CAGNEY & LACEY: OPEN & SHUT CASE (TV)
Summary
One in this series of dramas about two policewomen, Chris Cagney and Mary Beth Lacey. Cagney and Lacey are assigned to a homicide case; according to witness Rocky Menukian, a "murderous Turk" broke in and stabbed his cousin to death in front of him. They are confident that the case will be relatively straightforward. Back at the station they are visited by Elizabeth Carter, who was the victim of rape by multiple assailants; Cagney and Lacey handled her case before they were promoted to detectives. Elizabeth appeared in court multiple times over a period of two years in order to convict all of her assailants, and she reveals that it has had a deleterious effect on her life. The psychological trauma of the assault led to her breakup with her boyfriend, and she lost her job because she had to miss too many days to appear in court. Now she reveals that one of the convictions was overturned, and a new trial is going to take place for one of her assailants. Weary from her long court struggles and deteriorating personal life, Elizabeth feels unable to appear in court once again and once again recount the horrific circumstances of the assault. Lacey feels sympathy for Elizabeth and tries to devise a way for her to opt out of appearing in court, but Cagney dismisses them. Eventually Lacey proposes that they accompany Elizabeth to court to provide her with support. In the meantime, Cagney and Lacey investigate the homicide case and discover from the police coroner that the victim was not killed by the stabbing, but rather by a procedure performed by an incompetent doctor at the hospital he was brought to be treated at. Cagney and Lacey investigate the hospital and find that the doctor who operated on the victim had falsified credentials and was dismissed by the hospital, and subsequently fled the country. They bring this new evidence to Ira Leffler, the prosecuting attorney, who chooses to ignore it, citing proximate cause in reference to the stab wound creating the need for the trip to the emergency room. Afterwards, they find Elizabeth waiting outside the courtroom; she was called by her attorney, the assistant DA, but never actually put into court that day. Noting Elizabeth's distress, Cagney and Lacey decide to take her out to dinner at a bar, and the three of them have a great deal of fun. The next day, Cagney and Lacey split up since the murder trial is taking place on the same day as Elizabeth's trial. Elizabeth asks Cagney to accompany her. Lacey finds she is immediately being called up to testify for the murder trial despite her lack of time to prepare, and she worries she will suffer from "stage fright;" Leffler tells her not to worry. However, problems arise when the prosecutor prohibits Lacey from referring to her notes about the case in order to establish her "independent memory," and Leffler's objections are continually overruled by the impatient judge. Cagney and Elizabeth wait for hours before the assistant DA emerges to speak to Elizabeth. As Lacey checks up on them, Elizabeth has a sudden outburst when the assistant DA tells her that another of her assailants had his conviction overturned, and that his trial will take place the following month. Elizabeth feels overwhelmed and runs off. Lacey is called back to court as Cagney tries to chase after Elizabeth. She catches up to her and tries to convince her that as long as she continues to avoid facing her assailants in court, she will continue to be a victim and be unable to move on with her life. Elizabeth, distraught, disagrees and runs out of the building. Meanwhile, Menukian takes the stand at the murder trial and disarms the prosecutor with his comments. Lacey notices that several important details of his testimony are different from the information he gave when she and Cagney interviewed him. She points this out to Leffler and says she thinks the defendant may not be guilty after all, that the incident in question was a "free-for-all" motivated by ethnicity. Leffler, however, is still determined to prove the defendant guilty. The assistant DA tells Cagney that unless Elizabeth returns of her own accord, she will issue a bench warrant and she will spend a night in jail. Cagney and Lacey are unwilling to let that happen and attempt to find Elizabeth. Leffler calls a nurse to the stand testifying that the defendant was admitted to the hospital with stab wounds of his own before the victim, seemingly casting doubt as to the defendant's guilt. However, the defense attorney calls the nurse's memory into question and in private tries to strike a plea with Leffler. Leffler is content to prove the defendant guilty, but Lacey believes there is enough reasonable doubt not to pursue a conviction. They argue and Lacey threatens to go to the press if Leffler doesn't comply. Her gambit works and the defendant is charged only with possession of a switchblade. Elizabeth returns just as the opening statements of her trial are concluding, and resolves to go in and face her assailant. She says that Cagney was right and she is tired of fleeing. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: January 31, 1983 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:07376
- GENRE: Drama, police/private detective
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/private detective
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1982-1987
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Barney Rosenzweig … Executive Producer
- Harry Sherman … Supervising Producer
- Steve Brown … Producer, Writer
- Terry Louise Fisher … Producer, Writer
- Dick Reilly … Associate Producer
- P. K. Knelman … Associate Producer
- Nicholas Sgarro … Director
- Barbara Avedon … Created by
- Barbara Cordray … Created by
- Dana Kaproff … Music by
- Bill Conti … Theme Music by
- Tyne Daly … Cast, Det. Mary Beth Lacey
- Sharon Gless … Cast, Det. Chris Cagney
- Al Waxman … Cast, Lt. Bert Samuels
- Carl Lumbly … Cast, Det. Marcus Petrie
- Martin Kove … Cast, Det. Victor Isbecki
- Sidney Clute … Cast, Det. Paul LaGuardia
- John Karlen … Cast, Harvey Lacey
- Troy Slaten … Cast, Michael Lacey
- Tony La Torre … Cast, Harvey Lacey, Jr.
- Jonelle Allen … Cast, Elizabeth Carter
- Michael Zand … Cast, Ira Leffler
- Walter Brooke … Cast, Judge
- William Lanteau … Cast, Dr. Sinclair
- Allan Rich … Cast, Morley Pressman
- Buck Kartalian … Cast, Rocky Menukian
- Lionel Decker … Cast, Nathan Apstein
- Stephen Johnson … Cast, Bob
- Lance Rosen … Cast, D. A.
- Charlie Stavola … Cast, Ben Wesco
- Rose Portillo … Cast, Rhonda Gallegos
- Jody Carter … Cast, Lamar
- Fil Formicola … Cast, Lamar