"As a cop, I lost my collars to legal loopholes, but I believed in the system. As a DA, I lost my cases to crooked lawyers, but I believed in the system. As a judge, my hands were bound by the letter of the law, but I believed in the system. Until it took my life away... and then I stopped believing in the system, and started believing in justice."
A crime drama, aired on CBS from 1991 to 1993.
As a cop, Nicholas Marshall saw some of the people he arrested getting Off on a Technicality but he believed in the system. Later, as a prosecutor, he had no choice but to let some defendants get Off on a Technicality but he believed in the system. Even later, as a judge, he got used to presiding trials where criminals got Off on a Technicality but he believed in the system. Until they killed his family. Judge Nicholas Marshall stopped believing in the system and started believing in justice. He then recruited people arrested for minor offenses and formed "The Night Watchmen" to expose the criminals who avoided their deserved punishment.
This series contains examples of
- Catchphrase: "Justice may be blind, but it can see in the dark." Usually said by Judge Marshall to the criminals after their acquittals.
- Criminal Procedural: The members of the Night Watchmen are reformed criminals that Judge Marshall recruited.
- Death by Origin Story: Mrs. Marshall and her daughter. Their only role in the show was becoming murder victims so their husband/father would change from a by-the-book cop turned prosecutor turned judge into a vigilante.
- External Combustion: How the bomber killed Mrs. Marshall and her daughter.
- Luxury Prison Suite: Simon Tall lives like this in a mental institution for criminals. The Night Watchmen decide to take away his privileges.
- Off on a Technicality: Several people but mainly the car bomber who, as a result of trying to kill Nicholas Marshall, killed his wife and daughter.
- Tragic Hero: Nicholas Marshall. He became a vigilante after his wife and his daughter were killed by a criminal who got Off on a Technicality.
