• Law & Order 1/15/2026 "Dream On" spoilers

    From Adam H. Kerman@3:633/10 to All on Fri Jan 16 04:48:40 2026
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    Lt. Brady's son is intimately involved with a murder victim, a female
    musician with a daughter that he wants to adopt. Naturally, the mother
    is directly involved with the investigation.

    Her son is a recovering drug addict and blames his mother for tough love
    she showed to force his recovery. The victim is still using drugs.
    Someone in recovery really shouldn't be living with a drug user.

    The son looks good for the murder. He jealous of her relationship with
    her new producer and sent actual threatening messages. Why was he so out
    of control angry? His alibi was taking care of the daughter, but of
    course she was asleep during the murder.

    The producer looks better for the murder as there's blood and DNA
    evidence and he sent a threatening text message too. The case is really
    weak as the forensic evidence can be explained. However, there is an
    actual brick of cocaine and video footage of a duffel bag being
    transported by the victim and the police found the drugs in the same
    duffel bag at the victim's home. With the actual drugs, why not look for
    a hard connection to the producer? Always charge murder first on weak
    evidence; no drug charges.

    Defense wants to use a theory of the crime that Brady's son did it and
    his mother interferred; she did. There's inference but no evidence
    against him. That's ok. There's case law that absense of evidence
    doesn't mean the defense can't offer their theory of the crime.

    In the stupidest trial moment, the son and not the police is used to
    introduce the drugs even though the son never saw them. He just saw the
    duffel bag. The defense rightly objects that it's speculative. It goes
    to the prosecution's theory of the crime that was the motive for the
    murder. Gosh, it's kind of important to get right.

    Tne defendant does a nice job explaining away the forensic evidence.
    They need a better alibi from the son.

    Lt. Brady figures out that her son lied. He'd left the girl and got
    drunk. There's video evidence of him in the bar. He changes his
    testimony on the stand.

    If Brady hadn't interferred with her son's initial questioning, the
    detectives may have been able to force him to provide his real alibi,
    since he was too ashamed to tell his mother he fell off the wagon and
    neglected the girl.

    Brady told her son she won't support his custody petition.

    Odelya Halevi does not appear.

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From BTR1701@3:633/10 to All on Sat Jan 17 18:40:15 2026
    On Jan 15, 2026 at 8:48:40 PM PST, ""Adam H. Kerman"" <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

    s
    p
    o
    i
    l
    e
    r

    s
    p
    a
    c
    e

    Lt. Brady's son is intimately involved with a murder victim, a female musician with a daughter that he wants to adopt. Naturally, the mother
    is directly involved with the investigation.

    Her son is a recovering drug addict and blames his mother for tough love
    she showed to force his recovery. The victim is still using drugs.
    Someone in recovery really shouldn't be living with a drug user.

    The son looks good for the murder. He jealous of her relationship with
    her new producer and sent actual threatening messages. Why was he so out
    of control angry? His alibi was taking care of the daughter, but of
    course she was asleep during the murder.

    The producer looks better for the murder as there's blood and DNA
    evidence and he sent a threatening text message too. The case is really
    weak as the forensic evidence can be explained. However, there is an
    actual brick of cocaine and video footage of a duffel bag being
    transported by the victim and the police found the drugs in the same
    duffel bag at the victim's home. With the actual drugs, why not look for
    a hard connection to the producer? Always charge murder first on weak evidence; no drug charges.

    Defense wants to use a theory of the crime that Brady's son did it and
    his mother interfered; she did. There's inference but no evidence
    against him. That's ok. There's case law that absense of evidence
    doesn't mean the defense can't offer their theory of the crime.

    Which makes sense. Just because you can't prove someone else did it, shouldn't preclude you from showing the jury how the crime could have happened without you.

    In the stupidest trial moment, the son and not the police is used to introduce the drugs even though the son never saw them. He just saw the duffel bag. The defense rightly objects that it's speculative.

    Except it wasn't speculative. Price asked him what the police found and he answered factually: the drugs. There was no speculation there. It was a
    bizarre objection which was sustained for no other reason than the judge was a graduate of the Law & Order Judicial Academy. But yes, the detectives should
    be the ones introducing that evidence.

