Family Drama

Family Drama is the title given to the fourth episode of TROOPS:NY's third season. The story revolves around the investigation of the death of Tyler Markem's mother. The episode aired on November 27, 2007.

Investigation
A woman is found murdered by gunshots in a park. Richie Terrik arrives to find that the scene had already been cleared by the recently arrived Miguel Chavez. Richie heads to the M.E.'s office to find out the cause of death and finds that Miguel had beaten him there. Returning to base, they discover that the victim is Tyler's mother. As Miguel digs deeper into Tyler's family history, Tyler reveals that he was abused as a child and raised to be the same way when he got married and had kids of his own. Richie asks Tevin Felth when he is taking over for Miguel, after complaining that Miguel had disrupted the order of operations in handling a case by clearing the crime scene before he arrived. Tevin tells Richie that Joseph Rodgers is home sick and that Richie has to work with Miguel. Tevin also tells Richie that Miguel knows what he's doing and has basically worked alone for the past several years. Miguel decides to question Tyler's father and discovers that he owns a gun like the one used in the murder. Richie takes the gun into evidence for testing. After talking to Bryan Khayman, Miguel decides to bring Mr. Markem in for further questioning. While questioning Mr. Markem, Kelly Felth reveals that the gun taken from the apartment matches the bullets recovered from Tyler's mom. Bryan confers with Ryan Pratchard and they decide to arrest Mr. Markem for murder. At the arraignment, Mr. Markem is granted $500,000 bail. Tyler visits with Davin Felth to discuss a legal matter.

Trial
Mr. Markem's official lawyer arrives and begins to give Ryan an instant headache with a million reasons he could have the case thrown out. Ryan informs him that he is going to file a motion to get Tyler appointed executor of his mother's estate. Markem's lawyer files a motion to suppress the gun claiming that the chain of custody was broken by leaving it near Tyler and that if that's not valid then Khayman and his people should have handed the case over to the NYPD due to Khayman's prior history with the family and Tyler's status with the Empire. The judge denies the defense motion and grants the motion to appoint Tyler executor of his mother's estate.

During the trial, Markem's lawyer attempts to poke holes in the case by accusing Tyler of tampering with the evidence, Bryan, and the Felths with taking a personal stake in the case. He also questions Miguel's experience in homicide and Richie's record of abusive behavior with suspects. He also attempts to accuse Tyler of the murder. Ryan decides to offer in the first degree to Markem adding that Tyler's lawyer had refused a deal that would have gotten him a year in jail. Markem's lawyer refuses the deal, claiming that he has multiple grounds for appeal and can have Ryan writing briefs until Ryan's kid is out of college. Ryan immediately orders a squad of Stormtroopers to throw opposing counsel out of his office.

Back at trial, Ryan puts Kelly on the stand to the defense claim that Tyler committed the murder. The defense questions Kelly's neutrality in handling the evidence and accuses her of having a sexual relationship with Tyler. Kelly denies this and states that she would never cheat on Tevin. After the closing statements, the jury convicts on a charge of in the second degree.

After the trial
Tyler's dad is sentenced to 25 years to life in prison as per New York State law for committing the crime of Murder in the second degree. Ryan, Davin, and Markem's lawyer meet in a bar to discuss the case where Ryan and Davin are reminded of the many grounds for appeal. Kelly informs Tevin that she is pregnant with the couple's third child. Tyler and Tevin travel to where Tyler confronts his dad. After this, Tyler and Richie drive home and talk about how Richie never had a family while Tyler had a broken family and that any children they eventually have will get better then they got.

Guest Stars

 * - Trial Judge
 * - Defense Attorney
 * - Charles Markem
 * David Lipman - Arraignment Judge