Jack McCoy
Encyclopedia
John James "Jack" McCoy is a fictional character
in the television drama Law & Order
, created by Michael S. Chernuchin
and played by Sam Waterston
since 1994. He is the second-longest tenured character on the show, after Lt. Anita Van Buren
(S. Epatha Merkerson
). On January 28, 2009, McCoy's character ended the longest run of a character appearing in consecutive episodes. He was not featured in the episode "Lucky Stiff". His streak ended with 333 uninterrupted appearances since the first episode of the fifth season in 1994.
(Steven Hill
) in the Season 5 premiere episode "Second Opinion
". He quickly establishes himself as a more unconventional, ruthless litigator than his predecessor, Ben Stone
(Michael Moriarty
); he often bends—and sometimes breaks—trial rules to get convictions, finds tenuous rationales for charging defendants with crimes when the original charges fail to stick, and charges innocent people to frighten them into testifying against others. McCoy is more than once found in contempt of court
for such behavior, and his tactics occasionally incur negative publicity for the DA's office. His underlying motivation, however, is not, he maintains, corruption
, but a sincere desire to see justice
done. To that end, McCoy has gone after defendants accused of perverting the justice system to arrange wrongful convictions with just as much determination as his more mundane cases. Such aggressive actions in the courts have earned him the nickname "Hang 'em High McCoy". He has subsequently developed a reputation with both colleagues and rival attorneys, once being referred to as "the top of the legal food chain" by a rival attorney during a case.
Following the 17th season (2006–2007), Jack McCoy became District Attorney, taking over from Arthur Branch
(Fred Thompson). McCoy's appearance on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
on November 13, 2007, marked his first appearance in the Law & Order universe
as District Attorney. The replacement for his former position is Michael Cutter
(Linus Roache
), a prosecutor with a penchant for recklessness not unlike McCoy's own in his younger days. This occasionally presents political difficulties for the new District Attorney. More than once, McCoy berates Cutter for reckless conduct, in the same manner as he was berated by district attorneys when he was Assistant District Attorney.
In the season 19 episode "Lucky Stiff", McCoy begins his election campaign for New York County District Attorney
after serving the last season and a half as interim DA. In the episode "Rapture", his opponent for the office is shown for the first time. In season 19 episode "Promote This", it is revealed that in 1991 his wife Ellen (whom he was divorcing) unknowingly employed an undocumented immigrant as a nanny. This causes McCoy political havoc during a murder case where the motive was racism
against illegal immigrants of Hispanic
descent. In the episode "Skate or Die", the place where his final campaign fundraiser would be held is discovered by the organizers to be owned by a man who served a 20-year prison sentence for racketeering. Eventually, the final campaign fundraiser would be held at a Chinese seafood restaurant with a kosher section. In the last episode of season 19, "The Drowned and the Saved", McCoy's opponent's patron resigns due to scandal on the eve of the election, giving him good prospects for victory.
Following Law & Order's cancellation in May 2010, McCoy presumably continued in his role as District Attorney within the L&O universe, but he is out of office by the thirteenth season premiere of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Cutter, by this time the new Special Victims Unit Bureau Chief EADA, comments to ADA Alexandra Cabot that "the new DA wants the charges dropped" in the case they were trying at the time.
by his father, an Irish
Chicago
policeman who had also beat Jack's mother, and who eventually died of cancer
. In the same episode, McCoy says that his determination and unyielding work ethic come from his father's harsh punishments for losing. He also revealed that his father was a racist who once hit him for dating a Polish girl. McCoy occasionally takes cases personally, especially when they involve racism or child abuse. While never explicitly referred to as alcoholic, McCoy is often seen drinking, and keeps a bottle of whiskey in his office.
McCoy has been divorce
d twice (one ex-wife having been a former assistant) and has an adult daughter, Rebecca. A gossip columnist
writes that McCoy has not seen or spoken to his daughter since 1997, and McCoy receives an envelope containing pictures of his daughter. He does not open the envelope; rather, he places it in his bottom left desk drawer, next to a bottle of Jim Beam
. In "Fallout", the last scene shows McCoy meeting his daughter at a restaurant. During a conversation with (fictional) New York Governor Donald Shalvoy in the Season 18 episode "Personae Non Grata", he mentions Rebecca has taken a job in San Diego, and that she drove up to Los Angeles to meet him there for dinner while he was attending a conference on official business; the governor uses this to try to smear McCoy, wrongly implying that he used public funds to visit his daughter in California
. In the Season 20 episode "Dignity
", McCoy mentions to ADAs Michael Cutter
(Linus Roache
) and Connie Rubirosa
(Alana De La Garza
) that his daughter either is pregnant
or is a mother, thus making him soon to be or already a grandfather.
McCoy has a reputation for having romantic affairs with his ADAs. Claire Kincaid
(Jill Hennessy
) mentions this when they first meet; he tells her he has had affairs with only three of his ADAs, but by the end of the episode she realizes that he has only had three female ADAs before her. In the episode "Scoundrels
", McCoy reveals that Sally Bell, a recurring defense attorney played by Edie Falco
, had been one of those ADAs. Kincaid initially makes it clear that she is not interested in a romantic relationship, and McCoy agrees to her stipulation. However, it is later revealed that they have indeed had an affair. Kincaid is killed in a car accident just as their affair is beginning to unravel; an event which temporarily unhinged McCoy. Defense attorneys have used this against him. Since Kincaid's death, McCoy has kept his relationships with assistants professional, although he nurtures friendships with all of them.
