Chapter 103
2000,
September 14.
New York, sunny.
That day, Robert Morgenthau was the same as always.
Get to his office in upper Manhattan on time at nine in the morning.
As soon as he arrived at the office, he saw his niece carrying the newspaper with an unpleasant look on her face. "Wonderful dad."
"You should read these diaries," she said softly.
"GOOD." With a calm expression, Robert received the newspaper from his niece.
"Honey, make me a cup of coffee, what I like, you know."
Peggy nodded.
Robert continued to walk briskly, his mood unaffected by his niece's sudden performance.
He went up to the third floor, into his private office. Sitting down in a chair, Robert spread out some newspapers that Peggy had hastily brought him. Above is a copy of the Los Angeles Times.
In the United States, relatively speaking, cities face more serious opposition.
There's New York and Los Angeles.
Of these two cities, one is located on the east coast and the other on the west coast. They have the same developed economy and the same large population. They are as appealing to Americans as they are to people around the world.
Among them, Los Angeles is an emerging city that has only developed in recent decades.
New York is Oldmoney, even longer than the country.
New Yorkers have never looked down on Americans elsewhere. "The New Yorker" magazine once published the cartoon "America through the eyes of New Yorkers" -
West of the Hudson River in Manhattan, New York, is a narrow strip of New Jersey, then all the way to the West Coast of the United States, just a vague "big country". The narcissistic ambition of New Yorkers is palpable.
Uh. It's a bit like old Shanghainese.
This is essentially human inferiority.
Los Angeles then grew rapidly in the 20th century thanks to high technology, Hollywood, and industrial power. In this century, the urban circle of Los Angeles is not much inferior to the urban circle of New York. After that, residents of both cities began to express their discontent.
New Yorkers call Los Angeles residents "country people" and Los Angeles is a large rural area.
Playwright Neil Simon, born in the Bronx, New York, said:
"100 degrees F (37°C) in New York, 72 degrees (22°C) in Los Angeles.
When the temperature in New York is -1°C, in Los Angeles it is 22°C. However, there are 6 million interesting people in New York, while there are only 72 interesting people in Los Angeles. "
New Yorkers are like that, of course people in Los Angeles won't be polite.
People in Los Angeles say that New York is a crude, uncivilized place and that it's just a big pigpen.
This is why New York newspapers prefer the New York Times and Wall Street Journal to cover Los Angeles and California.
Thap likes to add oil and vinegar, which is a little different. In contrast, the Los Angeles Times, a local newspaper in Los Angeles. When I talk about scandals or bad news in New York, I also like to add insult to injury and joy.
Enter Robert from the Los Angeles Times, right on the front page headline.
I saw a sensational headline: "On the injustice and darkness of the New York justice system."
"FXXK! Farmer's Diary, what nonsense!"
Robert Morgenthau, an old East Coaster and an old New Yorker, just saw this title, and he got a little defensive. Robert now understands why Peggy's face looked so bad just now.
Robert endured the nausea and anger and flipped through the article on the front page of the Los Angeles Times. "New Yorkers are notoriously impatient, rude and savage. But they are also Americans, our fellow citizens.
"Unfortunately, they are now our New Yorkers. They have endured years of unfair justice.
".Why do you say that, the author has data. Readers, please read the following content.
"."
Robert frowned, the following content posted all the injustices and confusing criminal cases in New York over the past ten years.
The prosecution system in the US is very different from China and you can be specific.
In criminal proceedings in the United States, prosecutors play a key role, mainly in two systems of "selective prosecution" and "plea bargaining".
The "selective prosecution" system means that the prosecutor is a steelworker with a high degree of personal autonomy. This gave prosecutors on Laomei's side enormous power. Many cases don't even make it to court.
They could first resolve the case through plea bargaining.
Plea bargaining means that after being charged with a crime, the defendant can agree with the deputy prosecutor, through his lawyer, to voluntarily plead guilty or confess to his accomplices in order to receive a reduced sentence.
According to statistics, about 90% of criminal cases in the US are resolved through plea bargaining. We can imagine how many gray areas there will be with the easing of sanctions. Most of the unjust and confusing cases reported by the Los Angeles Times were resolved at the plea bargaining stage.
A "selective prosecution" and a "plea agreement."
Combined with the unique federal system and separation of powers, prosecutors like Robert wield enormous power in their own fields.
It is said that the greater the power, the deeper the corruption.
With such great power, no one can stay awake forever. So did Robert.
The figures and incidents reported by the "Los Angeles Times" this time are mainly due to Robert's errors in judgment or indescribable transactions.
Previously, some media or these defendants had sued Robert.
But this time, it was the Los Angeles Times that put an end to it.
While Robert was angry and angry, he began to feel a little worried. He immediately put the Los Angeles Times aside and picked up the newspaper underneath it.
He hopes it's not names like the Washington Post or Chicago Tribune.
Luckily, under the Los Angeles Times is the Boston Daily.
Although it is also a large newspaper, its influence is clearly much lower than the previous two newspapers.
The headline on the front page of the "Boston Daily", Robert glanced at and lost interest. "Yesterday, a shooting happened at Quincy Market, 1 person died and 4 people were injured, the suspect is still at large."
No fuss, just every day.
Robert looked straight at it and searched for it for a while, in a relatively far corner of the newspaper.
I found a report titled "Manhattan District Attorney's Alleged Judgment Error."
Compare the fall of the "Los Angeles Times" and the jubilant tone. The Boston Daily report was much more moderate.
The title is more sensational but the content is relatively calm and very neutral. Robert put down the "Boston Daily" and flipped through the papers below.
He found that the lower the log, the smaller the ratio.
