Law & Order Episode: Jeopardy
A wealthy widow helps a cash strapped judge get a large loan at a super low interest rate. The problem is, he is the sitting judge in a case involving the woman's son, who is on trial for murdering 3 people, including his own brother. On top of that, the judge and District Attorney Adam Schiff are long time friends.
The story opens with shots being fired inside the office of a computer magazine publisher. The police respond and find 2 employees and their boss shot to death. The boss is Edward Nicodos, part of a family that owns a food distribution company. The detectives go to Mrs Elaine Nicodos, played by Sada Thompson, and her son, Peter, played by Peter Frechette. Mrs. Nicodos is a widow and VERY wealthy, and the mother of Peter and Edward. The detectives find that Mrs. Nicodos gave her son Edward the money to start the magazine, which is struggling,* and Peter insists his brother's magazine is separate from the family food business. As they investigate further, the detectives find out the secretary to Peter Nicodos kept a gun in her desk and that Peter had given approval for her to keep the gun on the premesis, so he knew the gun was there, but further, Peter had a key to her desk. They also learn the secretary has filed a report that the gun is now missing, and that the gun is the same type used as the murder weapon.
Detectives Briscoe and Curtis, played by Jerry Orbach and Benjamin Bratt, respectively, later learn that Eddie's magazine did a negative review of a video game and that the game designer filed a lawsuit against the magazine AND against the Nicodos food business, claiming the businesses were linked. The detectives find out from the game designer's lawyer about a payment of $10,000 a month from the Nicodos food business going to a shell corporation, Gaston Inc, and the theory is it's really a payment going to Eddie's business; thus the lawsuit connecting Eddie's magazine to the family food business. When the detectives go to the address listed for Gaston Inc, they find that Peter Nicodos has a mistress living there, Celia Gaston, played by Brettanya Friese. She tells them that she saw Peter the night Eddie was killed, and that he told her they had to break up, because Eddie had told the attorney for the game designer about their relationship and he threatened to make the relationship public, unless Peter settled the lawsuit with the game designer. Ms. Gaston also says Peter left her as angry as she had ever seen him about Eddie. The detectives also take some clothing of Peter's from the woman's closet, as there had been some clothing fibers found on one of the victims in the killings. The clothing proves to be negative, but the lab technician does find cat hairs on Peter's clothing, and cat hairs were also found at the murder scene (Ms. Gaston has a cat). The technician says it will take him a couple of weeks to determine if the hairs match (the hairs match, but it took longer than anticipated, which will come into play). In the meantime the police arrest Peter Nicodos for the three murders.
In front of the judge who will preside at the trial, Judge Edgar Hynes, played by Louis Zorich, Peter's attorney asks the judge to bar Ms. Gaston from testifying, as her testimony is hearsay. The judge agrees, and Executive District Attorney Jack McCoy, played by Sam Waterston, tells the judge that she can testify as to Peter's mood and anger, because she directly witnessed it. The defense attorney, Mr. Rothenberg, played by Jeffrey DeMunn, argues that Peter was angry at his brother over not attending a memorial service for their father, and that this could be misconstrued by the jury. The judge bars Ms. Gaston's testimony completely. When McCoy tells DA Adam Schiff, played by Steven Hill, about how Judge Hynes gutted much of their case, Schiff sort of smiles and tells McCoy that he's known Edgar Hynes for 35 years and that he was not a "bleeding heart" years before, and not likely to be one in the present. McCoy decides to proceed with the trial based on the evidence they have. At the trial, the lab technician is testifying, and Rothenberg asks to speak to the judge. He argues that he only received the evidence about the matching cat hairs 2 days before trial and that his whole strategy was based upon the belief that the prosecution didn't have this evidence. He asks that the lab technician's report and testimony be excluded, and the judge grants it. McCoy is angry, as he had even offered to delay the trial to give the defense time to prepare their case. Detective Curtis testifies about some evidence, and McCoy rests the prosecution's case. Rothenberg asks for dismissal of the charges, because the prosecution failed to prove the prima facie case, and the judge agrees; the charges against Peter Nicodos are dismissed. Elaine Nicodos smiles as her son is now free.
