The Ledger

6.10 Remand

In this emotionally grueling episode (6.10), an arson suspect says he has information about a 30-year-old brutal rape and assualt case that could exonerate the man convicted of the crime. Briscoe and Curtis have to prove the case all over again, and McCoy and Kincaid have to prosecute the case against the same man Schiff convicted three decades earlier. It's a difficult task for everyone, including the viewer.

The episode begins with Briscoe and Curtis responding to an arson scene at a sidewalk Christmas tree market where one of the sellers died. They bring a suspect in immediately, and for leverage, he says he has information about a famous rape and assault case from 1965. The victim in the case was Cookie Costello, who was raped and stabbed as her neighbors ignored her screams and looked on. (The case mirrors that of Kitty Genovese, who was killed during a similar trauma in NYC.) The arson suspect says he was sharing beers with a guy named Bobby who told him that he stabbed Cookie in such a way that she wouldn't be able to have kids. This information was never made public, so it appears that this Bobby must have committed the crime.

The detectives begin to investigate the case, while McCoy and Kincaid consider the legal ramifications. They learn that Schiff prosecuted the case 30 years earlier. They make a deal with the arson suspect, and learn that the person he shared beers with was Bobby Farina, a low-level debt collector and thug for the mob back in the old days. Briscoe and Curtis talk to Farina, who says he got that information from his lawer, Mr Teradash, who also represented Sal Munoz, the man convicted of the attack on Cookie.

Briscoe and Curtis next talk to the original detective on the case, Det. Landis (played by veteran Abe Vigoda), who says it was a good bust and they had a confession from Munoz and everything. Briscoe cryptically asks Landis if the confession came by way of "The West End Grill," which he explains to Curtis is a euphemism for the docks on the west side where they used to nearly drown suspects while interrogating them.

Next, the dets reluctantly visit Cookie herself, who lives with her bitter and defensive father. Cookie says she doesn't remember anything about the attack, and she doesn't know Farina. Her dad says he remembers Farina from the neighborhood, and that he was a no good kid. Cookie also reveals that she had gambling debts, which raises the detectives interests because Farina was a debt collector. They next talk to Farina's boss in the mob (played by the guy who played Carmine on The Sopranos), and he offers an alibi for Farina, an alibi which holds up.

Next, the detectives make a crucial discovery: Munoz's lawyer, Mr Teradash, also once represented Cookie in a gambling case. Uh oh! Conflict of interest! This puts the verdict against Munoz in jeopardy. In such cases, a client is allowed to sign a waiver, indicating he doesn't care about the conflict. After much effort, the prosecutors are unable to find any record of this waiver, although there is some indication Munoz may have purposely hidden or destroyed it to help his chances of a new trial. This issue leads to a judge setting aside the original guilty verdict against Munoz. Time for a new trial!

At his arraignment, Munoz is remanded -- he's not free yet. But his talented lawyer -- a woman who used to work with his original lawyer -- gets his confession suppressed because he wasn't Mirandized. McCoy argues that Miranda rights didn't exist back in 1965, so it shouldn't matter. The judge disagrees and suppresses the confession. (So, does this mean every suspect convicted on the basis of a confession prior to 1966 should be freed? Not very believable.)

This development forces Briscoe and Curtis to re-investigate the case from scratch -- finding witnesses, getting by on what little forensics they have, and lacking the confession. Forensics is able to get some of Munoz's DNA from the dress Cookie was wearing at the time of her attack (which her dad had been keeping all these years), but they also find the DNA of a third person. It turns out this DNA came from -- gasp! -- Cookie's unborn baby! Yikes. The doctors never told the original detectives that Cookie was pregnant. They talk to Cookie, and guess who the father of her child was: Bobby Farina! Terrific. Now it looks like he had a motive for killing her. Kincaid insists this information should be shared with Munoz's defense, but Schiff and McCoy both say they are legally, ethically, and morally permitted not to, as long as they don't put Cookie on the stand. Schiff and Kincaid have a rather heated discussion on the matter.

At trial (46 mins), the defense does a great job, and McCoy and Kincaid know they are getting their butts kicked. McCoy tells Schiff they have to put Cookie on the stand, against their original intentions. That means telling the defense about Farina's being the father of her child. Cookie gets on the stand, and McCoy chooses to have her initiate the conversation about Farina being the dad, so that he can take the shock value of that information away from the defense. When McCoy is done, the defense attorney starts in, and is devastating in her cross-examination. In one of the most emotionally grueling scenes in the history of the show, the attorney shreds Cookie factually and emotionally, and Cookie is left in tears and shaking, unsure about the events of that day, unsure about whether perhaps it was Farina who raped her. This leaves the jury with the impression that Farina could be the rapist. (McCoy, for some reason, fails to present Farina's alibi witness, leaving the door open.)

In a development that at first seems like it might save the day, Schiff tells McCoy about Munoz's girlfriend from the time who disappeared to the Dominican Republic. McCoy finds her and she tells the judge that Munoz attacked and raped her on several occassions at knife point and threatened to cut her so she wouldn't be able to have babies. Although McCoy argues this establishes a pattern of behavior, the judge disagrees, and disallows her testimony.

Time for the verdict. Devastatingly, Munoz is found not guilty. He is ecstatic, and blows a kiss at Cookie, who is shocked.

As the episode ends, the prosecutors leave the office, and Schiff is obviously disturbed. McCoy says to him, "I thought you said you never made this job personal." Schiff replies bitterly, "I lied. Second time in 30 years."

The episode is emotionally affecting -- I just want to finish writing about it so I can stop thinking about it -- but some logical flaws undermine it. Why would Farina tell a virtual stranger he stabbed and raped Cookie, especially when it turns out he was her boyfriend? Why wouldn't McCoy do more to establish Farina's alibi? Why did Cookie's father not seem to know that Farina was Cookie's boyfriend? Why did Cookie lie to everyone for 30 years about the fact that Farina was her boyfriend? The episode attempts to explain this last issue -- by saying Cookie didn't want him to be a suspect -- but not very satisfyingly. How would she know whether Farina was her attacker or not? If she cared about him that much, why didn't her father know the two were involved? There are just too many questions left unresolved in this episode, even though the tone of the episode suggests it has tied up all the loose ends.

Apart from this, the episode is notable because it deals with a 30-year-old case, because Abe Vigoda guest stars, because it involves a case Schiff originally prosecuted, and because McCoy ultimately loses the case.

Posted by adm at May 26, 2004 12:54 AM

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