- Judge Denise Grobman is shot and seriously wounded when a man steals her car. Yet when investigation leads to a hired hit ordered by her husband, she vehemently refuses to believe in his guilt.
- Detectives Lennie Briscoe and Ed Green investigate the attempted murder of a prominent and highly respected judge, Denise Grobman, who was shot in her car having come home early. The evidence quickly points to her husband Walter as the man behind the killing though he has an alibi. McCoy is convinced that he hired someone to make the hit: he was the only person who knew his wife's location at the time of the shooting. Judge Grobman proves to be the major stumbling block, however, refusing to believe that her architect husband could do such a thing. McCoy realizes that she is key to ever getting a conviction, but he has to deal with Judge Grobman's decision to refuse further medical treatment: both her kidneys have failed, and she is in constant pain, And it is likely she could die before the case is concluded.—garykmcd
- A building doorman helps a man carry groceries while his wife parks their Jaguar in the garage. They hear four shots, and race in to find his wife on the ground, shot, and the car racing away. The husband has left in the ambulance with his wife. At the crime scene, Detectives Lennie Briscoe and Ed Greene interview the doorman. The victim is Denise Grobman, a civil appeals court judge. Her husband is Walter Grobman, an architect. The criminologist points out how after the judge was shot twice, she shot back against her attacker with two shots from her own .38. Cigarette butts and an open fuse box indicate the attacker had likely been waiting a while.
Lennie and Ed interview Walter at the hospital. They had been coming home from their cottage in Sag Harbor. A doctor tells Walter that his wife has survived surgery and they will know more after she stabilizes. Their adult daughter arrives and Walter goes to greet her. The doctor tells the detectives that Judge Grobman took two hits, which severed her lumbar spine and damaged her kidneys. They removed one kidney. Ed receives a call on his cell phone and the detectives go to interview a witness in the Grobman's building.
An older resident saw a man smoking who appeared to be working on the fuse box. He doesn't understand why a carjacker would take the Grobman's car when he leaves his own Mercedes unlocked with the keys in the ignition in the same garage because he always forgets where he put them in his house.
At the station, they tell Lieutenant Van Buren that it might have been a targeted carjacking for the Jaguar. She says that there are no local hospitals who have admitted someone who had been shot the way the attacker was. LaMotte enters with a list of local car dealers that deal in stolen cars.
In the NYPD's auto theft department, a detective explains that the criminal dealers pay off DMV staff. When buyers bring in titles for their newly-purchased cars, a crooked worker might enter the VIN wrong, which would make the vehicle difficult to trace. He uses the computer to look up how many of the Grobman's model of Jaguar have been re-titled since the crime. He gives them the names of two potentials, one of them a doctor, Matthew Carton.
Outside the hospital, they find the Grobman's auto. Dr. Carton comes out and they take him to the station.
In the interview room, Dr. Carton says he didn't know the car was stolen. He's reluctant to tell them who he bought the car from until Lennie reminds him of the Judge's shooting and Ed points out that there is blood in the seats. Dr. Carton explains he has $100K in medical school debt and he wanted a decent car so he bought the Jag for $20K. When Lennie points out that he could have purchased a brand new car for that amount, Dr. Carton says, "I'm a doctor for God's sake." He points to the dealer from the photos Ed shows him, a man named Krasner.
They interview Krasner at his used car lot and he tells them a man named Bobby Ward came to him last week asking how much he would get for a specific Jaguar. Krasner told him $3K.
The detectives and the police are outside of Bobby's apartment preparing for a forced entry with a search warrant. A neighbor tells them that Bobby and his girlfriend left that morning. They break down the down the door and find a Daniel Ward, Bobby's cousin, bleeding from two gunshot wounds and unconscious, on the sofa. They find a receipt for someone named Arlene Polasky. They call an ambulance for Daniel.
At Arlene's apartment, the detectives arrest Arlene and Bobby, who has almost $15K cash on him that has blood on it. In the interview room, Bobby denies shooting the judge or stealing a car. Eventually he confesses that Daniel told him he had a line on a Jaguar that would get them $3K and that Daniel had something else going on that would "bring in ten times that." Lennie points out that they only uncovered $15K and wants to know where the other half is.
