A risk of mistrial looms over The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 episode 9.
The Lincoln Lawyer: Case File for season 3 episode 9 ‘Ghosts’
Written by Matthew J. Lieberman
Directed by Heather Cappiello
Let’s get into The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 episode 9.
Refresh your memory:
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- Mickey was able to establish some relevance for DEA Agent De Marco’s testimony after Detective Whitten testified to Glory calling the DEA office after being subpoenaed. Judge Turner agreed that De Marco could testify as long as all questions were relevant.
- Lorna argues for three final names on the amended witness with the judge only agreeing to the call of D.A. investigator Neil Bishop.
- After some soul-searching Izzy accepted Mickey’s offer to take over as office manager.
- Trina Trixxx admitted to Cisco that De Marco did tamper with her testimony. She agrees to testify again only if De Marco is arrested first.
- Julian takes a shiv to the stomach during prison transport.
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Breaking news
As Mickey prepares for court, he receives a call about Julian being taken to the hospital after being attacked during prisoner transport. Mickey rushes to the hospital and calls his team. He instructs Izzy to meet him at the hospital. Mickey tasks Lorna with finding precedent where cases were allowed to continue without the defendant being present. The Lincoln Lawyer knows Forsythe will be vying for a mistrial.
Mickey arrives at the hospital to find David frustrated that he is not allowed to see Julian. Only next of kin or a legal spouse can visit at this time. David and Julian did not feel that marriage was the way they wanted to define their union. David cannot understand how this happened when Mickey was trying to keep Julian safe. Izzy arrives to stay with Julian while Mickey leaves for the courthouse.
On task
Lorna is distracted as the judge calls the name of her case for a status update. Andrea is at the podium performing “calendar duty” for the District Attorney’s office. Andrea spots Lorna in the gallery and gets her attention. Lorna is preoccupied trying to find precedent to continue Julian’s trial while he is in the hospital. Andrea is sorry to hear that Julian has been attacked.
Meanwhile, Cisco consults with a Sheriff’s deputy contact to find out who attacked Julian during transport. The deputy resists but Cisco makes it clear that the client could be on his deathbed. Ultimately, Cisco gets the name “Lalo Vasquez”.
“Ghosts” of Mickey’s past
As Mickey navigates a day of surprises, he is visited by the first of a series of “ghosts”. Not real ghosts, of course, but rather the personification of his thoughts.
Glory: Mickey grapples with the pressure to take down De Marco and serve justice for Glory’s murder. To represent his thoughts, we see a healthy, vibrant Glory riding in the backseat of the Lincoln. She refers to Mickey with the moniker “Mickey Mantle” and urges him to keep his eye on the ball.
Eddie: Mickey is struggling with guilt over the deaths occurring around him. Mickey imagines Eddie in the backseat this time. “Eddie” encourages Mickey to focus on the finding Glory’s killer. He tells Mickey that he is not at fault citing Glory’s choices as an adult.
Michael Haller, Sr.: Later in the episode Mickey fears that Judge Turner will order a mistrial in Julian’s absence. Mickey imagines his late father giving advice. Haller, Sr. talks about making hard choices (perhaps bending rules) while Legal stayed safely on the sidelines. He encourages Mickey to do whatever necessary to achieve the “not guilty” for Julian.
In chambers round one
The legal team prepares to meet with Judge Turner in chambers.
Neil Bishop waits in the hallway on his phone. He reads a burner message saying Julian’s attacker has been placed in solitary confinement and so far, his name has not been released. Bishop swipes his phone screen closed revealing a photo of him with presumably his son in a baseball uniform. Of course, we know that Cisco was able to get the name. Forsythe brings Bishop with him as he argues for a mistrial.
Lorna comes armed with precedent but Forsythe counters that the defendant must still waive their right to be present at trial in writing. When Mickey suggests a conspiracy to keep the trial from continuing, Bishop chimes in with his theory that Julian’s attack was solely a hate crime targeted at his sexual orientation.
The judge says they will reconvene after lunch at which point she will give her ruling on the prospect of a mistrial.
Injuries
We learn that Julian coded during surgery but has been revived. The surgery will continue. The shiv damaged one of his kidneys and it could not be saved. His outcome is still unknown as it is a very complex case.
Mickey sits down outside the courthouse to eat a salad. Andrea walks up and shares her concern for Julian. The two attorneys talk about recent events and the guilt Andrea still feels over Deborah Glass. Mickey reiterates his thoughts from “ghost” Eddie and tells Andrea it is not her fault. She counters that she believes she could have done something to stop Deborah’s murder. Mickey reminds her that we all make mistakes. Haller also apologizes for the way he spoke to Andrea at their last meeting. She appreciates the gesture but does confess that she agrees with his assessment of the D.A.’s office being a “snake pit” at times. She describes her recent assignment on calendar duty as making her want to “poke [her] eyes out with a dull pencil”.
While nothing like Julian’s physical injuries, we suspect Mickey and Andrea both feel some pain as they mutually agree to move on from their romantic relationship. It feels too complicated at this time. Maybe achieving a balance between work and home is harder than they realized. Andrea tells Mickey she has confidence in his abilities.
