Fannysmackin'
Encyclopedia
"Fannysmackin' " is the fourth episode in the seventh season
of the American crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
, set in Las Vegas, Nevada
.
man gets off work from his job at a casino hotel. After calling his wife, he is ambushed in the parking garage and beaten to death. Gil Grissom
and Catherine Willows
are called to the scene and identify the dead man as Vasco Ruiz. Grissom finds pictures of the victim's two children.
A young woman walks the streets, clutching a tall souvenir daiquiri glass and clearly inebriated. She, too, is ambushed and beaten, but she survives the attack. The second crime scene is discovered and Warrick
and Nick
take the case. Warrick discovers that Grissom's scene is five blocks from his and Nick's, and begins to think that the two are related.
In the autopsy
for Ruiz, the cause of death is determined to be multiple blunt force trauma. Catherine
finds a toenail in Ruiz' mouth. Sara
takes pictures of the female victim—Jessica Hershbaum—and shows her characteristic sympathy towards the young woman. Sara finds a bruise on Jessica that appears to be a backwards "F", and Jessica says that the thugs who beat her up said that she was "number two for the night". A flashback is shown of the gang attacking the victim and the leader wearing a pig mask.
While Catherine has found shoe treads on Ruiz' shirt, Greg
walks in wearing a suit and announces that he just came from court, in his first beginning-to-end investigation (crime scene to court room). He helps Catherine by isolating footprints on Ruiz' pants, while saying that he had a date with the prosecuting attorney
. They find five different shoe treads. Greg speculates that the two attacks could be hate crimes since Ruiz is Hispanic and Jessica is Jewish.
A third crime scene is investigated by Greg and Sofia Curtis
, this time a robbery
at a liquor store, and it seems that the suspects from the previous two beatings are involved. The shop owner managed to grab a sweatshirt from one of the thugs and said that the face of one of the suspects was deformed
.
Grissom walks in on Sara testing shoe tread consistency. She states that two common treads on both victims were found and then, through "SOLEMATE", the treads have been identified as a pair of Doc Martens and a pair of Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars
. She also finds a print from a stiletto heel
which hints at a female suspect.
Brass interviews Ruiz' wife, who says that he had no enemies to speak of and was a good man. Afterwards, Brass passes by a television display in a store window and spots a report of Jessica's attack, which includes footage of the actual beating. He asks a uniformed officer to get hold of the reporter.
On the way to continue processing the liquor store, Greg witnesses another beating. He calls for back up, but thinking it will take too long for them to arrive, he drives into the alley and turns his sirens on. Most of the gang runs away except one. The lone gang member looks up and glares at Greg with bright, unearthly-looking, bluish-white eyes. Greg stops the SUV and the young man picks up a rock and looks ready to brain the victim with it, but turns to throw it at Greg. Greg has no choice but to defend himself by propelling the SUV into the young man.
After a couple of seconds, the gang return and yank Greg from the SUV. Too dazed to react, Greg can only fight to stay conscious as the gang members beat him brutally. One of them spits on him, laughing. As the gang walks away, Greg reaches out and scratches the gang member who spit on him. The gang deliberately hits Greg's SUV as they drive away in their own vehicle.
When the police are on the scene, a woman attempts to get around Sofia to the scene, screaming "Demetrius". Sara arrives and Sofia tells her that Greg has been stabilized. Sara rushes up to him. Greg whispers "Sara", telling her that he knows her scent. He then tells her about all the DNA and paint transfer evidence that can be taken from him and his vehicle, but she says, "I came here for you, Greg."
The man who Greg rescued, a tourist from Union City, Tennessee
named Stanley Tanner, is interviewed by Brass. He had been just walking down the alley, looking for a taxi, he says. "The next thing I knew, I was on the ground being beaten all to Hell. I thought I was gonna die. Then I heard the horn and the siren." Tanner then asks Brass if he can thank his rescuer personally.
Nick and Warrick go to the scene where Greg was beaten. Warrick finds a strand of Greg's hair, which causes an already angry Nick to become even angrier. A punk by the name of Cole Tritt (Kevin Federline
) stands at the edge of the crime scene tape taunting the CSIs. Nick loses his cool and punches Cole. Warrick calms Nick down while Cole talks about taking a picture of police brutality, using his camera phone. Warrick grabs Cole's phone out of his hand and starts looking through the phone list, asking how many drug dealers he will find.