McCoy's affairs with his ADAs have often had explosive consequences. For instance, his former ADA Diana Hawthorne, with whom he had a sexual relationship, was found to have suppressed evidence so they could win several cases. In one such case, Hawthorne engineered a defendant's wrongful conviction for several murders.
In "House Counsel", McCoy's ultra-competitiveness is underlined when he tries to prosecute Vincent Dosso, an organized crime
figure, for bribing
and murdering a jury member. Dosso's lawyer, Paul Kopell, went to law school with McCoy and proves to be equally aggressive in his approach to his work. As Kopell repeatedly stymies McCoy's prosecutorial efforts, McCoy takes the position that Kopell is not acting as an independent attorney but as a participant in organized crime, and eventually prosecutes Kopell for conspiracy
in the jury member's murder. He tells Kopell's wife that the prosecution is not personal, but she contradicts him, noting that she had watched them compete for 25 years and that, ultimately, they will all lose. By the end of the episode, even though he has won his case against Kopell, McCoy is so troubled that he does not even want to share an elevator with Kincaid.
While McCoy was not exactly a part of the 1960s counterculture
, he did protest against the policies of the Richard Nixon administration
, particularly the Vietnam War
. In 1972, he published an article in the New York University Law Review in defense of Catholic priests who had been opposed to the conflict. He does retain some of the wild streak from his youth: he is a huge fan of punk rock
bands like The Clash
and he drives a Yamaha
motorcycle.
Unlike McCoy's predecessor Ben Stone, McCoy embraces the option of the death penalty, claiming it is a suitable punishment for particularly heinous crimes and a useful threat in plea bargaining. This often leads to heated arguments with his more liberal
colleagues. In "Savages
", when the death penalty has just been restored in New York State following the election of Governor George Pataki, ADA Claire Kincaid
asks McCoy about the probability of executing an innocent individual. McCoy responds that, with the lengthy prosecution process and opportunities for the defendant to appeal the verdict, the probability of wrongful execution is unlikely. Kincaid asks McCoy if he is able to accept the probability of "unlikely"; his hesitation indicates clearly that he has never considered the possibility. In later seasons, his view towards the death penalty has apparently changed: in Season 18's "Executioner", he is deeply troubled hearing of a gruesomely botched execution in South Carolina, and in Season 20's "Four Cops Shot", he resists efforts by a U.S. Attorney to prosecute a cop-killing suspect under a federal death-penalty statute, declaring that "we don't go forum-shopping for harsher penalties" and "I've witnessed one execution; I don't ever want to see another," referring to the events of Season 6's "Aftershock".
He has shown mercy on occasion, such as the 1997 episode "Burned" in which he prosecutes a boy with bipolar disorder
for murdering his sister. The boy's grandfather (Robert Vaughn
), a wealthy CEO (and good friend of Schiff's) who also proved to suffer from the disorder, had attempted to get his grandson to plead guilty and go to jail rather than plead insanity and be committed to a mental institution, fearing that a public revelation of the boy's illness would provide enough evidence to reveal his own illness and affect his reputation. McCoy leads the effort to prevent an unjust punishment for the boy.
McCoy was raised Catholic
but does not appear to be in practice, and has not been for some time. In the episode "Angel", it is revealed that McCoy was educated by the Jesuits
. In the Season 17 episode "Good Faith", he describes himself as "a lapsed Catholic". On several occasions, religion has been the subject of various cases. In the episode "Thrill", in which two teenage boys are accused of killing a man just for fun, McCoy finds his case particularly complicated when one of the suspects confesses the crime to his uncle, who happens to be a priest. When the confession tape is labeled privileged, McCoy ignores the bishop's request to preserve the sacrament of reconciliation and instead tries to use the tape as evidence. When Detective Rey Curtis
(Benjamin Bratt
) tries to dissuade McCoy from doing so, reminding him that he is a Catholic, McCoy responds, "Not when I'm at work."
By the episode "Under God", McCoy had particularly soured on the Church. When a man is accused of killing a drug dealer who killed the man's son, a priest confesses to the crime. Though McCoy personally believes that the priest is covering for the man, he prosecutes the priest instead. At the end of the episode, McCoy says that he lost his faith after the death of a childhood friend.
television critic Ken Tucker has praised Law & Orders creator Dick Wolf
for putting McCoy at the center of "some of the best episodes of the immortal series' 19th season." Tucker elaborates how the character, riding "herd over a couple of stubborn young bucks — assistant DAs Mike Cutter (Linus Roache
) and Connie Rubirosa
(Alana De La Garza
) — McCoy argues, bellows orders, and croaks with outrage when his charges disobey his legal advice."
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the television drama Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
, created by Michael S. Chernuchin
Michael S. Chernuchin
Michael S. Chernuchin is an American television writer and producer. He has worked on the NBC crime dramas Law & Order and Brooklyn South...
and played by Sam Waterston
Sam Waterston
Samuel Atkinson "Sam" Waterston is an American actor and occasional producer and director. Among other roles, he is noted for his Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Sydney Schanberg in 1984's The Killing Fields, and his Golden Globe- and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning portrayal of Jack McCoy...
since 1994. He is the second-longest tenured character on the show, after Lt. Anita Van Buren
Anita Van Buren
Lt. Anita Van Buren is a fictional character on NBC's long running police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order, portrayed by S. Epatha Merkerson. By episode count, she is the longest-running character on the show...
(S. Epatha Merkerson
S. Epatha Merkerson
S. Epatha Merkerson is an American film, stage, and television actress. She has won a Golden Globe, Emmy Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, Obie Award and four NAACP Image Awards. She has also received two Tony Award nominations...
