Jesse Cardoza

Jesse Cardoza
CSI: Miami character
Eddie Cibrian as Jesse Cardoza
First appearance	Out of Time
Last appearance	Fallen
Portrayed by	Eddie Cibrian
Date of birth	July 21, 1968
Date of death	May 24, 2010 (aged 41)
City	Miami-Dade
Occupation	Day Shift CSI
Rank	CSI Level 2 (Deceased)
Seasons	8, 9

Jesse Cardoza is a fictional character on the CBS crime drama CSI: Miami, portrayed by Eddie Cibrian until the character's death in the ninth season opening episode "Fallen".

Background

In 1997, Cardoza left the Miami-Dade Police Department, transferring to the Los Angeles Police Department following the conclusion of a case which led to Horatio Caine becoming lead CSI. He recommended the hire of Tim Speedle to Horatio. Cardoza returned in 2009 as a member of Caine's team.

In the Season 8 episode, "L.A", it was revealed that a lack of evidence on a case involving a man suspected of killing his wife had cost Cardoza his job as a Los Angeles Police Officer and had also left his reputation in tatters. This later prompted him to rejoin the Miami Dade Police Department where he eventually became a CSI.

His first reappearance is in the episode "Hostile Takeover", when he is shown talking to a receptionist. A mentally unstable man then takes him and three others hostage. In the episode's conclusion, Jesse returns to Horatio's team. Horatio welcomes him back and tells him to replace his LAPD badge with the MDPD badge.

Death

Cardoza is in the crime lab when it is poisoned with Halon gas by serial killer Bob Starling, and dies after he hits and cuts his head during his fall, suffering a subdural hemorrhage. The other team members attempt to revive him without success.

Walter is the one most hit by his death and talks to his body about a basketball game they had planned for that night, and about Walter's having called Cardoza's mother, who wants her son to be buried in California; Walter says Horatio is arranging it.

Horatio Caine leads the manhunt for Starling all over the city. Starling tries to evade justice goading Caine into killing him via suicide by cop, but Caine will not allow Starling to get off that easy and Caine is able to formally arrest Starling for first degree murder of a police officer and attempted murder of the rest of the team.

At the end of the episode, Walter is at the basketball court, shooting baskets when the rest of the CSI team show up and split into teams for a game. Eric passes the ball to Horatio who says, "This is for Jesse", before making a perfect shot.

Personal life

A mileage discrepancy in the vehicle logs from a day when Calleigh lent him her Hummer led her to confront Cardoza about the differences. After a heated discussion, Cardoza then tells Calleigh that he was following a woman who was living with a serial killer he had investigated during his time in LA, who had also killed his wife, Tracy.