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Law & Order Season 8 Episodes
Season 8 Episode Guide
24 Episodes 1997 - 1998
Episode 1
Thrill
Wed, Sep 24, 199746 mins
Detectives Briscoe and Curtis investigate the shooting death of a young fast food delivery man, Matthew Wheeler. The investigation reveals that someone phoned several fast food outlets late that night requesting deliveries to what is now a boarded up store. Only one restaurant agreed to the delivery. From the information they've been able to gather two young men, eventually identified as Joey Timon and Dale Kershaw, had talked about randomly shooting anyone just for the thrill of it. They are eventually arrested but the DA's office has a dilemma - which one of them actually pulled the trigger.
Episode 2
Denial
Wed, Oct 8, 199746 mins
Bloody sheets and an apparently stolen credit card lead Briscoe and Curtis to a pair of college age lovers who present McCoy and Ross with a united front of denial that one of them killed their newborn son and disposed of the body.
Episode 3
Navy Blues
Wed, Oct 15, 199745 mins
When two patrolman find a dead body in a park, Detectives Briscoe and Curtis think the man, Navy Chief Robert Stroud, is the fifth victim of a mugger who also kills his victims. They break the case rapidly, but when ballistics confirms that Stroud was shot with a different gun, they still have a murder to solve. They soon learn that the married Stroud was having an affair with a pilot, Lt. Kirstin Blair. The DA's office soon finds itself in a tussle over jurisdiction with the Navy but manages to charge Blair with murder. She's a very cool customer and claims that Stroud was shot accidentally. Her lawyer bases her case on the defendant's character. So does ADA Jack McCoy.
Episode 4
Harvest
Wed, Oct 29, 199747 mins
Detectives Briscoe and Curtis investigate the death of Nancy O' Neal, the victim of a drive-by shooting while she was returning home with her husband Marty. The husband's story doesn't stand up to scrutiny but the truth - that he was in that neighborhood to buy a diamond ring from a fence - makes more sense. They locate the fence who saw three men in the area where the shooting took place. They quickly track down the shooter, Elias Camacho, but Jamie Ross notes an anomaly in O'Neal's time of death and it appears the hospital prepared to harvest Nancy O'Neal's organs before she was officially declared to have died. The DA's office believe that the doctor in charge, Donald Cosgrove, may have precipitated her death in order to deliver her organs to a hospital where he was hoping to get a job.
Episode 5
Nullification
Wed, Nov 5, 199746 mins
Detectives Briscoe and Curtis investigate an armored car robbery at an off track betting parlor that the resulted in the deaths of two security guards. One of the robbers, Matthew Brant was also killed and another, Greg Kubie, is in hospital in a coma. The weapons they used were modified to allow full automatic fire. It turns out they were part of a self-styled militia called the New Sons of Liberty, a group of 20 men who were well-armed and seemingly prepared to go to war. Their leader, Phil Christie, refuses to recognize the government's authority and leads the defense for himself and his band. He's clearly out to get a hung jury.
Episode 6
Baby, It's You
Wed, Nov 12, 199760 mins
Detectives Briscoe and Curtis investigate the death of a 14 year-old fashion model, Britney Janaway. She had complained to her father, a doctor, that she had abdominal pain and he took her to his office to treat her. She also had a bruise on her back and scratches on her arm. The medical examiner determines she died from toxic shock and had been raped some weeks before. The Janaways aren't very cooperative and their lawyer goes out of his way to make it difficult by placing ads and offering a hefty reward. The police look into the Janaways household staff - past and present - and the Baltimore police help out by checking out the home the Janaways kept there. Trying to arrest their main suspect is not easy however but when they do, he is in fact a witness.
Episode 7
Blood
Wed, Nov 19, 199760 mins
Detectives Briscoe and Curtis investigate the death of Karen Burdett who jumped - or was pushed - out of her apartment window. They initially suspect suicide but the crime scene unit confirms she was thrown off the balcony. Her husband Josh dismisses suicide at first but then confirms that she may have been depressed over giving up their three week old daughter for adoption. He says they gave her up because he didn't want children, but when the police learn the baby is African-American, they begin looking for her boyfriend. The fact is that Josh Burdett is actually African American but has passed as white all of his life. Even his first wife - to whom he was married for 19 years - denies ever knowing he was black. ADA's McCoy and Ross soon realize they're on the wrong track and prosecute the person they are sure is responsible.
