go.
- Go, come on, everyone!
Go!
- On your knees!
- Police! Warrant!
On the ground!
- Stay here.
No, stay here.
Sherice!
Come here, girl!
Sherice, baby, it's okay.
Come here.
- We got one jumping the east fence.
- Roger that.
- Huh!
- Hold up!
- Stay right here.
Ah!
- The Gore campaign calls it the closing argument.
The vice president laid out what he believes
is the best case for a Gore presidency.
- Yo, Dee, can I get a refill?
- Sure thing, Julie.
Don't need anything else?
- No.
- Are you Dee Roberts?
Dee Roberts?
- Excuse me. What did I do?
Will you tell me what I did?
- What's going on?
- What did I do? You got to tell me.
- Dee?
- I think-I think it's my parking tickets.
I'm sorry, Doreen.
- Parking tickets? This is ridiculous.
I'll pay the parking tickets.
- Just back away, ma'am.
- I said, "I'll pay the parking tickets. "
- I said, "Step away, ma'am. "
- We got Roberts, and we're inbound.
- Roger that.
- Dee?
- Gladys? - You kidding me.
All of us in this tiny shit hole?
- Uh, when do I get my phone call?
I got to call my kids.
buzz!
- They was running like cockroaches
from a burning torch.
- No one figured on the U-Hauls.
You would've loved it.
Surprised 'em all.
- Beckett still using the helicopter?
- Of course. He loves that thing, man.
Scares the shit out of 'em.
- Mm.
You know, you been watching too many cop shows.
You know that?
Anybody get hurt?
- No.
Got some bruises. That's about it.
Nothing serious.
- Hey, Mama. - Hey.
- How you doing?
- I'm fine.
- How are the girls?
- You know, the raid scared 'em, but they all right.
Dee, you ain't done nothing
to get all caught up in this mess, have you?
I mean, somebody said that they was looking for you.
- Mama, you know I don't have nothing to do with that.
- I know that. I know.
- It's my parking tickets.
I got $782.
- $782?
Good Lord.
Girl!
Hell, you can buy a car for that much money.
- I know, Mama.
I'm sorry.
Mama, I'm scared in here.
Can you help me out of here?
I'll pay you back. I promise.
- When you seeing the judge?
- Tomorrow morning.
- Tomorrow.
I'll find it,
I guess, you know...
- Thank you, Mama.
Oh...
Um, tell the girls that I will be there tomorrow.
I love you.
- I love you.
Don't worry, girl.
- Bye.
- Does the county have a recommendation on bail,
Mr. Beckett?
- The county sees Mr. LeRay as a flight risk, Your Honor.
We'd like bail to be set at $50,000.
- So ordered.
- Mr. LeRay, the court appoints Mr. David Higgins
as your lawyer,
sets bail at $50,000,
schedules a preliminary hearing on your case for March 23rd.
- There's your mother.
- Are you Ms. Dee Roberts?
- Yes, sir.
- Are you aware of the charges
that are being brought against you
by Harmon County, Miss Roberts?
- I think I'm here for my parking tickets.
- Miss Roberts, you're charged with distributing narcotics
in a school zone.
- Is that correct, Mr. Beckett?
- It is, Your Honor.
- That can't be right.
I never had anything to do with drugs.
- I take that as a not guilty plea.
Can you afford an attorney, Miss Roberts?
- No, sir.
- Does the county have a recommendation on bail,
Mr. Beckett?
- Well, selling drugs in a school zone
is a very serious charge, Your Honor.
County recommends bail
at $70,000.
- Miss Roberts, the court appoints
Mr. David Higgins as your lawyer,
sets bail at $70,000,
schedules a preliminary hearing on your case for March 23rd.
- Diane, get down from there.
- And hurry up.
- Alma. - Hey, Darrell.
- Heard about Dee.
Figured I'd better come get the girls.
Hey. - Hi, Daddy.
- Guess what I got. Look.
- He's got candy.
Hey!
- Hey, come on.
Let's get out of here.
Come on. We go bye-bye.
We going bye-bye.
- You know Dee got custody.
- Dee's in jail.
- She ain't staying.
- That's not what I hear.
- Hello, Miss Roberts.
I'm David Higgins,
the lawyer appointed by Judge Pryor
to represent you.
And this is Robert Foster, assistant district attorney.
- Miss Roberts, you've been indicted by a grand jury
as a drug dealer.
And the district attorney's
been gathering information for months.
He has a very strong case.
- There must be some kind of mistake.
- Miss Roberts, I would advise you to be silent.
Mr. Foster's job is to build a case against you.
- You can ask anyone.
I don't have anything to do with drugs.
- Miss Roberts, you're only hurting yourself.
Mr. Foster, were drugs found on Miss Robert's person
when she was arrested?
- Apparently not.
- At her place of work?
In her home?
Does she have any record as a drug dealer?
- The Harmon County Drug Task Force
has conducted an extremely impressive operation.
It convinced the DA.
It convinced the grand jury.
And frankly, David, if you saw it,
it'd convince you.
- Miss Roberts, how many children do you have?
- Four.
Sherice is eight, Sharonda's five,
Laquisha's four, Tanya's two.
But I never done any drugs,
and I wouldn't-
- Mr. Foster,
could I speak with you alone for a minute, please?
- Certainly.
- Miss Roberts, you have a very talented lawyer.
And against my better judgment,
he has convinced me to offer you a plea bargain.
- Miss Roberts, despite what Mr. Foster
believes to be the strength of his case,
because your record is relatively clean
and due to the nature-
- And because of the age and the needs of your children.
- He's prepared to offer you a plea.
- If you plead guilty
to felony possession with intent to distribute,
you can go home today
with a ten-year suspended sentence
and a small fine.
- But I never sold any drugs.
- Then post bail. We'll set a court date.
- $70,000?
Or you can stay in jail and await your pretrial hearing
in... end of March.
- That's almost six months.
I can't do that.
What am I gonna do about my kids?
- I'm sorry the burden your behavior has imposed
on your children, Miss Roberts.
That is why I'm prepared to offer you a plea.
But be under no doubt,
if you don't take the plea,
we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.
Good-bye, David.
- What's he mean by "the fullest extent of the law"?
- 16 to 25 years.
- Be careful the shit you hear from the public defender.
- Mm-hmm.
- Did he tell you, if you plea, you a felon?
- No more food stamps,
no AFDC, no welfare,
no Medicare for you or your kids,
never again.
- Can't get a job.
Can't vote.
