The Corporate Veil (Season 3, Episode 4)
Premise: A teenager dies when his pacemaker fails, and the investigation moves from a dealer in recycled devices to the family that runs the manufacturer.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 3, Episode 4
- 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
- Robert Milli as Roger Cleary, Bruce Norris as Steven Cleary, Elizabeth Hubbard as Annette Cleary, Brooks Rogers as Dr. Trevor Hellems, Carla Pinza as Rosa Martinez
- Director
- Don Scardino
- Writers
- Michael S. Chernuchin & Joe Morgenstern
Summary
The Investigation
“The Corporate Veil” opens when 18-year-old Roberto Martinez passes out at the wheel with his younger sister in the car, and dies of a heart attack after the crash. His mother’s lawyer, Peter Fischel, claims Roberto’s pacemaker failed and that the surgery by Dr. Trevor Hellems was unnecessary. The maker, BioNorm Industries, had offered Mrs. Martinez $50,000 to stay quiet, and the detectives learn of six earlier patients who died with BioNorm pacemakers, each followed by a settlement with a confidentiality clause.
Roger Cleary, BioNorm’s chairman, and his son reveal that the device in Roberto was first sold for another patient, Ethel Barnet. The detectives follow it to a medical school, where a lab worker sold discarded pacemakers to salesman Jeffrey Suiter. Suiter reconditioned the device and sold it to Hellems, who knew it was used but did not tell Mrs. Martinez. The pacemaker’s expiration date had been changed, and Suiter is arrested.
The Trial
Suiter is charged with murder and grand larceny, but an FDA inspector testifies that the device failed because its wire leads were corroded, not because the battery expired. The murder charge is dismissed and Suiter agrees to plead to fraud. Robinette learns the leads came from an importer who sold one shipload of corroded wires to five companies, and BioNorm was the only one that used them.
Steven Cleary, the chairman’s son, says he inspected the leads himself, and he is charged with second-degree murder. His lawyer, Dick Berkley, persuades the judge to keep the six earlier deaths from the jury. When Stone learns that Steven’s mother, Annette, BioNorm’s former purchasing chief, holds an engineering degree, Steven offers to testify against his father in exchange for a deal for himself and his mother. He says they found more bad leads after the first death and begged his father to order a recall, but he refused.
Spoiler, the ending: Steven takes a manslaughter plea and Annette agrees to back his account. When Roger Cleary asks what Stone is offering, the answer is nothing. The episode ends before any verdict or plea, with Cleary facing several counts of second-degree murder.
Why it stands out
- The title refers to the rule that shields a company’s owners from its civil liabilities; the prosecutors argue it offers no protection from criminal charges.
- Confidential settlements had kept six earlier pacemaker deaths out of public view.
- A son who agreed to take the blame ends up testifying against his father.