LAW & ORDER {LAW AND ORDER}: THE SIXTH MAN (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, one Ira Walderman is found strangled in his rent-controlled apartment, and the detectives learn that he had been the final tenant still refusing to sell and convert to a co-op. His boss states that he had no friends and seemed interested only in basketball, and the M.E. confirms that Walderman's neck was snapped by a tall, strong individual. The building owner, Levin, admits that Walderman accepted his $80,000 bribe to sell but then reneged, thus giving Levin motive, but the detectives then learn that Walderman was in the process of suing several people, including basketball star Silas Inwood, claiming that he was badly injured in an infamous brawl at a recent home game. The detectives find that they cannot determine if he was genuinely injured in the fight or not, though they learn that Walderman was a season ticket-holder and had a habit of routinely heckling Inwood, including at a video-game promotion party right before his death.

Fontana and Green question Inwood, who denies knowing Walderman, and though his former coach alibis him for the time of death, a parking ticket places him near Walderman's building. The detective use an old record from Inwood's college arrest to determine that his fingerprint was on Walderman's watch and arrest him in front of a crowd of fans, though he is soon released on bail. Chiles argues that the print was illegally obtained, as the record should have been sealed when the charges were dropped, and Borgia notes with annoyance that Green and Fontana should have told her of their plans to exploit the "glitch in the system." The indictment is dismissed, but the detectives continue the investigation and question Inwood's teammates, who confirm that Walderman harassed Inwood personally, going so far as to call him at home. Branch tells the detectives to make a deal and offer first-degree manslaughter, but Inwood surprises them by admitting to killing him and stating that it was self-defense. He claims that he visited Walderman's apartment to "reason with him" and was forced to fight back when Walderman pulled a knife, though Borgia suspects that something else occurred between the two of them at the video-game party.

On the stand, a former coach, Aikens, recalls Inwood's fiery temper, explaining that he once placed him in the same chokehold that killed Walderman, though Aikens himself was fired over the incident, as the talented player was too valuable to lose. Other witnesses explain that Walderman considered himself to be "the sixth man" on Inwood's team because of his constant presence and active involvement with the game, though Chiles points out that Inwood was not seen to approach Walderman at all during the brawl, contrary to the claim in the lawsuit against him. Inwood's teammate plays one of Walderman's abrasive answering-machine messages, pointing out the "coded" racial statement in his claim that Inwood was "public property." McCoy determines that Inwood's young son was present at the video-game party and that Walderman approached the boy, suggesting that this impropriety promoted Inwood to kill him intentionally. Inwood maintains that he went to Walderman's apartment for a calm conversation and then had no choice but to defend his own life, but McCoy highlights their extreme physical differences, pointing out that Inwood could not have felt truly threatened. Inwood is found guilty and his team hurriedly tries to cancel his contract on a "morality clause," though Borgia notes with irony that his jersey has sold out overnight, suggesting that Walderman's fellow "fans" are not put off by the conviction. Commercials deleted.

Details

• NETWORK: NBC
• DATE: February 16, 2005 10:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 0:44:23
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: B:85398
• GENRE: Drama, police/detective
• SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/detective; Drama, legal
• SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1990-2010
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Peter Jankowski … Executive Producer
• Roz Weinman … Executive Producer
• Eric Overmyer … Executive Producer
• Matthew Penn … Executive Producer
• Dick Wolf … Executive Producer, Created by
• William N. Fordes … Co-Executive Producer
• Arthur W. Forney … Co-Executive Producer
• Peter Giuliano … Co-Executive Producer
• Wendy Battles … Co-Executive Producer
• Richard Sweren … Co-Executive Producer, Writer
• Gary Karr … Supervising Producer
• Nick Santora … Producer
• Kati Johnston … Producer
• Lois Johnson … Producer, Writer
• Rebecca Saionz … Co-Producer
• Alfonso I. Delgado … Associate Producer
• David Platt … Director
• Mike Post … Music by
• Dennis Farina … Cast, Detective Joe Fontana
• Jesse L. Martin … Cast, Detective Ed Green
• S. Epatha Merkerson … Cast, Lt. Anita Van Buren
• Sam Waterston … Cast, Jack McCoy
• Annie Parisse … Cast, A.D.A. Alexandra Borgia
• Fred Dalton Thompson … Cast, D.A. Arthur Branch
• Joe Morton … Cast, Leon Chiles
• Poncho Hodges … Cast, Silas Inwood
• Lamman Rucker … Cast, Reggie Uggams
• Leslie Hendrix … Cast, Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers
• Richard Bekins … Cast, Basketball Commissioner
• Charlotte Ortiz Colavin … Cast, Judge Lisa Pongracic
• Selenis Leyva … Cast, Detective Mariluz Rivera
• Angel Desai … Cast, Assistant M.E.
• William Charles Mitchell … Cast, Coach Dyer
• Gregory Northrop … Cast, Troy Johnston
• Robert Prescott … Cast, Coach Aikens
• David Valcin … Cast, Sgt. Hunter
• Mark L. Montgomery … Cast, Jonathan Levin
• Patti Karr … Cast, Rosalie Horton
• Deborah LaCoy … Cast, Rita Gale
• Hettienne Park … Cast, Taka Furukawa
• Diane Cossa … Cast, Arraignment Judge Valentini
• Matthew J. McMurray … Cast, Calvin Moses
• Tara Radcliffe … Cast, Moni
• Natalie Carter … Cast, Barbara
• Todd Davis … Cast, Clifton
• Onika Day … Cast, Sarita
• John Knox … Cast, Kevin
• Christa Scott-Reed … Cast, Tina
• Mark Lynch … Cast, Rob
• Paul Albe … Cast, Court Officer
• Michael J. Lombardi … Cast, Uniform
• Rick Johnson … Cast, Clerk
• Catherine Russell … Cast, Jury Foreperson