A hit-and-run incident in Harlem leaves three dead. The detectives trace the car to a banker, Bernard Dressler, who had flown in the morning of the incident. Ross clashes with [=McCoy=], about how to proceed; he charges Dressler with first-degree-murder and plans to go for the death penalty, while she thinks it is about getting revenge for Claire Kincaid's death. Dressler's lawyer claims the man was too drunk to form the intent to kill required by the charges. As for Judge Feldman, he is quite eager to make an example of the defendant for his own reasons.

!!Tropes present in this episode
* CallBack: To the WhamEpisode "[[Recap/LawAndOrderS6E23Aftershock Aftershock]]" where Claire Kincaid was killed by a drunk driver.
* DeathOfAChild: One of the three dead is a child.
* DrunkDriver: Derssler drove while clearly drunk, resulting in 3 deaths, [[DeathOfAChild including one child]].
* HeelFaceTurn: [=McCoy=] starts out handling this case as a KnightTemplar, but at the end he changes his mind and deals a more reasonable penalty.
* INeverSaidItWasPoison: Susan Young denies having been at the scene of the accidents. However, she gives away that she's lying because she knew that Max was wearing yellow boots, which she couldn't have known otherwise.
* JuryAndWitnessTampering: [=McCoy=] hints to the airline that they should sent a specific flight intendant away from the United States in order to prevent her from testifying that the defendant was drunk.
* KnightTemplar: [=McCoy=], still affected by Kincaid's death, goes for the death penalty in prosecuting Bernard Dressler and goes to extremes such as hiding witnesses.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Max is one of the dead, his mother finds his body.
* PersecutingProsecutor: [=McCoy=] nearly crossed this line to bring down a DrunkDriver because he lost a colleague (and former lover) to a drunk driver.
* WhatTheHellHero:
** Ross pushes back on [=McCoy=]'s zeal on prosecuting the drunk driver who killed three people.
--->"This is the District Attorney's office! We prosecute criminals! If you could stop thinking like a defense attorney maybe you'd grasp the concept!"
** Ross calls out [=McCoy=] for not providing the defense with a piece of exculpatory evidence (that Dressler was too drunk to form intent necessary) in violation of ''Brady v. Maryland''. When he does, Judge Feldman gives him hell.