In The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 episode 9, "Ghosts," Mickey (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) scrambles to figure out what to do next in the wake of Julian’s (Devon Graye) attempted murder. Forsythe (John Pirruccello) is clamoring for a mistrial, which Mickey gets desperate to avoid, knowing it could mean Julian may never go free should he recover from his injuries. So how many lines is Mickey willing to cross to help his client?
Elsewhere, Agent De Marco (Michael Irby) makes a surprise appearance in court, and Andrea (Yaya DaCosta) and Mickey make a decision on their budding romance.
Here’s what happened in The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 episode 9.
Is Julian dead or alive?
Mickey gets the call that Julian has been stabbed, so the attorney immediately drives to the hospital to see his client. On the way, he calls his team to fill them in. After the shock wears off, Mickey asks Lorna (Becki Newton) to inform the judge’s clerk and request a delayed start time for court. He hopes the extra time will help them figure out how to prevent Forsythe from pushing for a mistrial because Mickey’s defense is landing with the jury. Should Julian survive and a mistrial is declared, Julian would likely have to go back to jail for at least another year while he’s prosecuted again in a new case.
While Lorna is tasked with requesting a postponement and finding precedent Mickey can use to convince the judge not to declare a mistrial, Mickey asks Cisco (Angus Sampson) to find out who was behind the stabbing, suspecting De Marco (Michael Irby) or Bishop (Holt McCallany). Lastly, Mickey asks Izzy (Jazz Raycole) to meet him at the hospital.
Mickey arrives at the hospital as David (Wolé Parks) argues with a nurse about seeing Julian. She’s adamant that because the two aren’t married David can’t see his boyfriend. Difussing the situation, Mickey and David sit down. David can’t understand how Julian’s been stabbed. Izzy shows up, and Mickey leaves David in her hands.
Mickey and Andrea decide the fate of their relationship
Lorna is in court to represent a new client. When the judge calls for McCruden’s counsel, Lorna is so focused working on Julian’s case that she doesn’t hear the judge’s several calls. Thankfully for her, the opposing counsel from the district attorney’s office is Andrea, who is on "calendar duty" as punishment for her misstep with the Glass case. Andrea goes up to get Lorna’s attention, who is appreciative. When Lorna asks if Andrea is feeling nice enough to dismiss the case against her client, Andrea jokes Lorna shouldn’t press her luck.
In a later scene, while Mickey is eating outside, Andrea walks up to him noting Lorna told her where she could find him. She expresses her sympathies for Julian. Mickey apologizes for their last conversation. Andrea accepts his apology, but notes he wasn’t wrong, as the DA’s office is a "snake pit."
He says she needs to forgive herself for what happened to her victim. She tells him to do the same. They smile and look at each other. Mickey says it’s been nice but they both know their relationship is not working out. He tells her everything is too complicated right now and says maybe one of these days he’ll figure it out. She has faith in him. The pair ends on a positive note as she takes the salad he was eating.
Mickey and Lorna try to save their case
Bishop is sitting outside of the judge’s chambers when he receives a text that reads, "Guy’s in solitary until they figure out what to do. Keeping a lid on his ID for now." Forsythe appears and tells Bishop to step inside the judge’s chambers, where they have a conversation with Mickey and Lorna.
Right away, Forsythe asks for a mistrial. Mickey objects wanting to learn more about Julian’s condition first. Mickey also suggests the party responsible for Julian’s stabbing may have orchestrated an attempt on Julian’s life for the express purpose of getting a mistrial. Bishop chimes in saying he believes this is just a hate crime, and Julian was targeted for his sexuality.
Lorna argues it would be unfortunate to declare a mistrial as taxpayers and Julian have spent a lot of money on the case. Additionally, Julian would have to sit in jail again as a whole new trial unfolds. She caps her argument by pointing out the prosecution would have an unfair advantage having heard Mickey’s defense this go-around in a new trial, noting there’s strong case precedent on the side of the defense. The judge requests some time to think.
