A firefighter is killed when he is forced to jump out from a burning apartment. Since it is a case of arson, his death qualifies as a murder. Fontana and Falco eventually find John Gruner. He set the apartment on fire to kill his ex because she would not let him see his daughter, but only meant to kill the ex, not his daughter or the firefighter. He is charged with arson and felony murder. What killed the firefighter was a gunshot wound sustained when the fire made a gun go off. The gun is from a nine-year-old homicide of a young student named Justin Leonard. It is eventually traced to the brother of Justin's girlfriend at the time, Bruce Elwin. He confesses to the crime and his motive (he did not want his sister to marry a black man). Oddly enough, during his arraignment he throws himself at the mercy of the court and later pleads guilty, even accepting a hate crime enhancement. But before he allocutes, a new attorney, Weiss shows up, withdrawing his guilty plea. She later claims that he should not be prosecuted because ever since the crime, he has become a born-again Christian and done a complete 180 in his life. She even requests that the judge be excused on the basis of an alleged anti-Christian bias and gets her request granted.
During the trial, he admits to killing Justin, going home and drinking himself into a stupor, and then considered suicide until he heard church bells, which he considered a sign. After his testimony and a confrontation with Justin's father, McCoy wonders why Bruce's sister is not getting called as a witness. In the end, the judge rules that they can prosecute. Weiss rejects an offer to plead him out, but Bruce eventually decides that since he did murder Justin, he should pay and do the time (30 to life). McCoy reveals that he was going to offer as low as first-degree manslaughter.
Tropes present in the episode:
- Accidental Murder: When hiding the gun, Bruce had no intention that it kill anyone (beyond the person he had previously murderer with it).
- Contrived Coincidence: The building where Bruce hid the gun has a fire years later, and the gun goes off just at the time that a fireman is in the gun's line of fire.
- Didn't Think This Through: John Gruner, whose ex did not let him see his daughter. He had plenty of options as to what to do that did not involve killing his ex-wife, let alone setting a fire that did kill other people.
- Driven to Suicide: According to Bruce's statement, he felt so guilty that he was about to commit suicide by jumping into the Hudson.
- Heel–Faith Turn: Bruce did commit a serious crime, but he subsequently turned to religion and changed completely for the better.
- Kill It with Fire: John Gruner's solution to his ex-wife, Emily, not letting him see his daughter: burn their apartment. He claims he did not mean to kill his daughter (who survived) or the fireman who died.
- Murder by Mistake: Gruner intended to kill his ex-wife, not the fireman who got hit when the fire caused the gun to go off.
- Title Drop: The defense's closing argument:"Over your head, Judge, higher than the law itself, is a simple statement, 'In God We Trust'."
