Directed by Don Scardino
Written by Kathy Mc Cormick & Douglas Stark
Local authorities search for a dangerous dog that fatally mauled a jogger named Sandy Meekin, and seriously injured another victim. The dog is a pitbull that evidently has an owner; the detectives' investigation leads them to an underground dog-fighting ring that was shut down, and all the dogs killed, when the news of Meekin's death became public. A man named Danny Miller was in charge of the dog ring, but since he's serving a life sentence for murder, his lawyer Sherry Quinn and her husband Roger were helping him run it from the outside. With evidence the Quinns are the real owners of the dog that killed Meekin, they are charged with manslaughter. The case now rests on whether the Quinns knew how dangerous the dog (King) was.
At trial, they maintain that Miller didn't tell them where King really came from, and that King had always been gentle and well-behaved at home with them. They testify that Meekin and her dog provoked King into attacking them. After Mrs. Quinn repeatedly states that King had never shown any previous signs of aggression, McCoy brings the clearly very dangerous King into the court. The judge declines the defence's request for a mistrial and orders McCoy to make a deal with the Quinns; he agrees to a two to six-year sentence for each. Southerlyn receives news that King has now been euthanized, and the DAs reflect on how unfair it is that King got the worst of the punishment while the Quinns got off relatively easy.
This episode contains examples of:
- Beware of Vicious Dog: King, who had been repeatedly tortured and trained to kill.
- Gory Discretion Shot: The bodies of Sandy and her dog are covered when Briscoe and Green arrive. Green takes a look and his reaction says it all. Her body is obscured in the morgue as well.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: Lampshaded at the end of the episode. King's original breeder noted that the pitbull in question was once a really good-natured animal. Yet due to the cruel treatment of his subsequent owners, King was the one that paid the ultimate price for Sandra Meekin's death. Meanwhile, the people responsible for his transformation, although imprisoned, will get a second chance at life. Southerlyn at least doesn't think this is fair.
- It Is Dehumanising: Subverted, in that King isn't human to begin with; but played straight with Sherry Quinn's initial testimony. She refers to her dog lovingly, but only by the pronoun "It" to show she's lying about how close they are. Given the dog is called "King" it's a fair bet that the pronoun "He" would be more apropos, if Sherry had the wherewithal to think that far ahead.
- Make the Dog Testify: McCoy has King brought into the courtroom to dispute the Quinns' claim that he is harmless.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Based on the Diane Whipple
case. - Smug Snake: Danny Miller refuses to co-operate with McCoy and Southerlyn the first time they visit, stating that there's nothing they can threaten him with since he's already serving multiple life sentences for murder. He changes his tune once he's informed that he can be charged with murder one and potentially face the death penalty for Sandy Meekin's death.
