CHICAGO P.D. — “Justice” Episode 321 — Pictured: Philip Winchester as Peter Stone– (Photo by: Matt Dinerstein/NBC)

Name of the Episode: “Justice”

Beware – spoilers!

While out on patrol, Roman and Burgess try to figure out how to proceed with their new relationship. A hooded figure comes up behind the patrol car with a gun, he fires a few rounds; Roman is hit and tells Burgess to get the guy. She runs down the street and sees a hooded figure walking in front of her, she calls out for him to stop. He runs away and she fires her gun, hitting the assilant a couple of times. She handcuffs the boy and angrily asks why he shot Roman. He is crying because of the shots and claims he didn’t shoot anyone. Burgess runs back to the patrol car and asks for two ambulances to the scene.

The intelligence team goes to the scene as Burgess recounts the actions that just happened. Roman lost a lot of blood, and he is being rushed to Med. While Burgess is telling Voight what happened, the rest of the force can’t find the gun anywhere. Voight insists that Burgess make her statement sure and confident.The boy is brought to med to be treated, Ethan goes to asses his wounds. Once Roman is brought into the emergency room, an officer screams that Ethan should be taking care of Roman. Maggie has to clear everyone out of the emergency room to regain control.

The accused shooter is Michael Vance Ellis; he is only 17 years old. The assistant state attorney brought in to preside over the case is Peter Stone. Everyone seems to already know he helped send Voight to prison. Interviews must be conducted and Michael’s parents are insistent he did not shoot anyone. At the station, Ruzek startled Burgess in the locker room by accident. She is so shaken from the shooting; she can’t function. Ruzek says he still cares for Burgess even though their relationship ended badly. She sheepishly acknowledges his offer to help. Michael gives his statement to the lawyers saying he saw a guy duck out into a building after using a gun. He may never walk again after the shooting.  He says he wanted to be alone because his girlfriend Penny broke up with him. Everyone says he is the model citizen. His gun shot residue test is inconclusive because of the water he fell into. Stone says there can’t be another guy because he’s not on any camera and the door on the building near the shooting was triple locked.

Burgess is ordered by Sargent Platt to be relieved of her duties in relation to the case. Protestors stand in front of the station yelling, “Hands up tell the truth”. Inside, Burgess goes into a deposition to record her statement for court records.

More interviews are conducted and Michael’s co-worker is asked about Michael’s character. He admitted that a few days ago, Michael was agitated. Michael also said Chicago police don’t do anything and something needs to be done. The team finds Penny’s Instagram account because Michael deleted his account the day before the shooting. On her page, there was a photo of Michael holding a small caliber gun.
There may be a break in the case, when a civilian has survaillance footage from his apartment looking up the street where Michael was shot. The footage shows when Michael was shot, he tossed the gun into the river. It looks to be about 15-20 feet from the shore. The fire department is called to recover the gun so it can be evaluated for evidence. Roman is back at home recovering; Burgess keeps replaying the events. She is so sure of herself, she got the right guy. Stone is having difficulty to find a motive for the shooting. People want to know why, otherwise the jury won’t give a guilty verdict.

Stone has to aggressively go after Burgess because of footage found of her and Roman being flirtatious before the shooting took place. Burgess keeps insisting she was thinking clearly and she acted as she was trained. The courtroom scene gives a preview of what Chicago Justice will feature. The defense shows a video demonstration to show how easy it is to manipulate survilliance video. The judge ruled the action a violation of the rules of evidence, but the damage has been done.

Platt and Lindsay drive Burgess to the courthouse for her testimony while Voight and Ruzek escort her up the steps. The defense comes across strong to Burgess to make her slip up in her testimony; Burgess says Chicago youth wear similar clothing to make it harder to identify the suspect. Stone’s associate breaks some good news regarding possible motive for the shooting. Six years ago, Dewan Motley, a long time boyfriend to Michael’s aunt was arrested. The arresting officer cited Dewan was being drunk and disorderly. Dewan pushed the officer, and the officer hit his head. This action resulted in a coma in which the officer may never wake up from. Michael visited Dewan 16 times in the last four years.

The defense calls Michael to the stand; he is pushed in a wheelchair to testify. He insists the gun he posed with was in his possession at a party for a few seconds. Stone decided to question Michael very intensely. Stone revealed to the jury that Dewan hung himself after being denied parole once again. The day before Roman was shot, is when Dewan was pronounced dead. Penny broke up with Michael because he wasn’t tough enough. He went for revenge and to show everyone he was tough enough. Everything happened within a couple days, it was too much for him to handle.

Chambella, the defense attorney, offers a deal to Stone to have Michael serve less time, but Stone refuses. The jury has taken three days to deliberate, but have not reached a verdict. The lawyers are worried the jury might be hung or they could acquit Michael. Stone visits Roman and Burgess to find out if they would agree to a deal to let Michael serve a shorter sentence. Roman agrees to the deal so the city can sleep soundly.

Next week: A family massacre has a sole survivor in it’s midst. Once she is at the hospital, she threatens to harm herself and it’s up to Lindsay to help talk her down. Stay tuned for another after take, only two more episodes until the end of the season!