Law & Order: Trial by Jury

Law & Order: Trial by Jury was an American television drama about criminal trials set in New York City. It was the third spin-off from the long-running Law & Order. The show's almost exclusive focus was on the criminal trial of the accused, showing both the prosecution's and defense's preparation for trial, as well as the trial itself. The series premiered on Thursday, March 3, 2005, and ended on January 21, 2006. Its regular time slot was Fridays 10/9 p.m. ET on NBC. The last episode aired on Court TV (now truTV) months after the series' cancellation.

Description

Unlike the other Law & Order series, Trial by Jury shows what it is like to prepare for and try a criminal case. The episodes usually start with a witness or victim telling a story about a crime that has already occurred. This story is used to inform the audience on what happened prior to the beginning of the episode. This is a departure from the other three Law & Order shows, which usually begin by depicting either the actual crime or its discovery/reporting by civilians. The show progresses on from that point, showing how both sides develop their strategies for winning the case.

The prosecution's preparation usually includes scenes in which their investigators follow up on leads and interview witnesses. The defense's preparation varies from episode to episode, running the gamut from testing arguments in front of jury focus groups to dealmaking between co-defendants. Each episode has several trial scenes, with both sides examining witnesses and giving arguments. There are also several pre-trial meetings where some procedural issue is argued and ruled on. In addition, there are a few episodes showing jury deliberation. The show develops the judges as characters, showing scenes of them conferring with each other and reusing the same judges in multiple episodes.

Characters

• Tracey Kibre is tough, focused prosecutor, she is a contrast to the lead ADAs in the other three series with a black-and-white view of the law.
• Kelly Gaffney is the younger assistant to Kibre, she is often more by-the-book. She often challenges Kibre, who sees the law in more shades of gray than her partner.
• Hector Salazar is a former police detective who was apparently injured on duty; an injury would have likely put him in a desk job, which he did not find too thrilling.
• Lennie Briscoe was the first partner of Hector Salazar, the longest serving detective on any Law & Order series. He only appears in the first two episodes due to the death of Orbach. His final onscreen appearance is in the episode "Forty-One Shots". Orbach was so ill at the time that he could barely speak above a whisper. Thus his final line of dialogue had to be rewritten.
• Arthur Branch is the New York district attorney, he also appeared in a starring role on the original Law & Order.
• Chris Ravell is the second partner of Hector Salazar, in episodes 3 to 13, unlike Salazar and Briscoe, he is a member of the NYPD. Cohen was credited as a Guest Appearance for Episodes 3 and 4 before being added to the main credits in Episode 5.

Episodes

Crossover episodes

Out of the seven two-part crossovers in the Law & Order franchise: Trial by Jury had two:

• "Tombstone" (Law & Order 15x20), continued in "Skeleton" (Law & Order: Trial by Jury 1x8)
  • Guest Characters - Jack McCoy, Joe Fontana, Eddie Green & Anita Van Buren from Law & Order and John Munch from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
• "Night" (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 6x20), continued in "Day" (Law & Order: Trial by Jury 1x11)
  • Guest Characters - Elizabeth Olivet from Law & Order and Elliot Stabler, Casey Novak, Olivia Benson & Melinda Warner from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Ratings

Cancellation

NBC announced on May 16, 2005 that Trial by Jury would not be returning for the 2005–2006 fall television season. The rival CBS procedural Numb3rs debuted in the midseason in late January 2005 and consistently beat NBC's Medical Investigation in the ratings, sending the latter show into hiatus and eventual cancellation, freeing up the time slot for Law & Order: Trial by Jury. Despite Trial by Jury 's pedigree, Numb3rs ratings remained strong, often beating Trial by Jury in both overall and key demographic ratings.^[2]

Trial by Jury is the first series of the Law & Order franchise to be cancelled, although TV Guide reported at one point that NBC had reconsidered its decision and would pick up the series once again, or hand it off to Turner Network Television (TNT), which also airs reruns of the original series. The sets were reused by a series Wolf produced for NBC entitled Conviction which premiered Friday, March 3, 2006, lasting only one season before cancellation. In an October 2005 interview with the Associated Press, Wolf stated that NBC had assured him Trial by Jury would return for the fall of 2005 but had "blindsided" him by cancelling it instead.

Court TV (now truTV) re-aired the entire series, including the episode "Eros In The Upper Eighties", which never aired on NBC before the show's cancellation. TNT has aired the episode "Skeleton" on occasion, as the conclusion to the original series episode "Tombstone".

DVD release

On April 25, 2006, Universal Studios Home Entertainment released Law & Order: Trial by Jury - The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.^[3]

References

External links

• Official website from CourtTV.com
• Law & Order: Trial by Jury at epguides.com
• Law & Order: Trial by Jury at the Internet Movie Database
• Law & Order: Trial by Jury at TV.com