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Quincy, M.E. :: Let Me Light the Way (02x13)
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Episode Information |
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| Title: | Let Me Light the Way |
| Episode #: | 02x13 |
| Production Number: | 46925 |
| Original Airdate: | Friday May 27th, 1977 |
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Episode Summary |
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Quincy races to the hospital to collect evidence from rape victim Fay Willard, but discovers that emergency room staff washed the patient and discarded her clothing on the floor, eliminating any evidence that links her rapist to his crimes. Quincy and Monahan know who the rapist is, but cannot prove what they know. Together with Sam and rape counselor Carol Bowen, they search for a way to put the man behind bars. Then Carol herself becomes the rapist’s next victim. She insists the hospital wait to treat her until Quincy collects evidence. He does, and Monahan arrests their suspect, but a foul-up frees him, leaving only a slim chance: his wife, who has alibied for him in the past – if she finally sees her husband as the monster he really is...
| | There are no foreign summaries for this episode: Contribute |
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Guest Stars |
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Episode Notes |
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It is important to understand the context of this episode. Most states had not yet adopted (or were still considering) protections such as rape shield laws that block the defense's ability to use a rape victim's past sexual history against her - a form of blaming the victim that often kept victims from testifying, permitting rapists to go free. Rape forensics was still and emerging science, a point the script makes very clear, and clever defense attorneys enabled many offenders to go unpunished. Since that time, improvements in both technology and law have closed many loopholes, and rapists evade justice far less often.
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Episode Quotes |
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(Quincy arrives at the hospital moments after a rape victim has died during treatment.)
Quincy: What happened? When I talked to the police they said she was in reasonably good shape.
Dr. Alan Castle: (bitterly) Are they issuing medical degrees to the squad cars, now?
| Quincy: (Examining a rape victim’s hand.) These nails have fresh water under them.
Nurse Gordy: We washed her down completely.
Quincy: (Realizing the trace evidence he came to collect is gone.) You what?!? (He notices the victim’s clothing discarded on the floor and collects it.) What is this?
Nurse Gordy: Her clothes, obviously... her uniform.
Quincy: These should be sealed in a plastic bag – they’re worthless to me now!
Dr. Alan Castle: I’m sorry, but sometimes things get a little hectic around here.
Quincy: That’s no excuse for destroying evidence!
Dr. Alan Castle: Look, when I’m trying to save somebody’s life, the last thing in the world I’m going to think about is collecting specimens for some jury that probably wouldn’t... wouldn’t convict even if they saw a slow-motion film of the rape.
Quincy: You’re wrong! They do convict, when they’re presented with solid evidence – evidence that has been protected by a chain of custody they’ll convict. They already do it in Dallas, Texas, and they’re gonna do it here. I’ve been trying to hold a seminar for doctors like you, and (glancing at Nurse Gordy) nurses like you, to prove that all it takes is a little extra training, a little extra care!
| Quincy: What we need to do is build a solid chain of evidence, link by link. Long enough to hook on his collar, strong enough to drag him into court with!
| Quincy: We’re gonna bust you for assault. We’re gonna bust you for rape. We’re gonna bust you for murder!
(DeReatis arrogantly blows a cloud of smoke into Quincy’s face. Quincy snatches his cigarette away and grabs him by his jacket lapels. Two detectives pull them apart.)
Monahan: Brill! Get him outta here!
Brill: Let’s go.
DeReatis: You owe me a cigarette, Doc. Don’t forget that.
Monahan: That was brilliant! What was that all about? You’re the one I oughta lock up!
Quincy: (Holding DeReatis’ cigarette.) We wanted his blood type – this will give it to us.
| (Carol Bowen has been raped, and wants Quincy to collect evidence.)
Carol Bowen: Quincy, all I care about is... that it’s done right. That’s why you’re here.
| Quincy: Get me a ten milligram ampule of valium, please.
Nurse: You really think she needs it?
Quincy: Nurse, you better start moving or else I’m going to bounce you out of here on your ear!
| Carol Bowen: (becoming more brittle with each sentence) You know what the irony of this situation is? I’m the one who recruited Louise. When I broke her in we used to play a little game called Counselor/Victim. Naturally, I got the juicier role, pretending I knew what it felt like to be raped. Isn’t that wild, Louise? Just think how valuable I’ll be to the program now. (Her composure disintegrates into screams and sobs.)
| Richard Feldman: Jack Packard may look like the world’s conception of your perfect father, but I have seen him... I have seen him chew up witnesses and spit ‘em across the courtroom. No... something is wrong.
Quincy: What do you mean?
Richard Feldman: I mean, his client doesn’t have a chance, and yet there he is, he’s out there grinning and joking and strutting like a peacock! I don’t like it. Not at all.
| John Packer: Let’s go back over the facts, Dr. Castle. You testified that after the evidence was left in your custody, you sealed it, labeled it, and gave it to a deputy sheriff.
