This second episode of Trial By Jury marked the farewell performance of Jerry Orbach as Detective Lennie Briscoe, possibly one of the most popular characters ever to appear on television. The Law And Order franchise survived, but was never as popular.
Rapper Anthony 'Treach' Criss is our perpetrator here, he's a cop killer, he shot at several cops trying to serve a warrant and killed one of them. He's got a high price defense lawyer in Peter Coyote and he's good at blowing smoke in the jury's eyes. Remember it only takes one to hang the jury.
Some more people make some appearances to bind the show to the Law And Order prime show. We find out that Carey Lowell who was Sam Waterston's second chair for a few seasons has now become a judge. I remember on the prime show she was facing disbarment. Now how she got out of it and became a judge would make an interesting episode on SVU since that's the last running Law And Order show.
Candice Bergen makes a second appearance as a trial judge, but the dual between Bebe Neuwirth/Amy Carlson team and Peter Coyote is really quite the battle of capable adversaries. As for Treach, with what comes out at trial, no matter what the verdict this guy has not got a promising existence.
And this review is dedicated to Jerry Orbach who for years I enjoyed in every part he ever played and to Detective Lennie Briscoe whose trenchant observations on love, life, and marriage enlivened many a Law And Order show. RIP Jerry Orbach.