Dirty Harry - S4-E5
Question: In some episodes they mention an officer's romantic relationships can be used by attorneys to somehow discredit the officer and get the suspect off. In this episode specifically, Deputy Chief Matthews says the department can't risk a defense attorney turning Lt. LaGuerta and Sgt. Batista's romantic involvement a courtroom sideshow every time they work a case together (and thus Batista needs to be transferred out of Homicide). But why would it matter? Is this just "Hollywood" exaggeration for plot purposes? Wouldn't the prosecution object based on relevance if the defense attorney tried to bring this up, especially since Lt. Guerta disclosed the relationship through the proper channels? Or is Matthews lying for an ulterior motive.
Answer: It could be a combination of both. Defense attorneys will do just about anything they legally can to get their clients acquitted, so it's not unreasonable that they might try to convince a jury that a romantic relationship between two officers in the same precinct could somehow cause problems for a case. Even if it's unlikely to work, the department would want to avoid it altogether. Additionally, Matthews and LaGuerta don't particularly like each other and are shown multiple times throughout the series to be scheming against each other, so it could just as well be a power play by Matthews to put LaGuerta in her place.
Phaneron ★