Outlaw Episode 1.04 In Re: Curtis Farwell

Garza appears on Larry King, along with Internet journalist Patty Friedman, who clearly doesn't have a very high opinion of the former justice. When Larry asks if Garza's considering a run for president, Patty quips that the only thing he runs for has two legs and a skirt. After the taping, she takes off her skirt over at Garza's place, while still trying to pry a story out of him - did he quit the court so he could pay back his gambling debts? Luckily, Garza's phone rings. It's Claire, who instantly knows he's with yet another woman. Senator Vidalin's been voting against one of her big clients, so she's planning to chair a benefit for his favorite charity Garza must attend, and no, he doesn't have a say in it.

Garza gets off the phone to discover Patty's fallen asleep, so he watches the news. A chopper broadcasts live footage of a freeway pile-up caused by a Jupiter Coupe, the ninth such accident in recent months, linked to an alleged steering issue. Garza flashes back to the car accident that killed his father. The next morning, Garza's late to work, causing Mereta to suspect he has a woman upstairs. Just as Al announces he's found their next case, Garza appears in his robe. They're taking the case of motorist Curtis Farwell, who was badly burned in the Jupiter Coupe accident. Garza and Al visit a seriously injured Farwell in intensive care. Not only can he not speak, he can't hold a pen to write.

Al protests when Garza asks him to set up a meeting with Jupiter CEO Warner Quinn. What is he, Garza's wife?! Aren't they supposed to be partners? Al knows taking Farwell's case is all about the guilt Garza feels over his dad's death. Garza apologizes for not taking Al's case, but this one's more important: people are dying because something's wrong with the Jupiter Coupe. Later, after talking to Ralph Nader's attorney, Al reports that the most important auto safety bill in years didn't make it through Congress last month because the auto industry spent $50 million to buy them off - just like Jupiter has been buying the silence of recent accident victims. Assuring Al he's not going to a dark place to raise dark demons, Garza takes off, claiming he needs to call Claire. Instead he checks into a sweaty boiler room for a down and dirty poker game.

Lucinda continues to tease Mereta about her love for Garza as they check out Jupiter's website. At least Jupiter has a lot of job opportunities for the time when Mereta's love affair fails. Mereta fires back: when she finally becomes the future Mrs. Garza and fires Lucinda, she might want to get a job at Jupiter herself. Calling Mereta a genius, Lucinda rushes off, as Eddie finds a recall notice for last year's Jupiter Coupe for steering rod malfunction. The problem? Farwell was driving a 2008 model, which was only recalled in Japan. Garza returns from his poker game, surprised to find Jupiter CEO Warner Quinn waiting for him in the study. Claiming to be a big fan of Garza's new life, Quinn admires the stuffed blue marlin that adorns the wall, a souvenir from a fishing trip with his dad.

Handing Garza an envelope, Quinn explains the reason for his visit. It's not like he doesn't feel for Farwell, but three DUIs and two stints in rehab put another spin on his accident. Meanwhile, Eddie and Mereta check out Farwell's car at the police impound lot. Officer Zimmerman shows them the broken tie rod, which would have caused Farwell to lose control of steering. When Eddie asks how they can prove it caused the accident, Zimmerman advises them to look for skid marks at the scene showing the tires went in different directions. There were photos of the skid marks in the evidence room, but they magically disappeared. Claiming she'd rather investigate the beltway at rush hour than argue in court, Mereta wants to go, but Eddie balks, just as Garza calls. The news showed aerial footage of the accident and they should subpoena the video to look for skid marks.

Garza and Al hit the streets looking for other Jupiter Coupe accident victims, but it's soon clear that Jupiter has paid them all to remain silent. That night, they return to Garza's to find the place has been ransacked, and the precious blue marlin took the ultimate hit. When the cops arrive, Al mentions that he saw a big guy with a buzz cut watching the house the other day, but he thought it was a cuckolded husband. Garza thinks the buzz cut dude works for Senator Vidalin, who threatened him when he quit the bench. Until they know more, they agree to keep it amongst themselves and talk about anything suspicious going forward. Having gotten herself a job at Jupiter, Lucinda calls with good news - legally purloined video from a Jupiter Coupe division retreat last month. On it, an unseen woman acknowledges the defective tie rod. Now all they have to do is find her.

The next day, Al and Garza meet with Quinn and his counsel, Alison Mills, to review the tape. Angry, Quinn claims the video proves nothing - they could have added the woman's voice themselves. Nevertheless, Garza's prepped a settlement offer for Farwell, $3 million plus the immediate recall of all defective Jupiter Coupes. Quinn dismisses them, but Mills tells Garza they'll need a little time. Hours later, Garza finds Laurie Farwell visiting her dad, who's now on a ventilator. Jupiter came back with a counter offer of $10 million - provided they keep all details of the accident secret. When Garza encourages the Farwells to refuse the offer and go to trial to protect the lives of others, Laurie admits she doesn't care about anyone other than her dad. That's when Curtis gets hold of his pen to write two words: take it.