Dr. Alan Castle: That’s correct.
John Packer: Did you do that right away? Right after Dr. Quincy left the room to attend to the comfort of his friend, Miss Bowen?
Dr. Alan Castle: Not exactly.
| Richard Feldman: Your honor... I am convinced, beyond any moral certainty, that the defendant Carl DeReatis, is guilty of rape, is guilty of assault, is guilty of depraved, inhuman behavior. However, if you will not allow our evidence to come in... there is no way in the world I am ever going to be able to prove it to this jury. Therefore, with feelings of pain, and feelings of anger, and feelings of utter helplessness... I move to dismiss.
Judge: Motion granted. This case is dismissed.
| (Carl DeReatis leaves court following his acquittal. He passes his latest victim, Carol Bowen.)
DeReatis: It was a lot of fun. I’ll see you again, sometime.
(Carol begins to sob.)
| Quincy: (to Monahan) DeReatis is compulsive... he’s going to hurt somebody out there. I don’t even know who it is. (On cue, Joy DeReatis enters the squadroom, sporting a nasty bruise on her forehead.)
| Joy DeReatis: I came here because I wanted to turn this in. (She hands Quincy a shirt.)
Quincy: What is it?
Joy DeReatis: The day after that thing happened with Frances Bragg, I found that in our garage. Carl didn’t have any cuts on him, so I guess the blood must be hers.
Quincy: The body was all covered with scratches.
Joy DeReatis: He swore that was from a fight at the gas station. He’s always fighting, coming home with blood and broken noses. So I believed him. You see, I got two kids... I have to believe him... I never even had a job before... what I am going to do with two kids? So I... I realize that I can’t worry about... I just know that... I can’t let him hurt us, or anybody again... I can’t let him do that.
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Analysis |
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Quincy snatches a cigarette from DeReatis in a feigned burst of anger, and then uses the cigarette to obtain the man’s blood type. The method of obtaining this piece of evidence is legally questionable. Generally, the police are entitled to retrieve anything a person of interest voluntarily discards. Courts have held that discarding an item essentially surrenders custody of it and any interested party may retrieve it (although incidents of identity theft perpetrated using discarded records have caused lawmakers to revisit this idea in recent years.) But Quincy actually snatches the cigarette from DeReatis’ hand and tosses it aside, and Brill hustles him out before he can retrieve it. Quincy then admits to Monahan that he feigned anger precisely for the purpose of getting the cigarette. Whether it would be admissible would depend on the court’s weighing of these facts against DeReatis’ clear knowledge of the missing cigarette (he said Quincy “owed him a cigarette”) and failure to retrieve it. There is also the matter of whether an individual in custody has any way to surrender an item in his possession that does not permit the police to obtain it. Fortunately, the rape case for which Joy DeReatis eventually produced evidence does not depend on this evidence – the blood she shows the police would permit them to obtain a warrant for a separate blood sample.
| John Packer elicits testimony from Dr. Alan Castle that reveals the broken chain of custody of Carol Bowen’s rape evidence. Moments earlier, Feldman (the prosecutor) was worried because he suspected from Packer’s demeanor that the attorney had an ace up his sleeve. But he did not know what. Clearly, this was that ace, a revelation that unraveled the entire case. It is an axiom of trial law that an attorney never asks a question to which he does not already know the answer. Clearly, Packer knew about the broken chain of custody before he questioned Castle. Why didn’t Packer? Since the evidence, and the chain of custody, was vital, he should have ensured that before ever bringing the case to trial. Doubtless this is the matter over which the judge chastised him after granting his motion to dismiss the charges. The most likely explanation is that thirty years ago, rape cases were much harder to prosecute and the writers wished to illustrate this point. It also serves to reinforce a continuing theme: that careful preservation of forensic evidence is vital to successful prosecution. Nevertheless, the judge was certainly right to chastise Feldman for such an egregious strategic blunder, and there is little doubt that he had an unpleasant conversation of a similar nature with his boss as well.
| A conviction on the evidence provided by Joy DeReatis would require her testimony as to the origin and custody of that evidence. Under certain circumstances, any party to a criminal proceeding may prevent a witness spouse from testifying against a defendant spouse. Under other circumstances, this right attaches to the witness spouse, meaning the witness may refuse to testify, but the defendant may not compel such a refusal to testify. Which rule applies depends on the venue, the charge, and other circumstances. One presumes that the prosecutor’s office would be far more careful, since an acquittal in this circumstance would certainly require Joy DeReatis and possibly Carol Bowen as well, to go into hiding. Having narrowly dodged two bullets, Carl DeReatis, a proven killer, would likely attempt to eliminate his witness problems for good by killing these women.
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Featured Songs |
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Episode Goofs |
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Cultural References |
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Episode References |
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