As Andy recovers from prostate surgery, he and Russell catch a case where a white woman's black ex-husband shoots her current boyfriend that turns out to lead to a deeper tragedy than previously thought. Simone is summoned to Brooklyn to help Henry Coffield beat a case when he is accused of murdering Edith Murphy.
- Dirty Coward: Rose constantly tries to run rings around detectives and DAs in order to deflect the current situation.
- Domestic Abuser: Everett McRae admits to beating Rose in the past due to being upset with her drug use.
- Drugs Are Bad: It's made very clear that Rose and Lonnie's crack use helped fuel their murder of Vanessa, as well as Rose's abrasive personality.
- Evil Is Petty: Rose killed Vanessa just for wetting herself.
- Good Is Not Soft: Even Russell is not holding Sipowicz back when he starts roughly intimidating Lonnie.
- Guilt-Ridden Accomplice: Lonnie quickly confesses to helping with Rose's murder of Vanessa.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Rose is ready to argue with just about anyone at the drop of a hat.
- Hypocrite: Rose is quick to accuse people of judging her for dating black men, yet what does she say when her Hispanic attorney fails her?
- Rose: I had to get a Spic legal aid.
- Jerkass: Rose Carlton. Lying, cowardly, abrasive, abusive, paranoid, razor-thin temper, hostile, hypocritical, deflective, you name it.
- Justice by Other Legal Means: In a way. Rose at first tries to pin the murder on Lonnie in exchange for immunity. It works at first, but Lonnie and Rose's sister Sandra help prove otherwise, overturning the deal.
- Mercy Kill: How Lonnie tries to justify finishing off Vanessa while Rose was drowning her.
- Would Hurt a Child: Rose Carlton murdered her own daughter in a crack-fueled rage.