). On January 28, 2009, McCoy's character ended the longest run of a character appearing in consecutive episodes. He was not featured in the episode "Lucky Stiff". His streak ended with 333 uninterrupted appearances since the first episode of the fifth season in 1994.
Character overview
Jack McCoy brings 24 years of experience with him as he is appointed Executive Assistant District Attorney by Adam SchiffAdam Schiff (Law & Order)
Adam Schiff is a fictional character on the TV drama series Law & Order. He was played by Steven Hill from 1990 to 2000. Schiff was one of the main characters of the series and appeared in every episode of the first ten seasons except for Everybody's Favorite Bagman, which was produced before Hill...
(Steven Hill
Steven Hill
Steven Hill is an American film and television actor. His two better-known roles are District Attorney Adam Schiff on the NBC TV drama series Law & Order, whom he portrayed for ten seasons , and Dan Briggs, the original team leader of the Impossible Missions Force on CBS's television series...
) in the Season 5 premiere episode "Second Opinion
Second Opinion (Law & Order episode)
"Second Opinion" is the 89th episode of NBC's legal drama Law & Order, and the season premiere of fifth season. It marks the first appearance of Sam Waterston as Jack McCoy, who later went on to become the second longest running character in the series' history.-Plot:A teacher collapses in her...
". He quickly establishes himself as a more unconventional, ruthless litigator than his predecessor, Ben Stone
Benjamin Stone
Benjamin "Ben" Stone is a fictional character portrayed by Michael Moriarty in the TV drama Law & Order.-Character overview:Stone works in the Manhattan District Attorney's office under Alfred Wentworth and Adam Schiff. It was Schiff with whom he is closest, treating him as a kind of surrogate...
(Michael Moriarty
Michael Moriarty
Michael Moriarty is an American-Canadian actor of stage and screen, and a jazz musician. He played Benjamin Stone for four seasons on the TV series Law & Order.-Early life:...
); he often bends—and sometimes breaks—trial rules to get convictions, finds tenuous rationales for charging defendants with crimes when the original charges fail to stick, and charges innocent people to frighten them into testifying against others. McCoy is more than once found in contempt of court
Contempt of court
Contempt of court is a court order which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority...
for such behavior, and his tactics occasionally incur negative publicity for the DA's office. His underlying motivation, however, is not, he maintains, corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
, but a sincere desire to see justice
Justice
Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...
done. To that end, McCoy has gone after defendants accused of perverting the justice system to arrange wrongful convictions with just as much determination as his more mundane cases. Such aggressive actions in the courts have earned him the nickname "Hang 'em High McCoy". He has subsequently developed a reputation with both colleagues and rival attorneys, once being referred to as "the top of the legal food chain" by a rival attorney during a case.
Following the 17th season (2006–2007), Jack McCoy became District Attorney, taking over from Arthur Branch
Arthur Branch
Arthur Branch is a fictional attorney and a regular character on the TV crime dramas Law & Order and Law & Order: Trial by Jury. Branch has also appeared on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Conviction....
(Fred Thompson). McCoy's appearance on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
on November 13, 2007, marked his first appearance in the Law & Order universe
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
as District Attorney. The replacement for his former position is Michael Cutter
Michael Cutter
Michael "Mike" Cutter is a fictional character on the long-running NBC series Law & Order and its spinoff Law & Order: Special Victims Unit played by Linus Roache. The character debuted in L&O's eighteenth season premiere, broadcast January 2, 2008, and remained through its series finale on May...
(Linus Roache
Linus Roache
Linus William Roache is an English actor.-Early life:Roache was born in Manchester, the son of Coronation Street actor William Roache and actress Anna Cropper. Roache was educated at Bishop Luffa Church of England School in Chichester, West Sussex and at the independent Rydal School in Colwyn Bay,...
), a prosecutor with a penchant for recklessness not unlike McCoy's own in his younger days. This occasionally presents political difficulties for the new District Attorney. More than once, McCoy berates Cutter for reckless conduct, in the same manner as he was berated by district attorneys when he was Assistant District Attorney.
In the season 19 episode "Lucky Stiff", McCoy begins his election campaign for New York County District Attorney
New York County District Attorney
The New York County District Attorney is the elected district attorney for New York County , New York. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state laws....
after serving the last season and a half as interim DA. In the episode "Rapture", his opponent for the office is shown for the first time. In season 19 episode "Promote This", it is revealed that in 1991 his wife Ellen (whom he was divorcing) unknowingly employed an undocumented immigrant as a nanny. This causes McCoy political havoc during a murder case where the motive was racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
against illegal immigrants of Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
descent. In the episode "Skate or Die", the place where his final campaign fundraiser would be held is discovered by the organizers to be owned by a man who served a 20-year prison sentence for racketeering. Eventually, the final campaign fundraiser would be held at a Chinese seafood restaurant with a kosher section. In the last episode of season 19, "The Drowned and the Saved", McCoy's opponent's patron resigns due to scandal on the eve of the election, giving him good prospects for victory.
Following Law & Order's cancellation in May 2010, McCoy presumably continued in his role as District Attorney within the L&O universe, but he is out of office by the thirteenth season premiere of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Cutter, by this time the new Special Victims Unit Bureau Chief EADA, comments to ADA Alexandra Cabot that "the new DA wants the charges dropped" in the case they were trying at the time.
