Law & Order Special Victims Unit s28e01 Episode Script
Volition
1
In the criminal justice system,
sexually based offenses
are considered especially heinous.
In New York City, the
dedicated detectives
who investigate these vicious felonies
are members of an elite squad
known as the Special Victims Unit.
These are their stories.
[SIREN WAILING]
[PANTING]
[TRAIN RUMBLING]
PA: The train is now approaching.
[WAILS]
[INDISTINCT PA ANNOUNCEMENT]
[DOOR CHIMES]
[TRAIN RUMBLING]
Ah!
[FRANTIC GROANS]
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
No, don't, don't, don't.
Is this yours?
♪
[SOBBING]
Are you all right?
[SOBBING]
I
I think I was raped.
[SOBBING]
♪
- Special Victims?
- Yeah, I'm Benson.
All right, Emily,
can we get you back to the bed?
- I threw up.
- That's okay.
That's okay. So, Emily, I'm Olivia.
And I'm a police captain.
And, uh, you up
You up for answering a few questions?
Can I have some water?
- Yeah.
- Here you go.
Here you go.
- We get a BAC?
- Double.
So, Emily, how much
did you have to drink?
- Two.
- Two drinks?
- Tequilas.
- Mm-hmm.
And, uh,
four White Claws.
Okay, so six drinks.
No, and then we went to Josh's
and had some more.
And then I don't remember.
I think they were
forcing her to drink.
Is that true, Emily?
Were they forcing you to drink?
Yeah, maybe.
Okay, so right now, how about
we stick to what you actually
do remember, okay, Emily?
So who is Josh?
He's my friend.
Uh, they, they all are,
except for that one guy.
Three men, took turns.
And you were passed out, right, Emily?
[WHISPERS] I don't remember.
No, remember, we talked about that.
Can you come outside and
talk to me, please, for a moment?
Excuse us.
Look, I appreciate that
you're trying to help, I really do.
But right now, I just
I need to hear the facts
as she remembers them,
not a story that's altered
to get a better outcome.
I'm just helping her remember.
Well, actually, you
were answering for her.
And I get it.
I really do.
But trust me, that will bite
us in the ass at the end.
The facts are that
she excessively drank
of her own volition.
- You know how this ends for her.
- I don't.
And quite frankly, neither do you.
You know, it's so weird.
You're in a position where
you can actually help her.
You just won't.
[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]
♪
[SCOFFS]
♪
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Usually I only have a
couple, but I had off today,
so I just figured, let loose, right?
I screwed up so bad.
I did this to myself.
Emily, was it the best
idea to drink that much?
It wasn't.
Does that mean that anyone is allowed
to touch you or do anything
to you without your consent?
I guess not.
So what happened after you realized
that you were alone with them?
Well, I started to get the spins.
Okay.
I remember I was
looking for
a glass of water in the kitchen,
and then, I was
Just walking up the stairs.
I was
I was in a bed.
And Josh was
like, on top of me,
trying to kiss me and
Daniel and Scott.
[SIGHS]
Somebody took my pants off, and
I kept
I kept asking for my phone.
Okay, that's good, Emily.
Did you did you say anything else?
Do you remember?
Uh, I kept asking Josh
if his mom was home
'cause I just kept hoping
she would come in.
Okay, so Emily, this
is really important.
I need you to try to remember.
Did you say anything else to them?
Did you say no or
try to push them off?
[SIGHS]
I don't remember.
I mean, it doesn't matter, does it?
Like, I was so drunk, it's obvious.
Like, who thinks I'd be down
for a gangbang with three guys?
And
I'm just trying to get
the full picture here.
[SIGHS]
Look, the nurse said to
just say that I passed out.
I could say that if it helps my case.
The only thing that I
want you to think about
is just telling the truth, okay?
You let me worry about this case.
So let's start with the
guys' names, okay?
- Mm-hmm.
- Josh.
- Josh.
- What's Josh's last name?
Joshua Berger, Daniel Sutcliff,
and a public record search turned up
Daniel's maternal
cousin, Scott Paletta.
Emily picked him out of a photo array.
He's our guy.
Oh, new partner gets coffee.
You never did that for me.
Well, that's 'cause I know
how to train my detectives.
It's a little sweet.
I'll let it slide this time.
Any priors?
Squeaky clean.
Well, it doesn't look
like she was drugged.
Preliminary tox screen
only shows alcohol, 0.17.
You can't give consent
when you're that drunk.
Legally drunk people can give consent.
0.17? Come on, man.
She was wasted.
Well, think about any girl
you had sex with in college.
Were they drunk?
Did you get consent?
This isn't some college hookup.
