The investigation here was a comparatively easy one. Although Briscoe and Green go down a wrong path briefly, simple forensics leads to the perpetrator who is someone who deliberately ran down a young girl he didn't even know. But when they find him, he's very dead and they have a new mystery.
Which also doesn't last too long. The victim was schizophrenic and prone to hallucinations which could turn deadly. S. Eptha Merkersson talks mother to mother to Ellen McLaughlin and elicits a confession quite spontaneously.
Probably given the circumstances McLaughlin would have got off light. But as it turns out her niece is an attorney at a real upper crust white shoe law firm played by Charissa Chamorro. She's looking for a big break, an acquittal for her aunt will guarantee her a partnership and the prized corner office in her firm.
She manipulates her aunt and client and tries to manipulate Elisabeth Rohm with whom she went to law school with. Fortunately Rohm remembers what a climber she was back then and she and Sam Waterston head her off at the pass.
The episode belongs to both Merkerssen who got the confession in a heart rending scene where she talks mother to mother with McLaughlin and to the scenes with Chamorro who is a real piece of work. In the end the jury asks a question that shows that they were listening with both ears and heart.
Which also doesn't last too long. The victim was schizophrenic and prone to hallucinations which could turn deadly. S. Eptha Merkersson talks mother to mother to Ellen McLaughlin and elicits a confession quite spontaneously.
Probably given the circumstances McLaughlin would have got off light. But as it turns out her niece is an attorney at a real upper crust white shoe law firm played by Charissa Chamorro. She's looking for a big break, an acquittal for her aunt will guarantee her a partnership and the prized corner office in her firm.
She manipulates her aunt and client and tries to manipulate Elisabeth Rohm with whom she went to law school with. Fortunately Rohm remembers what a climber she was back then and she and Sam Waterston head her off at the pass.
The episode belongs to both Merkerssen who got the confession in a heart rending scene where she talks mother to mother with McLaughlin and to the scenes with Chamorro who is a real piece of work. In the end the jury asks a question that shows that they were listening with both ears and heart.