James Deakins

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For the similarly-named American journalist, see James Deakin.

Law & Order character
Captain James Deakins
Time on show	2001-2006
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	Danny Ross
First appearance	One
Last appearance	The Good
Portrayed by	Jamey Sheridan

Captain James Deakins was a fictional character on the U.S. television series, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, played by Jamey Sheridan. On the show, Deakins supervises New York City's Major Case Squad. His top detectives include partners Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Alexandra Eames (Kathryn Erbe), as well as partners Mike Logan (Chris Noth) and Carolyn Barek (Annabella Sciorra).

Although Deakins' first priority is the success of criminal investigations, he is often forced to rein in his more unpredictable detectives, especially Goren and Logan, to manage the bad publicity they occasionally attract. While this has created some friction between Deakins and his detectives, for the most part they respect his professional judgment and authority.

He had a bout with Bell's Palsy. While in recovery, he took to wearing an eye patch over his affected eye. He is now more reliant on eyeglasses.

He and his wife, Angie, have three daughters.

Deakins quit his post in 2006 (at the end of Season 5) rather than battle a conspiracy to frame him instigated by Frank Adair, whom Major Case detectives had arrested for killing his girlfriend. The trouble began in the episode "To the Bone" when Logan was forced to shoot a man in self-defense; later, Logan learned that the man he shot was an undercover cop. A uniformed policeman, Officer Martinez, had been the first to arrive on the scene and backed up Logan's self-defense claim; Adair planted an e-mail implicating Deakins in a false corruption charge. Adair's plan was to claim that Deakins had 'bought' Martinez's testimony for Logan.

Goren and Eames uncovered the forged e-mail, but Adair continued fighting Deakins. Unwilling to subject the NYPD, and his department in particular, to further embarrassment, Deakins decided to retire from service. He has been replaced by Captain Danny Ross (Eric Bogosian).