 Petrocelli worked as a defense lawyer, and each episode followed a similar format, with the clients apparently certain to be convicted of a crime of which they were innocent until a late-emerging piece of evidence allowed the protagonist to suggest to the jury an alternative possibility.These alternatives were never established as absolute fact, and the trial of the persons onto whom Petrocelli turned the accusation never occurred, but the doubt raised was sufficient to secure the release of his clients.A technique used in the TV series was showing the actual crime in flashbacks from the perspective of various people involved.