
Lives hang in the balance as detectives and prosecutors pursue justice in New York City. In cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects until someone is taken into custody. The district attorney's office then builds a case to convict the perpetrator by proving the person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Working together, these expert teams navigate all sides of the complex criminal justice system to make New York a safer place -- and keep the worst offenders off the streets.

McCoy must determine whether charges should be filed in civil court or in criminal court when a novelist's death seems to have been caused by careless liposuction, but Branch finds a recurring pattern of negligence by the doctor.

McCoy takes the issue of gay marriage before the state's Supreme Court when he is unable to compel a man to testify against a crooked developer because the two say they are married.

The shooting of a Panamanian jockey sends Fontana and Falco into the colorful world of horse racing; they learn that the animal's owner used stolen funds for the purchase.

Fontana and Falco make an arrest after a blaze kills a firefighter; the discovery of a charred pistol leads them to reopen the investigation into an old murder.