Personality
While his is a brilliant legal mind, McCoy possesses more than a few personal demons. The episode "Aftershock" reveals that he was abusedChild abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
by his father, an Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
policeman who had also beat Jack's mother, and who eventually died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. In the same episode, McCoy says that his determination and unyielding work ethic come from his father's harsh punishments for losing. He also revealed that his father was a racist who once hit him for dating a Polish girl. McCoy occasionally takes cases personally, especially when they involve racism or child abuse. While never explicitly referred to as alcoholic, McCoy is often seen drinking, and keeps a bottle of whiskey in his office.
McCoy has been divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d twice (one ex-wife having been a former assistant) and has an adult daughter, Rebecca. A gossip columnist
Gossip columnist
A gossip columnist is someone who writes a gossip column in a newspaper or magazine, especially a gossip magazine. Gossip columns are material written in a light, informal style, which relates the gossip columnist's opinions about the personal lives or conduct of celebrities from show business ,...
writes that McCoy has not seen or spoken to his daughter since 1997, and McCoy receives an envelope containing pictures of his daughter. He does not open the envelope; rather, he places it in his bottom left desk drawer, next to a bottle of Jim Beam
Jim Beam
Jim Beam is a brand of bourbon whiskey produced in Clermont, Kentucky. It is currently one of the best selling brands of bourbon in the world. Since 1795 , seven generations of the Beam family have been involved in whiskey production for the company that produces the brand, which was given the name...
. In "Fallout", the last scene shows McCoy meeting his daughter at a restaurant. During a conversation with (fictional) New York Governor Donald Shalvoy in the Season 18 episode "Personae Non Grata", he mentions Rebecca has taken a job in San Diego, and that she drove up to Los Angeles to meet him there for dinner while he was attending a conference on official business; the governor uses this to try to smear McCoy, wrongly implying that he used public funds to visit his daughter in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. In the Season 20 episode "Dignity
Dignity (Law & Order episode)
"Dignity" is the fifth episode in the twentieth season of the television series Law & Order. The episode revolves around the issue of abortion. The story was inspired by the killing of late term abortion provider George Tiller.-Synopsis:...
", McCoy mentions to ADAs Michael Cutter
Michael Cutter
Michael "Mike" Cutter is a fictional character on the long-running NBC series Law & Order and its spinoff Law & Order: Special Victims Unit played by Linus Roache. The character debuted in L&O's eighteenth season premiere, broadcast January 2, 2008, and remained through its series finale on May...
(Linus Roache
Linus Roache
Linus William Roache is an English actor.-Early life:Roache was born in Manchester, the son of Coronation Street actor William Roache and actress Anna Cropper. Roache was educated at Bishop Luffa Church of England School in Chichester, West Sussex and at the independent Rydal School in Colwyn Bay,...
) and Connie Rubirosa
Connie Rubirosa
Assistant District Attorney / Deputy District Attorney Consuela "Connie" Rubirosa is a fictional character, portrayed by Alana de la Garza, who joined the cast of long-running NBC drama series Law & Order during the 17th season premiere episode "Fame". She is the only second-chair ADA of Law &...
(Alana De La Garza
Alana de la Garza
Alana de la Garza is an American actress. She is most famous for her role as A.D.A. Connie Rubirosa on the television series Law & Order and its short-lived spin-off, Law & Order: LA.-Biography:...
) that his daughter either is pregnant
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
or is a mother, thus making him soon to be or already a grandfather.
McCoy has a reputation for having romantic affairs with his ADAs. Claire Kincaid
Claire Kincaid
Assistant District Attorney Claire Kincaid is a fictional character on the television series Law & Order, played by Jill Hennessy from 1993 to 1996.-Character overview:...
(Jill Hennessy
Jill Hennessy
Jillian Noel "Jill" Hennessy is a Canadian actress and musician known for her television roles on Law & Order and Crossing Jordan.-Early life:...
) mentions this when they first meet; he tells her he has had affairs with only three of his ADAs, but by the end of the episode she realizes that he has only had three female ADAs before her. In the episode "Scoundrels
Scoundrels (Law & Order episode)
"Scoundrels" is the 97th episode of NBC's legal drama Law & Order, and the ninth episode of the fifth season.-Plot:A lawyer is found shot to death in his office. The detectives find that the lawyer was running a confidence game where he targeted the victims of a savings and loan collapse...
", McCoy reveals that Sally Bell, a recurring defense attorney played by Edie Falco
Edie Falco
Edith "Edie" Falco is an American television, film and stage actress, known for her roles in Oz as Diane Wittlesey, as Carmela Soprano on the HBO series The Sopranos, and as the titular character on the Showtime series Nurse Jackie...
, had been one of those ADAs. Kincaid initially makes it clear that she is not interested in a romantic relationship, and McCoy agrees to her stipulation. However, it is later revealed that they have indeed had an affair. Kincaid is killed in a car accident just as their affair is beginning to unravel; an event which temporarily unhinged McCoy. Defense attorneys have used this against him. Since Kincaid's death, McCoy has kept his relationships with assistants professional, although he nurtures friendships with all of them.
McCoy's affairs with his ADAs have often had explosive consequences. For instance, his former ADA Diana Hawthorne, with whom he had a sexual relationship, was found to have suppressed evidence so they could win several cases. In one such case, Hawthorne engineered a defendant's wrongful conviction for several murders.