At the station, Lennie tells Van Buren they think the $15K was a down payment on a murder-for-hire. She tells them Danny Ward has died in the hospital. Thinking about it from a murder-for-hire plan, the detectives try to figure out who might want the Judge dead. She was a criminal judge before she moved to civil court. She was planning to take a new job at the U.S. Justice Department, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, which would start in D.C. next month. They don't see a connection to Danny Ward, who has a string of petty crimes and jobs. Blood and ballistics report that Danny was the shooter. She wants to know how many people knew the Grobmans were coming back from Sag Harbor early. She tells them to start with Walter.
The detectives interview Walter in the hospital. They show him a picture of Danny Ward and he says he has no idea who that is. He says originally they had planned to stay at Sag Harbor through Sunday. But the Judge's clerk left a message about an important meeting taking place on Friday, so the Grobmans changed their plans. Lennie asks Walter if he and his wife get along and Walter answers, "You're way off base there." The doctor appears and tells the detective that he's given the Judge a painkiller and they can talk to her for two minutes. They do not let Walter go in with them.
Judge Grobman is in a hospital bed, in pain and tubed and wired up to many machines. She identifies Danny Ward as the shooter from a photo but says she doesn't remember anything else. They tell her that someone probably hired Danny to shoot her. When they ask about her husband, she denies that her husband could have anything to do with the shooting. She says she drove because Walter wanted a nap, and that she was alone in the garage because Walter got out to bring in the groceries before she parked the car. The detectives are curious why her husband needed a nap at noon. She says she needs to rest and closes her eyes, insisting "Not Walter."
At the courthouse, the detective interviews the Judge's clerk while she offers them coffee. She says the Judge received threats but the D.A. never found a serious one. She says she called the Judge that morning at 9:30am. When asked if she knows of any problems between the Grobmans, she says that Walter probably wishes Denise didn't work so hard, but that they are a devoted couple. She was the only person at the court who knew the Grobmans were coming back early; she did tell their doorman, Sammy, because she sent over a packet for the Judge to review. Reviewing files, they learn that the Judge, as president of her building's co-op board, is suing the management company for shoddy work. The head of that company is Greg Torino.
At the station, the detectives report to Van Buren that Torino has a history of shoddy work and Judge Grobman's lawsuit almost put him out of business. Ed finds a link: the shooter, Danny Ward, had worked as an A/C technician for Torino. They wonder if Sammy the doorman, one of the few who knew the Grobmans were coming back early, tipped off the shooter or Torino.
Outside the building, Sammy says he didn't tell anyone of their early return. Not only that, but Sammy was the whistle blower against Torino, so he wouldn't do him any favors. They interview the A/C company manager and find out that Danny Ward had worked for Walter architecture firm.
In the interview room, the detectives question Walter. He denies knowing Danny Ward even though there is proof that Danny worked for him. They remind him how he didn't drive the day of the shooting and how he got out in front of the building, which was unusual for them, according to Sammy. Angry, he tries to leave, when Ed arrests him for attempted murder.
At bail arraignment, prosecutor Abbie Carmichael asks for remand. Walter's lawyer provides a written statement from Judge Grobman swearing that Walter was never out of her site after the phone call came in about their early return. The presiding judge sets bail at $25K and Walter turns to his daughter, who is in the courtroom, and she nods at him.
Carmichael interviews Judge Grobman in her hospital room, with the daughter nearby. She insists Walter was never out of her site. Carmichael points out: Walter knew the man who shot her and he was one of the very few people who knew they were coming back early. The Judge insists her husband didn't do anything and she will continue to provide his alibi. In the hallway, the daughter tells Carmichael her father is a good person who didn't do anything wrong. Her father and her two small children arrive.
In ADA Jack McCoy's office, McCoy asks Van Buren why the detectives didn't ask about the Judge's alibi for her husband before they arrested him. She said they didn't think the Judge was safe and wanted Walter remanded. McCoy says it's not much of a case and they need one, fast.
