Two homeless men are beaten to death in separate incidents, but from the pattern of violence, they appear to be connected. The victims are identified as David Kreidel and William McCarter, both veterans of the Iraq War. From security footage of the alley where Kreidel was killed, Green and Cassady learn that the killers were thieves from out of town who stole from houses while working in door to door sales. They track down Pete Harris, Bobby Cole, and Audrey Hemenez. All three are charged with murder, but evidence shows it's Bobby who struck the fatal blow both times.
Bobby is also an Iraq veteran, and McCoy and Rubirosa look into his service record, but it's heavily redacted. Bobby has issued a restraining order to prevent his medical history being released, so McCoy and Rubirosa go to a military hospital where he stayed after receiving a brain injury in combat. They find that he was kept in a dilapidated, rat-infested ward for months on end and caused at least three serious unprovoked attacks on others. McCoy offers Pete a plea deal to testify against Bobby, but then the defence changes its plea to not guilty by reason of mental defect.
However, all evidence from the military hospital is ruled inadmissible (for both the prosecution and defence) when the District Court serves a federal writ, claiming that the case could prejudice the outcome of another ongoing trial. Branch orders McCoy to agree a deal, but McCoy decides to wait until a doctor from the hospital can testify about Bobby's past behaviour. After the doctor is forced to admit that Bobby wasn't given a prescription for necessary mood-stabilizing drugs nor referred to outpatient care, McCoy violates the writ by showing the jurors photos of the squalid conditions in which Bobby had to stay at the hospital.
McCoy then agrees a deal with Bobby's lawyer for 20 years in prison; saying that, ultimately, two people still died because of him. Bobby wryly comments that at least in jail he will be given his medication on time. Branch warns that the District Court has now served a contempt order against McCoy for going against the writ. He says that McCoy won't be going to jail, but orders him not to do something like this again.
This episode contains examples of:
- Crazy Homeless People: Both victims were mentally ill and homeless.
- Insane Equals Violent: Treated as the case with Bobby, although his violence is the result of a brain injury.
- Jail Bake: Rubirosa jokes at the end that she'll do this if McCoy is jailed for contempt.
- Loophole Abuse: It's mentioned during the episode that the US Army did this with both Kreidel (who suffered from PTSD) and Bobby. Rather than discharge them on medical grounds, in which case they'd receive a settlement and medical care, their illnesses were used as an excuse for dishonorable discharge to save money.
- Rape as Drama: Audrey was raped in a hotel room she shared with Bobby and Pete. She claims the rapist was another guest in the hotel and Bobby beat up the offender. Rubirosa doesn't seem to believe this, but the truth is never revealed.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Pete encouraged Bobby to kill the victims by making him think they were Iraqi insurgents - in order to save his own skin when it became clear that Bobby was about to have a violent episode.