    It goes
    to the prosecution's theory of the crime that was the motive for the
    murder. Gosh, it's kind of important to get right.

    Tne defendant does a nice job explaining away the forensic evidence.
    They need a better alibi from the son.

    Lt. Brady figures out that her son lied. He'd left the girl and got
    drunk. There's video evidence of him in the bar. He changes his
    testimony on the stand.

    But only *after* the prosecution rested its case. I have no idea how Price was able to call him back to the stand for more direct testimony after he rested his case. Maybe there's also a Law & Order School of Criminal Procedure that teaches either party can just stand up and call witnesses whenever they want.

    Odelya Halevi does not appear.

    I didn't even notice until well after I'd finished watching the episode.

    It would be nice if they'd occasionally give the second chair eye candy lawyer the opportunity to try a case on her own on this show. 27 seasons and the girl never gets to do anything more than arraignments.



    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Adam H. Kerman@3:633/10 to All on Sat Jan 17 19:11:13 2026
    BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
    On Jan 15, 2026 at 8:48:40 PM PST, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

    s
    p
    o
    i
    l
    e
    r

    s
    p
    a
    c
    e

    Lt. Brady's son is intimately involved with a murder victim, a female >>musician with a daughter that he wants to adopt. Naturally, the mother
    is directly involved with the investigation.

    Her son is a recovering drug addict and blames his mother for tough love >>she showed to force his recovery. The victim is still using drugs.
    Someone in recovery really shouldn't be living with a drug user.

    The son looks good for the murder. He jealous of her relationship with
    her new producer and sent actual threatening messages. Why was he so out
    of control angry? His alibi was taking care of the daughter, but of
    course she was asleep during the murder.

    The producer looks better for the murder as there's blood and DNA
    evidence and he sent a threatening text message too. The case is really >>weak as the forensic evidence can be explained. However, there is an
    actual brick of cocaine and video footage of a duffel bag being
    transported by the victim and the police found the drugs in the same
    duffel bag at the victim's home. With the actual drugs, why not look for
    a hard connection to the producer? Always charge murder first on weak >>evidence; no drug charges.

    Defense wants to use a theory of the crime that Brady's son did it and
    his mother interfered; she did. There's inference but no evidence
    against him. That's ok. There's case law that absense of evidence
    doesn't mean the defense can't offer their theory of the crime.

    Which makes sense. Just because you can't prove someone else did it, >shouldn't preclude you from showing the jury how the crime could have >happened without you.

    Fair enough. If the third party is named in the defense's theory, how
    closely connected to the crime does the named party have to be?

    In the stupidest trial moment, the son and not the police is used to >>introduce the drugs even though the son never saw them. He just saw the >>duffel bag. The defense rightly objects that it's speculative.

    Except it wasn't speculative. Price asked him what the police found and he >answered factually: the drugs. There was no speculation there. It was a >bizarre objection which was sustained for no other reason than the judge was a >graduate of the Law & Order Judicial Academy. But yes, the detectives should >be the ones introducing that evidence.

    Price's theory is that the drugs and duffel bag belonged to the
    defendant, which Brady's son couldn't testify about. I wanted the
    evidence introduced so that the jury could understand the time line.
    First introduce the video showing the victim removing the duffel bag
    from the defendant's home. Then have the police testify about the
    discovery of the drugs in the duffel bag. Then have the son testify that
    he had never seen the duffel bag in the apartment before its discovery
    by the police. The son would not be speculating whom the drugs belonged
    to.

    If Price had done that, there couldn't have been an objection as
    everybody is testifying to what he knows.

    It goes to the prosecution's theory of the crime that was the motive
    for the murder. Gosh, it's kind of important to get right.

    Tne defendant does a nice job explaining away the forensic evidence.
    They need a better alibi from the son.

    Lt. Brady figures out that her son lied. He'd left the girl and got
    drunk. There's video evidence of him in the bar. He changes his
    testimony on the stand.

