Canterbury's Law

As tough as she is beautiful, defense attorney Elizabeth Canterbury is a force of nature who doesn't hesitate to take on risky and unpopular cases, even when they take a toll on her personal life. Haunted by the disappearance of their young son, she and her law professor husband Matthew have settled in Providence, Rhode Island, hoping to distance themselves from the tragedy and put their relationship back together. But those goals become elusive whenever Elizabeth's job provides a stark reminder of the justice absent in their own lives. At work, Elizabeth has surrounded herself with a brilliant but motley crew of attorneys. Senior among them is Russell Krauss, who was forced out of the Providence District Attorney's Office when he went toe-to-toe with his morally bankrupt boss, D.A.G. Zach Williams. Joining them at the firm are Chester Grant, a congressman's son who has turned his back on politics, and Molly McConnell, a headstrong and passionate lawyer who is keen to take sides, even if she finds herself in the opposite corner from her boss. On the heels of winning an acquittal in an assault case against her private investigator, Frank Angstrom, Elizabeth is back in court representing Ethan Foster, a convicted sex offender who has been charged in the disappearance of twelve-year-old Tommy Jasper. Already disadvantaged as a result of Ethan's since-recanted confession, Elizabeth is sure that he is now telling the truth, even though Russell isn't convinced. With public opinion steadfastly against her, Elizabeth risks alienating the jury when she casts suspicion on the missing boy's father, suggesting that child abuse may have been behind Tommy's disappearance. But just when it looks like Elizabeth is the only one who still believes Ethan, a gruesome discovery raises doubts about the state's case and provides Elizabeth with a crucial opportunity to place the missing boy's hot-tempered dad in the spotlight and blow the case wide open. © 2008 Sony Pictures Television Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Elizabeth Canterbury is preparing for another round in a client's messy divorce proceeding when she approached by Louis Minot, a middle aged man who claims to have some crucial information about an open murder investigation -- and has a duffel bag full of body parts to prove it! Just as Louis feared, turning the evidence over to the police has made him a suspect. As prosecutor Zach Williams dismisses the notion that Louis's psychic abilities led to the discovery the bones, Elizabeth steps in to defend him. However, after Russell and the rest of her legal team lobby for a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, Elizabeth reverses course during the arraignment and insists on using Louis's psychic powers in his defense. Louis's history of being in and out of psychiatric hospitals for most of his adult life has Russell convinced that anything but pleading insanity is a non-starter. Undaunted, Elizabeth questions her private investigator and former lover, Frank Angstrom, about how the police have used psychics in the past. With little else to go on, she successfully casts doubt on the prosecution's expert testimony by dredging up a ten-year-old rape case in which Zach himself used a psychic to obtain a conviction. Meanwhile, as she is working to free Louis, Elizabeth must also deal with her own fractured and failing marriage. Elizabeth knows all too well that the fact that Louis and the murder victim were once in the same psychiatric hospital at the same time could undermine her case. Things take an uncertain turn when a doctor diagnoses Louis with a fatal brain tumor just as Zach persuades the judge to admit evidence that he may also be responsible for five more unsolved homicides. Still, Elizabeth wants to believe in her client's psychic abilities, especially since she thinks he may have some information regarding her son's disappearance. And it's while following up a lead at the hospital where he's said to have met his alleged victims that Elizabeth gets the break she's been looking for when she provokes the psychiatrist who was treating Louis into confessing to the murders. Finally, in the wake of his acquittal, Louis tells Elizabeth that her son may still be alive. © 2008 Sony Pictures Television Inc. All Rights Reserved.

As she is working to win acquittal for accused bank robber Annabeth Mills, Elizabeth is blind to DAG Zach Williams' efforts to have her charged with jury tampering in Ethan Foster case. Even though Frank has tried to warn her, she refuses to return his calls and so remains oblivious to the case that Williams is mounting. But once Frank tracks her down to deliver the news in person, Elizabeth has reason to worry after learning that Williams is going after a juror that the private investigator plied for inside information that helped her successfully retool Ethan's defense. Meanwhile, as Matt tries to persuade Elizabeth to have a funeral for their missing son, Molly worries that filling in for Chester in court will reveal that she still hasn't passed the bar exam. Once Chester's father tips him off to the Grand Jury investigation, Elizabeth is forced to tell everyone at work about the probe. And as she worries about her career, she must also prepare for an upcoming faculty dinner that will influence Matt's law school tenure review. Meanwhile, unable to get a continuance until Chester can return, Molly must defend accused drunk driver Artie Flom. But when Annabeth tips her off to Molly's shaky legal status, Elizabeth quickly jumps in to take over before she can be found out. With Chester insisting he'll stand by Elizabeth no matter what, AAG Kate Cooley warns Russell that his boss is in big trouble. Although things look grim, especially now that Williams has subpoenaed Frank, Russell is also committed to stay. Her own future in jeopardy, Elizabeth turns around and torpedoes Matt's chances at tenure by drunkenly airing their domestic problems at the faculty dinner. Finally, as Matt decides that he's had enough of their fractured marriage, Elizabeth is arrested for jury tampering in the Foster case. © 2008 Sony Pictures Television Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Now facing her own legal quagmire following her arrest for jury tampering, Elizabeth must still deliver for her newest clients, Linda Matthews and Isabelle Shapiro, sixteen-year-old best friends who have been accused of arranging the murder of their high school classmate, Caroline Parsons. Though worried about the girls' flippant attitudes, Elizabeth is confident that, despite their list of "people we'd like to see dead," there's nothing concrete linking them to Caroline's death at the hands of James Moffit, a socially-awkward classmate who subsequently took his own life. However, as the trial gets underway, Elizabeth is stunned when Linda secretly cuts a deal with prosecutor Zach Williams to pin the crime on Isabelle. Meanwhile, Williams turns up the heat on Elizabeth by approaching Chester about coming to work for him. As Elizabeth refocuses her efforts in the case, Isabelle's mother, Elissa, claims that Linda and her wealthy parents see her daughter as an easy scapegoat. While unable to get Williams to reveal the details of Linda's plea deal, Chester does learn of incriminating e-mails that prove Isabelle used sex to lure James into committing the murder. Posing as a prosecutor, Molly joins Russell to question a close friend whose computer was used to send the e-mails and who says that Isabelle was sleeping with James. Meanwhile, as she struggles to keep Isabelle's defense from being derailed, Elizabeth lashes out as the police search her home for evidence of jury tampering. Things get even worse when, after Isabelle admits to having slept with the killer, Linda also testifies that Izzy used sex to manipulate James into killing Caroline. When Isabelle runs away, Elizabeth sends Frank Angstrom to find her and she finally admits that it was Linda who used sex to get James to kill -- and that she has a cell phone and photos to prove it. Back in court, Elizabeth recalls Linda to the stand where the incriminating evidence elicits a confession that leads to Isabe © 2008 Sony Pictures Television Inc. All Rights Reserved.

