Lina and Janet get a surprise visit from a witness on the Gardiner case while Justice Rosenberg and Julie find themselves in trouble after Jimmy exposes a scandal.

Janet, Lina and Detective Dylan Thorne are surprised when Virginia Gardiner arrives at the DPP. Racked by guilt, she wants to help the prosecution, and agrees to make a new statement. Janet and Lina are still at loggerheads over Max. But when Virginia crumbles during the Committal in front of the formidable Judge Hansby, this already murky case is made even more complicated. only serves to raise tensions in the DPP.
As if Lina didn't have enough on her plate, she realizes that it is finally time for her and Andy to come out. When Jimmy scoops that Judge Rosenberg asked Julie to take the wrap for him on a driving offence, it starts a series of events that leads to Ben busting up with Julie, and Rosenberg losing his job in the messy scandal. Ben is excited to be going to the Supreme Court. Mrs Wallace, the kid-drugging and smothering mother has been released from hospital and found to be mentally fit to stand trial. But when Tony tells him he's already accepted the plea, Ben is furious, and goes straight to David. David soon puts him in his place, though. Richard prosecutes a ridiculous arson case, while Tatum seeks welcome distraction from a boring wire tap case.
Janet, Lina and Detective Dylan Thorne are busy prepping for the Max Gardiner Committal hearing when they receive a surprise visit from Max's mother, Virginia Gardiner. Arriving at the DPP, Virginia reveals she has had a change of heart and is now willing to do whatever it takes to help the prosecution. She cannot bear the thought that Max might hurt someone again (especially her unborn son). Virginia agrees to make a new statement and Janet and Lina (and Dylan) are polarised in their views of the significance of the fact that Max isn't Sean's biological child. Sean arrives at the DPP to reveal that all the kids knew Max wasn't Sean's biological child and that Jake was goading Max the day he died. The day of the Committal arrives and Janet is still reluctant to prosecute an eleven year old. When Virginia folds in the box under questioning from Janet, Magistrate Hansby refuses to allow her to step down. To Lina's distress, Janet sides with the Defence. Virginia assaults the Court Officer and is arrested and placed in the cells below the Court. Lina is also contending with pressure from Tariq and the amorous attentions of Dylan. Andy is not happy about this and by the end of the episode, Lina decides it's time her and Andy came out.
Court Reporter Jimmy Butcher writes an article exposing Justice Rosenberg as having driven through a red light and blaming a mystery female companion. Ben confronts Julie who denies the charges, but Ben realises that Julie is covering for Rosenberg. Later, hurrying to Court, Julie sees Jimmy and Ben chatting and assumes that Ben is ratting her out to Jimmy. Jimmy tells Julie he knows she wasn't in the car and that she signed the stat dec for Rosenberg. Julie begs him not to expose her name in the scandal, but Jimmy will not be swayed. Julie warns Rosenberg that they have been discovered and pleads with him to come clean. She won't be a part of further deception and refuses to help Rosenberg for a second time. Rosenberg is stood down in disgrace and Julie is left waiting to be assigned her new judge. Ben is excited that he's going to the Supreme Court. Mrs Wallace, the kid-drugging and smothering mother has been released from hospital and found to be mentally fit to stand trial. Tony, however, advises him that he's already well under way with plea negotiations with the Defence and they won't be going to trial. Ben is furious and tries to undermine Tony by going to David, but David puts Ben firmly in his place. Tony is right, going to trial is too risky. Ben knows, in his heart, that David and Tony are right, though it kills him to admit it..
Richard has the world's most ridiculous Arson case to prosecute while Tatum has yet another boring phone intercepts matter. Looking for distraction, Tatum runs off to Court to perve at the Supermax hotties and while there, is surprised to see Tracey doing exactly the same thing! Erin tries not to think about Rhys by dating Jimmy, even going so far as to call him her boyfriend, but when the seamier side of his profession creeps her out, she puts distance between them again. Rhys has also told her to stay away from Jimmy so that she doesn't jeopardise the Quinn trial.

Expectant mother Janet's head battles with her heart as she is forced to prosecute a child for murder.

