5 TIMES MORE ENTERTAINMENT
A blended police procedural and courtroom drama which focuses on the Criminal Justice system of New York City. The first half of each episode focuses on NYPD homicide detectives investigating a crime—often derived from a real-life headline—and apprehending a suspect. The second half takes place in the courtroom, with the district attorney prosecuting the defendant.
Teenager Suzanne Morton dies after a visit to a hospital emergency room during a hectic night shift. Her father, a former army medic in Vietnam, accuses the hospital of negligence and demands a police investigation. Logan and Greevey question a doctor who made adjustments to her chart, but are soon led to the respected Dr. Edward Auster, who they feel may have been drunk on duty. The other residents are reluctant to speak for fear their jobs may be in jeopardy, and Stone is faced with the awkward job of prosecuting a revered physician.
A white woman, Laura di Biasi, shoots two black men in a crowded subway. The shooting at first appears to be self-defense, but further investigation shows that the motive may be revenge. Logan and Greevey argue about di Biasi's guilt, especially after learning that the dead man has a substantial record, and the living one cannot control himself in court. Laura di Biasi tries to make her case to Robinette, but he distances himself from the issue. Stone has trouble with the case, both in dealing with di Biasi's public defender, Shambala Green, and with the fact that the district attorney's office is divided over the issue.
Paige Bartlett is found beaten severely in her Upper East Side apartment. She dies in the hospital. Greevey and Logan investigate her boyfriend Steven Feinstein, but find that they broke up the evening before she was killed. The detectives locate another boyfriend, Ned Loomis, and learn that he has a history of violence after another former victim comes forward. Stone is frustrated when he is not able to use Loomis' former crimes against him in court.
Alan Ralston is shot to death and his wife Janet wounded inside their building parking garage. In hospital, Janet identifies the alleged attacker from a police photo. One witness questioned early in the investigation is Gil Himes, a business associate of Alan. Police eventually piece together that the crime was not a random act of violence by the identified attacker. Rather it was the intentional murder of Alan and equally intentional wounding of Janet. Stone tries to get one of the suspects to testify against the other.
After local councilman and former bagman Charles Halsey is mugged and his throat slashed, Logan and Greevey investigate the case and the two young black male suspects initially caught. Their suspicion turns to organized crime when they link the victim to Masucci soldier Tony Scalisi. As Stone and Robinette continue their investigation, they uncover a corruption scandal involving Councilman Halsey; the collection of parking meter violation fines has been awarded to a firm connected to organized crime. To avoid the appearance of impropriety, District Attorney Wentworth won't allow Stone to offer Scalisi immunity. However, in order to win their case, their only option might be to make a deal with the mobster. Stone discovers that the case involves not only organized crime, but also elected city officials and a deputy police commissioner whom he accuses of changing his testimony and doctoring evidence in a past case. Stone is unable to use the police because of suspected corruption within the department, so he consults Assistant U.S. Attorney John McCormack.
The discovery of an unconscious man named Diamond in Central Park leads Greevey and Logan to Diamond's previous activity and locale—with an escort named Jolene in a hotel room. Greevey poses as a "john" looking for Jolene. When she stipulates her fees and services, Greevey arrests her for solicitation. When Diamond dies, the investigation leads to Jolene's superior, Jasmine; then, it leads to Jasmine's superior, Laura Winthrop. Winthrop claims that she runs a catering service, but when Jolene's blood tests HIV-positive, the case takes a sharp tack questioning the safety of the escort service industry.
During a routine drug arrest, a veteran police officer, Freddo Parisi, kills Tommy Richardson a young African-American man, who may have been unarmed. Parisi is accused of planting a gun on the victim to justify the shooting. Moreover, Parisi has a similar incident already on his record. Richardson was a student at Princeton University who was well respected for his contributions to his community in terms of time, energy, and money. But the investigation reveals that he sold drugs to get the money.
Greevey and Logan discover that an abused child Didi Lowenstein has a cocaine-addicted mother Carla, who is also being abused by Jacob her drug-addicted psychotherapist husband. The detectives investigate the doctor's checkered past, while prosecutors take a new tactic after the child dies.
A teenaged African-American girl Astrea Crawford claims to have been raped by white police officers. Police and prosecutors struggle to get the truth when an ambitious African-American congressman claims the investigation is a racially motivated cover-up. However, when the rape kit tests negative, the prosecution suspects the case may be a hoax. The conflict heats until Robinette learns from the girl's parents that she and her boyfriend had sexual relations. The family fears an unwanted pregnancy, so, with the urging of the congressman, they claim the girl was raped by police officers. Having admitted the hoax, the family avoids the congressman whose campaign has been destroyed. Prosecutors devise a solution involving all-round gag orders. They concede that reputations were seriously damaged, but they reason that, with its impetus deflated, the case will fade quickly from people's memories.
After Mary Donovan, an anti-abortion protester, is killed in an abortion center bombing, detectives search for all of her potential co-conspirators. The victim's parents and brother prove to be as committed to the anti-abortion movement as the victim. The first defendant arrested is Celeste McClure, who purchased the fertilizer to be mixed with the diesel fuel to create the bomb. Police determine that the central figure in the plot is Rose Schwimmer who is arrested. Detectives discover that the victim was pregnant and was secretly seeking an abortion. At trial, Schwimmer attempts to use her witness testimony to preach against abortion. Stone stops the attempt by asking Schwimmer that, if abortion is murder, is Schwimmer not guilty of murdering Mary Donovan's unborn baby. Schwimmer is visibly defeated by the question and remains silent for the remainder of the trial, including her conviction.
NYPD officer Pete Rennick is shot to death on a rooftop in the dark; Logan and Greevey believe that a crook known as Brutus Walker is responsible for it, and the NYPD initiates a citywide manhunt for him. However, it later turns out that Walker was not the one who shot Rennick; it was his partner, Nicki Sandoval. Investigation reveals that, after displaying many blatant examples of his corruption to his partner, he was afraid that she would report him. So he lured her to the rooftop and tried to kill her, but she killed him first in self-defense. She is cleared of the shooting, but since policy dictates that she should have reported him, she may lose her job or face other disciplinary actions.
Stone temporarily dismisses rape charges against three defendants because the victim is a journalist of questionable character whose testimony has too many flaws. Greevey and Logan's subsequent reinvestigation uncovers a possible fourth assailant.
Detectives arrest three members of the Masucci crime family involved in a fatal assault, which leads to Stone attempting to use the arrest as a means to take down the entire Masucci crime syndicate via charging Mafia chieftain Frank Masucci. However, the plan backfires when Stone discovers that his chief witness (one of the three charged in the fatal assault) perjures himself on the stand, leading to Masucci's acquittal.
In the wake of Masucci's acquittal, ADAs Stone and Robinette intensify their investigation with the mob boss. Their investigation leads them to bust Masucci's brother-in-law, who the mob boss promptly has murdered. The murder leads to the discovery of the dumping ground for victims of Masucci's crime syndicate. As they re-arrest the mob boss, his grieving sister supports her brother in court by putting up the money for his bail. However, within hours of leaving the courtroom, Frank Masucci is killed by an unknown hitman. Robinette and Stone speculate that Masucci's sister as the one who ordered the hit, but are unable to prove it. The two men, along with Adam Schiff, take comfort in the fact that in spite of their failure to bring Masucci to justice through the legal system, that his death will severely cripple the crime family.
A 12-year-old boy Gregory Winters is injured and his infant brother Andrew is killed by gunshots. The investigation reveals the children were the accidental victims of a hit ordered by Michael Ingrams a drug dealer against a real estate broker. Tragically, the murders prove to be the result of an adolescent gunman targeting the wrong address because he knows more about operating automatic weapons than about basic reading.
A businessman and his wife Carl and Everlyn Jarmon are murdered; initially, the couple's two sons Nick and Greg are treated as suspects. As the investigation develops, detectives discover that, in order to obtain financing for his business, the man took on a partner who was connected to Russian organized crime.
Greevey and Logan discover that Drew McDaniel an apparent mugging victim found unconscious on a park bench has had his kidney removed. The case leads to Philip Woodleigh a powerful man whose daughter desperately needed a transplant and the doctor who may have helped him.
Captain Cragen ends up in the cross-hairs of an internal investigation into evidence tampering, and the DA's office is forced to put him in a precarious situation to implicate the conspirators.
Logan forces a confession at gunpoint from Daniel Magadan Jr. the man suspected of murdering Max Greevey and, in the process, endangers Stone's prosecution. Logan is also introduced to his new partner, Phil Cerreta (Paul Sorvino), while he speaks to a counselor, Dr. Elizabeth Olivet (Carolyn McCormick).
A double homicide of Edward Cullen an older man and Alexandria Beckett his younger lover casts suspicion on both the ex-wife Melainie and the former boyfriend Douglas Phillips of the murdered duo, with the murdered man's son Jamie holding the key to the mystery.
A lethal drug overdose of Priscilla Blaine a young actress leads the detectives to an aggressive stage mother Elizabeth and a pornographic movie producer Franklin Frome.
A couple Nancy and Ted Driscoll, whose religious beliefs forbids medical treatment, is on trial for letting their daughter die of strep throat infection. Stone's prosecution hinges on whether either or both of the parents wanted to call for medical help. The investigation uncovers two other pertinent facts: 1. the night of the girl's death, the mother was drinking (also against the couple's religious beliefs), and 2. the couple had another child that died under similar circumstances.
The mugging of Amy Newhouse a pregnant legal secretary leads to a charge against her employer of assault, which is upgraded to murder when the baby dies. Time span confirmation of the baby's conception and the employer-secretary affair eliminates the employer as a suspect. Suspicion shifts to the secretary and her boyfriend Christopher Baylor (a disbarred lawyer) when a wiretap reveals that the couple intended, first, to have the employer held criminally responsible for the baby's murder and, second, to sue the employer for wrongful death. Initially, the primary issue appears to be the fetus age at which a murder charge can be leveled. The primary issue proves to be two-fold; 1. whether the suspects can be held accountable for knowing both the law and its meaning, and 2. even if the suspects cannot legally be convicted of the baby's murder, whether they can be convicted of a lesser crime, i.e. attempted murder.
The renovation of a brownstone uncovers the remains of Tommy Keegan a young boy who disappeared thirty-one years earlier during the 1960 presidential campaign. The discovery revives a wrenching and long-suppressed memory in a childhood friend and neighbor Thad Messimer-and the suspect's daughter Julie Atkinson.
When a gambler Lawrence Kealey is killed, the hit-and-run investigation leads to the discovery of a schoolteacher Jenna carrying on an affair with one of her students Roy Pack jr. Cerreta and Logan suspect that she may have manipulated him into killing her husband.
The investigation into an illegal social club fire which claimed 53 fatalities leads to a connection between arson, illegal immigrants and the sale of green cards.
The discovery of Joshua Foster a frozen corpse in a dumpster leads to rival Broadway producers.
Stone faces Arthur Gold an old rival in court as he tries to link a hit man and three murders to a sleazy lawyer and a powerful man behind bars.
An apparent mugging ends in the death of Lois Ryder a wealthy woman but the case comes to hang on a silver pin that may have been in the victim's possession.
Stone is determined to see that Jamie Maser a teenage boy does not get away with murder twice when the young man is brought to trial for the shooting death of one of his friends.
The parents of a murdered woman Judy Bream contest Stone's prosecution of her killer Albert Lawrence Cheney so that he can be extradited to their home state, where the death penalty still exists.
Cerreta and Logan investigate the accusation that a nun sister in charge of a shelter for teens molested a young addict.
The discovery of a dead baby leads to a case involving a slumlord who would not provide any heat and who defends her actions by blaming the rent laws.
The murder of Marshall McFadden a Wall Street legend begins a case involving ailing union worker Simon Vilanis, and Dwight Corcoran, a former governor and old friend of Schiff's.
After photographer Julian Decker is found murdered in his studio, Logan and Cerreta discover that Decker's real business was prostitution and acting as a pimp for models who aren't getting the work they needed. Their investigation leads to Angela Brandt, one of Decker's models who found more money working for Decker in other ways, but they also discover that Decker was romantically involved with Angela's teenage daughter. Stone realizes that something strange is going on when the case gets weaker against Angela, but all of a sudden she wants to cut a deal.
After Beth Milgram is found beaten to death in an alleyway after her going away party, Logan and Cerreta initially turn their suspicion to the girl's father after her fiancé, Tommy Beltran, claims that he had hit her after Beth told him they were engaged, but it isn't long before their primary suspect becomes Beltran himself. Stone has the unpleasant task of facing the renowned Cyrus Weaver, who is determined to prove that Tommy Beltran is not guilty of murdering Beth Milgram because he was a poor young man from a Mexican family who could not restrain his rage when his upper-class girlfriend broke up with him. (Plot derived from Bonnie Garland murder case.)
A teenager's fatal heart attack is traced to fraud and greed on the part of the manufacturer of his pacemaker and their supplier.
The discovery of a young woman's body in the river leads to an investigation of illegal sweatshops and the enslavement of young immigrants.
Dr. Olivet accuses Alex Merritt her gynecologist of rape, but Stone finds his case in trouble when he discovers that Olivet tape-recorded the crime.
Cerreta and Stone find themselves on opposite sides of the fence when George Costas a storeowner kills two robbers and then claims self-defense as a justification.
Cerreta poses as a weapons dealer to help Stone build a case against a Colombian hit man, but the deal takes an unexpected turn, resulting in bloodshed.
Logan has trouble dealing with Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), who has been brought in while Cerreta recovers from surgery during their investigation of the murder of Tommy Duff, a small-time hood. Their investigation leads them to a woman who claims Duff raped her, and when her attorney, an old friend of Stone's from law school, calls Olivet to the stand to testify in Mary Kostrinski's defense, Schiff forces Stone to use Olivet's recent rape (from the episode "Helpless") to discredit her testimony. Logan is upset to learn that Cerreta has accepted another position within the department and will not be returning; at the end of the episode, Logan has no choice but to accept Briscoe as his new partner.
Engineer Phillip Marietta and tribal chief Gimju Nwaka become the chief suspects in the death of Kelani Amoda, a Nigerian woman who died while smuggling heroin internally.
After Stone accepts a plea bargain from Steven Gregg the much younger and poorer lover of Barbara Spiegleman a wealthy older woman found murdered in her apartment, he begins to have doubts that he has sent the right man to prison, especially as he learns more about Kevin Doyle the attorney who handled the woman's estate.
The confession of an elderly man that he assisted his shoah survivor wife in committing suicide doesn't fully satisfy Stone when evidence surfaces that the man was once a Nazi collaborator.
The investigation into the murder of Jennifer Gorham a young physician leads to the discovery of an unorthodox and illegal relationship between her fiancé and his psychiatrist.
The absence of a murder weapon complicates the investigation into the murder of Dawn Bryan a drug addict who stole from her family to support her habit.
Stone battles the Brooklyn D.A.'s office over prosecutorial jurisdiction in the case of David Zifrin, a mentally handicapped man who confesses to the stabbing deaths of two women.
Stone and the police battle the closed ranks of the Navy to investigate the death of Tracy Hagen a female Naval officer during a party in a Manhattan hotel.
The initial investigation into the death of Faye Walsh a research scientist leads to an animal-rights group until evidence surfaces that her husband's affair with Susan Boyd a coworker may point to a possible motive for the murder. When the husband is acquitted, the investigation turns to the individual who provided evidence of the affair.
While investigating several deaths at a diabetes clinic, Briscoe and Logan discover that teenage computer hackers may have tampered with the clinic's medical database.
When a Romanian immigrant kills, his lawyer announces he will plead his client "not guilty due to cultural insanity" claiming the man had been conditioned to violence in his homeland.
Logan and Briscoe begin their investigation into the death of Kathleen McKenna a hearing-impaired young woman by questioning her two most recent boyfriends.
When college student Julia Wood charges an admittedly promiscuous rock star, C Square, (Sebastian Roché) with rape, he claims the act was consensual. Logan and Briscoe investigate the crime and soon learn that C Square isn't the nice guy he would have everyone believe.
After a number of neighborhood residents are murdered, the police follow the investigation to a local racist who is murdering people he doesn't feel belong in his neighborhood. Stone finds himself facing a prominent black attorney representing the murderer.
When building superintendent Frank McKinnon is found murdered in the basement of the building he works and lives in, Logan and Briscoe initially investigate the crime as a potential break-in until forensics discovers that the "break-in" was staged. The state's attention soon turns to Sean, Frank's 17-year-old son. Dr. Olivet determines the son is an abusive sociopath after interviewing him. But when the victim's wife claims that Frank beat his family on a regular basis, Stone and Kincaid try to determine who is telling the truth.
Stone and Kincaid try to prove that Wendy Berman the young woman believed to have planted a bomb in a parking garage had been brainwashed and was acting under the direct orders of Daniel Hendricks, the charismatic leader of a local cult known as the Acherusian Temple.
A dig at a building site uncovers the body of Sid Cohen, who had gone missing and been presumed murdered years earlier. The identification of the body proves troublesome for Stone, who had initially prosecuted Phillip Swann fourteen years earlier and had obtained a conviction. Swann uses inconsistencies between the original trial and the location of the body to seek an appeal.
When teenager Chris Pollit (Wil Horneff) beats a fellow foster home resident Johnny Lasky to death, his lawyer Helen Brolin seeks a not guilty verdict by reason of genetic defect, claiming that Pollit is genetically predisposed to violence because he has an extra Y chromosome.
When Billy Cooper is found murdered at the meat-packing plant where he works, Logan and Briscoe turn their eye to his wife Irina, a green card bride from Russia who had married Cooper in the hopes of a better life but had fallen in love with a co-worker and lost favor with her husband, who repeatedly threatened to send her back.
After 82-year-old Mildred Bauer is found dead in her apartment, suspicion immediately turns to her at-home caregiver and her boyfriend until the medical examiner reveals that the elderly woman had been starved to death. Feeding instructions given to Maria by Laura, the deceased woman's granddaughter, turn Stone's eye on the young woman, and she is charged with neglect and grave indifference to human life.
Debra Elkins claims to have passed out in a cab after giving birth only to wake up and discover her baby is missing, but it isn't long before Briscoe and Logan follow the trail of evidence to her boyfriend, Steven Shaw, who is keeping the baby in a hotel at Debra's request. As the investigation continues, Stone and Kincaid find three separate couples who had been led to believe that they would be the baby's adoptive parents, but it appears that Debra has no intention of giving her baby to any of them.
When the investigation into threats on a 5-year-old girl leads to a judge that Kincaid had been romantically involved with when she clerked under him, she asks Ben to take her off the case. When Thayer is brought to trial, he insinuates that Kincaid deliberately pointed the witness in his direction, claiming that she had approached him in an inappropriate manner while she worked with him.
A nuclear physicist Edward Manning (Harris Yulin) becomes the chief suspect when his estranged wife Florence, who has been delaying divorce proceedings, is the victim of a mail bomb.
Briscoe and Logan bet that the killing of Ben Williams a star athlete's father is linked to gambling debts and threats to the baseball player's family, but it turns out the son Pat's alibi does not hold up and he ends up under suspicion himself. Note: Keith Hernandez makes an appearance.
An assailant breaks the wrist of a tennis player Korey Burke prior to a tournament, and a competitor is among the suspects.
A truck hits a pedestrian and the investigation reveals Steven Green the victim's link to a baby-food company in which a new partner has connections to the Russian mob.
A missing victim Laura Madsen, a suspicious ex-husband Victor Connor, and a family hiding something all contribute to the ADAs' decision to risk their licenses on a hunch. After ruling out suicide, McCoy and Kincaid turn their focus on the missing woman's daughter (Sarah Paulson) – and take a giant leap to prove their far-fetched theory.
A burglary unlocks a decades-old case. A safety deposit box company unwittingly exposes a female political activist-fugitive who has been hiding for over 20 years. Detectives locate and arrest one of the four involved in the burglary, and ultimately catch the female fugitive who is accused of killing a policeman during a 1971 robbery.
When Lt. Van Buren is the victim of an attempted holdup by two teens, she fires her gun and kills one of them, and the detectives are faced with the fact that she shot an unarmed child in the back.
When Briscoe and Logan suspect that a missing infant may have been murdered rather than kidnapped, they uncover a terrible family secret.
McCoy uses a charge of "larceny by extortion" against Spencer Talbert a councilman, whose former colleague claims he demanded sex in exchange for a law-firm partnership.
Among the suspects in a lawyer's murder are a swindler who conned a woman out of her family fortune, and the woman's once-wealthy son.
The killing of David Lampert a man who had served as a juror in a mob trial leads to a battle of wills between McCoy and his long-time friend, the suspect's attorney.
After the body of a young female junkie is identified as Katie Blanchard the daughter of a wealthy family, Briscoe and Logan try to find out who left her to die in the yard of a day-care center.
After the murder of Eleen Reed an abortion-clinic doctor, Briscoe and Logan are led to a suspect who belongs to a radical anti-abortion movement and their suspicion soon turns to the group's leader, who admits that he's glad the doctor died. McCoy faces the unpleasant task of charging the respected and charismatic former priest with murder, and the public debate over whether the secular community should interfere in spiritual matters.
A Wall Street broker Benjamin Greer accused of murdering his mentor Wallace Holbrook uses the defense of "black rage" in court.
Briscoe and Logan set out to identify the apparent victim Corey Russell in a snuff film, but find her alive and the victim of a points-for-sex club at her prestigious high school.
A bomb at a construction site kills a 12-year-old boy, and the suspects include the bankrupt contractor and a jealous husband.
The investigation into David and Eileen Lerner a double homicide leads to a young alcoholic whose family once lived in the victims' house and admitted to his AA group that he had nightmares about the killings.
Logan relives unhappy childhood memories when a friend Det. Marino is found dead; a presumed suicide, until the investigation reveals recent contact with a former priest who has a history of pedophilia.
The investigation into a taxi driver's murder involves a loan shark, a missing plumber, a forged check, and the victim's wife.
Briscoe and his new partner, Det. Reynaldo Curtis, investigate the murder of Jody Gaines, a young girl who disappeared between school and her music lesson, with a blurry film from an ATM as their clue.
Briscoe and Curtis have a hard time finding cooperative witnesses when investigating the murder of Thomas Bell, a college student at a rough biker bar.
McCoy and Kincaid clash over the death penalty as McCoy prosecutes Paul Sandig (Victor Garber), a man who murdered Bobby Croft, an undercover cop during a drug bust.
A dead editor Eddie Nicodos reveals a family dispute over the family business. Detectives find out that the victim's brother Peter tried to sabotage the victim's reputation and business to gain new clients for his own, competing business, but when forensics evidence is ruled inadmissible, McCoy and Kincaid must refocus their case, leading to a case of sibling rivalry, a protective matriarch, and corrupt judge Edgar Hynes (Louis Zorich).
When the detectives solve a series of murders committed by a holdup male and female team in ski masks, McCoy must determine whether Leslie Harlan (Amanda Peet), the female member is an unwilling hostage or an active participant in the crimes.
The investigation into Gwen George a prostitute's murder leads to a married plastic surgeon as the obvious suspect, but Kincaid has a hunch that an elaborate frame-up is in play.
A mother Leah Coleman, claiming that her baby was kidnapped while she was at confession, retraces her steps and actions with Curtis, which raises legal questions later when her attorney introduces a unique defense.
McCoy finds that his career is on the line when his former assistant and ex-lover accuses him of concealing evidence that helped put an innocent man in prison.
Paul Robinette places the system on trial when he defends a young black woman accused of kidnapping her biological baby from his white, adoptive parents.
A jogger killed in Central Park turns out to be the second wife of a former comedy club owner (Larry Miller as Michael Dobson), who was acquitted of killing his first wife. Convicting him this time may hinge on tracing the path of a Colombian coin used as a subway token slug and a mobster that may be involved.
A down-on-his-luck ad executive Ron Weber becomes the prime suspect when his wife Joyce and son Billy are killed and his daughter Jenna wounded on a night that he claims was spent drinking.
The investigation into the murder of Sharon Lasko a model with a passion for cocaine and partying focuses on the men in her life — a nightclub owner, a basketball player, a photographer, and a limousine driver.
A woman is shot while sleeping and the investigation leads the police to a boy whose crack-addicted mother has entrusted him to a dealer's care.
The investigation into multiple homicides at a clothing store leads to the arrest of a man with schizophrenia (Denis O'Hare), who presents McCoy with a formidable opponent when he decides to represent himself.
After Briscoe, Curtis, McCoy, and Kincaid witness the execution of a criminal they brought to justice, their unique reactions to the event culminate in personal tragedies for each of them.
McCoy's new second chair, ADA Jamie Ross, is determined to prosecute as harshly as possible a carjacker who took the life of Maureen Rankin a teacher as she pleaded for her life on an audio tape discovered at the crime scene.
The cops tackle identifying a corpse left in an elevator, and McCoy finds his prosecution of the suspect later hampered by a vindictive judge (Jerry Adler) who resents Ross's in-court rebuke for sexual harassment.
Briscoe and Curtis have to break the mutual alibi of two girlfriends as they try to find the killer of Charlie Monroe a young black man, whose angry parents pressure McCoy to indict Danielle Mason a young woman who claims the victim had raped her.
Briscoe and Curtis's investigation of the murder of Steven Campbell a rare coin dealer nets them a millionaire as a suspect, but Ross has to play detective too as the DA's office tries to establish a provenance for the missing coin collection.
Curtis, angered by the attitude of John Flynn an old colleague of Briscoe, looks beyond the findings of an IAB investigation and turns up evidence of police corruption that puts the DA's office into competition with an ambitious judge. Flynn, angry, accuses Briscoe of stealing evidence from a police lockup.
The murder of Greg Franklin a janitor from a university laboratory building leads back to a student Alan Sawyer, employee whose participation in a drug study may have prompted the crime.
The murder of Michael Malone a deadbeat father whose son is dying of leukemia presents McCoy and Ross with a sympathetic suspect and a moral dilemma.
The case against Huey Tate, a young man accused of shooting Roland Brooks the well-known leader of the African-American Congress, comes undone when the New York authorities learn that their chief witness was once an informant for the FBI, and is still under their protection.
The investigation of a seemingly random shooting James Shepherd, leads Briscoe and Curtis to a brazen, cold-blooded hitman, and the only way to bring him down is for Briscoe to pose as his competition. The case is complicated during trial it is revealed that the victim was shot as revenge for a murder he committed himself just five years ago.
An apparent suicide turns out to be murder as Briscoe and Curtis investigate the death of a woman Karen Marsh, who jumped from a bridge (in front of numerous bystanders) to avoid a crazed attacker with whom she was apparently involved in a fender-bender. When they are unable to convict, McCoy and Ross dig deeper and discover that the 'accident' might not have been so accidental after all. Meanwhile, Curtis is booted from his house after admitting to his wife that he cheated on her.
An unpromising case of murder suddenly develops new leads when the cops explore the possibility that the victim Shelley Ganz was mistaken for someone else. McCoy walks a thin line in the matter of ethical conduct as he tries to make a case against a lender who uses unscrupulous methods to collect the money owed to him.
The discovery of a would-be thief refocuses a murder investigation, leaving the prosecutors the task of making a conspiracy case against the deceased's attorney and the pretty young widow.
The shooting of Gilbert “Gilly” Keene, an ex-cop, in a neighborhood notorious for prostitution leads Briscoe and Curtis to two suburban housewives who are secretly high-class hookers. When one of the housewife's specialty lipstick is matched to a lipstick sample taken from a very private spot on the victim, it seems like McCoy has an open and shut case. However, the accused soon claims rape and hires a famous women's rights attorney to defend her.
A headless corpse fished out of the river sends Briscoe and Curtis out to Los Angeles to obtain a blood sample from their chief suspect. Back in New York, McCoy and Ross try to obtain a court order for the procedure.
In New York, Briscoe and Curtis try to pin down the suspect's schedule on the night of the murder, but find instead that another man was in the area at the right time and more importantly, might have a motive for the crime. After a new arrest warrant is issued, McCoy and Ross have to fly to L.A. to defend their warrant against attacks by the man's defense counsel, Ross's former husband Neal Gorton.
The trial of Eddie Newman begins but the prosecution's chances of conviction are hampered by a "dream team" of defense attorneys, Gorton's personal pressures on Ross, and a surprise accusation of sexual harassment. Curtis' relationship with Lisa also creates tension.
McCoy pushes the police perilously close to harassment as he tries to link a recently paroled serial rapist Lewis Darnell to a new fatal rape.
The cops' best hope of finding a kidnapped hired car driver alive is one of the armed robbers who grabbed him after a job, but the immunity deal he demands in return would effectively preclude his prosecution for the shooting death of an off-duty cop, placing McCoy in a difficult position as he seeks to placate the cops, who want the guy prosecuted, and the kidnapped man's wife, who wants every avenue of saving her husband explored.
A young man Mike Bodak who claims to have helped a murdered young man Matthew Sherman, change a flat tire is first the cops' primary suspect, then the prosecutors' chief witness.
Briscoe and Curtis investigate the death of Joan Timberman a pretty young book editor who was reputedly having an affair with one of her authors, and find themselves focusing on the author's longtime companion, who steadfastly denies there was anything wrong with their relationship.
The cops have a definite clue when a bloodstain that is not the same as the victim's reveals that the killer was a blood relative, and the prosecutors stumble when their chief suspect claims their chief witness is her lawyer, and his knowledge of the crime represents privileged communications.
The cops uncover a man with a secret second life as they try to learn who opened fire on a group of people disembarking from a party cruise, but his guilt or innocence becomes almost a second thought as Adam Schiff goes toe-to-toe with the governor and the state's Attorney General over the decision to seek the death penalty. Meanwhile Schiff learns his wife has been rushed to Cedar's Hospital after suffering a severe stroke rendering her unconscious.
After Briscoe and Curtis finally determine who was driving the car that killed three people, the legal prosecution stands in danger of becoming a kangaroo court when McCoy's feelings over Kincaid mesh with the political agenda of Gary Feldman, an ambitious judge anxious to make an example of the defendant to boost his election chances against Adam Schiff.
The shooting of two people in a restaurant restroom takes some abrupt turns as they try to discover who exactly the intended victim Lindsay Carson was, and the prosecutors have to deal with a defendant claiming to have been in a dissociative state while committing the crime — the same defense used years before by the defendant's father.
As Briscoe and Curtis try to pin down the specifics of an assault on George Harding a man reluctant to discuss it, they uncover the alleged rape of two women in custodial care. But as the prosecutors attempt to prepare their case, a reluctant witness changes their view of the cases.
Taking on an apparent Mafia murder, Detectives Briscoe and Curtis are stymied by a dead witness and a seemingly incoherent mob boss.
The stabbing death of Linda Burke a psychologist draws Detectives Briscoe and Curtis into a heated divorce case and pits Prosecutors McCoy and Ross against a manipulative attorney.
When a woman Andrea Blake is found unconscious at the bottom of her apartment stairs, Briscoe and Curtis must figure out what happened — before it's too late. In order to make his case, McCoy pits the two detectives against each other in the courtroom.
A defendant Matthew O'Dell refuses to allow his lawyer to raise the issue of insanity. This complicates matters for the brother who turned him in with hopes of securing medical treatment for him.
After Michael Sutter a 12-year-old quadriplegic dies at home in his bed, paramedics claim that he was suffocated and the suspects include the boy's parents and sister.
Schiff's re-election may hinge on the stabbing death of Dana Flynn a police officer; Briscoe's daughter is arrested for dealing drugs.
Tabloid journalism comes under scrutiny during the investigations into the deaths of a gossip columnist and a celebrity target he pursued.
A 10-year-old girl Malika Richardson is raped and rendered comatose by a pedophile. A snitch offers Briscoe a chance to avenge his daughter's death. The NYPD brass is looking to force Lieutenant Van Buren out of her job. McCoy must contend with Judge Feldman as an adversary both at trial and outside the courtroom due to an ethics complaint the judge filed against him. While all of this goes on, Schiff begins to consider the possibility that Feldman might defeat him in the election. At episode's end, Ross resigns from her job as an ADA to devote more time to her family life and her ongoing divorce.
After a baby girl is found dead, Briscoe and Curtis investigate the family and learn that her adopted family and brother were trying to keep some painful secrets. Jack gets a new partner, Abbie Carmichael, who had a 95% conviction rate in her four years with Special Narcotics. Together McCoy and Carmichael try to prove that the little girl's brother committed the crime.
Briscoe and Curtis discover a shocking twist involving unlikely suspects when they investigate the brutal beating of Floyd Michaels a black man dumped near the highway.
The investigation into how Kevin Stanton a teen got wounded leads Briscoe and Curtis to a case involving a young woman's murder and a drug operation.
After Ryan Downing a child in a day-care center dies from Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Briscoe and Curtis try to find the source of the infection, leading to a case involving an extramarital affair, embezzlement, and a drug manufacturer.
After Detectives Briscoe and Curtis find a murdered postman and Kitty Lansing a woman who was left for dead in her apartment, the investigation leads to a serial killer and a surprise.
Evidence points Briscoe and Curtis in the direction of a white supremacist youth gathering after the brutal beating and murder of Christina Osborne a high school girl.
Briscoe and Curtis reopen a 30-year-old missing persons case when a vehicle dredged from the Hudson River is revealed to contain the remains of David Bernstein, a man who was involved in student protests.
After Keira Grayson a teen is found dead in the emergency room, the investigation leads to a case involving a religious ritual and a defendant who claims that the action taken was dictated by a saint's voice.
When Briscoe and Curtis probe the assault of Ken Slattery a retired divorce attorney who may have been bought off by a successful doctor, Carmichael digs deeper and uncovers a possible case of homicide in the operating room by the doctor's practice partners.
Briscoe and Curtis investigate the murder of Detective Daniel Pelham, who was shot while on an undercover stakeout. When it comes to light that the victim and his girlfriend, Officer Marissa Hastings, had several violent arguments, she is arrested. Subsequent investigation reveals Pelham was extremely abusive towards Marissa, which only strengthens the prosecution’s case against her, but after hearing Marissa’s testimony in court, Dr. Skoda doubts her guilt, and Carmichael discovers an inconsistency, leading to the discovery that Marissa’s partner killed Pelham to protect her. Marissa is acquitted, while her partner receives 15 to life for second-degree murder.
After Marion Hollis a philosophy professor is pushed in front of a subway train and killed, the investigation leads to a suspect who, following a divorce, changed his identity and disappeared with his daughters.
The death of womanizing corporate mogul Gilbert Sanderson, caused by an overdose of a sexual performance-enhancing drug leads to a case with a witness that puts Curtis in a compromising position as they try to build a case against a rival CEO. This leads to the prosecution calling Curtis’s character into question, but he stands firm and successfully rebuffs the allegations, and Sanderson’s rival is convicted of murder. Guest star: Julia Roberts as Katrina Ludlow.
A crime scene where both the victim and perpetrator are found dead leads detectives and attorneys to a speechless 10-year-old witness – and into a dangerous web that involves the ruthless Russian mafia.
McCoy must connect defendants who are part of the Russian mob with a money-laundering operation before vital evidence is destroyed - and any more witnesses are found dead. Meanwhile, Detective Rey Curtis leaves the 27th Precinct to take care of his wife who suffers from MS.
As Briscoe and Green investigate the shooting of Denise Grobman a judge, suspicion quickly points to her husband Walter as the person who ordered the hit, but McCoy's case is hindered when she refuses to implicate her husband during the trial.
After the murder of Martin Felder a lawyer, McCoy finds himself on the opposite side of the courtroom from his former colleague, Jamie Ross, when she defends a man who claims to have key evidence that could put to death a man McCoy believes was wrongly convicted.
A frustrating investigation of Eva Harrison a purse-snatching victim who was fatally shot leads to tension between Briscoe and Green over age and racial innuendos. Briscoe notices his partner has developed a dangerous habit.
A taxi driver finds that his passenger Peter Grimaldi is dead, leading the detectives to a case involving an insurance scam and Holocaust victims.
A patient Marjorie Hallenbeck is found beaten to death in a hospital lounge — and the resulting case involves infidelity, Alzheimer's disease, and a ladies' man.
The investigation of the death of Karen Brewster, a schizophrenic woman, leads to a case involving Harvey Bauer, a homeless man, and his right to refuse medication.
Bloodstains in an apartment that belonged to Amy and James Beltran a young couple with a baby leads to the separated parents, each of whom claims that the other has the infant. The baby is later found dead.
The murder of Michael Tobin a young white man in Harlem sparks outrage when it is discovered that two police officers Smith and Flannery intentionally dropped him off in a known crime prone neighborhood.
The investigation into a helicopter bombing points to a victim's wife and her unconventional financial adviser (Michael McKean).
The body of Dorothy Graham a teacher, suspected of having an affair, is found in a car trunk and the investigation involves her husband and father-in-law, both of whom are psychiatrists.
A wealthy woman Lucy Young, a patron of the arts, is found dead in her apartment and the ensuing investigation leads to a suspect whose violence was spurred by a painting similar to the crime scene.
Detectives Briscoe and Green probe the strangulation of Leslie Cavanaugh, a college student who moonlighted as a stripper, and while they believe a pair of drug-dealing skinheads committed the murder, they struggle to determine the motive of the strip club owner who paid them for the hit. However, as they work their way up the ladder of complicity, the cops learn that the slaying is keyed to an insider trading scam that forces McCoy to connect a former porn star with a businessman.
The detectives' investigation into why a wealthy woman is comatose involves her husband, daughter, and doctor (John Slattery).
The death of an elderly man trying to find who was responsible for the torture-killing of his son in Chile in 1973 leads to a former high-ranking Chilean Army officer who is in New York receiving cancer treatments at a Manhattan hospital.
When Nathalie Dreisner the star violinist of the Manhattan Symphony Orchestra is found murdered in her dressing room, Detectives Briscoe and Green don't have to look beyond the concert hall for an array of leads. The priceless violin she played is missing and the rest of the violin section is found to have been resentful of the recent Juilliard graduate's rapid ascent to stardom. Meanwhile, the brilliant and debonair conductor Carl Reger (Ronald Guttman), whose wife also performs in the orchestra, points the detectives toward a stagehand who may have been rebuffed in his advances toward the victim, as his own relationship with his first chair violinist comes under scrutiny.
The killing of Russ Crider, a school hockey coach, leads to a case in which the defendant claims that he committed the crime while suffering from "sports rage."
Following "wilding incidents" in Central Park, a woman's body is found in the lake and the suspects include the deceased's wealthy husband.
The beating death of Tommy Ngai a restaurant owner leads Briscoe and Green to thrill-seeking teenagers; McCoy and Lewin are forced to decide how young is too young for the death penalty.
Briscoe and Green initially investigate the fiancé of Dina Meredith a pregnant woman found dying in the trunk of her car, but the investigation soon turns to professional athlete Chris Coty, who may have had reasons of his own to want the woman and her unborn child out of the way.
When Angel Jarrell a woman is found strangled to death with a large quantity of the drug Ecstasy in her handbag, Detectives Briscoe and Green have difficulty gathering sufficient evidence for an indictment of their prime suspect, drug dealer Francis "Taz" Partell. But when they question one of his former associates, they discover new evidence indicating that Taz is responsible for the earlier murder of a bouncer in Bronx County.
When the dead body of Karen Hall, an investigator with the State Attorney General's Office Criminal Division, is found in the Hudson River, Detectives Briscoe and Green find that her boss, Alec Conroy, had written off her disappearance as a random kidnapping from an Albany train station. But as more is learned about Conroy's controlling relationships — with the dead woman, with his wife and with a longtime girlfriend — he quickly becomes a suspect.
Briscoe and Green investigate Daniel and Rosa Alvarez a couple murdered in their apartment, which leads them to the wife of an officer in the U.S. Army who is involved in anti-drug activities in Colombia, leaving McCoy with the awkward job of getting her to testify.
When Hector Santiago a Hispanic male is found dead from a severe chest trauma, Detectives Briscoe and Green discover that he and two other illegal immigrants had been in a staged automobile accident. As evidence mounts linking numerous similar car crashes with the same employer, chiropractor, insurance adjuster and lawyers, ADAs McCoy and Carmichael must determine who is ultimately responsible for the man's death, from which so many others profited.
The murder of Scott Wilder a young man points to a mysterious woman who may have been extorting money from the victim's wealthy father who she believed was also her father.
Detectives Briscoe and Green investigate when a masked schoolkid opens fire on classmates, killing four and wounding eleven. It soon becomes apparent that more than one child fits the profile of a youth capable of committing such violence. An e-mail sent by one of the students skews the investigation towards one particular youth with a violent history. But finding the perpetrator becomes a race against time when another e-mail arrives threatening more murders. E.A.D.A. McCoy goes head to head with Jamie Ross (Carey Lowell), who is acting as the teen's defense attorney, and who argues that the e-mail is inadmissible because it is privileged.
An attempted murder of Linda Karlin a tough judge leads Briscoe and Green on a wild goose chase to track down the criminal. When the perpetrator is found, Carmichael and McCoy have a difficult time making a case.
A woman's murder leads Briscoe and Green to discover the actual target was a reporter who did a story about voting improprieties in a recent senatorial election. Carmichael can't get the reporter to reveal her sources for a story containing allegations that the vote was fixed and ballots tampered with, even though the reporter's life is at risk. Without the source, McCoy and Carmichael have a difficult time making a case against the Senator, who they believe has ties to the mob and ordered the hit on the reporter. The case hinges on 2,000 missing ballots from the vote that were stolen by the mob. Once the ballots are found, there is a court battle over whether or not they should be counted. McCoy believes that the ballots will show the Senator's motive for ordering the hit, but an appellate court won't allow it, so their case is virtually dead. In the end, McCoy is able to convince the reporter to reveal her source and have him testify against the senator, which surprisingly turns out to be the Senator's own campaign manager. Meanwhile Carmichael tells McCoy that she is leaving the D.A.'s Office to accept a job with the U.S. Attorney's Office as soon as the case is over.
The investigation into the death of Sandy Meekin a jogger mauled by a vicious dog leads to an Attica inmate, his attorneys, and an underground dog-fighting ring.
The death of Ronnie Buck a parolee, who was a hit man, leads to a wealthy widow and daughter who may have hired him to kill their rich relative.
The shooting death of a former singer's wife leads the detectives to investigate his manager and sons after his explanation of the events surrounding her death have no credibility.
A murder investigation uncovers deliberately faulty forensics in the wrongful conviction of two men 12 years earlier in the case that paved the way for Van Buren's promotion.
When a building is set ablaze, a girl must be identified despite her fatal burns. Through further investigation, it turns out that an extreme environmentalist group struck the match.
The murder of Thomas Reddick a magazine publishing company's black CEO leads to a suspect who has a clear streak of racism and whose attorney intends on using that as a mental defect.
The death of Father Grady a cleric leads the detectives to a priest who was given information by a murder suspect outside of the church but insists that he can't discuss anything about it, bringing McCoy to question whether the confessional seal should apply.
The murder of Tracy Conley a psychologist leads to a case involving a computer company that sells information and their responsibility in shielding their clients' history in order to serve their needs.
The investigation into the death of Paula Weston an 11-year-old girl uncovers the possible culpability of the child's mother and a rebirthing therapist.
The investigation of Andrew Hatcher a student's killing leads to a case involving meat contamination at a food service.
When Katy Snyder a "gold digging" wife is found dead, there are plenty of possible perpetrators. Her husband has become "whipped" and blinded by his young wife and then messes up his story to Briscoe and Green. When he finally comes around, it seems that the wife's ex-boyfriend was getting revenge for being fired from a contracting job. The medical examiner uncovers some more clues which point to a bitter alcoholic ex-wife. Eventually, the criminal comes forward but the only crime she has committed is trying to save her family.
The wife of an attorney with many disgruntled clients is killed, but the detectives believe that he was the intended target as he was willing to reveal information despite confidentiality agreements. As the investigation continues, his tumultuous love life is exposed and the prosecutors are suspicious of his desire to return to the courtroom.
The murder of Eliza Glazer a young doctor leads Briscoe and Green to her involvement in an underground oxycodone ring, of which the leaders have hatched a plan to con McCoy and Southerlyn out of a trial.
A tenement building explodes and the lone victim is Joseph Haden. The building was rent controlled and there had been a tenant strike, so the police initially suspect arson. But the landlord doesn't have insurance, ruling out their arson theory, and the medical examiner discovers that Haden's neck was broken and he was tied up before the explosion happened. Trying to figure out Haden is even more difficult. He didn't appear to have a family or a girlfriend and never got any substantial mail. He worked at the Jiffy Job service station making minimum wage, yet had $90,000 in the bank. Briscoe and Green do some more digging and find out that Haden was using an alias, and his real name was Yusuf Haddad.
An American Muslim Mousah Saleem (Wil Horneff) becomes the prime suspect in a double murder after an academic challenges his religious beliefs.
The murder of Valerie Keenan, a female high school English teacher, uncovers a love triangle that includes Fiona Reed, a female student and a male teacher, both of whom become suspects. The prosecutors have to deal with a dark secret the student has been hiding once said secret is revealed.
Investigating the death of Patty Voytek a rock band singer who had large amounts of cocaine and heroin in her system, the detectives question a former boyfriend who was a disgruntled band mate of her late husband. The actions of a retired detective-turned-writer, who worked a case with Briscoe several years back and whose unconventional research tactics make him an additional suspect, hamper the prosecutors.
A struggling actress Lucy Dolan is murdered in an apparent robbery-homicide where a videotape, made by a couple touring the city and sold to a local news station, shows three suspects loading the stolen property into an SUV. They are charged with felony murder, a capital crime, and this causes unrest with Southerlyn surrounding the death penalty.
The discovery of a body in Hell's Kitchen that had been wearing a $40,000 diamond ring leads Briscoe and Green back to the September 11th attacks, as Kelly Sommers the victim had been reported to have died on the 89th floor of the World Trade Center. The ensuing investigation leads to a fiancé, an extramarital lover, and the determination that the events of 9/11 may have been convenient timing to hide the fact that she was murdered the night before.
A defense attorney who had just acquitted a man charged with trying to kill a cop is gunned down outside a Manhattan restaurant. The detectives start with police officers in the precinct of the injured officer, then his brother, before they are led to a white supremacist who is part of a national network. McCoy is faced with the unlikely prospect that the defendant's attorney, his friend of 20 years and a friend of the slain lawyer, played a part in the murder of a Florida district attorney following the defendant's arrest. McCoy is able to make a deal that preserves the integrity of his adversary but not without a cost.
The hit-and-run death of a popular high-school student leaves the detectives suspecting the girl's father was the real target. When evidence reveals that the death was possibly a random killing, they are able to track down their suspect to his apartment. However, things get complicated when their killer is murdered, and the person who committed the crime happens to be the victim's mother.
A well-known drug dealer, Scott Giddins, is killed and suspicion falls on a dead teenager's father. This case hits Briscoe hard because his daughter Cathy, was recently murdered by her dealer boyfriend after she testified against him for immunity (as seen in Season 8, Episode 22, "Damaged"). She had struggled with meth addiction for years. Briscoe, still mourning his loss, is unusually sympathetic towards the suspect. Before the police can establish guilt of the father, the suspect's priest (Denis O'Hare) confesses — claiming that God told him to kill the dealer for the good of the community.
The bludgeoning of Hal Garber a luxury sports car dealer leads the detectives to a mentally challenged man and his girlfriend, who is extremely attractive and whose expensive tastes lead her to be equally manipulative.
The death of Brad Osterhaus a stockbroker leads the detectives to his famous photographer girlfriend and her mother, who is a cosmetics mogul with a longstanding friendship with DA Arthur Branch. The mother will stop at nothing to protect her corporate image. She goes as far as using hormone replacement therapy withdrawal as the basis for her defense.
Investigating the murder of Bobby Lee Redburn a cab driver, the detectives come to suspect a famous author and his protege, a former child prodigy.
While investigating the death of a teenage girl, the detectives stumble on a pattern of crimes that indicate they are after a serial killer. The suspect, however, puts the prosecutors through an ethical wringer when he discloses his attorney's knowledge of the victims and their whereabouts.
A teenager's need for parental love, acceptance, and recognition sets in motion the events leading to the deaths of 23 concert-goers in a blaze started by a rock band's illegal pyrotechnics.
When a man is found murdered shortly after depositing almost $400,000 in his savings account, the investigation into the source of funds reveals that Andy Hitchens, the victim, ran an identity theft scam which left Lonnie Jackson, an elderly man, homeless and impoverished.
The husband of a woman whose partially decomposed body is found floating in the Hudson River becomes the prime suspect in her murder until the prosecutors uncover a connection between her prospective attorney and a judge who has heard a suspiciously high number of his cases.
When Gideon Blake, a con man passing himself off as a grief counselor, is poisoned by a respected doctor he victimized, McCoy must determine whether revenge or insanity prompted the crime.
Arnold Zachary, the owner of a clothing company with illegal immigrant workers, is found murdered which sends the detectives on a search for an unidentified evening caller whose girlfriend, also a worker in the factory, recently gave birth. Upon discovery that the victim was also the baby's father, the boyfriend is arrested with the motive being an office affair until the victim's widow discloses that it was a surrogate arrangement.
The apparent hit-and-run of a homeless man sends the detectives on a search for the driver, a high-profile female publicist, which fuels the fire for the prosecutors to obtain a murder conviction. However, an autopsy reveals that the victim died as a result of a beating, which had to have taken place hours before the car accident, which leads to a suspect within the homeless community.
A city employee's clerical error sets in motion a chain of events which culminates in a fatal shooting at City Hall and a secret federal court proceeding with sinister implications.
A Holocaust survivor, Leah Glaser, is murdered on the eve of her testimony in the deportation trial of Stefan Anders, a former concentration camp guard. McCoy must not only put the murderer on trial, but also the former guard who stood to gain the most from the survivor's death, even though evidence is limited.
The District Attorney's Office is set on its ear when the investigation into the death of ADA Daniel Tenofsky uncovers a scandal that could imperil hundreds of cases.
Greed, treachery and disrespect shape the motives for murder when two men are gunned down at an exclusive restaurant.
The investigation into a barroom brawl fatality reveals a detective's decades-old vendetta against a petty criminal turned murderer who was falsely accused of one murder after evading conviction on another. Partially inspired by the 2003 Steve Bartman incident
Van Buren has reservations about Branch's tactics in luring a Ginza nightclub owner back to New York after the Japanese government is unwilling to extradite him to face charges of conspiracy and murder in the death of his wife on a New York City vacation.
Briscoe bids farewell to the 27 as the prosecution of two women for killing each other's husbands comes to a successful conclusion.
Detective Joe Fontana (Dennis Farina) transfers to the 27th precinct, a stylish veteran uneasily paired with Detective Green when Lindsey Starr a former female Guardsman from the second Gulf War is found murdered—and evidence points to the vengeful Iraqi sister of an ex-inmate at infamous Abu Ghraib prison. However, when D.A.s McCoy and Southerlyn begin to prosecute, they discover that the suspect's lawyer boldly plans to defend his client as an "enemy soldier"—subject only to the terms of the Geneva Convention. Special guest appearance made by New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg.
When a woman Donna Mclean is found dead after a ferry collides with a Manhattan dock, Detectives Fontana and Green become suspicious when they learn that the victim sustained a blow to the head and was seen in the water just before the accident, and the likely suspect is the ex-wife of a firefighter who left her to marry a rich "9/11" widow. But EADA McCoy soon learns that the defendant's crafty lawyer intends to position her as a victim of post-traumatic stress syndrome owing to 9/11, meaning that McCoy has to overcome extreme emotions common to every New Yorker.
When two college students take flying leaps to their deaths, Detectives Fontana and Green discover that both students were participants in a secret testing program on a new anti-depressant run by a large drug manufacturer that has yielded a high rate of suicides, and more attempted suicides. EADA McCoy decides to vigorously pursue the CEO of the pharmaceutical firm for second-degree murder but his case hinges on convincing the judge to admit guarded clinical trial info.
The NYPD gears up to find the cop-killers who murdered two officers Calvin May and Dexter Richmond during an illegal firearms buy-and-bust sting, putting Detectives Fontana and Green on the trail of two suspects as Green risks his life to pose as a gun buyer, to gather evidence on the gun dealers. They soon discover the killers were tipped off to the victims' identities by a website displaying photos of undercover cops. Turns out the website is financed by a vengeful defense attorney (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.) whose criminal stepson was killed by the police; and now claims that he is protected by the First Amendment as McCoy and Southerlyn prepare to prosecute. McCoy is able to connect the hit men to the attorney who paid them to avenge the death of his gun-running stepson at the hands of the same detectives during a similar buy-and-bust several years earlier.
After a bestselling pulp-fiction novelist Nora Hackett is found dead in her hotel bathroom, Detectives Fontana and Green investigate and discover that the deceased recently had a liposuction operation performed by a careless plastic surgeon (Bruce Altman). EADA McCoy decides whether or not the case should be pursued in civil, not criminal court. But when District Attorney Branch sees a recurring thread of negligence in the doctor's past, McCoy files charges and bases much of his argument on the fact that the obsessed victim's many beauty procedures required psychological counseling that her greedy surgeon never suggested.
A street thug-turned-radio personality (Jose Zuniga) who had a penchant for attracting headlines through "publicity stunt muggings" is thought to be faking again when he's shot and almost killed. However, when other bodies start to stack up, Detectives Fontana and Green now must believe the danger is for real, they begin to believe his story after they discover that the married jock was involved with a mobster's mistress.
In the bloody wake of a massacre of heroin dealers, Detectives Fontana and Green track through a list of international criminals until they target their primary suspect, a drug-dealing Afghan warlord (as Khaleel, Christopher Maher) who's aided U.S. forces in Afghanistan and claims diplomatic immunity. But EADA McCoy and ADA Southerlyn fearlessly prosecute despite State Department pressure and a defense lawyer who claims his Afghan client was forced to push drugs in order to maintain his cover, and ultimately continue to aid American military efforts.
When nine afflicted people suddenly die, Detectives Fontana and Green discover that the victims were injected with fake flu vaccine that did not protect them, leading the police to arrest a career con man (Rob Sedgwick) who has counterfeited everything, including what should have been life-saving vaccine. But while EADA Jack McCoy is getting over the departure of ADA Southerlyn, he is joined by confident new Assistant DA Alexandra Borgia, who boldly promises justice to the victims' relatives that will be difficult for the prosecutor to fulfill after vital search warrant evidence is tossed out.
When a loner Ira Walderman is found strangled to death in his rent-controlled apartment, Detectives Fontana and Green focus on both the victim's gambling habit and the building's owner who wants to convert it into a co-op, but the cops hit paydirt when they discover the dead man's nasty running feud with a spoiled pro basketball player. When the detectives find the athlete's fingerprints at the scene, prosecutors McCoy and Borgia must fight to keep the evidence from being tossed out on a technicality.
When a TV network executive Lisa Taylor is found murdered, Detectives Fontana and Green suspect twins who were stealing from the organization until they discover a celebrity chef with whom the married victim shared an affair. The nimble and charming chef is adroit at cultivating relationships with judges and juries alike, but prosecutor McCoy intends to reveal that the suspect's cooking show was about to be canceled by his late lover.
Detectives Fontana and Green are repulsed when they investigate the murder of Dolores Diamond, a woman, by Richard Ransen, a suicidal young man (Austin Lysy) and discover a cult which encourages adult-child sexual relations, and prosecutor Borgia is determined to nail the mesmerizing but formidable woman (Deborah Hedwall) who heads it. Aided by fellow EADA McCoy, Borgia traces a string of suicides from the surviving youths and searches for a secretive "Book of Daniel" that could wipe out the perverted sect forever.
When a promiscuous young lawyer Jaquelyn Ogden is found bludgeoned to death in her office, Detectives Fontana and Green investigate her former lovers at the high-powered law firm until DNA evidence points to one attorney, Ron Drexler (Paul Fitzgerald), who was in the office at the time of the murder. When evidence is dismissed by a judge, and a shocking crime takes place, EADA McCoy must leverage clout against a senior partner, Nathan Fogg (Fritz Weaver), who is the suspect's alibi, as well as the subject of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation. In the midst of the case, the life of one of the 27th precinct's own hangs in the balance.
The murders of Samantha Savage an infamous porn actress and Helen Devrie a maverick publisher, Devries (Randy Graff), plunge Detectives Fontana and his temporary partner Nick Falco (Michael Imperioli) into a sensational case that spirals upward to an ambitious and powerful police commissioner (Kevin Dunn) who is up for the nation's top security post. But as District Attorney Branch warns, McCoy and the police must tread lightly given the high-profile players, especially when they discover a more intimate link.
Detectives Fontana and Falco arrest an arsonist after a blaze kills a fireman and discover a charred pistol that leads them to re-open a cold case murder of an African-American. Their remorseful prime suspect (Jim True-Frost) not only confesses but pleads not guilty due to his newfound faith and changed life. Even the skeptical EADA McCoy cannot ignore the "Clayton motion" filed by the defense attorney that asks for the case to be dismissed while church and public support build for the former racist who has worked hard for children's charities in the years since.
A commuter train is violently derailed when it strikes an SUV parked on the tracks, resulting in 12 deaths, leaving Detectives Fontana and Falco sifting through massive debris, until they lock onto a depressed construction worker who maintains he only intended to commit suicide, not homicide. EADA McCoy cannot wait to get his hands on the case but his grip gets more slippery when the accused's attorney hints at an insanity defense, and the suspect later shocks everyone in court.
When Jennifer Clark a five-year-old girl is abducted from her mother in broad daylight during an apparent car jacking, Detectives Fontana and Green canvass the streets, only to uncover a more sinister motive when they discover the car intact but no trace of the girl. The investigators soon unearth an ex-convict with the child's bloodied dress who refuses to talk until his release is guaranteed. With time and leads running out and the prospect of the girl's safe return looking unlikely, EADA McCoy and ADA Borgia consider a deal with severe legal and political ramifications.
A criminal Dan Flood makes a surprising deathbed confession that compels Detective Fontana to re-open his own 10-year-old cold case file concerning the murder of Sarah Dolan a 12-year-old girl. Instead of the victim's father, whom Fontana is certain committed the crime, the new prime suspect is a former drug-addict whose jailhouse confession to the prosecution's most viable witness is disqualified on the grounds it was made in a spiritual context. Despite dwindling options, Executive Assistant D.A. McCoy continues to pursue a murder-two conviction despite a stern warning from his wary boss, District Attorney Branch, who cautions against the fallout of losing this high-profile case again.
When the body of undercover reporter Teresa Richter is discovered, police soon realize her death is connected to the story she was working on about a Latin gang, L-12. Their investigation leads them to Kevin Drucker, a businessman who reported his car stolen but who was really paying off members of L-12 not to hurt his son Patterson, who was imprisoned on the same cell block with many of the gang members. McCoy and Borgia realize that the only way they can get to L-12, who ordered the hit on Richter, is to get Drucker to testify. Drucker is reluctant to do so, however, unless his son's safety can be guaranteed.
Teenage suspect Traci Sands dies in police custody after being arrested for the murder of Sam Register the man who reported her to child protective services. Rodgers reveals that she died because someone outfitted her with a benecrine I.U.D. that reacted fatally with her sickle-cell condition. Fontana and Green follow the trail to a charitable clinic and nurse Gloria Rhodes, who believes she is saving the world by sterilizing women that she does not believe are worthy of having children. McCoy faces former assistant district attorney Paul Robinette (Richard Brooks) in court as Robinette defends Rhodes.
The deaths of three women with the same name lead Fontana and Green to the nine-year-old conviction of Leland Barnes, who had shot and killed his wife in an office full of people. With two of the three witnesses against him dead and Jack McCoy on the hit list, the detectives struggle to determine how Barnes, who has been in prison the entire time, got someone on the outside to kill the only people who could keep him in jail. The investigation leads them to Leland's two sons, with surprising results.
After the daughter of one of Van Buren's college friends is found dead in her room, a suicide, Van Buren joins Green and Fontana in hunting down the man who burned her face with acid months earlier, ultimately leading to her suicide. Van Buren is unsuccessful in getting a lot of help from her friend, who is terrified that the man who destroyed her elder daughter's life will destroy her younger daughter as well. McCoy and Borgia's case hits a snag when Van Buren takes the stand and comes close to committing perjury to keep Jason Corley behind bars.
Jeffrey Kilgore is found murdered after destroying the Speicher family Chumash, which had been brought to America from Poland years earlier. Green and Fontana follow the trail of evidence to Barry Speicher, who confesses to the murder, but it's his cousin Eric that McCoy has his eye on after Barry's wife tells them that Eric had everything to gain by Barry going to prison. McCoy and Borgia pursue the matter to trial, but their star witness turns on them.
A journalist's suicide becomes suspect after Green and Fontana find evidence at the scene suggesting that it was not a suicide after all. Their suspicions turn to the reporter's girlfriend after learning that he was still sleeping with his ex, but their investigation soon leads them in a different direction.
Detectives Fontana and Green investigate the strangling of Alex Garcia a promising Hispanic student at a private magnet school. The men soon learn the victim was selling test answers and writing term papers for more privileged students, including their prime suspect, Greg Loomis (Jaime McAdams), a trouble-prone senior who would kill just to graduate. After Loomis' arrest, Jack McCoy spurns any deal with his high-powered attorney Rebecca Shane (Kathleen Turner) but has to overcome her vigorous defense that her client himself was a victim of medication side effects.
After the body of Danny Ashburn a teenage boy is found dead in a warehouse, detectives use DNA to connect the boy to a convicted rapist and serial killer, then to the boy's mother, Allison Ashburn, the convict's ex-wife. While trying to solve Danny's murder, Fontana and Green learn that he recently got his girlfriend Tina pregnant, and his mother had seen him recently when she had given him money despite having claimed she had not seen him for months. Allison finally admits that she murdered her son after the police arrest her new husband John, but claims she did it to save the world from her son, whom she was convinced would become a monster just like his biological father. Borgia and McCoy face an uphill battle trying to convict the perfect soccer mom.
After Derek Miller a young African-American banking associate is found murdered, Detectives Fontana and Green discover that he had hundreds of thousands of dollars in his checking account. The detectives suspect the victim was having an affair with his high-powered boss Sophia (Lisa Zane) who killed him out of fear and rage. As the police and EADA Jack McCoy build their case, everything hinges on using either the executive's estranged husband or their shaky teenaged daughter Katie (Sarah Steele) as their star witness.
After undercover cop Dana Baker is murdered, Fontana and Green learn that the man who killed her had discovered her identity after seeing a photograph of her in the paper revealing her as an undercover police officer, not the heroin dealer she was posing as. Investigating the story leads detectives to Eric Lund, one of the workers in Congressman Prescott's office, but Lund seems to have an ironclad alibi after an e-mail he sent comes to light.
Detectives Fontana and Green are skeptical when Detective Falco (Michael Imperioli) finds a young woman he took home the night before slashed to death in his bathroom. Anxious to exonerate himself of this crime, Falco takes steps that could be indicative of a cover-up instead of an unauthorized pursuit of the true culprit. Fortunately, Detectives Fontana and Green believe their colleague was drugged by the victim in a plan to rob him but was instead dispatched by a violent female rival. Proving it in court is difficult for Jack McCoy, who must sort through a family of cons and ex-cons, some with ties to Falco, all resulting in a final twist of fate.
The latest murder victims of two home invaders are the family members of a man who once sold fake D.E.A. badges to the killers and then began secretly cooperating with police. The case takes a harrowing turn when one of the law enforcement teams is put in the line of fire. In a legal gambit, Executive ADA Jack McCoy must then risk his career, and those of others, as well; bending the rules and using corrupt DEA Agent Almonte (Ritchie Coster) to lure out the sadistic psychopaths. Meanwhile, the police and the DAs have to deal with the loss of one of their own in the midst of this high-profile case.
Ed Green and his new partner, Nina Cassady, investigate the death of a cop killed during a botched robbery which leads them to stolen photographs of a celebrity mother married to a rapper who has motive for wanting the photos.
Green and Cassady investigate after the photograph of a dead woman is found on a popular website, B-Frendz.com. Their investigation leads them to a mentally-disturbed young man the victim's teenage daughter claims kidnapped and raped her, but his lawyer offers up an even greater incentive: the supposed kidnapping victim, Molly Preston.
When eight-year-old Jenna Wechsler dies as a result of a building explosion, Green and Cassady follow the trail of evidence to Rosalie Schaffner, the owner's ex-wife. McCoy and Rubirosa pursue Rosalie Schaffner despite a lack of concrete evidence, but the case takes a turn when Rubirosa finds a piece of evidence that points them in a new direction.
After Eric Khalaby is seen being murdered on tape in what appears to be an American movement against Islam, Green and Cassady investigate the case which leads them to Khalaby's cousin-in-law Ben Faoud, who appears to be connected to a terrorist cell functioning inside New York. Unfortunately, the best link to Faoud appears to surround a recent shipment of uranium, which McCoy and Rubirosa are forbidden to mention by the federal government. When news of the uranium leaks out, McCoy and Rubirosa find themselves the victims of intense federal scrutiny, and Paul Robinette's (Richard Brooks) vigorous defense of young Faoud does not help matters.
When Carl Mullaly is discovered murdered in his apartment, Green and Cassady learn that he had recently been profiled on HardFocus, a tabloid talk show that exposes sex offenders who are caught via the ScumWatch website. With an eight-year-old girl as the only eyewitness, detectives arrest the murderer, but McCoy and Rubirosa soon learn that HardFocus is a lot more involved than they claim.
The shooting of Gary Howard a local businessman is linked to a killing in Iraq, and McCoy and Rubirosa refuse to allow the killer to plead out.
A has-been actor Mitch Carroll wearing bloodstained clothing arrested for drunken driving reveals religious prejudices during his rantings. The detectives discover a Jewish producer of his dead, and try to find his connection to the murder. Inspired by the events surrounding Mel Gibson.
After Hudson Moore is found bludgeoned in the back of the Babes Being Bad bus, suspicion initially turns to the company's creator, Chris Drake, until video footage leads detectives to a young woman who was with Moore the night that he died. After concentrating their investigation on the young woman, the reasons behind Moore's murder soon become apparent, and McCoy and Rubirosa struggle to prosecute a man who, while not directly responsible for the murder, may have been responsible for the incidents that led up to it.
Green and Cassady hunt mass murderer Leon Vorgitch, who recently escaped from prison. They finally corner Vorgitch in a school with a room full of hostages, and before surrendering himself to police, Vorgitch shoots a number of innocent children, killing four. His unwillingness to accept a deal infuriates McCoy, as it gives him more time to escape prison again. When the father of one of his victims takes justice into his own hands and ends up being used as a campaign slogan for a local politician, McCoy and Rubirosa try to convince Robert Purcell not to let himself be a scapegoat for a political platform.
Green and Cassady investigate after Sean Archer, a producer who had recently adopted a child from Africa with his wife, well-known actress Sofia (Jennifer Beals), is gunned down outside an ice cream shop while holding baby Christopher. The shooting is soon linked to the recent adoption of Christopher, which had received international scrutiny because it appeared to have been pushed through based on the couple's celebrity status. McCoy and Rubirosa initially investigate the murder of Sean Archer, which soon turns into an investigation of a child's death when the identity of baby Christopher comes under question.
The shooting of university student Jason Miles at a political rally hosted by controversial speaker Judith Barlow leaves any number of suspects, but after Green and Cassady prove that two of the people they've questioned are lying about their alibis, they turn their attention to Malcom Yates, a grad student who claimed to be with Jason's girlfriend at the time of his death. McCoy and Rubirosa realize that Yates went after Barlow because of her open criticism of stem-cell research, something that Yates had high hopes could help find a cure for his own Parkinson's.
After Erin Garrett an actress is found dead in her apartment, Green and Cassady attempt to prove that her death was not a suicide.
After publisher Serena Darby is found murdered in her apartment, suspicion turns to J.P. Lange, a former professional baseball player acquitted of his wife's murder who had written a book hypothesizing how he would have committed the murder. Green and Cassady follow the trail of evidence from Lange to Gerald Stockwell, a former ghostwriter on the book, but Stockwell tries to clear himself by offering McCoy and Rubirosa proof that one of the jurors in Lange's trial was paid off to force an acquittal.
Green and Cassady investigate an arson turned homicide when a body found in a burned church turns out to have been murdered before the fire started.
Green and Cassady follow the clues in the shooting death of rapper Clarice James, "Sweet Clarice", first to a sketchy music producer and then to a jeweler who claims Clarice owed him a great deal of cash.
Green and Cassady get mixed up with the Russian consulate after Peter Rostov dies of ricin poisoning. Their investigation leads them first to his work, where they learn he spent a great deal of time traveling back and forth between Russia, and secondly to his brother, Karl. It is not long before they link the Rostov brothers to an illegal prostitution ring trafficking in young Russian women, but McCoy is faced with trying to get the remaining Rostov brother to testify so he can prosecute Brezin, the father of one of the trafficked girls.
The detectives link the deaths of two homeless men to the war in Iraq.
When Nicole Bailey, the ex-wife of a respected former senator, is found murdered and brutalized in her home, Green and Cassady look first at the senator, but follow the trail of clues to a dysfunctional family with a number of potentially embarrassing secrets. McCoy finds himself in the hot seat when he is forced to argue the case in front of a judge who does not seem mentally prepared to hear murder cases.
Green and Lupo's first official case together is a kidnapping that happened during a citywide blackout; a housekeeper is slain and a mother and daughter are kidnapped. The evidence that links all the kidnappers is the father and husband of the kidnap victims. When they search the kidnappers' hideout, they find preparations which implies that the kidnappers knew that the blackout was coming. Cutter must convince the man to testify after he has lied about a search warrant to save the man's daughter, or else the kidnappers will all go free. Issues of a warrantless search arise.
Lupo and Green investigate after David Kendall a white teenager and a Tanya Anderson young black girl are shot and killed in a local neighborhood. The investigation stalls when no one is willing to talk, but the detectives later learn that the victim had earlier had an altercation with someone in the neighborhood that led to a surprising altercation later that evening.
A riot at an immigration rally ends in murder, and the political climate causes McCoy to assign a special prosecutor increasing tensions at the office.
A high school party turns tragic when a teenager Ann-Marie Liscombe is found dead, and the detectives end up playing games with the two leading suspects to find out the real story. Unfortunately, unwanted attention from a juror for A.D.A. Rubirosa may disrupt the trial.
The murder of Isaac Waxman, a psychiatrist, focuses the suspect list to his clients and wife, and the defense of the murderer will challenge the D.A.'s office to somehow show the jury that a bad childhood is not a justification for crime.
When the police shut down a dog-fighting ring, the investigation becomes a murder case after a woman's finger is found inside one of the dogs; things get more complicated as the case deepens, and the interest of a pushy reporter is sparked.
Internal Affairs takes a special interest in Ed after he shoots a gambler that may be connected to a current case. The investigation turns up a part of his past he's taken pains to conceal. At the end, Green leaves the 27th Precinct even though all charges against him are dropped and he is cleared.
A novelist's apparent suicide changes to a murder investigation. The suspects include a cult and her husband. Cutter's case is jeopardized by the defense attorney's indirect juror tampering tactics of scaring the jurors.
A legal aid strike ends in the death of a paralegal, and the investigation leads to a golf pro who proclaims his innocence, again. Then the case takes an even stranger twist when Rubirosa is pitted against Cutter because of the strike that started it all.
An online romance may be at the heart of a mechanic's murder, but Detectives Lupo and Bernard must unravel some truly bizarre developments before the full story is known.
A stockbroker Todd Hauser is beaten to death and the investigation leads to an illegal street-fighting ring. Issues around misuse of terrorism statutes are explored.
A woman's body is found in a city garden, leaving Bernard and Lupo to sort through her contradictory life and her ties to a cop's death in New Jersey. Then Cutter's case is jeopardized by a law clerk with a crush whose judge requires an unusual amount of assistance.
A plaintiff in a class-action suit against an airline is murdered and the murder may have been committed by a lawyer linked to many other murders in the past.
Harold Foley and his wife Joyce, both biologists at a local university, come home to find their son Eric (played by Timothée Chalamet in one of his first television roles) and their housekeeper Grazinya murdered. The case leads to a man obsessed with a certain sorority.
A murdered truck driver has ties to the Russian mob.
The creator of a religious website is murdered and the trail leads to a corrupt charitable organization who was stealing from his clients. When the detectives are ready to arrest him the suspect seeks asylum in the Embassy of Iran claiming to be victim of a Zionist conspiracy.
Detectives Lupo and Bernard investigate the murder of a television reporter who was involved in a love triangle with one of her co-workers.
The detectives investigate the vicious beating of an Hispanic illegal immigrant who may be linked to a series of other hate crimes.
Firefighter Thomas Cooper and his wife Linda are tortured and murdered in their new townhouse. The murders are thought to be linked to an old unsolved drug case, but then the detectives learn about a firefighter named Nick Spence, who had just joined Cooper's company and was being severely hazed. The investigation suffers a setback when Spence dies in a fire under suspicious circumstances.
Two engaged scientists Colin and Geraldine die in a fire and their mentally challenged neighbor is injured while trying to help them. The detectives discover that the couple was stabbed before the fire and this leads them to a disturbed and extremely jealous woman.
Detectives Lupo and Bernard investigate a serial killer who targets homeless men and discover that a copycat may be at work, but to arrest the murderers they need the testimony of a bipolar skater who is having a psychotic attack.
A prominent charity executive is murdered and claims of stalking and blackmail surface during the investigation. The case then leads to Rita Shalvoy, the wife of governor Donald Shalvoy, and once again Jack McCoy must know if he is willing to prosecute his old friend.
After crime scene unit investigator Daisy Chao (Jennifer Lim) is found murdered in her apartment, Detectives Lupo and Bernard suspect her fiance, Jim Anderson (Peter Scanavino), may not be telling the whole truth about his involvement with the murder. When young journalist Emma Kim (Camille Chen) is attacked by a cab driver, DNA found at both crime scenes seems to implicate the same man for the attacks. Lupo becomes personally involved with Emma, raising serious ethical questions and jeopardizing both the case and his career.
When Doctor Walter Benning (Matthew Boston) is killed in church, Detectives Lupo and Kevin Bernard arrive at the scene and are informed a white male was seen fleeing in a dark sedan. The minister (Michael Hollick) tells the detectives that Dr. Benning was a late-term abortion doctor and had been shot at before and threatened many times, and his wife, Phyllis Benning (Tracy Sallows), is convinced it is an anti-abortion zealot who is responsible. While the detectives scan the several protester suspects, Lt. Van Buren gets more bad news and ADA Rubirosa faces a moral dilemma, causing tension among the team.
When Sid Maxwell (René Ifrah), owner of a fashion company, is found dead, Detectives Lupo and Bernard assume asphyxia. But when fashion photographer Terry Clark (Jeremy Beiler) leads the detectives to an alarming discovery of Maxwell's true identity, they uncover a suspicious website with threatening web posts. Executive ADA Cutter takes on the operator of the website, Jim Leary (Rob Corddry), who is dedicated to righting social wrongs, after a delusional woman used information gathered on the website to kill Maxwell. But as the owner of the website is charged and put on trial, he uses his defense to go after Detective Bernard, uncovering a deep secret that he never wanted to be known to anyone.
A deadly drunk-driving car accident brings Detectives Lupo and Bernard to the scene when a suspicious nasal spray is found. After the medical examiner realizes the nasal spray is a powerful anesthetic that could easily disorient its user, the detectives learn that the victim was about to blow the whistle on the pharmaceutical company she worked for, causing the detectives to become suspicious of her boss, Zach Marshall (Rich Sommer).
As election day rapidly approaches, Detectives Lupo and Bernard discover the disfigured remains of James Landy a man with the word "FED" written across his bare chest. Missing a crucial piece of evidence, the detectives decide to retrace the steps of the victim, a campaign volunteer, to home in on the challenging investigation. After the victim's perplexing past emerges and the list of suspects multiplies, the detectives find themselves dealing with more than just dirty politics. They learn that the victim was secretly gathering incriminating information about the organization he worked for. Meanwhile, in the middle of the investigation, Lt. Van Buren gets a call from Rey Curtis (Benjamin Bratt), who is in town with some bad news.
When a family of four is found murdered in their home, Detectives Lupo and Bernard discover that the deaths may be related to the deceased teenage daughter's troubled friend, Bonnie Jones (Emily Meade). As Lupo and Bernard track down Bonnie, the detectives become aware of another suspect, Justin Sachs (Michael Oberholtzer), who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, making the case more complicated when both suspects' mental states come into question. As the case is tried in court, EADA Mike Cutter is up against a famous defense attorney, Veronica Masters (Rebecca Creskoff), who had a history with Detective Cyrus Lupo, who reveals a secret to his partner, Bernard.
When Lupo and Bernard come upon the burning body of Cesar Ramirez (Noel Rodriguez), a sixteen-year-old charter school student from a bad neighborhood, they begin to question his young mentee Moses (Aaron Shaw), who was the last person to see him alive. After evidence leads the detectives to a shocking cell phone video of the crime being committed, they soon realize that the four people in the video may be in cahoots with an unexpected ally. The investigation leads the detectives to the high school principal, Martha Woodside (Debra Winger), who has all of the right answers. With a shady educator, tampered alibis and jealous schoolboys all coming into play, the detectives discover that their case may be more than elementary, and until new evidence comes to light, there is no one that ADAs Cutter and Rubirosa can put on trial.
Lieutenant Anita Van Buren is told by her doctor Valerie Knight (Deirdre O'Connell) that she came off her radiation just fine and her hemoglobin levels are up. She's set to go back to her doctor in three months to see if the tumor has shrunk. Meanwhile, Detectives Lupo and Bernard are called to a scene where four police officers were shot and killed, at a local pizzeria. With a room full of witnesses, they have a small description of the culprit but that's all. The case becomes even more confusing when they discover that the police officers may have known the shooter. The investigation quickly leads them to a drug cartel, a jealous husband, and a penitent judge who are all linked together. Tensions rise from both the homicide units, the DA's office, and even to the U.S. Attorney.
When an environmental scientist, Dr. Oscar Silva (Elliot Villar), is poisoned during a global warming symposium, Detectives Bernard and Lupo initially suspect competitors from Dr. Silva's field of study. It is soon discovered that Dr. Silva is involved in a messy custody battle with his wife's (Tammy Blanchard) ex-husband, Phillip Shoemaker (Tony Hale), and the focus of the investigation quickly shifts to the victim's family. Meanwhile, the case becomes personal for EADA Cutter as it stirs up unpleasant memories from his own past.
When the body of young model Brenna Lane (Sabina Gadecki) is found burning in an alley, Detectives Lupo and Bernard search for her killer. With no witnesses, the detectives must retrace the victim's last steps to get insight into her final days before her death. They quickly discover that just before her death, Brenna crashed an upscale political event, hosted by Senator Peterson (Tony Roberts) and his wife, Camille (Kathy Baker). As secrets unfold, Lupo and Bernard realize that they must untangle an intricate web of lies to obtain the truth about Brenna Lane's murder.
When Jerome Turner (Terence Archie) dies of stab wounds upon arrival at a hospital, Lupo and Bernard are called in to investigate his stabbing. They soon discover that, unknown to everyone, Turner was leading a double life. Family tensions escalate as the detectives begin to unravel secrets of an exploited family (resembling the case of Henrietta Lacks). In search for the truth, EADA Cutter crosses a line with Lt. Van Buren during trial.
When a television crew from a style show goes in search of a fashion victim, Marielle Di Napoli (Anna Gunn), they find a murder victim instead. As Detectives Lupo and Bernard investigate this unusual crime, they begin to suspect the victim's wife, who has a violent and peculiar past. The case is further complicated when detectives discover the truth behind the victim's financial situation: they learn that the victim may have backed out of a conspiracy with fellow husbands to hide assets from their wives until their divorces.
When Lieutenant Van Buren discovers a blog site featuring video of an alarming amount of explosives, Detectives Lupo and Bernard race against time to find the anonymous blogger before plans to blow up a school are put into action. The Department of Education's refusal to take the threat seriously and resistance from the teachers' union further complicate the investigation. Fortunately, an administrative assistant at the teachers' union, Alicia (Lindsey Vonn), gives the detectives a tip to lead them in the right direction. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Van Buren struggles to keep her personal issues from becoming public and due to the ignorance of the people possibly revolving around the blogger's terrorist act, they push District Attorney McCoy's buttons.
Newly acquainted partners Kevin Bernard and Frank Cosgrove investigate the murder of a notorious entertainer. A dispute over throwing out a confession creates a rift in the District Attorney's office.
The COO of a major tech company is found murdered in Central Park. Price and Maroun work to untangle a web of deceit to expose a cunning narcissist.
Bernard and Cosgrove investigate the disappearance of a social media star whose case takes the internet by storm; Price and Maroun must weigh their decisions regarding the case against the wishes of the missing woman's family.
After a family court judge is murdered, Bernard and Cosgrove dig into the many grievances against him. When the DA's office is faced with unforeseen challenges, Maroun takes matters into her own hands to save the case.
Bernard and Cosgrove investigate the murder of a congressional candidate. Price and Maroun contend with an extreme far-right plot hellbent on thwarting the candidate's agenda by any means necessary.
Bernard and Cosgrove are confronted with several suspects in the shooting of a headmaster at an elite private school. A teenager's life hangs in the balance as Price and Maroun debate who's more culpable: the shooter or the enabler.
Bernard and Cosgrove must sift through fact and fiction to find the killer of a young Manhattan socialite. The murder trial takes a turn that becomes personal for Price and puts Maroun in a compromising situation.
The murder of an off-duty NYPD detective threatens to tear the city apart. Cosgrove mourns the loss of a friend and asks Capt. Benson for help solving the case. McCoy and Price disagree on how to prosecute the culprit, sparking sharp condemnation from all sides.
A politician's daughter is found dead after an apparent mugging; once Cosgrove and Shaw start to unravel the details behind her trip, they realize this isn't a random act of violence; Price makes a risky move; Maroun works to salvage their case.
Cosgrove and Shaw race to find the man who shot and killed seven Asian people on a subway. After his arrest, Price finds himself going against his morals to pursue a federal death penalty.
When the young author of a tell-all book is found dead, Cosgrove asks a former mentor for help with the case; Price has an uphill battle in court when a search and seizure is deemed illegal.
When a fashion designer is killed on the night of his boutique opening, Cosgrove and Shaw must track down a suspect with very little evidence and no witnesses. Maroun is shocked to find her own name on the defense’s witness list.
A crisis consultant who’s made many enemies on behalf of her clients is murdered. Price and Maroun must set aside the potential damage to a witness’s reputation in order to strengthen their case.
When a decorated military veteran is found murdered in his own home, Cosgrove and Shaw work with his daughter to uncover an important clue. Price and Maroun must untangle the stories of other service members connected to the victim to make their case.
A suspect arrested for murder escapes police custody after months of waiting for his day in court. As a hostage situation erupts, Shaw must re-examine his conduct as the arresting officer. Price questions his faith in the justice system.
When an ex-con is found beaten to death, Cosgrove and Shaw arrest an unlikely culprit. Maroun must put her personal feelings for the suspect aside and take the lead in court when she and Price can’t agree on the Best trial strategy.
After a teenager is killed, Cosgrove and Shaw discover what lengths kids will go to become famous on the Internet. Price and Maroun take a risk to go after who they believe is the perpetrator, but they wind up back where they started.
When a graduate student is found dead, Cosgrove and Shaw follow the evidence to a suspect with no clear motive. After Price and Maroun uncover a money-grabbing scheme within a church, McCoy warns them to focus on the suspects and not the institution. Inspired by the City Harvest Church Criminal Breach of Trust Case.
After shots are fired in a popular nightclub, Cosgrove and Shaw suspect the spree was a ruse to target a sole victim. When security footage mysteriously disappears, Price and Maroun must rely on a witness who values reputation over facts.
When a public defender is murdered, Cosgrove and Shaw are surprised to find Price at the crime scene. His involvement in the trial compromises the case.
When a young woman dies a slow and painful death following an untreated infection, Cosgrove and Shaw suspect she was under the influence of a powerful cult. Price and Maroun put pressure on its members to find the cult’s true mastermind.
When a respected businessman is found murdered, his surprising connection to Cosgrove’s daughter helps the police make a break in the case. Price and Maroun disagree on how to proceed at trial when the defendant’s age brings up legal precedent they must follow.
Cosgrove and Shaw suspect an art dealer was murdered but can’t make an arrest until they locate her body. Price and Maroun must go to trial with a circumstantial case and a suspect with unlimited resources.
After a senator is gunned down at his daughter’s wedding, McCoy pushes for a severe sentence and squares up against a formidable defense attorney, his own daughter. Price aims to stay neutral but can’t help but empathize with the defendant over a shared trauma.
When a prominent tech CEO is killed, Shaw and Riley untangle multiple leads to reveal a plot for retribution. Price and Maroun debate whether an overdue piece of evidence should be submitted to the jury.
When a young woman is strangled, Yee connects the M.O. to a potential serial offender, leading Riley to revisit a case that went cold on his watch. Price makes a risky move to bait one of their own on the stand.
Shaw and Riley investigate a real estate agent’s murder, but after they speak with prominent clients, an unexpected witness appears. Price and Maroun struggle to convince a jury of motive and face a difficult decision about their only witness.
When a woman is found murdered in Central Park, evidence points to two frequent parkgoers: a street vendor and a tech billionaire. In the face of extreme political pressure, McCoy takes drastic action to make the case.
When NYPD responds to the scene of an active shooter in a nearby hospital, Shaw is shocked at his connection to the suspect. Maroun and Price face a difficult trial when the defendant offers up an insanity plea.
When a successful investor is murdered, Shaw and Riley dig into his life to identify his killer. DA Baxter puts pressure on Price and Maroun to make sure his first case in office is a success.
When a congressman's aide is found dead after testifying in a corruption case, Shaw and Riley discover the suspect may be someone close to home. As Price solidifies his case against the defendant, Baxter proposes they go after an accomplice as well.
Shaw and Riley investigate the death of a prominent chef when he is stabbed in his own restaurant. Price has hesitations about prosecuting the defendant after new evidence comes to light.
When a real estate developer is found dead in one of his buildings, Shaw and Riley sift through a long list of suspects. Concerned for the welfare of the defendant's young daughter, Dixon and her son plead with Price and Maroun for help.
Shaw and Riley investigate the death of a therapist with a long list of troubled clients. Baxter takes over Price's chair when a disturbing connection to the defendant is discovered during the trial.
When a sports star is killed, Shaw and Riley suspect the shooter missed their intended target; Baxter's daughter comes forward as a witness, but her public testimony could impact his re-election campaign with the confession of a family secret.
When a Brooklyn prosecutor is found slain in her apartment, Maroun takes drastic action to convince an eyewitness to come forward; Riley struggles to adjust to the new lieutenant in charge.
When the founder of an AI-infused dating app is murdered, Shaw and Riley delve into who would want the love-obsessed man dead; Capt. Benson surprises Price and Maroun when she becomes a witness for the defense.
Riley's personal and professional lives clash when his brother is connected to a murder investigation; Price takes a chance on a witness who can testify to a hidden motive.
When a bomb goes off in a brownstone, Shaw and Riley must determine which of its inhabitants -- an author or fertility doctor -- was the target; Price and Maroun try to bring murder charges against the suspect, even though the victim is still alive.
When the dean of a swanky prep school is murdered, Shaw and Riley must dig into the toxic system of pressure on the students to succeed; Brady's son asks for a favor.
After a narcotics officer is shot in the back, Brady returns to her old precinct to investigate the murder; when the suspect's story doesn't add up, she enlists Shaw and Riley to discover the truth.