Custody

"Custody"
←	L&O, Episode 6.14	→
Production number: K0117 First aired: 21 February 1996
	{{{nNthProducedInSeries}}}th of 456 produced in L&O
←	{{{nNthReleasedInSeries}}}th of 456 released in L&O	→
	{{{nNthReleasedInAll}}}th of 1271 released in all
Teleplay By Morgan Gendel Story By Morgan Gendel & René Balcer Directed By Constantine Makris

Plot[]

The investigation of a social worker's murder coincides with a black woman kidnapping her son from his white foster parents.

Cast[]

Main cast[]

• Jerry Orbach as Detective Lennie Briscoe
• Benjamin Bratt as Detective Rey Curtis
• S. Epatha Merkerson as Lieutenant Anita Van Buren
• Sam Waterston as Executive A.D.A. Jack McCoy
• Jill Hennessy as A.D.A. Claire Kincaid
• Steven Hill as D.A. Adam Schiff

Recurring cast[]

• Richard Brooks as Defense Attorney Paul Robinette
• Charlotte Colavin as Judge Lisa Pongracic

Guest cast[]

• Amber Kain as Jenny Mays
• Scott Lawrence as Michael Walters
• Chuck Cooper as Walters' Attorney
• Lee Brock as Donna Corbin
• Mark Nelson as Stein
• Oni Faida Lampley as Sharlene Patterson
• Afemo Omilami as Henry Patterson
• Harold Miller as Judge Cyrus Metcalfe
• Lillias White as Susan Monroe
• Marcell Rosenblatt as Mrs. Bello
• Michael Patterson as Alan Corbin
• Ray Girardin as Detective Sal Martel
• André De Shields as Dr. Elvin Simmonds
• Iris Little Thomas as Jean Hepley
• Alvaleta Guess as Mrs. Morris
• Karen Evans Kandel as Margaret White
• Michael Ingram as Alan De Simio
• Stacy Highsmith as Darla Walters
• Stacy Greene as Tami
• Kevin Sussman as Joe
• Robert Salviotti as Shane
• Michael F. Boyle as Port Authority Policeman
• John Finnerty as First Uniform Policeman
• Matt Myers as Squadroom Policeman
• Joe Passaro as CSU Technician
• Spencer Cohen as Coroner's Assistant
• Constance James as Jury Foreperson

References[]

• Baskind Rehab Clinic
• Lawrence Bello
• New York Health & Welfare Agency
• Nucor Data
• Springfield, Massachusetts
• Syosset
• Benjamin Stone
• Louis Farrakhan

Quotes[]

Claire Kincaid: So because of the bigots, any black criminal has a ready-made excuse?

Paul Robinette: Not an excuse. A mitigating factor.

Background information and notes[]

• Paul Robinette (Richard Brooks), the previous Assistant district attorney before Claire Kincaid, returns, now a defense attorney.
• Robinette tries to call his old boss, Benjamin Stone, to testify about statements from a judge about how he felt about sterilizing drug addicts. Stone is mentioned as "traveling in Europe, not available to testify at any hearing." However, the judge by this time has already declared himself "unavailable" to hear the case.
• In the last scene, Robinette recalls an occasion when Stone asked him if he felt like a "Black lawyer, or a lawyer who's Black". This occurred at the end of the season one episode "Out of the Half-Light".

Episode scene cards[]