Star Struck (Season 2, Episode 12)
Premise: A woman found beaten and strangled in Central Park turns out to be a daytime soap star.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 2, Episode 12
- Detectives
- Sgt. Phil Cerreta (Paul Sorvino), Det. Mike Logan (Chris Noth)
- ADAs/DA
- Exec. ADA Ben Stone (Michael Moriarty), ADA Paul Robinette (Richard Brooks), DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill)
- Guest stars
- Bradley White as Jesse Unger, Blanche Baker as Lucy Neven, Werner Klemperer as William Unger, Stephen Joyce as defense attorney Jack Gaffney
- Director
- Ed Sherin
- Writers
- Story: David Black & Alan Gelb; Teleplay: Robert Nathan & Sally Nemeth
Summary
The Investigation
“Star Struck” opens when passersby find a badly injured woman in Central Park. She has a fractured skull and damaged vocal cords and is in a coma. The hospital identifies her as Lucy Neven, who plays Delia Mason on the soap opera World Without End. Her cash is untouched, but her grandmother’s wedding ring and a Saint Genesius medal from her father are gone. Her secretary shows the detectives stacks of strange fan mail.
A fired wardrobe assistant admits she sold Lucy’s old costumes and underwear to Mitchell Burkitt, a memorabilia thief with an assault record. Cerreta and Logan arrest him, but his trail leads through a dealer to drag performer Tim Voorman, who says a fan begged to buy his Lucy dress. Calling the club’s customers, the detectives find the buyer: Jesse Unger, who works in the fashion business and lives with his father. His girlfriend, Sandy, says he left her apartment earlier than he claimed, and the housekeeper’s timeline doesn’t match his father’s. Lucy picks Jesse out of a lineup, her ring and medal turn up in his possession, and he says she fought him when he only wanted to talk.
The Trial
Defense attorney Jack Gaffney argues that Jesse isn’t fit for trial, but the judge rules him competent, and he is charged with attempted murder. Lucy, still learning to walk again, insists on testifying. Jesse’s father, William, and Gaffney ask Stone to choose treatment instead. Stone fears that an insanity verdict would send Jesse to a hospital he could soon leave, and then to Lucy again.
Dr. Olivet testifies that Jesse is obsessive and depressed but knows right from wrong. The defense psychiatrist, Dr. Mandell, says Jesse hears a commanding voice, but Jesse first described the voices only after his father said he should. Stone suspects coaching, though nothing is proven. Gaffney offers a plea, and Lucy chooses to take her chances with the jury. On the stand, Jesse says the voice told him to kill Lucy if she wouldn’t love him, and he admits he would keep writing to her.
Spoiler, the ending: In summation, Stone argues that Jesse’s late reports of voices show he knows exactly what he did. The jury convicts him of attempted murder in the second degree. Afterward, the prosecutors acknowledge that the law has sent a sick man to prison rather than a hospital.
Why it stands out
- The case asks whether a stalker’s obsession amounts to legal insanity.
- Stone suspects the defense of shaping Jesse’s symptoms to fit the insanity rules.
- Lucy Neven turns down a plea deal and testifies despite her injuries.