(Season 4, Episodes 15-18)
On a show not long on juicy quotes, this first episode offered up a doozy. After landing a murder trial, Richard gets stopped by a bunch of reporters outside the courtroom. Things are going fine, and then one asks him, “Were you surprised this case was assigned to you, after so many high-profile flops?” … Priceless!
4.15 “Race Ipsa Loquitor”
A repeat customer who actually makes sense. Jimmy goes to visit Henry Olson (Henry Winkler) in prison after he’s sent to the infirmary, leading him to pay Richard a visit; Jimmy wants to reopen the case. Only problem? No new evidence, and the fact that Olson’s son committed suicide soon after Jimmy confronted him doesn’t exactly prove that the son, and not the father, did it.
Meanwhile, while waiting for Richard in court, Jimmy gets forced into defending a guy charged with murdering a rabbi. Not that the “who” matters so much, although the client is convinced that he’ll be charged with a hate crime.
With two cases in common, Jimmy and Richard trade the rabbi murder for Olson, and after passing a polygraph The Fonz goes free. While I understand Bobby’s outrage (I really do), Eugene did the same thing back in season one — traded one client for the freedom of a kid who killed his father while defending his mother. I’m not saying either is right, but at least be consistent … at the time, no one made a peep.
The other case found Eugene and Rebecca charging a doctor with negligent murder, after a liposuction procedure left their client’s husband dead. Apparently opposing council was using their race against them (thus the mangled legal term for an episode title), but I just didn’t see it. There was no way it even would have worked into his arguments, so it just looked like the two were getting riled up over nothing. Even weirder than the $6 million award they won.
4.16 “Settling”
Finally some work for Donnie Wahlberg! Although, since this episode is from nine years ago, it’s more accurate to say … well, I’m not sure, but not “finally.” The older Wahlberg (at least than his brother Mark) did a good job as an ex-con who blames Bobby’s inadequate defense for his losing 12 years of his life for a crime he claims he didn’t commit. I love how these people overlook the fact that taking hostages isn’t going to help them to not lose any more years, but Wahlberg did give me some nice memories of his Horst Cali from The Kill Point.
There wasn’t really much else to this episode. As expected, Helen and Mike (Ray Abruzzo — I miss Little Carmine!) both abused their power to help Bobby. Oh, and of everyone involved, Lindsay seemed the least upset about Bobby’s life being in danger. Don’t get me wrong — we were “told” just how broken up she was, but she didn’t show it. My new bias, or bad acting?
4.17 “Black Widows”
Again with the sneaky legal methods? Come on, Helen! This time she tells a girl who attempted to commit suicide, but is suspected of actually trying to murder her unborn fetus, that if she tells the truth everything will be okay. When Ellenor gets wind of that…. Although, while I understand arguing that a 15 year-old is too young to withstand such mental maneuverings, I think anyone would be justifiably confused if the ADA was telling them, even after Miranda, that what they said would only be used to help them. Tricks are one thing, but that’s got to be a violation of a person’s Miranda rights. How did Judge Hiller let that one go?
Meanwhile, Bobby and Eugene defended a “Black Widow” accused of having sex with her husband to death … unique. Her defense began to unravel as soon as her doctor took the stand to say that the defendant had obtained Viagra from her. Seem strange that her doctor was able to testify? Well, that’s because when questioned about whether or not she and her doctor had discussed the merits of Viagra for a woman, the defendant had answered in the affirmative, opening the door to privilege. Or so said the judge. But how can a layperson open the door to something as significant as privilege without being made aware of it? Shouldn’t opposing council, or the judge, be required to alert a defendant “If you answer that….” I know it seems counterproductive, but the alternative is violating a person’s rights.
Anyway, after the defense hit bottom, Bobby made a last second deal for a lesser charge. What did the judge give him as a keepsake? The jury’s verdict paper: not guilty.
4.18 “Death Penalties”
This was a really interesting, and thought-provoking episode. Bobby and Helen squared off in the case of a man who mercy-killed his dying wife. There was Helen’s background with her grandmother, which has always kept her biased against euthanasia, and the new angle of Bobby having been the one to kill his mother (at least I can’t remember if we knew it before), and his subsequent soft-spot for people forced into the same position. The difference here was the use of a handgun to facilitate the death, mostly because of its availability in the defendants home, but also due to the expediency of a bullet. But is a gun really akin to a toxic cocktail? Is it more like murder as a result? A jury certainly found it bad enough for a murder 2 conviction.
Meanwhile, Ellenor took up the case of a man scheduled to be put to death in five-weeks time. This was yet another example of no one stopping to wonder whether or not she could practice law in another state, this time Pennsylvania. Anyway, after tracking down a rape kit from 12 years prior, Ellenor couldn’t get the prosecutor to agree to retest it. Considering the year this is from (2000), I wonder if this episode aired at the beginning of the push to start using DNA to exonerate convicted felons. I’m looking forward to seeing how this plays out in the coming episodes.
On a side note, it’s cute that Ellenor and Helen have dinner at home together, and even more so that they discuss (argue about, really) the merits of their cases. Much better than the Helen/Lindsay love-fest.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Dec 03, 2009 @ 12:00 EST5EDT
