- New technology on DNA testing reveals that a man convicted of a rape six years back is innocent and he is promptly released. Now a free man, he is eager on pressing charges against the department and the crime lab for his false conviction. Meanwhile, Horatio and his team reopen the case in hope to catch the real rapist. In the morgue, Alexx examines the body of a young woman who died from infections caused by a piece of cloth left inside her after an operation. She is intent on finding the surgeon responsible for this untimely death.—Ploy P.
- After six years in jail, mover Brian Lexington's conviction for raping surviver Valerie Naff is squashed because the DNA evidence is disproved with new techniques Natalia proudly presented to the press to justify her research grant. Brian cries revenge, filing various compensation suits trough attorney George Hammett. Locksmith powder shows the rapist had one of the three keys Naff has made for new locks she had installed. Just after Ryan realizes her real estate agent Jeff Colson has opportunity, he's found home, skull smashed frenetically with a missing statue, before DNA proves his guilt. Naff and present boyfriend Doug Stets are each-other's alibi. Tripp and Ryan find a leak. Eric examines the case of Dr. Brent Kessler's hospital patient Kelly Gerber, who was found in the driver's seat after a car accident but died previously from an infected tissue during surgery. It contained a chemical fit to mask ecstasy use.—KGF Vissers
- Payback
DNA evidence cuts both ways, proving guilt or innocence. For six long years, Brian Lexington (Nick Moran) endured the harshness of prison life for a rape he did not commit--a rape that the victim, Valerie Naff (Michelle Nolden), still suffers nightmares over. She had identified Brian as her attacker, and as a furniture mover, he had access to her new home. Her underwear was also found in his possession, a kinky theft that is now proven circumstantial to the rape. Brian was cleared thanks to the Miami-Dade "Justice Project" under the direction of DNA analyst Natalia Boa Vista (Eva La Rue). Advances in DNA research and technology were a contributing factor. A distraught Valerie Naff has one question for Horatio Caine (David Caruso). If Brian Lexington didn't rape her, who did?
Calleigh (Emily Procter) is upset by the overturned verdict and reviews the case with Natalia. Everything came down to one foreign pubic hair found in the victim's sexual assault kit. They did not have the technology to get a genetic profile from that single root six years ago. Today it poses no problem to pull nuclear DNA from a single root, duplicate it, and then analyze it for a full profile. Natalia has run it through CODIS and not gotten any hits. They're back to square one on finding their rapist. Meanwhile, Brian Lexington has made it very clear to Horatio that he's going to sue him and the entire Miami PD for malicious prosecution. He's hired George Hammett (Peter Jacobson), a heavyweight lawyer, to represent him.
Ryan (Jonathan Togo) and Calleigh pull Valerie Naff's rape case box from the evidence locker and examine the contents that include the victim's pajamas, bed sheets, keys, tissue box, a TV remote, and a ripped magazine. Besides the underwear theft, Brian Lexington's shoeprint was found in the mud outside her bedroom window. It had rained that night. He profiled like a sexual deviant and the victim identified him. It looked solid at the time, but DNA doesn't lie. The real rapist has been out there for six years.
Meanwhile, down in the autopsy theatre, Foster (Greg Dohanic) wheels in the body of Kelly Gerber (January Welsh, Marissa Welsh), age 22. She died in a solo car crash, her vehicle hitting the center divider. However, her injuries do not appear traumatic enough to be the COD. Alexx notes an inflamed appendectomy scar, and opens her up to find a large surgical sponge where the girl's appendix used to be. The ensuing infection must have put her into toxic shock. Serious medical malpractice is what killed this girl, not a car collision. Alexx is determined to find the doctor who performed the surgery.
In the Trace Lab, Ryan finds graphite powder near a missing button on Valerie Naff's pajama top. Locksmiths inject graphite powder into keyways to lubricate the locking mechanism--and Valerie probably had her locks replaced or re-keyed when she moved into her new home. The trace was left there during the struggle, so that leads them to the locksmith, Phil Cobb (F.J. Rio), a sturdy ex-Marine. He stands by his statement of six years ago: he re-keyed the Naff residence and left three keys. Calleigh did a background check and learned that Phil was arrested for domestic violence eighteen months ago. He claims his ex-wife is the one with the temper and submits to a DNA swab. It turns out not to be a match to their rapist's telltale pubic hair. However, Ryan notes that there are only two keys on the ring in the evidence locker, not three as Mr. Cobb testified. Maybe someone pulled a key off the ring and left some skin cells. Natalia agrees to swab the key ring for epithelials.