This is three men taking
turns on an inebriated person
But the law says that a victim
has to be physically helpless or,
given an intoxicating
substance without consent.
- Then the law is garbage.
- I couldn't agree with you more.
And legislature even tried
to change it this summer,
but the session ran out
before there was a vote,
so we're stuck with this garbage.
So, let's talk to these
three individually
before their lawyers get involved.
If we're lucky,
we flip one of them.
Do you know Emily Dawson?
Yeah.
Uh, we met last night at trivia.
Is she okay?
Did you do anything after trivia?
We went to one of the
guys' places for drinks,
Josh, I think.
I'm new to the group.
I don't know everyone yet.
What's this about?
So we got this weird allegation
that we are required to look into.
- Allegation?
- Yeah, yeah.
Right now, that's all
it is, just an allegation.
Okay, Emily told us a story.
She woke up maybe not feeling so
good about what happened last night.
All we wanna do is hear
your side of the story.
What, is she saying something happened
she didn't want to happen?
Why don't you just tell us
what you remember happening?
Look, uh, I mean,
you're not wrong, okay?
Things got weird, like
like, really weird.
But, it was great.
I mean,
we were all hanging out.
It was me, Emily, Josh, Daniel.
He's my cousin.
And, um, eventually, we
were in the bedroom.
And
I mean, I can safely say
I've never done anything like that.
Like what, exactly?
[SCOFFS]
Have sex with someone and then
watch other people
have sex with that person.
Okay, and Emily was
actively participating in this?
- Yes.
- Yeah?
She-she gave full consent?
She said yes?
Well, she didn't say no.
And I mean, she was
acting, like, very into it,
like
like, very.
Oh?
What does that look like?
Kissing
me, everyone.
Did she take off her own clothes?
I think someone took off her pants,
Josh, maybe.
Did she ever lose consciousness?
No. What?
Absolutely not.
If I thought for a single
second she was too out of it
or didn't want to,
I definitely would have stopped.
God, I feel
I mean, I feel terrible.
I was gonna call her
later and ask her out.
I guess not, huh?
[KNOCKING]
- Daniel Sutcliff?
- Yeah?
I need to talk to you.
Why don't we sit down inside?
What's this about?
Danny, is that Instacart?
Your girlfriend know what
you got into last night?
No, babe, it's
hey, just a sec.
She must not be into trivia.
What do you want?
- Emily Dawson.
- What about her?
You remember what
happened to her last night?
It wasn't planned.
It just happened.
So you raping her with two
of your boys just happened?
Whoa, whoa, what?
What?
- Is that what she's saying now?
- That's the story.
If you got a better one,
it's your time to tell it.
No. No way.
She doesn't get to wake
up and cry rape just because
she feels like a skank now.
Man, she was the one
making us do shots,
grabbing my crotch.
She's a tease.
So you decided to make her pay for it?
No
Josh had a crush on her.
I don't even like her that way.
And then she friendzoned
him, and and and
and she's flirting with him all night.
And you want me to
believe that she decided
to take on three guys at once?
Man, she was coming on to all of us.
If she regrets it
now, that's her fault.
Now, I know I don't
have to talk to you.
Listen, Josh, we could
arrest you right here
in front of all your colleagues,
but I'd really rather just talk.
Maybe we can clear
this whole thing up.
I didn't do anything wrong.
No harm in answering some questions.
Like, how long have you
been carrying a torch for Emily?
Who even said that?
That was forever ago.
We're friends.
So you used to have a
crush, but not anymore?
I'm not saying anything else.
Okay, but if
If she's
she's sending you mixed signals,
right, I mean, I can see
how you'd get confused.
I mean, she let you
take her clothes off.
She told me to lie down with her.
She had the spins.
She said she wanted
to hold on to something.
So you did get in the bed with her?
Seriously, I'm not
saying anything else.
What I understand is no
one was making her drink.
So the fact that she was out of it,
that's her fault, not yours.
- I'm not talking anymore.
- [MUTTERS]
I've seen these situations before,
and usually,
there's a ringleader.
There's an instigator.
I don't think that's you.
The fact that it
happened at your house
doesn't look good for you.
So you should tell us
before we find something
that could really hurt you.
It's my mom's house.
You don't have permission to search it.
Oh, buddy,
it's already happening.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
I am looking right at it.
- Oh.
- Hi.
That's the mother.
Yeah, I'm not sensing cooperation.
Are you sensing laundry day?
She put all the bed
linens in the wash,
vacuumed within an inch of her life.
- Still found hair and prints.
- Okay,
what about the doorbell cams?
She claims it isn't working.
We're subpoenaing
the company to see if
- they've archived any footage.