In "House Counsel", McCoy's ultra-competitiveness is underlined when he tries to prosecute Vincent Dosso, an organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
figure, for bribing
Bribery
Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or...
and murdering a jury member. Dosso's lawyer, Paul Kopell, went to law school with McCoy and proves to be equally aggressive in his approach to his work. As Kopell repeatedly stymies McCoy's prosecutorial efforts, McCoy takes the position that Kopell is not acting as an independent attorney but as a participant in organized crime, and eventually prosecutes Kopell for conspiracy
Conspiracy (crime)
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
in the jury member's murder. He tells Kopell's wife that the prosecution is not personal, but she contradicts him, noting that she had watched them compete for 25 years and that, ultimately, they will all lose. By the end of the episode, even though he has won his case against Kopell, McCoy is so troubled that he does not even want to share an elevator with Kincaid.
While McCoy was not exactly a part of the 1960s counterculture
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
, he did protest against the policies of the Richard Nixon administration
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, particularly the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. In 1972, he published an article in the New York University Law Review in defense of Catholic priests who had been opposed to the conflict. He does retain some of the wild streak from his youth: he is a huge fan of punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
bands like The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
and he drives a Yamaha
Yamaha
Yamaha may refer to:* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services** Yamaha Motor Company, a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company...
motorcycle.
Unlike McCoy's predecessor Ben Stone, McCoy embraces the option of the death penalty, claiming it is a suitable punishment for particularly heinous crimes and a useful threat in plea bargaining. This often leads to heated arguments with his more liberal
Social liberalism
Social liberalism is the belief that liberalism should include social justice. It differs from classical liberalism in that it believes the legitimate role of the state includes addressing economic and social issues such as unemployment, health care, and education while simultaneously expanding...
colleagues. In "Savages
Savages (Law & Order episode)
"Savages" is the 114th episode of NBC's legal drama Law & Order, and the third episode of the sixth season. This episode explores the issue of capital punishment, which had been recently reintroduced in the state of New York by then-governor George Pataki....
", when the death penalty has just been restored in New York State following the election of Governor George Pataki, ADA Claire Kincaid
Claire Kincaid
Assistant District Attorney Claire Kincaid is a fictional character on the television series Law & Order, played by Jill Hennessy from 1993 to 1996.-Character overview:...
asks McCoy about the probability of executing an innocent individual. McCoy responds that, with the lengthy prosecution process and opportunities for the defendant to appeal the verdict, the probability of wrongful execution is unlikely. Kincaid asks McCoy if he is able to accept the probability of "unlikely"; his hesitation indicates clearly that he has never considered the possibility. In later seasons, his view towards the death penalty has apparently changed: in Season 18's "Executioner", he is deeply troubled hearing of a gruesomely botched execution in South Carolina, and in Season 20's "Four Cops Shot", he resists efforts by a U.S. Attorney to prosecute a cop-killing suspect under a federal death-penalty statute, declaring that "we don't go forum-shopping for harsher penalties" and "I've witnessed one execution; I don't ever want to see another," referring to the events of Season 6's "Aftershock".
He has shown mercy on occasion, such as the 1997 episode "Burned" in which he prosecutes a boy with bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
for murdering his sister. The boy's grandfather (Robert Vaughn
Robert Vaughn
Robert Francis Vaughn, , is an American actor noted for stage, film and television work. His best known roles include the suave spy Napoleon Solo in the 1960s television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E., wealthy detective Harry Rule in the 1970s television series The Protectors, Albert Stroller in...
), a wealthy CEO (and good friend of Schiff's) who also proved to suffer from the disorder, had attempted to get his grandson to plead guilty and go to jail rather than plead insanity and be committed to a mental institution, fearing that a public revelation of the boy's illness would provide enough evidence to reveal his own illness and affect his reputation. McCoy leads the effort to prevent an unjust punishment for the boy.
McCoy was raised Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
but does not appear to be in practice, and has not been for some time. In the episode "Angel", it is revealed that McCoy was educated by the Jesuits
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
. In the Season 17 episode "Good Faith", he describes himself as "a lapsed Catholic". On several occasions, religion has been the subject of various cases. In the episode "Thrill", in which two teenage boys are accused of killing a man just for fun, McCoy finds his case particularly complicated when one of the suspects confesses the crime to his uncle, who happens to be a priest. When the confession tape is labeled privileged, McCoy ignores the bishop's request to preserve the sacrament of reconciliation and instead tries to use the tape as evidence. When Detective Rey Curtis
Rey Curtis
Reynaldo "Rey" Curtis is a fictional character on the TV drama Law & Order, created by Ed Zuckerman and played by Benjamin Bratt from 1995 to 1999.-Character overview:Curtis is introduced as homicide detective in Manhattan's 27th Detective Squad...
(Benjamin Bratt
Benjamin Bratt
Benjamin Bratt is an American actor. He is most famous for his role as Rey Curtis on the TV series Law & Order; and his appearances in the movies Blood in Blood Out, Miss Congeniality, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Traffic, and Piñero.-Early life:Bratt was born in San Francisco, California,...
) tries to dissuade McCoy from doing so, reminding him that he is a Catholic, McCoy responds, "Not when I'm at work."
By the episode "Under God", McCoy had particularly soured on the Church. When a man is accused of killing a drug dealer who killed the man's son, a priest confesses to the crime. Though McCoy personally believes that the priest is covering for the man, he prosecutes the priest instead. At the end of the episode, McCoy says that he lost his faith after the death of a childhood friend.
