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"Fruit of the Poison Tree"

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Fruit of the Poison Tree

Season
Episode
9 (99th Overall)
Airdate
February 3, 1989
Repeat Airdate
July 26, 1989
TV Rating
TV-14 L-V
Writer(s)
Director
Guest Stars
Previous Episode
Next Episode

"Fruit of the Poison Tree" is the ninth episode of Miami Vice's fifth season. It premiered on February 3, 1989, and was rerun on July 26, 1989, the final Miami Vice episode aired on NBC.

Summary[]

A junior attorney, seeking to gain justice for her father's murder, uses legal loopholes to free a drug dealer and set up her father's killer.

Plot[]

The team is at a train station, waiting to intercept a delivery of 200 kilos of Colombian cocaine to Roberto Enriquez

Enriquezintar

Enriquez in Tar

via the train. Enriquez meets Skip Jordan, and instead of the cocaine, Jordan leaves him only one kilo—inside a stuffed gorilla. The deal goes completely sour when Crockett stops a would-be armed robber, and a patron panics when she sees Crockett's gun and the whole place erupts in screams, causing the dealers to run. Crockett, Tubbs, Trudy, and Stan catch Enriquez when his Mercedes gets stuck in tar trying to leave the scene, turning his white suit black.

During Enriquez's trial, his lawyer Sam Boyle finds the search warrant prepared had an incorrect letter on the license plate number, and the judge rules that the search of the car with the cocaine was illegal and dismisses the charges. Switek is upset about the typo and he apologizes to Crockett and Tubbs. Crockett then has a few choice words for Boyle, which upsets his partner, Lisa Madsen who defends him. Tubbs mentions that Lisa is the daughter of Ben Madsen, a special prosecutor that was murdered, and that she believes the police murdered her father. At OCB, the team discusses that Jordan has all but one key of cocaine left and he'll need to move it, and Enriquez has buyers who are waiting for delivery, but he never received the cocaine, and thus will be pressured by his buyers. Gina is still inside so Castillo wants them to work on Jordan. Boyle is in the men's room at a private club when mobster Frank Romano stops in to let him know they knew he stole $500,000 from their offshore account to cover trips to Vegas (implying gambling debts). Boyle had been laundering money for Romano and said he just borrowed the money. Romano has his bodyguard physically assault Boyle, and tells him he has until Friday to collect $1 million to settle their account.

Enriquez is heard saying he will take care of Jordan to get his shipment back, then plans several getaways with Gina. Boyle is frantically trying to raise the money to pay off Romano but is having no luck. Lisa stops by to see if Boyle wanted to go out, but he wants to stay to take care of business. Crockett and Tubbs try to arrange a flight out of the country to the Bahamas with Jordan, and are successful, but Boyle gets to the plane loaded with cocaine and he and the pilot fight over it, in the process Boyle shoots him and takes the drugs.

Gina and Enriquez are dancing at a party when Enriquez gets a call regarding his merchandise, and arranges a meet the next day, and he and Gina go relax. Castillo calls all units into the building for the meet, they observe the drug exchange and they all move in, to their shock they find no drugs but they do find Enriquez who was meeting with Lisa over "police harassment." Lisa presents Crockett with a complaint filed with the court and she and Enriquez leave. Crockett and Trudy realize the "deal" was a setup to see if Gina was a snitch. Crockett and Tubbs rush over to Gina's place. Gina is out front, unpacking her car - her neighbor, a twelve-year old boy named Nicky, is helping Gina and picks up a package outside her cover house which explodes, killing Nicky.

An enraged Crockett goes to see Lisa, demanding to know where Enriquez is because of Nicky's death and the setup of Gina. Crockett tells her that her relationship with Boyle is one of hero worship, Boyle knows it, and is using her for his purposes. Lisa blames the police for treating her father's death as a routine stabbing, and tells Sonny that Boyle has offered anything to help her find her father's killer. Crockett asks her how Boyle can protect Enriquez while a mother has to bury her 12 year old son.

Boyle calls Enriquez to say Jordan has his drugs and that he wants a million dollars to get it back, and arranges the meet. Boyle and Lisa have dinner and talk shop, and Lisa discusses her meeting with Crockett. In talking about Nicky's murder, Boyle discloses that the cop was a woman and the explosive was C4. Lisa asked him how he knew about the type of explosive, and Boyle becomes evasive. They argue ethics as Lisa assumes Boyle found out about the C4 in his duties as Enriquez's lawyer. Lisa walks out. Boyle gets the money from Enriquez, then Crockett goes to see Lisa at her request and she gives him Boyle's private file which she has never seen, under the condition no one ever knows about how he got it. Lisa finds the paperwork on her father's murder and reminisces about it. Crockett gets the info he needs and leaves. Crockett and Tubbs go to Enriquez's place to arrest him and are in a shoot-out with Enriquez's men. Enriquez runs, but is stopped by Gina, backed up by Crockett and Tubbs.