- All right, thanks.
I don't even know
what I'm paying you for
- if you can't help me.
- Mrs. Berger.
I'm Captain Benson from SVU.
Speak to my attorney.
Call her back.
You can't do that.
When he does call you
back, let him know that
you spent the morning
obstructing an investigation
and destroying evidence.
Look, I know that
you don't want to see
your son in trouble,
but covering for him,
is only gonna hurt
him in the long run.
I have nothing to say.
Nothing from the phone dump.
These guys might be clowns,
but they know not to text
anything incriminating.
Hey, you get anything from CSU?
Yeah, the mother wasn't lying
about the busted door cam.
There's no footage.
They got DNA.
But until we get the rape kit back,
we got nothing to compare it to.
And even if it matches,
they're claiming
the sex was consensual.
Hey.
Sorry I'm late.
I got held up with the new ADA mentee.
How's that going?
I doubt this guy's ever talked to
a police officer in his life.
He's a snazzy dresser, and
Sonny's feeling threatened.
Look, all I'm saying is this guy's tie
costs more than our car lease, Amanda.
- Yeah, it does.
- All right, these guys,
- they all sticking to this story?
- More or less.
If there's a weak link
in the bunch, it's Josh.
And if there's a
sociopath, it's Scott.
I mean, he said all the right things,
and I wasn't buying it for a minute.
And what about Daniel?
Dime store incel
begging for an ass-kicking.
He ratted out Josh for
having a crush on the victim.
I bet as soon as we bring
them in, they all lawyer up,
and they stop talking.
All right, we need one
of these guys to flip.
The mom knows.
The mom protected them
and tampered with evidence.
She wants to be a good mom.
And I, am gonna give
her another chance.
He's not here.
I actually came to speak with you.
Well, I told you, I
have nothing to say.
You know, I
I have a son.
And every day, I hope and I pray that
he will grow up
to be a good man.
But at the end of the day,
our children make their own choices.
And it doesn't mean that
we messed up as parents
if they make the wrong choice.
But if you teach your son
that he's not responsible
for his actions,
that is on you.
That is a mistake,
one that he will pay for
over and over,
long after you're gone.
[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]
♪
I wanted something for the back door,
so I just set up an old webcam.
And when I heard the
police were talking to Josh,
I gave it to a neighbor.
- She's so wasted.
- [LAUGHTER]
I'm gonna send her home.
- Bro! You're an idiot.
- Why?
'Cause I don't want her
puking all over my house?
I thought you were into her, man.
I
I mean, yeah, but not like this.
Bro, you're missing an opportunity.
You can do whatever you want to her.
She's not gonna
remember in the morning.
Come on, come on, come on.
I raised him to be better.
He knows this is wrong.
♪
Pick them up,
all of them.
Docket numbers 89, 90, 91,
People of the State of New York
versus Joshua Berger,
Daniel Sutcliff, Scott Paletta,
one count each rape
in the first degree.
Dominick Carisi for the People.
Andrea Vargas representing all three
of the defendants, Your Honor.
Waivers have been signed, I presume?
- Yes, Your Honor.
- The plea?
Not guilty.
Proceed.
This was a gang rape.
The defendants egged
each other on and then
took turns with the victim
over a protracted period of time.
It's a class B felony, and
the People request remand.
She was voluntary intox.
Your Honor knows the law on that.
Plus, the evidence is clear that this
was a consensual encounter.
Consensual?
She was barely conscious, Your Honor.
You expect us to believe,
that she wanted these
three men to do whatever
they felt like to her body?
Look, is it my cup of tea? No.
But believe it or not,
there are some people
who favor multiple partners.
I can assure you that the
victim is not one of them.
These young men have
never been arrested.
They deserve release
or a reasonable bail.
Remand is granted.
Next case.
Captain Olivia Benson,
meet Aidan Hawkins,
fresh out of criminal
court and Harvard Law.
Impressive.
Looking forward to working with you.
- Great.
- All right,
training starts with
jury selection, Hawkins.
You're doing the voir dire.
Who here has ever been drunk?
I know I have.
Oh, come on.
There's no judgment.
I'm not gonna ask you about
your drunken escapades.
Thank you.
Does intoxication affect
someone's judgment?
Yeah, for sure.
And if they're very intoxicated,
do you believe they
make good decisions?
Not usually.
He's good.
What is your beef with him,
aside from the tie?
He's a rich kid, and he's definitely
not sticking around SVU.
Do you believe
someone who has become
intoxicated voluntarily
automatically consents to
whatever happens to them?
I don't think so.
Why not?
You're not yourself.
