Assistant District Attorney Beverly Mendoza appears to have an open and shut case when she prosecutes Rafael Santiago for the murder of a judge and the sexual assault of his wife in Eagles Landing, a town in Northern California. Santiago was recently released from prison and had a grudge against the judge. But her case against the suspect is put in jeopardy when career criminal Manuel Gonzalez, arrested for the murder of a young woman, also confesses to killing the judge. As Beverly and Wilameta County Sheriff's Homicide Detective Stone Palmer try to sort out fact from fiction, a case of mistaken identity becomes a real possibility. Or is it more likely that two violent men with close ties are trying to beat the system? Further complicating matters is Beverly's romantic involvement with criminal lawyer turned judge, Grant Nunez, in an apparent conflict of interest. She also battles personal crises, including a father with Alzheimer's disease.