McCoy tells Adam Schiff how Judge Hynes sided with the defense on everything, and while Adam is skeptical about McCoy's case against Peter Nicodos, he goes to meet his long time friend Edgar Hynes over drinks. Hynes defends his handling of the case, and as he gets up to leave, Adam asks about the judge's wife, and mentions that they might all be able to get together for a trip on the judge's boat. Hynes tells Adam that his wife filed for divorce and that he had to sell the boat. Later, a very troubled Adam tells McCoy to look into Judge Hynes. They find that Judge Hynes specifically requested the Nicodos trial and that he had received a $600,000 second mortgage with a super low interest rate (saving him $300,000 interest), even though he had little equity in the house, and had loads of debt. They find out from the bank that Elaine Nicodos had interceded with the bank on the judge's behalf, and that she made it clear that if the judge didn't receive preferential treatment from the bank, she would take her many millions of dollars to another bank.
The police bring in Judge Hynes and Adam Schiff interrupts the questioning, sending everyone from the interrogation room, including the judge's attorney. Hynes tries defending himself, but Adam bluntly tells him that he personally authorized the arrest warrant for Hynes. The judge admits that the divorce had financially crippled him and that Elaine Nicodos offered to help him with the loan. A badly shaken Judge Hynes begs Adam for help, but Adam tells him he will go to prison, as after all, he was willing to let a killer of three people go free. Later, McCoy meets with Elaine Nicodos and Mr. Rothenberg. McCoy explains to Elaine that her bribery of the judge is a serious charge, but she says she doesn't care, because it saved her remaining son, and that McCoy can't do anything to him now. But McCoy tells them he's going to have Peter arrested and that he's reinstating the murder charge. Rothenberg fumes at McCoy about "double jeopardy," ** but McCoy tells him, he isn't worried about it.
McCoy and Rothenberg go before a judge hearing their arguments about "double jeopardy." McCoy successfully argues that "double jeopardy" doesn't apply, because the defendant was never in jeopardy, as "the judge was bribed, the fix was in." Peter and Elaine Nicodos and Mr. Rothenberg meet with McCoy, who offers Peter a minimum sentence of 25 years before he can be considered for parole, which brings a scoff from Rothenberg, who prepares to leave with Peter. Then McCoy tells them he will prosecute Elaine Nicodos, which can get her a 25 year sentence, but that he'll take 12 years for her (she's older, so you can infer that this is like a life sentence). Peter tells McCoy he'll plead guilty and serve the 25 year sentence, if McCoy drops the charges against his mother. McCoy accepts. Later, as McCoy, Claire Kincaid (played by Jill Hennessy) and Adam discuss the case, Adam takes a brief phone call. When he hangs up, he tells the other two that Judge Hynes was found on the beach with a gunshot to the head. Kincaid was just about to have a drink, Scotch I think, and Adam tells her to "Bring that over here."
* The "Law & Order" series was noted for tying stories to the times, and this episode includes this element about Edward Nicodos starting a computer magazine. While that wouldn't cause anyone to even blink an eye now, when this episode was filmed in the mid 1990s, such things were not common, and this use of the Internet for a magazine published exclusively online was relatively daring, and the fact that the magazine is struggling shows how society had not yet adjusted to the new technology; a pretty accurate depiction by the writers of this episode. Printed newspapers and magazines sold by mail, home delivery or newsstands were still very much the way publications were marketed.
** In the legal system, "double jeopardy" prevents people accused, or even convicted, of a crime from being charged and put on trial more than once for the same crime. Randy is charged with stealing a cookie from a vending machine, but he is acquitted. Law enforcement then discovers there is a video of Randy actually stealing the cookie. Randy can't be charged again. I guess that's how the cookie crumbles... Damn that cookie was good! Further, if Randy were actually convicted and got a sentence of 30 days in jail, but the prosecution felt that was too lenient, the prosecutor can't retry Randy for the same stolen cookie in an effort to get a 90 day sentence.
Photo is from the 2008 Edition of the Universal Home Entertainment Law & Order Sixth Year DVD box set
WORD HISTORY:
Joke-This word is related to the first part of the word "jeopardy," a word borrowed by English from French. It goes back to Indo European "yek," which meant, "to speak, to utter." This gave its Italic offspring "joko/ioko," meaning, "something said, an utterance," but also, "something said in jest." This gave Latin "iocus," meaning, "a joke, amusing entertainment." This was borrowed by English in the 1600s (mid 1600s? alternate spelling "joque?"), meaning, "something said to provide amusement, especially something said to bring about laughter." Later, by extension, the meaning included, "something or someone not to be taken seriously (often, but not always, meant disparagingly)."
