The show may or may not take place in Las Vegas. I don't know, because the sight of Warrick in a suit has more or less obliterated my ability to retain simple details. He's wearing a very nice pinstriped number, and his pale robin's-egg blue shirt picks up the color of the stripe in his charcoal suit and acts as a really nice background for a darker-blue tie. It's a good look. I'm just saying. Warrick is busy telling someone, "I searched the car in the CSI garage, and discovered the knife under the passenger seat." A lawyer hands over the knife and asks if it's the knife Warrick found. He answers in the affirmative. The lawyer then asks, "And is it true that you spend all your time wishing some woman would recap your every move on some Web site, desperately hoping she'll notice you and return your love?" "God, yes," says Warrick. Oh, damn. My fantasy life appears to have popped up again. Hang on.
Okay, so we find out that Warrick found the knife in the vehicle of one Michael Fife, the defendant whom we haven't seen. Oh! There he is now. He's one of two guys in drab navy suits and white shirts. I'm guessing he's the one who doesn't look bored so much as dismayed. The lawyer asks Warrick to describe the physical condition of the knife when he discovered it. Warrick answers that the knife was wrapped in a white towel, and both the towel and the knife were caked with dried blood. The lawyer asks how Warrick processed the evidence. He tells him, "I swabbed the blood, and sent a sample to the DNA lab. The lab technician ran a sample through CODIS. The DNA sample was a match to a recent rape and homicide victim, Rachel Lyford." As Warrick recites this, the camera switches to Gil chillin' in the audience and nodding along with Warrick's testimony. I wonder if he does that for all the CSIs, or only the anointed successors to his crime-fighting kingdom. The lawyer intones, "Rachel Lyford, who lived in Unit 7 of the Saturn Arms complex." That's like Vegas's designated rape 'n' murder condo. I wonder if the management has lessees sign something telling them their of kin won't get the cleaning deposit back if there's excessive blood and luminal on the carpets. As it turns out, the reason the Saturn Arms is such a target for criminals is because it apparently has a monthly special for rapists and murderers, if Michael Fife and his address are anything to go by. We see the Lyford -of-kin at the hearing; they're far more composed than I would be. The lawyer asks, "Is this knife consistent, in size and shape, to the fatal wounds sustained by Rachel Lyford?" Warrick confirms that it is. The state rests.
And now it's time for the defense. They open by asking Warrick, "You state you found the knife in Mr. Fife's vehicle. Is that correct?" Warrick confirms it. The defense then asks why Warrick searched the vehicle. We go to the anxious-yet-composed Lyfords. Warrick explains, "I received a call from Officer Watson. He informed me that he had pulled the defendant over to cite him for a broken taillight. After running his plates, it was discovered that the defendant had an outstanding warrant for drugs. He then arrested Mr. Fife and ordered a respond-and-tow, at which point he asked me to search the vehicle for drugs, at which point, I found the knife." I realize there's probably a reason police-speak is so dependent on the passive voice and lots of dependent clauses, but it's hard on the ears. While Warrick is answering the question, Watson's looking kind of smug. The prosecuting attorney has the file open and turns around for some reason, giving the Lyfords plenty of time to check out the crime-scene photos in the file. That's when they crumple. The DA notices this and quickly hides the photos again. The defense asks when Warrick got the warrant to search Fife's vehicle. That's when the awkward silence descends over the courtroom. Whoops.
Warrick recovers with, "Officer Watson would have secured the warrant prior to calling me." The look on Officer Watson's face suggests that this little detail eluded him. Sure enough, the defense confirms that Officer Watson never secured a warrant. Wouldn't someone have picked up on this before now? I find it difficult to believe that the chain of custody for evidence doesn't include a checklist making sure that all appropriate documentation is on file. Following the news, Warrick's eyes bug out a little, and he seeks out Gil's face in the audience. Gil is looking a little concerned. The defense asks if Warrick got the warrant. Warrick replies that he did not. The defense lawyer correctly points out that the knife is the product of an unlawful search, and they submit that the knife and towel are inadmissible. Warrick and Gil have matching freak-outs. The judge rules that all evidence acquired as a result of the illegal search is inadmissible, saying, "Fruit of the poisonous tree." For those of you not up on your legal terminology, it's the doctrine that evidence found through illegal search or other unconstitutional means cannot be introduced by the prosecutor; the tree (original evidence) is tainted and will taint further anything growing from it; the phrase seems to have been introduced in Nardone v. U.S., 308 US 338 (1939). The Lyfords are looking appalled, as well they should: can you imagine your loved one's death never being addressed appropriately by the courts because of a procedural screw-up? Not only has this horrible thing randomly descended on you, but someone else's fuck-up on the job is going to keep you from getting any legal resolution.
