Law and Order – In God We Trust – Review: God? Love? Justice?

The investigation led the detectives to a woman from Baylor Church, Martha Fairchild (Ashlyn Maddox). Martha volunteered at a prison rehabilitation program where Eli was helping her with an ex-con, Marcus Wright. CCTV captured Wright arguing with Freeman, who served 17 years in prison for the bludgeoning death of his girlfriend. Riley and Shaw considered him a suspect, but Mr. Wright had an alibi. This is where things get interesting. Wright divulges that Martha not only used a ‘burner’ phone prohibited by the church, but he was also the one who got it for her!

Riley revealed that the discovery of her prints in the bathroom, on the nightstand, and on the headboard suggested an affair. Lt. Jessica Brady (Maura Tierney) brings Martha in for questioning. Lt. Brady shares with Martha the evidence the police have cobbled together, including owning a cell phone, the calls between her and Eli at odd hours, and her fingerprints in his apartment. She then gives Martha the “I was a good girl too” speech to try to get her to confess to killing Eli. All Martha was willing to say was that she prayed to stop loving him.

Martha’s love for Eli cast suspicion on her betrothed Jacob Albrecht (Luke Slatter) as the jealous boyfriend. Jacob, the son of the church’s leader, had Martha’s cell phone and had shards of glass in his shoes, consistent with the glass found in Eli’s apartment.

At the precinct, Martha and Jacob are being questioned separately. Despite her love for Eli, Martha reveals that she cannot survive without Jacob, her church, and her community. If people discover her infidelity, they will shun her, leaving her with no skills to survive in Eli’s world.

Lt. Brady concludes that Martha is covering for Jacob out of guilt. So, the police decide to play a little game with Martha and Jacob, taking advantage of the one-way mirror in the interrogation room to observe them. Before leaving them alone, Lt. Brady explains the police intend to arrest Marcus Wright for Eli’s murder.

Martha knows Marcus Wright is innocent. Jacob asks Martha if it is true that she is in love with Eli. He then makes a rushed confession, saying, “You were going to leave me. Leave the church. I lost my mind and raised my hand against him (Eli).” Martha asks, “What are we going to do?” Jacob responds, “Let us pray.” Jacob is immediately arrested. Later, Jacob’s confession would be thrown out in court since, as a pastor, his conversation with Martha is protected.

At Jacob’s bail hearing, Samantha Maourn (Odelya Halevia) convinces Judge Arnold Pappas (Tyrone Mitchell Henderson) to set bail at $500,000. Jacob’s community secured his bail by bringing cash, property titles, and anything of value.

After the bail hearing, Eli’s mother, Amelia Penner (Laura Heisler), agreed to testify that she saw Jacob destroying evidence at the community’s burn pile. She ultimately reneged on this agreement. Instead of testifying, she grandstanded, “I will not participate in this court, nor will anyone from my church. “I will not judge,” she said, turning tearfully to the jury, “and neither should you.” That’s the truth. So, help me, God!” A.D.A. Nolan Price (Hugh Dancy) muses if these actions were the church circling the wagons or obstructing justice.

The District Attorney’s Office knows the case is weak without Jacob’s confession and Mrs. Penner’s testimony. Jacob’s attorney, Patricia Kaplan (Selenis Leyva), his father, John Albrecht (Michael Devine), and DA Baxter meet with Suzanne Forrester’s Alternative Justice program. Albrecht explains how their community has trusted their own to dispense justice since “God is the court.” Albrecht suggests Jacob could perform carpentry work in the community and provide financial restitution to Eli’s parents.

Baxter balks at this solution. The restorative justice program was never meant to provide an alternative outcome for murder. Forrester scoffs at Baxter’s rejection of the proposed alternative, telling him that this was his chance to ‘save face’ since, due to the lack of evidence, Jacob would be acquitted.

Baxter directs Price and Maroun to find better evidence to convict Jacob, and they do. Eli paid Martha to visit a women’s clinic and get prenatal vitamins. She was pregnant. Price conflicted about how to use this new knowledge, sits down to discuss Jacob’s fate if convicted. He recounts the case of a man he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. It was a bar fight gone wrong. That man, according to Price, was stabbed in prison breaking up a fight. Baxter offers platitudes about the justice system. He says it’s “flawed,” “allows us to operate with integrity,” and “provides equal justice under the law. Atypical of Price’s character, he cynically asks Baxter, “Do you really believe that?” Baxter, thankfully, says, “Most days.” Price is still in doubt until Baxter reminds him that the victim left Baylor Church to practice law in our church— “Let’s honor that!”

ADA Maourn tries to leverage Martha’s pregnancy to compel her to testify. Martha flashed her wedding ring, noting that she had been tricked once but never again. Jacob’s love for Martha and desire to protect her unborn child led him to accept a plea. He pleads guilty to second-degree manslaughter with a mandatory sentence of 15 years. Jacob was genuinely contrite at sentencing, apologizing to Eli’s family and declaring his love for Martha. A fifteen-year sentence for which neither Price nor Maroun feels good about. They stare at the “In God We Trust” plaque in the courtroom, questioning God, love, and justice.

I like to say I got my law degree from Dick Wolfe’s School of Law and Order. I applaud episodes like “In God We Trust” because the story is bold, intellectually stimulating, and wonderfully ambiguous. This isn’t mindless entertainment but an exploration of the human condition, set against a community bound by faith and tested by the complexities of love and justice. I, for one, was there for it, and I hope you were too.

Did you watch? Was justice served? Let me know in the comments!

Overall Rating

9:10