EvidenceProf on the Boob Tube: CBS' "Reckless" Premieres Sunday at 9:00

This Sunday at 9:00 P.M. is the premiere of the new CBS show, "Reckless." According to CBS,

RECKLESS is a sultry legal drama set in Charleston, S.C., where a gorgeous Yankee litigator and a charming southern attorney must hide their intense mutual attraction as a police sex scandal threatens to tear the city apart. Jamie Sawyer is enviously cool, confident and armed with south side of Chicago street-smarts as she takes on the good ol’ boys in the South.  Her handsome courtroom rival is Roy Rayder, a divorced father of two, embodies the Old South and is the newly minted City Attorney, thanks to his influential former father-in-law, Dec Fortnum.  When disgraced cop Lee Anne Marcus hires Jamie to represent her in a lawsuit against the police department, Jamie and Roy discover that Lee Anne is at the epicenter of a sinister case with dire implications for the members of the Charleston PD.  Heading that department is Deputy Chief Holland Knox, a family man who radiates integrity.  Working under him are Terry McCandless, a cocky and corrupt detective, and Preston Cruz, Jamie’s well-respected boyfriend who might not be all that he appears. Helping Jamie is her confidante and paralegal, Vi Briggs, an expert at digging up case-winning information. As Jamie and Roy spar in and out of the courtroom, dark secrets simmer behind every door and threaten to tarnish the genteel facade of seductive Charleston.

I served as a legal consultant to the show, answering questions regarding the rules of evidence, criminal law, and South Carolina law. So, how much of that counsel is likely to make it to the screen? According to New Bern City Attorney Scott Davis,

"It is not intended to be a serious drama....To a lawyer's ear, you would certainly realize they are not following the rules of evidence and the rules of procedure. They are just making a story that is interesting to watch."

Davis is a good person to ask about verisimilitude: His life served as an inspiration for the show. Will the show itself be inspired or at least provide some frothy summer entertainment. I guess we'll all see on Sunday night.

-CM