Scoundrels (Law & Order episode)
Encyclopedia
"Scoundrels" is the 97th episode of NBC
's legal drama
Law & Order
, and the ninth episode of the fifth season.
The son of one of the victims was identified leaving the lawyer's office after his mother wrote a check to the lawyer, causing the detectives and prosecutors to focus on him. The defense is able to show that the son had the check canceled before the murder, obviating the motive to kill him.
Meanwhile, the prosecutors find that the lawyer, in fact, did find where the money was hidden, and blackmail
ed the chief executive to stay quiet. This gives the executive motive to kill the lawyer, but he had an alibi
on the night of the murder. Claire Kincaid
puts the two suspects together and discovers a phone call from the son to the executive one hour before the murder.
Jack McCoy
offers a plea of manslaughter
to the son in return for testimony against the executive for murder by depraved indifference. The son testifies that he was offered all of his money back from the executive in return for murdering the lawyer. After being reminded that they are to judge only about the facts of the murder and not the executive's past, the jury returns a guilty verdict.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's legal drama
Legal drama
A legal drama is a work of dramatic fiction about crime and civil litigation. Subtypes of legal dramas include courtroom dramas and legal thrillers, and come in all forms, including novels, television shows, and films. Legal drama sometimes overlap with crime drama, most notably in the case of Law...
Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
, and the ninth episode of the fifth season.
Plot
A lawyer is found shot to death in his office. The detectives find that the lawyer was running a confidence game where he targeted the victims of a savings and loan collapse. He told these people that he could recover the money that was hidden by the chief executive prior to the collapse.The son of one of the victims was identified leaving the lawyer's office after his mother wrote a check to the lawyer, causing the detectives and prosecutors to focus on him. The defense is able to show that the son had the check canceled before the murder, obviating the motive to kill him.
Meanwhile, the prosecutors find that the lawyer, in fact, did find where the money was hidden, and blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
ed the chief executive to stay quiet. This gives the executive motive to kill the lawyer, but he had an alibi
Alibi
Alibi is a 1929 American crime film directed by Roland West. The screenplay was written by West and C. Gardner Sullivan, who adapted the 1927 Broadway stage play, Nightstick, written by Elaine Sterne Carrington, J.C...
on the night of the murder. Claire Kincaid
Claire Kincaid
Assistant District Attorney Claire Kincaid is a fictional character on the television series Law & Order, played by Jill Hennessy from 1993 to 1996.-Character overview:...
puts the two suspects together and discovers a phone call from the son to the executive one hour before the murder.
Jack McCoy
Jack McCoy
John James "Jack" McCoy is a fictional character in the television drama Law & Order, created by Michael S. Chernuchin and played by Sam Waterston since 1994. He is the second-longest tenured character on the show, after Lt. Anita Van Buren . On January 28, 2009, McCoy's character ended the longest...
offers a plea of manslaughter
Manslaughter
Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
to the son in return for testimony against the executive for murder by depraved indifference. The son testifies that he was offered all of his money back from the executive in return for murdering the lawyer. After being reminded that they are to judge only about the facts of the murder and not the executive's past, the jury returns a guilty verdict.