Episode 8
Shadow
Wed, Nov 26, 199760 mins
Detectives Briscoe and Curtis investigate the murder of Manny Erlich, a bail bondsman who was shot through the head while sitting at his desk. They learn he didn't usually work on Saturday nights, but he had received a call from someone and so went in to the office. They first suspect one of Erlich's clients, Oscar Liriano, who failed to show up in court. They apprehend Liriano and his girlfriend Josette, who tells them that his lawyer, Arvin Baker, was going to fix the case for him. A review of Baker's recent cases show an unusually large number of dismissals. A disgruntled former client confirms that Baker fixed cases, but the question for the DAs office should be who in the legal justice system is taking the bribes.
Episode 9
Burned
Wed, Dec 10, 199744 mins
Detectives Briscoe and Curtis investigate a possible murder when a woman hears an answering machine message saying the caller is responsible for killing someone by the name of DeeDee. The first suspect is the phone's owner Stan Kaminski, but the police realize the message may have been intended for a Roy Lawlor. Two years previously, a drunken Lawlor fell asleep with a lit cigarette and set fire to his apartment killing his daughter Diane, aka DeeDee. They trace the incoming call to the home of a Carl Anderton, Lawlor's former father-in-law. From the voice on the tape, they suspect Anderton's grandson 15 year-old Terry Lawlor, DeeDee's half-brother, to be responsible. Once the boy is arrested, the powerful and politically connected Anderton pulls out all the stops to get the case dropped, including threatening to withdraw his political support for Adam Schiff, who faces re-election in a few months. DA McCoy consults Dr. Emil Skoda, who thinks the boy may be bipolar. But Anderton flatly refuses to let the boy undergo a psychiatric examination. It turns out Anderton may have something of his own to hide.
Episode 10
Ritual
Wed, Dec 17, 199745 mins
Detectives Briscoe and Curtis investigate the murder of Joseph Moussad who is found bludgeoned to death on the top tier of a parking garage. In his pocket he had a flight number and initials of Dr. Ismail Nasser, arriving from Cairo. They trace Nasser's movements and take him into custody. He claims he was here to give Moussad a check up. Moussad's girlfriend Farrah Patel thinks his niece and her husband, Nari and Eric Martin, likely killed him as they were after his money. Their daughter Alison tells Lt. Van Buren that her parents and Joseph had had an argument and her mother subsequently left their apartment. It turns out Alison was lying and it was her father who left after the argument. Eric Martin was angry at his wife's uncle and mother because they had brought Dr. Nasser to the US to perform a female circumcision on Alison. Jack McCoy is not unsympathetic but isn't prepared to let him walk away from the killing. While Jack pursues the prosecution, Jamie Ross goes to family court to have Alison taken away from her mother, who was doing nothing to stop the brutal procedure.
Episode 11
Under the Influence
Wed, Jan 7, 199847 mins
Detectives Briscoe and Curtis investigate a hit and run accident in Harlem that resulted in the death of three people, one of them a child. They're not entirely sure it was an accident but can't find anyone who would do the victims any harm. They're able to identify the make and model of the car to high-flying executive Bernard Dressler who had returned to the USA on the morning of the accident. There is little doubt he was behind the wheel of the car but McCoy and DA Schiff decide to prosecute him for murder one. The central question is whether he was too drunk to form intent. Dressler's lawyer claims he was but McCoy very much wants this man - who had been involved in a previous drunk driving accident - to go to jail for a very long time. Jamie Ross thinks he's out for revenge of sorts over the death of Claire Kincaid.
