Lisa Winslow dies in an ostensible fall from a hotel balcony, but her autopsy establishes she was actually pushed. Green and Briscoe speak to the victim's "sister" Renee Bishop; who turns out to actually be Lisa's ex-wife. During their marriage they lived in Florida together, but since Florida doesn't allow same-sex couples to adopt, Lisa applied to adopt their daughter Sophie as a single parent. This gave her automatic custody after the divorce, and she took Sophie to New York with her against Bishop's will. Bishop has now run away with Sophie but eventually, Green and Briscoe trace her.
Bishop's lawyer plans to challenge the constitutionality of Florida law to say that she has a parental right to Sophie; legally, this would mean that she can't be charged with kidnapping nor would she be held to have a motive for murder. But the DAs have enough evidence to charge her with murder, and proceed with the case against her. Bishop's testimony focuses on how devastated she was at being separated from Sophie, and how unfair it is that she and Lisa weren't allowed to adopt as a couple. She claims she killed Lisa in self-defense during an argument over custody of Sophie. McCoy reminds the jury that the focus of the case is Lisa's murder, not the rights and wrongs of Florida's adoption law. Lisa was Sophie's mother at least as much as Bishop, and their child has still lost a parent. The jury finds Bishop guilty of both murder and kidnapping.
This episode contains examples of:
- Children Are Innocent: Sophie fits this trope.
- Ethnic Menial Labor: Lisa hired an immigrant Latina nanny for Sophie.
- Happily Adopted: Sophie seems to have been very happy with her mothers.
- Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: During the trial, the judge makes a snide comment about it being uncharacteristically "traditional" to have a gay couple in breadwinner/homemaker roles around their child.
- Raised by Grandparents: What apparently happens to Sophie after Bishop's mother begs McCoy for help in getting legal custody.
- Released to Elsewhere: Sophie's testimony makes it clear that she has no idea Lisa is dead; Bishop having told her Lisa had gone on a business trip.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Bishop sees Lisa as having done this because, being the spouse with more money, she was in a stronger legal position to be the one to apply as adoptive parent.
- When You Coming Home, Dad?: Lisa Winslow had a demanding job and left Sophie first with Bishop, then a nanny after the divorce. The defense uses this to try to portray her as a neglectful mother.
