Law & Order season 13

A Muslim-American man, Greg Landon, becomes the prime suspect in a double homicide after an academic challenges his religious beliefs.

---

Cast: First appearance of Fred Dalton Thompson as DA Arthur Branch.

The murder of high school English teacher Valerie Keenan uncovers a love triangle that includes a female student and a male teacher, both of whom become suspects. The prosecutors have to deal with a dark secret the student has been hiding once the secret is revealed.

Investigating the death of Patty Voytek, a rock singer who had large amounts of cocaine and heroin in her system, the detectives question a former boyfriend who was a disgruntled bandmate of her late husband. The actions of a retired detective-turned-writer, who worked a case with Briscoe several years back and whose unconventional research tactics make him an additional suspect, hamper the prosecution.

Struggling actress Lucy Dolan is murdered in an apparent robbery-homicide where a videotape, made by a couple touring the city and sold to a local news station, shows three suspects loading the stolen property into an SUV. They are charged with the capital crime of felony murder, which causes unrest with Southerlyn regarding the death penalty.

---

Note: Inspired by the May 2001 New York City shooting above the popular tourist attraction, the Carnegie Deli.^[6]

The discovery of a body in Hell's Kitchen that had worn a $40,000 diamond ring leads Briscoe and Green back to the September 11 attacks. The victim, Kelly Sommers, had reportedly died on the 89th floor of the World Trade Center, and the investigation leads to a fiancé, an extramarital lover, and the determination that the events of 9/11 may have been convenient timing to hide the fact that she was murdered the night before.

The execution-style shooting of city contractor Tony Rosatti leads Briscoe and Green to suspect a professional hitman. They first focus upon possible enemies of the victim, but end up suspecting the victim's wife and her boyfriend of hiring the killer. However, evidence leads McCoy and Southerlyn to a conspirator that no one had suspected.

Vance Grody, a prominent defense attorney who had just acquitted a man charged with attempted murder of a police officer, is gunned down outside a Manhattan restaurant. The detectives start with cops in the injured officer's precinct and then 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 Grody's, played a part in the murder of a Florida district attorney following the defendant's arrest. McCoy is able to make a deal that preserves the integrity of his adversary but not without a cost.

A star baseball player becomes the prime suspect in the murder of his limousine driver when it is discovered that the driver was his supplier of steroids. The investigation reveals blackmail as the underlying motive for the murder.

The smoldering corpse of an Asian girl found outside the Chinese consul general's apartment, leading the detectives to believe she had immolated herself to make a political statement. When forensics shows that she had been murdered beforehand, they find themselves in the middle of a religious conflict with the consul general as their prime suspect.

The hit-and-run death of a popular high school student leaves the detectives suspecting the girl's father was the real target. When evidence reveals that the death was possibly a random killing, they are able to track down their suspect to his apartment. However, things get complicated when their killer is murdered.

The murder of a bookie with a high-class clientele leads the detectives to arrest his partner. Charged with first-degree murder, his attorney puts forth an unusual defense strategy that turns the trial into a political statement.

Well-known drug dealer Scott Giddins is killed, and suspicion falls on a dead teenager's father. This case hits Briscoe hard because his daughter Cathy, who had struggled with meth addiction for years, was recently murdered by her dealer boyfriend after she testified against him for immunity (as seen in "Damaged"). Briscoe, still mourning his loss, is unusually sympathetic towards the suspect.

---

Guest starring: Denis O'Hare as Father Richard Hogan.

When Levi March, the witness in a jewelry store robbery-homicide, fails to appear in court, McCoy suspects foul play until he discovers more about the man.

---

Guest starring: Mandy Patinkin as Levi March.

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 lead her to be equally manipulative.

The death of a stockbroker leads the detectives to his famous photographer girlfriend and her mother, who is a cosmetics mogul with a longstanding friendship with DA Arthur Branch. The mother will stop at nothing to protect her corporate image and goes as far as using hormone-replacement therapy withdrawal as the basis for her defense.

Media-savvy attorney Carl Helpert defends a black teenager accused of shooting an off-duty police officer.

---

Guest starring: Gregory Hines as Carl Helpert.

While investigating the murder of a cab driver, the detectives come to suspect a famous author and his protege, a former child prodigy.

A missing football player becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a woman whose body is discovered floating in the East River. When his yacht is found with all the guests missing, the detectives suspect that the player was a victim himself of his problematic brother.

The prime suspect in the murder of a woman outside a sex club claims to have merely witnessed the crime via a psychic vision.

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

The suspicious death of a Russian model leads the detectives to suspect medical malpractice.

In a race against time, the detectives go on the hunt for a sniper whose victims are shot in broad daylight.

---

Guest starring: Sebastian Stan as Justin Capshaw.

In an episode that spends only five minutes with the District Attorney's team, Briscoe and Green catch four unconnected crimes on the same day, three murders and a kidnapping, stumbling upon the new ones while travelling from earlier ones; the pair get handed confessions – by end of day – in each case. As they leave the precinct at the end of the long day, they are called to the scene of a suspected jumper.

After events in "Couples", Briscoe and Green arrive at the location of the suspected jumper, finding it was a baby who fell from a burning apartment. The pair investigate the eccentric comedian who may have killed his young son by dangling him off a ledge.