Conviction

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Conviction (2006) is a short-lived Law and Order spinoff starring Stephanie March as Alex Cabot, formerly of Law and Order Special Victims Unit, now the bureau chief of the District Attorney's office. Like Law and Order Trial By Jury, it focused on the Law Procedural side of the story, although it spent more time exploring the characters' personal drama than other Law & Order series.

The series was canceled after only 13 episodes. Two of the actors went on to become regulars in other Law & Order series: Milena Govich as Det. Nina Cassady in Law and Order's 17th season and Julianne Nicholson as Megan Wheeler on Law and Order: Criminal Intent.

Not to be confused with the 2004 British crime drama Conviction.

Tropes used in Conviction include:
  • Driven to Suicide: A rape victim whose rapist plea bargains his way out of jail time.
  • Everybody Has Lots of Sex: You can count on one hand the main characters in this show who aren't shown banging someone's gavel.
  • Hostage Situation: A defendant takes over a courtroom in the finale and holds attorneys and bystanders alike hostage until his demands are met.
  • Last-Minute Hookup: Finn and Peluso
  • Law Procedural: Most of the show focuses on prosecutors... well, prosecuting.
  • Plea Bargain: Jessica reluctantly makes one with a rapist chiropractor in exchange for his testimony in a large-scale medical fraud trial. The victim isn't pleased.
  • True Companions: The district attorneys sometimes disagree about things or have sex with each other, but at the end of almost every episode they're shown at a bar together, and in the finale they toast their friendship.