Conviction

This week, the Conviction Integrity Unit tackles the conviction of Leo Scarlata (Jason Furlani), a mentally challenged man currently serving time for murder and arson. Leo had reportedly set fire to his family’s restaurant,    during a fit of anger. A homeless man, who took refuge in the basement, died in the blaze. As the team tackles the case, they receive an unpleasant surprise. There is a documentary team following the Scarlata case, and according to DA Wallace (Eddie Cahill), the resulting footage would provide great publicity for the CIU. While Hayes Morrison (Hayley Atwell) has been always been willing to stir things up and to make a statement, the documentary crew is too much. As the camera men hover around the team, Hayes is clearly on edge.

Meanwhile Frankie (Manny Montana) goes to the restaurant. As he and Maxine (Merrin Dungey) walk the facility, it becomes immediately clear that the fire was deliberate. As they look at the stoves and the deep friers, there was no way for the flames to have reached the oil without some assistance.

The team reconvenes, their attention refocusing on Karl Wimer (Scott Gibson), a good samaritan who was injured in the fire. While Karl didn’t have a criminal record, they quickly discover this wasn’t the first time he played rescuer. Could he have set the fire to make himself look good?

Armed with these facts, Frankie and Tess (Emily Kinney) go to question Karl. Confronted with the charges, the good samaritan is rightfully insulted. He shows the team his scars. He recounts the six painful months he spent in the burn unit after the fire. Karl also produces the letters Leo reportedly sent him from jail, expressing his remorse that Karl was injured.

Returning to speak with Leo, he denies any guilt. As Hayes asks him why he sent the letters, his response seems genuine. He felt bad for Karl, and wanted to make him feel better. He maintains that he didn’t start the fire.

Throughout the series, Sam (Shawn Ashmore) has shown a uncomfortable ability to make information he doesn’t like vanish. As night falls over the CIU offices, he hacks into Paul’s (Christian Campbell) computer. His goal is to make his unflattering interview disappear. As he’s deleting the file, he stumbles on another juicy little tidbit. He finds an interview with Leo’s brother Vince (Carlo Rota). On the tape, the man recounts an instance when a young Leo had set his treehouse on fire after getting angry.

The investigation takes them to the offices of Glen Powell. Despite being a high powered lawyer, as well as a pro at money laundering, Powell falls headfirst into Hayes’ trap. She lures the man in, and is easily able to get an offer to launder money into an off-shore account “for a price”. Powell sings like a bird. He quickly admits that Vince Scarlata was quite the gambler, and the insurance payout from the fire had saved his life. He wasn’t a very good gambler. However, the theory is quickly proven wrong. Vince was home at the time of the fire.

With signs once again pointing back to Leo, Frankie and Tess look at chemical studies. They discover that the chemicals used in the fire would have lead to a delayed reaction. While Vince’s alibi still stands, there was another passcode which logged off in the hours surrounding the fire. Anthony Scarlata (Jason Cerbone) made a fortune when he franchised the family restaurant in the years after the blaze. Not only does he now have motive to start the fire, but he also had the means.

As they talk with Anthony, he recounts that he had bought the kitty litter for Leo, who kept his cat Meatball at the restaurant. He suddenly remembers, it was one of Leo’s chores to change the kitty litter. It is perfectly conceivable, and seems likely that Leo could have accidentally put the kitty litter in the wrong bin leading to the blaze.

When they return to Leo with the good news, his reaction is unexpected. When faced with the mistake, he fiercely argues that he did everything right. Hayes mentions it was a simple mistake. Anyone could have done it. However, this isn’t good enough for Leo. He get’s up and leaves. Rather than admitting he potentially made the error, he chooses to stay in jail.

As a beaten Hayes returns to the CIU office, she stares at a sign in the kitchen. Suddenly, everything clicks into place. The clue is in the restaurant’s chore chart.

Hayes returns to Leo. A picture on the wall shows the burned kitchen chore sign, instructing Leo to put the kitty litter in bin B. However, signs pulled from earlier in the week showed that he had been putting the litter in bin A. Why the change? It was Rita Scarlata (Nola Martin) who made the charts for Leo, and she knew that he would follow them exactly. When faced with the charges, she admits to everything. She felt the restaurant was killing Vince, and she wanted to find him a way out.

With Leo’s release, the brothers reunite happily. CIU has yet another successful result.

Conviction airs Monday nights at 10/9c on your local ABC affiliate.

Kimberly Pierce
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