In the CSI hallway, Eric Delko (Adam Rodriguez) catches up to Natalia and it is clear from their flirtatious exchange that they had a tryst last night. Delko returns a bracelet found in his couch, thinking it's hers. It's not. Alexx interrupts, noting the sexual tension. She has the report on her toxic shock victim, Kelly Gerber. That makes the hospital where she had her shoddy appendectomy the crime scene. Eric finds Dr. Brent Kessler (Jon Hamm) at Miami General hospital. He barely remembers the surgery on the girl. It was sandwiched between two coronary artery bypasses. He's surprised to learn the girl died, but reminds Delko that no surgery is routine. He's paged to the O.R., but not before Delko reminds him that this case is not going away. After Dr. Kessler leaves, Delko notes a gritty film wrapped around the inside of the Doctor's orange juice glass like a halo. With a napkin, he carefully bags it.
Back at the DNA Lab, Natalia squeezes the metal rails of the key ring, scraping epithelial flakes free. She then cuts the swab, puts it in a tube, gives it a pipette injection, and then a spin in the thermocycler. The DNA spectra rolls off the printer showing the epithelials are a match to the rapist's pubic hair. She confers with Horatio, who realizes that the rapist didn't come through the window, but walked through Valerie Naff's front door. At the victim's house, he finds Brian Lexington engaging Valerie in an intense conversation. He tells Horatio that he came to get an apology from the woman. The Lieutenant tells him to leave. Valerie is upset. She's now going to be named in Brian's lawsuit. Horatio questions her about the missing key. Did she give one to her boyfriend, Doug Stets (Michael Shanks)? No. They met after the rape and she's never given him a key to her house. Six years have gone by and the memory of the rape still traumatizes her. She realizes she couldn't see her attacker clearly, but his rough manner and breath remain vivid in her mind. Horatio feels for her.
However, Alexx is short on sympathy when Dr. Kessler pays her a surprise visit in the autopsy theatre. Sweating and clearly rattled by Delko's visit, he objects to anyone questioning his competence. He's Miami General's attending thoracic surgeon and as such has saved many lives over the last five years. He blames the errant sponge that killed Kelly Garber on a scrub nurse. Alexx should stick with the dead ones. "Try not sending them to me," she counters. Later, Alexx pays a visit to Scrub Nurse Debra Brawley (Claudett Kilroy). They've known each other for ten years, yet Debra is reluctant to pin any blame on Dr. Kessler for malpractice. He had to leave in the middle of the appendectomy on Kelly, which was unfortunate since Dr. Waverly, a novice resident surgeon, was closing. Alexx finds it inexcusable that Kessler left in the middle of a surgery, no matter how many patients he had to see. There's more to this, and Debra isn't talking.
In the Layout Room, Ryan tells Calleigh that CODIS couldn't pair the DNA with any rape suspects. They have to look at things from another angle. How did their rapist get the third key to Valerie Naff's house? One of the crime scene photos shows the key ring on top of some built-in shelves near the front door. There's a sterling silver picture frame nearby propped up and wrapped in a red bow. Inside the frame is a photo of the house. Ryan calls Valerie and learns it was a gift from her realtor, Jeff Colson (Philip Anthony-Rodriguez). Horatio questions him, reads his defensive vibe, and requests a DNA sample. Colson tells him to get a warrant. Horatio does just that. However, when he and Detective Tripp (Rex Linn) go to a residence where Colson is holding an "Open House" they find the realtor bludgeoned to death. Horatio's gut tells him that somebody knew he was CSI's primary suspect and took vengeance.
Alexx arrives to process the body. Colson took a savage beating. He has a severely bruised abdomen and ribs and from body blows. However, the fatal wounds are blows to the head with a heavy object. Horatio notes a rectangular patch of darker oak wood on a coffee table. Something is missing. Looking at the open house brochure, he notes a photo of the living room with a piece of modern art carved from marble. Alexx is certain that the attack was personal, fueled by rage. That sends Horatio back to the rape victim, Valerie. No one had more reason to kill Colson that her. But how did she know he was a suspect? Detective Tripp has a hard talk with Natalia about it since she's been so chummy with the press lately. Did she ever talk to anybody about his request for Colson's DNA report?
