JERI RYAN, JOHN ASHTON AND DELROY LINDO GUEST STAR ON LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT

Episode titled "Baggage" to air April 7

NEW YORK - March 23, 2009 - Jeri Ryan, John Ashton and Delroy Lindo will guest-star on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Executive Producer Neal Baer announced today. The episode, titled "Baggage," premieres Tuesday, April 7th, 10:00p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

In "Baggage," the shocking death of an artist leads SVU detectives to a long string of murders by an untraceable serial killer. Delroy Lindo guest-stars as Victor Moran, a detective struggling to keep control of the case, and John Ashton guest-stars as Chief of Detectives Alan Fewkes. Jeri Ryan takes on the role of attorney Patrice Larue, and will reprise the character for two future episodes.

"Jeri Ryan's the real deal. She brings a compelling intensity to her roles and we're lucky to have her as a kick-butt attorney on SVU," said Baer.

Ryan's starring roles in television include the CBS drama Shark with James Woods, ABC's Boston Public, and UPN's Star Trek: Voyager. She also guest-starred in Boston Legal, The O.C. and Two and a Half Men.

Lindo last starred on television in the NBC drama Kidnapped, with Jeremy Sisto and Linus Roache. Film credits include This Christmas, Sahara, Domino, Romeo Must Die, Gone in Sixty Seconds, Ransom, Get Shorty and Malcolm X.

Ashton's film roles include Gone Baby Gone, Midnight Run and Beverly Hills Cop, and has starred in many television shows, including the Emmy Award winning miniseries I Know My First Name is Steven and the NBC series Hardball. He also stars in the upcoming film Middle Men with Luke Wilson, James Caan, Kelsey Grammer and Kevin Pollak.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is a Wolf Films production in association with Universal Media Studios. Dick Wolf is creator and executive producer; Neal Baer (NBC's ER, China Beach), Ted Kotcheff (Fun with Dick and Jane, Weekend at Bernie's) and Peter Jankowski are executive producers.