LAW & ORDER {LAW AND ORDER}: GUARDIAN (TV)
Summary
One in this series of dramas that deals with the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of criminals. The first half of each episode concerns the police procedure that leads to the arrest of a suspect, while the second half covers the efforts of the district attorney to prosecute the case. In this episode, a young woman, Katie Blanchard, is found dumped in a lot after an apparent overdose. Noticing her expensive clothing, the detectives hunt for the person who intentionally left her to die in the cold, and her former boyfriend Erik states that she had been in an out of rehab for some time. The head of the clinic, Herbert Fowler, explains that Katie's wealthy mother cut her off because of her addiction, and Meryl Blanchard explains that their business advisor, Jerome Kamen, was "like a father" to the children. Kamen admits to giving Katie small amounts of money when her mother refused her, and the detectives learn that Katie also received government disability funds, which went through a "responsible payee": Fowler. It soon becomes clear that Fowler was defrauding many of his clients by "holding onto" their money, though he vehemently denies dumping her body. The M.E. then reveals that Katie underwent a recent abortion or miscarriage, and Erik admits that while he refused to give her money for the procedure, he brought her heroin during their final face-to-face meeting.
Briscoe and Logan discover that Kamen arranged for Katie to stay in an upscale Upper West Side apartment, pretending that she was the tenants' niece, and they begin to suspect that he may have been having an affair with his surrogate "daughter." They arrest Kamen in his car and find physical evidence suggesting that he was the one to transport her still-living body to the lot where she was found, though Pollard successfully argues that their "inventory search" is inadmissible, leading to a dismissal of the charges against him. Schiff scolds McCoy and Van Buren for the risky maneuver, but Briscoe and Logan remain convinced that Kamen is hiding something and decide to question Katie's brother Matthew, a Yale law student. Matthew swears that Kamen could not have taken advantage of Katie, though Katie's friend Teena reveals that Kamen in fact gave her large amounts of money on a regular basis. Kamen's secretary Patricia Oster confirms Katie's frequent demands, and the detectives find that Katie was apparently blackmailing Kamen for embezzling from her trust fund, to which he alone had access. Kamen swears that his many withdrawals were for Katie, not for himself, but McCoy argues that he is still liable for her overdose, as he was fully aware that she was using the money for drugs.
Briscoe and Logan confront Erik again, stating that he supplied Katie with her fatal dose, but Erik reveals that he actually gave the drugs directly to Matthew. Matthew attempts to deny it, but finally admits that he and his sister got high together and that he called Kamen in a panic when Katie began to convulse. The detectives guess that Kamen allowed his blackmailer to die rather than driving her to the hospital, and they opt to allow the jury to decide who is truly culpable. Pollard questions Matthew and Meryl, trying to prove that they are at fault for enabling Katie's addictions, but when Kamen denies that he was present on the night of her death, McCoy boldly reintroduces the physical evidence from the car that had been previously thrown out, arguing that it goes to his credibility, if not technically his liability. Stuck, Pollard tries to bargain for second-degree manslaughter, but McCoy demands Man-1 as well as larceny, and Kamen furiously declares that Katie was intentionally killing herself with her habit and that he was "entitled" to her money because he had spent so many years cleaning up after the family's bad choices. Pollard accepts McCoy's deal, leaving McCoy to marvel at Kamen's arrogance. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: January 11, 1995 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:47:14
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:52066
- GENRE: Drama, police/detective
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/detective; Drama, legal; Drug addiction
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1990-2010
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Ed Sherin … Executive Producer
- Dick Wolf … Executive Producer, Created by
- Michael S. Chernuchin … Supervising Producer
- Mark B. Perry … Supervising Producer
- Lewis H. Gould … Producer
- Arthur W. Forney … Producer
- Jeffrey Hayes … Producer
- Rene Balcer … Producer, Writer
- Ed Zuckerman … Co-Producer
- Jody Milano-Vanderputten … Associate Producer
- Billy Fox … Associate Producer
- Christopher Misiano … Director
- William N. Fordes … Writer
- Brad Markowitz … Writer
- Mike Post … Music by
- Jerry Orbach … Cast, Det. Lennie Briscoe
- Chris Noth … Cast, Det. Mike Logan
- S. Epatha Merkerson … Cast, Lt. Anita Van Buren
- Sam Waterston … Cast, Asst. D.A. Jack McCoy
- Jill Hennessy … Cast, Asst. D.A. Claire Kincaid
- Steven Hill … Cast, D.A. Adam Schiff
- Jon Cypher … Cast, Jerome Kamen
- Gerry Bamman … Cast, Dean Pollard
- Joan MacIntosh … Cast, Meryl Blanchard
- Dallas Roberts … Cast, Matthew Blanchard
- Peter McRobbie … Cast, Herbert Fowler
- Holter Graham … Cast, Erik Hanson
- José E. Serrano … Cast, Judge Luis Rodriguez
- Francine Beers … Cast, Judge Janis Silver
- Edward Seamon … Cast, Ernest Hobson
- Eva Lowe … Cast, Patricia Oster
- Edward James Hyland … Cast, Stan Shatenstein
- Leslie Hendrix … Cast, Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers
- Sandra Daley … Cast, Susie Rayber
- Isiah Whitlock Jr. … Cast, Antony White
- Kira Arné … Cast, Teena Varga
- Burke Pearson … Cast, Frank Moskov
- Nicholas J. Giangiulio … Cast, Ferelli
- Elizabeth Van Dyke … Cast, Lenore
- Christina Denzinger … Cast, Syndelle
- Brian Burke … Cast, Little Man
- Jermaine Chambers … Cast, Pappi
- Saoul Mamby … Cast, Enrico Sariego
- Raquel Mondin … Cast, Heather
- Ken Land … Cast, Carl Bishop
- Gia Galeano … Cast, Police Clerk
- Phil Nee … Cast, Harry Woo
- Daniel Guggenheim … Cast, CSU Silvers
- Marc Plastrik … Cast, Uniform Policeman
- C. Arthur Smith … Cast, Court Clerk