Stone faces a Texas cowboy lawyer and a hostile community as he tries to prosecute a young man accused of murdering a drug dealer for raping the man's sister.

Detectives Briscoe and Logan investigate the murder of Dawn Bryan. The young African-American woman once had a bright future ahead of her. She was a good student and was even voted most likely to succeed. It seems to have all come tumbling down when she got hooked on crack. She was shot with a .45 caliber gun and their first suspect is her supplier and sometime live-in boyfriend who goes by the street name of Skate. The dead woman's family are devastated by the loss of their daughter but they feel they lost her long ago when she became hooked on drugs. When the evidence points to a family member as the likely culprit, ADA Stone and DA Adam Schiff both feel a good deal of sympathy. Paul Robinette however doesn't think anyone should have leniency and pushes for a grand jury indictment.

The son of one of Briscoe's former colleagues is accused of shooting and killing an innocent 14-year-old. He claims that he was trying to shoot a gun dealer who threatened him, but the people's case against him is very shaky.

The prosecution of the shooter in the death of a young mother and wife hits a snag when it is suggested that her doctor may have killed her to give away her organs and advance his career.

Carmichael aggressively pursues criminally negligent homicide charges against a group of greedy doctors and a medical supplies saleswoman after a patient dies in surgery under unusual circumstances.

A priest is murdered in his confessional, but another priest was the actual target. However, the targeted priest refuses to cooperate with the investigation, claiming that his communication with the killer is privileged.

An Afghani drug lord is implicated in a drug-related massacre in New York. However, prosecution is difficult because the government considers him an ally in the War on Terror in Afghanistan.