Justice (Season 10, Episode 5)
Premise: The murder of a lawyer working on a death-row appeal suggests the wrong man was convicted, and McCoy finds Jamie Ross on the other side of the case.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 10, Episode 5
- Detectives
- Det. Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), Det. Ed Green (Jesse L. Martin)
- ADAs/DA
- Exec. ADA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston), ADA Abbie Carmichael (Angie Harmon), DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill)
- Guest stars
- Carey Lowell as defense attorney Jamie Ross, Richard Masur as Judge Andrew Wolinsky, Gordon Joseph Weiss as Gordon, Tim Williams as Steve Dupree, Maria Tucci as Helen Brolin
- Director
- Matthew Penn
- Writers
- Story: William N. Fordes; Story & teleplay: Gerry Conway
Summary
The Investigation
“Justice” opens with the murder of corporate lawyer Martin Felder, found beaten to death in a community garden, his briefcase missing. Rental-car records lead to Clinton Correctional Facility, where Felder was working pro bono for death-row inmate Steve Dupree, convicted four years earlier of beating Dana Hagen to death in her home. Dupree says Felder had new evidence, and Felder had subpoenaed police files on an ex-con named Michael Gordon. Dana’s husband, Eric Hagen, admits making a threatening call to Felder but has an alibi.
The widow of fence Max Bronstein says Gordon sold her husband jewelry from the Hagen home, and that detectives came by after a tip. A bartender links Gordon to Bronstein, and Gordon’s way of disabling alarms matches the Hagen burglary. His lawyer is former ADA Jamie Ross. Carmichael finds that a platinum bracelet stolen from the Hagens turned up in the Bronx during Dupree’s trial and was never followed up, while the original prosecutor, now Judge Andrew Wolinsky, denies any tip was received.
The Trial
McCoy works out that Ross, who represented Gordon on an earlier case, made the anonymous tip after Gordon confided in her. When she refuses to discuss it, he pushes her to steer Gordon into a plea and threatens to report her breach of privilege. Instead she resigns as Gordon’s lawyer and reports herself to the bar’s disciplinary committee, which keeps her information sealed. Because her account is off-limits in any case against Gordon, McCoy charges Wolinsky with the attempted murder of Dupree so that Ross can testify against him.
At a preliminary hearing, Ross says she called Wolinsky twice, the second time just before summations, and was brushed off both times. Defense lawyer Helen Brolin attacks her opposition to the death penalty. Wolinsky insists Dupree is guilty, and McCoy accuses him of ignoring the evidence to secure a judgeship. The judge credits Ross but dismisses the charge, finding arrogance rather than intent.
Spoiler, the ending: A member of the original investigation then comes forward: he had the bracelet tested during the trial, found Gordon’s and Bronstein’s prints, and Wolinsky told him to wipe it and get rid of the report, though a copy survives in the latent print files. Facing a possible death sentence for Felder’s murder, Gordon pleads guilty to both killings and takes 25 years to life. McCoy refiles against Wolinsky, and Ross waits to learn her fate before the disciplinary committee.
Why it stands out
- Carey Lowell returns as Jamie Ross, now a defense attorney opposing her former partner McCoy.
- McCoy charges a sitting judge with attempted murder for letting an innocent man stay on death row.
- Ross reports her own breach of attorney-client privilege, which keeps her knowledge from being used against her client.