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The Best Episodes of Judd for the Defense

Every episode of Judd for the Defense ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Judd for the Defense!

Binge this in 2d 2h•Peaking at 7.8/10

High-priced Houston lawyer Clinton Judd and his assistant Ben Caldwell take difficult cases throughout the U.S.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Judd for the Defense Season 1 Episode 16 - Everyone Loved Harland but His Wife
    7.8/10(7 votes)

    #1 - Everyone Loved Harland but His Wife

    S1:E16

    Judd defends a woman who admits to killing her invalid husband. She claims she was in fear for her life because of his increasingly violent and erratic behavior, but no one else in her town claims to have seen that side of him.

    Director:Gerald Mayer
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Judd for the Defense Season 2 Episode 12 - A Swim With Sharks
    7.8/10(9 votes)

    #2 - A Swim With Sharks

    S2:E12

    A longshoreman dealing with loan sharks who have taken over his union is charged with the murder of the union's steward, who he believed was assisting them in charging him exorbitant interest on a loan.

    Director:Jud Taylor
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Judd for the Defense Season 2 Episode 15 - Epitaph on a Computer Card
    7.8/10(12 votes)

    #3 - Epitaph on a Computer Card

    S2:E15

    A man finds his job and reputation being destroyed by a minor mistake on a computer card, and in his attempts to do something about it he may be digging himself in even deeper.

    Director:Leo Penn
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Judd for the Defense Season 1 Episode 19 - No Law Against Murder
    7.6/10(12 votes)

    #4 - No Law Against Murder

    S1:E19

    As a member of a national committee of attorneys assigned to civil rights cases, Judd must defend a client he'd prefer not to: a Southern sheriff charged with violating the civil rights of a harassed Northern writer who was found dead shortly after the sheriff was seen taking him away in his car.

    Director:Boris Sagal
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Judd for the Defense Season 1 Episode 25 - The Worst of Both Worlds
    7.6/10(7 votes)

    #5 - The Worst of Both Worlds

    S1:E25

    In Juvenile Court, without benefit of counsel, 17-year-old Kenny Carter, Jr. is consigned to the county Juvenile Home for three years based on the charge of stealing and wrecking a car, for which he vaguely denies guilt. Judd steps in to uphold Carter's full rights under due process, but Carter is reluctant to cooperate, as he is concealing a terrible secret.

    Director:George McCowan
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Judd for the Defense Season 2 Episode 6 - The Death Farm
    7.6/10(13 votes)

    #6 - The Death Farm

    S2:E6

    A young woman begs Judd to defend her friend, an escapee from a prison farm, who claims he will be killed if he is sent back there. The man claims to have killed a convict/trustee who tried to stop his escape. But when Judd asks about this at the farm, the officials deny the man was ever killed. Soon Judd is determined to close the prison farm---if he can get the escapee to tell where the many murdered prisoners are buried.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Judd for the Defense

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  7. Judd for the Defense Season 2 Episode 10 - Punishments Cruel and Unusual
    7.6/10(11 votes)

    #7 - Punishments Cruel and Unusual

    S2:E10

    Judd defends an alcoholic woman who has been charged with hit-and-run even though she has not had a drink in years. It is soon obvious the evidence against her is flimsy, but the judge in the case denies every motion Judd tries to prove this. Judd soon decides to show that the judge is biased due to his own unsuccessful battle against alcohol.

    Director:Walter Doniger
    Writer:Charles McDaniel

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  8. Judd for the Defense Season 2 Episode 16 - The Poisoned Tree
    7.6/10(7 votes)

    #8 - The Poisoned Tree

    S2:E16

    The kleptomaniac daughter of a wealthy woman is charged with grand theft. She insists she is innocent, but proving it would involve telling a secret which could jeopardize her family situation.

    Director:Leo Penn
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Judd for the Defense Season 1 Episode 2 - The Deep End
    7.5/10(19 votes)

    #9 - The Deep End

    S1:E2

    Judd defends a skipper (Leslie Nielsen) charged with the murder of four people aboard his boat. The only witness is a little girl who was also wounded during the slaughter.

    Director:Seymour Robbie
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Judd for the Defense Season 1 Episode 22 - Kingdom of the Blind
    7.5/10(11 votes)

    #10 - Kingdom of the Blind

    S1:E22

    A onetime film star, hoping for a comeback, asks Judd to represent a scriptwriter to help him get out of a restrictive contract with a Hollywood producer. But the contract is more ironclad than was first realized, and soon that becomes a moot point, as the producer is murdered and the writer is charged with the crime.

    Director:Christian Nyby
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Judd for the Defense Season 2 Episode 1 - In a Puff of Smoke
    7.5/10(15 votes)

    #11 - In a Puff of Smoke

    S2:E1

    Ray Elliott, an attorney who is well known for his advocacy against the draft, is charged with murder after a young man he was counseling immolates himself in public to avoid conscription, and prosecutors contend Elliott encouraged the young man to do it.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Judd for the Defense Season 2 Episode 4 - The Name of This Game Is Acquittal
    7.5/10(9 votes)

    #12 - The Name of This Game Is Acquittal

    S2:E4

    A lady lawyer, accused of intentionally running down a woman in an alley, uses different ways to pressure Judd into taking her apparently shaky case.

