Public Defender
Wednesday, March 22nd, 2000SEASON 1
Created by Mort Lewis and Sam Shayon
- 001. The Case of the Parolee – 3/11/1954
- Public Defender Bart Matthews (Reed Hadley) introduces himself and his job, to defend those accused of a crime who cannot afford their own attorney. He then relates the story of a girl named Alice Parker (Mary Ellen Kay) who comes to see him and beg his services for her boyfriend Mark Collins (Christian Drake), who has been accused of stealing funds from his employer Buy-Rite Appliance Co. Because Collins is a parolee, who had previously been arrested on a robbery charge after falling into the wrong crowd, he has lost hope and feels that the cards are stacked against him, so therefore does not even want a lawyer. Matthews agrees to go talk with him, and tells him that he promises to do everything he can to get him off if he is indeed innocent. Collins agree to use his services, and relates the story of how his parole officer set him up with the job. While there, his new boss Mr. Marshall (Fay Roope) acts as if he is doing Matthews a favor by allowing him to work there with his record, but declines when Collins says he’ll be glad to ask for another assignment. He also meets a persuasive and effective bill collector named Fred Davis (Douglas Fowley) who frequently returns to the office with large sums of cash. Davis also seems to be getting hounded by a man named Mike Clark (Snub Pollard), who Davis claims is a down-on-his-luck brother-in-law who wants money, and who he keeps putting off. Collins also begins dating the office secretary Alice, and the two fall in love. One night a $2000 deposit that is locked in Alice’s desk is stolen, and the nigh watchman is knocked unconscious. Collins is arrested because he had access to the key through Alice, and because of his previous record. Matthew finds out about the name Mike Clark from Alice, and traces him through his phone number to the seedy Crescent Bar. The bartender (George Lloyd) claims to not know Mike Clark, and then recognizes Matthews as the Public Defender. This spooks Clark who escapes out the window through the office. Matthews and Officer Hanlon (John Close) look through the papers in the office, and determine that Clark is a bookie, to whom Fred Davis owed money and recently made a payoff. They interview Davis in the presence of Mr. Marshall, and try to force Davis to admit that he stole the money. He only offers the alibi that he was home, but Marshall claims that he tries to call Davis the evening of the robbery after watching the fights on TV, and Davis never answered. Matthews calls the TV station to verify the time the fights end, and finds out that they never aired that night. This means that Marshall is lying, and when he tries to escape, they know he is the guilty party who stole the money. Matthews later states that he lied about the fights not having aired in order to trap Marshall. 3/22/21