The Ledger

5.5 White Rabbit

In this episode (5.5), an investigation into the robbery of a safe deposit company leads to the search for a fugitive from a Vietnam-era payroll robbery that resulted in the death of a police officer and was committed to divert funds from the war effort. Briscoe and Logan try to track down the fugitive, and McCoy and Kincaid try to figure out how to prosecute a 23-year-old crime. Famed attorney William Kunstler guest stars as himself [screen cap]. He died the next year.

The episode begins with a security guard and a manager opening a vault at a safe deposit company. Inside, they find another security guard who has been hit over the head, a bunch of empty safe deposit boxes, and a big hole in the floor. Logan and Briscoe investigate. They talk to the security guard once he's at the hospital, and it's clear that he's an alcoholic. At this point, he doesn't have much to say, but the detectives don't seem particularly convinced by his story. They talk to the burglarly squad about the M.O. in the case. They learn that the crew used a powerful hydraulic jack that punched a hole in the floor from the basement. They search the basement, and find a liquor bottle, indicating that someone went down there for drinks. The security guard had told them he had never been down there, but Briscoe (a recovering alcoholic himself) recognizes the signs, and gets the guard to admit that he was down there and that he allow his cousin Eddie to rob the place.

They arrest cousing Eddie at an auto shop (a mere 7 minutes in to the episode), and Eddie reveals the location of the stolen merchandise. While going through the merchandise, the detectives find a duffel bag containing $200,000 and a revolver. Hm! All the merchandise except for this bag is claimed.

The box it came from was registered to a Michael Cavanaugh. They search for Cavanaugh but it turns out he died in 1969. It looks like someone has assumed his identity. The detectives head to the FBI to trace the money. An agent checks the serial numbers of his computer, stiffens a bit, clears his computer screen, excuses himself, and goes to get his boss. His boss comes in and tells the detectives he can't help them. Very suspicious.

Since they get no assistance from the FBI, Briscoe and Logan head to the library to find out what the FBI was involved with back when the money was printed. This unlikely method -- bolstered by the use of microfiche machine -- leads to the discovery that there was a payroll robbery in NYC in 1971. The cash belonged to a defnse contractor. During the robbery, a police officer was killed with a .38, just like the gun in the bag. The money was reportedly stolen to slow down the Vietnam War.

The detectives review this case, and learn that a primary suspect who disappeared is named Susan Forrest. She's been missing for 23 years. They talk to the other conspirators in the case, both of whom are in the penal system. Briscoe and Logan discuss Briscoe's police career back then, and he reveals that he was patrolling the west side back then. They check old arrest records, and learn that a William Goodwin, now a professor, was arrested with Goodwin prior to the robbery. His prints match those on the certificate for the safe deposit box. They also learn that the other female conspirator was arrested in the 1980s after a fluke incident in which a car in a parking lot was involved in an accident. They check the records from that accident, and learn that another car right next to the cars belongs to a woman named Rita Levitan. They drive down to New Jersey to interview her, and she admits that in fact she is Susan Forrest! They arrest her (29 mins).

Kincaid interviews her and she admits the robbery, but denies involvement in the shooting. She says she was throwing up in the bushes when it happened. McCoy is overly sympathetic for her, saying that "it was the 60s" and people got caught up in such stuff. Fittingly, he is confronted by the mother of the police officer killed during the robbery, who wants justice for her dead son.

Schiff announces that Forrest has fired William Kunstler. McCoy continues to express sympathy for Forrest and the atmosphere of the 1960s.

They visit Kunstler and Forrest at Rikers. This is Kunstler's first on screen appearance (38 mins). They learn that Forrest's statement to Kincaid is inadmissible because Kunstler represented her way back in 1971, before she disappeared. Looks like Claire screwed up by not checking the files or asking Forrest. McCoy is angry with her.

At trial (40 mins), Professor Goodwin changes his story, angering with McCoy. Goodwin starts ranting about the injustices of the Vietnam War in an apparent effort to impress Forrest (who he had a big crush on back in the day) by stonewalling McCoy and protecting her. Schiff saves the day, however, by getting access to illegal wiretaps of Forrest and her crew from 1971. They learn that Forrest's role in the robbery was bigger than she admitted: she arranged to get the guns, and she apparently signalled the others regarding the presence of the police officer. McCoy tries to get the other female conspirator, Margaret, to roll on Forrest, and he does so by convincing her that Forrest has sold out. (He even shows her "tomorrow's" copy of the New York Ledger saying that Forrest had sold out her friends and her cause.) At trial, Margaret rolls on Forrest, admitting that Forrest signalled the others about the cop. Forrest agrees toa deal: Manslaughter I, 8 1/3 - 25 years. McCoy concludes the episode by saying, "She'll be in jail til 2003. I think the 60s will be over by then."

The episode is notable because of the presence of Kunstler. The title of the ep refers to the song White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane, a sort of anthem about the craziness of the 60s. And the group involved in the robbery bears resemblances to the radical 1960s/70s Weather Underground.

Posted by adm at May 24, 2004 01:32 AM

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