- When a juror dies during a mob boss trial, Brenda has to finesse her way to questioning the remaining jurors. Meanwhile, an unannounced visit put her plans with Fritz on hold.
- Fritz is moving his belongings into Brenda's house; Brenda has to leave with Sergeant Gabriel to a murder scene at the courthouse involving a juror. Gabriel refreshes both on the murder by arson at a nightclub by an Armenian mob guy. Upon arriving, she encounters Lieutenant Flynn arguing with the attorney for the criminal on trial, noted crime lord Aram Asourian; Commander Taylor insists the jury room is not a crime scene, but Flynn disagrees. The lieutenant informs Chief Johnson juror number nine, Bela Rose, died eating a poisoned lunch, coincidently following dubious past deaths of witnesses leading to the trial, all involving the defendant and his son Vahan.
Bailiff Hoss, explains to Chief Johnson, each juror was served their lunch and the food came from the same place. The coroner declared the juror's death heart failure; Lieutenant Provenza expresses his agreement as to the cause of death. Brenda issues orders to the officers as they clear evidence along with the body from the jury room; Flynn insists lunch is the cause of death. Brenda receives a phone call from her mother, who is four hours away from L.A., and she is informed by the bailiff the other ten jurors are off limits to her; Pope repeats the juror-directive from his office to Chief Johnson. Brenda is disappointed with the decision, heading to autopsy to join M.E. Dr. Crippen. She calls Fritz apologizing for her sour mood this morning, explaining her mother is coming in and she would like him to postpone his move temporarily. Agent Howard is not pleased with Brenda's request, although he abides.
Dr. Crippen reviewed the contents of the bloodwork from the victim. The blood content showed sixteen times the normal dosage of digoxin, a heart medicine, making the victim poisoned from her own medication. Crippen says it is hard to believe someone took that many pills at the same time; Flynn thinks it was in her lunch, Brenda speculates it might have been victim's own doing. Provenza, present in the room, now also knows the victim did not die a natural death.
Chief Johnson, Lt. Flynn and Sgt. Gabriel visit the victim's home, Dr. Rose, the husband, is angrily upset with the information being delivered in the manner explained by Brenda, but the reason was to be certain of the cause before informing him; an autopsy had to be performed prior to notification. He is visibly shaken, sitting on the staircase step telling Chief Johnson how organized his wife was, refusing to hear about any mistake made with the dosage. Dr. Rose blames his wife's death on the LAPD because of the threat phoned into jurors by a foreign tongued informant. He walks back up the staircase leaving Gabriel and Brenda alone with Flynn outside.
Brenda invites her mother inside her home after she checks for Fritz, who had left the moving truck outside the house, but is not present; Willie Ray eyes the baseballs on the coffee table. Brenda has to bring her to work the next day, introducing her as an observer before going to the funeral. On the murder board, Lt. Flynn details the background on the defendant, describing the son nailing the doors of a nightclub, torching the place and killing two innocent students inside cleaning the place while the father waited out in the car. The intent was to kill the owner thought to be inside because his car was in the parking lot, but he was not present, instead two female Korean-students were killed. An eyewitness seeing the father that night got his head blown off before he could testify. Willie Ray is shaken to hear Flynn's story, leaving the room and looking for the ladies' room. Brenda and Flynn interview jury consultant Allison Grant, with Brenda getting in Grant's face for answers. Bela Rose had an Armenian maiden name, making her with possible tight-knit cultural ties, the same nationality as the defendant; the speculation was Bela would be sympathetic toward an accused son. Brenda asks Allison where the son is right now; she replies not certain, but Millbrook gets anonymous phone calls every day asking how the trial is proceeding. Brenda smiles at the response from Miss Grant.
Lt. Provenza offered to take Willie Ray to the funeral, while Brenda questions attorney Millbrook.
