The family of a man who once turned his customers into the police is slain, and the ensuing fracas pits McCoy against a corrupt D.E.A. agent.

The case against a high powered executive accused of killing her lover rests on the executive's estranged husband and unstable teenage daughter.

McCoy and Carmichael risk violating the civil liberties of witnesses when they are forced to jail them in order to safely continue their investigation.

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 Schiff goes toe to toe with the governor and the States Attorney General over the decision to seek the death penalty.

After Michael Jones dies in his mother's hospital room with no immediate explanation, his mother Ashley accuses her former husband's adult children, Miles and Hillary Foster, who are fighting her for control of their father's substantial fortune. The autopsy rules out the Fosters, and points Green and Cassady in the direction of illegally harvested donor bones, which Jones had received in a transplant eighteen months prior. McCoy and Rubirosa struggle to prosecute the case after it becomes clear the only way they will get the evidence they need is to test another young man who received bone grafts from the same woman who had given Michael Jones his legs.

The detectives link the deaths of two homeless men to the war in Iraq.

The bludgeoning of two women in their apartment leads the detectives to a suspect who has taken a hostage while demanding legal representation ... and Southerlyn's actions, while heroic, results in disbarment proceedings against her for violation of Disciplinary Rule 1-102.

The murder of a female high school English teacher uncovers a love triangle that includes a female student and a male teacher, both of whom become suspects. The prosecutors have to deal with the student's multiple identities and refusal to live past adolescence.

Fontana and Green are called in to investigate when Green's former replacement, Nick Falco, is suspected of murdering a young woman he had spent the night with.

A journalist's suicide becomes suspect after Green and Fontana find evidence at the scene suggesting that it wasn't a suicide after all.

Green and Cassady investigate after Sean Archer, a producer who had recently adopted a child from Africa with his wife, well-known actress Sofia, 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.

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 hypothesising 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.

After Jeffrey Pope, a private military contractor, is found dead, suspicion eventually leads Green and Fontana to Robbie Howell, the younger brother of a man who died because of Pope's incompetance, and Kevin Boatman, Nick Howell's former co-worker who had witnessed the tragic events in Iraq.

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 eye witness, detectives arrest the murderer, but McCoy and Rubirosa soon learn that HardFocus is a lot more involved than they claim.

When a Holocaust survivor is murdered on the eve of her testimony in the deportation trial of a former concentration camp guard, McCoy prosecutes the man and the Neo-Nazi sympathizer who's running a fundraising web site for him, and must debunk a Holocaust denial defense which claims that the millions of deaths resulted from disease, pestilence and wartime conditions.

A truck hits a pedestrian and the investigation reveals the victim's link to a baby-food company in which a new partner has connections to the Russian mob.

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 unsucces

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.

A shootout between a motorist and the police leads to the discovery of a gruesome Russian mob killing --- and a traumatized boy who was an eyewitness to the murder.

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, the public questioning of the relationship between Curtis and Lisa Lundquist, and a surprise accusation.

A struggling actress is murdered in an apparent robbery-homicide where a video tape, made by a couple touring the city 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 causes unrest with Southerlyn surrounding the death penalty.

Curtis, angered by the attitude of an old colleague of Briscoe's, 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 and Briscoe under investigation for stealing evidence from a police lockup.

Fontana and Green investigate when a bank manager is involved in the robbing of his own bank and learn that his daughter is being held hostage and that he had to go along with the robbery or risk losing his daughter.

The bludgeoned corpse of a promiscuous lawyer is found in her office and detectives treat her former lovers as suspects until DNA evidence points to a co-worker. This crossover continues on Law & Order: Trial By Jury S01E08 Skeleton (II).

During a 24-hour period, Briscoe and Logan have a heavy caseload that includes 5 unrelated murders and a domestic quarrel, which results in the maiming of the husband.

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 isn't long before they link the Rostov brothers to an illegal prostitution ring trafficking in young Russian woman, 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.

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.

After the body of 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 hadn't 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 her father. Borgia and McCoy face an uphill battle trying to convict the perfect soccer mom.

Green and Cassady follow the leads when a young boy is found murdered to a suspected serial pedophile/murderer.

A has-been actor wearing blood-stained clothing arrested for drunken driving reveals religious prejudices during his rantings.

