Partner collects Rudd at eight o’clock, and they drive to Milo in silence, escorted by the police, in their bulletproof black cargo van that doubles as an office. En route, Rudd reviews the file. The local paper branded Gardy a satanic cult member before trial. After no local lawyer would touch the case, Sebastian signed on and unsuccessfully lobbied for a change in venue, a motion that was denied.

Outside the courthouse, protesters wait for Rudd. In the holding room, Gardy, who has an IQ of 70, just enough for the death penalty, complains about the lying in court. The State’s star witness was Smut, a jailhouse snitch who claimed to overhear a confession after police transferred Gardy to his cell. Rudd cross-examined Smut for hours and exposed him as a serial liar, but a second inmate followed with more fabricated testimony. Additionally, the pathologists and prosecutors made up a false claim that the murdered girls were also sexually molested by Gardy.

It is day 10 of the trial, and Rudd gets no help from his incompetent co-counsel, Trots. Judge Kaufman, convinced of Gardy’s guilt and willing to do anything to be re-elected, loathes both Gardy and Rudd. Consequently, the 14 jurors have not been sequestered and are already certain of the verdict.

Huver calls a fundamentalist preacher who falsely claims he ejected Gardy from a youth service for wearing a satanic T-shirt. Rudd’s objection is overruled. On cross examination, he uses the preacher’s unpaid tax bill to bait him into a heated scripture argument. The preacher eventually condemns Rudd, and Kaufman, exasperated, calls lunch.

Rudd and Gardy eat box lunches at the defense table—Rudd gives Gardy half his sandwich and all of his pickle, as Gardy refuses jail food and is starving. Meanwhile, Partner’s contact, Jimmy Bressup (the Bishop), a local criminal defense lawyer, reports that Huver knows he has the wrong man but will not admit it. There are whispers about the real killer.

Friday afternoon, after Rudd cross-examines another lying witness, he says goodbye to Gardy for the weekend, giving him $10 for the vending machines. When Rudd suggests that Gardy shower, the boy says he will slit his wrists if he finds a razor. Heading back toward the city, Rudd falls asleep in the van. Partner later reports that the Bishop, after a few beers, mentioned a man named Peeley who frequents a dive bar outside the city.

Friday evening, Rudd meets his ex-wife, Judith Whitly, for drinks, something they do monthly. She is a lawyer, strikingly beautiful, and always punctual. They discuss their seven-year-old son, Starcher, and Rudd’s mother’s request to see him that weekend. Judith despises Rudd’s mother, who once threatened to disinherit him for marrying her. The marriage lasted only 15 months, and Starcher was born during the bitter split. Judith now lives with her partner, Ava. Presently, Judith asks whether Rudd is going to the cage fights and calls it brutal. After bantering for a while, they part amicably.

Back at his 25th-floor apartment, where he feels safe from death threats, Rudd changes into a disguise: yellow jacket and cap bearing the name Tadeo Zapata. Partner drives him to city auditorium MMA fights. Rudd owns 25% of Tadeo’s career. In the locker room he greets the fighter’s team, including Oscar (his trainer) and Miguel (his brother). Most are members of a Salvadoran street gang that runs cocaine.

Rudd meets his secret betting group and places large wagers, including a bet Tadeo’s opponent won’t survive the third round. Tadeo faces the Jackal, a submission specialist. When Rudd offers a $2,000 bonus for a round-two finish, Tadeo knocks out his opponent.

Leaving, a woman approaches him, explaining that her mother, Glynna Roston, is juror number eight and thinks all the witnesses are lying. Stunned, Rudd says her mother is correct and walks away. He later nets $8,000 with the betting group and pays Tadeo the promised bonus.

Rudd suspects Jack Peeley—ex-boyfriend of the murdered girls’ mother and the last person seen near them—is the real killer. Police dismissed him because they already had Gardy.