You girls in the project?
Then they throw you out.
That's government housing.
- # Mm, mm, mm, mm #
# Mm, mm, mm #
# Mm, hm, mm #
# Mm, mm-mm #
# Mm #
# Mm, mm #
- I don't want to be late.
- Who's out there?
- Miss Alma Roberts.
I came to get my granddaughters for church.
- Yay.
- Are they ready?
Oh, come on, baby.
Don't push her.
Come on, sweetie.
Come here, pumpkin.
- Her diaper is full.
- She ain't bothered by it.
- I'm bothered by it.
- It bothers you, you change it.
- I'll come by when I want them back.
- That's great.
Darrell, that's just great.
Come on, y'all.
- # Glory #
# Our Lord #
- You don't think she might've been
mixed up with drugs, do you?
- Heck no.
Dee ain't no angel, but she sure ain't no drug dealer.
- Sherice is fighting. - What?
- Grandma, Sherice is fighting.
- What's going on? Come here.
- Let go! Ow!
- Cut that out!
Don't you push her!
Sherice!
Acting like that in your Sunday clothes.
Quit it! Stop it!
- Come on. Stop that this instant.
- Hey, hey.
- This is what the Lord expects from you on the Sabbath?
Sherice, Chantrelle, what's wrong?
- She grabbed me.
- 'Cause you called my mama a drug dealer.
- Your mama is a drug dealer.
- Oh, oh, wait a minute!
- Stop that now.
- Come on, not another word
from either one of you, not another word.
Did y'all see this here?
Y'all see this here?
This thing done tricked down to the children.
Now, I wonder where they got that from?
Half of our congregation
is in trouble with the law,
some that did wrong and some that didn't.
Sherice...
Chantrelle...
I want you...
- Lord, have mercy.
- Thanks, Gladys.
- Dee Roberts.
- How I look?
- You look great.
- Thanks.
- Dee?
Dee! - T en minutes.
- There she is. I see her.
- Hey, Mama.
- Hey, say hi to your mama.
- Hey, babies.
- Hey, Mama.
- Do you see her? Come here, sweetie pie.
- Ah.
- You look good, Dee.
- Look at my hair, Mama.
I am not looking good.
But look at y'all,
how pretty you are in your Sunday dresses.
- Yeah, we been to church.
- What happened to Sherice?
- Oh, she okay.
She just got into a little scuffle.
- Here, let me talk to her.
- Come on, Sherice.
Come on up so your mom can see you.
Come here. Can you see her?
Come on up here so you can see her.
- Hey, baby.
- Hey, Mama.
- What happened to you?
- Nothing.
- Mm-mm.
I can see something happened.
Come on.
- They said you were staying in here for life.
They say we're gonna be homeless.
- Everybody, calm down, calm down.
This is all right. It's all right.
You are not gonna be homeless.
They crazy, 'cause your mama,
your mama's coming home.
She's coming home real soon,
ain't you?
- Mm-hmm.
- They offer you a plea?
- I didn't do anything, Mama.
- Dee, everybody pleas,
and nobody ever's guilty.
- I'd be a convicted felon, Mama.
- You'd be home with your girls.
- They'd throw me out the apartment.
I'd lose my food stamps,
the money for Sharonda's medicine.
- You gonna lose all that anyway if you go to prison.
- Didn't you always say, "The truth will set you free"?
Girl, that's in the afterlife.
God care about the truth.
The DA don't give a shit about the truth.
He'd lock niggers up till judgment day.
- Time's up.
- Dee?
Darrell has been coming back to get the girls.
So you think about that when you thinking of what to do.
- He still with Claudia?
- Mm-hmm.
- Mama, don't leave the girls alone with her.
- Dee, I am doing the best I can.
- Mama? - He is their daddy.
- Mama, do not leave them alone with her.
Promise me, Mama. - Think about that plea.
- Mama? Mama?
Mama, you know what she's done-
- Say bye to your mama.
- Bye, Mama.
- Bye.
- Oh, babies, bye.
- Love you.
- Bye, babies.
Bye, babies. I love you, Mama.
- Dee! - Bye!
- Bye, Dee. We love you.
Come on, baby.
Let's get out of this jail.
They love to see black folks up in this place.
- To the desk and he said,
"You know how many times I've been through this with you?
"I'm gonna tell you right now, you gonna have to arrest me,
'cause I don't give a shit"-
- Excuse me.
Do y'all know where I might find Judge Pryor?
- Judge Pryor?
- Yes, Sam?
- I have someone here who'd like to speak with you.
- Yeah, come on in.
- Appreciate it.
- And I think the U.S. Supreme Court-
- We- we've counted all the votes.
We counted them on election day.
- We haven't counted them. - The machine...
- Hey, y'all.
- Hi, Alma.
- Girl, how you doing?
- This is what I called y'all about.
- Girl, how Dee doing? We sure miss her.
- She- she all right.
The judge say he'll lower Dee's bail
if enough folks sign this here.
It say you have never seened her doing or selling drugs.
That color's sure looking good on you, girl.
- I love it. I love it.
- I think I want to bump it up, though.
- Give Dee our love.
- And tell her we sure miss her around here, okay?
- Y'all know I will.
Tamika, I need you to sign.
- Listen up. Listen to me now.
Listen to me.
Year after year,
we have endured these raids on our community.
And I, for one, have had enough.
So I put in a call to my old friend
Joe Fischer up at Baylor Law School.
Professor Fischer has a long history
of fighting for what's right here in Texas.
And we thank him for that.
Well, Joe didn't let us down,
'cause next thing I know,
I'm talking to a Mr. David Cohen at the ACLU.
Mr. Cohen, thank you.
Thank you for coming.
- Thank you, Reverend.
My associate Byron Hill and I
appreciate your inviting us here tonight.
What's happening in Melody is happening all over our country.
Drug task forces use military tactics
to terrorize poor people.
And drug laws selectively target people of color.
Meanwhile, federal money goes to the counties
that convict the most people.
And plea bargains are aggressively pushed
to hasten those convictions.
Now, can anyone guess what percentage
of the criminal cases in our country
are settled by plea bargains?
Just guess.
How many folks never see a jury of their peers?
- Half.
- 95%.
For most people, the penalties of not taking the plea
are so frightening that even if they're innocent,
they plead guilty.
- My son James got arrested up in the projects.
- Uh-huh.
- Can you help him post bail?
- The ACLU does not post bail money.
But we do offer legal advice
and expert testimony.
