1961

S4.E1 ∙ The Seven Hundred Year Old Gang: Part 1

Wed, Sep 23, 1964

An elderly man is accused of making bootleg wine - and he turns out not to be the only senior citizen involved.

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S4.E2 ∙ The Seven Hundred Year Old Gang: Part 2

Wed, Sep 30, 1964

The DA feels his political future will be shattered if he prosecutes the elderly and illegal winemaker, so he implores Preston to ask for a postponement of the trial.

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S4.E3 ∙ Hero of the People

Wed, Oct 07, 1964

A lonely nonentity confesses (untruthfully) to the killing of a drug dealer in the hope of finding some transitory celebrity.

0 /10

Candidate Matthew Ritter's young son vanishes during his party's sprawling convention ceremonies. After receiving a kidnapper's demand for $200,000 in exchange for his boy's safety, Ritter seeks help from Lawrence Preston instead of the police. Preston agrees to act as a go-between as public and private pressures mount for the Ritter family.

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S4.E5 ∙ Conflict of Interests

Wed, Oct 21, 1964

The Prestons defend a drama critic in a libel case.

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S4.E6 ∙ The Man Who

Wed, Oct 28, 1964

Lawrence Preston is persuaded to go into politics - and regrets it.

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S4.E7 ∙ Turning Point

Wed, Nov 04, 1964

Convinced that his late client Joey Americus was executed for a crime that he didn't commit, an obsessed Ken seeks answers to the crime on his own. His investigation leads him into dangerous territory where he is beaten, falsely accused of felonious assault, and arrested.

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S4.E8 ∙ A Taste of Ashes

Wed, Nov 11, 1964

The Prestons accept the case of three defendants involved in a bizarre murder case. The seamen are charged with killing a fourth man with whom they were stranded on a small lifeboat in the ocean following a shipboard explosion. The twist in the case: the murder was committed with the victim's full consent in order to increase the odds of survival for the other men.

0 /10

S4.E9 ∙ Comeback

Wed, Nov 25, 1964

Lawrence Preston defends a once-famous actress on a drunk-driving charge.

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S4.E10 ∙ The Siege

Wed, Dec 02, 1964

Gary Degan blames Lawrence Preston for his prison term - and now he holds him hostage.

7.2 /10

S4.E11 ∙ Whitewash

Wed, Dec 09, 1964

City councilman Juan "Spanish John" Espejo has been indicted for extorting money from a contractor. Espejo claims the accusation is a maneuver designed to discredit Puerto Ricans in political life.

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S4.E12 ∙ A Voice Loud and Clear

Wed, Dec 16, 1964

A strange young woman claims she has been told "by voices" to kill someone.

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S4.E13 ∙ King of the Hill

Wed, Dec 30, 1964

Historically, Beijing Opera had been a masculine art form and female roles were played by males, but after 1949, women began to emerge as performers. Qi Shu Fang was central in that movement. This new film by Alan Govenar explores the life and work of the preeminent master of Chinese Opera now living in the United States.

0 /10

S4.E14 ∙ Whipping Boy

Wed, Jan 06, 1965

A single mother stands accused of murdering her two and a half year old son.

8.2 /10

S4.E15 ∙ Eyewitness

Wed, Jan 13, 1965

Young hoodlums Erik Davis and Arnold Campbell violently beat an elderly man to death on a city street for seemingly no reason. Although 27 eyewitnesses are spectators to the crime, none make any attempt to help the victim. Lawrence agrees to defend the accused, and their motives, as well as the eyewitnesses', are revealed on the witness stand.

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S4.E16 ∙ The Silent Killer

Wed, Jan 20, 1965

While boating on Long Island Sound, Marian Gerard vanishes. After witnesses implicate him in her presumed death, husband Mark is indicted for first degree murder. With the death penalty on the table, the Prestons argue against conviction without a body, while in upstate New York, Marian is secretly alive and in hiding.

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S4.E17 ∙ Death on Wheels

Wed, Jan 27, 1965

Harried businessman Bob Garrison storms off following a fight with his wife, runs a red light, and strikes a pedestrian. The Prestons encourage him to accept a plea of temporary insanity, arguing that severe emotional conflicts made him act without reason.

0 /10

S4.E18 ∙ The Unwritten Law

Wed, Feb 03, 1965

Leo Rolf discovers his wife's affair with Arthur Raskin and murders his rival. Rolf confesses to the crime, adding that it was a premeditated act. However, citing the ancient "unwritten law" that allows a man to kill his wife's lover, Rolf argues that he should enjoy impunity. It's up to the Prestons to plead his case in court.

