Ellen Whyte

When Detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) are called to investigate an assault on a retired divorce attorney, they find themselves investigating a sticky divorce that points them in the direction of a possible homicide. Assistant District Attorney Carmichael (Angie Harmon) is determined to bring this complicated case to court to prove that no one is above the law. Sam Waterston, S. Epatha Merkerson and Steven Hill also star.

Two people are shot on the sidewalk and a diamond dealer is kidnapped. The suspects escaped in a van and the victims were shot by Uzi machine guns. A black man, whose car blocked off the intersection for the van driver, escaped into a subway station. The deceased are a banker, John Hammins, and a mother of two, who was out shopping for a diamond ring. Hammins also apparently tried to assist the kidnapped victim. The man who was kidnapped is identified as Richard Powell, a diamond dealer. His wife and father anxiously await word from the kidnappers, but they hear nothing. Then they get a call that the van has been found. Powell is dead, his hand severed and his throat cut. Briscoe (Jerry Orbach ) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) are able to recreate Powell's last stops, and realize he met Hammins at a bank near the crime scene.