Ex Post Facto ( episode ) Tom Paris is convicted of murder . He denies having committed the crime , even though the images extracted from the victim ' s own memory seem to prove his guilt . Summary . Teaser . On an alien world , a weary Tom Paris lies down on a bed , his combadge missing from his uniform , while another man asks him what he sees in his mind . Paris replies that he sees " " shoes , muddy shoes . The dog . " " The man in the room tells him that this is exactly what he should be seeing . In Paris ' mind , he sees himself kiss ing an alien woman passionately . Another person , who ' s point of view Paris is seeing , upon making his presence known , states that he " now " understands . Paris tells the woman he is with that he had better be on his way . She holds him close and tells Paris that the man has no right . " " No " right " ? ! You come into my home , steal my wife , and I have " no " right ? ! " " In reality , Paris insists that this is " not " the way the incident happened , but the man in the room with him informs Paris that the trial is over and there is no point to further denials . Back in the " memory " , the man tells Paris he knows of his past spent in prison and that once he informs Paris ' commanding officer of his indiscretion , he will never wear his uniform again . Paris insists he cannot let him do that , rushes towards the man and stabs him fatally with a knife . In reality , Paris lies on the bed , seemingly feeling the stabbing . The man with Paris announces that for " " the rest of his natural life , once every fourteen hours , Thomas Eugene Paris will relive the last moments of his victim ' s life . May the fates have mercy on you , sir . " " Paris is led away by a guard . Act One . Aboard the , The Doctor and Kes are in the chief medical officer ' s office reviewing medical text s . Kes is in training to become The Doctor ' s medical assistant aboard . During their review , Kes asks the holographic physician if he has given further thought to giving himself a name . The Doctor says he has trouble with making a choice , as holograms do not usually make them . Kes disagrees , mentioning that The Doctor " chooses " which treatment to give his patients . The Doctor tells her that he is programmed to do that , and that there is no independent decision making involved , but Kes cannot see the difference . She then tells him he should simply pick a name , but tells him to take his time , as he will " be " known by that name for the rest of his existence . Shortly thereafter , Captain Janeway hails sickbay and tells The Doctor to expect an injured crewman – either Lieutenant Paris or Ensign Harry Kim . Kim is beam ed directly to sickbay and informs Janeway of some horrifying news : Tom Paris has been convicted of murder and as punishment he has to relive his victim ' s last moments over and over again . Informing Janeway of their activities prior to Paris ' conviction of murder , they visited the homeworld of the Banea and met an engineer ing physicist Tolen Ren . The " Voyager " crew men approach Doctor Ren for assistance because the ship has a damaged collimator that requires expert assistance . After an initial meeting , Kim and Paris are invited to the professor ' s home for dinner that evening . While there , the officers meet the professor ' s young wife Lidell , who is irritated with her husband ' s lack of manners at not calling first when bringing home guests . After a brief and tense meal , Kim , the professor and Paris retire to another room to begin work . Paris allegedly got bored and spent some time with Tolen ' s young wife Lidell . That night , Professor Ren was murdered . Kim tells Janeway that the Banea questioned him for two days straight , asking him many inquiries about the Banea ' s enemy , the Numiri . Kim surmises that the Banea must have thought he and Paris were Numiri agents spying on them . Kim also informs Janeway that Professor Ren was the inventor of Banean warship technology . The Doctor wants Kim to get some rest , so Janeway has her first officer , Commander Chakotay , set " Voyager " on a course for the Banean homeworld to find some answers . Act Two . Once they arrive , Janeway and chief of security Tuvok beam down to talk with Paris about the crime . They meet with Minister of Science Kray . Kray explains that Tolen Ren was stabbed to death in his living room in front of Lidell . Paris was arrested and convicted of the murder . Kray tells the Starfleet officer s of Paris ' sentence : to relive the crime through the victim ' s eyes once every fourteen hours for the rest of his life . This was done by examining the victim ' s memories and implanting them into Paris ' brain . Janeway and Tuvok later meet with Paris , and he tells them the " " rehab colony back in New Zealand doesn ' t seem so bad right now . " " Tuvok asks Paris if he killed Professor Ren and he forcefully denies having killed him even though he did spend some time with his wife Lidell . Paris recalls finding Lidell looking up at the sky and smoking , stating that " " her eyes were a million kilometer s away , staring at stars I ' d just flown by a day before , " " and engages her in polite conversation in the atrium . He tries to comfort her over her marital problems wherein she admits she married the much older Professor Ren because he was kind to her . Lidell apparently ended her marriage to the professor and proceeded to pursue Paris . Paris and Lidell spend more time together . Soon after , Tolen heard about Lidell ' s relationship with Paris and confronted her . Immediately afterward , Paris relives the murder once again and loses consciousness . Janeway asks the Banean minister to take him to their ship for a medical evaluation from " Voyager " s chief medical officer . Kray reluctantly agrees but warns Janeway not to leave orbit . Janeway retorts that they do not plan on leaving until they prove Paris ' innocence and Tuvok calls " Voyager " for three to beam aboard . Act Three . Soon after , Tuvok visits the murder scene and speaks with Mrs . Ren . She says that she witnessed the murder and that it has in fact been committed by Paris . Tuvok notes that he finds Mrs . Ren to be dispassionate and she engages him in playful verbal sparing . She asks Tuvok if he has ever had to end a marriage . He tells her he has not ; and he have been married for sixty - seven years . She tells Tuvok she was about to leave her husband of ten years for Paris , which Tuvok finds hard to believe as Paris was to depart the planet for good in only a few days . She tells Tuvok that meeting Paris gave her " " the push I needed . " " She recalls seeing Paris again the day of the murder , knowing that he wanted to see her . She recalls kissing him during a cloud burst of rain . While outside kissing her , Paris did not think it was appropriate , as she was still married to her husband . She told Paris that he did not treat her like a woman since the day they had viewed an eclipse together in four years previously . Lidell tells Tuvok she made him Marob root tea to warm themselves up , they watched the storm from the atrium . . . and the rest Tuvok knows . Tuvok receives a signal through his combadge ; Chakotay informs him that Paris has regained consciousness and thought he would like to know . Tuvok prepares to be beamed up to " Voyager " but before he leaves , Lidell asks Tuvok if he could tell Paris that she forgives him for her husband ' s murder . Back on " Voyager " , Tuvok decides to conduct an autonomic response analysis scan on Paris to determine if he is telling the truth . The ARA scan confirms that Paris is being truthful when he says he didn ' t murder Tolen , but can ' t offer another explanation . The Doctor asserts that there were no drugs in Paris ' system . Suddenly , the Baneans ' enemy , the Numiri , attack " Voyager " . Chakotay hails Tuvok and tells him to report to the bridge . Act Four . Chakotay who is handling the helm controls in Paris ' absence , manages to defeat the Numiri with an old Maquis trick . He reminds a nearby B ' Elanna Torres of their defeat of Starfleet runabout s at Teluridian IV . She understands immediately and from her station on the bridge , orders engineering to vent " Voyager " s LN2 exhaust conduit s along the dorsal emitters to make the ship look like it is in serious trouble . The plan works and the Numiri patrols are disabled by " Voyager " s phaser s . Janeway tells Chakotay that that is one trick he will no longer able to perform when they return home . He remarks that he has more . Janeway has the ship stand down from red alert . Tuvok informs Janeway that due to the urgency of Paris ' situation , he proposes he observe the crime himself by performing a Vulcan mind meld on " Voyager " s helmsman . " " A . . . a what ? What did he say ? A mind what ? " " , Neelix asks . In sickbay , Tuvok is preparing to perform the mind meld with Paris , over The Doctor ' s strenuous objections . The Doctor reminds Tuvok that Paris ' brain is suffering from degradation from the implanted memories and he has no idea what melding with it will do to a Vulcan brain . Tuvok believes the risks are acceptable . During the mind meld , Tuvok makes note of several points of interest in the " memory " , such as the height of both Paris and Lidell , the alien symbols and numbers , and the location of the knife on Professor Ren ' s body . Breaking the meld , The Doctor examines Tuvok and can find no brain damage . Tuvok tells Janeway he now understands why Paris is convicted of the murder and why the Numiri chose to attack " Voyager " . Tuvok subsequently confers with Ensign Kim to confirm his suspicions . To further confirm his suspicions , Tuvok has the captain use Tom Paris as bait . Act Five . Specifically , Janeway sends Kim and Paris back to the planet in a shuttle under the pretext that further use of the transporter could cause medical complications to Paris . This draws out the Numiri and they seize the shuttle and try to take Paris hostage . The two crewman are beamed away . Janeway threatens to detonate a cache of explosives hidden on the shuttle unless it is released . At a meeting at the scene of the crime the following day , Tuvok