Conflicts
McCoy's unconventional and sometimes ruthless professional conduct has put his job in jeopardy more than once throughout the series. Some of the more serious occurrences are these:- In "Competence", McCoy withholds turning over the statement of a witness to the defense. The statement would have aided the defense's case by showing strong motive to another individual for the crime, casting a reasonable doubt. Under Brady v. MarylandBrady v. MarylandBrady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 , was a United States Supreme Court case in which the prosecution had withheld from the criminal defendant certain evidence. The defendant challenged his conviction, arguing it had been contrary to the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United...
, the prosecution is required to turn over exculpatory evidence to the defense. McCoy's reasoning is that he was not going to call the witness at trial and that he is not obliged to "...turn over irrelevant and potentially misleading evidence." When defense eventually learns of the withheld statement and accuses the DA's office of misconduct, DA Adam Schiff is angry about McCoy's judgment call, and suggests McCoy is at grave risk of being disbarred. A hearing with a judge declares that McCoy pushed the envelope of good law practice, but that the ambiguity of the law did not prove his actions were unethical.
- In "Corpus Delicti", McCoy deliberately ignores a judge's order not to mention prior bad acts while questioning a defendant in order to provoke the judge to declare a mistrial. McCoy's case was very circumstantial and there was no body to confirm a murder had definitively taken place. The extra time gathered by scheduling a new trial allowed the police to discover the victim's body. At the end of the episode and the discovery of the body, DA Adam Schiff suggests that McCoy faces disbarment if the defense's lawyer can prove a mistrial provocation. McCoy suggests that he can successfully argue he is just a zealous attorney, saying, "It wasn't like that at all. You know how emotional I get," and smiling slyly.
- In "Under the Influence", McCoy is prosecuting a drunk driver for killing three pedestrians. The judge assigned to the case discloses to McCoy that has a personal vendetta against drunk driving and is willing to bend the law, and McCoy was also willing to bend after former colleague Claire Kincaid was killed by a drunk driver. McCoy took an incriminating statement from a flight attendant (a Colombian citizen) about how drunk the defendant was and encouraged the airline, at fear for its public image, to assign the flight attendant to an international route, putting her out of reach for the defense to question her. McCoy then lied to the defense attorney about following all relevant discovery procedures, and was reinforced by the judge not to turn over the statement to the defense. Jamie Ross does not agree that withholding evidence furthers justice and warns McCoy that he faces disbarment. The defense's case was repeatedly undermined by the judge and McCoy, but eventually McCoy changes his mind and submits the flight attendant's statement at trial, prompting a plea bargain. The judge initially does not accept the plea bargain and threatens McCoy with professional misconduct, but McCoy threatens to bring the judge before the ethics committee. The judge eventually accepts the plea and no misconduct charges are brought on either party.
- In "Mad Dog", McCoy becomes obsessed with proving that a recently paroled rapist is guilty of a new rape. McCoy pushes the police very close to harassment and is considering committing false arrest until Adam Schiff decides to put a stop to it. At the end of the episode the rapist is killed by his daughter after attacking one of her friends. McCoy says "I'm sorry it had to happen this way". ADA Jamie Ross (Carey LowellCarey LowellCarey Lowell is an American actress and former model.-Early life:Lowell was born in Huntington, New York and spent much of her childhood traveling with her father, James Lowell, who was a geologist. Immediately after graduating from Bear Creek High School in Lakewood, CO., she was signed by the...
) says "Not that sorry".
- In "Monster", McCoy is brought before the Disciplinary Committee of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate DivisionNew York Supreme Court, Appellate DivisionThe Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division is the intermediate appellate court in New York State. The Appellate Division is composed of four departments .*The First Department covers the Bronx The Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division is the intermediate...
on misconduct charges stemming from a case earlier that season, in which he had hidden a material witnessMaterial witnessA material witness is a person with information alleged to be material concerning a criminal proceeding. The authority to detain material witnesses dates to the First Judiciary Act of 1789, but the Bail Reform Act of 1984 most recently amended the text of the statute, and it is now codified at...
from the opposing counsel to support more serious charges against a defendant. Since McCoy had ultimately released the evidence before the case was decided, he was not seriously punished for what he did. In the same episode, McCoy is given a hard time when it becomes clear that in the case of sexual assault of a young girl, he had wrongly prosecuted an innocent man who during the investigation had been coerced by Rey Curtis and Lennie Briscoe into giving them a false confession. When the real perpetrator was caught, McCoy asked the girl's doctor to give the defendant's lawyer false information.
- In "InvadersInvaders (Law & Order episode)"Invaders" is the 371st episode of NBC's legal drama Law & Order, and the season finale of the 16th season.-Plot:A family is found dead in an apparent home invasion. Assistant district attorney Alexandra Borgia is preparing the husband/father, who was not present when his family was killed, for trial...
", after the brutal murder of McCoy's assistant Alexandra BorgiaAlexandra BorgiaAlexandra Borgia is a fictional character, played by Annie Parisse, who appeared on the long-running NBC drama series Law & Order from 2005-2006.-Fictional character biography:...
(Annie ParisseAnnie ParisseAnne Marie Cancelmi , known as Annie Parisse, is an American television, film, and theater actress, known for playing Alexandra Borgia on the television drama Law & Order, a role she played from 2005 until 2006 in 33 episodes. Parisse is also known for her role of Julia Lindsey Snyder on the...
