The Defenders Episode 1.01 Pilot

Accused criminals have found new allies in a pair of Las Vegas attorneys, Nick Morelli and Pete Kaczmarek. Lisa Tyler, fresh out of law school, has joined Morelli & Kaczmarek. After Lisa passes Pete's test on her first day, she stays on to work for the firm. Nick and Pete work the case of a young man, Dan Shepard, who is accused of gunning down his neighbor after the neighbor and several other men were in the process of severely beating his brother. Dan proclaims his innocence, stating he intended only to fire a warning shot, and forgoes a plea deal to take the chance a jury will believe his story. A.D.A Thomas Cole is adamant about Dan's guilt and produces a medical examiner and two witnesses, friends of the victim, who all claim Dan shot the victim in the back intentionally. Nick and Pete have an uphill battle but Nick discovers Dan fired the gun while standing on the back steps of his home. This falsely gave the medical examiner the theory, due to the wound's trajectory, that Dan stood over the victim and shot him execution style. Lisa persuades a reluctant witness to come forward. She is the housekeeper of Dan's neighbor and saw the entire incident. The housekeeper observed the men relentlessly beating Dan's brother and then saw Dan fire the gun from the back steps of his home; which discredits the prosecution witness claims that Dan executed the victim. As the case goes to the jury, the judge poses a stumbling block that Nick cleverly maneuvers around and ultimately the jury finds Dan not guilty on all charges. Nick is separated from his wife and wants nothing more than to have his family back but decides to hire a private investigator to follow his wife. When she finds out, Nick realizes what a bad idea it really was. Pete is definitely a ladies man and Lisa gets the feeling that he and A.D.A Meredith Kramer may have more in common then just their cases.