reveals that Lieutenant Paris was not the man the professor saw before he was murdered . Tuvok elaborates that believes that someone altered the memory engram s of the professor ' s brain . To prove this point , Tuvok points out the stream of numbers and text which appear in the memory which he believes is from the professor ' s weapons research . He also reveals that Lidell ' s statement was false : the man the professor observed with his wife was virtually equal in height with her , however , Tom Paris is clearly several centimeters taller . Moreover , the killer – unlike Paris – knew Banean anatomy for he knew exactly where to stab the professor to ensure a fatality . Lastly , the equations Paris sees in his memory are not at all typical to the procedure but rather equations taken from Dr . Ren ' s weapon ' s research : someone intended them to be delivered to the Numiri – thus sending secret data to the enemy by using Paris ' presence to their advantage . In other words , he would never be suspected of aiding an enemy because he is not a native of the planet and has no vested interest one way or another . That is why they were attempting to attack " Voyager " : they wanted to board the ship and take Paris by force . Tuvok names the doctor who performed the memory transplant on Paris , as the real killer of Dr . Ren and Lidell as his accomplice . He proves this final point by referring to the second witness to the murder : the victim ' s pet dog Neeka that clearly recognized the doctor and was familiar with him when he entered the room . Lidell tries to tell Paris before she is led away that she never meant to hurt him but he takes her hand away from him and tells her she did . Later in " Voyager " s mess hall , Paris thanks Tuvok for having saved his life but Tuvok states that he merely conducted a criminal investigation searching for the truth and that Paris doesn ' t owe him anything . Paris thanks him anyway , stating that whether Tuvok likes it or not , he made a friend today . Memorable quotes . " " Smoking is a bad habit . My species gave it up centuries ago when we finally got it into our heads it was killing us . " " " " Maybe I kill myself slowly because I don ' t have the courage to do it quickly . " " " " What are you looking at ? " " " " Not the same thing you ' re looking at , that ' s for sure . " " " " What are you looking at ? " " " " Besides , out here in the Delta Quadrant every old trick is new again . " " " " What do you see ? " " " " Shoes . . . muddy shoes . The dog . " " " " Good . That ' s exactly what you should see . " " " " You don ' t have to go , Tom . He has no right . " " " " No right ? This is my home , you come into my home , steal my wife and " I " have no right ? ! " " " " I propose a mind meld with Lieutenant Paris . " " " " A . . . a what ? What did he say ? A mind what ? " " " " There are some who ' d say you risked my future on the eyewitness identification of a dog . " " " " Her eyes were a million kilometers away , staring at stars I ' d flown by the day before . " " " " I was bored . You know how it is when two science guys get together . " " " " I appreciate you sticking up for me . I owe you one . " " " " I conducted a criminal investigation . If you had been guilty , I assure you , I would have pursued the truth just as vigilantly . You have no debt to me , Mr . Paris . " " " " How come I always see you down here eating alone , Lieutenant ? " " " " I prefer to read rather than engage in . . . what do Humans call it . . . short talk ? " " " " Close enough . " " " " Blowing out the dorsal phase emitters . Torres to engineering . " " " " Go ahead . " " " " Vent a couple of LN exhaust conduits along the dorsal emitters . Make it look like we ' re in serious trouble . " " " " That ' s one trick you won ' t be able to use again when we get back . " " " " I have more . " " " " Very , very curious . In Numiri terms , that greeting was downright friendly . " " " " That rehab colony back in New Zealand doesn ' t seem so bad right now . " " Links and references . References . appeal ; atrium ; attack maneuver kappa 010 ; autonomic response analysis ; away team ; ARA ; Banea ; ; Banean dog ; Banean Engineering Institute ; Banean scanning device ; Banean warship ; bio scan analysis ; blood ; brain ; chief medical officer ; cloud burst ; collimator ; defense perimeter ; dehydration ; eclipse ; engineering physicist ; equation ; evasive maneuvers ; Federation ; ; habit ; hydroxyproline ; Kappa 010 ; lethal injection ; LN2 exhaust conduit ; logic ; marob root tea ; Maquis ; memory engram ; microscope ; Milky Way Galaxy ; Minister of Science ; navigational array ; navigational deflector ; neodextramine solution ; neural implant ; neural pathway ; neurology ; neurological analysis ; Numiri ; Numiri patrol ship ; pancreatic scan ; phase emitter ; red alert ; regenerative shield ; " rolk " ; runabout ; ; sculpture ; slipper ; small talk ; smoking ; ; stab wound ; Starfleet ; statue ; stew ; storm ; synaptic failure ; ; Teluridian IV ; telepathy ; Thalmerite ; Type 8 shuttlecraft ; Vulcan ; Vulcan mind meld ; water