- Young man, I'm grateful for your offer,
but I don't know that an ACLU Yankee lawyer
can help my child with no Texas jury.
- Look, he's here, and he wants to help.
'Cause there ain't no way my son gonna get a fair trial
as long as Beckett cuts the cords.
Now, the DA wants Brian to take an eight-year plea.
If he doesn't, they pushing for 25 years.
- The story you're telling is exactly why we're here.
- Our oldest boy fought charges three years ago.
He didn't stand a chance.
He's in for 15 years.
- Yeah, yeah, something really exciting and fun.
- Count to 17.
- That could be fun.
Well, do you want to start it or shall I?
- I'll start it, Big Bird.
- Okay, you start.
- One... - Two...
- Tanya, come on, so I can change your diaper, girl.
Come on.
- Three? - Three!
Y eah, three!
Then we have, um...
four!
- Come on, T anya. Your diaper got to be full.
- Five!
- Texas law says a grand jury
can indict them on the word of a single informant.
- So all I have to do is accuse you...
- And then I can be indicted and arrested,
and I'm told to take the plea or else.
- And this system is an abomination.
Poor black folks are easy pickins.
- But we can change the system.
We're gonna hit this DA really hard.
- Up in the city,
a DA may not be a big deal,
but down here,
he rules like a king.
Beckett's been the DA for nine years.
White folks vote for him 'cause he keeps the town quiet.
Black folks...
half of 'em are too lazy to vote,
and the other half can't vote 'cause they're felons.
I'll find you your lead plaintiff,
but they gonna be in for a hell of a ride.
- Roberts.
Your lawyer's here.
- You got what I been asking for?
I really need 'em.
- You too good to wad up toilet paper like everybody else?
Let's go.
- DA's playing hardball with us.
He says he might withdraw his plea offer
if you don't take it soon.
Look, I've learned a little bit about their case.
All right, the DA has an informant
and audio tapes of people selling him drugs.
The informant claims he bought crack from you.
The tapes confirm it.
And two police offers say they witnessed the whole thing.
It's pretty strong stuff, Miss Roberts.
- It's bullshit.
- Sam Conroy?
- Y eah.
- Hi, I'm David Cohen with the ACLU.
Joe Fischer up at Baylor told me I might find you here.
Do you have a second?
There's a case I'd like to discuss with you.
- Girl, anyone that can make Laquathia look that good
is a damn genius.
- You just jealous.
- Gladys Williams?
Come on, you're going home.
- Going home? Gladys?
- I took the plea.
I'm sorry.
I'm just not as strong as you are.
- Don't- don't worry about it.
Gladys, you got to do what you think is right.
So you know...
All right.
- Bye, girl.
- Say hi to my babies.
- Leona?
- Hey.
I got your medication.
How are you feeling?
- I'm good.
Thank you.
- What are you reading?
You've been snortin' and sputterin' over there
for an hour.
- Well, this background on a case
Joe Fischer recommended me for.
- Joe Fischer? - Yeah.
- Well, that's flattering.
- Well, I suppose.
But what it is is that the ACLU
is trying to sue Calvin Beckett
and a whole lot of other people,
including your employer, the sheriff,
'cause of the raids down in Melody.
They're claiming it's a racial thing,
racial bias.
- You think it's true?
- Maybe.
Probably.
Maybe.
But you know, racist intent is very hard to prove.
And I mean, I got to work down here.
I don't want to get tagged with the ACLU people.
That's...
- So you're not gonna do it?
- I don't know.
I don't know.
buzz!
- I didn't order apple pie.
I ordered tuna on rye.
The pie rhymes with the rye.
- Oh.
- Mama!
- Oh.
Come here. Come to your mommy.
- They got me watching Sesame Street,
and I don't like that show.
- Here's the sweetie one.
Oh, dang.
- Oh.
- That your mama?
- I told you she was coming back.
Yeah.
- Where Sherice at?
Mm.
You been brushing this?
Looks like it need a little bit of a treatment.
Mind if we work on it tonight?
You been scared I wasn't coming home?
It's okay, baby.
I'm here now, okay?
I'll never...
ever leave you again.
I won't let anything happen to you.
All right, baby?
- Let there be no doubt,
while I strongly disagree with the court's decision,
I accept it.
There she is.
- Whole system's crazy, Dee.
Take the Mexicans.
No one else will work in the kitchen.
But if you hire them,
government comes and busts for hiring illegals.
- Doreen, I need my job back.
- Dee, how many years you been working here?
Six? - Seven.
- Dee, after the police came and got you,
they came back...
twice.
First time, looking for drugs in your stuff.
And then a week later,
to talk to me about the papers on my guys in the kitchen.
I can't be fighting with the DA.
- Don't worry about it.
- Please, take it.
- Don't worry about it. - Take it.
Please.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
- Um...
I'm sorry.
- Me too.
- So did you get a chance to read the material
that I gave you?
- What do you need local counsel for?
Doesn't the ACLU have enough lawyers?
- We need insight into the local justice system.
- It's simple.
The DA decides what he wants,
the cops go and get it for him,
and the judges bless what they have done.
- Are you hostile toward this case for some reason,
Mr. Conroy?
- Mr. Cohen, when Joe Fischer recommended me to you,
did he tell you, before I became a lawyer,
I'd been a drug cop for ten years
and that I trained the task force officers
you're planning on suing?
- Mr. Fischer told me you were a man of principle,
a fair man.
Does what happened at Arlington Springs
seem fair to you?
- Not much seems fair to me these days,
Mr. Cohen, so I deal in practicalities.
You're asking me to sue everybody I ever met
for racial discrimination.
Now, you know where we are down here?
You might as well ask me to stick a shotgun up my ass
and blow my head off.
- Well, that's very colorful.
I apologize for wasting your time.
- You don't have to be sorry.
You're just doing what you think is right,
and despite how it may look, so am I.
But I got to live down here.
You're gonna be able to go back where you come from.
I'm gonna ask you again.
Why do you want local counsel?
- We intend to file very quickly.
To handle discovery, depositions,
and a trial,
I need somebody who knows how to navigate shit down here,
somebody to whom witnesses and a local jury can relate.
I think we both know that isn't me.
Well, that's a sensible answer there, Mr. Cohen.
Who is your plaintiff?
- Hello. Is your mom home?
- Who's that, Sherice?
- Hi, are you Dee Roberts?
- Mm-hmm.
- Hi, I'm David Cohen with the ACLU,
and this is Sam Conroy.
Reverend Sanders suggested that we come talk to you.
