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History Recap / MurderSheWroteS4E3WitnessForTheDefense

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* ShownTheirWork: For all that this episode gets just plain wrong about [[UsefulNotes/{{Quebec}} its setting's regional details]], it did get an important one right: in Canada, Crown attorneys (prosecutors) and defence [[note]]Canadian spelling[[/note]] attorneys do indeed wear black robes rather than suits when in court. (And unlike their UK counterparts, they do not wear wigs, as an episode of ''Series/BostonLegal'' would later point out.)

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* ShownTheirWork: For all that this episode gets just plain wrong about [[UsefulNotes/{{Quebec}} its setting's regional details]], it did get an important one right: in Canada, Crown attorneys (prosecutors) and defence defense [[note]]Canadian spelling[[/note]] attorneys do indeed wear black robes rather than suits when in court. (And unlike their UK counterparts, they do not wear wigs, as an episode of ''Series/BostonLegal'' would later point out.)
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* BluffingTheMurderer: Jessica suggests getting a search warrant for Clay [=McLeod=]'s house to find the missing brooch. However, it turns out she intended to fool the real murderer into going and finding the brooch.

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* BluffingTheMurderer: Jessica suggests getting a search warrant for Clay [=McLeod=]'s house to find the missing brooch. However, it turns out she intended to fool the real murderer into going and finding planting the brooch.
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Regional Riff

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* RegionalRiff: The first notes of “O Canada” are played leading into a scene where a Mountie lowers a Canadian flag down a flagpole.
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grammar


* ShownTheirWork: For all that this episode gets just plain wrong about [[UsefulNotes/{{Quebec}} its setting's regional details]], it did get an important one right: in Canada, Crown attorneys (prosecutors) and defence [[note]]Canadian spelling[[/note]] attorneys do indeed wear black robes rather than suits when in court. (And without wigs, as an episode of ''Series/BostonLegal'' would later point out.

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* ShownTheirWork: For all that this episode gets just plain wrong about [[UsefulNotes/{{Quebec}} its setting's regional details]], it did get an important one right: in Canada, Crown attorneys (prosecutors) and defence [[note]]Canadian spelling[[/note]] attorneys do indeed wear black robes rather than suits when in court. (And without unlike their UK counterparts, they do not wear wigs, as an episode of ''Series/BostonLegal'' would later point out.)

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Jessica receives a most unpleasant interruption to her routine when defense attorney Oliver Quayle calls her as a witness in his latest case. The topic of contention -- whether her friend James Harlan murdered his wife Patricia. Jessica tries to get to the bottom of the matter, but her investigation runs into roadblocks at every turn courtesy of both family secrets on the Harlans' side and Quayle's utter refusal to listen to her on the other.

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Jessica receives a most unpleasant interruption to her routine when defense Quebec City defence attorney Oliver Quayle calls her as a witness in his latest case. The topic of contention -- whether her friend James Harlan murdered his wife Patricia. Jessica tries to get to the bottom of the matter, but her investigation runs into roadblocks at every turn courtesy of both family secrets on the Harlans' side and Quayle's utter refusal to listen to her on the other.


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* ShownTheirWork: For all that this episode gets just plain wrong about [[UsefulNotes/{{Quebec}} its setting's regional details]], it did get an important one right: in Canada, Crown attorneys (prosecutors) and defence [[note]]Canadian spelling[[/note]] attorneys do indeed wear black robes rather than suits when in court. (And without wigs, as an episode of ''Series/BostonLegal'' would later point out.

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Your Cheating Heart is an index, not a trope.


* ThatWasObjectionable: Both lawyers attempt to get some of the testimony drawn out by their opponent ruled inadmissible, although Miss Pirage does it more often, owing to Quayle's love for the AdHominem defense.
* YourCheatingHeart: James briefly checks into a NoTellMotel with Patricia's old roommate Monica Blane. He kept this hidden out of shame. However, it comes out during the trial, making him look even more guilty.

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* ThatWasObjectionable: Both lawyers attempt to get some of the testimony drawn out by their opponent ruled inadmissible, although Miss Pirage does it more often, owing to Quayle's love for the AdHominem defense. \n* YourCheatingHeart: James briefly checks into a NoTellMotel with Patricia's old roommate Monica Blane. He kept this hidden out of shame. However, it comes out during the trial, making him look even more guilty.
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* ChekhovsGun: Jessica admires a brooch on Patricia's dress and James tells her it's a family heirloom. When Patricia's jewelry gets catalogued by the police after her death, her rings are still there but the brooch has disappeared. This leads Jessica to the killer, because the only person who would have taken the brooch but not the valuable diamond ring Patricia was wearing would be a person with a sentimental attachment to the brooch.



* IdentificationByDentalRecords: So little remained of Patricia's body that she had to be identified her by her jewelry.

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* IdentificationByDentalRecords: So little remained of Patricia's body that she had to be identified her by her jewelry.jewelry.
* MsRedInk: Patricia's tendency to go through huge amounts of money on a regular basis put a strain on her and James' marriage. On her death date alone, she had withdrawn twenty thousand dollars. Jessica theorizes the cash went to Monica Blane in exchange for her silence about Patricia's past, but this never gets confirmed.
* RunningGag: Oliver Quayle keeps receiving messages from his ex-wives about money throughout the episode.
* ThatWasObjectionable: Both lawyers attempt to get some of the testimony drawn out by their opponent ruled inadmissible, although Miss Pirage does it more often, owing to Quayle's love for the AdHominem defense.
* YourCheatingHeart: James briefly checks into a NoTellMotel with Patricia's old roommate Monica Blane. He kept this hidden out of shame. However, it comes out during the trial, making him look even more guilty.