Chief Johnson suggests to Millbrook a mistrial would be possible if Vahan were to suddenly appear even though Millbrook declares he does not know Vahan's whereabouts. The attorney calls a number, someone answers, he hangs up without speaking, and excuses himself leaving his phone on the table for Brenda to trace. Gabriel secures the location of an incoming call on Millbrook's cell and surveillance is placed on the apartment where the son likely is hiding. Vahan is returning to his apartment on foot when he is wounded trying to escape; he was packing a gun and shot at Flynn.
Vahan Asourian is in a hospital bed when Brenda and Gabriel enter his room. Brenda tells Vahan that under these circumstances she called for a priest but she has to tape his conversation first. He praises his father for standing in for him at the trial, ultimately his confession to killing the two young girls is captured with Brenda fooling him into a last opportunity to come clean before he yields to his wound. Vahan also says he killed the man seeing his father waiting for him in the car at the nightclub and he made phone calls to the courthouse with plans to kill juror number four, but he died first; Bela Rose was obviously not that intended juror. She and Gabriel depart the room as a nurse enters, and informs Vahan he is being wheeled to surgery to repair his non-life-threatening injury. Brenda wishes him to get well soon.
Taylor confronts Chief Johnson in the hallway at HQ, offering congratulations to getting a mistrial. She responds, it is not my mistrial, it is my arrest. You would think people would be happy putting a killer behind bars. Next time Commander, you might try to pair Aram up with a crime he has actually committed. Thanks to Lieutenant Flynn's determination Brenda is now allowed to talk to jurors who saw Bela die.
Brenda and Gabriel talk to Bela's juror friend, whose name they got from jury consultant Allison Grant. They learn about Bela's homelife with her money problems trying to put a son into college and a mother-in-law entering an assisted living center. Things got pretty heated during the lunch-break phone calls her friend couldn't help but overhear; arguing with someone at length.
Lieutenant Tao is sifting through Bela's prescriptions while Detective Sanchez has informed Brenda Bela had a ninety-day supply on hand. Brenda eyes a picture of Bela's vitamin capsule among her other prescriptions. Brenda tells Dr. Rose since he has invoked his right to counsel, she will be forced to talk with his mother.
Julia Rose hands over her son's schedule proving how busy he is and showing Brenda he was out when Bela called home during the juror-lunch-breaks. Brenda asks Mrs. Rose some general questions in an interview room, while she opens prescription containers, namely the capsulized ones and others. Julia explains her household chores while Bela returned to teaching. Brenda explains there was nothing in Bela's food, and it was an overdose that killed her, where would it have come from? Bela got her prescriptions in three month lots with sixteen pills missing, as Brenda handles the same medicine in front of Julia Rose. Brenda further explains coincidently it was sixteen doses that killed her, yet she only took her vitamins at lunch. You gave me a copy of David's schedule, so it must have been you that Bela was arguing with at lunchtime. Brenda tells Julia the assisted-living center called last week, her room is ready for occupancy; I don't think you want it though, am I right? Brenda explains in perfect detail how Julia killed Bela with her own medicine by substituting sixteen dosages into the vitamin capsules, all the time thinking the threats against any juror would be a perfect time to commit the crime. Julia tells Brenda how she was treated and Brenda is right, the new home would be unwanted for her to live out her life. Brenda says you were only defending yourself; I would never put my mother in an assisted living center; she took care of me, so I would take care of her. Julia declares to Chief Johnson I was treated like a dog; Bela would have dropped me off at the vet's and have them put me to sleep. What possibly could you do to me that would be worse than that? I didn't deserve to die in that assisted-living facility's smell; after all I did for them, I didn't deserve it.
Willie Ray has been watching the interview and confession throughout its entirety, wiping the tears away from her eyes as the meeting between her daughter and Mrs. Rose has concluded.
Willie Ray meets Fritz Howard, snapping a picture of the couple before they leave for dinner. Fritz gets a thank-you kiss from Brenda for temporarily moving back out.
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