Friday, October 29, 2004

Whole New Ballgame - 209

[Introduction of Chegwidden's replacement. Unfortunately, the "writer's" made a big mistake in what character types the viewers would tolerate.] Marine Col. Gordon Creswell (Cr) saved Gen Bixby from a helicopter crash in Iraq and was then made counsel to the joint chiefs of staff. He became the president's candidate for JAG, now that Chegwidden had gone. The SECNAV claimed that "no one wants to saddle our good JAG lawyers with someone so bereft of people skills that they alienate all of them." [Too bad he didn't tell that to the writers] He then appointed his long time friend, Admiral Tom Kly, as president of the selection board, consisting of 2 marine and 2 navy admirals - despite Kly's warnings of its appearance of impropriety. Bud (B) was appointed clerk of the board by Turner (T) , and was asked stupid questions during the very heated debates. Creswell was finally selected.

Harm (H) was still upset by the appointment of T as interim JAG. T sent H and Mac (M) to investigate the shooting incident, of a Canadian Indians' son, by an ensign, from the US vessel called in to settle a fishing dispute between Wolf Tillicum and long time nemesis George Young. The Ensign claimed that Tillicum's son had threatened their inflatable with a rifle. The son initially denied it, claiming that it had only been a gaffing hook, but then changed his story under Hs questioning. M was very upset at Cr's nomination because he was the Okinawa JAG who had reprimanded John Farrell when she had her affair with him. She felt that Cr will hold it against her and harass her over it. The SECNAV was uneasy over Cr's lack of people skills and emotion. When told of his selection, Cr said "I'll wait until it's in writing," then told the SECNAV "the part of me that you find unsettling (the marine part) won't go away."

Because of the SECNAVs use of Kly as chairman, the SECDEF decided to hold formal senate armed services committee confirmation hearings. Cr was asked about his feelings on homosexuality by Joyce Brothers; the legality of the Iraq war; holding detainees; and then, stupidly, about a specific rape case by a sniveling, snotty southern senator with an apparent axe to grind. All four on the panel seemed to act vigorously against incumbent policies and be very political. When a panelist told Cr that the Iraq war was not legal, Cr responded "tell that to the men being shot at." When pressured, Cr told the sniveling senator not to retrospectively sensationalize the rape case for purposes of the hearing. Additionally, he voiced that both sides of isle had played on the natural fear of people over the security of their homeland for political purposes, and that the "law is blind and doesn't care if you get re-elected next year." Coates & M had "heart to heart's" about boyfriends and fathers. M was not unhappy being told that "Cr imploded before the committee," and the episode ended showing Cr back in his old office after the hearing, believing that he would not be confirmed.

Friday, October 15, 2004

Retrial - 210

[Turner is still acting JAG, Mac is still crusty with Harm and Bellisario is still giving them "soft" (non-action) cases. They also seem to have replaced the "love distraction," which Mac has lost, with one for Harm, preventing them from reconciling their differences.] A legal student, Rachel Hanna, uncovered new DNA evidence which she felt proved that Saul Wainright hadn't committed the murder of a transvestite hooker, Tamaray, for which he had been a prisoner in Leavenworth for 22 years. With her professor, Alicia Montez [the new "interest" for Harm], she convinced Harm (H) to review the case and intervene. But, H felt that Tamaray's blood on Wainright's knife, the knife cut on his face and his prints on the knife, all proved that Wainright was guilty. Wainright claimed, however, that when he was in the alley, and had realized that Tamaray was a transvestite, he wouldn't pay, so Tamaray pulled his knife and cut Wainright on the face. He said that defending himself, he had wrestled with Tamaray, and the knife accidentally stabbed Tamaray once. He then ran and threw the knife away. Unexplainedly, however, Tamaray had been stabbed 12 times. Hanna found that there had been another murder of a prostitute the following day, by someone named Waldo Sapphire; and, although Sapphire had died in prison, she subpoenaed his shirt and found Tamaray's DNA on it. H realized that, after this length of time, only the president could order another retrial; but, Turner (T) said he wouldn't go to the line for H, unless he had more than the DNA evidence - even when H asked him to "trust me." Hanna also stole records from Henry Kale's office, who was the former prosecutor of Waldo Sapphire. The records showed that Sapphire had been willing to confess to "another murder," for a plea bargain. Kale said he had given the information to Wainright's prosecutor, Lt. Cdr. Marvin Bolton - now a congressman; but Bolton had failed to turn it over to the defense, as required by the Supreme Court Brady decision. The SECNAV insisted on keeping the president out of it, because Bolton had led the opposition against the president's weapons program and now it would just look like "payback." When the SECNAV told harm "maybe next year," H didn't respond kindly. He argued that: this innocent man has spent 22 years behind bars, it's a mockery, and he can't wait another year just for political reasons! The SECNAV talked to Bolton, who admitted knowing the information; but, as expected, threatened the SECNAV for doing "payback." Trying to defuse the situation, the SECNAV authorized a simple pardon; but, when H offered it to Wainright, he refused it, saying that he wanted a whole new trial. Finally, the SECNAV got the president to authorize a new trial, stating that he "didn't like to be threatened." H asked T to let him to defend Wainright and T assigned himself to prosecute, against H. H called Bolton to testify and made him look a fool. Bolton threatened H that "your career is over!" Harm replied "so's yours." T tried to shame H about "not doing his homework," when he uncovered that Hanna was actually Wainright's daughter, and he claimed that Hanna had switched shirts while they were in her possession in order to free her father. But H showed that, in the first trial, Wainright's shirt was shown to have two types of blood - his, from the cut, and Tamaray's; while the shirt now in question, with the newly discovered DNA, showed only one type of blood - Tamaray's. He muttered back to T: "you should have done your homework, counselor." Wainwright was exonerated for murder.