Boyle meets with Romano regarding the $1 million he owes Romano, but offers the 200 kilos of Enriquez's cocaine in exchange for calling it even plus an additional $600,000 for Boyle. At Enriquez's second trial, Lisa testifies in open court that Crockett got the information from her, which violates attorney-client privilege and, once again, Enriquez is let go. Lisa tells Boyle that she testified for Enriquez and that he's going free because of her testimony. He runs off, telling her she has no idea what she's done. Crockett stops by to see Lisa to find out where the hit on Boyle is going down. Lisa found out Boyle killed her father because the telegram he sent her was mailed two hours before the police notified him of the killing. Crockett asks Lisa if her father would approve of what she has done, and Lisa, sobbing, tells him where the hit is. At Miller Airfield, Boyle is shot by Enriquez twice, then Crockett and Tubbs arrive and shoot Enriquez's men down and arrest him for the third time. Boyle is dead, and Lisa, seeing his body, breaks down in tears.

Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

Co-Starring[]

Notes[]

  • The opening shot of the train running through the Miami night has been reused from the season premiere "Hostile Takeover" though cut somewhat differently.
  • Starting with this episode, Miami Vice's time slot changed from 10:00pm to 9:00pm, where it would remain until the episode "Victims of Circumstance".
  • When the episode was repeated on July 26, 1989, it marked the final Miami Vice episode broadcast during its' original run.
  • Gina appears to have overcome her scruples about sleeping with the criminals she is observing, given her relationship with Enriquez.
  • It is interesting that Boyle would have kept the letter that would end up implicating him, considering most "real world" criminals would have found a way to destroy such evidence.
  • Sam inadvertently reveals to Lisa his knowledge about the young boy's murder by mentioning what type of explosive that killed him - C4. A similar incident happened in season 3's episode, "Everybody's In Showbiz", when Mikey inadvertently reveals to Crockett of his knowledge about a robbery by mentioning where it took place - in a limo.
  • Sam Boyle would become one of the few characters in the series who would commit crimes to pay off a debt. Others would be Judge Ferguson (The Fix), and Hank Frazier (Vote of Confidence).
  • The doctrine of "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree" (a corollary of the "exclusionary rule" in US law) -- which the episode's title refers to -- deems that evidence presented in a trial that was found as the result of an illegal search (such as finding a key in an illegally searched house that leads to finding drugs in a locker) is inadmissible in court. In the first trial, Switek's error on the search warrant caused the case to be dismissed. However, the Fruit of the Poisonous Tree doctrine does allow for a search based on the officer's "good-faith" belief in the warrant being valid; thus in the real world, Switek's mistake would likely not have been cause for dismissal. The second trial, where Crockett acquired info on Enriquez from his attorney, Lisa Madsen, violated attorney-client privilege and thus was excluded per the Fruit of the Poisonous Tree doctrine.
  • This is one of several episodes that does not end on a freeze frame.

Goofs[]

  • The pool of oil Enriquez slips in at the end of the opening scene appears out of nowhere -- it was not there when his limousine crashed into the construction site moments earlier.
  • When Gina pulls her gun on Enriquez after the shootout, Enriquez's white jacket can be seen at the right of the screen, meaning he must be standing in front of her, yet the next shot shows him still moving towards Gina.
  • When Crockett confronts Lisa in her office following Enriquez's release, she is wearing one pinky ring on her left hand. Throughout the rest of the episode, she has two pinky rings, one on each hand.

Production Notes[]

  • Filmed: December 6, 1988 - December 14, 1988
  • Production Code: 63912
  • Production Order: 99

Filming Locations[]

  • Metrorail Station Government Center 150 NW 1 Street, Miami downtown (opening deal with Enriquez)
  • North Dade Justice Center, 15555 Biscayne Blvd, Miami (court scenes)
  • 1727 W 27th Street, Sunset Island 2 (exterior Enriquez house)
  • Williiam Jennings Bryan House 3575 Anchorage Way, Coconut Grove (interior Enriquez house)
  • Greenberg Traurig Building 1221 Brickell Avenue, Miami (law office scenes, parking garage where Vice meets Enriquez/Lisa)
  • 3307 Devon Court, Coconut Grove (Enriquez boathouse, location razed)
  • Brickell Key Bridge, Downtown Miami (Boyle and Romano meet with van full of drugs)
  • underpass Rickenbacker Causeway, Collins Ave, Mac Arthur Causeway, Rickenbacker Causeway/Arthur J. Lamb Road (drive scenes Ferrari)
  • 20251 NE 25th Avenue, Aventura (Gina's safe house, a bomb kills a 12 year old boy)
  • Opa Locka Airport 14201 NW 42 Ave, Opa Locka (airport scenes)

Music[]

Quotes[]

  • "You just sell it (the law) out, you're not a lawyer, you're a pimp, Counselor!" -- Crockett to Boyle
  • "How did you think it was going to look, pretty"? -- Crockett to Lisa after finding Boyle's body
Season 5 Episodes:

"Hostile Takeover" • "Redemption in Blood" • "Heart of Night" • "Bad Timing" • "Borrasca" • "Line of Fire" • "Asian Cut" • "Hard Knocks" • "Fruit of the Poison Tree" • "To Have and to Hold" • "Miami Squeeze" • "Jack of All Trades" • "The Cell Within" • "The Lost Madonna" • "Over the Line" • "Victims of Circumstance" • "Freefall" (Series Finale)

The "Lost" Episodes:
"World of Trouble" • "Miracle Man" • "Leap of Faith" • "Too Much, Too Late"

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