8 /10

S4.E19 ∙ The Objector

Wed, Feb 10, 1965

The Prestons accept the case of Roger Bailey, a college-aged pacifist attempting to stop his induction into the armed forces. A professed agnostic, Bailey can't use the loophole of being a conscientious objector on religious grounds and potentially faces prison time as draft dodger.

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S4.E20 ∙ Fires of the Mind

Wed, Feb 17, 1965

Dr. Byron Saul's controversial use of LSD in treating his patients is called into question after a patient dies whilst under the drug's influence.

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S4.E21 ∙ No-Knock

Wed, Feb 24, 1965

Willie Drucker, a numbers racket middleman, shoots and kills Sturdivant, a police detective who enters his apartment unannounced through a window using New York state's controversial "no-knock warrant" law. When the district attorney's office indicts Drucker for first-degree murder, the Prestons take his case and argue that the killing was self-defense.

0 /10

S4.E22 ∙ The Merry-Go-Round Mender

Wed, Mar 03, 1965

Young Christopher Yager is badly affected by his parents' divorce, but the well-intentioned efforts of his governess to help him lead to difficulties.

0 /10

S4.E23 ∙ Nobody Asks What Side You're On

Wed, Mar 10, 1965

Reporter Maria Edwards disregards advice to cover a police story, but finds herself in danger when an apprehension becomes violent. She flees to the safety of her car, but shoots and kills a man who is hiding in the backseat. The Prestons are prepared to defend on her on a manslaughter charge, until it surfaces that Maria knew the man she shot and the manslaughter plea is no longer available.

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S4.E24 ∙ Impeachment

Wed, Mar 17, 1965

After his political party attempts to have him impeached from office on a charge of malfeasance, Governor William Defoe seeks legal assistance from Lawrence, who is an old college buddy. Defoe claims he's being ousted because of radical changes he wants to make his party; however, as testimony begins before a judiciary committee, accusations arise that Defoe bought his way into governor's mansion with a sizable, anonymous donation.

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S4.E25 ∙ The Sworn Twelve

Wed, Mar 24, 1965

The Prestons defend Pete Shannon, who is accused of burglary and grand larceny against the trucking firm employing him for years. Despite his protestations of innocence, the jury convicts him. However, the Prestons are convinced of his innocence and after they receive an anonymous letter suggesting that the guilty verdict was rendered without following protocol, they set about questioning the jurors in hopes of obtaining a new trial.

7.9 /10

S4.E26 ∙ A Matter of Law and Disorder

Wed, Apr 07, 1965

While walking his do in the park, Peter Dowling is confronted by three young men who threaten him. Dowling kills one of the young men and is indicted for manslaughter. Although the Prestons argue that he killed in self-defense based on the idea of self-preservation, the prosecution disagrees as the boy was unarmed.

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S4.E27 ∙ Youths and Maidens on an Evening Walk

Wed, Apr 14, 1965

Bertha Schlock, an aspiring, but eccentric young actress from the Bronx, seeks help from the Prestons after being arrested on an assault charge. With predictably humorous results, Lawrence decides to play Pygmalion by making a presentable lady for the jury out of the odd, flamboyant girl.

0 /10

S4.E28 ∙ The Prosecutor

Wed, Apr 28, 1965

Assistant district attorney Charles Parker considers accepting a position in the Preston and Preston law firm. However, the Prestons are set to defend Richard Holmes on a charge of murdering the man who raped his wife and caused a breakdown that institutionalized her. When Parker is assigned to prosecute the Holmes case, a conflict of interest charge arises.

8.1 /10

S4.E29 ∙ The Bum's Rush

Wed, May 05, 1965

Preston and Preston are at odds over potential client Charlie Barry, a homeless man accused of killing another bum. Lawrence turns down the case, which he thinks isn't a winning prospect, but Ken, sympathetic to the plight of the derelicts, wants to defend him.

0 /10

S4.E30 ∙ Only a Child

Wed, May 12, 1965

In their final televised case, the Prestons tackle a New York state law limiting the amount of compensation for wrongful death cases. After Bill Andrews' young son dies in a car accident, he sues, but finds that the fees he's set to collect aren't even sufficient to cover the psychiatric care his devastated wife needs to recover from the loss. He seeks help from the Prestons, who argue for changes to the law.

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