Directed by Martha Mitchell
Written by Morgan Gendel & Ed Zuckerman
This episode begins with a purse snatcher being chased down and arrested by beat cops. When searching the thief’s stash, the cops find a bloodstained wallet. containing an ID card for Sharon Lasko. Sharon is an up and coming model and disappeared three days ago; now Briscoe and Curtis are investigating a potential homicide. The purse snatcher was in rehab when she disappeared. He insists he found the wallet, and when Briscoe and Curtis search the area, they find Sharon's now-bloody clothing.
The investigation uncovers a bunch of shady associates. There is Frederick Scannell, the club owner who is a suspected drug dealer but who has somehow never done anything he can be arrested for. There is Sharon's drug-using basketball player casual boyfriend Ken Soames. There is the sleazy photographer who likes to get a little too up close and personal. And then there is her limo driver, Johnny Stivers. After Sharon's body is found at a landfill, Soames tells the detectives that she had a drug habit and Stivers seems to be her supplier. Stivers is arrested when Briscoe and Curtis find Sharon's blood in his limo and a shrine to her at his home.
The theory of the crime was a classic murder due to jealousy. But Stivers' defense attorney spins this into a claim of "extreme emotional distress", saying Stivers was driven to kill because Sharon repeatedly flirted with him and led him on despite having a boyfriend. At trial, Stivers' attorney spins a lot of gathered evidence to support this theory, even getting Briscoe to concede that some of her behavior towards Stivers can be reasonably interpreted as displays of affection. Stivers says he killed Sharon after she told him she was sleeping with the photographer, and only using Stivers to get drugs.
Stivers' record at the limo company show he should have been booked all day, with no time to see Sharon. McCoy and Kincaid intend to prove premeditation by showing he recorded at least one fake "job" as cover. They discover Scannell is a regular client and regularly requests Stivers for airport runs - as a cover for moving drugs. When Soames mentions Sharon telling a story about a guy showing her a car trunk full of cocaine, McCoy confronts Stivers with the real motive for the murder. He showed Sharon the drugs to try and impress her, and Scannell ordered she be killed to keep her quiet.
Sharon's murder now carries the death penalty as the murder of a witness. McCoy offers a plea to either Scannell or Stivers, whoever flips first. Stivers is resentful and says Scannell forced him to kill Sharon, otherwise he and Sharon would be murdered. He accepts a 25-year plea for murder and Scannell will presumably be executed.
- Abhorrent Admirer: Stivers for Sharon, who was only nice to him so he'd keep giving her drugs.
- Good Victims, Bad Victims: McCoy references this trope to Kincaid, saying that they could be looking at Sharon being on trial as much as Stivers.
- If I Can't Have You…: Subverted. Initially this appears to be the reason for the murder, but it turns out Stivers was forced to kill Sharon to keep her from revealing what she knew about his involvement in Scannell's drug business.
- Leave No Witnesses: Johnny Stivers was a courier to a drug lord in addition to driving a limo. He tried to impress Sharon Lasko by showing her the cocaine in his trunk. His boss threatened to kill Johnny unless he killed Sharon, which he did.
- Love Makes You Crazy: Stivers is absolutely delusional and believes Sharon was in love with him, even after he hears Soames and at least one of Sharon's friends testify that she was just using him to get drugs (and she apparently told him this herself.)
- One-Hit Wonder: Sharon was in a successful TV commercial but couldn't land any more major work after that.