On the street, the detectives share phone records with Carmichael. The cells were quiet but there was one call to someone named D. Van Horn from the cottage.
Ms. Van Horn and her husband also spend weekends in Sag Harbor, though they live in the city. She tells the Carmichael while walking on the street that the call was from Denise, who was canceling their plans to have drinks that afternoon, since they had to return to the city early for her job. She says they've been a happy couple for decades, ever since Walter moved to NY from California thirty years ago. She admits that Walter was probably not excited to move to D.C. for the Judge's new job and he even made a sour joke once, calling himself "Mr. Judge Denise Grobman." On Thursday, she had driven by the Grobman's Sag Harbor house and had seen Walter in jogging clothes, running a hose over his head in the side yard. He had taken up running a few months before.
Carmichael reports to McCoy in his office that Judge Grobman swore that her husband never left the house, which seems to conflict with Ms. Van Horn's account of him in jogging clothes cooling off with the hose. She thinks that after he learned they would be leaving Thursday instead of Sunday, he went for a jog and possibly managed a call to Danny Ward, the shooter, from a payphone. The detectives are looking for phone records. McCoy asks about a motive. Walter doesn't seem to have any financial problems and the Judge's money and her life insurance would be distributed to their daughter and grandkids.
Carmichael interviews Walter's soon-to-be-former architectural partner in that firm. As he's packing up the office, he says he doesn't think that Walter would kill Denise, but he is dissolving the partnership with Walter. He says that Walter doesn't work well with the clients. Walter had won a prestigious architectural award at the beginning of his career in Los Angeles, but he didn't live up to expectations when he moved back east. Walter had been designing their new country house, which they had planned to retire to, before the Judge took the appointment to D.C. The Sag Harbor house was Denise's through her own family. Walter gave up planning the new house.
In her office, Carmichael points out the differences in success between the Grobmans. Their co-op is in her name, the cottage is in her name, his net income last year was half hers. He had access to cash: he had put down $20K on the country house land, which was returned when they canceled that plan. It was never redeposited and Carmichael thinks he used it to pay Danny Ward. The phone rings: Lennie has news.
Carmichael and McCoy meet the Judge and her daughter in her hospital room. McCoy informs her that they suspect that after her clerk called her at 9:30am, at 10:14am, a call from a phone booth in Sag Harbor was made to the shooter, Danny Ward. The neighbor reported seeing Walter cooling off in his jogging clothes. The Judge sends her daughter to get the nurse for more Demerol. The Judge says it must have been someone else, that she doesn't want to do this. It's not possible Walter did it, she says.
In the DA's office, Carmichael reports to Jack that while residents of Sag Harbor had seen Walter jogging in general, they can't pinpoint the time or day, and no one saw him use a pay phone. With Denise providing Walter's alibi, this case doesn't have anywhere to go, she says. The phone rings and Carmichael picks it up: Judge Grobman filed an application to terminate her dialysis, which would mean her death.
McCoy and Carmichael meet DA Adam Schiff in his office. McCoy isn't sure the Judge is mentally capable to make the decision that would end her life. Carmichael points out that if Denise passes away, her husband has no alibi. A brief is handed to McCoy: Walter has filed to block his wife's application.
The presiding judge is Lisa Pongracic. In her chambers, Walter, his lawyer, Denise's lawyer, and McCoy and Carmichael are beseeching the judge for different rulings. Walter's lawyer wants to keep Denise alive since she is Walter's alibi. Denise's lawyer argues Denise has the right to die, especially since she is in constant pain. McCoy sides with Walter's lawyer because he ostensibly wants Denise alive so he can break her alibi of her husband. Denise's lawyer offers to have Denise testify on the record, which can be used on video after she passes. The prosecutors do not object. At that point, Walter's lawyer says that if they can have Denise's testimony saved, they will drop the objection to her giving up her life. Carmichael points out that this means he doesn't care at all about his wife, just her ability to provide him an alibi. McCoy says he would like to cross-examine Judge Grobman. The judge says that this is incredibly difficult for her, as she is a friend and a colleague of Judge Grobman. The prosecutors can get a deposition from Denise. The movement to block her death is thus moot.