While Grissom is visiting Greg in the hospital, Greg reveals that his mother still thinks he is a lab technician and would be upset if she knew what had happened to him, because she is overprotective of her only son. Grissom tells Greg that his mother would be proud of him because he had saved a man's life. Stanley Tanner will be fine, but Demetrius James, the young man who Greg ran over with the SUV to rescue Tanner, is going into surgery and it is unknown if he will be all right.
Catherine, meanwhile, is interviewing Cha Cha, a girl accused of being a member of the gang. She uncovers her purse, revealing an F-shaped decoration which looks like it could have left the mark on Jessica. This, mixed with overwhelming evidence, makes Cha Cha confess and tell Catherine that a girl named Tara had called her on Ruiz' cell phone inviting her to a party. The party, it turns out, was a "fannysmackin session, in which tourists are beaten up. The name "fannysmackin was derived from the fact that many tourists in Las Vegas wear fanny pack
s. When Catherine asks why Vasco Ruiz was beaten, since he was a local, Cha Cha answers that Ruiz might have been just practice.
In the front lobby of the station, two young men claim to Sofia and Brass that they were the latest fannysmacking victims and had been robbed of $
10,000. Grissom checks a map with locations of the first three attacks to compare with the new report. David Hodges
enters, telling Grissom that the saliva from Greg's jacket and the epithelials from under Greg's fingernails both match one unknown male. Grissom tells Hodges that he believes that the newest fannysmacking claim is bogus, because the attack allegedly occurred about 20 blocks away from the others and that the only shoeprints on the alleged victim's shirt were his own. When Sofia confronts the young men with the evidence, they break down and admit that they owed money to a sportsbook
and had decided to file a false police report to make it look like they had the money but had been robbed.
Meanwhile, Nick goes with a squad to Tara's house and arrests her. In her car, which bore paint transfer similar to that of Greg's SUV, he finds Vasco Ruiz' wallet and cell phone. Back at the lab, Nick checks Tara's cell phone records and finds text messages from someone calling himself "Pig", telling her where to meet up. Nick and Catherine believe that Pig, who they have pegged as the ringleader, sent the message to several people at once. They have a reluctant Tara create a text message that would be characteristic of Pig's style, telling the gang of another meeting place, and another to be sent to Pig himself with the same information.
In an abandoned warehouse, the entire gang shows up. As everyone tries to sort out who had sent the text message, LVPD enter and surround all those gathered. Pig, who is actually wearing a pig snout mask, is revealed to be Cole Tritt, the very same heckler who had enraged Nick at the earlier crime scene. As he is being led away in handcuffs, Cole is unrepentant. As Nick glares at him, Cole makes pig sounds at Nick and revels in getting free room and board in jail.
Greg is sitting in his hospital bed eating, when he has a visitor. It is a grateful Stanley Tanner, who shakes Greg's hand and thanks him for saving his life. After Tanner is wheeled out, a mournful wail comes from the room next door. Greg watches as Demetrius James' mother sobs over Demetrius' lifeless body. Demetrius' brother, Aaron, glares helplessly at Greg.
In the locker room, Sara invites Nick and Warrick to go with her to the hospital to visit Greg. Catherine walks in and announces that Cole and his gang have all been booked. Catherine is troubled, both by the fact that Cole was the only adult among the gang, whose members are mostly teenagers-some as young as 14--and that even otherwise good kids like Demetrius James, who had been a good student in college, commit assault and murder because they are bored and seemingly have no conscience.
The team members debate what might have caused the teens to go wrong; Warrick says that it is the lack of parental guidance, Nick says that the Las Vegas lifestyle is to blame, while Sara asserts that the kids themselves are at fault. Grissom, however, states that "Our moral compass can only point us in the right direction, it can't make us go there. We live in a society that preaches 'Do whatever you want, we won't tell' and that includes killing someone. This city is built on the foundation that you can do whatever you want. You can even kill somebody, and apparently you don't even have to feel bad about it."
submitted this episode for consideration in the category of "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
" on his behalf for the 2007 Emmy Awards
.
yet the key that Grissom finds and identifies as Ruiz' is actually from a sixth-generation Accord.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (season 7)
The seventh season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation premiered on CBS on September 21, 2006 and ended May 17, 2007.-Notable cast members:-Episodes:-References:...
of the American crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
, set in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
.