), McCoy pushes the envelope even further when he arranges to present a sham prosecution to intimidate a corrupt DEADrug Enforcement AdministrationThe Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
agent to turn state's evidenceTurn state's evidenceTo turn state's evidence is when an accused or convicted criminal testifies as a witness for the state against his associates or accomplices. Turning state's evidence is occasionally a result of a change of heart or feelings of guilt, but more often is done in response to a generous offer from the...
against her murderers. When that trick fails, McCoy, hoping the agent would lead police to the killers, orders him released. While the murderers are arrested and the corrupt agent is killed, the severely unorthodox strategies used in the case lead to McCoy being removed from the case by order of the Governor of New York. He is replaced for the duration of the case with an attorney from the New York State Attorney GeneralNew York State Attorney GeneralThe New York State Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of New York. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government of New York.The current Attorney General is Eric Schneiderman...
's Office.
- In "The Family Hour", in which a state senator was on trial for murder, medical examinerMedical examinerA medical examiner is a medically qualified government officer whose duty is to investigate deaths and injuries that occur under unusual or suspicious circumstances, to perform post-mortem examinations, and in some jurisdictions to initiate inquests....
Elizabeth Rodgers cites the wrong book during cross examination and later confesses to McCoy about it. McCoy wishes to disclose the error to the judge, but DA Arthur BranchArthur BranchArthur Branch is a fictional attorney and a regular character on the TV crime dramas Law & Order and Law & Order: Trial by Jury. Branch has also appeared on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Conviction....
decides the error is not exculpatoryExculpatory evidenceExculpatory evidence is the evidence favorable to the defendant in a criminal trial, which clears or tends to clear the defendant of guilt. It is the opposite of inculpatory evidence, which tends to prove guilt....
, and he orders McCoy to keep quiet. When McCoy refuses to cooperate, ADA Connie RubirosaConnie RubirosaAssistant District Attorney / Deputy District Attorney Consuela "Connie" Rubirosa is a fictional character, portrayed by Alana de la Garza, who joined the cast of long-running NBC drama series Law & Order during the 17th season premiere episode "Fame". She is the only second-chair ADA of Law &...
(Alana de la GarzaAlana de la GarzaAlana de la Garza is an American actress. She is most famous for her role as A.D.A. Connie Rubirosa on the television series Law & Order and its short-lived spin-off, Law & Order: LA.-Biography:...
) gives the trial's closing summation instead of McCoy. Although the jury votes for conviction following her dramatic speech, McCoy submits his letter of resignation for being pulled off the case. Branch appears to dissuade him from resigning and says he would not be "in this chair forever." McCoy replaces Branch as the DA immediately thereafter.
- In "Betrayal", McCoy tells Cutter that court psychiatrist Elizabeth OlivetElizabeth OlivetDr. Elizabeth Olivet is a fictional character on the TV crime drama Law & Order. She was portrayed by Carolyn McCormick from 1991 to 1997 and in 1999. The character was revived in 2002, but made far less frequent appearances on the show....
(Carolyn McCormickCarolyn McCormickCarolyn Inez McCormick is an American actress best known for her role as Dr. Elizabeth Olivet on Law & Order franchise.-Life and career:McCormick was born in Midland, Texas to a father who owned an oil drilling company...
) had "sex with a patient" who was "a detective who'd lost a partner." The implication is that the detective was Mike LoganMike Logan (Law & Order)Michael "Mike" Logan is a fictional character in the police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order franchise, played by Chris Noth.-History in the franchise:...
(Chris NothChris NothChristopher David "Chris" Noth is an American actor. He is known for long-running television roles as Det. Mike Logan on the police procedural and legal drama television series, Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and as Big on Sex and the City. For the latter role, he has been...
), who had lost his partner Max Greevey (George DzundzaGeorge DzundzaGeorge Dzundza is an American television and film actor.-Personal life:Dzundza was born in Rosenheim, Germany, to a Ukrainian father and Polish mother who were forced into factory labour by the Nazis. He spent the first few years of his life in displaced persons camps with his parents and one...
) several years earlier. Olivet believes that the prosecution is employing an expert witness who had done studies where the results were not widely accepted in her field. When she informs McCoy that she will be testifying for the defendant, he provides Cutter with information that could be used in their favor when cross-examining Olivet.
- In "Illegal", McCoy dismisses ADA Josh Latham (John PankowJohn PankowJohn Pankow is an American film and stage actor. He is perhaps best known for a supporting role on the sitcom Mad About You .-Early life:...
), and it comes back to haunt him. Latham is subpoenaSubpoenaA subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:...
ed to testify in court, and the defendant's lawyer accuses McCoy of dismissing him for political reasons. In the course of his testimony, Latham specifies several occasions on which McCoy breached professional ethics. In defending himself, McCoy is forced to acknowledge these specific instances and his general tendency to push the envelope.
- In "Strike", when fellow co-workers harass Rubirosa for working for "the dark side" when she is forced to become a defense attorney, McCoy threatens to make sure that anyone who bothered her would be assigned to traffic courtTraffic courtTraffic court is a term that refers to a municipality's specialized judicial process for handling traffic ticket cases. In the United States, a person who is given a citation by a police officer can either plead guilty and pay the indicated fine directly to the court house, by mail, or in some...
for the next five years.
- In "Excalibur", McCoy risks his job by telling the Governor of New York that he is in on a sting operationSting operationIn law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person committing a crime. A typical sting will have a law-enforcement officer or cooperative member of the public play a role as criminal partner or potential victim and go along with a suspect's actions to gather...
involving an escort service. The Governor essentially blackmailBlackmailIn common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
s McCoy into not allowing him to get involved.
- In "Falling", McCoy admonishes Cutter for trying to use the courts to prevent a couple from medically stunting the growth of their mentally challenged daughter. When challenged by Cutter about a case in which McCoy used similarly aggressive tactics, McCoy replies that he was severely chastised by the presiding judge, and that the judge had been right to do so.