In chambers round two
Before Judge Turner can share her ruling on the status of the trial, the clerk enters the room saying Agent De Marco is there but states that he does not have much time.
Mickey implores the judge to allow De Marco to testify while the jury is still in recess. That would allow her to rule on the relevance without the jury being present. The judge agrees to allow his testimony.
Lorna and Mickey discuss video footage from Peter Sterghos’ home that could implicate De Marco. They argue the benefit and risk of entering the video during rebuttal. Mickey thinks it is too risky. He fears that if there is a mistrial, the jury will never have the opportunity to see the video because he doubts that they will ever get De Marco back on the stand.
De Marco on the stand
De Marco takes the stand. His answers are succinct and often smug. He denies knowing Gloria Daytona and denies receiving a call from her shortly before her murder. The DEA agent admits to only to a basic knowledge of the circumstances of Hector Moya’s imprisonment. He may have been subpoenaed, but the agency attorneys would have responded to that.
De Marco does confirm that he met Neil Bishop about 10 years ago on a double murder with suspected cartel involvement because the DEA was consulted. He denies any other involvement with Bishop in regard to Julian’s case or any other. Regarding recollection of Peter Sterghos who lives across the street from where the double homicide took place, De Marco cites 10 years as too long ago to remember that kind of detail. He denies any knowledge of Sterghos being on the witness list for Julian’s case.
When asked about his whereabouts on May 17th, De Marco claims to have been on a stakeout with his partner. Of course, we know that is the night he was caught on video with Neil Bishop at Sterghos’ home. Judge Turner releases De Marco from the stand. The agent exits with a mystery gentleman who has been sitting in the gallery.
Mickey texts Izzy to call him asap. Meanwhile, Forsythe begins his argument to strike De Marco from the defense’s list of witnesses stating irrelevance.
Izzy calls
Mickey stalls just enough before receiving the call from Izzy. He asks the judge for time to get an update on his client. Mickey takes the call in the hallway. Izzy shares that Julian is in delicate condition and things could go either way at any time. Mickey wants her to say that Julian is awake. Izzy is confused as she has just described Julian’s dire straits. Again, Mickey says he wants her to say that Julian is awake. Izzy complies and states that Julian is awake.
Mickey returns to the courtroom telling the judge that he has been told that Julian is awake. (True or not, Izzy did “say” that Julian is awake.) The judge agrees to a 90-minute recess so Mickey can confer with Julian.
At the hospital
Mickey speaks with David outside Julian’s hospital room. David shares the story of how he and Julian met. Mickey shares that the judge is very close to calling a mistrial in Julian’s absence. He explains that only Julian can keep that from happening. David conveys his trust in Mickey and encourages him to “do whatever you need to do”.
The Lincoln Lawyer convinces the security guard to allow him into Julian’s room. Julian is handcuffed to the bed and far from alert. Mickey holds a waiver form.
Back to the courtroom
Mickey and David return to the courtroom with Julian’s waiver to continue the trial without him present. Forsythe tries to argue the validity of the signature. Judge Turner advises that Forsythe had the opportunity to join Haller on the hospital visit.
David takes the stand to corroborate the “signature”. Prosecutor Forsythe gives him the opportunity to reflect on the maximum sentence from perjury, but David does not budge. He verifies that the signature is Julian’s.
Despite Forsythe’s continued objection, Judge Turner rules against a mistrial given that the defendant has expressed his desire for the trial to continue. Court will reconvene at 9:00 am the next day.
Curiously, Judge Turner never did rule on the relevance of De Marco’s testimony.
Coincidentally . . .
Cisco receives a visit from Andrea. She gives him the discovery file for the Lalo Vasquez case, the prisoner who shanked Julian. Cisco is surprised that Andrea would take such a risk. She is not worried because it has all been shared already. Plus, she is not sure she even cares.
The file shows that Vasquez was in prison for distributing fetanyl-laced cocaine that took the lives of three college students. Interestingly, the evidence photos show small drug bags with the same blue star logo on the bags that Amber Dell was selling in Las Vegas.
Next witness
The next day, Lorna reminds Mickey that the judge did not rule on the relevance of De Marco’s testimony. Mickey feels certain that De Marco will never show up again. Lorna wants Mickey to use the surveillance video, but Mickey decides to use the video differently.
Mickey saddles up next to Bishop in the hallway. The Lincoln Lawyer brings up the video on his phone for Bishop to watch. Bishop grows concerned and he insists that he never entered the house but only stood guard for De Marco. Mickey tells Bishop he does not believe he is a killer. He implores Bishop to do the right thing. Bishop tells Mickey that things are complicated and urges him to not share the video with anyone else. Mickey says that Bishop’s choices will dictate whether that happens or not.
Inside the courtroom, Mickey calls Neil Bishop to the stand.
Episodes 1 – 10 of The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 are currently available on Netflix.
Stay tuned for ongoing coverage of The Lincoln Lawyer including interviews, recaps, and all new episodes of our podcast Lincoln Law Pod on SoManyShows.com.
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