Directed by Constantine Makris
Written by Richard Sweren & Matt Witten
When a teenage boy named Chris Skinner is found murdered, evidence points to a classmate, John Telford; who had bullied the victim at school. John is obsessed with violence and pornography, and owns a large stash of weapons, with the approval of his parents. He is charged with Chris's murder after the murder weapon is found in his room, but the defence quickly gets key evidence suppressed, and a vital witness is too afraid of John to testify. With the People’s case greatly weakened, Schiff proposes they charge John's father as a co-defendant. Mr. Telford had encouraged his son's interest in violence and purchased illegal weapons for John, including the murder weapon - a specialist blade used in martial arts.
Despite the unprecedented nature of the case, McCoy proceeds with charges against Telford for murder on the grounds of reckless indifference. He highlights the fact that Telford procured weapons for John, and ignored complaints from other parents of John bullying their children. In his defence Telford claims that he was simply teaching John how to "be a man" and defend himself. Telford's wife now offers to testify against him in return for reducing John's charges to manslaughter. She is afraid that her younger son will become violent too because of his father's influence. Under pressure from his mother, John claims that he killed Chris in self-defence, and then his father helped him dispose of the body. Telford reluctantly accepts a plea deal as an accessory to manslaughter.
This episode contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Telford's behavior certainly counts as a form of this.
- Ad Hominem: The defence's case rests on the idea that the murder charges are just an attack on John's character.
- Death of a Child: The episode starts with a dead teenager.
- Domestic Abuse: Mr. Telford is implied to be abusing his wife; she attributes John's behavior to "what [he's] done to us all these years."
- Hidden Depths: McCoy turns out to have a secret talent for video games.
- Homophobic Hate Crime: John targeted classmates he perceived as gay.
- Ludicrous Gibs: John both plays video games involving this, and enjoys writing poetry to express his fantasies about it.
- Only Bad Guys Call Their Lawyers: Mr. Telford's reluctance to co-operate without police unless he can call his lawyer is treated as an obvious sign of guilt.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Chris's mother had reported him missing, probably after his death, and identifies the body.
- Porn Stash: John has an extensive one, with his father's approval.
- Sins of Our Fathers: This trope is discussed at length, although subverted in that Telford is the one being held guilty for his son's actions.