    But only *after* the prosecution rested its case. I have no idea how
    Price was able to call him back to the stand for more direct testimony
    after he rested his case. Maybe there's also a Law & Order School of
    Criminal Procedure that teaches either party can just stand up and call >witnesses whenever they want.

    I was going to ask about that. I could see the son being recalled to
    rebut testimony given by the defendant. But that's not what he did.
    Instead, he rebutted his own testimony, having lied on the stand.

    Is there any procedure for the prosecutor to expose the lie made by his
    own witness?

    Odelya Halevi does not appear.

    I didn't even notice until well after I'd finished watching the episode.

    When she's not on the episode, the staging is different. Price stands in
    the well of the court in front of the table while questioning to
    distract from the lack of a second chair.

    It would be nice if they'd occasionally give the second chair eye candy >lawyer the opportunity to try a case on her own on this show. 27 seasons
    and the girl never gets to do anything more than arraignments.

    Good point.

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From BTR1701@3:633/10 to All on Sat Jan 17 20:13:51 2026
    On Jan 17, 2026 at 11:11:13 AM PST, ""Adam H. Kerman"" <ahk@chinet.com>
    wrote:

    BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:

    On Jan 15, 2026 at 8:48:40 PM PST, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

    Which makes sense. Just because you can't prove someone else did it,
    shouldn't preclude you from showing the jury how the crime could have
    happened without you.

    Fair enough. If the third party is named in the defense's theory, how
    closely connected to the crime does the named party have to be?

    You can't directly accuse someone of committing the crime with no foundation, at least in Texas where I went to law schoolin', but you can allege "someone" could have done x, y, or z.

    In the stupidest trial moment, the son and not the police is used to
    introduce the drugs even though the son never saw them. He just saw the
    duffel bag. The defense rightly objects that it's speculative.

    Except it wasn't speculative. Price asked him what the police found and he >> answered factually: the drugs. There was no speculation there. It was a
    bizarre objection which was sustained for no other reason than the judge was >> a
    graduate of the Law & Order Judicial Academy. But yes, the detectives should >> be the ones introducing that evidence.

    Price's theory is that the drugs and duffel bag belonged to the
    defendant, which Brady's son couldn't testify about.

    True, but that wasn't what the defense objected to. She specifically objected when Price asked what the police found and the defendant answered: the drugs. *That* wasn't speculation and the objection should have been overruled.

    I wanted the
    evidence introduced so that the jury could understand the time line.
    First introduce the video showing the victim removing the duffel bag
    from the defendant's home. Then have the police testify about the
    discovery of the drugs in the duffel bag. Then have the son testify that
    he had never seen the duffel bag in the apartment before its discovery
    by the police. The son would not be speculating whom the drugs belonged
    to.

    If Price had done that, there couldn't have been an objection as
    everybody is testifying to what he knows.

    It goes to the prosecution's theory of the crime that was the motive
    for the murder. Gosh, it's kind of important to get right.

    Tne defendant does a nice job explaining away the forensic evidence.
    They need a better alibi from the son.

    Lt. Brady figures out that her son lied. He'd left the girl and got
    drunk. There's video evidence of him in the bar. He changes his
    testimony on the stand.

    But only *after* the prosecution rested its case. I have no idea how
    Price was able to call him back to the stand for more direct testimony
    after he rested his case. Maybe there's also a Law & Order School of
    Criminal Procedure that teaches either party can just stand up and call
    witnesses whenever they want.

    I was going to ask about that. I could see the son being recalled to
    rebut testimony given by the defendant. But that's not what he did.
    Instead, he rebutted his own testimony, having lied on the stand.

    Is there any procedure for the prosecutor to expose the lie made by his
    own witness?

    The state would inform the judge and the defense of the new evidence and if
    the state had already rested, it would be up to the defense if they wanted to call him back to the stand to impeach him. But in this case, impeaching him
    for the lie would also establish his alibi and torpedo their defense so they probably wouldn't do that. The judge could allow further direct testimony on her own motion but that would be exceedingly rare.

    Odelya Halevi does not appear.

    I didn't even notice until well after I'd finished watching the episode.

