Law & Order (Episode 118)

The Taelon scientist Rho-ha (Kari Matchett) was going to stand trial for murder in Washington, the first time a Companion was subjected to a human court of law. Rho-ha had allowed himself to be transfused with DNA from Army Captain Lucas Johnson in a biological experiment. (see episode #114 Pandora's Box)

The Taelon was accused of murdering Major Raymond McIntire, Johnson's commanding officer, when the soldier confronted Rho-ha in Johnson's hospital room. Rho-ha's secret experiment hadn't been revealed to the public, so Da'an (Leni Parker) appointed William Boone (Kevin Kilner) and Agent Ron Sandoval (Von Flores) as Rho-ha's lawyers. Another complication for the Companions was that the prosecutor for the case was New York District Attorney Joshua Doors (William De Vry), the estranged son of Resistance leader Jonathan Doors (David Hemblen). Joshua Doors told reporters at the outset of Rho-ha's trial that he would seek the death penalty.

Boone and Sandoval made a shaky defense team. Boone wanted better legal counsel for Rho-ha, but Sandoval insisted there was too much sensitive information at stake to involve a non-Implant. Unbeknownst to Boone and Sandoval, there was a real security risk. Travis Perkins (Diego Chambers) was a delusional Companion supporter and was determined to kill anyone who threatened Rho-ha's life. Behind the scenes, the Taelon Synod instructed Da'an that if Rho-ha received a prison sentence he must die anyway, since he knew too much and posed too great a security risk to the Taelon's presence on Earth since he was no longer part of the Taelon Commonality.

Sandoval told Rho-ha their strategy would be self-defense, since McIntire attacked Rho-ha in the hospital room first. Boone wanted to reveal the DNA experiment as proof that Rho-ha wasn't responsible for his actions because he was temporarily insane, reacting to events as a human would, in a total rage. But Sandoval vetoed the idea. Rho-ha had undergone procedures to remove the DNA from his system, but he admitted he was not entirely rid of Captain Johnson's hatred and rage.

On the first day of the trial, the Taelon Zo'or (Anita La Selva) ordered Sandoval to place him on the jury. Sandoval succeeded, but Joshua Doors had his own ace up his sleeve.

Lili Marquette (Lisa Howard), a partial witness to the murder, was ready to testify for the prosecution. When Lili and Joshua discussed strategy, they experienced a surprising undercurrent of attraction and Joshua decided to confide in Lili about his troubled relationship with his father. Once on the stand, Lili bolstered Joshua's case, though Boone diminished her testimony through cross-examination. When Rho-ha took the stand, Joshua confronted him about the secret DNA experiment and Rho-ha become enraged and lunged for Joshua, threatening to kill him. The entire courtroom saw Captain Johnson's features ripple across Rho-ha's contorted face. When court recessed, the psychopath Perkins, enraged at Joshua's treatment of Rho-ha, attempted a suicide bombing to kill the prosecutor. But Perkins was foiled because Joshua was inaccessible, surrounded by reporters and his bodyguard Willie (Walker Boone).

The entire world was talking about the Taelon's secret DNA experiments and the revelation works in Rho-ha's favor, since the consensus on the jury was that he wasn't responsible for his actions. The jury was ready to acquit him when Zo'or made his own revelations to seal Rho-ha's fate. He told the jury members that Taelons are impervious to bullets and, reverting to his blue energy state, showed them that Taelons cannot be shot to death. The jury now believed that Rho-ha was never in any real danger and reversed their decision, sentencing the Taelon to death. Outside the courthouse, Joshua discussed the verdict with reporters when Perkins reappeared. He grabbed Joshua, ready to detonate his explosives, but Boone fired his skrill, blasting Joshua out of harm's way. Perkins set off the detonator, killing himself and Joshua's bodyguard.

Joshua met with Boone again in court to respond to Boone's motion that the death penalty be set aside. In a last attempt to save Rho-ha's life, Boone argued that the death penalty could only be applied to human verdicts and defendants since humanity doesn't have the right to decide to kill an alien whom they know so little about. Boone succeeded in delaying the sentence, but the aliens had already decided their own path of justice. In a Taelon ceremony, Rho-ha released his life energies, an act of altruism the Taelons not only understand, but expect.