The DA argues that additional evidence is pending, and the knife would have been more than sufficient for the purpose of a preliminary hearing. Warrick closes his eyes, because his day, which is already heading downhill faster than Picabo Street, is about to hit the proverbial tree. The judge asks, "You have no other evidence to present?" and a pissed-looking DA replies, "Not at this time." The judge finds insufficient evidence to hold the defendant. The DA protests that Fife is accused of raping and killing a woman, and ought not be let back on the street; the Lyfords are weeping openly now. Judge Brenner snarls, "Are you suggesting that I violate his constitutional rights, counselor?" Gil leans over the banister and urges quietly, "Ask him for twenty-four hours." The DA improvises with enough legal jargon to convince the judge to let them hold Fife for twenty-four hours. The judge then orders a recess, and Warrick rolls his eyes as he lets himself off the stand. The packed courtroom -- and it's not packed with reporters, so heaven only knows who on Earth decided to hang out at a preliminary hearing -- empties.
Warrick grabs the now-useless knife and heads toward the door. Gil intercepts him and offers his brand of motivation: "The murder weapon's been excluded. That's all. We still have a lab full of evidence we can process." Warrick gripes that they've been completely blindsided, which totally raises this question: Whose job is it to make sure the warrants are sworn out? And what safeguards are in place to double-check? And why doesn't the DA's office have a law student intern or paralegal checking to make sure all the warrants were issued before basing their entire case on evidence that -- whoopsie! -- turns out to be improperly seized? I realize that logical answers to this question would make the episode ten minutes long, but that's another thirty-six minutes we could spend on something else.
“ 'You wouldn't even have a suspect if I hadn't pulled that guy over.' And they wouldn't be standing here flapping their gums if you had written the warrant, so let's not overstate our importance in the food chain, Watson. ”
Anyway, along comes Officer Watson, losing his cool all over Warrick. Warrick is literally like, "You gotta be kidding me." Watson bitches about how Warrick should have brought more than a knife to the courtroom. Yeah, way to avoid the question of who should have secured the warrant, Watson. Warrick takes us there instead, and Watson's all, "Blame it on the cop, huh?" Well, if the shoe fitsWatson continues, "You wouldn't even have a suspect if I hadn't pulled that guy over." And they wouldn't be standing here flapping their gums if you had written the warrant, so let's not overstate our importance in the food chain, Watson. Gil steps in to say, "If you have a problem with CSI, file a complaint. We're busy." Watson stalks off looking pissed.
Gil and Warrick begin walking off and Warrick asks petulantly, "What about what you said about never rushing the evidence?" Gil pushes him on out the door and says, "Well, the twenty-four hours, we're breaking the rules." He sounds so excited about it!
The Who are excited too.
Hey! It's Xander Berkeley. He's laying in wait for Gil at the Labitrail. Gil greets him with, "Sheriff." Hey! Where did Evil Ike go? And why isn't Xander Berkeley glowing in the dark? So many questions, so little time. Anyway, Xander's all, "We need to talk. About him." The dolorous Warrick snots, "Nice to meet you too." Gil tells Warrick to go ahead and start "that briefing," and he'll catch up after he and Xander compare notes on their new facial hair.
Okay, apparently by "briefing," Gil meant "self-inflicted concussion time," because Warrick is busy bashing his head into the locker in the co-ed locker room. He's all alone, ladies.