Summary
A HispanicHispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
man gets off work from his job at a casino hotel. After calling his wife, he is ambushed in the parking garage and beaten to death. Gil Grissom
Gil Grissom
Dr. Gilbert "Gil" Grissom, is a fictional character on the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, portrayed by William Petersen. Grissom was a forensic entomologist and the night-shift supervisor of the Clark County, Nevada CSI team, investigating crimes in and around the city of Las Vegas...
and Catherine Willows
Catherine Willows
Catherine Willows is a fictional character on the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, portrayed by Marg Helgenberger, who has received two Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe nominations for the role...
are called to the scene and identify the dead man as Vasco Ruiz. Grissom finds pictures of the victim's two children.
A young woman walks the streets, clutching a tall souvenir daiquiri glass and clearly inebriated. She, too, is ambushed and beaten, but she survives the attack. The second crime scene is discovered and Warrick
Warrick Brown
Warrick Brown is a fictional character in the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, portrayed by Gary Dourdan. Warrick appeared in every episode until his death in season nine, with the exceptions of "After the Show" from season four, "Crow's Feet" and "Committed" from season five, and...
and Nick
Nick Stokes
Nicholas "Nick" Stokes is a fictional character on the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, portrayed by George Eads. Nick has appeared in every episode except for "Blood Lust" from season three, "Jackpot" and "Butterflied" from season four, "Committed" from season five, and "Spellbound"...
take the case. Warrick discovers that Grissom's scene is five blocks from his and Nick's, and begins to think that the two are related.
In the autopsy
Autopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
for Ruiz, the cause of death is determined to be multiple blunt force trauma. Catherine
Catherine Willows
Catherine Willows is a fictional character on the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, portrayed by Marg Helgenberger, who has received two Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe nominations for the role...
finds a toenail in Ruiz' mouth. Sara
Sara Sidle
Sara Sidle is a fictional character on the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, portrayed by actress Jorja Fox. Sidle is a forensic scientist and one of the core characters of the show, which revolves around a crime scene investigation team from Clark County, Nevada that investigates...
takes pictures of the female victim—Jessica Hershbaum—and shows her characteristic sympathy towards the young woman. Sara finds a bruise on Jessica that appears to be a backwards "F", and Jessica says that the thugs who beat her up said that she was "number two for the night". A flashback is shown of the gang attacking the victim and the leader wearing a pig mask.
While Catherine has found shoe treads on Ruiz' shirt, Greg
Greg Sanders
Gregory Hojem-Sanders, is a fictional character on the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, portrayed by Eric Szmanda. Greg appeared in every episode, with exception of "Blood Drops", "Fahrenheit 932", "Crate N' Burial" and "Too Tough To Die" from season one, "Cross Jurisdictions" from...
walks in wearing a suit and announces that he just came from court, in his first beginning-to-end investigation (crime scene to court room). He helps Catherine by isolating footprints on Ruiz' pants, while saying that he had a date with the prosecuting attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
. They find five different shoe treads. Greg speculates that the two attacks could be hate crimes since Ruiz is Hispanic and Jessica is Jewish.
A third crime scene is investigated by Greg and Sofia Curtis
Sofia Curtis
Sofia Curtis is a fictional character on the CBS crime drama, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, portrayed by British actress Louise Lombard.-Background:Sofia was introduced in the season five episode "Formalities"...
, this time a robbery
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
at a liquor store, and it seems that the suspects from the previous two beatings are involved. The shop owner managed to grab a sweatshirt from one of the thugs and said that the face of one of the suspects was deformed
Deformity
A deformity, dysmorphism, or dysmorphic feature is a major difference in the shape of body part or organ compared to the average shape of that part.Deformity may arise from numerous causes:*A Genetic mutation*Damage to the fetus or uterus...
.
Grissom walks in on Sara testing shoe tread consistency. She states that two common treads on both victims were found and then, through "SOLEMATE", the treads have been identified as a pair of Doc Martens and a pair of Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars
Chuck Taylor All-Stars
Chuck Taylor All Stars, or Converse All Stars, also referred to as "Chuck Taylors", "Converses", "All Stars", "Chucks" or "Cons", are canvas and rubber shoes produced by Converse. They were first produced in 1917 as the "All Star," Converse's attempt to capture the basketball shoe market...
