A contractor is suspected in the murder of an investment banker after detectives discover that the home's security system has been tampered with, and he was having an affair with the man's wife.
A young hip-hop performer is accused of murdering a rap mogul, but his friend testifies during the trial that he is the killer. Serena objects to prosecution tactics, and Branch fires her.
Sixteen people die from influenza after they received counterfeit flu vaccine shots. New A.D.A. Alexandra Borgia helps Jack McCoy prosecute the responsible party for manslaughter.
The investigation into the death of a conservative talk show host leads to a stalker who claims to be having an affair with his wife. McCoy suspects that the wife manipulated her into killing him.
A hot-tempered basketball star is accused of killing one of his hecklers. The investigation and trial, however, reveal that the heckler's pattern of harassment may have crossed the line of decency on several occasions.
The host of a popular cooking show is on trial for killing a television executive. However, the trial takes an unexpected turn when a juror enamored with the client is accused of trying to profit from the trial.
A murder/attempted suicide investigation leads to a religious cult that promotes pedophilia, but finding charges that will stick to the group's leader proves to be difficult.
A lawyer from a prestigious corporate law firm is murdered. One of the firm's senior partners is reluctant to testify against the accused for selfish reasons. Detective Green is critically wounded escorting a reluctant witness.
Fontana and his new temporary partner, Nick Falco, investigate the murder of a porn star. After the woman charged with her murder is also killed, they uncover a connection to both victims and a politically ambitious ex-police commissioner.
A man confesses to a nine-year-old racially motivated murder. His defense attorney argues that he should not be punished because he is a born-again Christian and has already done his penance.
A failed suicide attempts leads to a train crash that kills 12 people. The defendant's attorney initially offers an insanity defense. However, he is soon fired, as the defendant represents himself and changes his plea.
The death of a con-man who tried to call Olivia Benson just before he was murdered brings Olivia and Fin to the assistance of Fontana and Green, and leads to a slippery mother/daughter team.
A deathbed confession reopens one of Fontana's old murder cases involving a young model, one in which he believed that the father was the killer. Branch and the father want the case to go away, but McCoy is bent on going to trial.
The bombing death of a husband set to remove the feeding tube of his wife, who's in a persistent vegetative state, focuses the investigation on the protesters.
Three women with identical names are murdered with the same m.o.. And Fontana and Green's investigation turns up a "hit list" with Jack McCoy's name on it, as well as a number of witnesses in one of his trials.
Van Buren relentlessly pursues a cocky suspect she believes was responsible for driving a friend's daughter to suicide, because he allegedly attacked her with drain cleaner. But her resulting actions could put the case in jeopardy.