When all parties reconvene in the judge’s chambers, she is ready to make her ruling when De Marco arrives with a DEA attorney saying they were ordered to appear and their time is limited, so he’s ready to testify. Mickey then pleads for the court to hear his testimony before ruling on a mistrial. The judge agrees.
Cisco finds out who stabbed Julian
Cisco meets in a remote location with Officer Ramon Quezada (Matias Ponce) wanting to know who stabbed Julian. The officer says he can’t say anything and claims he wasn’t working when the stabbing occurred. Cisco pleads for a name, which eventually works. Off camera, Quezada tells Cisco the inmate who tried to kill Julian is Lalo Vasquez, who was already in prison for a murder charge.
Back at the office, Cisco isn’t making headway with tracking down Lalo’s case file. He needs it to attempt to draw connections between Lalo and De Marco or Lalo and Bishop. Thankfully, Andrea shows up with discovery from her office on the Lalo case. Cisco asks if she’ll get in trouble? She says probably not, but she's not sure she cares anymore. Andrea says Lalo was responsible for three college kids overdosing, and looking through the file, Cisco becomes incredibly happy.
De Marco takes the stand
In court, Mickey questions De Marco. He says he never met Glory Days and claims she was not one of his informants. Mickey asks how Moya wound up in federal prison. De Marco refers to the cocaine possession and the gun charges related to the double homicide. The attorney wonders if De Marco was served by Hector Moya’s (Arturo Del Puerto) attorney in Hector’s attempt to vacate his sentence. De Marco notes it’s possible, but the DEA counsel usually handles most subpoenas.
Mickey pivots to De Marco’s relationship with Bishop. De Marco knows him vaguely from working on the double homicide case 10 years ago. However, De Marco is adamant he hasn’t had contact with Bishop since then and he has not consulted on Julian’s case. Mickey brings up Peter Sterghos (John Kapelos), to which Forsythe objects as the judge has already ruled that Peter won’t be allowed to testify. The defense tries to argue they’re establishing whether De Marco knows someone else on the defense’s witness list because De Marco says he had no contact with anyone pertaining to the case, but Mickey has evidence of the contrary.
The Lincoln Lawyer runs into a brick wall when he asks De Marco where he was last Friday and De Marco replies he was on a stakeout. Mickey asks where, and Forsythe on cue objects. Mickey wavers back and forth on whether he should play video footage of De Marco and Bishop at Peter’s home, but ultimately he decides against it.
Does Julian’s case end in a mistrial?
The judge is once again about to rule on the issue of a mistrial, when Mickey sends a text to Izzy to call him right away. She does, and the judge allows Mickey to step out to take the call. Izzy says Julian barely made it through surgery and he’s touch and go. Mickey needs Izzy to tell him Julian is awake. She’s confused as Julian is still unconscious, but she does. The attorney bursts into court and claims he’s been told Julian is awake, and Mickey asks to delay any ruling on a mistrial until he can speak to his client. The judge allows a 90-minute recess.
Mickey arrives at the hospital and tells David that Julian is the only one who can prevent a mistrial, so David is on board to help out however he can. Mickey goes into Julian’s room and whips out a court document and a pen.
Moments later, Mickey returns to court with a waiver allegedly signed by Julian, granting Mickey permission to proceed with the case in Julian’s absence. Mickey says David is willing to testify to the validity of Julian’s signature, which he does. The judge says the case can proceed.
In the episode’s final moments, Mickey goes up to Bishop in the halls of the courthouse and shows him the video of him and De Marco at Peter’s house. Bishop says he didn’t go inside with De Marco and it’s not what it looks like. Mickey says he just wants to save his client and bring De Marco down. Bishop claims it’s not that simple. Mickey notes Eddie is dead, Glory Days is dead and Julian may die. Bishop advises Mickey not to show the video in court or to anyone. Mickey says that depends.
The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 is now streaming on Netflix.
