San Francisco judge Ramsey Hunt' longtime friend to FBI agents Lacey Sherlock and Dillon Savich' is presiding over the multiple murder trial of Clive and Cindy Cahill when the proceedings take a radical turn. The federal prosecutor' known for his relentless style' becomes suddenly tentative in his opening statement' leading Hunt to suspect that he's been threatened-- suspicions that are all but confirmed when Hunt is shot in the back.