Lupo and Bernard uncover a possible conspiracy to kill off wealthy cancer patients, so their inheritors don't have to pay an estate tax. However, legal roadblocks make the case difficult to prosecute.

Cyrus Lupo returns to New York after four years abroad to deal with his own terror. Lupo and Green investigate two suicides committed the same way. The detectives are suspicious of a parolee known as "Dr. Death".

After Eric Khabaly 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 Khabaly's cousin, 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 vigorous defense of young Faoud doesn't help matters.

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.

When Nicole Bailey, the ex-wife of a respected former senator, is found murdered and brutalised 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 more interested in public relations than justice.

The death of a parolee, who was a hit man, leads to a wealthy widow and daughter and whether they hired him to kill their rich relative.

The apparent hit-and-run of a homeless man send 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. Forensic evidence given during the trial reveal that the victim was severely beaten before being hit by the car which leads to a suspect within the homeless community.

Briscoe and Green catch four murders and a kidnapping on the same day, and get handed confessions in each case.

A defense attorney who had just acquitted a cop killer is gunned down outside a Manhattan restaurant. The detectives start with police officers in the precinct of the injured officer, then to 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 perserves the integrity of his adversary, but not without a cost.

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 whom the teenage daughter of the victim claims kidnapped and raped her, but his lawyer offers up an even greater incentive -- the supposed kidnapping victim, Molly Preston.

A man is convicted of a hate crime for allegedly killing a gay man, but a group called the Innocence Coalition is determined to clear his name.

Internal affairs takes a special interest in Detective Green after a gambler is found dead by his bullet, and the investigation turns up a part of his past he's taken pains to conceal.

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.

A prominent charity executive is murdered and claims of stalking and blackmail surface during the investigation.

The shooting of a Panamanian jockey sends Fontana and Falco into the colorful world of horse racing, and they learn that the animal's owner used stolen funds for the purchase.

When a woman is found murdered in Central Park, evidence points to two frequent park-goers: a street vendor and a tech billionaire. In the face of extreme political pressure, McCoy takes drastic action to make the case.

Fontana and Green are baffled by a series of flu-related deaths until they discover that the victims were given fake vaccine. McCoy goes after the con man who distributed the vaccine for murder.

An American Muslim becomes the prime suspect in a double murder after an academic challenges his religious beliefs.

Detectives search for an anonymous blogger who has posted plans to blow up a school. Lt. Van Buren struggles to keep her personal issues private.

Fontana and Green arrest a fellow student after a young man is murdered, but McCoy faces a tough adversary when he tries to prosecute the crime.

When 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.

Briscoe bids farewell to the 27 as the prosecution of two women for killing each other's husbands comes to a successful conclusion.

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 realise 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 Parkinsons.

The investigation into the murder of a wealthy husband leads to the uncovering of a conspiracy involving infidelity and greed and leads to one defendant attempting to evade justice by killing the other.

During the search for a pedophile who raped a 10-year-old, a snitch offers Briscoe a chance to avenge his daughter's death. Meanwhile, Van Buren learns that her job is in jeopardy; McCoy is ordered to appear before a disciplinary committee because of his conduct in a DUI case; and the increasingly political Schiff worries that the rape case may adversely impact his reelection bid.

A murderer's shooting spree in Central Park prompts Briscoe and his new partner, Detective Eddie Green, to trace the murder weapon's origination; McCoy makes it his mission to punish the killer and the gun manufacturer.

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. The squad celebrates a birthday.

The shooting of a local businessman is linked to a killing in Iraq, and McCoy and Rubirosa refuse to allow the killer to plead out.

A reverend confesses to the murder of a young gay actor, but McCoy and Rubirosa soon learn that he may not be the guilty party.

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.

When a rap producer is found shot to death in his studio, detectives focus on his protege, whose demos link him and a friend to a second murder. As the investigation unfolds, Southerlyn's opinions put her sharply at odds with both McCoy and Branch.

A mysterious phone call to Capt. Benson of the SVU leads detectives to the scene of a brutal murder. When the SVU and the 2-7 uncover a pattern of rape and murder targeting marginalized women, Carisi and ADA Price team up to charge the suspect with multiple crimes. The crossover continues on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S26E19 Play with Fire (II).