You can be influenced to do things
you wouldn't normally do.
Mr. Hawkins, we're about to hit noon.
Let's break for lunch.
We're back in an hour.
See you.
Bounce 4 and 11.
What?
Trust me.
Hey, Carisi, who's that?
That's Gwen Sharpe.
She's a jury consultant,
expensive one too.
Usually my office can't
afford someone like her.
She gets hired by the
big firms, you know.
Okay, could she be
working for the defense?
I doubt it.
She's known to donate
her time exonerating people
who've been wrongfully convicted.
Well, she said to bounce 4 and 11.
Then we're bouncing 4 and 11.
I'm glad she said something.
- I would have empaneled four.
- Yeah, me too.
- All right, not bad up there.
- Thanks.
I do have some notes, though.
- We'll call you when we adjourn.
- Yeah.
Thanks for the assist.
[SIGHS] I hope that wasn't weird.
I-I just couldn't walk away
without saying something.
I'm Olivia Benson, SVU.
- Gwen Sharpe.
- Yeah.
My ADA was very impressed,
and very little impresses him.
Are you here working on a case?
Mine is still in pretrial motions.
- Uh-huh.
- I like to see what
the jury pool is looking like.
- It's good practice for me.
- Okay.
Well, um,
what about those
jurors flagged for you?
Well, 4 was uncomfortable
with any discussion around sex acts.
I think she'll blame the victim
when she hears the evidence.
And 11 was lying about alcohol.
She doesn't drink.
I'd worry she'd judge
anybody who does.
And you saw all of that
from across the room?
I've been doing this for
a long time. [CHUCKLES]
I'd be worried about any
woman put on this jury.
I know.
I know.
They judge other women more harshly.
They project themselves
onto the victim.
"I would never put
myself in that position."
"This could never happen to me."
"Therefore, the victim is to blame."
I wish that I could bring
you on for the duration.
I'd prepare yourself.
I think you're invested
in the outcome,
rightly so.
I just don't think this is gonna
go the way you want it to.
But you haven't heard the evidence.
I mean, look, we have these men
on video, plotting.
This is a very tricky case,
but I don't know how anybody sees
three men on one drunk woman
as anything other than rape.
You have faith in the system.
I hope you're right.
I just wouldn't have
gone to trial on this.
[TENSE MUSIC]
I thought they were my friends.
Josh and Daniel I have
known for ten years.
And so you had no reason
to be on guard with them?
None.
I thought they were safe.
Thank you, Emily.
Nothing further, Your Honor.
Ms. Vargas.
Now, is it fair to say that no one
made you drink that night, Emily?
No one made me drink.
And you had a lot to drink.
Objection, Your Honor.
Is she testifying?
I'll rephrase.
How many drinks did
you have that night?
Seven?
I really don't remember.
Oh, would you like me to
read your statement to SVU?
Um, I think seven or eight.
Now, you could have
stopped at any time, correct?
Yes.
And as a result, your
memory of that night
is spotty at best.
I remember enough.
I mean, you can't
honestly sit here right now
and say whether or not you consented.
I would never consent to that.
Oh, so you said no?
Did you push them away?
Did you do anything to make them stop?
Well, I was looking for my phone.
I-I was trying to leave.
Or were you encouraging them?
[TENSE MUSIC]
- No.
- So now you say no.
But isn't it true that
you told Captain Benson
you don't remember saying no?
[CRYING] I don't know.
You never said no, did you, Emily?
And then when you woke
up, you changed your mind.
Objection, Your Honor.
She's badgering.
Sustained.
Take it down a notch, Counsel.
[EMILY CRYING]
I have nothing else.
♪
Redirect, Mr. Carisi?
[SOBBING]
No, Your Honor.
Emily, you're free to go now.
You're free to go.
The People rest.
[SIGHS]
Put your game face on.
We'll take them apart in the cross.
♪
The defense rests, Your Honor.
♪
Verdict?
Vargas came to me with an offer.
What is it?
Forcible touching, time served.
Time served.
Is she kidding?
Look, we all knew this
was gonna be a tough case.
But at least this way,
they're on the sex offender registry.
Carisi.
You can't make this
deal, not after everything
that Emily has gone through.
I'm telling you,
we're gonna get buried here.
And then they're gonna
walk, and we will have nothing.
I agree with Captain Benson.
Oh, great.
Let's hear from the guy
who was cutting deals
with purse snatchers in
criminal court six months ago.
A deal makes us look bad.
It's bad for justice.
It makes us look bad?
Well, so does an acquittal.
That's what we're looking at here.
A misdemeanor?
Absolutely not.
Carisi, you can't settle for that.
You know what, Liv?
