Shakedown

Roland Dalton, a burned-out Manhattan public defender, takes on his final case: Michael Jones, a crack dealer accused of shooting Officer Patrick O'Leary in Central Park. Jones insists the shooting was in self-defense and that O'Leary was a 'Blue Jean Cop' who exploited drug dealers.

To uncover what happened, Dalton teams up with Richie Marks, a renegade NYPD narcotics detective. Together they push beyond the prosecution's narrative in search of the real sequence of events surrounding the shooting.

During the case, Dalton rekindles a romance with his former lover, prosecutor Susan Cantrell, unbeknownst to his fiancée Gail. The evolving personal entanglements threaten to compromise his professional duties.

Dalton and Marks uncover that O'Leary was working with a web of dirty cops and drug lord Nicky Carr. O'Leary had even bought designer jeans and an expensive car, signaling the depth of the corruption.

Roland and Marks learn that a cassette tape recorded the entire incident, stored on a boom box Jones had at the time of the shooting. Locating this tape becomes the keystone of their defense.

When Roland attempts to retrieve the tape, he is taken hostage by Detective Rydel and other dirty cops. Rydel's distraction plan aims to mask their attempt to kill Roland, but Marks intervenes and kills the corrupt cops.

The judge refuses to admit the tape into evidence, forcing Dalton to rely on an impassioned closing statement. The jury ultimately acquits Jones based on the defense's argument.

Immediately after the trial, Marks shows up in a Porsche bought by O'Leary and the two race to LaGuardia Airport to chase Carr and Rydel, who are fleeing the country.

In a dramatic chase, Richie hangs onto the plane's landing gear, shoots out an engine, and tosses a grenade into the gear compartment before leaping into the East River as the plane explodes.

Roland remains a public defender, having broken up with Gail and resumed dating Susan Cantrell. The victory leaves him emotionally taxed but professionally resolved.

An insane cab driver assists Roland in reaching the courthouse in time to deliver his closing, a moment crucial to the defense's success.

Carr and Rydel escape beyond U.S. borders, keeping the criminal enterprise alive and implying future pursuits beyond the film's end.