The case of a teacher's shooting uncovers a vendetta involving the rape of a mentally challenged coed by three students, whose attorney claims they weren't aware of her condition.

A discrepancy concerning the time of death of a drive-by shooting victim leads McCoy and Ross to initiate prosecutions against both the shooter and the doctor who harvested her organs as transplant donations.

The debate rages over how to treat an informant who shot and killed four police officers. However, did one of the officers try to put undue pressure on him to help catch a dangerous criminal?

After a woman's body is discovered in a suitcase, Price and Maroun disagree over the charges to bring against the prime suspect. Riley faces scrutiny when he's involved in an on-duty car accident.

Blackmail is the twelfth episode of the twentieth season of the television series Law & Order. It aired on NBC January 15, 2010.

Police turn their attention to the murder of an undercover reporter, but realise that the killer isn't as guilty as he appears.

The death of an elderly man trying to find who was responsible for the torture killing of his son in 1973 Chile leads to a high-level foreign colonel who is now in a Manhattan hospital.

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 an actress is found dead in her apartment, Green and Cassady attempt to prove that her death was not a suicide.

The beating death of 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.

When a TV network executive is found murdered, Detectives Fontana and Green suspect a pair of 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 cancelled by his late lover.

The body of a young war veteran is found in a parking garage and the murder is connected to a law professor who used to work for the Department of Justice.

The murder of a janitor in a university laboratory building leads back to a student employee whose participation in a drug study may have prompted the crime.

A revered sheriff becomes a possible conspirator in a case involving a murdered tourist.

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.

After Hudson Moore is found bludgeoned in the back of the Babes Being Bad bus, suspicion initially truns 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.

Police and prosecutors go after a fanatical cult leader who encourages sex with children among her followers.

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.

After the bodies of two teens are found, the detectives trace their identities and learn that one of them had a sister who was traveling with the girls.

When a real estate developer is found dead in one of his buildings, Shaw and Riley sift through a long list of suspects. Dixon is concerned for the welfare of the defendant's young daughter.

A defendant refuses to allow his lawyer to raise the issue of insanity, this complicating matters for the brother who turned him in with hopes of securing medical treatment for him.

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.

Fontana and McCoy pursue a man believed to have murdered a young girl ten years earlier despite numerous obstacles.

When a model is murdered, Shaw and Riley believe their suspect may have escalated an obsession to violence. Maroun's efforts to place the suspect near the scene of the crime leaves Price in a bind when the evidence may not hold up in court.

After Green goes undercover to gather evidence on the gun dealers who murdered two detectives during a buy-and-bust, 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.

Teenage suspect Traci Sands dies in police custody after being arrested for the murder of 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 with Sands' sickle cell syndrome and ended up killing her. 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 in court as Robinette defends Rhodes.

After Philip and Valerie Messick are attacked in their home, Green and Fontana follow the trail to a small-time thug named Jay Fleckner. After Valerie's testimony unintentionally helps free Fleckner, he is found dead, and detectives soon realise that Bob Cerullo, a family friend of Valerie and her late husband, was the triggerman. Unfortunately, when McCoy attempts to prosecute Cerullo, a retired cop, he threatens to claim that he deliberately planted evidence in his past cases in an attempt to get McCoy to drop all the charges.

The paternity of a black baby given up for adoption by a white mother might provide a clue to her murderer but it also unearths some long buried family secrets.

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.

Cragen comes under suspicion when his mentor in the department is investigated for laundering drug money.

After a man causes a massive train crash that results in multiple deaths, McCoy tries to prosecute him for murder despite his insanity defense. But McCoy finds himself hampered by a defense attorney whose own agenda may undercut that of his client.

A woman's murder leads the police to discover the actual target was a reporter who did a story about improprieties in a recent senatorial election. Carmichael can't get the reporter to reveal her sources for a story that contains 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 2000 missing ballots from the vote that were stolen by the mob. Once the ballots are found, there is a big court battle about whether or not the ballots should be counted. McCoy believes that the ballots will show Benton'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.

The murder of an audio installation salesman leads the detectives to a case with connections to the mafia.

When Fontana and Falco investigate an arson which caused the death of a firefighter, they discover a murder weapon tied to a nine year old murder and a hate crime in which the defendent attempts to have his case dismissed because he became a born again Christian after committing the murder.