. She also finds a print from a stiletto heel
Stiletto heel
A stiletto heel is a long, thin, high heel found on some boots and shoes, usually for women. It is named after the stiletto dagger, the phrase being first recorded in the early 1930s...
which hints at a female suspect.
Brass interviews Ruiz' wife, who says that he had no enemies to speak of and was a good man. Afterwards, Brass passes by a television display in a store window and spots a report of Jessica's attack, which includes footage of the actual beating. He asks a uniformed officer to get hold of the reporter.
On the way to continue processing the liquor store, Greg witnesses another beating. He calls for back up, but thinking it will take too long for them to arrive, he drives into the alley and turns his sirens on. Most of the gang runs away except one. The lone gang member looks up and glares at Greg with bright, unearthly-looking, bluish-white eyes. Greg stops the SUV and the young man picks up a rock and looks ready to brain the victim with it, but turns to throw it at Greg. Greg has no choice but to defend himself by propelling the SUV into the young man.
After a couple of seconds, the gang return and yank Greg from the SUV. Too dazed to react, Greg can only fight to stay conscious as the gang members beat him brutally. One of them spits on him, laughing. As the gang walks away, Greg reaches out and scratches the gang member who spit on him. The gang deliberately hits Greg's SUV as they drive away in their own vehicle.
When the police are on the scene, a woman attempts to get around Sofia to the scene, screaming "Demetrius". Sara arrives and Sofia tells her that Greg has been stabilized. Sara rushes up to him. Greg whispers "Sara", telling her that he knows her scent. He then tells her about all the DNA and paint transfer evidence that can be taken from him and his vehicle, but she says, "I came here for you, Greg."
The man who Greg rescued, a tourist from Union City, Tennessee
Union City, Tennessee
Union City is a city in Obion County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 10,876 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Obion County. The name comes from its location at the union of two railroads, one running roughly east-west and the other roughly north-south...
named Stanley Tanner, is interviewed by Brass. He had been just walking down the alley, looking for a taxi, he says. "The next thing I knew, I was on the ground being beaten all to Hell. I thought I was gonna die. Then I heard the horn and the siren." Tanner then asks Brass if he can thank his rescuer personally.
Nick and Warrick go to the scene where Greg was beaten. Warrick finds a strand of Greg's hair, which causes an already angry Nick to become even angrier. A punk by the name of Cole Tritt (Kevin Federline
Kevin Federline
Kevin Earl Federline is an American dancer, rapper, fashion model, and actor. Previously engaged to actress Shar Jackson, Federline is best known for his two-year marriage to pop singer Britney Spears...
) stands at the edge of the crime scene tape taunting the CSIs. Nick loses his cool and punches Cole. Warrick calms Nick down while Cole talks about taking a picture of police brutality, using his camera phone. Warrick grabs Cole's phone out of his hand and starts looking through the phone list, asking how many drug dealers he will find.
While Grissom is visiting Greg in the hospital, Greg reveals that his mother still thinks he is a lab technician and would be upset if she knew what had happened to him, because she is overprotective of her only son. Grissom tells Greg that his mother would be proud of him because he had saved a man's life. Stanley Tanner will be fine, but Demetrius James, the young man who Greg ran over with the SUV to rescue Tanner, is going into surgery and it is unknown if he will be all right.
Catherine, meanwhile, is interviewing Cha Cha, a girl accused of being a member of the gang. She uncovers her purse, revealing an F-shaped decoration which looks like it could have left the mark on Jessica. This, mixed with overwhelming evidence, makes Cha Cha confess and tell Catherine that a girl named Tara had called her on Ruiz' cell phone inviting her to a party. The party, it turns out, was a "fannysmackin session, in which tourists are beaten up. The name "fannysmackin was derived from the fact that many tourists in Las Vegas wear fanny pack
Fanny pack
A fanny pack , belt pack , belly bag , Buffalo pouch , hip sack , waist bag , hip pack , bum bag , cangurera , banano or moon bag is a small fabric pouch secured with a zipper and worn by use of a strap around the hips or...
s. When Catherine asks why Vasco Ruiz was beaten, since he was a local, Cha Cha answers that Ruiz might have been just practice.
