Rick Mason is the host of a trashy tabloid TV show, the kind that likes to create confrontations among guests, all in the hopes of getting ever better ratings. For his latest program, the guests are a young boy and his mother and the psychiatrist who molested him three years before but has now been released from prison. The show has barely started when the boy's estranged father bursts onto the stage and shoots the psychiatrist, killing him. Detectives Briscoe and Logan seem to have an pretty straightforward case but soon begin to suspect that Mason may have set up the confrontation and was well aware that such a confrontation could be violent. ADA Stone is keen to prosecute Mason but it will be difficult to overcome Mason's popularity and to convince a jury of his guilt. Written by garykmcd

Detectives Briscoe and Logan investigate the severe beating of a homeless man, Roland Kirk. The man is something of a neighborhood terror and he is often off of his medication and also smokes cracks. He was found in an alleyway but had $2200 in his coat pocket and the detectives later learned that he has a $15000 trust account managed by Richard Gilrich, an advocate for the homeless. The block association lost a court case which is where the money came from as they were clearly violating his rights. As a result, he continues to terrorize the neighborhood having once pushed a child in front of a moving car. On the night he was beaten, he had attacked a woman, Irene Morrissey, and her husband apparently decided to teach him a lesson. It all seems straightforward but Getting a conviction proves to be another matter. Written by garykmcd

Detectives Briscoe and Logan investigate a claim by 19 year-old Julia Wood that she was raped by rock star C Square, whose real name is Clarence Carmichael. She says she and several of her dorm friends met the singer at a restaurant that day and he had offered her tickets to a concert. He then showed up at her dorm around midnight and she went with him to pick up the tickets at his hotel. The rape occurred in his room and she went down to the bar to have a couple of drinks before calling the police. Lt. Van Buren interviews the young woman and as far she is concerned, the girl is telling the truth. Carmichael doesn't deny having had sex with her but claims it was consensual. When ADA Kincaid fails to tell ADA Stone an important piece of information in her testimony, he's certain they will now lose the case and suggests that she seek employment elsewhere. Written by garykmcd

Detectives Briscoe and Logan investigate two shootings that occurred on the same day. Both victims were shot at close range from a sawed-off shotgun. The medical examiner is of the view that the shootings were from the same gun. There had been a similar shooting two weeks before and all three people had one thing in common: they were people of color. A fourth victim is severely injured but survived the attack and he can recall the shooter's voice. Dr. Olivet and an FBI profiler give the police a profile and they work down the list of subscribers to white supremacist magazines. It eventually leads them to Arthur Tunney whose mother died after being mugged by black youths just a few months before. After his arrest, Tunney hires a prominent black attorney, Horace McCoy, to defend him. McCoy manages to get him out on bail, which has a major impact on the case. Written by garykmcd

Briscoe and Logan get an anonymous call that a Manhattan millionaire playboy has been murdered. But his widow and her lawyer claim that the death was natural causes, and the detectives are getting nowhere, until the dead man's son produces evidence he says proves that his stepmother committed murder. Written by Anonymous

Detectives Briscoe and Logan investigate the death of a building superintendent who is found dead in the basement of his apartment building. He was well-liked by everyone it seems and was conscientious and good at his job. It looks like someone may have broken into the basement but forensic analysis reveals that the scene was staged. The police quickly focus on the dead man's son, Sean, a brilliant student who goes to a private school and has been accepted at Princeton. The boy is obviously embarrassed by his father low stature and Dr. Elizabeth Olivet concludes that he is in fact a sociopath. ADA Stone will have to convince the jury of that and get them to look beyond the boy's good looks and obvious accomplishments. Written by garykmcd

After a car bomb explodes in a parking garage, Detectives Briscoe and Logan find themselves investigating a religious cult. The driver of the car, identified by her dental records, was Wendy Berman who ran away from home at the age of 14 following the death of her father. She eventually found her way to the temple and its leader Daniel Hendricks. He claims that they are a peaceful if conservative group that specializes in helping get young people off the street - and off prostitution and drugs - and into the group. The detectives also interview some former members of the temple who claim Hendricks was a harsh task master who demanded complete loyalty from his flock. ADA Stone initially charges him with murder for masterminding the car-bombing but ADA Claire Kincaid suggests a different tack: charging him with kidnapping. Written by garykmcd