Peggy was clearly sorted. Most reports are moderate, and even when there are accusations, they are still acceptable.
The main reason is that there are so many of them. There are nearly a dozen newspapers in this pile.
Among them, the Los Angeles Times has stronger firepower, pointing the finger at the New York prosecutor system and reprimanding it as soon as it appears.
He failed to call him Robert Morgenthau, the author of the New York mistrial. Robert threw all the papers away and at that moment there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." » Robert said calmly. The person who walked in was her niece, Paige, and Paige was carrying a tray with coffee on it.
She walked in.
"Have you read it all?" » Peggy said softly as she placed the coffee cup on her grandfather's table. Robert nodded and said a name: "Abel Smith."
Peggy nodded a few times and then said, "I guess it's him, too."
"Grandpa, what should we do now?"
At this moment, Robert's private office door was knocked again.
"Come in." Robert's voice was as determined as ever. The door opened again, this time Cyrus, the captain of the financial crimes investigation team, entered.
Cyrus walked in looking annoyed and holding an envelope in her hand.
Peggy's eyes were beautiful and she could see it was a letter from a lawyer. "Cyrus, what's wrong?" » Robert said happily.
"Sir, please see this letter first. It's a letter that's just been sent and has just been delivered." Cyrus handed the envelope to Robert.
Robert took it and glanced at the envelope.
It turned out to be an envelope from a lawyer at Caroline's law firm. "Carolyn is suing us? That's normal, that's her job."
As he spoke, Robert opened the envelope. Just as Robert thought, it was Caroline, Smith Capital's legal advisor, who represented Smith Capital.
No, Robert commented, even if it was from Caroline's lawyer.
But in her lawyer's letter, Caroline confirmed that the client she represents is not Smith Capital.
It was a man named Reddy Jeffers, a name Robert had never heard of. Robert frowned, who is this Reddy Jeffers? May please Caroline, the Satan of New York law.
Shouldn't he at least be a rich man?
"Let's find out who Reddy Jeffers is." Putting down the envelope, Robert calmly spoke.
Cyrus and Peggy nodded, and Cyrus left the room first. After Cyrus left, Peggy said, "What does this Abe Smith want to do?"
The newspaper's reprinting of this story and this Reddy Jeffers must have something to do with him, right? "
Robert replied: "There's a good chance. I didn't expect this young man to be so narrow-minded. I told you, I won't continue to attack him."
Peggy nodded several times, seemingly thinking her grandfather was right. What first worried the grandfather and grandson were the countless letters from lawyers that followed.
Lunch time. On Robert's desk there were exactly 30 letters from lawyers.
At the office, Robert, Peggy and Cyrus are all looking at this lawyer's letter.
"Oh~"
Robert felt comfortable in the morning and felt at ease. Now looking at these lawyers' letters gives me a headache.
What gives Robert a headache is not this number of lawyers. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office receives at least hundreds of letters from attorneys each month.
The quantity was large and nothing gave Robert a headache.
What gave Robert a headache was what his niece Peggy had just said. Below are 30 attorney letters, each from a different law firm.
And their names appear in the top 30 of the latest Vault rankings published this year. The Vault List is a ranking of U.S. law firms and one of the most authoritative lists in the industry.
The Vault rankings are established annually based on a survey of thousands of attorneys practicing at US law firms.
It can be said that it was chosen by American lawyers themselves, so it more accurately reflects the recognition of a law firm in the legal industry. In other words, the top 30 law firms are most highly rated by American lawyers.
They all sent attorney letters to the Manhattan district attorney's office. "I called to confirm that the attorney's 30 letters were all true," Cyrus said.
"And none of the clients they represent have the same name. I also discovered the identity of Reddy Jefferson."
"Who is Reddy Jefferson?" » Paige asked.
"Mr. Morgenthau, you may still remember some memories." Cyrus said to Robert:
"In the New York City subway shooting last year, the name of the person charged was Reddy Jeffers."
Robert points out that each year there are at least 20 shootings on the New York subway. How can I remember all this? No matter how mentally strong Robert is, this year he is over eighty years old.
Memory loss is inevitable, but Robert still nodded:
"I have some impressions, tell me what's going on."
"Reddy Jeffers will come after us now.
Lawsuit against the Manhattan District Attorney's Office for miscarriage of justice, alleged perjury, violation of suspect's will, and more. "
"The attorney who filed the complaint is Caroline."
Cyrus said helplessly:
"This is also obvious. The remaining 29 letters from lawyers, prosecutors and attorneys are similar to this letter."
"In other words." Peggy said in a low voice: "Maybe Abel Smith, who spent so much money to hire so many lawyers, found so many people to sue us?"
"Why do you do this? What good is it to him? »
"We need to know the price these people will have to pay, it will certainly be a large sum of money."
"What the hell is he thinking?"
Faced with Peggy's confusion, Cyrus also did not understand.
"Maybe to vent my anger? Revenge on us? » Cyrus asked uncertainly.
"This unrealistic answer may actually be the real answer."
Robert said with a headache: "The ghost knows what we did. Just as Cyrus and Robert predicted. Abel's purpose was actually to express his anger.
When Robert had a headache and felt helpless, he was in the office of Smith Capital.
David Mellon was also helpless.
"Thirty of the largest law firms in the United States, their appearance fees now average about $200,000."
David Mellon kept a piece of paper that Caroline gave him. "But if you really want them, go to court with Robert."
"This number will be multiplied by at least 10. Multiplying by thirty is at least tens of millions of dollars.
"Is this really necessary? Abel, this will push our relationship with Robert to the limit."
It's also very expensive.
David thinks so. (end of this chapter)
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