Episode 12
Expert
Wed, Jan 21, 199846 mins
Detectives Lenny Briscoe and Ray Curtis think they have a revenge shooting on their hands when a small-time hood by the name of Mike escapes a shooting in a restaurant men's room. Dr. Leon Mayer from Seattle is seriously wounded in the incident but the police soon realize that his shooting not an accident and that he was the intended victim all along. Mayer, a psychiatrist, was in town to act as an expert witness who was going to testify in a high profile case, something he did on a regular basis. It leads them to Lindsay Carson who blames Meyer for her father Arthur Rigg's conviction. It seems that Meyer refused to help them with the appeal and it's left to Jack McCoy to figure out why he refused to do so.
Episode 13
Castoff
Wed, Jan 28, 199846 mins
Detectives Briscoe and Curtis investigate the murder of Jennifer Gaylin who was possibly the victim of a drive-by shooting. She was a social worker and quite popular at the community center where she worked. Her father Doug Gaylin is convinced the killing was racially motivated but the detectives learn she may have been using drugs to boost her sex drive. It turns out the victim was heavy into the S&M scene and had a partner, TV reporter Stu Steiner. When the police find him dead in his apartment they learn from the FBI that there have been 3 other very similar killings in other cities. From another participant in the S&M scene they learn that Eddie Chandler might be behind the killing. Chandler is arrested and charged with first degree murder. His lawyer, Neil Pressman, will argue that prolonged exposure to TV violence led to his sociopathic behavior.
Episode 14
Grief
Wed, Feb 4, 199846 mins
Detectives Briscoe and Curtis investigate the severe beating of George Harding, who is found under a bridge in Riverside Park. This is the second beating for Harding in less than a week, but he refuses to cooperate with the investigation. Harding works as an attendant at a psychiatric hospital and when patient Leslie Russo told her brothers Joe and Frank Russo that he had raped her, they administered the beatings. The hospital says they conducted a thorough investigation and found no evidence that Leslie had been raped, let alone by Harding. When they learn there was a rape investigation at another hospital where Harding worked, they find that Wendy Singer, a comatose patient, is several months pregnant. They are now certain they can get a conviction against Harding, but when ADA Jamie Ross catches Wendy's mother in several lies, she realizes that much more is going on.
Episode 15
Faccia a Faccia
Wed, Feb 25, 199847 mins
Detectives Briscoe and Curtis investigate the murder of Tony Legrasso, a former mafia hitman who is found dead in Central Park with six bullets in the chest. It takes the police some time before they identify him however as he had been living in another state under the federal witness protection program. He was continuing to cooperate and was scheduled to give evidence against top mob boss Alberto Napoli who ordered one of his men, Johnny DeMayo, to eliminate him. DeMayo is cooperating with the DAs office but Napoli's lawyer claims his client is mentally incompetent as a result of a recent stroke. McCoy thinks Napoli's illness is all an act. He then concludes that DeMayo isn't the shooter so they go back to square one.
Episode 16
Divorce
Wed, Mar 4, 199846 mins
A marriage counselor who also works on Roman Catholic annulment cases is murdered in her office. The suspect is a woman who was contesting the annulment of her marriage because the annulment would make her son illegitimate theologically. The lawyer who handled her legal divorce uses the situation to squeeze more money from the ex-husband.
Episode 17
Carrier
Wed, Apr 1, 199845 mins
While investigating the shooting death of a teenage girl, the detectives learn of a guy who is HIV positive and is infecting girls despite knowing his condition. Jamie makes the health department reveal who this person is. After being caught, his parents want to keep him out of prison so their lawyer claims that using information from the health department is a violation of confidentiality. The judge upholds it and that is basically their whole case. So McCoy has to find some other way to prove his intent.
Episode 18
Stalker
Wed, Apr 15, 199860 mins
Briscoe and Curtis investigate a woman's claim that someone is stalking her. Initially they think she's paranoid, but when she's fatally attacked, they arrest one of her suspected stalkers as the murder suspect. Because of an earlier false accusation, the defense moves to suppress it as evidence. Briscoe, questioned by the prosecution, lies so that the evidence can be admitted. Curtis, called by the defense, is not willing to do the same.