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* CallBack: While trying to discredit Jessica on the witness stand, Quayle brings up four murder cases in which one of her relatives had been considered the primary suspect, two involving her nieces [[Recap/MurderSheWroteS3E4CornedBeefAndCarnage Victoria]] and [[Recap/MurderSheWroteS2E8DeadHeat Tracy]] and [[Recap/MurderSheWroteS1E1TheMurderOfSherlockHolmes two]] involving her nephew [[Recap/MurderSheWroteS3E18NoAccountingForMurder Grady]]. Of course, these are all covered in past episodes.

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* CallBack: While trying to discredit Jessica on the witness stand, Quayle brings up four murder cases in which one of her relatives had been considered the primary suspect, two involving her nieces [[Recap/MurderSheWroteS3E4CornedBeefAndCarnage Victoria]] and [[Recap/MurderSheWroteS2E8DeadHeat Tracy]] and [[Recap/MurderSheWroteS1E1TheMurderOfSherlockHolmes [[Recap/MurderSheWroteS1E0TheMurderOfSherlockHolmes two]] involving her nephew [[Recap/MurderSheWroteS3E18NoAccountingForMurder Grady]]. Of course, these are all covered in past episodes.episodes.
* FieryCoverup: The coroner notes that what remained of Patricia skull showed signs of blunt force trauma to the frontal lobe. This means the murderer killed her and then set the fire to get rid of the evidence.
* IdentificationByDentalRecords: So little remained of Patricia's body that she had to be identified her by her jewelry.
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* CallBack: While trying to discredit Jessica on the witness stand, Quayle brings up four murder cases in which one of her relatives had been considered the primary suspect, two involving her nieces [[Recap/MurderSheWroteS3E4CornedBeefAndCarnage Victoria]] and [[Recap/MurderSheWroteS3E8DeadHeat Tracy]] and two involving her nephew [[Recap/MurderSheWroteS3E18NoAccountingForMurder Grady]]. Of course, these are all covered in past episodes.

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* CallBack: While trying to discredit Jessica on the witness stand, Quayle brings up four murder cases in which one of her relatives had been considered the primary suspect, two involving her nieces [[Recap/MurderSheWroteS3E4CornedBeefAndCarnage Victoria]] and [[Recap/MurderSheWroteS3E8DeadHeat [[Recap/MurderSheWroteS2E8DeadHeat Tracy]] and two [[Recap/MurderSheWroteS1E1TheMurderOfSherlockHolmes two]] involving her nephew [[Recap/MurderSheWroteS3E18NoAccountingForMurder Grady]]. Of course, these are all covered in past episodes.
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* CallBack: While trying to discredit Jessica on the witness stand, Quayle brings up four murder cases in which one of her relatives had been considered the primary suspect, two involving her nieces Victoria and Tracy and two involving her nephew Grady. Of course, these are all covered in past episodes.

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* CallBack: While trying to discredit Jessica on the witness stand, Quayle brings up four murder cases in which one of her relatives had been considered the primary suspect, two involving her nieces Victoria [[Recap/MurderSheWroteS3E4CornedBeefAndCarnage Victoria]] and Tracy [[Recap/MurderSheWroteS3E8DeadHeat Tracy]] and two involving her nephew Grady.[[Recap/MurderSheWroteS3E18NoAccountingForMurder Grady]]. Of course, these are all covered in past episodes.
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Added DiffLines:

Jessica receives a most unpleasant interruption to her routine when defense attorney Oliver Quayle calls her as a witness in his latest case. The topic of contention -- whether her friend James Harlan murdered his wife Patricia. Jessica tries to get to the bottom of the matter, but her investigation runs into roadblocks at every turn courtesy of both family secrets on the Harlans' side and Quayle's utter refusal to listen to her on the other.
!!This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
* AdHominem: One of Quayle's favorite tactics seems to be smearing the character of the witnesses for the opposing side to discredit their testimony. He "accidentally" brings up that Clay [=McLeod=], the caretaker who claimed to have heard James threaten Patricia, did time in prison. When the prosecution unexpectedly calls Jessica, he tops himself by mentioning a number of murder cases involving her relatives and the time she spent in a sanitarium.
* BluffingTheMurderer: Jessica suggests getting a search warrant for Clay [=McLeod=]'s house to find the missing brooch. However, it turns out she intended to fool the real murderer into going and finding the brooch.
* TheBrideWithAPast: On motherly intuition, Mrs. Harlan hired a private detective to investigate her new daughter-in-law. He found that Patricia was an ex-convict and had been a Vegas showgirl when she and James met.
* CallBack: While trying to discredit Jessica on the witness stand, Quayle brings up four murder cases in which one of her relatives had been considered the primary suspect, two involving her nieces Victoria and Tracy and two involving her nephew Grady. Of course, these are all covered in past episodes.

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