Jimmy Smits joins Showtime's "Dexter"

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Former "NYPD Blue" star Jimmy Smits has joined the cast of Showtime's drama series "Dexter," which begins its third season in the fall.

Smits will portray Miguel Prado, an ambitious, charismatic assistant district attorney who comes from one of Miami's most politically powerful and beloved families.

Dexter (Michael C. Hall), a blood-spatter expert for the Miami Police Department who moonlights as a serial killer, will join forces with Prado, who has risen in the ranks because his aggressive stance against crime, in the pursuit of a murderer who affects both of their lives directly.

Smits will be featured in 10 of the third season's 12 episodes. He most recently starred in the short-lived CBS family drama "Cane."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter