- A man opens fire during the docking of a dinner cruise boat. The Governor appoints a special prosecutor because Schiff refuses to seek the death penalty; McCoy helps Schiff appeal while Ross helps the special prosecutor at trial. Schiff's wife is hospitalized following a stroke.—Anonymous
- Detectives Briscoe and Logan investigate a shooting incident at a pier just as a party boat - out on the river for a major fund-raising event - dock. Multiple shots were fired and several people were wounded. One died after falling into the water. With little else to go on, the police start looking into the background of each of the victims. Earlier on the Sunday of the cruise, travel agent Susan Beckner had provided tour operator Hank Coburn with 40 airline and he paid her with a check. When the police check Coburn's bank account he had nowhere near the funds required. The DA's office is convinced Coburn is guilty and charge him with second degree murder. It all becomes complicated when the Governor of New York insists that Coburn be tried for first degree murder. When Adam Schiff refuses, the case is taken away from his office. While Schiff and McCoy challenge the Governor's authority in court, Jamie Ross finds herself trying to get the conviction.—garykmcd
- While people are disembarking a dinner cruise, shots ring out and people scatter. After the detectives arrive, Lennie interviews a witness who saw a man behind a column but doesn't remember any details. A crime scene investigator shows Curtis where four people were shot, one man fatally. A young man explains to Lennie that this was a cocktail cruise that was a fundraiser and a singles event for people belonging to a young Jewish social club. Another fatal victim is found in the water, a graduate student named Mona Kaminsky, according to the ID found near where she fell in. The shooter left a message on a nearby car: "Kill Zionists."
At the hospital, Curtis interviews a male victim in a wheelchair who had a broken ankle from falling at the scene. He saw the man with the gun run right at them when he'd been talking to Ms. Kaminsky. Lennie interviews a female victim in a hospital bed with a wound on her arm, Ms. Beckner. Lieutenant Van Buren interviews a female victim on a gurney, who said she had been talking to a man right before the shooting who said he had a limo waiting for him.
On a city block, the detectives interview the limo driver, who took a Mr. Westin to JFK just before the shooting. The driver said he didn't notice any men hanging around but that there were a lot of taxi drivers in the area, including some from Sunshine Cab.
At One Police Pizza, the detectives talk to an intelligence officer who keeps track of terrorist attacks. There is one hit on their watch list who also drives for Sunshine Cab, Nadal Salam.
At Sunshine Cab, the detectives interview Mr. Salam, who said he was home sick the night of the shooting. He says that he was never at the pier, that that area is often covered by cab drivers from Egypt.
At a cafe, the detectives sit with two drivers from Egypt who had been at the pier. They remember one man in a trench coat who was standing in the area.
At the station, Van Buren reports that fingerprints from the shell casings aren't clear enough to be useful. The detectives have a blueprint of the pier and determine that the gunman was likely after a someone in a particular group of six people who were walking together and that the antisemitic message might have been a way to send investigators toward terrorists. They start investigating the victim who was fatally shot, a Mr. Larry Rice.
In the medical examiner's office, the specialist says that Rice's wallet didn't have a lot of information about him. They find a business card in the wallet for a Mr. Todd Wexman, a CPA.
At the accounting firm, an assistant tells the detectives that Mr. Wexman hasn't been heard from for the last two days, and she doesn't know how to reach his wife, who is out of town. She also has no file on anyone named Larry Rice. She shows him a picture of Mr. Wexman: the detectives confirm that Mr. Wexman is the same as the Mr. Rice in the morgue.
Van Buren is meeting with Mrs. Wexman in her office. She has never heard the name Larry Rice. Wexman had use the named Rice to lease an apartment and go on dinner cruises. Mrs. Wexman says that her husband traveled a lot but does not believe he could have lead a double life. The detectives search the apartment Wexman leased in the Rice name. It looked like a bachelor pad and as if it hadn't been used in a while.
At her office, the head of Jewish social club, Ms. Kaplan, talks to the detectives about Mr. Rice/Wexman, who had been to several of the singles events. He reports that he was quite shy. She also gives information on the other victims, including Susan Beckner, one of the victims they interviewed at the hospital, a travel agent. She had been successfully fund raising for the cruise and had brought in a number of donation checks that evening on the cruise to give to Ms. Kaplan. She mentions that one of the checks bounced.
At the ballistics lab, the specialist tells the detective that Ms. Beckner received the first shot and was likely the primary target.
At her apartment, Ms. Beckner tells the detectives that she can't think of any reason anyone would have a problem with her. They ask who knew she was going on that cruise that night: her mother, a couple of friends, and a client she'd seen that afternoon. Lennie asks why she would meet with a client on a Sunday, and she explains that he needed plane tickets for a group of travelers stranded in Bulgaria.
They visit the client, Hank Coburn, at his apartment. He said the group had been stranded in Bulgaria because their plane back to New York had mechanical problems, so he worked with Ms. Beckner to get forty new tickets. Lennie asks about the $50 donation check Coburn had given to Ms. Beckner that day. He said he had wanted to be nice since she worked for him on a weekend.
At the station, the detectives report on Coburn's finances. The $50 donation check was cashed on Monday and it bounced. The $30K check for the tickets, cashed three days later, cleared, after a large wire transfer came in from Canada. They suspect that Coburn wanted to shoot Ms. Beckner to keep her from cashing the large check on Monday when it would have bounced.
Checking on Coburn's alibi, the detectives go to the apartment of his girlfriend, Carylyne Trang. She says that she and Hank were in all night during the shooting. She also own a Glock, the type used in the crime.