- Reverend Sanders?
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
Bye, babies.
Get into Mommy's room.
Got a visitor.
Sharonda, make sure your sisters keep quiet, all right?
All right.
- So, Miss Roberts,
what has happened to you and others here in Melody
is simply wrong.
The ACLU wants to make sure that it doesn't happen again.
And we plan to sue the district attorney,
the county,
the drug task force,
and the policemen involved in the raids.
We'd like to do it in your name.
- Are you kidding me?
You want her to sue Calvin Beckett?
- Yes, ma'am.
- Y'all must be the ones doing drugs
if you think my daughter's gonna sue the DA
and Harmon County, Texas.
- Would y'all excuse me for a second, please?
- Huh.
Hey.
Mm-mm. Mm-mm.
Since when did you start smoking?
- Since I spent 21 days in jail.
- I can't believe Reverend Sanders sent them round here,
talking about sue Beckett.
You can't beat Beckett.
- I would need to.
He wants to put me in prison for 16 years.
- Beckett don't care nothing about you.
You take the plea, he will leave you alone.
You stay to yourself,
he ain't gonna bother you never again.
- Why should I have to keep to myself?
I did not do anything.
- Dee, it ain't always about you.
You got kids to take care of.
- Mama, these police been raiding these projects
since I was a kid.
Now they done started on my kids.
Look at Sherice in there.
It scared her half to death.
You think it's gonna stop 'cause I plead guilty?
- Excuse me.
Why is that any of your business?
- After what they done to me, Mama,
they made it my business.
- Dee!
Dee, wait a minute! - No, Mama.
I want to help. - Great.
- May I?
- Please.
- Miss Roberts, I know Calvin Beckett.
I know him personally.
And filing this suit against him,
it may make him change his plans.
But more than likely,
he's gonna come after you even harder.
He may come after you very hard.
You need to remember that you still have criminal charges
pending against you.
- He's right.
He ain't gonna leave me alone unless I plead guilty.
And I ain't doing that.
So...
what exactly do you need me to do?
- So why does it seem such a hard choice, Sam?
- Well, it makes me take sides.
It'll seem kind of like a political thing, doesn't it?
And I'm not a political person.
You know that.
And I mean,
well, okay, I'm gonna sue the district attorney down here.
I mean, the establishment would be done with me, wouldn't it?
And Leona has been sick.
And we can't afford-
- Then why are you thinking about doing it at all?
- Hey, did you know that when I was in high school,
I was in West Louisiana,
and used to work at a town pool out there?
And blacks and whites were just beginning to swim together.
The idea wasn't very popular with anybody at that time.
And one afternoon,
I was out there,
and there were two blacks in the pool,
and there was one black man in the shower room.
It was in the pool house
where I was mopping down the floor in there.
And this white man comes in and he says,
"Sam, get out of here. "
And I said, "Well, I work here.
I'm mopping up the floor. What do you"-
And he said, "Get the hell out of here. "
And I said, "I can't do that.
I'm not finished mopping up. "
And he pulled out a tire iron and said,
"Boy, you get your ass out of here right now. "
And I did.
And as I'm running out,
all these men come running in.
They're carrying metal rods, sticks, pipes.
And as I'm running out, I heard, you know,
the sound...
And, um...
man died that night.
Couple weeks later,
the FBl came to my house.
And they wanted to know what I'd seen.
- What did you tell them?
- I didn't say anything.
I knew who those men were,
and I didn't say anything.
- Lavosha.
- Hey, Dee, girl.
Baby, how you doing?
It's so good to see you.
- Mm, I'm...
- There.
A whole new you.
- Wow, thank you, Vosha.
I promise, when I get a new job...
- Mm-mm.
Don't worry about it. It's on me, honey.
Anytime.
- Thank you so much.
- Aw, sweetie.
- This is good.
- Y eah.
- Okay.
Well, okay.
Well, it's nice to meet you, Miss Roberts.
Do you think you could start next Monday?
- Can I start sooner?
- We're just gonna do a background check first.
You know, arrest record and all that stuff.
But it shouldn't take long.
- It was nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
- No.
- Look...
- No, we're not hiring at the moment.
No.
- I'm a hard worker.
You won't have to pay me much.
- I'm sorry.
- I'll do dishes, bus tables, anything.
- No. - Come on.
- I said no.
Combo special, number 23.
Here, everybody has to do everything:
clean the bathrooms,
scrub the dishes,
and go to the warehouse to get supplies.
Thanks.
- That's all right for me.
- It's minimum wage, no benefits.
- That's okay.
All right, we'll try it for a month.
- Thank you.
I'll do a good job.
You'll see.
Look what I got. - Mama!
Look what I got.
- Christmas tree!
We got a Christmas tree!
- We got a Christmas tree!
Who's gonna help me decorate?
- Me!
- The whole truth and nothing but the truth,
so help you God?
- I do.
- Mr. Porter,
on August the 14th, did you buy drugs from the defendant?
- Yes.
- And did anyone witness this?
- Yes.
Well, no- not exactly.
I recorded it on a tape recorder
that the police had gave me.
Are you sure there were drugs?
- Yes.
- How are you sure?
- Well, I taste them.
And when I brought them to the police,
they put them on a little piece of glass
and put the stuff on it and it turned-
- Mr. Porter, thank you.
That'll be all for now.
- Mr. Porter, have you ever been in a mental institution?
- Objection, Your Honor, this is-
- Overruled.
- Mr. Porter, I repeat,
have you ever been in a mental institution?
- Yes.
- And who sent you there?
- He did.
- Mr. Beckett?
- Yes.
- And were you afraid-
- I guess we just found our first deposition.
- Your Honor, I move we recess for lunch.
- Court is adjourned until 1:00 p. m.
- Well, hey, Sam.
- Hello, Calvin.
How are you?
- Calvin Beckett. I don't believe I know you.
You visiting?
- David Cohen. I'm gonna be here for a while.
- Well, I'll be seeing you around.
- I look forward to that.
- Hey, Mama.
Hey, Grace.
- Hello, sweetie.
- What you doing here so soon?
I wasn't expecting you. Everything all right?
- Yeah, everything's okay. Where's Sherice at?
- She at basketball.
- Where the girls at?
Mama?
- That's their daddy, Dee.
Here, watch her for a minute.
Dee!
That's their daddy!
Dee!
Grace, get the girls' bag.
Dee!
Wait a minute!
- Darrell, bring my girls out here right now!
- Dee!
