Law & Order season 6

Briscoe and his new partner, Det. Reynaldo Curtis, investigate the murder of Jody Gaines, a young girl who disappeared between school and her music lesson, with a blurry film from an ATM as their clue.

• Based on the Ellie Nesler case.^[1]
• First appearance of Benjamin Bratt as Junior Detective Rey Curtis.

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

McCoy and Kincaid clash over the death penalty as McCoy prosecutes Paul Sandig (Victor Garber), a man who murdered Bobby Croft, an undercover cop during a drug bust.

A dead editor Eddie Nicodos reveals a family dispute over the family business. Detectives find out that the victim's brother Peter tried to sabotage the victim's reputation and business to gain new clients for his own, competing business, but when forensics evidence is ruled inadmissible, McCoy and Kincaid must refocus their case, leading to a case of sibling rivalry, a protective matriarch, and corrupt judge Edgar Hynes (Louis Zorich).

When the detectives solve a series of murders committed by a holdup male and female team in ski masks, McCoy must determine whether Leslie Harlan (Amanda Peet), the female member is an unwilling hostage or an active participant in the crimes.

Briscoe and Curtis try to solve a young woman's murder after a graphic description appears online, while McCoy finds himself up against a lawyer who is reluctant to reveal elements of her client's past.

• Based on the Dunster House murder suicide and the Gina Grant case, both at Harvard University.^[7]

The investigation into Gwen George a prostitute's murder leads to a married plastic surgeon as the obvious suspect, but Kincaid has a hunch that an elaborate frame-up is in play.

A mother Leah Coleman, claiming that her baby was kidnapped while she was at confession, retraces her steps and actions with Curtis, which raises legal questions later when her attorney introduces a unique defense.

• Based on the Susan Smith case.^[10]

A hidden anti-Semitic message in a high school yearbook offers a clue to Sarah Aronson an art teacher's murder and leads to a case that matches McCoy against "Klan lawyer" Roy Payne. Payne nefariously involves Detective Briscoe in his defense strategy.

The victim in a 30-year-old rape and stabbing case is fearful when information received by Briscoe and Curtis creates the possibility of a new trial for the perpetrator.

• Based on the Kitty Genovese case.^[13]

The death of a show horse leads to a trial involving insurance fraud, a sting operation, and a wealthy woman's disappearance, with Lyle Christopher (Frank Converse) as the defendant.

• Based on the Helen Brach case.^[15]

McCoy finds that his career is on the line when his former assistant and ex-lover accuses him of concealing evidence that helped put an innocent man in prison.

A subway station gas attack, similar to one that took place in a Baltimore church five years earlier, brings Baltimore homicide detectives Tim Bayliss and Frank Pembleton to New York to assist Briscoe and Curtis in apprehending the prime suspect in both incidents.

• This episode begins a crossover with Homicide: Life on the Street that concludes in "For God and Country". It is included on the third disc of the Season Six DVD set.^[18][19]
• Special appearances are made by Richard Belzer as Detective John Munch, Kyle Secor as Detective Tim Bayliss, and Andre Braugher as Detective Frank Pembleton.

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.

• In this episode, Richard Brooks reprises his role as former Assistant District Attorney Paul Robinette.

A jogger killed in Central Park turns out to be the second wife of a former comedy club owner (Larry Miller as Michael Dobson), who was acquitted of killing his first wife. Convicting him this time may hinge on tracing the path of a Colombian coin used as a subway token slug and a mobster that may be involved.

• This episode concludes a story that began in the Law & Order season 5 episode "Coma", with Larry Miller reprising his role as Michael Dobson from that episode.

A down-on-his-luck ad executive Ron Weber becomes the prime suspect when his wife Joyce and son Billy are killed and his daughter Jenna wounded on a night that he claims was spent drinking.

When Eliot Wells a young attorney is murdered shortly after he decides to file a sexual harassment claim against his employer, Briscoe and Curtis quickly discover that the alleged harasser and his wife each have an excellent motive for murder.

The investigation into the murder of Sharon Lasko 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.

• This episode features Michael Imperioli as the limo driver and murder defendant Johnny Stivers. He will portray Junior Detective Nick Falco in season 15, replacing Junior Detective Ed Green who was shot and recuperating. Falco would later appear in the season 16 episode "Hindsight", accused of murdering a woman.

A woman is shot while sleeping and the investigation leads the police to a boy whose crack-addicted mother has entrusted him to a dealer's care.

After Bridget Kaylin a college student's body is found, the detectives look for a campus rapist, but the medical examiner's report puts them on a different path, one involving prostitution.

The investigation into multiple homicides at a clothing store leads to the arrest of a man with schizophrenia (Denis O'Hare), who presents McCoy with a formidable opponent when he decides to represent himself.

After a baby boy found dead in his crib is found to have been poisoned, all evidence points to his English au pair (Annika Peterson). Defense Attorney Ruth Miller (Patti Lupone) questions the parenting ethic of his mother Wendy Karmel (Kim Raver).

• Based on the Kristie Fischer case.

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.

• This episode is the only episode of the entire Law & Order series to not feature a case and instead focuses on the characters' private lives.
• Final appearance of Jill Hennessy as Assistant District Attorney Claire Kincaid.