In the interrogation room, Ms. Trang tells the detectives and Van Buren that her gun was stolen. Lennie shows her Coburn's bank statements. When she finds out Coburn doesn't have any cash or assets, she says Coburn told her to lie to them. She calls Coburn to entice him to her apartment that tonight but when he shows, the detectives arrest him for murder.
In DA Adam Schiff's office, ADAs Jack McCoy and Jamie Ross are introduced to Victor Panatti, from the state attorney general's office. According to Panatti, the governor wants this to be a capital case, one of the first after New York reinstated the death penalty. McCoy isn't sure the case is strong enough. Schiff receives an urgent phone call and leaves.
Walking outside with lunch bags, Ross and McCoy discuss whether this can be a capital case. It will depend on whether both deaths were intentional. A bullet surmises intention but Jack wants to know how the female victim fell into the water.
At a flower stand where he works, the victim who broke his ankle at the scene tells Ross that the gunman wasn't really shooting at him and Ms. Kaminsky but more like in the air. In McCoy's office, Ross and McCoy talk about the elements of the crime and whether it can be deemed capital: it involves provoking a panic, robbery, continued act, use of force, fraud. Ross appears motivated to find ways to make it a capital case, McCoy less so. McCoy explains that Schiff's wife had a stroke so he is at the hospital with her.
Ross interviews Ms. Trang at her apartment. The night of the shooting, Coburn told her that he was going to see a travel agent about tickets and she didn't see him after that because she went to Barney's. She said he did call her on her cell phone from a landline.
Ross interviews a man at Small World Travel, which is where Coburn called Ms. Trang from on the night of the shooting. Coburn had gone to Small World for an advance on a future trip. The man did not pay him as it's not standard procedure to pre-pay so far ahead.
At the DA's office, Schiff says he is waiting on more news about his wife's condition. Schiff tells them to go for murder two, not murder one.
At a restaurant, the state attorney general tells Schiff to try Coburn on murder one, a death penalty case. Schiff says that would involve turning the law into a pretzel and says no despite pressure.
In McCoy's office, Schiff and the ADAs watch a television news report on how the governor has used executive privilege to remove Schiff in the case and appointed Mr. Panatti as a special prosecutor who will seek the death penalty for Coburn. McCoy's phone rings: it's Panatti, asking McCoy to help prosecute Coburn. He agrees to meet to talk about it.
At deputy attorney general Panatti's office, Panatti says McCoy will be the lead attorney. McCoy says he wants to talk to Schiff first.
Schiff enters McCoy's office. McCoy says a capital case is possible. Schiff says he almost resigned, but then designed to take the governor to court to be reinstated as the prosecutor.
In a bar, McCoy tells Ross he's not going to work with Panatti, not feeling right about going against Schiff. Ross tells McCoy Panatti invited her to join him and she already said yes.
In Mr. Panatti's office, Mr. Axtell, Coburn's attorney, proposes a plea bargain. Panatti rejects it, saying the case will be decided by a jury.
Adam and McCoy are working together at the DA's office, looking at cases regarding the power of the governor and the courts. Precedence seems to be on their side. McCoy checks in with Ross and they wish each other luck.
The next morning in the criminal Supreme Court, Ms. Beckner testifies about how the shooting meant she wasn't able to cash Coburn's check, which would have caused significant legal, professional, and financial problems for him.
Meanwhile, Schiff, McCoy at his side, tells the press they are there to fight against the governor's hijacking the case from the county. Inside the civil Supreme court, McCoy argues that the governor was not justified in removing Schiff from the case, the only time that is justifiable being when the government official is corrupt or committing criminal acts.
In criminal court, Ross interview the owner of Small World Travel, who Coburn had begged for a pre-payment on the day of the shooting. Coburn's attorney cross examines him to admit that it wasn't entirely unheard of for someone to ask for such early pre-payment.
In the hallway, Ross tells Panatti they're in trouble, that she sees the jury agreeing with Coburn's side. Panatti refuses to plea and says he'll take over examinations.
In the civil court, Mr. Tyrell, the attorney arguing for the governor, argues that the governor's executive is unfettered. Schiff stands, asking permission to speak and says "The governor is using his office to put a man's life in the balance. He claims his power is absolute, beyond review. That's arrogant and smacks of royal authority. I don't think the constitution allows it and I know the justice system can't tolerate it." The judge says he'll deliver his judgment at the end of the week.
In criminal court, Coburn testifies that he needed to stop Ms. Beckner from cashing the check, and intended to wound her just to keep her from doing that. He says he was desperate and stupid but didn't mean to kill anyone. On cross, Panatti asks questions to make it seem like Coburn meant to kill Beckner and planned it. On re-direct, Coburn's attorney points out that Coburn's charge changed from murder two to murder one only after Schiff was removed from the case. Essentially, the DA of New York didn't think Coburn was guilty of capital murder.
McCoy approaches Schiff in his office. The civil case was called for the governor: his executive decisions are not up for review.
In the criminal case, the jury foreman reads the verdict: Coburn is not guilty of murder one but is guilty of murder two for both Todd Wexner and Mona Kaminsky.
At the hospital, Ross and McCoy share the news of Coburn's verdict with Schiff. "Always trust the jury," says Schiff. "You did good, both of you." A doctor calls Schiff into his wife's hospital room. The doctor hands Schiff a document to sign and then turns the machines keeping his wife alive. Schiff touches his wife's arm as she passes and he releases a small, pained sound.
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