    When she's not on the episode, the staging is different. Price stands in
    the well of the court in front of the table while questioning to
    distract from the lack of a second chair.

    It would be nice if they'd occasionally give the second chair eye candy
    lawyer the opportunity to try a case on her own on this show. 27 seasons
    and the girl never gets to do anything more than arraignments.

    Good point.

    They don't even have to give her the whole case. Just let her question a witness or two. That's the way it works in real life. If a case is important
    or complicated enough to have a second chair, the state will split the workload, with each lawyer questioning and cross-examining half the witnesses and the other lawyer taking the other half. The "first chair" attorney decides the theory of the case and develops the overall strategy but that doesn't mean he does all the work while the second chair just sits there doing nothing but looking pretty.

    Notice how only the prosecution in the world of Law & Order has a second
    chair. There's only ever one lawyer at the defense table.



    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Adam H. Kerman@3:633/10 to All on Sat Jan 17 21:03:04 2026
    BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
    Jan 17, 2026 at 11:11:13 AM PST, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote: >>BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
    On Jan 15, 2026 at 8:48:40 PM PST, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

    Which makes sense. Just because you can't prove someone else did it, >>>shouldn't preclude you from showing the jury how the crime could have >>>happened without you.

    Fair enough. If the third party is named in the defense's theory, how >>closely connected to the crime does the named party have to be?

    You can't directly accuse someone of committing the crime with no foundation, >at least in Texas where I went to law schoolin', but you can allege "someone" >could have done x, y, or z.

    I see. Thanks.

    In the stupidest trial moment, the son and not the police is used to >>>>introduce the drugs even though the son never saw them. He just saw the >>>>duffel bag. The defense rightly objects that it's speculative.

    Except it wasn't speculative. Price asked him what the police found and >>>he answered factually: the drugs. There was no speculation there. It
    was a bizarre objection which was sustained for no other reason than
    the judge was a graduate of the Law & Order Judicial Academy. But yes, >>>the detectives should be the ones introducing that evidence.

    Price's theory is that the drugs and duffel bag belonged to the
    defendant, which Brady's son couldn't testify about.

    True, but that wasn't what the defense objected to. She specifically objected >when Price asked what the police found and the defendant answered: the drugs. >*That* wasn't speculation and the objection should have been overruled.

    Fair enough. Police showed him the drugs.


    . . .

    Tne defendant does a nice job explaining away the forensic evidence. >>>>They need a better alibi from the son.

    Lt. Brady figures out that her son lied. He'd left the girl and got >>>>drunk. There's video evidence of him in the bar. He changes his >>>>testimony on the stand.

    But only *after* the prosecution rested its case. I have no idea how >>>Price was able to call him back to the stand for more direct testimony >>>after he rested his case. Maybe there's also a Law & Order School of >>>Criminal Procedure that teaches either party can just stand up and call >>>witnesses whenever they want.

    I was going to ask about that. I could see the son being recalled to
    rebut testimony given by the defendant. But that's not what he did. >>Instead, he rebutted his own testimony, having lied on the stand.

    Is there any procedure for the prosecutor to expose the lie made by his
    own witness?

    The state would inform the judge and the defense of the new evidence and if >the state had already rested, it would be up to the defense if they wanted to >call him back to the stand to impeach him. But in this case, impeaching him >for the lie would also establish his alibi and torpedo their defense so they >probably wouldn't do that. The judge could allow further direct testimony on >her own motion but that would be exceedingly rare.

    Got it. Price shouldn't have been allowed to recover from the lie.

    They don't even have to give her the whole case. Just let her question
    a witness or two. That's the way it works in real life. If a case is >important or complicated enough to have a second chair, the state will
    split the workload, with each lawyer questioning and cross-examining
    half the witnesses and the other lawyer taking the other half. The
    "first chair" attorney decides the theory of the case and develops the >overall strategy but that doesn't mean he does all the work while the
    second chair just sits there doing nothing but looking pretty.

    That makes sense.

    Notice how only the prosecution in the world of Law & Order has a second >chair. There's only ever one lawyer at the defense table.

    Good point.

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)