- In the Law & Order: Special Victims UnitLaw & Order: Special Victims UnitLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
episode "Blinded", McCoy calls ADA Casey NovakCasey NovakCasey Novak is a fictional character on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, portrayed by Diane Neal. She is the only female assistant district attorney to have appeared in five complete seasons in any Law & Order series and the longest-running ADA in the entire franchise.-Character:Casey Novak is a...
(Diane NealDiane NealDiane Neal is an American actress widely known for her role as Casey Novak on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.-Biography:...
) to his office and reprimands her for abusing her position. He threatens not only to fire her, but also to have the New York State Bar AssociationNew York State Bar AssociationThe New York State Bar Association , with 77,000 members, is the largest voluntary bar association in the United States.-History:The State Bar was founded with a constitution that dates to 1877...
revoke her license to practice law. Novak is later censured in the season finale for committing a BradyBrady materialBrady material consists of exculpatory or impeaching information and evidence that is material to the guilt or innocence or to the punishment of a defendant. The term comes from the U.S. Supreme Court case, Brady v. Maryland, in which the Supreme Court ruled that suppression by the prosecution of...
violation.
Reception
Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
television critic Ken Tucker has praised Law & Orders creator Dick Wolf
Dick Wolf
Richard Anthony "Dick" Wolf is an American producer, specializing in crime dramas such as Miami Vice and the Law & Order franchise. Throughout his career he has won several awards including an Emmy Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-Early life:Wolf was born in New York City, the son...
for putting McCoy at the center of "some of the best episodes of the immortal series' 19th season." Tucker elaborates how the character, riding "herd over a couple of stubborn young bucks — assistant DAs Mike Cutter (Linus Roache
Linus Roache
Linus William Roache is an English actor.-Early life:Roache was born in Manchester, the son of Coronation Street actor William Roache and actress Anna Cropper. Roache was educated at Bishop Luffa Church of England School in Chichester, West Sussex and at the independent Rydal School in Colwyn Bay,...
) and Connie Rubirosa
Connie Rubirosa
Assistant District Attorney / Deputy District Attorney Consuela "Connie" Rubirosa is a fictional character, portrayed by Alana de la Garza, who joined the cast of long-running NBC drama series Law & Order during the 17th season premiere episode "Fame". She is the only second-chair ADA of Law &...
(Alana De La Garza
Alana de la Garza
Alana de la Garza is an American actress. She is most famous for her role as A.D.A. Connie Rubirosa on the television series Law & Order and its short-lived spin-off, Law & Order: LA.-Biography:...
) — McCoy argues, bellows orders, and croaks with outrage when his charges disobey his legal advice."
District Attorney's Office timeline
| Time period | Executive Assistant District Attorney (EADA) | Assistant District Attorney (ADA) | District Attorney (DA) New York County District Attorney The New York County District Attorney is the elected district attorney for New York County , New York. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state laws.... |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994–1996 | Jack McCoy | Claire Kincaid Claire Kincaid Assistant District Attorney Claire Kincaid is a fictional character on the television series Law & Order, played by Jill Hennessy from 1993 to 1996.-Character overview:... |
Adam Schiff Adam Schiff (Law & Order) Adam Schiff is a fictional character on the TV drama series Law & Order. He was played by Steven Hill from 1990 to 2000. Schiff was one of the main characters of the series and appeared in every episode of the first ten seasons except for Everybody's Favorite Bagman, which was produced before Hill... |
| 1996–1998 | Jamie Ross | ||
| 1998–2000 | Abbie Carmichael Abbie Carmichael Abigail "Abbie" Carmichael is a fictional character on the TV drama Law & Order created by Rene Balcer and portrayed by model/actress Angie Harmon... |
||
| 2000–2001 | Nora Lewin Nora Lewin Nora Lewin was a fictional character on the TV show Law & Order, played by two-time Academy Award winning actress Dianne Wiest from 2000 to 2002. Her character was particularly notable for the fact that she was the first woman in the program's history to hold the position of New York County... |
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| 2001–2002 | Serena Southerlyn Serena Southerlyn Serena Southerlyn is a fictional character on the long-running NBC drama series Law & Order.-Character overview:Southerlyn joined the District Attorney's office in 2001 as an ADA, replacing Abbie Carmichael... |
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| 2002–2005 | Arthur Branch Arthur Branch Arthur Branch is a fictional attorney and a regular character on the TV crime dramas Law & Order and Law & Order: Trial by Jury. Branch has also appeared on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Conviction.... |
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| 2005–2006 | Alexandra Borgia Alexandra Borgia Alexandra Borgia is a fictional character, played by Annie Parisse, who appeared on the long-running NBC drama series Law & Order from 2005-2006.-Fictional character biography:... |
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| 2006–2007 | Connie Rubirosa Connie Rubirosa Assistant District Attorney / Deputy District Attorney Consuela "Connie" Rubirosa is a fictional character, portrayed by Alana de la Garza, who joined the cast of long-running NBC drama series Law & Order during the 17th season premiere episode "Fame". She is the only second-chair ADA of Law &... |
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| 2008–2010 | Michael Cutter Michael Cutter Michael "Mike" Cutter is a fictional character on the long-running NBC series Law & Order and its spinoff Law & Order: Special Victims Unit played by Linus Roache. The character debuted in L&O's eighteenth season premiere, broadcast January 2, 2008, and remained through its series finale on May... |
Jack McCoy |