MATLOCK: BLIND JUSTICE (TV)
Summary
One in this legal drama about Ben Matlock, an expert yet unconventional lawyer and his experiences both in and out of the courtroom.
Michelle's old friend Andrea Morrow is trying to leave her abusive boyfriend, Clay Graham. At the suggestion of his blind artist friend, Arthur Hampton, Clay invites Andrea back to his house so he can apologize. When Andrea arrives, she is knocked unconscious by Arthur, who sets into motion an intricate plan to murder Clay, including causing a brief power outage and ascertaining Clay's position with a sheet of paper on a staircase, allowing Arthur to accurately shoot Clay. He disposes of the evidence, plants the gun on Andrea, and calls her from his car phone just after she awakens, advising her to get out of there. She is captured by the police, not realizing that Arthur is the true culprit.
Michelle chooses to defend Andrea and asks for Matlock's help. Upon investigating Clay's house, they discover evidence of the power outage. Matlock visits Arthur at his studio, where he explains that he was blinded in a car accident; Clay, inebriated, was the driver, and he escaped with only minor injuries. Michelle discovers the exact time of the power outage and Matlock sends Tyler to investigate Arthur, inquiring if Arthur has any martial arts or marksmanship abilities. Later, Matlock finds Arthur at the courthouse "rehearsing" so that he doesn't stumble while walking to the witness stand. When Matlock questions him as to his whereabouts at the time of the murder, Arthur emphatically states that he had neither the ability nor the desire to kill Clay.
Later, Michelle receives a subpoena for lying about her legal representation of Andrea. She is put on stand by the D.A., and her last conversation with Andrea is interpreted by him so as to imply a motive for the murder. Matlock begs to differ and dissects the implications of the conversation. Matlock calls Arthur to the stand, where he admits that the idea for Clay and Andrea to meet alone was his. Michelle investigates Arthur's studio and finds a gun in his drawer with a string attached. Arthur returns; Michelle attempts to sneak out but her scent alerts him to her presence. He manages to scare her off.
Matlock and Michelle return to the scene of the crime, where they notice an apparent discrepancy in the forensics report. Clay cut his foot just before his murder, but Matlock sees no bloodstain on the stair where he was shot. After interviewing the cleaning lady, they discover the truth about the sheet of paper on the stairs, and Matlock deduces the solution. In court, he calls Arthur up to the stand. Using his testimony, Matlock is able to accurately describe the murder, producing the sheet of paper from the stairway to prove it. Thus, Andrea is proven innocent. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: September 29, 1987 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:47:15
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:22581
- GENRE: Drama, legal
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, legal
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1986-1992; ABC, 1992-1995
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Fred Silverman … Executive Producer
- Dean Hargrove … Executive Producer, Created by
- Joel Steiger … Supervising Producer
- Richard Collins … Producer
- Jeff Peters … Co-Producer
- William S. Kerr … Associate Producer
- Christian I. Nyby II … Director
- Sam Bernard … Writer
- Artie Kane … Music by
- Dick Debenedictis … Theme Music by
- Andy Griffith … Cast, Ben Matlock
- Nancy Stafford … Cast, Michelle Thomas
- Kari Lizer … Cast, Cassie Phillips
- Kene Holliday … Cast, Tyler Hudson
- David Ogden Stiers … Cast, Arthur Hampton
- Kathleen Lloyd … Cast, Andrea Morrow
- Greg Mullavey … Cast, Clay Graham
- Andy Romano … Cast, D. A. Farina
- Richard Newton … Cast, Judge Cooksey
- Aurelia Sweeny … Cast, Mrs. Larson
- Kerry Nakagawa … Cast, Process Server
- G. Smokey Campbell … Cast, Mike Floyd