Directed by Jace Alexander
Written by Janis Diamond
Briscoe and Green investigate the hit and run death of high school student Emily Milius. The car that killed her is registered to a Diane Payton, who claims that at the time of the murder, her son Danny was using the car. But Danny himself has now been murdered. When the detectives work out that Mrs. Payton has not been honest with them, Van Buren lures her into admitting that she killed Danny. It emerges that Danny, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, had recently stopped taking his medication. His mother lent him her car because driving usually calmed him; but Danny was now hearing voices telling him to kill, so he deliberately ran over the girl. Mrs. Payton felt she had to kill him before he harmed anyone else.
McCoy is angry that the defence has, in effect, changed its plea (from not guilty, to guilty by justification) - but the judge won't throw out the defence case. In his cross-examination McCoy highlights the weaknesses in Mrs. Payton's story, asking why she didn't go to the police, and why she would let her obviously homicidal son use her car. The jury finds her guilty but is of the opinion that she shouldn't receive jail time.
This episode contains examples of:
- Death of a Child: Emily Milius was not yet 17 when she died.
- Manipulative Bastard: Mrs. Payton's niece, who's also her attorney. She takes the case to further her own career at her aunt's expense, and deliberately manipulates McCoy and Southerlyn's sympathies to get Danny's medical records admitted as evidence.
- Mercy Kill: In effect, Mrs. Payton did this.
- Offing the Offspring: Mrs. Payton ended up killing her own son in an attempt to protect others.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Emily Milius's parents are still alive after her death.
