Re: Law & Order "A Price to Pay" 2/27/2025 (was: What Did You Watch? 2025-02-27 (Thursday))

On Feb 28, 2025 at 2:19:55 PM PST, ""Adam H. Kerman"" <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
 

Law & Order - "A Price to Pay" - I was half asleep towards the second
half of the episode so I wasn't paying full attention.  But from what I
saw team L&O investigated the murder of an actor.  I slept through the
motive part of the episode, but I think I saw the end which switched
focus from the killer to a reluctant witness.

 
You fell asleep during the bestest episode ever! The script was well
plotted and gave everybody clear motivations!
 
In part it was based on the death of Matthew Perry, but why this actor,
perfectly healthy while Perry wasn't, used a hell of a lot of ketamine
made no sense. How the cops came across the drug dealer made no sense
either.
 
Shaw encountered his old training officer at a retirement party for a
detective from his previous precinct, but the guy hadn't been a cop in
decades. The timing made no sense. He must have been a cop for 15 years
to be a T.O. Then he joined the Marines in his mid to late 30s? It would
make sense if he had some sort of professional specialty but he wasn't
even a military police officer or shore patrol.
 
How long has Shaw been a cop, 10 years?
 
There were several people preying on the actor, including a corrupt
doctor writing ketamine prescriptions. The doctor was all set to take a
plea and testify against the drug dealer, but Price's case got ruined
because the witness for the prosecution committed suicide.
 
Price asked the judge for a two-week continuance, but she gave him till
the next commercial break.

As she was ethically required to do by the Canon of Law & Order Judge Ethics.

She was already walking on thin ice by not denying Price's request for a
continuance altogether.

Riley and Shaw did negligible investigation. But Detective Yee did all
the work, miraculous finding evidence in video footage. I've never
understood how she finds so much video footage, never physically leaving
the police station.

She's like Penelope Garcia, or the analysts in the JOC on Missy Peregrym's
FBI, who instantly can hack into any CCTV footage, even privately-owned
systems. They never seem to get hung up on the warrant requirement for any of
it, although I suppose if they hack into, say, a bar's CCTV without a warrant
it won't matter at trial because the defendant can only assert a violation of
his *own* rights, not a violation of the bar owner's rights. Not having a
warrant would only come back to bite them if they were trying to prosecute the
owner of the CCTV system.

Now, Shaw's argument is beyond stupid. The actor isn't losing his career
and isn't being prosecuted for one reason: He's the murder victim. He
may have been a drug abuser and stiffed his ex wife on alimony

I thought it was hilarious at the end that we see the ex-wife with tears
streaming down her face because she was robbed of justice for the death of her
ex-husband when earlier in the show, she made it clear that she was hardly
grieving his death and the only reason she was upset about it was that now
there'd be no more alimony and "For god's sake, I'm going to be evicted from
my cushy 5th Avenue condo!"

Why would a woman like that even be at the trial in the first place, let alone
start crying when the drug dealer only got 10 years instead of 30?

Baxter wants the witness on the stand regardless of consequence.
 
Now, Price and Maroun have been directly informed that this witness will
not come forward voluntarily, and they know that as a former detective
he can recognize evidence of foul play and STILL didn't come forward,
that they need to immediately subpeona him.
 
Maroun decides to wait 18 hours to serve the subpeona.
 
Off screen, Shaw warned him off. He talked his bosses into transferring
him to Okinawa.

Which was what immediately occurred to me. He didn't even need to transfer
overseas or anything as dramatic as that. Just have Shaw suggest to him that
maybe right now would be a good time to take vacation time and go somewhere
unreachable for a few weeks.

We already know that the judge is not in any mood to prolong the trial and
that Price will be forced to proceed with or without the Marine's testimony
and Shaw knows this because Price said so in the big meeting with Baxter, so
just have Shaw tell his friend to take a camping trip somewhere (and leave his
cell and credit cards at home, for gawd's sake) for a few weeks, at which
point the trial will be long over (we all know L&O trials only last one or two
days, max) and there will be no further need for his testimony.

Price and Baxter discuss whether he can be forced to
return to take the stand but Price again emphasizes that the judge won't
agree to a continuance.
 
Uh, he might have asked anyway.
 
Baxter orders a plea. Man 2
 
The actors relatives are disappointed. Price confronts Shaw, and tells
him he can be prosecuted for witness tampering. Shaw smarmily justifies
his behavior. Episode ends before Price picks up the LART to pound the
clue into the side of Shaw's skull.
 
I nominate this episode as Shaw's must unethical behavior yet.

Yeah, this guy has a history of putting everything from personal relationships
to Black Lives Matter above his ethical and legal duty to enforce the law.

He's a bad cop.