Season 3, Episode 6: The Execution of Catherine Willows

This episode deals with Catherine’s first execution from a case that she investigated. She handles the pressure of questioning the validity of the original evidence and the appearance of new evidence from another victim linked to the original killer surprisingly w ell. The following segments highlights key moments in the episode where she interacts with the defense lawyer and Grissom.

(The lawyer for the defense, MS. CAMPBELL, approaches CATHERINE in the lounge.)

MS. CAMPBELL: Ms. Willows. I heard you're investigating the murder at Western LVU. Female, young, bound dumped in a trash bag.

(CATHERINE clears her throat and closes the file she's reading.)

CATHERINE: You know that I can't confirm or deny any information regarding an active investigation. Excuse me.

(CATHERINE stands up and heads out of the lounge. MS. CAMPBELL follows CATHERINE down the hallway.)

MS. CAMPBELL: Ms. Willows, my client's life is on the line here. We've always maintained John Mathers' innocence.

CATHERINE: Ms. Campbell, I have no personal opinion about your client. I tested the evidence in his case and that evidence failed to exonerate him.

MS. CAMPBELL: Fifteen years ago. Before DNA. Before the real killer struck

again. You are going to test the pubic hair sent to the federal lab against the new suspect ...

CATHERINE: What suspect? I can't help you.

MS. CAMPBELL: (accusing) You CSIs are biased for the prosecution. You decide ahead of time how you want the evidence to come out.

CATHERINE: Ms. Campbell, I am only an interpreter of the evidence. I know how to make the evidence speak to me. I don't care about the outcome.

MS. CAMPBELL: How about guilt or innocence? John was 15 seconds from execution. Sure you're not biased? I hear the same evidence speaking. You know what it's telling me? The killer's still out there.

(MS. CAMPBELL leaves CATHERINE standing in the hallway.)

This scene is yet another example of how differently Grissom and Catherine view their roles as CSIs. Grissom is the dedicated scientist, while Catherine relies on emotional connections to her work.

CATHERINE:  Oh. Hey.  Mathers' execution's back on.  The Roths asked me to sit with them.

GRISSOM:  Is that a good idea?

CATHERINE:  I just need to do it.

GRISSOM:  Why?

CATHERINE:  It's like your first autopsy ... your first murdered child.  You can make it through that you can keep doing this work.

(GRISSOM shows CATHERINE the results of the paint sample comparison.)

GRISSOM:  All the paints match all the victims except for Charlene Roth.  See,  being capable of matching paint samples that are fifteen years apart that's why I keep doing this work.

CATHERINE:  (smiles) Well, that's the difference between you and me.

The episode ends with a conversation between Brass and Grissom. Grissom further cements the idea that the evidence and proof provided by science is more important than coincidence or luck. Grissom is uncomfortable with the idea that a criminal could be more intelligent than him.

[INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - BRASS' OFFICE -- NIGHT]

BRASS:  He's going to kill again.

GRISSOM:  Yeah.  And all we've got is a partial fingerprint and an M.O. that may lead us in the right direction.

BRASS:  You know sometimes in this job I'd rather be lucky than good.  Maybe next time we'll get lucky.

GRISSOM:  I don't believe in luck.  My only real purpose is to be smarter than the bad guys to find the evidence that they didn't know they left behind and make sense of it all.  Makes me very uncomfortable to realize that this guy may be smarter than me.

Transcripts provided by twiz tv.