The Ledger

6.4 Jeopardy

In this episode (6.4), McCoy and Kincaid think they have a strong case against a man accused of a triple murder, but things take an unexpected turn when a judge keeps ruling against them without apparent reason.

The episode begins at the scene of a triple homicide at a computer magazine's editorial offices. Briscoe and Curtis at first focus their investigation on disgruntled former employees, and then turn their attention to a computer programmer whose game was savagely, but prematurely, reviewed in the pages of the magazine. The programmer had a pending lawsuit against the magazine, and although the magazine had few assets, the programmer's attorney discovered that the magazine's editor, who is also one of the murder victim's, was a member of a wealthy family that owns a major food distribution company. The lawyer uncovered what he thought was a shell company that was used to fund the magazine from the coffers of the food company. When Briscoe and Curtis investigate, however, they learn that the shell company was actually set up to pay $10,000 a month to the love of the editor's brother, Peter. The theory of the crime is that Peter was angry with his brother for getting him involved in the litigation, and was so enraged over this and several other issues, that he went to the magazine's offices and killed him and two other employees who witnessed the initial murder.

Briscoe and Green arrest Peter (who is in a tux at the time), and he quickly hires the powerful and talented defense attorney, Norman Rothenberg, who has appeared in several other episodes. Rothenberg takes the case to trial, and manages to get both a crucial forensics report and the testimony of the girlfriend ruled inadmissible. McCoy is shocked at these developments, but not as shocked as when the judge throws out all charges against the defendant.

Schiff is surprised, too, and concerned. He meets the judge for drinks at one of those wood-paneled lounges he always meets other power brokers in, and tells the judge (who he's known for many years) that he disagrees with his handling of the case. The judge doesn't budge, but mentions it passing that he's gotten divorced recently and had to sell his boat. Schiff does some research of his own, and finds a case (People vs. Carruthers) that Benjamin Stone (McCoy's predecessor) prosecuted in which the judge made the opposite ruling that he made in this case, even though the circumstances were similar. This alarms Schiff who comes to suspect that the judge is corrupt, and the asks McCoy to look into it.

McCoy does, and he discovers that the judge and Peter's father went to Yale together back in the 1950s. He also learns that the defendant's mother helped the judge get a large, low-interest loan from her bank. They bring the judge in for questioning, and place him in the interrogation room. And guess who shows up to interrogate him! That's right: Adam Schiff himself! Schiff dismisses all the cops from the room, and even gets the judge's lawyer to leave. He quickly shrugs off the judge's denials and gets him to own up to what he's done, namely, accepting a bribe to make the murder case go away. He also rolls on the defendant's mother. McCoy uses this statement to build a case for bribery against the mom, and he wants to leverage that case to co-erce a plea from the son. Before he can do so, however, he has to show the defendant that the laws of double jeopardy do not protect him from being prosecuted again.

McCoy and Rothenberg head off to argue the merits of their respective cases to Judge Rivera (one of my favorite judges) who accepts McCoy's argument that double-jeopardy does not attach when the first trial is rigged. With this ruling on his side, McCoy gets Peter to accept a plea deal, on the condition that McCoy drop the charges against the mother.

The episode ends with Schiff marveling at McCoy on getting around double jeopardy (a task he likens to climbing Mt. Everest in your shorts on a cold day), and finally receiving a phone call informing him that the corrupt judge killed himself.

The episode is notable mainly for the involvement of the corrupt judge, the mention of Ben Stone, and Schiff's trip to the interrogation room, which as far as I know, is unprecedented.

Posted by adm at February 28, 2004 12:34 AM

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