Judge John Deed faces more tough decisions in and out of the courtroom in the fifth season of the dramatic series. For Judge John Deed, following the letter of the law can be tricky when the courtroom is clouded with conspiracy, heartbreak and scandal. A passion for doing right often leaves Deed at odds with his colleagues, family and lovers. Is all fair in the pursuit of justice?

"The American criminal justice system is supposed to be a contest between two equal adversaries, the prosecution and the defense, with judges ensuring a fair fight. But in fact, it is prosecutors who have the upper hand, in a contest that is far from equal. More than anyone else, prosecutors decide who goes free and who goes to prison, and even who lives and who dies. The system wasn't designed for this kind of unchecked power, and in Charged, Emily...

Deed must deal with corruption within the jury, the suspected murder of a barrister, and a case connected to a lucrative government deal with a foreign country during which finalizing the contract seems to some more important than seeing justice is done. Subsequent episodes raise other important questions of justice: a man with the mental age of 13 on trial for murder; the uncovering of a massive mortgage fraud perpetrated by lawyers with the connivance...

The saga of the Duke lacrosse team members' alleged rape of an African-American stripper and the unraveling of the case against them. Covering all five aspects of the case (personal, legal, academic, political, and media), journalist Taylor and historian Johnson argue that law enforcement, a campaigning prosecutor, biased journalists, and left-leaning academics repeatedly refused to pursue the truth while scapegoats were made of these young men, recklessly...