Gil, meanwhile, is defending his subordinate. Deceitfulness about creeping hearing loss aside, Gil's always been a good boss, and this is just another scene proving it. Xander, however, cares nothing for the fact that Warrick was the one doing his job correctly and that it's elementary: Watson screwed up. He's all, "Warrick Brown was on the stand. He's the face of the case. All about perception. If Fife walks, the public only hears one thing: evidence against a killer was thrown out in court because CSI conducted an improper search." Gil, who has been futzing with the stuff on his desk, looks up to ask, "You think I don't know that?" Xander moves on to look at a pig in a jar, asking, "What the hell is this?" It's no baby in a jar, that's for sure. Gil tells him it's an irradiated fetal pig; he was using the tissue to determine -- well, maybe to determine any one of a number of things we'll never know since Xander's all tell-it-to-the-hand, and begins the butter-up process, carrying on about how Gil's team does fabulous work, blah-de-blah, elevated the status of the bureau, blah-de-blah -- and Gil says flatly, "Uh-huh. Then why are you here?" I love how Gil doesn't even bother to acknowledge the compliments: it's like he's already decided his people do great work and he doesn't need anyone else to tell him. Xander explains, "I'm holding a press conference in less than an hour, where I'll be telling the press this case is under your purview." Gil chuckles and says patronizingly, "Oh, it is about perception, isn't it?" Xander has no shame; he nods and says, "Glad we understand each other." Gil makes a moue of contempt. Xander leaves with, "Why don't you call my office week -- put a little lunch on the books, huh?" Gil acidly replies, "I work nights." Which is why I recap so many scenes that take place in glaring sunlight. Xander unleashes that I-am-tired-of you-o-little-man look I knew and loved from 24 and replies in an equally snide voice, "So make it a dinner." Gil looks irritated.
And now it's time for a family meeting. Warrick's explaining that impound towed the vehicle to the garage; the Fife warrant was for marijuana possession, so that's what he was originally looking for. We flash back to Warrick finding the knife, and then in the present, Warrick is explaining that he swabbed the knife and passed the swab off to Liam for testing. We go to Liam, who has apparently been spending his free time exalting over the Duran Duran reunion tour by adopting Simon LeBon's new haircut and Nick Rhodes's old eyeliner. He spends his work time matching the swab to another case. Cue Catherine explaining, "My case. Rachel Lyford, 19. Murdered in her apartment. The assistant coroner examined the body. Based on the vaginal introitus, he suspected rape." Anyone else here not know that we were talking about the opening of the vagina, or was it just me? Well, now we all know. In any event, Catherine processed the scene, but there was nothing probative, such as prints or DNA, and everything she found was in the vault. She continues to explain, "Now, once Warrick found the knife, the DA thought there was sufficient probable cause and rushed the prelim. Further processing of the evidence became a low priority pending the trial date." Nice way to deflect attention from whomever made that judgment call. Not that it's not understandable, but stillway to skip around the question of why nobody thought to double-check the evidence.
Gil comes in right then, glares around, then says, "This is a rush case. Everyone's in the pool for twenty-four hours. Warrick, you need to see Robbins, have him walk you through his notes on the autopsy. Nick, Sara, the judge issued a warrant for Fife's vehicle. Detail is towing it back to our garage." Nicky cuts in with, "Warrick's searched the car, and the knife's been excluded. What exactly are we hoping to find?" Good question. Gil replies, "I don't know. But the knife and the towel are invisible evidence. The jury will never see them. So we have to find something that's visible." Sara raises her pencil in an opening gesture and says, "Listen, I recognize the importance of this, but I'm in the middle of my own homicide investigation." Rather than snap back, "If by 'recognize the importance,' you mean 'ignore the part where I said everyone's in the pool,' Sara, then we're on the same page," Gil elects to tell Sara he'll explain what's going on to the investigating detective. Sara replies, "Well, it's not about my detective, it's about my own responsibility." Since, you know, none of the other CSIs had cases they had to drop for this politically hot potato. Gil smacks her down with, "I'm handing out assignments, Sara. It's not a negotiation."