1.6 "Law & Order: Los Angeles" - "Hondo Field" Quiz

Answer: Swimming in the ocean

The episode starts with two teenagers, a girl and a boy, running into the ocean at 4:00 am. The girl is concerned about leaving her clothes by the beach, but her boyfriend tells her that no one is around that late at night. Then, her boyfriend Ibby submerges himself into the ocean and apparently starts tickling his girlfriend, who asks him to stop.

However, Ibby emerges from another part of the ocean, and the girl is shocked to discover that she was being touched by a dead body. When the police arrive at the scene, Detective Winters notes: "we're blessed with an ocean, might as well use it".

Answer: Peanuts and alcohol

The detectives locate a wallet in the dead man's body. They identify him as Freddy Ramirez from San Pedro, California. They also find a Goldshore Oil Credit Union card, which leads Winters and Jaruszalski to think the man was an oil worker.

At the medical examiner's office, Detective Winters finds out that the body had been in the water for less than 24 hours. The coroner also found severe cranial trauma and peanuts and alcohol in the stomach. The first theory that the detectives come up with is that the man got drunk in the boat he was working on, fell to the ocean, and drowned. However, the medical examiner says this can't be possible because there is no water in the victim's lungs. The new theory is that there was some sort of fight at the oil rig where Ramirez worked.

Answer: Al Gore

Once the medical examiner tells them that the victim's injuries are consistent with a beating, the detectives debate whether an incident on an oil rig is their jurisdiction. Winters argues that the body appeared on their beach so it's therefore their case. Jaruszalski is pleased with that because he wants to be able to see an oil rig in person "before Al Gore shuts 'em all down". An oil company executive at first refuses to let them in but is forced to do so pursuant to a warrant.

The comment probably referred to the notorious environmental efforts by former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore, who produced the films "An Inconvenient Truth" and "An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power".

Answer: The bed was perfectly made

Detectives Winters and Jaruszalski get on the oil rig where Freddy worked to investigate. They find that Freddy had been reprimanded or suspended several times while working there. They speak to his supervisor, Ms. Roberts, who tells the detectives she has the job because she is qualified and not just because she is a woman.

When the detectives search Freddy's room, they are surprised to find a perfectly made bed, indicating that he didn't spend much time sleeping there. They also find his unpacked duffel bag and a hat, but nothing else. The detectives are confused as to how no one in a packed oil rig saw Freddy the night he died.

Answer: Maid

The detectives find out that Freddy was never actually seen on the boat since materials found in his hat matched those of a motel's parking lot. Freddy stayed at the motel and called a house in Rancho Palos Verdes several times. Mr. Kasdan, the homeowner, soon realizes that the police want to speak to his maid, who is Freddy's mom.

Ms. Ramirez cries when she finds out Freddy is dead. She explains that Freddy told her he was planning on leaving the job because it was getting too dangerous. The detectives want to find out more about why Freddy thought so and consult with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Answer: Yes

At the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Winters and Jaruszalski discover that a complaint was made by another oil worker weeks before Freddy died. They now theorize that the supervisor, Valerie Roberts, may have been acting abusively towards her workers. They also believe she likely didn't like whistleblowers because they would get her in trouble.

Initially, the police didn't find any blood on the gangway or railways of the boat. However, the detectives find some blood on the floor of Valerie's berth, which gives them enough probable cause to arrest her.

Answer: Rachel Maddow

Valerie Roberts pleads not guilty in her first court appearance. She is being represented by Sarah Goodwin, who apparently is known for her appearances on cable news shows. The judge agrees with prosecutor Lauren Stanton in that the nature of the crime makes it reasonable to impose a high bail amount.

Then, the judge tells Goodwin that he would rather not hear his name brought up "on Rachel Maddow tonight". The judge was referring to "The Rachel Maddow Show", a popular cable news program on MSNBC hosted by Rachel Maddow.

Answer: Fourth Amendment

The Fourth Amendment is one of the most important ones concerning privacy in the U.S. Constitution. The amendment guarantees that citizens are free from illegal searches or seizures by the government; that is, without a warrant or within some other exceptions. Attorney Goodwin argues to the judge that the oil rig is still part of the U.S. and constitutional rights apply fully.

The prosecution responds that the detectives had permission from the worker who was staying at the berth, and therefore, Roberts had no expectation of privacy in the berth regardless of whether she was there or not. Begrudgingly, the judge sides with Goodwin and deems the evidence inadmissible.

Answer: Her boyfriend

After searching Valerie's apartment, the police find out that Freddy was on a boat that belonged to Valerie's boyfriend, Zack. The detectives interview him and he confesses that Valerie told him Freddy had died after a fall and she needed help getting rid of the body. Attorney Goodwin thinks the testimony is inadmissible as well because the prosecution needed the blood evidence to connect the findings and charge him as an accomplice. DDA Dekker argues that Zack never admitted to being an accomplice, so the law on accomplice testimony doesn't apply. Zack's testimony can be admitted because he is not being charged with anything, as opposed to being charged as an accomplice.

Immediately, Goodwin says that she plans to assert an affirmative defense of self-defense because her client had been sexually harassed and raped on the oil rig before.

Answer: Texas

Sarah Goodwin loses no time in getting her client on TV to steer public opinion in her favor. She tries to frame the case as an issue of women's rights and sexual harassment in the workplace in an interview with a host who looks quite similar to Rachel Maddow. In the courtroom, DDA Dekker strongly objects to Goodwin characterizing Freddy Ramirez as a "drunken illegal Mexican", though the statement is allowed because Goodwin has proof that Ramirez entered the country illegally. The fact that Ramirez was an illegal immigrant becomes a central part of Goodwin's case.

According to Roberts, Freddy tried to rape her and insisted he would face no consequences because he was there illegally and could just run away to Mexico. Roberts claims that she defended herself by kicking him, and realizing that she had killed him, she called her boyfriend panicked to try to make it look like an accident. She also tells DDA Dekker that this was the first time she learned he was there illegally because everyone on the rig thought he was from Texas.

DDA Dekker then shows text messages between Roberts and Ramirez that indicate she was coercing his employee to do chores for her outside of work and threatening to report him to immigration authorities if he refused. Shockingly, it turns out that Valerie was the one sexually harassing Freddy by forcing him to have sex with her. At the end of the episode, the jury finds Valerie Roberts guilty of the murder of Freddy Ramirez.