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Recap / Earth: Final Conflict S1E18 "Law and Order"

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After a footage comes to light that the Taelon Rho'ha killed Major Raymond MacIntire, the Taelon Synod agrees to allow Rho'ha to be tried in a human court to show that the Taelons are not above the law. Sandoval and Boone are assigned to defend Rho'ha, while Jonathan Doors's estranged son Joshua is the prosecutor. Sandoval manages to convince the judge to allow Zo'or to sit on the jury panel to fit the definition of Rho'ha's "peer". Sandoval rejects Boone's proposed insanity plea since that would require admitting that Taelons are experimenting on humans. Boone also argues that, as implants, they cannot adequately represent Rho'ha, since their primary loyalty is to the Taelons, not to Rho'ha. Meanwhile, a crazed pro-Taelon fanatic seeks to kill Joshua Doors with a suicide bomb, believing that humans are unworthy to judge a Taelon. Both sides present compelling cases. During the deliberation, the jury is leaning more towards the "not guilty" verdict, believing that Rho'ha acted in self-defense. Zo'or convinces them that Rho'ha would have known that bullets would be harmless to a Taelon and was therefore never in any danger from the Major. The jury comes back with a "guilty" verdict and recommends the death penalty. The fanatic tries to kill Joshua outside the court with a suicide bomb but fails thanks to Boone's quick thinking. Boone appeals to the judge, causing her to commute the death sentence to life in prison. Sandoval requests a brief period to allow Rho'ha to get his affairs in order. Zo'or is upset that Rho'ha will not be executed by humans, which would play to the Taelon agenda. Since Rho'ha's system can't be fully purged of human DNA, Zo'or has Rho'ha discorporate himself.


  • All for Nothing: Despite all of Boone's efforts, Rho'ha still dies in the end, discorporating himself on Zo'or's orders.
  • Artistic License – Law: Several things.
    • The US Government agrees to allow Sandoval and Boone to represent Rho'ha during the trial, even though Sandoval has never practiced law, being recruited into the FBI right out of law school, and Boone having never attended law school and having only a master's degree in criminal justice.
    • The President chooses the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court to preside over the trial and the District Attorney of New York City to prosecute it. Except this is clearly a federal case, so why is the DA of New York prosecuting it rather than a federal prosecutor?
    • Both the prosecutor and the defense attorneys freely walk up to the witness, even though they are supposed to ask the judge for permission first. This is common in TV courtroom dramas, though.
    • Sandoval introduces new information during his closing statement, which is not allowed. To be fair, though, such a trial would have likely taken weeks, if not months, so it was probably condensed. It is possible the information was introduced earlier, just not known on screen.
    • Zo'or's argument during the jury deliberation is that because Taelons are Energy Beings, they cannot be harmed by bullets. However, since this information was not presented during the trial, it cannot be legally used by the jury to find Rho'ha guilty.
    • The jury finds Rho'ha guilty of murder, but it's never stated whether it's murder in the first degree or second, which matters since Rho'ha actions could hardly be called premeditated. In addition, the jury recommends the death penalty, but it's the judge who does the sentencing after the guilty verdict is delivered. The jury has no say in the matter. And if it was indeed murder two, then it's highly unlikely that the death penalty would be applied, especially in a case as unprecedented as this.
    • Boone is unhappy with the guilty verdict. When Da'an suggests an appeal, Boone says that there isn't any grounds for an appeal. Except given all the irregularities during the case, it should be easy to get an appeal. It's just unclear who would hear the appeal, since the presiding judge is the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court.
  • Dead Man's Switch: The suicide bomber is using one to make sure no one tries to shoot him while he's holding Joshua Doors. After Boone shoots Joshua to knock him away, he releases the switch and blows himself up. Unfortunately, Joshua's bodyguard is too close and is also killed.
  • Down to the Last Play: After the jury's "guilty" verdict, Boone appeals to the judge, asking how humans can order the execution of an alien being, even if said being's people have agreed to it. The judge commutes the sentence to life in prison until lawmakers determine whether it's acceptable for humans to execute Taelons. Sandoval requests that the Taelons take custody of Rho'ha until his affairs are in order. Zo'or is upset that Rho'ha will not be executed by humans.
  • Killing in Self-Defense: The defense argues that Rho'ha killed Major MacIntire because the Major had a gun drawn on him. During his closing testimony, the prosecutor points out that when Rho'had was applying the pressure to kill the Major, the Major's gun had already been knocked away, therefore he was unarmed. Sandoval counters that MacIntire was an experienced soldier, so Rho'ha was still within his rights to defend himself.
  • Manly Tears: Jonathan Doors is blinking them away after learning that the suicide bomber's explosion killed a close friend of his, whom he assigned to protect his son, and may have also killed his son. He feels relief after his son gets up.
  • Rogue Juror: Inverted. The jury is leaning towards the "not guilty" verdict, since the evidence clearly shows Rho'ha attacking the man after he aimed a gun at the Taelon. Zo'or reveals that, since the Taelons are Energy Beings, they cannot be harmed by bullets (he allows the forewoman to put her finger through his forehead, turning it intangible). Therefore, Rho'ha was never in any danger when he killed the man and is guilty of murder.
  • Shoot the Hostage: When the fanatic is holding Joshua Doors and is preparing to blow them both up, Boone shoots Joshua with a low-power blast from his Skrill to knock him away.
  • Super-Strength: According to Rho'ha's testimony, he killed Major MacIntire by applying great pressure to his head. In fact, Rho'ha killed the Major by using his "shaqarava" to blast energy into his temples.
  • Unconventional Courtroom Tactics: Joshua Doors receives evidence that Rho'ha was injected with Captain Johnson's DNA at the time of the murder. He tries to get Rho'ha to let something slip during a cross-examination, making increasingly wild accusations. Sandoval keeps objecting and the judge sustaining, but Doors just ignores them and keeps going. Eventually, Rho'ha angrily yells out that he's going to kill Joshua, and his face briefly takes on Captain Johnson's features, including his mustache.

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