- Darrell, I know you hear me!
Darrell!
- Better for you to stay with your daddy.
Your mama going back to jail soon.
- Claudia.
- She gonna be gone for a real long time.
- Claudia, you so much as lay a hand on my girl-
- Yeah, what you gonna do, huh?
I got Laquisha in my arms right now, Dee!
Holding her tight. Ooh-hooh-hoo.
- I'm gonna kill you! Open this damn door!
- Holding her tight.
- Yeah, she's out of control.
Apartment 213. She's here right now.
Hey, hey, hey, hey!
- Darrell, if you do not bring my children out here right now-
- Hold it now!
- Oh.
- Dee, wait!
Dee!
Dee Roberts, they will throw your butt
back in jail in a heartbeat.
- You let him take them!
You let me get them back!
- You best listen to your mama, Dee.
- Uh-huh.
- You know what friends I got.
Police gonna be here in a minute.
You better stay away from my truck, though.
Hey! - I want my girls!
- All right, now get off that truck.
You know I need that for work.
Damn it! Are you out your God damn mind?
- I said I want my girls, Darrell!
- Get off my truck!
- Dee!
- Come on now, Dee. You know you can't do-
Hey! - I'm counting to three!
I want my damn kids back!
- Knock that shit off!
You better not.
- Two! - Dee, cool yourself.
- Three!
Come on, Darrell! Come on!
I want my damn kids!
- Dee!
- Stop!
- Goddamn it!
- I want my damn kids.
Come on!
- Dee, get off that truck!
- I want my girls.
- You scaring them kids. Come here.
- Go on and take 'em.
Take 'em!
- Don't cry, baby. Baby, I'm sorry.
Come here, baby.
- I'm just trying to protect them
from your insane bullshit anyway.
- What?
Look at my Goddamn truck.
- You know the drill, Miss Alma.
- Look at this shit. - Come on.
- You don't have to cuff her.
- Get my girls out of here.
- I got 'em.
Dee, I'm gonna come and get you.
- It's not like I won't have 'em back soon anyway.
Bitch.
- Your mother told Darrell she'd fix his car
if he dropped the charges.
Did she tell you that Claudia's an accused child molester?
- No one can blame you for protecting your girls.
But destroying Darrell's car just wasn't smart.
- Worked, didn't it?
- Dee, we get hundreds of letters every week
from people who need help,
people, frankly, just as deserving as you.
We have the resources for one major case on this issue,
and I chose you.
I need you to stay out of trouble.
Can you do that?
Thank you.
- 35,000 thousand people at eight official balls
hang between $100 and $200 a pop.
- I don't know him that well,
but I know him well enough to say I know him...
- Hello, Dee. - Hello.
- Have a seat.
- Congratulations.
You made the paper.
- Yeah, lucky me.
- I just spoke to David Higgins.
He should be here any minute.
Did he listen to that tape with you?
- Right there in jail.
Wasn't nothing but a lot of crackling
and some men arguing.
Not a woman's voice on the tape.
- Oh, speak of the devil.
Hello, David.
Have a seat.
I think you know Dee.
David Cohen, David Higgins.
- I'm here because of George Bush...
- I just can't find it.
- Are you telling me you lost the tape?
- Well, did you call the DA about a copy?
- It seems theirs is missing too.
- Okay, what about the arrest warrant
that Dee gave you?
- Well, I'm sure we'll find it sooner or later.
- Oh, come on, David.
You can't really expect us to believe this bullshit.
- Well, I don't really care what you believe.
- Mr. Higgins, at the very least,
you're guilty of gross dereliction
of your responsibilities.
And you may very well be guilty
of criminal obstruction of justice.
- You be very careful what you say, Mr. Cohen.
As Sam can tell you, down here,
you make enemies for life.
Miss Roberts, let me give you some free advice.
You take the plea.
You do a little time on probation,
and you go back to your family in peace.
Be careful you don't get sent away
just so some self-important asshole
can play civil rights lawyer.
- Well, that went well.
- I'll get it.
- Hi.
Is your mommy here?
Would you tell her that Mr. Moss
from Child Protective Services is here.
Miss Roberts, our office has received a number of complaints
from the girls' father, a Mr. Darrell Hughes.
He claims you're negligent and abusive.
- Do you see them, Mr. Moss?
Do they look abused?
- Well, that's what we're here to evaluate.
Here is your notice for a custody hearing
before the district attorney.
- Calvin!
- Calvin, care to comment on the jury's decision?
- The jury made a mistake.
Mr. Green should never have been acquitted.
I'm convinced he's guilty, and he should be in jail.
- Did the ACLU lawsuit have anything to do
with your decision to drop the charges
against the other defendants?
- Look, since the jury made clear today
that they do not consider Mr. Porter a credible witness,
I'm forced to drop the charges against everyone we arrested
in the sweep in Melody.
Make no mistake,
I'm certain everyone was guilty as sin.
Just can't prove it...
this time.
- What about the people who already pled guilty?
- What about them?
They pled guilty.
They're guilty.
- Is there gonna be... - Calvin!
- Dee, that's great news.
- Mm.
But he said I'm guilty.
- Doesn't matter what he said.
The charges are dropped.
- What you think, David?
- Well, it's good news for you.
And your suit and the jury's verdict
have forced Beckett to change his plans.
But the system isn't changing.
He could raid Arlington Springs tomorrow
and start all over again.
He's not even throwing out the convictions
of people like Gladys,
who pled guilty under duress.
- Excuse me.
What does this have to do with Dee?
- She filed the case against Beckett.
If she quits, the case is over.
- So you expect her to keep going?
What you think?
- If Dee wants to drop the case, now's the time to do it.
But what David's saying is true.
Beckett's not gonna change.
The system's not gonna change.
- Y'all crazy.
Dee got a custody hearing in front of this man.
- Would y'all please stop talking about "Dee"
like I'm not here?
Just... I don't know.
- Dee?
There's a lot riding on this,
but it's your family,
your life.
This has got to be your decision.
I'm your lawyer.
I'll do what you want.
- Hello, Miss Roberts.
- Hello, sir.
- Cisco around?
- He's in the kitchen.
- Hey, Cisco, how are you?
- Nice to meet you.
Hey, Dee.
So they just up and threw you out?
That's the law.
Didn't think it would happen,
but it did.
- Gladys, you can stay with me.
I got a little bedroom.
- Thank you.
It wouldn't work anyhow.
They'd just throw you out too if they catch you.
- Gladys.
