| "Sundown" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Law & Order episode | |||
| Episode no. | Season 10 Episode 9 |
||
| Directed by | Jace Alexander | ||
| Written by | Krista Vernoff William N. Fordes |
||
| Original air date | December 15, 1999 | ||
| Season 10 episodes | |||
| Episode chronology | |||
|
|||
Sundown is the 214th episode of the NBC legal drama Law & Order, and the ninth episode of the tenth season.
Contents |
Director: Jace Alexander
Writers: Krista Vernoff & William N. Fordes
George Martin as William Hallenbeck
Missy Yager as Lisa Hallenbeck
Bradley White as Michael Hallenbeck
Mark Pinter as Raymond Quinn
J.K. Simmons as Dr. Emil Skoda
Leslie Hendrix as Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers
Glynnis O'Connor as Anne Paulsen
One morning a woman and her father arrive to visit their mother/wife in hospital, in for a lymph node biopsy. But she is not in her room. Following a brief search her body is discovered in the hospital solarium (sun room). Briscoe and Green establish the dead woman, Marjorie Hallenbeck, was punched twice in the solar plexus, then fell and hit her head on a table, knocking her unconscious. The forensics cop at the scene suspects internal bleeding resulting from the body blows is the cause of death and that the victim was assaulted the previous evening, taking several hours to die. This is later confirmed by Dr. Rodgers, the medical examiner. Briscoe and Green are incredulous that the hospital security staff failed to notice a missing patient or a dead body for 12 hours, let alone prevent a fatal assault. Green says "She comes in for a biopsy and they manage to kill her?" "It's why it's called managed care," replies Briscoe.
Mrs. Hallenbeck's daughter Lisa reports her mother's valuable heirloom jewelry, which she'd taken to the hospital, is missing. The detectives identify an orderly with convictions for theft and visit his apartment where they are amused to discover he has been stealing hospital food. But the orderly denies taking Mrs. Hallenbeck's jewelry or killing her, and his alibi proves valid. The orderly states he witnessed a man being intimate with Mrs. Hallenbeck on the evening of her murder. This man proves to be a smooth-talking con artist with whom Mrs. Hallenbeck was having an affair; the detectives find the con artist carried on affairs with several wealthy women, presenting a different identity to each. His modus operandi is to attend cancer support groups and woo vulnerable ladies. Briscoe is amazed at this, prompting Green to inquire whether his partner is jealous of the man. Briscoe and Green track down the con artist eventually, arresting him at the airport as he prepares to board a plane to St. Kitts. Mrs. Hallenbeck's jewelry is in his bag.
The arrested con artist, identified as Raymond Quinn, denies murdering Mrs. Hallenbeck and says she gave him her jewelry willingly, for safekeeping. McCoy and Carmichael are skeptical but hospital staff and other witnesses confirm that Mrs. Hallenbeck's jewelry (some of which she habitually wore) was gone and she was still alive, in her room, after Quinn had left the hospital, but before Lisa and her father, William Hallenbeck, arrived to visit Mrs. Hallenbeck that evening.
It is revealed William Hallenbeck has Alzheimer's disease and is cared for primarily by the devoted Lisa, while the Hallenbecks' son Michael has little time for his father despite his condition. Suspicion begins to fall on Lisa Hallenbeck. She had recently learned about her mother's affair with Mr. Quinn and argued with her about it, and the fate of the jewelry, in the hospital solarium on the night of the murder. Mrs. Hallenbeck also had a large life insurance policy, intended to provide care for her mentally ill husband in the event of her death. Carmichael attempts to interview Mr. Hallenbeck about events on the night of the murder, but he proves vague and incoherent in response to her questions. Michael Hallenbeck describes this as the 'sundown' effect, a condition of intermediate-stage Alzheimer's in which the symptoms worsen with tiredness or fatigue, typically towards the end of the day.
