When a gang leader convicted of brutal crimes is stabbed to death in a prison scuffle, Detectives Briscoe and Green find that their victim had numerous enemies on both sides of the law. The investigation; in which gang members, corrections officers, and undercover cops are all suspects; results in an eventual indictment that leaves E.A.D.A. McCoy with an uphill battle as he tries to convict the murderer of a vicious criminal.

A former Black Panther, accused of murdering a Caucasian police officer, questions Green's integrity amidst a politically charged trial.