Profile 

The hunt for a racist serial killer is aided by personality profiling that the defense uses to their advantage in court.

Director:

E.W. Swackhamer

Writers:

Dick Wolf (created by), Gordon Rayfield (teleplay by)

Stars:

Jerry Orbach, Chris Noth, S. Epatha Merkerson

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Jerry Orbach	...	Detective Lennie Briscoe
Chris Noth	...	Detective Mike Logan
S. Epatha Merkerson	...	Lieutenant Anita Van Buren
Michael Moriarty	...	E.A.D.A. Ben Stone
Jill Hennessy	...	A.D.A. Claire Kincaid
Steven Hill	...	D.A. Adam Schiff
Carolyn McCormick	...	Dr. Elizabeth Olivet
Joe Seneca	...	Lionel Jackson
Cecilia Hart	...	Mary Bradley
Bruce Katzman	...	Allen Bradley
Brian Davies	...	Dr. Rheinhold Bishop
William Carden	...	Arthur Tunney
James Earl Jones	...	Horace McCoy
Frances Chaney	...	Amelia Whitney
Jose Ynoa	...	Jose Montoya

Storyline

Detectives Briscoe and Logan investigate two shootings that occurred on the same day. Both victims were shot at close range from a sawed-off shotgun. The medical examiner is of the view that the shootings were from the same gun. There had been a similar shooting two weeks before and all three people had one thing in common: they were people of color. A fourth victim is severely injured but survived the attack and he can recall the shooter's voice. Dr. Olivet and an FBI profiler give the police a profile and they work down the list of subscribers to white supremacist magazines. It eventually leads them to Arthur Tunney whose mother died after being mugged by black youths just a few months before. After his arrest, Tunney hires a prominent black attorney, Horace McCoy, to defend him. McCoy manages to get him out on bail, which has a major impact on the case.

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Plot Keywords:

serial killer | shotgun | racism | behavioral profiling | profiling | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 1993 (USA)

Filming Locations:

83rd Street and Columbus Avenue, Manhattan, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wolf Films, Universal Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mark Lotito has played six different roles over the course of the series:

• Episode 13.7 Law & Order: Open Season (2002) - Bartender
• Episode 8.24 Law & Order: Monster (1998) - Detective Mallory
• Episode 8.22 Law & Order: Damaged (1998) - Detective Mallory
• Episode 8.21 Law & Order: Bad Girl (1998) - Detective Mallory
• Episode 6.18 Law & Order: Atonement (1996) - Nance
• Episode 5.1 Law & Order: Second Opinion (1994) - Paramedic
• Episode 4.4 Law & Order: Profile (1993) - Policeman #1
• Episode 3.20 Law & Order: Securitate (1993) - Bailey

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Goofs

Lionel Jackson, the older African-American victim, explains to Logan and Briscoe in the hospital that he knew to duck and run for cover when he saw the shotgun due to his WWII service in the 761st Battalion at Omaha Beech on D-Day. The 761st Tank Battalion was a unit in World War II and was primarily manned by African-Americans (the U.S. Army did not desegregate until after the war) however it was not deployed for action until November 1944, five months after D-Day.

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Quotes

Arthur Tunney: You ever see a black lawyer at work? It's like watching a platypus.
Horace McCoy: A platypus, huh? That's a big word. You know, you don't sound as stupid as you look.

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Connections

References Aladdin (1992)

User Reviews

Not an exact science

James Earl Jones is the guest star in this episode playing a defense attorney who has willingly taken on the case of a racist serial killer William Carden. As it turns out people who are non-caucasian are being systematically killed with a shotgun and it's happening in the Upper West Side of Manhattan where Jerry Orbach grew up.

The motives Jones has for taking this case is that he wants to be an east coast Johnnie Cochran. Reach that uppermost rung of high price defense lawyers although you can see his disgust registering with him as he and his client are together.

The FBI drew up a profile and this as always is used as a guide in what to look for. Profiling is not an exact science, but Jones finds enough consistencies in it to embarrass Michael Moriarty and Jill Hennessy in court.

The episode does not end in a traditional Law And Order way. Let's say that Charlotte Colavin who plays Judge Lisa Pongracic probably should have resigned the bench after this one. But the Judge Pongracic character has been back more than a dozen times over the years.

Always good to see James Earl Jones in anything.