Mereta can't believe the Farwells accepted Quinn's offer - how can they let him get away with murder?! Al and Eddie explain: they're listening to their clients, which they're legally obligated to do, and secret settlements like this one are legal in 49 states. Mereta still doesn't get it. Isn't this why Garza left the bench in the first place - to prevent these kinds of situations? Garza makes a decision. Later that night, he invites sexy reporter Patty to visit. He plants the Farwell file on the coffee table, then leaves the room to get Patty a drink. Just as he knew she would, Patty can't resist photographing the contents of the file. The next morning, an angry Al rousts Garza out of bed at the crack of dawn. The jig is up. Jupiter pulled their offer when Patty called to confirm her story.

Al and Garza proceed to the hospital, where there's only more bad news. Farwell has died, due to an unexpected blood clot in his lung. Laurie thanks Garza, knowing her father will rest easier knowing he took the $10 million for his family. Garza explains that Jupiter reneged on the offer, and they're going to court, promising a stunned Laurie that he will win the case. What he doesn't tell her is that the case is pretty well screwed. The subpoenaed news chopper video came through with no visible skid marks. Since Farwell can't testify, they'll have to call Laurie to the stand, which the judge probably won't allow. Al and Garza proceed to a hearing at Detroit's Federal Court to argue for the acceptance of Laurie's testimony in place of her father's. It's a tough fight, but at the end of the day, the judge goes for an Excited Utterance Exception.

That night, Garza gets gussied up for the fundraising event at Claire's house. He's surprised to see that Patty's also in attendance with her husband Charlie. Claire abandons Garza with Senator Vidalin, who immediately growls, "Cut the crap." Garza smiles, claiming to admire Vidalin for his shake-down strategy. Everyone at the party has business going before the senator's committee, including Claire. When Garza promises to raise $100,000 if Vidalin promises to lay off Claire, Vidalin ups his price to $200,000. Meanwhile, Eddie, Mereta and Lucinda try to identify the woman whose voice is on the retreat videotape. With some elbow grease and detective work they come up with a name: Athena Phillips.

The next day, Eddie and Mereta proceed to the Phillips' house to meet Athena's husband Carl, who claims Jupiter killed his wife three months ago. She told Quinn about the defective tie rods millions of times. A week before her death, she put all her papers in a box and had a lawyer seal it until her son Paul turned 18, old enough to understand what happened. After that she committed suicide. Eddie has another secret job interview, so he tells Mereta that she'll have to go to court to get the box unsealed by herself. Freaking out, Mereta admits she's claustrophobic, terrified of speaking in public. Eddie promises she'll do fine and runs off.

The trial begins, and Garza puts Laurie on the stand to relate her father's story of the accident. Farwell was driving home from his grandson's birthday party. When a truck slowed in front of him he turned the steering wheel to avoid collision, but the car didn't turn so he rammed the truck. In the hospital, Farwell was unable to speak, so Laurie asked tons of questions and he answered her in writing. The one thing she knows for sure is that it was the steering wheel that caused the accident. On cross, Mills establishes that Farwell was diabetic and ate cake and ice cream at the party. The hospital's admitting nurse gave him a blood sugar test. At the time of the accident, Farwell was in diabetic ketoacidosis, symptoms of which include sleepiness and confusion. Clearly, the accident might have nothing to do with the steering wheel.

Nervous before her appearance in court, Mereta calls Eddie for a pep talk just as he's about to begin his job interview. Later that night, she drives home with music blaring, excited by her victory, not noticing the buzz cut guy skulking outside Garza's house. She's just calling to tell Eddie she got Athena's box when the buzz cut guy opens the back door of the car. Moments later, Mereta's in the house, telling everyone what happened. When Lucinda asks about Eddie, Mereta gets flustered and comes up with a weak lie - Eddie's mom was sick, so he had to go. Lucinda dubs Mereta the worst liar ever, second only to Eddie. And by the way, Lucinda checked into the other job Eddie said he turned down - he never got it in the first place. The team spends that night going over Athena's box to find the smoking gun they've been looking for.

Back in court, Garza puts Quinn on the stand to establish that Athena was his Chief Safety Engineer. Garza goes through her documents one by one, starting with the report she filed in 2008, stating that the Coupe's tie rod was defective. Garza introduces 34 of Athena's emails into evidence, each one pleading with Quinn to come clean about the tie rod as the corpses of Coupe drivers started piling up. Quinn dismisses all of it, claiming Athena was disgruntled because he fired her. That's when Garza pulls out his pièce de resistance - Athena's suicide note, written to her young son, begging him to try to forgive her for her terrible mistake.

It's not long before Garza and Al find themselves outside the courtroom facing a wall of reporters, while Eddie, Mereta and Lucinda watch the impromptu press conference at a bar. In his statement, Garza admits that while $20 million won't bring back Farwell or Athena, it might trigger a push back against the practice of secret settlements that allow big corporations to get away with murder. Lucinda teases Mereta for drooling - what does she find so hot about Garza anyway? According to Mereta, it's simple: Garza cares. When Lucinda takes off, Mereta asks Eddie about the interview, relieved to learn that her "personal panic room" won't be abandoning her anytime soon.