Lupo and Bernard investigate the murder of Mark Burns, a doctor who was attending a convention. A large cash withdrawal prior to his death makes them suspicious. It eventually comes out that he had switched rooms with the intended target; Howard Garrison, a doctor who was present at an execution gone wrong in South Carolina that left a man in a coma. The man's cousin, Jamie Yost (Creator/MichaelRooker) had stalked the doctor.
!!Tropes present in this episode
* BlackAndWhiteMorality: Cutter's approach in this, with [=McCoy=]'s blessing:
-->'''Cutter''': Yost killed an innocent man in our jurisdiction.\\
'''[=McCoy=]''': No shades of gray in this for you, Mike?\\
'''Cutter''': Nope.\\
'''[=McCoy=]''': Good.
* BludgeonedToDeath: How the victim was killed.
* AFateWorseThanDeath: The botched execution should have killed the accused, but instead left him in a persistent vegetative state.
* HalfwayPlotSwitch: Goes to figuring out who killed Burns to whether Yost was justified in his attempt to murder the doctor who left his cousin in a coma.
* MurderByMistake: The deceased was killed, but the intended target was a doctor who was present at a botched execution.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: The chain of events leading to the murder started from Yost's son and grandchildren being murdered.