Murder One: Season 02 (1996)

When the original format of Murder One, that of chronicling a single murder trial through an entire TV season, proved to be less successful than hoped, the series' format was altered for its second season on ABC. This year, three cases would be prosecuted and defended, the first involving the murder of California governor Van Allen and his mistress. Replacing season one's head defense lawyer, Theodore Hoffman, is Anthony LaPaglia as James "Jimmy" Wyler; and while three members of Wyler's defense team -- Chris Docknovich (Michael Hayden), Arnold Spivak (J.C. MacKenzie), Justine Appleton (Mary McCormick) -- are still on the job, fourth member Lisa Gillespie (Grace Phillips) has been replaced by streetwise Aaron Mosely (David Bryan Woodside). As for the prosecution, Assistant DA Miriam Grosso (Barbara Bosson) finds herself in a potential conflict-of-interest quandary when her own boss, DA Roger Garfield (Gregory Itzin), is shown to have ties with chief murder suspect Malcolm Dietrich (Ralph Waite). The second case on the docket bears a remarkable resemblance to a recent real-life trial involving a major sports figure. Rick Worthy is cast as swaggering basketball star Rickey Latrell, accused of killing a shady Las Vegas team owner named Sandy Fortas. Murder One was canceled as a weekly series before the season's third murder trial could get off the ground. However, the property returned in a five-part miniseries format, in which Wyler's team defends a serial killer (Pruitt Taylor Vince) who considers himself above the law because all of his victims are notorious criminals. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi