The show follows a crime, ususally adapted from current headlines, from two separate vantage points. The first half of the show concentrates on the investigation of the crime by the police, the second half follows the prosecution of the crime in court.
Cast: S. Epatha Merkerson, Sam Waterston, Jerry Orbach, Steven Hill, Jesse L. Martin
A man opens fire during the docking of a dinner cruise boat. The Governor appoints a special prosecutor because Schiff refuses to seek the death penalty; McCoy helps Schiff appeal while ...
The death of a former model is connected to the daughter she gave up for adoption, and a possible multi-million dollar inheritance claim involving the woman's biological father.
The investigation into the murder of an up-and-coming editor uncovers a love triangle between the victim, a pretentious writer, and a jealous attorney.
A good Samaritan's life is thrown into turmoil when he is accused of murder. And when Jack asks him to testify against the real killer, things only get worse for him.
Lawyers make a deal with a suspected cop killer in order to find a kidnapping victim. However, the DA's office wants to renege on the deal after the victim is found dead, and detectives suspect that he knew the victim was dead all along.
A serial rapist recently granted parole against Jack's wishes is a suspect in a new rape and murder. Detectives can't get enough evidence to charge him, so Jack orders detectives to trail and harass him.
The prosecution's murder case against the Hollywood director threatens to fall apart. And the case could cost Jamie her job and custody of her child, and it could cost Curtis his marriage.
Briscoe and Curtis serve an arrest warrant on a Hollywood director in the film executive murder case. Opposing counsel--Jamie's ex husband--challenges the warrant. Jack and Jamie now must go to L.A. to defend it.
Briscoe and Curtis go to Los Angeles to question a personal trainer about a movie executive's murder. During the investigation, Curtis finds a potential romantic interest.
The death of a former police officer leads Briscoe and Curtis to a pair of suburban moms who work as prostitutes.
Evidence suggests that the murder of an elderly philanthropist was part of a conspiracy involving his lawyer and his much-younger trophy wife.
Detectives believe that a murder victim may have been mistaken for another target. But when the actual target is also killed, they discover that a loan shark had taken out a life insurance policy on her.
A woman jumps to her death off the Brooklyn Bridge, but evidence and eyewitnesses suggest that a crazed man made her jump after they were in an auto accident.
After a mother orders a professional hit on her daughter-in-law's new husband, detectives reopen an investigation into her son's death.
Did the son of an assassinated African-American leader attempt to murder his father's successor, or is he the victim of an elaborate FBI frame-up?
Two feuding daughters of a department store owner are suspects in a murder investigation. Both have motive and connections to the murder weapon, but getting a conviction on either daughter could prove to be difficult.
A man is accused of killing his deadbeat, abusive ex son-in-law. He claims self defense, and the outcome of the case rides on determining who was in possession of the murder weapon at the time.
A schizophrenic chemistry student is on trial for killing a former school janitor, but a professor claims that he is part of one of his drug studies and that his sickness is under control.
To avoid the consequences of a bad shooting, a corrupt police officer makes a deal to cooperate with a commission investigating police corruption. During his testimony, he accuses Briscoe of stealing drugs after an arrest.
While investigating the murder of a coin collector, detectives discover the existence of extremely rare coins that belonged to a Holocaust survivor.
A white teenager accused of murdering an African-American man claims that she was a date-rape victim, and racial overtones threaten to overpower the actual merits of the case.
A woman is charged with murdering her sister, but prosecutors learn that the defendant is actually the other sister--who assumed the real victim's identity. Meanwhile, the judge becomes hostile to the prosecution during the trial.
Jack McCoy and his new assistant, Jamie Ross, get off to a rocky start together as they try to prosecute a carjacking/murder suspect after the judge excludes a cassette tape that could prove his guilt.