Two police officers arrest Jerome Washington at the Randolph murder scene and beat him repeatedly during the arrest.

Elderly maid Miss Jessup asks lawyer Jack Lee to represent her granddaughter's husband Jerome, who has been charged with double murder.

Jack visits Jerome in jail, hears his account of finding the bodies, and agrees to take his case.

A threatening phone call from an anonymous man convinces Jack to commit fully to defending Jerome.

Three men break into Jack's home and beat him with a police baton, warning him to drop Jerome's case.

Desiree DuBose, a Black lawyer from Chicago, arrives at Jack's door and the two agree to become co-counselors.

Battle announces that Pearl Washington has been arrested as a murder conspirator and will be tried alongside Jerome.

Battle rejects Jerome's offer to plead guilty in exchange for all charges against Pearl being dropped.

Lucy Lee is attacked by men opposed to the trial and dies during surgery, prompting Hilly to urge Jack to keep fighting.

Jack's home and office are deliberately set on fire at night with Jack and DuBose trapped inside.

The murder trial begins with opening statements from both sides delivered before an all-white male jury.

Battle introduces the murder weapon mid-trial, and Jefferson identifies it as a Civil War knife belonging to Leslie Randolph.

Jerome agrees to accept a plea deal offering him five years in prison in order to free Pearl.

Christine breaks down on the stand, confessing she killed her father and that Gates manipulated witnesses and planted evidence throughout the trial.

Jerome Washington is shot and killed outside the courthouse moments after the murder charges against him are dropped.

In 1968 Virginia, Jerome Washington is arrested for the murders of a wealthy white couple and brutalized by racist police officers during the arrest. White lawyer Jack Lee agrees to defend Jerome despite violent threats, and joins forces with experienced Black attorney Desiree DuBose from Chicago. As the trial approaches, Jerome's wife Pearl is arrested as a co-conspirator, dramatically raising the stakes for the defense. Jack's sister Lucy is killed by men opposed to the trial, and Jack's home and office are burned down before proceedings even conclude. Despite a defense that exposes planted evidence and lying witnesses, the lawyers are nearly forced into a plea deal before Christine Randolph confesses on the stand, clears Jerome and Pearl, and exposes the Gates family's manipulation. Jerome walks free but is shot and killed by a gunman moments outside the courthouse.

The headline events of Jerome Washington's murder trial.

Jack's father Frank drives Jack to Miss Jessup's home in Carter City for their first visit to the Black side of town.

Jack files himself as Jerome's lawyer at the courthouse and discovers his predecessor waived bail and the preliminary hearing.

Jack visits the Randolph crime scene with Attorney General Battle and photographs blood patterns and footprints on the floor.

Coal mine owner Howard Pickett confronts Jack outside the Randolph home and demands he be loyal to his race.

Hilly confronts Jack at a family dinner, insisting it is wrong for him to defend a Black man in court.

Frank is violently pinned against his car by Daniel, a Vietnam veteran, and feels genuine shame about racism for the first time.

Judge Bliley rules in Jack's favor at a hearing where Battle attempts to have Jack removed from Jerome's case.

Jack and DuBose visit Curtis Gates, who reveals the Randolph will splits the estate between Sam and Christine using a tontine clause.

Judge Josiah Ambrose replaces Judge Bliley as the presiding judge after the case attracts national media attention.

Jack and DuBose interview Cora Robinson, the Randolphs' housekeeper, who admits she lied to police about Jerome entering the house.

Jack and DuBose interview Tyler Dobbs, who greets them at gunpoint; DuBose pays ten dollars to rescue his malnourished dog.

DuBose attends Lucy's funeral alongside Miss Jessup and is welcomed into the Lee family home for the first time.

Hilly invites DuBose to move into Lucy's room and use the garage as an office after their home is burned down.

Jack cross-examines Sam Randolph, who admits he needed money for medical treatment and hired a psychiatrist to challenge his parents' competency.

Jack learns after his recovery that Christine was never charged, both Gates men were convicted, and Christine supports Pearl's family financially.

Before and during the trial, Jack and DuBose piece together the truth about the Randolph murders through careful investigation and difficult interviews. They uncover crucial details at the crime scene, expose key witnesses like Cora Robinson and Tyler Dobbs, and navigate hostile forces including Attorney General Battle and coal magnate Howard Pickett. The judicial process is stacked against them from the start, as a fair judge is replaced by the secretly biased Ambrose and the jury is drawn entirely from white men. Personal attacks and the loss of their home force Jack and DuBose to rebuild within the Lee family home before continuing their fight. In court, they systematically dismantle the prosecution's witnesses, and in the aftermath of the trial, the surviving characters settle into a fragile new equilibrium shaped by the ordeal.

The investigation and courtroom moments behind Jerome's defense.

Jerome tells Jack that he found the Randolphs already dead and was moving Anne's body off the floor when police arrived.

Jerome tells Jack that he noticed a blue convertible parked outside the Randolph home on the day of the murders.

Frank reads his son Jefferson's letter about deserting the Army with genuine understanding and empathy for the very first time.

Jack and DuBose confess their personal biases to each other at a local bar and agree to work as equals.

DuBose encounters Judge Ambrose and Pickett in a hotel elevator and watches Ambrose unexpectedly silence Pickett's racist remark.

Jack and DuBose discover an unopened package addressed to Anne Randolph from a divorce attorney inside the Randolph house.

Pearl privately confesses to DuBose that she was having an illegal abortion on the day of the Randolph murders.

Private investigator Donny reports that Tyler Dobbs's substantial gambling debts were paid off immediately after he gave his statement to police.

Hilly privately reveals to DuBose that she once loved a Black man and was told her love for him caused Lucy's disability.

Neighbor Ashby tells Jack that Judge Ambrose was once a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

Ambrose overrules DuBose's objection and admits the murder weapon into evidence, making eye contact with Pickett in the gallery before ruling.

Donny reveals to Jack and DuBose that the mysterious blue convertible belongs to Walter Gates, son of the Randolphs' own lawyer.

Jack demonstrates in court that Jerome's severe leg injury makes it physically impossible for him to have inflicted the killing wounds.

Jefferson tells Jack and DuBose that Christine was actually at home the day her parents died, directly contradicting her alibi.

Jack travels to Chicago to find DuBose and she ultimately agrees to pursue both a professional and romantic partnership with him.

The road to justice in Jerome's trial is paved with hidden truths that only slowly come to light, each one shifting the direction of the case. Key revelations include Pearl's secret illegal abortion, the mysterious blue convertible belonging to the Gates family, and Christine's true whereabouts on the day of the murders. Behind the scenes, characters undergo profound personal transformations: Frank confronts his racism after a violent encounter, Hilly reveals a buried love story that explains her lifelong prejudice, and DuBose and Jack gradually dismantle the walls between them. The courtroom itself becomes a battleground of concealed bias, with Ambrose's KKK past informing his selective rulings that favor the prosecution at every turn. Ultimately, the accumulation of these revelations forces Christine's confession and clears the path for Jack to travel to Chicago and begin a new chapter with DuBose.

The discoveries, confessions, and personal turning points that shaped the verdict.