Jeopardy (1 Nov. 1995)

A judge throws out all of the prosecution's key evidence and dismisses murder charges against a wealthy defendant. District Attorney Adam Schiff suspects that the judge, an old friend, may be on the take.

Director:

Christopher Misiano

Writers:

Dick Wolf (creator), Rene Balcer,

Stars:

Jerry Orbach, Benjamin Bratt, S. Epatha Merkerson

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Jerry Orbach	...	Detective Lennie Briscoe
Benjamin Bratt	...	Detective Rey Curtis
S. Epatha Merkerson	...	Lt. Anita Van Buren
Sam Waterston	...	Jack McCoy
Jill Hennessy	...	A.D.A. Claire Kincaid
Steven Hill	...	D.A. Adam Schiff
Jeffrey DeMunn	...	Professor Norman Rothenberg
Louis Zorich	...	Judge Edgar Hynes
Peter Frechette	...	Peter Nicodos
Shawn Elliott	...	Judge Joseph Rivera
Zak Orth	...	Mr. Ricardi
Tom Spackman	...	Mr. Kaiser
Sada Thompson	...	Elaine Nicodos
Brette Taylor	...	Celia Gaston (as Brettanya Friese)
Rebecca Waxman	...	Gail Russell

Storyline

Detectives Briscoe and Logan investigate multiple deaths when three people at a magazine office are shot at work. The magazine's editor, Eddie Nicodos, came from a rich family whose family business was food distribution. They check into ex-employees and a computer game developer who was suing the magazine over a bad review. When they learn that Eddie and his brother Peter had been arguing over the lawsuit. ADA McCoy's biggest challenge is the presiding judge, Edgar Hynes, who seems to go out of his way to rule against the prosecution. After the prosecution rests its case, the judge grants the defense request to dismiss the case. Adam Schiff knows Hynes quite well and when he hears that his old friend is going through a divorce, he begins to suspect corruption.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 November 1995 (USA)

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wolf Films, Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the first episode in the series' history in which DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill) visits the 27th Precinct.

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Goofs

During the interrogation scene between Schiff and Judge Hynes, you can see Hynes' mouth moving in the bottom right corner of the mirror towards the end of the shot, even though neither men are speaking.

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Quotes

Adam Schiff: You got around double jeopardy. You climbed Everest in your shorts. On a very cold day.

User Reviews

Pretty standard

In "Jeopardy", the story continues the seasons trend of dropping some computer technology elements into the story (it was 1995 after all) as we learn there's been a violent murder at the office of a tech magazine. Very quickly it becomes typical L&O though as we learn the fledgling magazine was funded by its founder's wealthy family.

The season is now 4-for-4 on white guy criminals, very standard L&O there. The detective story, once again, is unremarkable but a highlight is the legal story, which explores an interesting issue (suggested by the title) that most people should be able to understand.

Perhaps most notable is the expanded role of Adam Schiff in this episode, including his appearance in the police interrogation room, one of the great rarities of the show.