    Director:Lamont Johnson
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Judd for the Defense Season 1 Episode 10 - Citizen Ritter
    7.4/10(11 votes)

    #13 - Citizen Ritter

    S1:E10

    Ben's client is charged with killing the abortionist who illegally operated on his daughter and almost killed her. Judd believes the man has a violent streak. Ben uncovers many dark secrets when the case goes to trial.

    Director:Alex March
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Judd for the Defense Season 1 Episode 11 - The Money Farm
    7.2/10(12 votes)

    #14 - The Money Farm

    S1:E11

    An oil company executive is charged with the murder of a man who had been blackmailing him. The defendant says the victim stumbled during a fight and fell off a platform accidentally, but two witnesses insist that he was pushed.

    Director:Ralph Senensky
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Judd for the Defense Season 1 Episode 6 - Conspiracy
    7.1/10(11 votes)

    #15 - Conspiracy

    S1:E6

    Judd represents architect Paul Christopher in his suit against a former police chief turned special investigator, who is ruthlessly harassing Christopher in his attempt to prove him guilty of conspiracy in the assassination of a mayor.

    Director:John Erman
    Writer:Meyer Dolinsky

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  16. Judd for the Defense Season 2 Episode 7 - Weep the Hunter Home
    7.1/10(14 votes)

    #16 - Weep the Hunter Home

    S2:E7

    An old friend of Judd objects to his son's friendship with a young man whom he thinks is a homosexual. Later, when the father is shot in an altercation, the son's friend is accused of attempted murder.

    Director:John Llewellyn Moxey
    Writer:Robert Lewin

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  17. Judd for the Defense Season 1 Episode 12 - To Kill a Madman
    7.0/10(9 votes)

    #17 - To Kill a Madman

    S1:E12

    An old classmate of Ben's is accused of the brutal and senseless murder of three young women in a park. Though it is obvious to both Judd and Ben that the man needs psychiatric help, he still insists he is completely innocent of the murders---and so does a psychic friend of his.

    Director:Larry Peerce
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Judd for the Defense Season 1 Episode 14 - The Living Victim
    7.0/10(10 votes)

    #18 - The Living Victim

    S1:E14

    Judd is representing mobster Walter Whittaker, who is targeted by prosecutor Joseph Flexner. A bomb killed Flexner's wife and despite a lack of evidence he indicts Whittaker for the murder. Judd must battle the stacked odds.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Judd for the Defense Season 1 Episode 17 - Fall of a Skylark (1) - the Trial
    7.0/10(9 votes)

    #19 - Fall of a Skylark (1) - the Trial

    S1:E17

    Judd defends the playboy son of a millionaire hotel owner who has been charged with the murder of the hotel's bookmaker, whom he was in debt to.

    Director:Boris Sagal
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Judd for the Defense Season 1 Episode 18 - Fall of a Skylark (2) - the Appeal
    7.0/10(9 votes)

    #20 - Fall of a Skylark (2) - the Appeal

    S1:E18

    After his client Bruzzy Burke is convicted, Judd continues to work to try to appeal the conviction, even though he is fired by Bruzzy's millionaire father. His first step is to discredit the witness whose surprise testimony led to the conviction, and to use new witnesses---but one of them winds up dead.

    Director:Boris Sagal
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Judd for the Defense Season 1 Episode 23 - The Devil's Surrogate
    7.0/10(9 votes)

    #21 - The Devil's Surrogate

    S1:E23

    A headstrong, controversial priest answers a desperate call from one of his students, a young woman who has been obviously smitten with him. She tells him she is going to kill herself unless he comes to her apartment. The priest comes, only to find himself in a situation in which the girl's boyfriend is accidentally shot and killed. Judd defends the priest, but the case is complicated by the emotionally unstable girl's refusal to cooperate and tell the truth.

    Director:Larry Peerce
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Judd for the Defense Season 1 Episode 26 - You Remember Joe Maddox
    7.0/10(10 votes)

    #22 - You Remember Joe Maddox

    S1:E26

    Joe Maddox is desperate to find a decent job after being eased out of the editor's position he held for years. But he makes the mistake of confronting the former employer whom he blames for the loss of his job, resulting in the man's death and Maddox being charged with his murder.

    Director:George McCowan
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Judd for the Defense Season 2 Episode 21 - An Elephant in a Cigar Box
    7.0/10(10 votes)

    #23 - An Elephant in a Cigar Box

    S2:E21

    No description available

    Director:Charles S. Dubin
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Judd for the Defense Season 1 Episode 4 - A Civil Case of Murder
    6.9/10(12 votes)

    #24 - A Civil Case of Murder

    S1:E4

    A football player asks Judd to represent him in fighting his late wife's parents for custody of his son. But soon the case takes on a more serious turn, as the grandparents accuse him of killing their daughter.

    Director:Boris Sagal
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Judd for the Defense Season 2 Episode 9 - My Client The Fool
    6.9/10(10 votes)

    #25 - My Client The Fool

    S2:E9

    Ben successfully defends a young man in a paternity suit by bringing out the names of other men who the baby's mother may have been with. But soon afterward he is arrested and charged with bringing the young woman across state lines for immoral purposes.

    Director:Leo Penn
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"Everyone Loved Harland but His Wife" is the best rated episode of "Judd for the Defense". It scored 7.8/10 based on 7 votes. Directed by Gerald Mayer and written by Unknown, it aired on 1/5/1968. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "A Swim With Sharks".