Episode 19
Disappeared
Wed, Apr 22, 199845 mins
Detectives Briscoe and Curtis investigate the disappearance of Paul and Donna Ericson. Their absence isn't noted until their 8-year-old son returns home on a Sunday after spending the weekend away. The Ericsons had been having a dispute with their condo developer Nathan Faber, regarding a coffee shop, whose owner also disappears. The police are convinced that the three are the victims of kidnapping, and an anonymous note to a newspaper seems to confirm this theory. A Ben O'Dell contacts the police to say that his brother Matt, who is mentally ill, is responsible. He turns him in on the condition that his brother Matt will not face the death penalty. Carrie agrees to take his mental health status into consideration. Matt, however, flatly refuses to be examined by a psychiatrist, and his lawyer, Danielle Melnick, manages to get much of the evidence thrown out. When Matt O'Dell is found guilty, the question becomes whether the death penalty should be used for someone who may want to die.
Episode 20
Burden
Fri, Apr 24, 199846 mins
Detectives Lenny Briscoe and Ray Curtis investigate the death of a young quadriplegic boy, Michael Sutter, who was smothered in his bed at home. The detectives first suspect the boy's mother, Lois Sutter, who claims she was at home alone with the boy the afternoon he died. When they learn she was having a tryst with her dance instructor the afternoon her son died, she admits she'd left the boy with her daughter Stephanie. When they find hemlock in the dead boy's system, they think the father may have been responsible. With little evidence and no clear way forward, the detectives investigate one of the boy's physician, Dr. Lyle Semeko, whose patients seem to have a very high mortality rate.
Episode 21
Bad Girl
Wed, Apr 29, 199846 mins
Police believe a young woman is responsible for the stabbing of a police officer. McCoy is stunned during his cross-examination of the defendant on the stand. McCoy and Ross struggle with the morality of the death penalty when she claims she has become a "born again" Christian on death row and has asked to end her appeals.
Episode 22
Damaged
Wed, May 6, 199846 mins
Detectives Briscoe and Curtis investigate a schoolyard shooting where a popular teacher, Amanda Kovac, was shot. She had recently been pivotal in getting three boys suspended for having sex in the school. One of the boys, Randy, says someone shot at them and they returned fire. They trace the shooter to another student, Sally Maxwell, but the boys say they have no idea who Sally is or why she would shoot at them. Sally claims the boys raped her older sister Valerie, who is mentally disabled with an IQ of 65, and decided to take matters into her own hands after school officials did nothing about it. The challenge for the prosecutors is to demonstrate that the boys knew of Valerie's disability before they had sex with her. Meanwhile, Ray Curtis has asked Lt. Van Buren for a transfer and Briscoe is still having deal with his own daughter Cathy's arrest.
Episode 23
Tabloid
Wed, May 13, 199844 mins
Detectives Briscoe and Curtis investigate the death of well-known law professor who had just recently been nominated to sit on the appellate court, Maggie Abbott. She was struck by a cab after she darted out into the street, apparently running away from someone. They initially suspect her husband, Warren Abbott, who had an affair with Julianne Lowry, one of the interns at his law office. They subsequently learn that a gossip columnist, Philip Marco, is the man Maggie was running from when she ran into the street. Marco gets a suspended sentence over the incident but when he subsequently shot and killed, they once again look at Abbott and his daughter Laura. When Warren Abbott is charged with murder, his lawyer puts the tabloid newspaper industry on trial. Meanwhile Jamie Ross, who is about to be remarried, once again finds herself in family court when her ex-husband seeks custody of their daughter.
Episode 24
Monster
Wed, May 20, 199846 mins
Detectives Briscoe and Curtis investigate the rape of 10 year-old Malika Richardson who was found in in a coma in the basement of her apartment. They trace Malika's movements to the library and then a pizza parlor and get a few sketches of men who were seen in those locations. They arrest Owen Stokes, who was seen at several of the locations Malika visited on the day of the attack. DA Adam Schiff is up for election and makes it clear that he wants a conviction. As a result, Briscoe and Curtis coerce an admission of guilt from him. The only problem is that they have the wrong man. Briscoe meanwhile gets an offer from one of his informants to take care of the drug dealer who killed his daughter. Jamie decides the only way to keep custody of her daughter is to stop working full-time.