The prosecution of a drug trafficker responsible for a stash house massacre is hampered when McCoy discovers that the defendant claims diplomatic immunity, and has been working as an undercover operative aiding the U.S. military in Afghanistan.

The investigation into multiple homicides at a clothing store leads to the arrest of a schizophrenic who presents McCoy with a formidable opponent when he decides to represent himself.

Detectives discover a shocking twist involving unlikely suspects when they investigate the brutal beating of a black man dumped near the highway.

Stone faces pressure from the public and from Schiff as he prepares to prosecute the person accused of bombing an abortion clinic.

McCoy faces an uphill battle in proving that witnesses to the murder of a drug mule were bribed, intimidated, and eventually murdered on the orders of the drug dealer accused of the crime.

A man's double life is discovered after he is stabbed to death.

A woman is drugged and falls to her death, and the evidence suggests that her ex-boyfriend and her current husband's ex-wife may have conspired to kill her.

A respected restauranteur with a gambling problem is murdered, and Baxter and Price disagree on the best approach to a conviction. Meanwhile, Riley's brother is released from prison.

The cops tackle identifying a corpse left in an elevator, and McCoy finds his prosecution of the suspect later hampered by a vindictive judge who resents Ross's in-court rebuke for sexual harassment.

The murder of 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.

A skeleton unearthed at a building site resurrects one of Stone's old cases, and brings him face to face with the tenacious, brilliant culprit, who is seeking a new trial.

After a philosophy professor is pushed in front of a subway and killed, the investigation leads to a suspect who, following a divorce, changed his identity and disappeared with his daughters.

While investigating the death of a teenaged 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 ringer when he discloses his attorney's knowledge of the victims and their whereabouts.

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.

The cops break the seemingly random murder of a pizza delivery guy with a little ""undercover"" work in the park, but McCoy and Ross face a harder battle to get a conviction when the two defendants resolutely point the finger at each other, and the one item identifying the actual killer is the recording of a confession-made to a priest.

When a teenage boy commits suicide after firing on a doctor and hitting an innocent party, Fontana and Green investigate why he was after the doctor to begin with.

Green and Cassady investigate the murder of a female rapper.

A young girl is abducted in broad daylight, and the only link to the girl is an ex-convict who wants a deal before he's willing to talk.

A young man who claims to have helped a murdered young man change a flat tire is first the cops' primary suspect, then the prosecutors' chief witness.

Detectives discover that the owner of a trucking company has been smuggling illegal aliens and suspect that a citizens border-patrol member has killed him.

A jeweler's murder may have ties to a prostitution ring, and once the case goes to trial, D.A. McCoy's job is on the line as favors are called in.

After a fire chief is found dead, Riley and Walker must uncover the truth within his squad's ranks.

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 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.

It's a race against time as the detectives go on the hunt for a sniper whose victims are shot in broad daylight.

After a teenager is killed, Cosgrove and Shaw discover what lengths kids will go to become internet famous; Price and Maroun take a risk to go after whom they believe to be the real criminal in the case, but they wind up back where they started.

After corporate attorney Charles Dillon is discovered dead in a hotel room, Green and Cassady investigate and learn that the company he was working for is in the process of being indicted. Their investigation leads them to a high-priced callgirl, Julia Veloso, who turns out to have been romantically involved with the company's C.E.O., Samantha Weaver. McCoy and Rubirosa find themselves at odds as Rubirosa wonders if McCoy's prosecution of Weaver has more to do with her gender than her guilt.

When a public defender is murdered, Cosgrove and Shaw are surprised to find Price at the scene; his involvement in the trial compromises the case.

The beating death of a stockbroker causes a battle of epic proportions between the victim's family and the faction responsible for his death.

After the cops trace an eagle tattoo on a man shot and killed while holding up an armored truck to a group of militia members, McCoy finds himself facing one of their number as the pro se counsel for his friends, arguing for the concept of "jury nullification", the right of a jury to protect a defendant from an unjust law by finding him not guilty despite the evidence.

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 the victim ran an identity theft scam which left an elderly man homeless and impoverished.