It seems that things couldn't get much worse now that Matt's chances at tenure are ruined and their marriage is in freefall as a result of Elizabeth's indictment for jury tampering. Once Zach Williams gets Ethan Foster to cooperate, Elizabeth accepts that her legal career is over. Recalling a murder case in which he suspected Zach of losing witness statements in order to get a conviction, Russell sets out to find something he can use against his former boss. As Russell, Molly, and Chester look for evidence of the DAG's misconduct in Danny Santos' murder trial, Elizabeth offers to plead guilty to the charges against her in exchange for a two year suspension of her law license. Yet, angry that her staff is aggressively pursuing the Santos case, Zach rebuffs any deal. Although Elizabeth criticizes them for undermining her deal and announces that she is disbanding the firm, neither Russell, Molly, not Chester will back down. As Elizabeth angers Matt when she unilaterally moves to sell their house in preparation for a divorce, Russell gets Santos to agree to reopen his case, even as the alleged victim's politically powerful father argues against it. And once when Russell persuades a reluctant detective to give him his case file, Molly finds a transvestite prostitute's witness statement that would have exonerated Santos, but was never presented at trial. Even though Russell cannot get Kate Cooley to cooperate with the investigation, Elizabeth decides to move ahead anyway with the effort to discredit Zach. Ignoring warnings that Elizabeth has proof of his failure to present all the evidence in the Santos case, Zach remains confident that he can convince a jury otherwise. However, the hooker turns out to be a compelling witness, sending Zach to his office where, unaware he's been spotted by Kate, he secretly shreds his own files. Disturbed by what she's seen, Kate alerts Russell. And once her legal team recovers the shredded documents, Elizabeth's threats to present them in court prompt Zach to drop all the charges against her and release Santos from jail. © 2008 Sony Pictures Television Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Elizabeth's pledge to defend a former client who has confessed to raping Jennifer Wallace fifteen years ago is coming under fire from law professor and talk show host Gabriel Waggett. Though Molly is uncomfortable with defending an admitted rapist, Gil Newhall's willingness to accept the consequences has Elizabeth feeling confident that AAG Peter Upton and Judge Sydney Hanlon will agree to probation and a short prison term. However, with Waggett inflaming public opinion and Jennifer demanding justice, Hanlon insists on a trial. Meanwhile, his own father's past prompts Chester to represent Nora Monteiros, a six-year-old girl who was disfigured by a rat bite in a building owned by slumlord Victor Robb. But when Robb's lawyer reveals that Nora's parents have a history of filing bogus lawsuits, Chester regrets turning down a $50,000 settlement offer. While Louisa Newhall wants her to do whatever it takes to keep Gil from going to jail for the rest of his life, Elizabeth's refusal to attack Jennifer on the stand leaves her legal team struggling to make a case. While dividing up their possessions, Elizabeth gets Matt to help devise a legal strategy that sets Molly and Russell to investigate Waggett's part in Jennifer's decision to testify, as well as the suspended sentence given Kevin Spencer, a fraternity brother who originally confessed to the rape. However, as he conceals how his family connections kept him out of jail, Spencer harshly criticizes Gil for dredging up the matter again. Though Waggett claims that he only helped her to stand up for what's right, his testimony exposes his role in Jennifer's demand for harsh sentence. Once the final arguments have been made and the jury is out, the promise of prison time leads to an agreement that could spare Gil decades behind bars. Yet, despite having Upton and Jennifer on board, Elizabeth cannot keep Judge Hanlon from imposing anything less than a five year sentence. Finally, as Molly learns the results of her bar exam, bringing a live rat into the courtroom and then taking the jury to see Robb's rundown tenement helps Chester win more than $600,000 for the Monteiros. © 2008 Sony Pictures Television Inc. All Rights Reserved.