In his latest case, Henry Rios may have something few defense attorneys ever experience: a truly innocent client It’s a cause Henry Rios can’t resist: defending a young gay man on trial for killing the coworker who threatened to out him. Jim Pears is charged with first-degree murder; Pears says he’s innocent but the evidence is damning. Pears was found covered in the victim’s blood and with the murder weapon in his hand. But nothing about the People v. Jim Pears is what it seems. Rios is asked to join the case because he knows first-hand the pressures and threats that come with being gay in 1980s California. In the midst of one of the most complex trials of his career, Rios meets and falls in love with Josh Mandel, the prosecutor’s star witness. For this defense attorney, fighting for justice has never been more personal. And the stakes are no less than life and death.