Marathon (Season 10, Episode 6)
Premise: A daylight robbery-murder in upper Manhattan turns into a long chase as evidence against the suspect is thrown out piece by piece, and the strain splits Briscoe and Green.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 10, Episode 6
- Detectives
- Det. Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), Det. Ed Green (Jesse L. Martin), Lt. Anita Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson)
- ADAs/DA
- Exec. ADA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston), ADA Abbie Carmichael (Angie Harmon), DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill)
- Guest stars
- Guillermo Díaz as Bobby Sabo, Luna Lauren Vélez as defense attorney Ms. Torres, Richard Barboza as Flaco Ochoa, Maximiliano Hernández as Victor Sabo
- Director
- Jace Alexander
- Writers
- Richard Sweren & Matt Witten
Summary
The Investigation
“Marathon” begins with a daylight robbery-murder: art teacher Eva Harrison is shot at close range on Manhattan Avenue after a stop at a bank ATM, and the gunman escapes on a costly silver mountain bike. Witnesses disagree on almost every detail. The bike turns up with a young man in a housing project who claims he found it, and prints on it identify Bobby Sabo, a career purse-snatcher, who slips away when the detectives come to his grandmother’s apartment.
Tracking Sabo’s cousin Victor leads to Sabo’s capture at the Port Authority bus terminal, but no witness can pick him out of a lineup, and a .25 recovered from Victor’s girlfriend’s car is not the murder gun. When Briscoe arrests Sabo again on a basketball court, he reports a blurted confession that no one else heard. Van Buren’s bosses demand an arrest, and Green’s questions about the confession sour the partnership. A pizza-shop worker who sold Sabo a new gun points to Flaco Ochoa, who bought Sabo’s old one; Briscoe spots the weapon on Ochoa by his gait, ballistics tie it to the killing, and Ochoa names Sabo.
The Trial
Sabo is indicted, but a judge rules that Briscoe’s frisk of Ochoa was illegal, suppresses the gun and drops Ochoa’s possession charge, and Ochoa then refuses to testify. At a hearing on the confession, defense attorney Ms. Torres portrays Briscoe as a frustrated detective with a grudge, and Sabo denies saying anything. Citing the illegal search and Briscoe’s obvious hostility, the judge excludes the uncorroborated statement and gives McCoy 24 hours to find other evidence.
Briscoe and Green finally have it out, and Briscoe asks Van Buren to split them up; she refuses. Sabo’s testimony about wetting his new sneakers prompts the detectives to look for his old ones, which he left at a friend’s apartment in the Bronx. They carry the victim’s blood and Sabo’s thumbprint. Facing a capital case, Sabo offers to identify the Murray Hill serial rapist in return for a manslaughter plea, and the deal goes through over Carmichael’s objections.
Spoiler, the ending: Sabo’s information leads to the rapist’s arrest, and Sabo receives six to 12 years. He also privately admits to McCoy that he made the remark Briscoe reported. Briscoe tells Van Buren he plans to keep doing the job, and leaves Green with a warning about inside straights.
Why it stands out
- The case strains the new Briscoe–Green partnership, with remarks about age and race surfacing in a squad-room shouting match.
- Two key pieces of evidence are suppressed: a gun found through a hunch-based frisk and a confession only Briscoe heard.
- Small moments, such as a call about a pickup at “the usual spot” and Briscoe’s parting advice about poker, hint at a risky habit of Green’s.