No, she didn't. Ryan joins the conversation and reveals that there may be a mole in the department, somebody in the lab somebody everybody likes and trusts. As they process the weight of this, Natalia confirms that the DNA from the deceased realtor, Jeff Colson, is a match to the pubic hair and epithelials taken as evidence in the case, proving he was Valerie Naff's rapist. One case closes, another opens. Who murdered Jeff Colson?
Horatio presses Valerie for an answer in the Interview Room. She seems genuinely shocked that Colson was the rapist. She states that she was home at the time of the murder. She can't vouch for her boyfriend, Doug, but she insists that he would never stoop to such violence. He has been the one person she could count on all these years. Calleigh finds Doug prepping a gorgeous white Fairline yacht out at the marina. It's a very expensive boat for a professional landscaper. She notices his swollen knuckles, red and raw. He says his hands take a beating in his line of work. When Calleigh tells him about Jeff Colson's murder, he feigns ignorance, although he's glad the rapist is dead for Valerie's sake. Calleigh warns him to stay on dry land. There will probably be more questions ahead.
Delko has put Dr. Kessler's orange juice glass through trace and breaks down the molecular structure of the white film granules that have been scraped off of it. He reports to Alexx that they are all vitamin residue--B6, calcium, magnesium and 5-HTP. However, Alexx knows that those vitamins, plus 5-HTP, are also known as minimizing supplements to mask the side effects of ecstasy. She visits Dr. Kessler and peels away the truth. He's a good man, a brilliant surgeon but he's taking the drug ecstasy to stop the tremors that come with the onset of Parkinson's disease. That's why he walked out in the middle of Kelly Gerber's appendectomy. He couldn't control the shaking that day. Alexx shows Dr. Kessler an autopsy photo of his patient, Kelly, then with compassion in her heart, tells him that it is time to stop living in denial and step away from the O.R.
Back at CSI, Calleigh and Ryan watch a breaking news interview in which Valerie Naff makes a public apology to the man she accused and sent to prison, Brian Lexington. Horatio finds it odd timing and quite the change of heart. Perhaps Valerie's earlier conversation with Brian had to do with joining his lawsuit against the MDPD and the county. Is that why her boyfriend, Doug, is buying a yacht? He presses and extracts an angry confession that Brian Lexington told her that Jeff Colson was the rapist. It stands to reason that Brian killed the man. He had six years to think about it. However, in autopsy, Alexx determines that the marble sculpture used to kill Jeff only cracked his skull. Either the killer let up or did not have the physical strength to hit the victim hard enough. Brian Lexington received a stab wound in prison. However, when examined, Horatio and Tripp are convinced it did not limit the man's mobility. Horatio is also convinced that Brian's attorney, George Hammett (Peter Jacobson), is the source of the leak. Tripp discovers that Hammett bribed a delivery boy (Braden Williams) at Liaison Messenger Service to read the DNA warrant on Colson. He passed that information to his client. Next thing you know, Colson is murdered. Hammett is on his way to being disbarred and charged with obstruction of justice. Meanwhile, Ryan and Calleigh have discovered that Doug Stets suffered permanent shoulder damage from a fallen steel beam at a job site. He can't raise one of his arms above his shoulder. That's why Colson took a lot of body shots. Doug admits to confronting Colson once Valerie informed him who her rapist was. He states that he just gave him some body blows, that he never hit him with a marble sculpture. Horatio believes he is telling the truth, because the sculpture weighed 49 pounds and Doug couldn't lift it. But Valerie could and with Colson down on all fours gasping for breath, she swung it and connected to his skull four times.
Horatio confronts Valerie with the evidence and she folds. She thought taking part in the lawsuit would help, but no amount of money or travel on a yacht would ever take away the pain and horror of her rape. Jeff Colson was someone she trusted. As soon as Brian Lexington told her that he was her rapist, she saw his face everywhere--on billboards, realty signs, taunting her. He was living his life without remorse, with no memory of what he did to her. Killing him was payback.
Horatio understands that she needed to take control of her life, and even though he understands her choice, he cannot, in good conscience, agree with it. What is going to happen to Valerie now won't be easy, but Horatio makes a promise that he'll walk her through it.
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