Saturday night, Rudd and Partner stake out the Blue and White dive bar, a place Peeley frequents. Only Tadeo and Miguel go inside. When Peeley moves to the pool table, Tadeo bumps into him and lands three quick punches, drawing blood and knocking him out. Miguel handles a friend who intervenes. Both escape through a restroom window. At a burger place, Rudd carefully scrapes Peeley’s blood from Tadeo’s hand to preserve it for DNA testing.

During the autopsy of victim Jenna Fentress, a single strand of long black hair was found in the shoelaces binding her ankles. Like her twin, Raley, Jenna’s hair was blond. The State matched it to Gardy using notoriously inaccurate hair analysis. When Rudd requested DNA testing, Kaufman refused on cost grounds. While reviewing the State’s evidence, Rudd stole a portion of the hair. Monday morning, he ships the hair with Peeley’s blood to a California DNA lab for an expensive rush analysis.

On day 11, a bailiff summons Rudd to chambers. Kaufman and Huver produce a two-page affidavit from Marlo Wilfang, daughter of juror Glynna Roston, claiming Rudd initiated jury contact. Rudd indicates that Marlo sought him out and threatens a mistrial. A contentious closed hearing consumes the day. Glynna Roston lies under oath and unravels while Marlo’s story falls apart, revealing Huver’s office helped draft the false affidavit. Kaufman excuses Glynna, replaces her with alternate Ms. Mazy, and holds Rudd in contempt, sending him to jail for the night.

At the jail, Rudd calls Judith and Partner, changes into an orange jumpsuit, and spends the night advising cellmates. The Bishop visits; Rudd tells him about the pending DNA results. Judith files a habeas corpus petition in federal court and tips off a reporter.

After a sleepless, foodless night, Rudd is transported back to court in handcuffs Tuesday morning. His jailing made the newspaper. In chambers, a US marshal delivers notice of the federal habeas hearing; Kaufman and Huver dismiss it and tell him to leave. To sidestep the complication, Kaufman vacates the contempt order, but Rudd warns the jailing already grounds a mistrial or reversal on appeal.

Back in court, Huver immediately announces the State rests, an unexpected move to ambush Rudd, who unsuccessfully objects. Rudd’s first alibi witness, Wilson, a troubled 15-year-old dropout, testifies he and others were with Gardy at the Pit—an abandoned gravel pit and refuge for homeless kids—on the afternoon of the murders. Huver destroys his credibility until Wilson mentions police came to the Pit that day looking for the girls, confirming the date. All six of Rudd’s witnesses tell the truth, but all are made to look like criminals.

Even though Rudd maps the distance between the Pit and the pond, proving that Gardy couldn’t have reached the crime scene in time, the jury remains unmoved, still sold on the satanic cult narrative. At midnight, Rudd gets the call from the DNA lab in San Diego. Peeley’s blood matches the hair found in Jenna Fentress’s shoelaces.

Rudd and Partner leave for Milo to meet with the Bishop before dawn. By eight o’clock, Rudd convenes in chambers with Judge Kaufman, Huver, and the court reporter. Rudd lays out the DNA match and his options: subpoena Peeley, go to the press, announce the results to the jury, or destroy them on appeal. Huver suggests Peeley and Gardy could have worked together. Rudd counters that pressing on guarantees a high-profile exoneration years later. He admits he staged the bar fight to get the blood sample. Kaufman demands to see the lab results and calls a recess.

Kaufman and Huver meet privately even though it is prohibited. After the lab emails results directly to Kaufman, Jack Peeley is arrested. The next day, in the judge’s chambers, Huver moves to dismiss all charges. Gardy is freed after a year in jail for a crime he didn’t commit. Rudd hands him $40; they share an awkward hug, knowing they will never see each other again. A mob waits outside, many still certain of Gardy’s guilt. Rudd slips out a side door to where Partner is waiting. Two tomatoes and an egg hit the windshield as they speed away.