Episode 0502 - "Guardians and Gatekeepers"
Katie and Jerry Espenson take the case of Jeffrey Addario whose daughter was arrested for cocaine possession and later raped by a prison guard in a private facility. They chose the private facility because it claimed to provide drug counseling. Addario hopes they will settle, and not go to trial. Katie agrees, but admits it would be hard to prove negligence in court. Alan’s old nemesis, attorney Melvin Palmer, is defending the prison. He infuriates Jerry and Katie by offering Mr. Addario a settlement in a game-show format: making him an offer, but noting there’s another offer in his briefcase, which may be a larger or smaller amount. Which one does he want? Shirley’s seventeen-year-old granddaughter, Marlena, is arrested for voting in the primary before she was of age. Marlena feels it was an act of civic pride, and Shirley asks Sack to represent her. Denny makes a pass at Marlena, and Shirley smacks him. He collapses to the ground unconscious, and no longer breathing. Alan gives him mouth-to-mouth.
When Denny comes to he’s excited, hoping that it was Shirley or Marlena who gave him mouth-to-mouth. He’s unnerved to learn it was Alan. Palmer’s offer is two hundred and twenty-five thousand, which Jeffery thinks is low. Palmer thinks it’s reasonable considering all the variables. He implies that a trial would mean subjecting his daughter to painful questions, and maybe raising the fact that she led on the guard. Katie is disgusted, but he has made his point. Judge Clark Brown is shocked that Marlena falsified her birth year to vote. She thinks he should prosecute the lazy people who are of age but don’t vote. Sack suggests that Judge Brown fine her, and give her community service. When ADA Lennox informs Judge Brown that she also posted a Youtube video encouraging other minors to vote, and showing them how to falsify their registration forms, Judge Brown sentences her to one year in jail. Sack reminds him that he can’t sentence her without a trial.
It turns out that Denny has been taking over forty drugs daily for various conditions, and the interaction almost killed him. He convinces Alan to sue the drug company, because it was their deceptive advertising that led him to believe it was safe to take all the drugs. When ADA Lennox cross-examines Marlena, she not only deflects his questions but actually scores points with Judge Brown. She’s that sharp. With Judge Jamie Atkinson presiding, Palmer gets Lauren Addario to admit that she was having a relationship with the guard that attacked her, and actually kissed him right before the rape. Palmer’s witness, CEO Michael Ryder, testifies that for-profit prisons are safer and more effective than State run ones. Jerry tears into him with new-found confidence, driving home the point that a fifteen-year-old child was raped. He ends with as an aside that it was "good they made a profit." Marlena is offered probation, but she refuses the deal. Shirley is even more shocked that Sack agrees. Alan and Denny meet with Wade Mathis and the other representatives of the pharmaceutical company they are suing. Mathis tries to bully them. Alan reminds him that he is the guy who just took on big tobacco, and was awarded two-hundred-million dollars. That shuts him up.
In closing ADA Lennox salutes Marlena's civic commitment; but makes the point that she is still a kid, and the law says she can’t vote. Sack makes a strong argument that kids couldn’t do any worse than adults have done; and that in fact, informed, passionate kids are our only hope for the future. Palmer wraps up his strong defense for the private prison, and Katie closes by reminding the jury that when a facility promises a higher standard of care it should be able to prevent a child from being raped by a guard. Judge Brown does research on his own, learning that there is some merit in treating teens as adults. Although he cannot give Marlena the right to vote, he dismisses all charges against her. Mathis makes his case to Judge Peyton that the drug company cannot be blamed for Denny’s stupidity. Alan attacks their greed: how they spend twice as much on ads as they do on research, and how they bury evidence that their drugs can kill. He especially hits on how they prey on older Americans, and target children to establish customers for life. To Mathis’ shock, the Judge will allow the case to go to trial. Palmer and Jerry exchange sneers as the jury finds in favor of the plaintiff, awarding Lauren 1.7 million dollars. Jerry zings Palmer as he leaves the courtroom, and Katie and Jerry agree that they make a great team.
On the balcony it’s cigars and drinks for Denny and Alan. They discuss the end of the series, and their eventual deaths. Denny thanks Alan for his life-saving mouth-to-mouth, calling him his "Prince Charming... 'til death do us part."