Cold Case

Season 3 Episode 20

Death Penalty: Final Appeal

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Episode Summary

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Death Penalty: Final Appeal
AIRED:
The 1994 case of a raped and murdered 16-year-old girl is re-opened when Det. Jeffries gets a call from a prisoner on death-row -- scheduled to be executed in just three days.
FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (19)

SUBMIT REVIEW

  • What happened to the phone records Why didn't anyone check the phone records and question everyone who called on the night of the murder.

    1.1
    By peddikuppa, Sep 04, 2010
    Why didn't anyone check the phone records and question everyone who called on the night of the murder.

    The way it was showed is great though but meaningless on the part detectives carried out. If they questioned the killer and Kate's father about the phone records they would have got the meat and i hate to see an innocent person dead because of the poor judgment in every scenario. The role played by the cold case detective who found out the truth is good, the only think to talk about in this episode.



    I just started liking this series and let me see how it goes.This has become one of my favorites serial to watch in free time.moreless

  • Touching and sad, but completely implausible. Since I love this show so much I will explain exactly why I gave it this low rating.

    1.0
    By Luv_2_run, Sep 04, 2010
    I felt the execution happened just for the shock value. It was totally unreasonable for things to happen this way, and I'm not talking just about the execution going forward; the implausability of it all goes back to Andre's trial and appeals.



    Who was his lawyer? let me know so I would never hire him! There's no way on earth Andre would have lost his trial, ALL appeals AND sent to death, based on circumstantial evidence and NO forensic evidence that tie him to the crime. There was evidence of him being in the house, i.e. the blood on his boots, but he admitted to being in the house. It doesn't mean he killed her. This is the exact definition of circumstantial evidence. Any rookie lawyer would have asked the medical examiner, who had to have been invited to testify at the trial, this one simple question: Was there any physical evidence that indicated Andre killed her? This question alone should be enough to raise doubts. Which brings us to another inconsistancy: They kept saying the girl was raped, yet there was no mention of any physical evidence regarding the rape, nor the murder weapon, for that matter. I know DNA wasn't used in forensics in 1994, but it IS used today and would have exonerated him on the spot. At least one of his appeals must have happened in recent years.

    If Andre was indeed innocent then there would be no "traces" of him anywhere in the murder scene: semen, skin under her nails (she fought her killer!). People don't get sent to death row based on eye witnesses and circumstantial evidence! Think about it for a moment...how would our justice system look if this would be the case?



    Next, the mis-handling of the evidence (the letter) by the ADA. So he threw them out of his office. So what? The "A" in ADA stands for "assistant", doesn't it? go to his boss! Escalate the matter as far as you can if you truly want to stop an innocent man from being executed.



    I felt that all the happenings that took place in the very final days / hours of Andre's life were forced on us, the audience, in order to create drama.moreless

  • A black man convicted on a 1994 rape and murder charge contacts the Cold Case detectives with three days left on his death row sentence. His one request, for them to prove him innocent before he gets the needle...moreless

    10
    By Tonzone21, Apr 13, 2009
    This was by far the best Cold Case episode ever! There were so many classic songs from the mid-90's era, Shine by Collective Soul, Mmmmm mmmm mmm mmm by Crash Test Dummies, and Satellite by Dave Matthews Band. A great plot,with interesting twists intertwined, made it an instant classic. Sure, there were a few holes in the storyline, but that is basically what every Cold Case episode is like. I can't believe people would ever review this episode under a nine. It had all of the same interview techniques like any other Cold Case episode, with an above average story...moreless

  • When the cop that worked the 1994 case in which a man is put on death row kills himself after it is discovered he framed people, the doomed inmate asks Detective Jeffries to look into his case before it's too late.moreless

    10
    By luckydagangsta, Jun 12, 2008
    Kate Lange was raped on murdered on June 4, 1994, the night her and her father moved into a new house. Suspicion quickly falls to one of the movers, Andre .



    This is definitely one of the saddest episodes I've seen so far. Everything was great the writing, the acting, everything. I thought that because of the circumstances, this is one of the more original episodes.



    It was sad to see how much the justice system failed Andre. First, he was framed by the arresting officer and then the prosecutor wouldn't allow the detectives to look at the evidence that would have proved him innocent and saved him from dying.



    I thought this episode was very predictable in the sense that it was obvious to me who killed her, but I was shocked when they actually executed Andre. I thought it would be like in the movies and they'd stop it right beore he was injected. At the scene, I was practically screaming at the tv for them to stop. It was sad to see everything bad that happened to him right after he got his life in order.



    Definitely an episode not be missed.moreless

  • I'm a little late on watching this episode because I caught it on the mini marathon on TNT. All of the episodes of Cold Case are saddening. This one however, was the one of the more tragic episodes. Hope you guys had some Kleenex!moreless

    9.5
    By quiet_soul, Oct 24, 2007
    Most of the folks who reviewed this episode pretty much summed up alot of what I thought but, I would still like to add to it. This episode depicts a double tragedy; one of a teenage girl who didn't even get a chance to experience life as hers was ruthlessly taken, and one of a man who didn't really get a chance to turn his life around as he paid the price of a crime that he didn't commit. I felt bad for what had happened to Kate, but my heart went out for Andre. He was an innocent man who was simply a victim of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. To make matters worse, Andre was an ex-con so, it would have been difficult for him to prove his innocence when he has a record and with the evidence making him out to be the culprit. In addition (and this is only my opinion), I don't believe those detectives really tried hard enough to prove Andre's innocence (especially if they thought that he was guilty and was proven so). It took his execution for them (Detective Jeffries in particular) to realize that he might have been telling the truth after all. I was on the verge of tears at that execution scene when Andre said his final words with tear in his eyes. Part of me was hoping the phone rang to call off the execution and grant him pardon. The flashback scenes when Andre was at Kate's side as she was dying and when he wrote his letter of apology with a glass of whiskey (or whatever the hell it was) at his side was touching as well. He pushed that glass adide in hopes to start anew. If only he was given the chance.



    As for that ADA Danner, I was glad when Det. Jeffries puched him (shoot, I would've beaten the crap out of him...or drop-kicked him, lol) and was even happier when he was fired. What a snake...witholding evidence that could have pardoned Andre and he had the audacity to demand that Det. Jeffries be terminated after he got the daylights knocked out of him. As for that creep who killed Kate....he only got a shove to the wall?!? He should have gotten one heck of a beatdown after what he did to that girl and for causing an innocent man to suffer for it. This episode was well written and acted. Indeed one of my favorite episodes from Cold Case.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

Danny Pino

Danny Pino

Scotty Valens
Jeremy Ratchford

Jeremy Ratchford

Det. Nick Vera
John Finn

John Finn

Lt. John Stillman
Kathryn Morris

Kathryn Morris

Det. Lilly Rush
Thom Barry

Thom Barry

Det. Will Jeffries
Tracie Thoms

Tracie Thoms

Kat Miller (Episodes 3.13+; recurring previously)
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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

Michael Jace

Michael Jace

Andre Tibbs (1994/2006)

Guest Star

Dean Norris

Dean Norris

Wayne Nelson (1994/2006)

Guest Star

Michael Cavalieri

Michael Cavalieri

Joey Norman (1994)

Guest Star

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