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
Political pressures and a lack of manpower force the detectives to coerce a confession out of its only suspect in a brutal sexual assault of a young girl.
A man confesses to killing the gossip columnist who was responsible for his wife's death. But his defense attorney tries to put the columnist's irresponsible journalistic practices on trial to avoid a conviction.
While Jack prosecutes three teenage boys for raping an intellectually disabled girl in a high school, Lennie's daughter testifies in a drug trial.
The pursuit of the death penalty for a police officer's killer who found religion in prison becomes a political football for the DA's office, and Briscoe's daughter gets in trouble with the law.
A doctor is accused of maliciously killing a quadriplegic boy. However, the doctor claims it was a mercy killing, and that he was acting on the family's wishes.
A disturbed, self-righteous activist opposed to high-rent developments is wanted for the kidnappings of a property owner and two of his tenants. However, the D.A.'s office may have to renege on the deal made with his brother to find him.
A stalker accused of murdering a woman could go free because the victim may have lied to police about one of his earlier attacks.
The investigation into a young woman's death leads detectives to a man who has been knowingly spreading the HIV virus to his partners. McCoy pursues murder charges in a case that could have have serious political implications for Schiff.
The murder of a couples psychologist is connected to a bitterly-contested Catholic annulment and the couple's two feuding lawyers.
A mafia hit man who was in the witness protection program turns up dead in Central Park. A mafia boss is implicated, but his defense wants him declared mentally incompetent to stand trial.
McCoy pursues murder charges against a health care worker who impregnated a comatose patient after the woman dies during childbirth. However, investigation also reveals that the victim's mother may have played a role in the incident.
A serial killer who targets the New York S&M crowd claims that television is responsible for his violent behavior.
The daughter of a convicted murderer goes on trial, accused of attempting to murder an expert witness who testified in her father's trial on his behalf.
Three people are killed when a possible drunk driver runs them over. A.D.A. McCoy is bent on getting a questionable death sentence in the case, but Ross believes that he is trying to get revenge for Claire Kincaid's death.
An Egyptian man is murdered because he had hired an Egyptian doctor to perform a female circumcision on the man's niece. A.D.A.s McCoy and Ross have to deal with a clash between cultural convictions and the law.
A teenage boy is suspected of starting a fire that killed his younger sister. But his powerful and influential grandfather does everything in his power to make the case go away.
The D.A.'s office resorts to extreme measures in order to prove that a defense attorney is rigging trial outcomes, but Jamie discovers that the corruption can be traced back to one of her friends and colleagues.
Detectives discover that a recently-murdered white woman had recently given birth to a baby whose race reveals a well-kept secret about the baby's biological father.
Baltimore Homicide detectives Munch and Falsone help Briscoe and Curtis with a murder investigation. However, the victim's family attorney interferes with the investigation by leaking information and offering rewards.
An attempted armored car heist leads to the prosecution of a suburban right-wing militia group that claims to be at war with the U.S. government.
The prosecution of the shooter in the death of a young mother and wife hits a snag when it is suggested that her doctor may have killed her to give away her organs and advance his career.
A female Navy pilot kills an officer over their affair. However, McCoy suspects that the Navy may be impeding the D.A. office's investigation because she is a valuable asset and a positive female role model.
Bloody sheets and an apparently stolen credit card lead Briscoe and Curtis to a pair of college age lovers who present McCoy and Ross with a united front of denial that one of them killed their newborn son and disposed of the body.
Two punks kill a random victim for the thrill of it. But the prosecution faces the difficult task of convicting two people of the same crime.