A young mom named Nancy O'Neill is severely injured in a drive-by shooting, and subsequently dies. The shooter, Elias Camacho, is charged with murder. Ross requests that her friend and fellow prosecutor Charlie Harmon let her have the case (which he does in exchange for being allowed to prosecute a murder trial soon.) While preparing for the trial, she notices a discrepancy in Nancy's hospital record. It suggests that Nancy's organs were removed for donation before she was declared legally dead.
To be proven brain-dead, Nancy would have to fail the "apnea test" as to whether she could breathe unassisted, and the test must be witnessed by a neurosurgeon. Dr. Donald Cosgrove supposedly carried out the test, but he cannot prove that it took place or that there was a neurosurgeon present. The evidence against him is strong enough to jointly try him and Camacho for Nancy's murder. McCoy's case is that Cosgrove killed Nancy in order to secure a job at a prestigious hospital where he performed a difficult transplant using her organs.
The defense attempts to demonstrate that Nancy was brain-dead when her organs were harvested. But McCoy produces evidence that Cosgrove requested a morphine drip for her before removing her organs, indicating he knew she was alive. Cosgrove accepts a plea but justifies his actions by saying that Nancy's death saved the life of a young teenager who received her organs. The DAs do not agree with this assessment, and are relieved when the jury subsequently convicts Camacho.
This episode contains examples of:
- Accidental Murder: In a sense; Camacho was only trying to scare O'Neill off and didn't realize that his wife and daughter were in the car that he shot at.
- And I Must Scream: McCoy tells the jury that Nancy would have been in this state when Cosgrove had her drugged up on morphine while removing her organs. Cosgrove's lawyer immediately wants a plea, since they stand no chance with the jury after that.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Charlie Harmon shows up for a brief scene in this episode, but will return with a much more significant role a few episodes later.
- Children Are Innocent: The O'Neills' young daughter, who has to be questioned as a witness about the shooting.
- Deadly Doctor: Cosgrove, who chose to kill Nancy for financial gain.
- Halfway Plot Switch: From tracking down Elias Camacho (first half) to the case against Cosgrove (second half).
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Cosgrove's lawyer goes looking for a plea once the jury hears that Nancy would have been aware of what was happening to her while her organs were being harvested, since it pretty much destroys any chance there might have been of the jury showing his client sympathy.
- Loophole Abuse: Done twice by the prosecution.
- Ross poses as a naive prosecutor who gets Camacho to surrender the murder weapon by tricking him and his lawyer into getting reduced charges and lower bail on the drug trafficking charge he was in Rikers for on a NYC gun give back program. The attorney moves to suppress, but loses because A. neither he nor his client asked if the gun was wanted as evidence in another crime, and B. Ross did follow through with the reduced charges and bail agreement. The judge tells Ross he will speak with the ethics board and Schiff, but there appears to be no consequences.
- Both Camacho and Cosgrove are able to be charged with the murder of Nancy O'Neill. McCoy and Ross successfully argue that O'Neill would have eventually died from the gunshot wounds inflicted by Camacho and that Cosgrove simply sped up the process.
- Mercy Kill: Discussed on both sides, but ultimately averted. Multiple parties in the case bring up that Nancy O'Neill had almost no chance of waking up and wouldn't have had much in the way of quality of life even if she had. McCoy points out that Cosgrove's motives were purely financial, and even if they hadn't been, whether or not Nancy O'Neill got to live wasn't his decision to make.
- Organ Theft: Nancy was a registered organ donor, but Cosgrove's actions still amount to this. He harvested her organs when she was still alive so he could carry out a transplant for his new employer.
- Skewed Priorities: At the hearing to combine Camacho's and Cosgrove's respective trials, Cosgrove seems more offended about "being lumped in with this street scum" than he is about being charged with murder in the first place.
