Silent Witness - Season 7 (2003)

Sam and Leo, colleague Pathologists, are on opposing sides of a high-profile court case.

A John Doe is found months after his death; an attractive female agent for a championship athlete is believed to have jumped to her death from a rooftop. Forensic pathologists must sort out time and methods of death.

Sam Ryan steals a toothbrush to get the DNA of the father of the unborn child of a suspected suicide. Tangled relationships between an athlete and his family are amplified when his body is found hanging in her apartment. Police arrest the athlete's brother-in-law after an anonymous tip. Harry's attempts at determining time of death by the growth of maggots give a wrong answer.

Questions about a celebrated pathologist's accuracy in past cases leads to several exhumations; Sam Ryan is assigned to reexamine the remains. One particularly brutal murder conviction depends on the time of death being precise. Two crucial witnesses are found: one on her deathbed, anxious to get something off her chest, and the other dead behind a remodeled wall.

Sam is determined to find out how Dr. Sachs is able to pinpoint time of death so precisely, even if it means several convictions are overturned. A mother changes her plea to guilty, but Leo is still not satisfied that they have the truth. A loving daughter draws a picture for her prisoner dad that brings a confession. Dr. Sachs is found to have violated professional ethics, but what will serve the cause of justice best?