CSI: CRIME scene investigation

Season 5 - Episode 9 - Mea Culpa

Story by Carol Mendelsohn & Josh Berman
Teleplay by Josh Berman
Directed by David Grossman

A jury irregularity puts Grissom on the stand to testify in a murder case he previously thought was a slam-dunk. When asked to re-examine a matchbook he found at the scene – that’s sealed in its original bag – Grissom spots a fingerprint he doesn’t remember and isn’t in his original notes – and it doesn’t match the defendant. The defense attorneys have every right to call every piece of evidence into question because, Grissom admits: “I’ve handed them reasonable doubt.”

In the five-year-old case, a dispute over a private alleyway owned by furniture shop owner Max Larson and shared with restaurant owner Jason Garbett turned deadly when Larson refused to move his delivery trucks that were blocking the alley and causing problems for the restaurant. Larson wound up bludgeoned to death, and the wrench used to kill Larson was found with the defendant Garbett’s fingerprints on it. With the discovery of the matchbook, the CSIs thought they had proven that Garbett set the fire to cover up his crime. But now the mystery fingerprint, which is not a match to Garbett, has thrown the whole case – and Grissom’s competency – into question.

Ecklie wastes not time in filing a supervisory inquiry, and Sofia is in charge of looking into Grissom’s whole team and Grissom’s ability to lead them it. Her mandate: to determine if Grissom made a mistake and arrested the wrong guy.

Meanwhile, Sara and Greg investigate a John Doe shooting death that may or may not have been a suicide, involving a gun that has been compromised and made even more deadly.