McCoy finds himself battling the Navy and the office of the Judge Advocate General as he tries to prosecute a female pilot accused of murdering her married lover after he tried to break off with her.

When detectives Cyrus Lupo and Kevin Bernard come upon the burning body of Cesar, a sixteen-year-old charter school student from a bad neighborhood, they begin to question his young mentee Moses, who was the last person to see him alive.

Green and Cassady hunt a mass murderer Leon Vorgitch, who recently escaped from prison. The 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. 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.

The investigation into a fatal traffic accident leads Fontana and Green to a slaughtered hunting party in the woods and an unknown man who may have been pursuing vigilante justice.

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.

After a disabled boy dies of smoke inhalation during a fire, his parents and a building tenant with a history of ""accidental"" fires become suspects.

The discovery of a body in Hells Kitchen who had been wearing a $40,000 diamond ring leads the detectives back to the World Trade Center attacks as the victim had been reported to have died when Tower One collapsed. The ensuing investigation leads to a fiancee and a lover and the determination that the events of 9/11 may have been good timing to hide the fact that she was murdered the night before.

The investigation into a girl's death reveals secrets the adoptive family was desperately trying to hide.

A deadly shooting has Cosgrove and Shaw racing to find the culprit before another attack is orchestrated. Price struggles to put his ethical principles aside when the US Attorney's office pushes for the death penalty in the case.

A subway station gas attack, similar to one that took place in a Baltimore church five years earlier, brings Baltimore detectives Tim Bayliss and Frank Pembleton to New York to assist Briscoe and Curtis. This crossover continues on Homicide: Life on the Street S04E12 For God and Country (II).

After sanitation workers find a teenage boy's body, the investigation leads to a school bully who displays an avid interest in martial-arts weapons, and whose father bought the murder weapon.

Briscoe and Green are assigned to a case involving an eccentric comedian who may have killed his young son by dangling him off a ledge.

A conservative talk show host involved in a sexual harassment scandal is murdered, but the trail leads to the victim's wife and an obsessed stalker.

When the dead body of Karen Hall, an investigator with the State Attorney General's Office Criminal Division, is found in a Manhattan river, Detectives Briscoe and Green find that her boss, Frank 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 long-term girlfriend -- he quickly becomes a suspect.

Green and Fontana bring SVU Detective Olivia Benson onto their scene when a DOA has her number on his cell phone. This crossover starts on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S07E02 Design (I).

An injured woman's sudden disappearance from the hospital leads to a murder investigation. As an eyewitness to the crime, Brady partners with Benson’s SVU to unravel a complex motive. An explosive discovery puts both squads in danger. The crossover continues on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S27E09 Purity (II).

A deadly drunk-driving car accident brings Detectives Cyrus Lupo and Kevin 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 become suspicious of the victim's boss, Zach Marshall

Cutter is determined to expose misconduct when he realizes an old friend working in the system is obstructing justice in the murder of an environmentalist.

The murder of a bail bondsman looks fairly routine until the chance words of the chief suspect uncovers possible case-fixing between a shady lawyer and an unknown contact within the judicial system.

The bludgeoning of a luxury sports car dealer leads the detectives to a mentally challenged man and his girlfriend who is extremely attractive and whose expensive tastes leads her to be equally manipulative.

The team investigates the killing of a single mother and the abduction of her child.

After a community activist is murdered and labeled "FED", Detectives Bernard and Lupo find it difficult to eliminate multiple suspects. Also, Lieutenant Van Buren hears from Detective Rey Curtis.

The father of a dying girl gets his revenge on an insurance executive who denied a certain leukemia treatment for his daughter. One problem arises when the father is technically on both sides of the law.

The murder of an admissions director of a private school leads the detectives to investigate a pair of angry parents whose children were denied admission, but then set their sights on the headmaster when they discover that the victim was about to go public with the denied admissions.

A media-savvy attorney defends a black teenager accused of shooting an off-duty policy officer.

The killing of 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.

When a wealthy man is executed in his home, Shaw and Riley aim to determine who was greedy enough to want him dead. Price must try a difficult case amidst his father's failing health.

A woman's death exposes an unorthodox method of treating cancer that Executive Assistant DA McCoy intends to prove is negligent homicide.

