The Ledger

1.4 Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die

In this episode (1.4), a young woman dies after being savagely beaten in her bed. After much detective work, Greevey and Logan settle on the young scion of a formerly wealthy, high-society family. Stone and Robinette have trouble making the case, however, until they secure the co-operation of some other love interests of the defendant.

The episode begins, as many of the early ones do, with a pair of cops on patrol, discussing a mundane issue (their kids). They see a lady enter a home, and the camera leaves the cops and follow the lady. She walks up the stairs, calling out to her roommate Paige Bartlett. She finds Paige in her bedroom, twitching and in shock. It appears she has been beaten within an inch of her life.

Greevey and Logan talk to the roommate at the hospital. Page didn't sleep around, she says, with a bit too much acting from the actress. They go to talk to her ex-roommate, Polly, whom they find at a gym, where Logan helps her in a flirty gesture on the universal weight machine. Their conversation with her leads to a conversation between Logan and Greevey about sex and dating. Logan says he'll have sex after the first date, and Greevey says something about AIDS.

They go to a second gym where they talk to Polly, who is wealthy. She says that Paige had a new low-class boyfriend, but she didn't know his name. They trace Paige's steps that evening, and go to a bar where she was seen with a guy with a ponytail. They had a fight that evening. The maitre d' at another bar says he recognized the pair, and said they weren't "our kind of people." He says he saw her leave not with Ponytail, but with a guy who looked like a young Warren Beatty around 1 AM. Meanwhile, they hear from the hospital that Paige is dead. (15')

They talk to her dad, who has no useful information. They talk to her friend Libby who identifies Ponytail as a guy named Steve, who runs a 'zine called "CyberFunk." They interview Steve at an apartment where they find him cavorting with a nearly-naked girl. His alibi is that he was with a wealthy woman who serves as a benefactor for his 'zine.

They talk to the ME, an older gentleman in a suit, who says the victim had sex with 2 guys that night. They talk to Steve again, and I think it's his "girlfriend" who says, "Who are you guys? The Sex Police?"

Polly IDs "Warren Beatty" as a guy named Ned Loomis, who comes from one of those families with a big name from the old days but no remaining welath. Ned dumped Paige for another rich girl.

They talk to Loomis, and he is represented by an attorney named Berkley (who is played, oddly, by Dennis Boutsikaris, the same guy who plays Al Archer in a bunch of episodes). Logan overhears Berkley and Loomis talking, and Loomis seems agitated. Also, they may not have properly Mirandized him. At his arraignment, a reported named Sally shows up and starts asking Robinette questions. (You get the impression that Sally was meant to be a recurring character, but they never really pursued it.)

They learn that Loomis has a socialite fiance named Rebecca who is known as the "socialite nun" because she comes from a wealthy family but doesn't sleep around.

Schiff tells Stone, "You're done," meaning the case has no legs. Stone and Robinette agree the case is tough. They want to get blood samples from Loomis, which the judge allows. Robinette talks to Rebecca, hoping for some cooperation and information but he doesnt' get it. They talk to his business partner who admires Ned and says he always gets women.

Meanwhile, it looks like the defense has started trying the case in the press, and leak something to the newspapers indicating that Paige slept with two men. Her father shows up at the DAs office enraged over the leaks. They learn that Loomis has a record of sexual assault, and the assaults seem to occur whenever he is rejected. Unfortunately, the charges in previous cases have been dropped. Robinette goes to Boston to track down one of Loomis' previous victims, who is reluctant to talk. She says the charges were a mistake.

Robinette tries again with Rebecca and still doesn't get anywhere. They finally catch a break when the Boston victim, Miss Brodie, arrives in New York with her earnest husband, and tells the story: Loomis once choked her. She goes through this heart-wrenching story, and then Stone tells her he can't let her testify because "that's the law."

At trial (50'), Berkley essentially puts the victim on trial, going into all sorts of detail about her sex life. Schiff, realizing Stone is piloting a sinking ship, tells him to find a way to get Brodie on the stand. Stone attempts to convince a judge that choking is a "signature" of Loomis' crimes, but the judge doesn't allow it. His last hope is to get his current girlfriend, the socialite nun, to roll on Loomis. He arranges a meeting between Brodie and the socialite nun, and Brodie shows her injuries and tells the stories. The socialite rolls and testifies, saying that "He told me he hurt [Paige.]" She also says she would describe Loomis as untrustworthy.

The verdict comes back after three hours: Guilty of Murder 1.

Stone says that although Paige's father must be happy with the verdict, "Justice doesn't give you grandchildren."

Today I began assembling a photo gallery of as many recurring characters who are defense lawyers as I can. Interestingly, Dennis Boutsikaris, who has gone on to play attorney Al Archer in several episodes, appears as a defense attorney with a different name in this episode, his first appearance on the series. Here's a screen shot.

Posted by adm at June 5, 2004 03:09 AM

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