Yep, very shaky. On DVD, episodes of Perry Mason tend to run about 48 minutes*. Even taking that into account, “25 minutes in” would almost always be the very first person on the stand.
Which would be Lt. Tragg a very large percent of the time.
*At least though season 4, which is the latest I have and just finished watching about two weeks ago.
I used to really like Perry Mason - both the television series and the books - until I got sick of his ‘helping’ his latest client would invariably end up in that person being charged with the crime, usually murder.
The two most bizarre episodes I remember seeing were
(a) Perry knew his client was innocent, but had convinced himself a relative (I think) of hers was the guilty party. During his cross examination of the client, he kept pausing and looking at the relative, giving her multiple opportunities to break down and confess. Finally, as I recall, a third person whom no one suspected actually confessed to the crime, and very dramatically too.
(b) A guy threatened the owner of a modeling agency/escort service in the parking lot outside his office. Later, the owner was found shot dead in his automobile just a few blocks from the other guy’s apartment. Acting on a tip from a witness to the altercation in the parking lot, the police showed up at the guy’s apartment and found the murder weapon in his trash can.
How Perry sprung him, I do NOT recall, but it turned out the owner was shot during an attempted holdup, and the real murderer/carjacker had tossed the murder weapon in the other guy’s trashcan. In the tag, Della asked Perry how the murderer knew *which *trash can to toss the gun into. Perry’s reply was “He didn’t. It was just a coincidence. They happen.”
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight! In a huge city with teeming with people, a coincidence like that can “just happen”… :rolleyes:
We love the re-runs of “Perry Mason”. One of our favorite side-lines is to play the ‘Bad Hat Game’ (pick the murderess, false witness or accomplice by the hat they wear on the stand.) Strong correlation. I could be a Lawyer, I tell 'ya.
I wanna Tragg hat.