When the investigation into the contract killing of a jeweler uncovers his plan to roll over on his Russian mob connections to a federal prosecutor, as well as an unhappy wife whom he refused to divorce, McCoy must determine who financed the hit.

When the witness in a jewelry store robbery-homicide fails to appear in court, McCoy suspects foul play until he discovers that the man is a fugitive in a 20-year-old murder case.

When a reality TV crew finds a dead man's body locked in a dog cage, detectives suspect the victim's wife.

When a participant in a TV reality show is murdered, McCoy goes after the producers and network executives for deliberately fomenting hostility among the participants to boost the ratings. All too appropriately, the outcome of the case hinges on a videotape made by a hidden-camera.

McCoy and Kincaid clash over the death penalty as McCoy prosecutes a man who murdered an undercover cop during a drug bust.

The case of a man who defiled a copy of the Torah turns into a religious battle for McCoy.

Stone and the police battle the closed ranks of the Navy to investigate the death of a female Naval officer during a party in a Manhattan hotel.

When an environmental scientist, Dr. Oscar Silva, is poisoned during a global warming symposium, Detectives Cyrus Lupo and Kevin Bernard 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 ex-husband, Phillip Shoemaker and the focus of the investigation quickly shifts to the victim's family. Meanwhile, the case becomes personal for Cutter as it stirs up unpleasant memories from his own past.

The assassination of an African-American leader leads to the arrest of a man whose ex-wife was suspected of having an affair with the victim.

A novelist's apparent suicide soon changes to a murder investigation with suspects that include a cult and her husband, but Cutter's case may not be closed when jury tampering puts lives at risk.

A priest-turned-lawyer uses race and class as the basis for his defense of a young Mexican man who murdered his wealthy girlfriend after she broke up with him.

The absence of a murder weapon complicates the investigation into the murder of a drug addict who stole from her family to support her habit.

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.

The detectives investigate the gang rape of a college student during a fraternity Holloween party.

As detectives investigate the death of a bank executive's mistress, they uncover a kidnapping and extortion plot.

After Stone accepts a plea bargain from the much younger and poorer lover of 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 the attorney who handled the woman's estate.

A terrorist organization seems to be tied in with the violent death of an art dealer, until the victim's troubled son with ties to a fanatic religious group is investigated.

In the wake of a murder on campus, the line between free speech and hate speech at a university is examined.

When tragedy strikes the family of a prominent judge, Brady must determine if the murder is connected to any of the judge's rulings. Baxter steps in when a key witness refuses to testify. Maroun tries to protect another witness's privacy.

The investigation into the murder of a young physician leads to the discovery of an unorthodox and illegal relationship between her fiance and his psychiatrist.

The apparent abduction of a little girl by her natural mother becomes complicated by charges of sexual molestation.

The confession of an elderly man that he assisted his wife in committing suicide doesn't fully satisfy Stone when rumors surface that the man was once a Nazi collaborator.

An apparent mugging ends in the death of a wealthy woman but the case comes to hang on a silver pin that may have been in the victim's possession.

A "green-card" bride from Russia is suspected of murdering her rich, but cold husband, who was threatening to divorce her just weeks before she would qualify to remain in this country.

The discovery of a young woman's body in the river leads to an investigation of illegal sweatshops and the enslavement of young immigrants.

Cerreta and Stone find themselves on opposite sides of the fence when a storeowner kills two robbers and then claims self-defense as a justification.

After it's determined that a wealthy woman did not commit suicide but was murdered, the detectives question both her first and second husbands and her teenage daughter.

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.

When a paroled child murderer is run down, the investigation leads to a terrified social worker and an experimental prison therapy program.

The killing of a professional escort leads to a case involving the relationships between a young man and two older women.

Stone and Kincaid try to prove that the young woman believed to have planted a bomb in a parking garage had been brainwashed and was acting under the direct orders of a charismatic cult leader.

Logan and Briscoe begin their investigation into the death of a hearing-impaired young woman by questioning her two most recent boyfriends.

After the detectives find a murdered postman and a woman who was left for dead in her apartment, the investigation leads to a serial killer and a surprise.

Detectives Briscoe and Green probe the strangulation of a college coed 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 Assistant D.A. McCoy to connect a former porn star with a businessman.

Stone has difficulty prosecuting a privileged preppie with a history of abusing his girlfriends after one of them dies at his hands.