- Our case has been assigned to Judge C.W. Belmont.
He's as strict law and order as they come.
Hasn't ruled against the police in over 15 years.
- How many times has Beckett appeared before him?
- At least a dozen times in the last five years alone.
- Then he's conflicted.
We move for a change of venue.
- That's never gonna happen.
No.
Beckett knows the system.
Belmont getting this case is no accident.
We gonna have to win this thing before it ever goes to trial.
- Uh.
They came in the middle of the night,
two of them.
crack!
One of them put a gun to my head,
told me I was a worthless piece of shit
and scum like me deserved to die.
I just laid there and took it.
The next day, they took me over to Mr. Beckett's office,
and I was real ready to cooperate.
- Mr. Porter, what happened
after you were taken to Mr. Beckett's office?
- He told me about,
that I know I could get 60 years and...
he was real tired of seeing me.
So he was gonna watch for my no-good drug-head ass family.
- So he threatened you and your family with jail terms?
- Yes.
- Did he threaten you with bodily harm?
- He told me he'd make a phone call
and get the biggest-dicked son of a bitch he could find-
excuse my language, y'all, but these his exact words:
"I'm gonna get you locked up,
"and I'm gonna make a phone call
"and get the biggest-dicked son of a bitch I can find
to screw you every day for the rest of your natural born life. "
- Those were his exact words?
- That was his words to me, yes.
- Are you uncomfortable, Mr. Porter?
- Well, I said I didn't want him here.
- Who are you referring to?
- Him.
- Let the record show
that Mr. Porter has pointed at Calvin Beckett.
- I'm always gonna be here, Eddie.
That's my rag.
I ain't going anywhere.
- I was given a list of names.
- By Beckett?
- Yeah.
He had them right there.
- Mr. Porter, was Dee Roberts' name on the list
the DA gave you?
- Uh, I don't remember.
- Oh, come on, Mr. Porter.
Did you put Dee Roberts' name down as a drug dealer
because your cousin Claudia asked you to?
- I-I-I can't remember.
- But you do know who Claudia is, right?
You...
She's- she lives with Darrell Hughes.
- I know her. She my cousin, yeah.
- Boy, did you put Dee Roberts' name down
because your cousin Claudia asked you to or not?
- I don't know.
Look, all they needed was five more names,
and they didn't care who they was.
- Mr. Porter, my name is Mark Shelby.
Mr. Porter, generally, would you say that you tell the truth?
- I try to,
unless I feel like I'm in danger
or I got to protect myself.
- Mm-hmm.
And were you telling the truth
when you testified under oath at the Green trial?
'Cause the truth you're telling today
is not exactly the same truth you were telling back then.
- So I'm just trying to figure out what about today's truth
is true.
- Well, he had me locked up then.
He could've did anything he wanted to do to me.
And now I got to do what's right,
'cause the truth will set you free.
- Which truth we talking about,
the truth you told before or the truth you're telling now?
'Cause I'm a little confused by all that.
Mr. Porter,
you ever had any mental problems?
- Yeah.
- Could you tell me what type?
- I was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia,
and I can't remember the other one.
- That's all right, Mr. Porter.
That's probably enough.
Now, you understand that we're embroiled in a lawsuit here.
And these plaintiffs are seeking damages.
And if these allegations are proven,
a lot of police officers, some good men,
not being police officers anymore.
- Is there going to be an end to this cascade of rhetoric?
- I'm just trying to determine if Mr. Porter here
truly comprehends the seriousness
of these allegations,
allegations that were brought forth
by a paranoid schizophrenic
that can't remember what else he is.
- I understand the seriousness of this whole situation.
I understand the seriousness of people being incarcerated.
I understand the seriousness of people's lives
being changed forever and affected.
I understand the seriousness
of not being able to sleep good at night
'cause you worried about somebody coming to your house
and harming you or your family members.
I understand a lot.
And I know my life will never be the same.
- They'll destroy Porter on the stand.
- Well, we need to turn his unreliability back against them.
- We need a change in venue.
- The motion is denied.
- But the district attorney
has appeared before you 16 times.
Surely a change in venue would result in a fairer trial.
- The motion has been denied.
Is there something about the word "denied"
that you don't understand, Counselor?
- No, Your Honor.
- Good.
- Did you hold a gun to Eddie Porter's head
and threaten to kill him
if he didn't help you with your drug cases?
- No.
- Did you give him crack cocaine...
- No.
- So he could make drug buys for you?
- Absolutely not.
- Did you suspect he was using drugs?
- No.
- Did you test him?
- No.
- You think Eddie Porter is mentally stable?
- Objection.
My client's not a psychiatrist.
- You go ahead and answer the question.
- I still can't believe you're doing this.
- Well, here I am.
Now please answer the question.
- Look, I can answer any question
y'all want to throw at me, okay?
Just 'cause I didn't go to law school
doesn't mean shit.
Eddie Porter is crazier than a $3 bill, okay?
He wouldn't know which way the sky was
unless I pointed him up to it.
The shit that boy did-
I mean, I had to walk him through every single step
every time.
- Then why'd you trust him as a confidential informant?
- Mr. Arnold, you were a combined
county drug task force commander in November of 2000,
were you not?
- Yes.
- Was the drug task force racist in its design?
- Absolutely not.
- I'd like to enter this as exhibit 5.
It comes from your files.
And it's dated a month before the raid at Arlington Springs.
Are those the folks whom you arrested that day?
- Most of them.
- Do you know them?
- Most of them.
- Could you tell us each person's race?
- Black-
African American.
Black, don't know,
black, black, black, black.
I believe black.
Black, don't know,
gonna assume black,
black, black,
assume black again,
black, black, black, black,
black, black, black, don't know,
black.
- Mr. Lloyd, I warned you last time.
- What?
He ain't fit to take the kids.
All right, the first chance he has to go to a bar,
he'll leave their ass hungry.
- True, but I'm not gonna leave the children with you either.
They're gonna have to go to a group home.
- Look, I got a house.
They belong with their mama.
- Miss Lloyd? - What?
- This is not a debate society.
You're done here.
- Those are my kids.
They belong with their mama.
- Thank you very much.
- Next case. - Here you are, sir.
- Hughes versus Roberts.
- Dee.
- She's violent.
She's abusive.
Just last month,
she was arrested for a criminal attack.
- The attack was on his truck
because he kidnapped my girls.
- Well, they my children too.
- I've never abandoned my daughters.
I was in jail, and I left them with their grandmother,
my mother, who's an excellent caregiver.