In the front lobby of the station, two young men claim to Sofia and Brass that they were the latest fannysmacking victims and had been robbed of $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
10,000. Grissom checks a map with locations of the first three attacks to compare with the new report. David Hodges
David Hodges (CSI)
David Hodges is a fictional character on the CBS crime drama, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, portrayed by Wallace Langham. Hodges has a habit of giving far more information than anyone wants to hear while explaining things and is very afraid of germs....
enters, telling Grissom that the saliva from Greg's jacket and the epithelials from under Greg's fingernails both match one unknown male. Grissom tells Hodges that he believes that the newest fannysmacking claim is bogus, because the attack allegedly occurred about 20 blocks away from the others and that the only shoeprints on the alleged victim's shirt were his own. When Sofia confronts the young men with the evidence, they break down and admit that they owed money to a sportsbook
Sportsbook
In the United States a sportsbook or a race and sports book is a place where a gambler can wager on various sports competitions, including golf, football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, horse racing, boxing, and mixed martial arts. The method of betting varies with the sport and the type of...
and had decided to file a false police report to make it look like they had the money but had been robbed.
Meanwhile, Nick goes with a squad to Tara's house and arrests her. In her car, which bore paint transfer similar to that of Greg's SUV, he finds Vasco Ruiz' wallet and cell phone. Back at the lab, Nick checks Tara's cell phone records and finds text messages from someone calling himself "Pig", telling her where to meet up. Nick and Catherine believe that Pig, who they have pegged as the ringleader, sent the message to several people at once. They have a reluctant Tara create a text message that would be characteristic of Pig's style, telling the gang of another meeting place, and another to be sent to Pig himself with the same information.
In an abandoned warehouse, the entire gang shows up. As everyone tries to sort out who had sent the text message, LVPD enter and surround all those gathered. Pig, who is actually wearing a pig snout mask, is revealed to be Cole Tritt, the very same heckler who had enraged Nick at the earlier crime scene. As he is being led away in handcuffs, Cole is unrepentant. As Nick glares at him, Cole makes pig sounds at Nick and revels in getting free room and board in jail.
Greg is sitting in his hospital bed eating, when he has a visitor. It is a grateful Stanley Tanner, who shakes Greg's hand and thanks him for saving his life. After Tanner is wheeled out, a mournful wail comes from the room next door. Greg watches as Demetrius James' mother sobs over Demetrius' lifeless body. Demetrius' brother, Aaron, glares helplessly at Greg.
In the locker room, Sara invites Nick and Warrick to go with her to the hospital to visit Greg. Catherine walks in and announces that Cole and his gang have all been booked. Catherine is troubled, both by the fact that Cole was the only adult among the gang, whose members are mostly teenagers-some as young as 14--and that even otherwise good kids like Demetrius James, who had been a good student in college, commit assault and murder because they are bored and seemingly have no conscience.
The team members debate what might have caused the teens to go wrong; Warrick says that it is the lack of parental guidance, Nick says that the Las Vegas lifestyle is to blame, while Sara asserts that the kids themselves are at fault. Grissom, however, states that "Our moral compass can only point us in the right direction, it can't make us go there. We live in a society that preaches 'Do whatever you want, we won't tell' and that includes killing someone. This city is built on the foundation that you can do whatever you want. You can even kill somebody, and apparently you don't even have to feel bad about it."
Awards
Eric SzmandaEric Szmanda
Eric Kyle Szmanda is an Polish American actor. He portrays Greg Sanders in the television crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, a role he has held since the show began in 2000.-Early life and education:...
submitted this episode for consideration in the category of "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Drama Series
This is a list of the winners of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.-1960s:*1960: no award*1961: Roddy McDowall – Not Without Honor*1962: no award*1963: no award...
" on his behalf for the 2007 Emmy Awards
59th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on September 16, 2007 and were televised live on Fox at 8:00 p.m. EDT for the first time in high definition...
.
Errors
The vehicle of Vasco Ruiz is noted visually as being a second-generation (1982–85) Honda AccordHonda Accord
The Honda Accord is a series of compact, mid-size and full-size automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1976, and sold in a majority of automotive markets throughout the world....
yet the key that Grissom finds and identifies as Ruiz' is actually from a sixth-generation Accord.
See also
- List of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episodes
- Happy slappingHappy slappingHappy slapping was a fad in the UK, in which someone assaulted an unwitting victim while others recorded the assault...
, a similar practice
External links
- "Fannysmackin'" at CSI Files