An old case comes back to haunt ADA Ben Stone when a body is discovered buried on Roosevelt Island. Stone had obtained a murder conviction against Phillip Swann without the victim's body ever having been found. What he did have was the sworn testimony of the man who helped him bury the body in New Jersey. Finding the body elsewhere calls into question that witness' testimony. Swann has become quite a competent jail house attorney and represents himself before the Court of Appeal who grant his request for a new trial. Briscoe and Logan try to track down the witnesses from the first trial but only a few are still available. When Swann is acquitted, Stone faces a lawsuit but decides to fight fire with fire. Written by garykmcd

Detectives Briscoe and Logan investigate after a teenage boy, 14 year-old Johnny Lasky, is found dead sitting on the sidewalk in a sleazy part of town. The autopsy reveals that he was severely beaten. They learn that his father is in Attica and his mother is a drug addict - currently in rehab. He's been living in a foster home with some other boys of the same age. They first focus on the mother's former boyfriend but he has an alibi for the time when the boy was likely beaten. They then turn their attention to the two boys in the same foster home, particularly Chris Pollit, who has a previous conviction in juvenile court. ADA Stone decides to prosecute Chris as an adult, particularly when he learns the earlier offense had him shooting a store owner during a robbery. Chris' defense is that he has an extra Y-chromosome which some studies have indicated means a predisposition to violence. Written by garykmcd

Detectives Briscoe and Logan investigate the murder of businessman William Cooper who was found dead in his office. The man had been at his business late the night before and was killed with the gun he kept in his desk drawer. His wife Irina - a Russian mail-order bride 30 years his junior - says he has no enemies and seems to have a valid alibi. When they learn she was seen with a young Hispanic-looking man however, they focus on an affair as being the principal cause of the shooting. Irina worked in a lab and one of her colleagues Alex Nunez, proves to be her lover. They are charged with murder and ADA Stone is prepared to plea bargain but neither will give in as it soon becomes apparent that they are very much in love and will not betray the other. Written by garykmcd

An elderly woman is found dead in her apartment and there is evidence of a burglary. The victim's granddaughter tells the detectives that she had hired a live-in caregiver but she is nowhere to be found. When the caregiver is tracked down she claims to have been fired days earlier by the granddaughter. Written by Anonymous

Detectives Briscoe and Logan investigate when a patrol car comes across Sol Bregman sitting alone in his car in a seedy part of town and find several million dollars in cash in the trunk. On the advice of his lawyer, Bregman tells them the truth - he was there to pay the ransom demanded by his son Jason's kidnappers. Bregman is a friend of Adam Schiff's and the police soon arrest Shep Watson and Helena Navarro and subsequently find the younger Bregman alive, but shot. Watson and Navarro claim however that Jason was in on the kidnapping to get money out of his father. Jason vehemently denies any participation in the scheme but breaks down and eventually claims Watson tried to kill him. Jason testifies but fails to appear at his sentencing. Sol Bregman refuses to to tell the DA where his son is leading to the elder Bregman being arrested for hindering prosecution. Written by garykmcd

Detectives Briscoe and Logan investigate when a woman, 22 year-old Debra Elkins, is found sitting in an ER waiting room unconscious and hemorrhaging having recently given birth. She says she has no memory of having had the baby - something Lt. Van Buren finds hard to believe - and tracing her movements prior to arriving at the hospital, find the child safe and well in the care of her boyfriend. Everything is in order, or so it seems, until the hospital reports the child has been kidnapped. It seems that the woman who stole the baby was promised the child and had been paying for Elkins' medical and living expenses. Elkins is a schemer who has been very careful to stay within the bounds of the law but when ADA Stone learns that she was stringing along several couples for fairly large amounts of money, he decides to prosecute. Written by garykmcd

Detectives Briscoe and Logan investigate a series of threatening calls received by Dan and Janet Rudman on their home phone. The caller's voice is masked but the caller threatens to harm their young daughter unless he's paid $20,000. The police set a trap when the payoff is made and the pick-up man says he has no idea as to the identity of the man who hired him. He does have a make of car and recalls a unique decal on the windshield. With that the detectives believe the culprit is an Appellate Court judge, Joel Thayer. ADA Claire Kincaid begs Ben Stone to take her off the case but he sees no reason to. When the charges against Thayer are dropped, he files a complaint against Claire and she is formally censured. She admits they had once had an affair and resigns. Stone is convinced of Thayer's guilt and redoubles his efforts to find evidence against him. Written by garykmcd

Detectives Briscoe and Logan investigate the shooting death of a 14 year-old, Angel Ramirez. The boy was a good student and wasn't involved in gangs or drugs. A licensed gun dealer, Juan Domingo, was standing next to Ramirez at the time of the shooting. He may have been involved in an incident to silence a witness against him in a previous case and the police suspect he may have been the intended target, perhaps by another witness who feared for for his life. A search of boys' school lockers turns up a stash of guns. It leads them to Kevin Parker who turns out to be the son of a former policeman, Ted Parker, someone Briscoe knows well. He hopes Briscoe will do him a favor but Kevin is charged and ADA Stone thinks he has a good case against the boy. Ted Parker isn't going to let his son go to jail however. Written by garykmcd