- Well, Miss Roberts, you do seem to have
a rich and varied relationship with the law.
Larceny, criminal attack,
repeated disturbances of the peace.
- You mean where I'm screaming 'cause he's beating me?
- An arrest for selling drugs in a school zone.
- Those charges have been dropped.
- Mm.
One can see why Mr. Hughes is concerned.
- If he is so concerned,
maybe he should make some of his child support payments.
- I do pay child-
it's called "child support" not "Dee support. "
I pay for my children.
- Or stop seeing a woman
who's been convicted for child molesting.
- All right, now, you know that's not true.
Mr. Hughes, if I want any more input from you,
I will ask for it.
You seem to have a point, Miss Roberts.
Perhaps these girls shouldn't be with Mr. Hughes either.
Unfit parents are why the state has homes for children,
after all.
- I am not an unfit mother.
Now, if you want to hurt me because I'm suing you,
go ahead and do it.
But so help me God, if you hurt my children...
I'm not an unfit mother.
- I have a report here from CPS Inspector Moss.
Hm.
Based on that, I am leaving the children with you for now.
But, Miss Roberts,
do not assume that I will be so lenient next time.
Next case.
- Do you think it will help?
- Help?
- The lawsuit.
Will it really help?
- Will it- Dee?
An African-American man has a better chance
of being charged for a crime than graduating college.
The system is so fundamentally broken...
Oh, God, I don't know.
Yes.
I think it'll help.
I hope it'll help.
Are you ready for tomorrow?
- I'll be fine.
Thank you.
- I should be thanking you.
I don't...
I don't know how you have the strength to keep going.
- I had help.
- All right.
Shall we?
- Miss Roberts, do you have a job?
- No.
- Are you currently seeking employment?
- Yes.
But it's hard because of the drug thing.
- So you have no source of income?
- But my mama's helping me out.
- Sounds to me like you could use some money.
I bet a big, old, fat settlement check from my clients
would come in handy, wouldn't it?
What do you think, Gus?
- Objection.
Is that a question?
I knew that was coming.
Speaking of that drug thing,
you'd been arrested before, hadn't you,
and since.
- Yes.
- Now, it seems to me that the more you do something,
the more used to it you get,
the less stressful it should become.
- Oh, come on, Mark. What are you do-
are you asking a question,
or is this a monologue?
- Just an observation, Sam.
Tell me about your first arrest.
- It was for theft.
It was a very long time ago.
- You were guilty?
- Well, yes, but- - You were guilty.
So your second arrest,
that was for selling drugs in a school zone.
We know all about that, don't we?
- Those charges were dropped.
- What about this most recent arrest?
Tell me about that.
- It was for criminal mischief.
I busted up Darrell's truck
so he would give me my girls back.
- You were guilty of that one too?
- Those charges were dropped.
- But you were guilty. - Objection.
Mr. Shelby, this is not a court of law,
and you're not a judge.
- Uh, who's this guy Darrell?
- Darrell Hughes, he's the father
of my two youngest kids.
- But I thought you had four children.
- I do have four children.
- The oldest two have different fathers.
- Fathers, like plural?
Damn, woman.
How many different men have you had sex with
in the past eight years, huh?
- Objection!
- You okay?
- Uh-huh.
Seen better days.
- Well, you're doing good.
Remember, they're just as afraid of you as you are of them.
- All right, let's get back to these multiple fathers
we were talking about before the break.
Now, we know about Darrell Hughes,
but what can you tell me about the other two?
Where do they currently reside?
- They in prison.
- Both of them?
- Mm-hmm.
- Why? What were they convicted of?
- You know, I believe drugs.
- Drugs.
What kind of drugs?
- Cocaine.
Crack cocaine?
Would you mind repeating that for the record?
- Crack cocaine.
- That's the same drug that you were arrested for dealing,
was it not?
- Well, I didn't do that.
- Yeah, so you say. - Objection!
Miss Roberts is not on trial here.
- Well, Counselor, forgive me,
but I'm just having a tough time trying to understand
why it is that this arrest has caused Miss Roberts
so much mental duress.
I mean, it seems to me like she and her whole family
have been in and out of jails and prisons
and police stations her whole life long.
So what is it about this particular arrest
that is so different?
- Mr. Shelby-
- I'll tell you what made this arrest so different.
I've only spent one night in jail before this.
I was 16 years old,
was arrested for stealing diapers and milk for my babies.
I did it. They kept me for one night.
I knew I was getting right out.
To be locked up for 21 days
away from my girls
not knowing if I was gonna get out to see them again,
21 days in a cage...
I may not have all your schooling,
but it seems pretty different to me.
- Judge Belmont has decided
that Beckett only has to answer our questions for three hours.
Any more time would be wasting the DA's time.
- We knew he was gonna give him a lot of room.
- Dee, it is atrocious after what they've put you through.
- Mr. Hill,
if you were Beckett's lawyer, what would you do?
- Uh...
I'd destroy Porter's credibility right from the start.
I mean, he's nuts.
Nothing he says can be believed,
and he's our only source of information
as to what really went on.
I'd argue that having the police rely on him as an informant
was a mistake but an honest one.
- All right, what about the numbers?
All white cops, all black targets.
- Coincidence.
It's a result of the drug they chose to go after,
crack cocaine.
Feds target it. Why can't the task force?
And, Dee, I'd go after you.
I mean, really work on you,
suggest that you're just a desperate crack mother
trying to score a monetary judgment
by playing the race card
against a hardworking group of public servants.
The police made some mistakes.
They have a tough job.
Occasionally, they'll make mistakes.
They're only human.
Should we really punish them for trying to protect us?
- Well, there you have it.
It'll work too.
We'll never get anywhere with Belmont
by criticizing the cops.
We have to prove that Beckett was motivated by racist intent.
- How can you prove racist intent?
- You look at a person's history.
You interview his coworkers, his family,
people who know him well.
But we've tried everyone.
No one is gonna say anything about Beckett.
- There's Julie's car.
She's a regular at the coffee shop.
Thank you, Julie.
- It's about time somebody said something.
- Just a second now.
- Okay?
- We're good.
- Are you ready, Mrs. Beckett?
- Yes.
- All right,
now, this one's gonna be a little bit harder.
- Used fractions...
- Come on, it's me!
Open up the door, Dee.
I know you in there. Come on.
- Darrell, go home.
- Dee, open the door.
Come on.
- Stop knocking on my door, come on.
Stay there, Sherice.
- Hey.