Briscoe and Green bring in Lisa Hallenbeck and, under intense questioning, she admits to punching her mother during the sun room argument. Asked why she did not then get help for her mother, Lisa says she panicked and worried about the consequences for her father if she were to be imprisoned. The detectives arrest Lisa Hallenbeck but Dr. Rodgers subsequently informs them Marjorie Hallenbeck's injuries show her assailant wore a large, square ring. Mr. Hallenbeck wears such a ring. Briscoe and Green interview him in his apartment, in the presence of his son, where Mr. Hallenbeck hesitantly admits to witnessing his wife and daughter arguing in the sun room, thus learning of his wife's infidelity, before his daughter went to her mother's hospital room to search for the jewelry. He also admits to striking his wife and "she fell down". When Green moves to arrest Mr. Hallenbeck he becomes enraged and tries to escape, but is restrained and handcuffed by the police. Lisa Hallenbeck subsequently confirms her father's version of events, saying she returned to the solarium to find her mother unconscious on the floor and her father wandering the hallway outside. She panicked and they left the hospital, and she attempted to both implicate Quinn, and falsely confess, to protect her father.
At the arraignment William Hallenbeck's lawyer, Anne Paulsen, indicates their intent to plead not guilty by way of insanity. Psychiatrist Dr. Skoda subsequently interviews Mr. Hallenbeck. Hallenbeck is at first vague and unresponsive in answer to Skoda's questions, but flies into a vociferous, jealous rage when his wife's affair with Quinn is mentioned. Skoda subsequently deems Mr. Hallenbeck to have been cognizant of his actions at the time, and their consequences. Paulsen then moves a motion to dismiss the charges on the basis that imprisoning an Alzheimer's patient would be a violation of the Eighth Amendment regarding cruel and unusual punishment. When McCoy scoffs at this, Paulsen suggests McCoy see for himself the conditions under which Alzheimer's disease sufferers are held in a state prison. McCoy delegates this task to Carmichael.
Following her prison visit, Carmichael meets up with McCoy and Skoda in a bar. Carmichael vividly relates her horror and disgust at the conditions under which the prisoners with Alzheimer's are maintained; strapped down to beds wearing nothing but diapers, trapped in their own excrement, constantly chattering and screaming with only the most rudimentary medical care. Carmichael is so horrified by her visit she urges McCoy to accept the defense's insanity plea, so Mr. Hallenbeck can receive care in the outside world. While not unsympathetic, McCoy rejects this suggestion and expresses mild surprise at seeing a "softer side" of Carmichael. He turns to Skoda for advice, who can only agree that the conditions under which Alzheimer's patients are imprisoned are horrendous, but offers no advice on how to proceed with the case. McCoy asks Carmichael to come up with a compromise solution.
In a meeting regarding a plea-bargain, Carmichael suggests Mr. Hallenbeck serve a sentence for manslaughter in a halfway house, which offers moderately better care and conditions than prison. Lisa Hallenbeck firmly rejects the idea of any custodial sentence for her father, but Michael Hallenbeck is upset over what he sees as the DA's weak stance, describing his father as a patriarchal bully and a murderer who deserves to be punished as the law provides. Carmichael's offer is ultimately rejected. The argument between her and McCoy over how to proceed continues in DA Adam Schiff's office, prompting Schiff to remark to McCoy "You should have gone to Sing Sing yourself."
At the motion hearing, Paulsen repeats the assertion that the terrible prison conditions for Alzheimer's patients constitute cruel and unusual punishment and a violation of the Eighth Amendment. McCoy argues that Mr. Hallenbeck would be subject to the same incarceration conditions as other prisoners guilty of similar crimes, therefore the punishment is not unusual. He agrees William Hallenbeck faces a "grim future" but was legally sane when he attacked his wife and is responsible for his actions. The judge is also sympathetic to Mr. Hallenbeck's plight but denies the motion regarding the Eighth Amendment violation. Outside the court, Paulsen says Lisa Hallenbeck does not wish to subject her father to a trial and asks McCoy for a deal. McCoy offers 6-to-12 years in a halfway house, which is accepted. Mr. Hallenbeck allocutes in court, saying his wife had "no right" to be unfaithful to him as he "needed her."
Afterwards Carmichael observes Lisa Hallenbeck has "lost her father twice." McCoy says she adopted an all-or-nothing strategy and lost, to which Schiff responds "we should be so lucky, to have a child so devoted."