Detectives Briscoe and Logan investigate when Florence Manning is severely injured and later dies in hospital when a letter bomb explodes in her apartment. When trace evidence of a radioactive material is found among the debris, the police naturally suspect the dead woman's estranged husband Edward Manning, a renowned physicist. He denies having anything to do with the crime and the police continue their investigation of those who may have had access to nuclear material. The focus is on Max Weiss whose post-doctoral fellowship recently expired and is now working as an apartment building doorman. During questioning he claims that Manning hired him to build and send the bomb but ADA Stone uncovers a different motive: Manning had turned down Weiss' application for a research grant and intended to steal his idea leading Weiss to seek revenge. Getting Manning to testify in court to academic theft will not be easy however. Written by garykmcd

Detectives Briscoe and Logan have a rough shift when they catch a series of unrelated murders. All Briscoe hopes for is that he'll get out of the shop to make to the Knicks/Rockets basketball game that evening. The first killing is the shooting of man in a parked car. Later in the day there's a virtually identical shooting and they fear they may have a serial killer on their hands. In their next case, they arrest a woman who has cut off her cheating husband's genitals. The third murder involves a violent drug user. After they make their arrests it turns out that one of them is innocent. That person won't make it out of Riker's Island jail alive. Written by garykmcd

Detectives Briscoe the beating death of Ben Williams who it turns out is son of Major League baseball player Pat Williams. The elder Williams had only come into his son's life when the young man signed his major league contract and from all accounts he had a major gambling problem. The police immediately suspect Dr. Henry Doirnell, a chiropractor who is also the biggest bookie in Harlem. He's been arrested numerous times but never convicted and not surprisingly maintains he had nothing to do with Ben Williams' death. In the middle of the trial, ADA Stone realizes that they may have the wrong man on trial. Written by garykmcd

Detectives Briscoe and Logan investigate a hit and run accident that killed a young African-American boy. The case quickly takes on racial overtones when several witnesses identify the driver as a Jew. Before the detectives get too far into the case the driver, Joshua Berger, turns himself in insisting it was an accident. The traffic bureau confirms that, based on all of the evidence at the scene, Berger was not driving fast and did his best to try and avoid hitting the boy. Berger is not charged which outrages the black community and one of its leaders, Reverend Ott. It leads to a riot where a white man is pulled from his car and beaten to death in front of his wife. Using videotape the police the police identify the main assailant but he claims asylum in a local church. Written by garykmcd

Detectives Briscoe and Logan pull out all of the stops when 10 year-old Wendy Sylvester's school friend complains that she hadn't seen her for two days. She was a ward of the State but her foster mother treated the girl like a servant and hadn't bothered calling the police believing she would return at some point. Her mother is an alcoholic and also hadn't seen her. A diary leads the police to believe that she may have been close to one of her teachers and the school confirms that a volunteer, Annette Fennady, may be that person. Fennady says she hasn't seen Wendy for some time but Logan's thinks she lying. After they find the girl in a hidden bedroom in the basement she is charged but her defense is that she was actually protecting the girl. Written by garykmcd

Detectives Briscoe and Logan investigate the locker room assault on a rising young tennis star, Korey Burke. Her wrist was broken and it likely spells the end of her career as a pro tennis player. At first they suspect a rival, Allison Hall but then focus on the girl's father who they think might have wanted to find a way for Korey to keep her sponsorship contracts without actually having to play - and perhaps lose. The case seems to come full circle again when evidence points to Allison's boyfriend as the culprit. The solution lies elsewhere however. Written by garykmcd

The investigation into the killing of the CFO of a baby food company leads Briscoe and Logan directly to the Russian mob and its head, who now goes by the name Steven Green. When they arrest the shooter, ADA Stone isn't above manipulating his situation to get him to testify against Green. However, since no one can be found guilty solely on the testimony of an accomplice to the same crime, he desperately needs another witness. Ann Madsen had business dealings with Green and can testify to having seen the shooter in Green's office the day of the shooting. When it come to actually testifying however she changes her story, obviously in fear of her life. Stone makes it quite clear she will go to jail if she doesn't tell the truth but it leads to tragedy and forces Stone to make a major decision about his future. Written by garykmcd

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. Written by Mike Menditto