The story opens with shots being fired inside the office of a computer magazine publisher. The police respond and find 2 employees and their boss shot to death. The boss is Edward Nicodos, part of a family that owns a food distribution company. The detectives go to Mrs Elaine Nicodos, played by Sada Thompson, and her son, Peter, played by Peter Frechette. Mrs. Nicodos is a widow and VERY wealthy, and the mother of Peter and Edward. The detectives find that Mrs. Nicodos gave her son Edward the money to start the magazine, which is struggling,* and Peter insists his brother's magazine is separate from the family food business. As they investigate further, the detectives find out the secretary to Peter Nicodos kept a gun in her desk and that Peter had given approval for her to keep the gun on the premesis, so he knew the gun was there, but further, Peter had a key to her desk. They also learn the secretary has filed a report that the gun is now missing, and that the gun is the same type used as the murder weapon.
Detectives Briscoe and Curtis, played by Jerry Orbach and Benjamin Bratt, respectively, later learn that Eddie's magazine did a negative review of a video game and that the game designer filed a lawsuit against the magazine AND against the Nicodos food business, claiming the businesses were linked. The detectives find out from the game designer's lawyer about a payment of $10,000 a month from the Nicodos food business going to a shell corporation, Gaston Inc, and the theory is it's really a payment going to Eddie's business; thus the lawsuit connecting Eddie's magazine to the family food business. When the detectives go to the address listed for Gaston Inc, they find that Peter Nicodos has a mistress living there, Celia Gaston, played by Brettanya Friese. She tells them that she saw Peter the night Eddie was killed, and that he told her they had to break up, because Eddie had told the attorney for the game designer about their relationship and he threatened to make the relationship public, unless Peter settled the lawsuit with the game designer. Ms. Gaston also says Peter left her as angry as she had ever seen him about Eddie. The detectives also take some clothing of Peter's from the woman's closet, as there had been some clothing fibers found on one of the victims in the killings. The clothing proves to be negative, but the lab technician does find cat hairs on Peter's clothing, and cat hairs were also found at the murder scene (Ms. Gaston has a cat). The technician says it will take him a couple of weeks to determine if the hairs match (the hairs match, but it took longer than anticipated, which will come into play). In the meantime the police arrest Peter Nicodos for the three murders.
In front of the judge who will preside at the trial, Judge Edgar Hynes, played by Louis Zorich, Peter's attorney asks the judge to bar Ms. Gaston from testifying, as her testimony is hearsay. The judge agrees, and Executive District Attorney Jack McCoy, played by Sam Waterston, tells the judge that she can testify as to Peter's mood and anger, because she directly witnessed it. The defense attorney, Mr. Rothenberg, played by Jeffrey DeMunn, argues that Peter was angry at his brother over not attending a memorial service for their father, and that this could be misconstrued by the jury. The judge bars Ms. Gaston's testimony completely. When McCoy tells DA Adam Schiff, played by Steven Hill, about how Judge Hynes gutted much of their case, Schiff sort of smiles and tells McCoy that he's known Edgar Hynes for 35 years and that he was not a "bleeding heart" years before, and not likely to be one in the present. McCoy decides to proceed with the trial based on the evidence they have. At the trial, the lab technician is testifying, and Rothenberg asks to speak to the judge. He argues that he only received the evidence about the matching cat hairs 2 days before trial and that his whole strategy was based upon the belief that the prosecution didn't have this evidence. He asks that the lab technician's report and testimony be excluded, and the judge grants it. McCoy is angry, as he had even offered to delay the trial to give the defense time to prepare their case. Detective Curtis testifies about some evidence, and McCoy rests the prosecution's case. Rothenberg asks for dismissal of the charges, because the prosecution failed to prove the prima facie case, and the judge agrees; the charges against Peter Nicodos are dismissed. Elaine Nicodos smiles as her son is now free.
McCoy tells Adam Schiff how Judge Hynes sided with the defense on everything, and while Adam is skeptical about McCoy's case against Peter Nicodos, he goes to meet his long time friend Edgar Hynes over drinks. Hynes defends his handling of the case, and as he gets up to leave, Adam asks about the judge's wife, and mentions that they might all be able to get together for a trip on the judge's boat. Hynes tells Adam that his wife filed for divorce and that he had to sell the boat. Later, a very troubled Adam tells McCoy to look into Judge Hynes. They find that Judge Hynes specifically requested the Nicodos trial and that he had received a $600,000 second mortgage with a super low interest rate (saving him $300,000 interest), even though he had little equity in the house, and had loads of debt. They find out from the bank that Elaine Nicodos had interceded with the bank on the judge's behalf, and that she made it clear that if the judge didn't receive preferential treatment from the bank, she would take her many millions of dollars to another bank.
