Tommy Molto, the new chief deputy prosecutor, is determined to prove Rusty’s guilt. In Presumed Innocent, Peter Sarsgaard plays Tommy.
Tommy is one of Rusty’s colleagues. It is a known fact that there is a lot of animosity between the two of them.
When Raymond is the state attorney and Rusty is the chief deputy prosecutor, Tommy gets sidelined; it is Rusty who is trusted to handle the most important cases.
The tables turn when Nico Della Guardia wins the election for state attorney and makes Tommy, his right-hand man, the chief deputy prosecutor.
Tommy, although not a bad prosecutor, is described as having both narcissistic and persecution complexes by Nico, his closest colleague.
A prosecutor with a grudge
As soon as Tommy becomes the chief deputy prosecutor, he takes over Carolyn’s case from Rusty. It turns out, all this time, Tommy had been tampering with Rusty’s investigation.
Tommy reveals that Rusty’s fingerprints are found all over Carolyn’s house and that Carolyn was pregnant. He then questions Rusty about his relationship with her.
As Rusty was having an affair with Carolyn and Carolyn was pregnant with his child, he becomes the prime suspect in her murder case.
Tommy also charges Rusty with obstruction of justice for taking on Carolyn’s case despite his involvement.
Tommy employs every trick in the book to treat Rusty like a criminal, including serving him with a search warrant at dawn in front of his family.
Additionally, Tommy does not bother investigating Liam Reynolds, a man who has been convicted of killing a woman in the same manner Carolyn was killed.
Soon, it becomes evident to everyone that Tommy is more concerned about proving that Rusty is a murderer than seeing that justice is done.
Even Nico notices and has to remind Tommy to stick to the facts and gather evidence during the investigation. He advises him not to let his feelings get in the way.
When Tommy goes as far as keeping evidence from Rusty and Raymond, who is representing Rusty, he gets a warning from Judge Lyttle.
This leads to Nico worrying that Tommy’s grudge against Rusty might end up ruining the investigation and their reputations.
He then tries to get Tommy to drop the obstruction charge to not seem vindictive towards Rusty, but he fails because this case is a chance for Tommy to get back at Rusty.
To prove Rusty’s innocence, Rusty and Raymond will have to win against Tommy, a man who will do everything he can to prove that Rusty is guilty.
Also Read: Rusty Sabich: Presumed Innocent character explained