- You drunk.
- I came to get the girls.
They need their father too.
- Look, you heard what the man said.
They need to be with their mother.
Mm-mm. Go home. Good night.
- Come on now, listen to me.
Look, think about it. Hear me out.
If we got back together,
then they could have us both.
- Mm-mm.
No, we been through this already, Darrell.
No. - It won't be like that.
- Darrell, go home.
Darrell! - Come on!
Don't come into my-
Go to your room, Sherice!
Get to your room right now.
- Give me two seconds to talk!
Give me my girls!
- 2-4- - Go ahead, call 'em.
I don't care.
Come on, man, we're getting out of here.
- Please come as soon as you can.
It's an emergency.
Darrell, please!
- Let's go. - Don't do this, Darrell.
- Come on, get out my way!
- I'm not- - Get off me!
- Stop it! Get out my house!
- Hey, have you lost your Goddamned mind?
- Mama! - Put that baby down!
- What you gonna do with that?
- I will knock you out.
- Well, hell, old lady, swing!
- Come on, step into it.
- What you gonna do with that, huh?
- I'm gonna knock your head off!
- Go ahead, go ahead!
- Your girls are looking at you, Darrell.
- I wish you would. - Go ahead, swing!
- I'll knock you out, Darrell!
- Get off me!
- You know Beckett ain't gonna charge me!
You know Beckett ain't gonna charge me!
You know Beckett ain't gonna charge me, Dee.
I'll be back!
- Come on.
- I know.
I know, sweetie.
I'm here with you.
- Hey.
- I'm here with you.
- Come on, Dee.
All right, here we go.
- So sorry I'm late.
Had a rough night.
- It's all right. Sam's already there.
- You okay, Dee?
- I'm fine.
David,
I have an idea.
- Three hours, Sam.
The judge said you get three hours with me.
Nine minutes is over.
- Sam, there's no need to be uncivil, is there?
After all, we used to be friends.
We still have to be together for 2 hours and 50 minutes.
- Sorry we're late.
Mr. Beckett, you're aware that the videotape we're taping
will become part of the public record?
I'm gonna take your silence as assent.
Before we begin, Mr. Beckett,
I'd like to introduce my associate,
Mr. Byron Hill.
Mr. Hill will be conducting your deposition.
- Good morning.
Mr. Beckett, is it your regular practice
to indict someone based on the word of a single informant?
- Regular practice all across Texas.
- And is it also your practice to give the informant
a list of people you want to find guilty?
- Objection.
Question assumes my client gave such a list.
- Mr. Beckett, do you frequently use informants
with a history of...
mental instability?
- We use informants that know the drug dealers.
This list rarely includes Baptist preachers,
Jewish rabbis,
or wise-ass lawyers.
- Please mark this as exhibit 5.
- Mr. Beckett, these are your drug arrest records
for the past five years.
Now, Harmony County is less than half black.
Why do you think over 85% of the task force arrests
are of black people?
- Must be that it's them doing all the drugs.
40 minutes left, boy.
- Mr. Beckett,
even black people can tell time.
Calvin...
You don't mind if I call you that, do you?
You seem to have a problem with us black people.
- Objection.
- To what? That wasn't even a question.
- You ever call blacks "niggers"?
Answer the question.
Mr. Beckett, you are under oath,
and you have an obligation to respond.
- I don't remember.
- You never said it?
- I don't remember ever saying it.
- What's your relationship like with your ex-wife?
- Don't have any kind of relationship.
What the hell kind of a question is that?
- She seems to have a better memory than you do, Calvin.
- My name is Elizabeth Beckett.
And I'm competent to testify therein.
- How'd your ex-husband feel about black people?
- Oh, he hated them.
Calvin hated them.
He even hated the children.
If they came in our yard,
he'd go out there and scream at them.
- You think his views affect his behavior as a DA?
- He thought that people wanted convictions.
He thought that the feds wanted convictions.
Calvin would say that,
"Who better to convict than the lazy-ass niggers? "
- He referred to black people as "niggers"?
- Yes.
Yes, he did.
Yes.
- Now, uh, you remember her, right?
Ex-wife?
That's your ex-wife.
You want to see what your daughter has to say,
or has your memory returned?
Let's see what your daughter has to say.
- My name is Julie Beckett.
I'm 22, and I'm competent to testify herein.
- Right, okay, Julie,
did your father ever express any hostility toward black people?
- Oh, yeah, never even tried to hide it, you know?
Him and Jerry Arnold,
they would, like, sit around and drink beers and shit.
And they would always say,
"The only way to save our town
is to blow Arlington Springs up. "
They would say shit like,
"Make the nigger cockroaches burn,"
shit like that, you know?
- So how'd he feel when he found out
that you were dating a black man?
- Oh, he was- he was so angry,
like, crazy angry.
He started chasing me down, okay?
He chased me down,
and he started whipping me with his belt.
I mean, he was just going crazy, you know,
like, saying shit to me like,
"You're nothing but a dirty nigger-loving whore,
dirty nigger-loving whore, dirty nigger-loving whore. "
- What the fuck are you doing
when they're over here whipping me?
- Mr. Beckett, do you ever call blacks "niggers"?
- Oh, of course I call them niggers,
you uppity piece of shit.
Can't think of any folks down here
that don't call you people niggers.
Yet race has nothing to do with whom you prosecute as DA?
- Sam, Byron.
He practically ordered them to settle.
There's no way he wanted that tape
played in a Texas courtroom.
It's over.
Hey!
- Oh, my goodness.
- Oh, my gosh, we did it.
- Well?
- Let's get out of here.
- I want to go...
- Hm.
- Can you believe that?
Isn't he yours, Dee?
- They've offered to disband the drug task force
and to give each of the accused a small settlement.
- What about Gladys?
- She's no longer a felon,
so she can move back into Arlington Springs.
- And our arrest records?
- Expunged.
- And Beckett?
- Dee, we did everything we could.
Beckett will have to face the voters.
But that's the best we could do.
The judge was firm on that,
that Beckett's future be decided by the voters.
- Will this stop the raids?
- I think so.
I really think so.
- Sam?
- Yeah.
- Is everything all right?
- Yeah, yeah.
Everything's all right.
- Now, in our congregation,
there is a woman that has struggled
and suffered
and prevailed,
not just for herself
but for us all.
Now, I'm gonna have to call out Dee Roberts.
Dee Roberts,
I'm asking you to stand up
and accept our warmest thanks.
Come on, y'all.
Yeah.