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The Jury is the twelfth episode of the eighth season in this television sitcom on Family Matters, which was aired from ABC on December 6, 1996. It was directed by Joel Zwick and written by Gregory Thomas Garcia.

Plot[]

Urkel and Carl are selected to serve on a jury for a store robbery suspect. Urkel is the only one who is convinced that the evidence is not what it seems and proves whose really guilty of robbing the store. Meanwhile, 3J believes he is being sent back to the orphanage, so he begins working in the house and causes problems. Harriette convinces him that when she and Carl adopted him, he'll always have a home with them.

Synopsis[]

In a B-Story, Harriette is in a blue sweater, relaxing on the couch and reading a magazine. Eddie comes downstairs clearly upset over something. He complains to Harriette that he can't find his favorite vest that he had washed, dried and hanged the other day with his laundry. He mentions he has a date with Greta in 5 minutes and has nothing to wear for that occasion. Harriette asks Eddie to look inside the his closet again. When he tells her that he had already done that and even looked in Steve's closet, it's not there. Harriette suggests to Eddie in looking for his vest in the laundry room. Maybe Steve may have misplaced it when he last did his laundry. As Eddie leaves, Laura comes downstairs with his vest over a cute top, a new hat and pants she bought at Ferguson's. Harriette notices this, admonishes her for stealing his vest and not asking for his permission to wear it. Laura explains that Curtis has seen everything she's own and needed something that she doesn't own. Before Harriette could admonish her further for stealing Eddie's vest, Carl screams out for her to help him find his favorite "I Love Donuts" blue sweater for his annual poker night at Willie's place. It soon becomes apparent she is wearing his sweater and which she is just as bad as Laura. Realizing this, Harriette decides to cover for her and tells her to have a nice time with Curtis.

Steve gets a summons to go on jury duty for a jewelry store robbery, which is concerning to Harriette. She asks Carl to supervise, but he tries to remind her that he's a cop and they're not subjected to attend jury duty. Despite his efforts to get out of it, he caves in to serve jury duty when he gets a call from the courthouse regarding one of the original jurors, Myra, having to withdraw from it to care for a family member. They also express their concerns with Steve and his usual clumsy hijinks, if Carl's not there to supervise.

At the courtroom, an embarrassed Carl is only serving jury duty just to keep an eye on Steve. During the trial, they see a video of the accused stealing the jewels from the story and the rest of the jury jumps to the conclusion that the evidence is clear. The defendant is a jewelry store owner, David Hayes and he claims he was watching a Bewitched marathon when this crime took place. The prosecutor and everyone else, including the judge, thinks he is lying. Unfortunately for them, Urkel is the only one truly believes his innocence. Next, it comes time for the jury to deliberate on this case and Steve voted not guilty causing outrage for the other jurors. After many hours, Carl keeps telling Steve that this is an open and shut case but Steve still feels that there is something wrong. Carl threatens to have everyone in the jury throw pencils at him if he doesn't agree with them. The bailiff then comes in telling that if the jury doesn't present a vote in the next half hour, they'll be keeping them all night. Another juror tells Steve that David is guilty and that videotapes can't lie. This gives Urkel the info he needs and asks the bailiff(whom is friends with him and Judge Mooney) to go to his car and get the video equipment out of his car because he needs to have a chat with Judge Mooney immediately. He agrees and Carl demands to know what Steve is doing. Urkel reveals that he cracked open the case since videotapes can lie.

Meanwhile, 3J does extra chores around the house in order to avoid being sent back to the shelter by the Winslows. It does have an adverse effect as Eddie is upset with him for ruining his collector's edition of his basketball signed by Scottie Pippen by pumping too much air into it. Then, Laura complains that he shouldn't have combined all of her perfumes into one bottle because that was the whole point of having six different perfume smells. Because of the combination, she'll smell bad when she goes out on her dates.

Back at the courthouse, the trial resumes after Judge Mooney agrees to reopen the case and let Steve testify, despite objections from both the prosecutor and Hayes's defense attorney. She overrules their objections and Urkel immediately makes his point across how video tapes can be doctored to frame someone else, with examples of putting Carl from his vacation in the security tape and doctoring his head on a woman's body. The prosecution tries to claim otherwise but Steve quickly points to one key piece of evidence he saw in the tape that everyone else overlooked during the night in the robbery: a store mirror. He zooms in closer using his laptop and reveals who really robbed the jewelry store: the store's head of security, Joey Bozelli. Exposed by Steve, he stands up and tries to flee the scene. He is quickly apprehended by both the bailiff and Carl. Urkel walks up to Bozelli right away and confronts the former head of security about how he could've used the power of doctoring video tapes for positive purposes. Unfortunately, he chose to break the law by covering up his crimes for negative purposes. Steve immediately tells the bailiff to take Bozelli off to jail because he's disgusted with him for framing an innocent man like David Hayes for a crime he didn't commit. The bailiff takes him away to be booked and Judge Mooney is impressed with Urkel's acute sense of lawbreaking talents. Now humbled by this, the prosecutor sincerely apologizes to Steve for his skepticism. He tells Mooney that he intends to prosecute Joey Bozelli for theft, perjury and tampering with the evidence. The case is dismissed and Mr. Hayes thanks Urkel for believing in his innocence. Immediately, Carl and the rest of the jury apologizes to Steve for arguing with him in the first place. They admitted that he saved an innocent man from going to jail for a crime he never committed.

At the Winslow home, Harriette finally has a heart-to-heart talk to 3J and she realizes why he was busy with the extra chores around the house. He was afraid of being sent back to the children's shelter since that is what happened to him last time with his other foster families and even his own aunt. Harriette convinces 3J that when Carl and her took him in as their son, he became a part of their family, permanently. She tells him that he doesn't need to do some extra chores around the house to win their love, he already has it. They do appreciate what he does though. This helps mend 3J's heart and he goes to apologize to Eddie and Laura.

In the end credits, Eddie is disgusted by Steve teaching his bugs how to synchronize swim for his meeting with his pen pal, Agnes, whom is a bug collector.

Cast and Characters[]

Main[]

Supporting Cast[]

Guest[]

  • Brad Blaisdell as Joey Bozelli
  • Patrice Chanel as Defense Attorney
  • Pamela Kosh as Natalie
  • Randee Heller as Judge Jennifer Mooney
  • Dan Gerrity as Prosecutor
  • Rick LaFond as Vince
  • George Lugg as David Hayes
  • Jon Menick as Unnamed Bailiff

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Although Myra doesn't make an appearance, it's revealed Carl replaces her after a family member gets sick and has to care for them.

Quotes[]

Urkel: [confronting Bozelli] You could've used the power of manipulating video tapes for positive purposes. But nooooo, you chose the dark side. Get him out of here. He makes me sick!
  v - e - dFamily Matters Season 8
Paris Vacation (Part 1)Paris Vacation (Part 2)Paris Vacation (Part 3)Movin' On3J in the HouseGetting BuffStevilKarate KidsHome AgainNightmare at Urkel OaksChick-a-BoomThe JuryIt Came Upon a Midnight ClearRevenge of the NerdLove TrianglesFather TimeBeauty and the BeastLe Jour d'amourWhat Do You Know?Odd Man InFlirting with DisasterPound FoolishThe Brother Who Came to DinnerA Pirate's Life for Me
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