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 hidden anti-Semitic message in a high school yearbook offers a clue to an art teacher's murder and leads to a case that matches McCoy against "Klan lawyer" Roy Payne.

The creator of a religious website is murdered and the trail leads to a corrupt charitable organization.

Greevey and Logan have a hunch that robbery is a cover for the real motive in the death of a millionaire in a parking garage.

While investigating a woman's claim that she passed out in a taxi and awoke to find her newborn missing, Briscoe and Logan uncover a scam involving private adoptions.

An assault on a candy storeowner leads Stone and Robinette to build a case against a powerful mafia don.

The investigation into the murder of 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.

The investigation into a social-club fire which claimed 53 fatalities leads to a connection between arson, illegal immigrants and the sale of green cards.

Briscoe and Curtis investigate the death of a pretty young book editor who was reputedly having an affair with one of her authors, and find themselves focusing on the author's long time companion, who steadfastly denies there was anything wrong with their relationship.

The investigation into the death of a governor's wife uncovers a web of infidelity, greed, and corruption which forces McCoy to counter a defense based on a ground-breaking interpretation of spousal privilege.

The shooting of two black men by a white woman in a crowded subway initially appears to be a case of self-defense, but further investigation reveals revenge as a possible motive.

The death of a man with AIDS appears to be the work of a serial killer who may have been motivated by mercy.

Briscoe and Green investigate the shooting of a best-selling mystery writer and the death of her accountant, with a love triangle as a possible motive for the crime.

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.

Cerreta and Logan investigate the accusation that a nun in charge of a shelter for teens molested a young addict.

The murder of a white teen-ager in Harlem seems like an open-and-shut case until two patrol officers are implicated in the crime.

The discovery of a frozen corpse in a dumpster leads to rival Broadway producers.

The discovery of a strangled prostitute's body leads to a case involving illegal immigrants and the events have an impact on a family.

Briscoe and Curtis have a hard time finding cooperative witnesses when investigating the murder of a college student at a rough biker bar.

The death of a show horse leads to a trial involving insurance fraud, a sting operation and a wealthy woman's disappearance.

A 14-year-old's shooting death involves the son of a former police detective, who's also an old friend of Briscoe's.

Briscoe and Curtis race against time to find the killer of a parolee before two bounty hunters find the suspected murderer.

The case against Huey Tate, a young man accused of shooting 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.

An obsessive fan pleads temporary insanity when he is charged with attempting to murder the soap-opera actress who is the center of his life.

Greevey and Logan's investigation into a black teenager's claim that she was raped by white policemen is hampered by a publicity hungry, black politician who will not grant the detectives access to the victim.

A scientist becomes the chief suspect when his estranged wife, who's been delaying divorce proceedings, is the victim of a letter bomb.

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.

A lawyer decides to defend her teenage client charged with murder as an adult with the claim that he's violent because of a genetic predisposition due to an extra Y chromosome.

The murder of Richard Speigel, chief financial officer for an exclusive, family-owned department store goes from the sitting room to the bedroom and into the board room as suspicion shifts from co-workers to family members.

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...

When a Chinese-American honors student is killed, the investigation uncovers a racist mother who's son was competing with the victim for the same scholarship.

Tabloid journalism comes under scrutiny during the investigations into the deaths of a gossip columnist and a celebrity target he pursued.

The conviction of a homeless man for murder is threatened on appeal based on the lack of a search warrant for his "home", which was a lean-to in Central Park.

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 detectives are skeptical when a former street activist turned shock jock with a history of staging phony muggings to gain publicity for his causes appears to be the subject of an attempt on his life after publicly assailing a mobster, but they begin to believe his story after they discover that the married jock was involved with the mobster's mistress.

The investigation into the death of a private investigator uncovers corruption, deceit, and immigration fraud in a Youth Baseball League whose manager will go to any lengths to win.

An engineer and a tribal chief become the chief suspects in the death of a Nigerian woman who died while smuggling heroin internally.

A wealthy woman, who is 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.

The cops, as they try to pin down the specifics of an assault on a man reluctant to talk about it, 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.

Following "wilding incidents" in Central Park, a woman's body is found in the lake and the suspects include the deceased's wealthy husband.