Janet and Lina put aside their differences when they face the first day of the Max Gardiner trial. In court, things quickly unravel, and the trial proves just as hard as Janet expected. After a series of difficult witnesses, Sean Gardiner gives his emotional evidence about the day Jake died. Janet feels that she has successfully rebutted the Doli Incapax principle – being that Max knew what he was doing was seriously wrong. The defence barrister however claims the Crown has no case to answer – and to Janet's shock, Justice Dyer agrees, directing the Jury to acquit. Max goes free. Having recently ‘come out' at work and to their friends, Lina is under pressure from Andy to introduce him to her family. However, the night doesn't go to plan when only Tariq and his girlfriend Salwa turn up. The next morning, Andy leaves for a major police operation. Lina thinks nothing of it – until Dylan receives word that a police officer has been shot, and she can't get hold of Andy. Erin attends Joanne Mervich's sentence appeal. To Erin's dismay, the sentence is increased by six years. She decides to break protocol and go to the women's prison to see Joanne herself – and is further shocked to discover that Joanne has attempted suicide. Richard is handballed what seems to be a straightforward, if strange, brief by Ben – the theft of ten thousand dollars from the wishing well goose pond at a child's petting zoo by teenage twins. Meanwhile Ben, feeling guilty about sleeping with Erin, tries to make up for it by being the perfect boyfriend to Julie.
It's the morning of eleven year old Max Gardiner's trial for the murder of his brother – for Janet, a morning she wished would never come, unsure whether she morally agrees with the decision to prosecute. However, she bolsters herself for the battle ahead, even knowing there is a high chance of failure. In her very late term of pregnancy, Janet is feeling unusually vulnerable. Lina, meanwhile, is determined to see Max locked away for life, believing he is a sociopath. The two women put aside their differences of opinion to face the trial as a team, with Detective Sergeant Dylan Thorne as their informant. However, the trial proves to be just as difficult as Janet expected when the sight of Max in the dock melts the jury's hearts. They have a small victory when, despite her fears, Ella Gardiner gives her vital evidence in the witness box – but swiftly the trial goes off the rails. Max's teacher sugar-coats her previously damning evidence about Max's behaviour, the forensic pathologist cannot comment on intention, and Michael Griggs, the boy who Max forced to eat dog excrement, asks to be released as a witness due to receiving email death threats.
However, when Sean Gardiner gives his emotional evidence about the day Jake died, Janet feels that she has successfully rebutted the Doli Incapax principle – being that Max knew what he was doing was seriously wrong. The defence barrister however claims the Crown has no case to answer – and to Janet's shock, Justice Dyer agrees, directing the Jury to acquit. Max goes free – and Janet's not sure how she feels, other than exhausted by the emotionally draining trial.
Having recently ‘come out' at work and to their friends, Lina is under pressure from Andy to introduce him to her family. She gives in, inviting her parents and brother to dinner at her place. However, the night doesn't go to plan when only Tariq and his girlfriend Salwa turn up, with her parents Fiona and Bashar Badir having broken down on the F3. Tariq wastes no time making it perfectly clear that he doesn't approve of Andy for many reasons – the two most important being that he's not a Muslim, but he is a police officer. The argument leads to Tariq storming out, leaving Lina and Andy alone with a mountain of food and no guests. The next morning, Lina admits that, somehow, it turned out to be a perfect night for the couple. Andy agrees and leaves with the warning that his mobile will be turned off all day during a big police operation. Lina thinks nothing of it – until Dylan receives word that a police officer has been shot, and she can't get hold of Andy. As more information comes in about the dying officer, Lina panics, running off in the middle of Janet examining their final witness. To Lina's relief, she discovers that Andy was not the officer shot – but he believes his gun was responsible for the death.
Erin has reached the final stage of the Mervich trial – Joanne's appeal against her sentence. To Erin's shock, the sentence is increased by six years. She decides to break protocol and go to the women's prison to see Joanne herself – and is further shocked to discover that Joanne has attempted suicide. Erin drowns her sorrows and winds up with a black eye and terrible hangover the next morning. Having previously helped heavily pregnant Janet out by sourcing a fat barrister's jacket, Erin is pleasantly surprised when Janet does something nice in return by inviting her to dinner. Teasing from a jealous Ben only makes Erin's nerves and lack of self-esteem worse – a problem she attempts to solve by turning up drunk to Janet's place. A disastrous dinner ensues as Erin continues drinking and ends up not only revealing that Jimmy told her she was responsible for leaking the AG file, but also with Erin passing out in Janet's spare room. The next morning, a hideously embarrassed and ashamed Erin is given some tough love by Janet – and the chance to start redeeming herself when Janet needs her to take over from Lina in the Gardiner trial.
Richard is handballed what seems to be a straightforward, if strange, brief by Ben – the theft of ten thousand dollars from the wishing well goose pond at a child's petting zoo by teenage twins. Tatum jumps on board but quickly begins making the job difficult, convinced that the victim, Clarry Ferguson, is not only creepy, but has a moustache like a paedophile. Richard points out that they can't nolle a brief because they don't like the victim. Tatum is determined to dig some dirt, and discovers that Clarry's charitable donations don't match the amount of money pulled from the pond annually. Using a Facebook friend living in Thailand, she also looks into Clarry Ferguson's claims that he supports an orphanage outside of Chiang Mai – and to her surprise, discovers it's all legitimate. However the orphanage is run by a woman who calls herself Mrs Ferguson and Tatum realises Clarry has a Thai wife and family whom he visits twice a year using the money from the wishing well – an act which allows the police to charge him with obtaining financial advantage by deception.
Ben is feeling incredibly guilty about sleeping with Erin while he and Julie were technically a couple, so tries to make up for it by being the perfect boyfriend – to Julie's surprise and Erin's disgust, who warns him that Julie will figure it out if he keeps overcompensating.
Already sensitive over the Quinn brief, David is furious when an opinion column in the paper calls for his resignation, blaming him for the all the mistakes of the DPP.