Judge Grobman provides her husband's alibi on video from her hospital bed. She says he did not leave the house, did not go for a run, and used the hose only to cool off because they didn't have air conditioning. McCoy points out the weak points of her alibi. McCoy reminds her of her oath, both as a witness and when she was sworn in as a judge. She says she will always answer the same: her husband had no motive or opportunity.
In the hospital hallway, Walter's attorney asks if McCoy is going to drop the case now. When he says no, the lawyer says he is filing a motion to it. After he leaves, McCoy asks why a woman would turn her life into a living hell for a man who tried to kill her. Carmichael has no answer.
McCoy and Carmichael the Grobmans' daughter in her home. She says both she and her mother both know that her dad tried to kill her mom, but Denise won't admit it to anyone or herself. The daughter says that her mother feels guilty for being so ambitious with her career while his faltered. Her father gave up his dreams when he left California. The daughter explains she has tried to talk to her mother about not giving up stopping treatment, but her mother refuses. The daughter says she doesn't think her mother is in her right mind due to her extreme depression. She is willing to testify to that in court.
In the courthouse, McCoy and Carmichael tell Judge Pongracic they are against Denise Grobman's competency as a witness. They have a statement from her daughter. Despite both of the Grobman lawyers' objections, the judge gives the prosecutors permission to have their psychiatrist examine her for competency.
Dr. Emil Skoda talks with Denise in a hospital room. She insists her decision to end her life is rational: she's in severe pain, she can't take care of herself, and the treatments are worse than the ailments. He asks if her husband would take of her in that condition, and she says yes. He points out people he knows who are more disabled than she is who lead happy, productive lives. She says she's tired and wants to die.
Skoda meets with the three district attorneys and while he can't be sure, he doesn't think she's competent at this time to make the decision to live or die. McCoy still doesn't understand why she would defend her husband. He and Adam debate the decision of deeming Denise incompetent: if they have her deemed incompetent, she will never be allowed to make the decision to terminate.
In court, Skoda testifies that Judge Grobman is suicidal and not mentally competent. Walter's lawyer gets Skoda to say that he doesn't believe people should have a right to die by their own decision. Judge Grobman testifies from her wheelchair in court. Her lawyer asks her questions about her condition and she reports that she does not want to live this way, and that her decision is made by her physical condition, not depression. McCoy questions Judge Grobman: Why, when she left the hospital, did she move in with her daughter and not home with her husband? She says her husband is busy working. If she has full-time care, why isn't it done at home? Doesn't her daughter want her mother with her because she believes Walter tried to have her killed? Does she recognize that her husband made the phone call from Sag Harbor to the hit man? Didn't her husband resent her career? She starts to cry, asking to please leave Walter alone; she's loved him for more than half her life and everything is her fault. When is this over? She turns to her friend, the judge, and says, "Lisa, make them stop." Walter covers his eyes from the defense table.
Later, from the bench, Judge Pongracic says she is devastated by this decision and rules that Denise Grobman is not competent to testify as a witness in the case of her husband's attempted murder charge.
In the DA's office, Carmichael and McCoy meet with Walter and his lawyer, who says they will appeal. McCoy presses Walter: his wife would rather die than admit he tried to kill her. Why couldn't he have just filed for divorce? Walter breaks and says he wants it over, despite his lawyer's protests. He confesses, saying he had her killed. McCoy offers murder one, 25-to-life. His lawyer says they'll take their chances at court, but Walter cuts him off, saying his wife "will be like that." Carmichael points out that the D.A.'s office won't oppose Denise's application to die. His lawyer asks for attempted murder two. McCoy says no. His only concession is that the DA won't oppose Walter's parole in 25 years.
Later, Schiff tells the prosecutors that Judge Denise Grobman passed away a few hours before, her husband at her side. McCoy says he hopes that that image stays with Grobman while he's in prison.
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