Mac (M) prosecuted and Bud (B) defended Morris Renfield, found to have four wives. He had a job which required extended deployments, and had married all four in different areas of deployment, had children with two and financed it from his fathers trust fund. M took the whole thing personally, showing contempt for Renfield, who was sickeningly sweet. Renfield inappropriately tried to get personal with M, telling her that he "just knew she had been hurt" in the past. All of his wives loved him and tried to get M to drop the charges. Finally, when M wouldn't relent, they drew straws and all but one divorced him. That way M could drop the charges. She finally relented, but said she found his actions reprehensible and recommended dishonorable discharge with loss of pay and allowances. M asked H what had changed between he and T, because they "used to be friends." He said "people change, they grow apart," then interjected that he was still talking about he and T. She ragged on him about being attracted to Montez, and he said "when have I ever compromised my integrity for a woman?" She responded, "you've never compromised anything for a woman." Montez told H that Bolton was a bad enemy to have, and that she would help H "watch his back."

Friday, October 1, 2004

Corporate Raiders - 208

[Mac's major, worrisome, "illness" (of last season's finale) seems to have been largely ignored so far, except to reveal that it is endometriosis.] Acting JAG, Turner (T), showed concern about how he had alienated his old friends. He clearly doesn't have the same agenda as did Chegwidden, which is frustrating to Mac (M) and Harm(H). T asked Bud (B) if he had any "problem with my style of management." Diplomatically, B said he didn't; then, when pressed, said "there's not a lot of room at the top for friendship."

Mattie (Mt) returned from an extended stay with her dad, Tom. They announced that they were going to start up Grace Aviation again, and Tom asked H for a letter of reference. H was concerned about her burgeoning relationship with Kevin Reilly, a local boy, and had his version of a facts-of-life talk with her, saying she should "talk to her father." Mt eventually said she needed H, and his "annoying personal questions," then asked him to "reduce altitude" and kissed him on the cheek.

M and H investigated a "friendly fire" incident, where a marine unit was acting as "shadow advisors" to the bodyguards of a Kurdish leader, Mohammed Aziz. Retired Sgt. Maj. Thomas Elgart, of Battlefield Solutions (BS), was a consultant advisor to an Iraqi Civil Defense unit who were tracking a terrorist, and ("mistakenly") engaged in a gunfight with the bodyguards (and their shadow advisors), killing a marine. T was all too happy to call it a "friendly-fire" incident; but, Ann, the widow of Marine Cpl. Paul Sheehy, brought Emails her husband had sent before his death, implicating Battlefield Solutions as "trigger-happy mercenaries." M and H continued their investigation and found that retired Commander John Merrick (previously court-martialed for collision of a destroyer) was now the CEO of BS, so they complained to him. He promised that he "would take care of it," then called a general and asked for a court-martial of his own employee! Elgart was brought back to active duty, by order of the SECNAV, and court martialed. Merrick then told Elgart that he didn't think he was getting good defense (from H), and offered him $2 million to plead guilty to the court-martial that he had asked for! H coerced Elgart into not to taking it, saying: "2 million is a hell of a severance package." H found that BS had recently merged with Henson-LeRoux, a company who had oil interests in the Kurdish area; and, that Merrick had received 200,000 shares of it's stock. If the Kurdish area became independent, Aziz would become oil minister; and, because he had been openly antagonistic to the company, BS would suffer financial loss. Additionally, H discovered that Aziz had been previously "targeted" to be: "taken out by mistake," on five separate occasions! Unbelievably, the five failed attempts were based upon false information from a confidential "informant." Then, the informant also turned out to be under contract to BS, making H wonder if the information "wasn't coming directly from BS's board room" for their own corporate agenda. Elgart was found not-guilty, and Sheehy's widow filed civil suit for, as H told Merrick, a lot "more than your $2 million."