The police bring in Judge Hynes and Adam Schiff interrupts the questioning, sending everyone from the interrogation room, including the judge's attorney. Hynes tries defending himself, but Adam bluntly tells him that he personally authorized the arrest warrant for Hynes. The judge admits that the divorce had financially crippled him and that Elaine Nicodos offered to help him with the loan. A badly shaken Judge Hynes begs Adam for help, but Adam tells him he will go to prison, as after all, he was willing to let a killer of three people go free. Later, McCoy meets with Elaine Nicodos and Mr. Rothenberg. McCoy explains to Elaine that her bribery of the judge is a serious charge, but she says she doesn't care, because it saved her remaining son, and that McCoy can't do anything to him now. But McCoy tells them he's going to have Peter arrested and that he's reinstating the murder charge. Rothenberg fumes at McCoy about "double jeopardy," ** but McCoy tells him, he isn't worried about it.
McCoy and Rothenberg go before a judge hearing their arguments about "double jeopardy." McCoy successfully argues that "double jeopardy" doesn't apply, because the defendant was never in jeopardy, as "the judge was bribed, the fix was in." Peter and Elaine Nicodos and Mr. Rothenberg meet with McCoy, who offers Peter a minimum sentence of 25 years before he can be considered for parole, which brings a scoff from Rothenberg, who prepares to leave with Peter. Then McCoy tells them he will prosecute Elaine Nicodos, which can get her a 25 year sentence, but that he'll take 12 years for her (she's older, so you can infer that this is like a life sentence). Peter tells McCoy he'll plead guilty and serve the 25 year sentence, if McCoy drops the charges against his mother. McCoy accepts. Later, as McCoy, Claire Kincaid (played by Jill Hennessy) and Adam discuss the case, Adam takes a brief phone call. When he hangs up, he tells the other two that Judge Hynes was found on the beach with a gunshot to the head. Kincaid was just about to have a drink, Scotch I think, and Adam tells her to "Bring that over here."
* The "Law & Order" series was noted for tying stories to the times, and this episode includes this element about Edward Nicodos starting a computer magazine. While that wouldn't cause anyone to even blink an eye now, when this episode was filmed in the mid 1990s, such things were not common, and this use of the Internet for a magazine published exclusively online was relatively daring, and the fact that the magazine is struggling shows how society had not yet adjusted to the new technology; a pretty accurate depiction by the writers of this episode. Printed newspapers and magazines sold by mail, home delivery or newsstands were still very much the way publications were marketed.
** In the legal system, "double jeopardy" prevents people accused, or even convicted, of a crime from being charged and put on trial more than once for the same crime. Randy is charged with stealing a cookie from a vending machine, but he is acquitted. Law enforcement then discovers there is a video of Randy actually stealing the cookie. Randy can't be charged again. I guess that's how the cookie crumbles... Damn that cookie was good! Further, if Randy were actually convicted and got a sentence of 30 days in jail, but the prosecution felt that was too lenient, the prosecutor can't retry Randy for the same stolen cookie in an effort to get a 90 day sentence.
Photo is from the 2008 Edition of the Universal Home Entertainment Law & Order Sixth Year DVD box set
Joke-This word is related to the first part of the word "jeopardy," a word borrowed by English from French. It goes back to Indo European "yek," which meant, "to speak, to utter." This gave its Italic offspring "joko/ioko," meaning, "something said, an utterance," but also, "something said in jest." This gave Latin "iocus," meaning, "a joke, amusing entertainment." This was borrowed by English in the 1600s (mid 1600s? alternate spelling "joque?"), meaning, "something said to provide amusement, especially something said to bring about laughter." Later, by extension, the meaning included, "something or someone not to be taken seriously (often, but not always, meant disparagingly)."
Labels: Benjamin Bratt, corruption, double jeopardy, English, etymology, French, Jeffrey DeMunn, Jerry Orbach, Latin, Law & Order, Louis Zorich, Peter Frechette, Sada Thompson, Sam Waterston, Steven Hill, television shows
posted by Randy at 2:23 PM
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