It would be nice if, for once,
you could give me
some credit for knowing
what the hell I'm talking about.
- [LIGHT KNOCKING]
- Anyway, I'm here as a courtesy.
I'm not asking for your permission.
Hey.
Sorry.
Sonny, your office called,
and, uh,
the judge wants everybody back.
♪
I have a note here
from our jury foreperson.
"Our deliberations have stalled,"
"and we are hopelessly deadlocked."
Pretty unequivocal.
Your Honor, we request that
you give the jury an Allen Charge.
Already done, Mr. Carisi.
Then give them a
modified Allen Charge.
Force them to restart deliberations
- until they reach a verdict.
- They're hung.
And I'm declaring a mistrial.
Your Honor, a motion
for the immediate release
- of my clients.
- Well, absolutely not.
The People fully
intend to retry this case
at the court's earliest convenience.
The bail condition
should remain the same.
Yeah, I agree.
The defendants will remain in custody.
Oh, and let's bring the jury back in.
We'll thank them for their service,
and then we'll start all over again.
♪
I guess I just wanted
to tell you in person
after everything you've done.
Well, I just did my job,
and I am sorry that
That it wasn't enough.
No, I'm sorry.
I always thought of myself as, like,
this pretty strong person, but
I was sitting there in the courtroom,
and everybody's looking at
me like I'm some drunk whore.
That's not true.
It is.
I mean,
some of them thought so on the jury.
I
I just can't do it again.
And
I know I'm disappointing you.
Listen to me.
You're not disappointing me.
It's actually the opposite.
I'm amazed by you.
You are
You are an incredibly strong woman.
And I'm not gonna
sit here and lie to you
and tell you that another
trial would be easier because
Because it would probably be harder.
[SOFT MUSIC]
And you've been through
something incredibly difficult.
And you're still here.
♪
Maybe I should have
just said I passed out.
It's just, like, kind
of messed up that
the truth doesn't always matter.
♪
Hi.
Gwen, what are you
what are you doing here?
Oh, I had to meet a client downstairs.
- Listen, I heard about the mistrial.
- Oh, yeah.
I thought you might wanna
drown your sorrows a little.
I think the stay-at-home
mom was one of the holdouts
and the old guy with
the missing tooth.
He didn't like your ADA.
Well, all of this
information is super helpful
after the fact, so thank
you so much for that.
Listen, I was rooting for you.
I've been wrong before.
[SIGHS]
You always take your losses so hard?
No, I don't.
What's so special about this one?
I've been doing this
work for almost 30 years,
and, most of the time,
I convinced myself
that even when a case goes south
that it's the fight that matters.
That's
That's a nice way
of thinking about it.
Yeah.
We don't stop anything.
We don't prevent a
crime from happening.
We just pick up the pieces afterwards.
But that's always
been the case, hasn't it?
You didn't pick Anti-Crime.
You chose SVU.
That is true.
That is true.
So
What's changed?
That is the problem,
is that nothing has changed.
We're 30 years in,
and a jury gets to decide
that if a woman drinks too much,
then she deserves to be raped.
That is the problem.
Yeah.
That's hard.
How do you deal with that?
You know, the work used to be enough.
My old partner used
Violence to deal with it.
He used to get physical
with the suspects.
But that took a toll on him too.
I mean,
maybe there is no good way.
Um,
so I have a
A personal history with the
type of crimes you investigate.
It's a
It's a story
for another time.
But, what I can say is, you're right.
The world hasn't
changed much in 30 years,
and certainly, the perps haven't.
So what can you do about it?
Quit?
No.
No, I'm not
I'm not ready to quit.
Okay.
Then the only other
option is to fight.
Just fight different.
[ELTON JOHN'S "MONA
LISAS AND MAD HATTERS"]
They know not if it's
dark outside or light ♪
♪
They know not if it's
dark outside or light ♪
Late night visits gonna be
a regular thing from you, Captain?
Look, I
I need an arrest warrant.
For whom?
Josh Berger's mother, Stephanie.
On what charge?
Tampering and obstruction of justice.
Hold on.
Uh, uh.
Berger's mother cooperated.
She handed over evidence.
The charges will never stick.
And you can just arrest her yourself.
You don't need a warrant from me.
I'd like to go through
the proper channels.
You wanna use her,
to get her son to flip.
You wanna arrest someone
you know to be innocent
to pressure their child.
And you came to the new dumb ADA
because you know
Carisi wouldn't go for it.
I don't need an ethics
lecture from you.
I'm not lecturing.
It's a great idea, mob tactics.
If you can't get the guy,
go after the family.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
You surprise me, Hawkins.
I might suggest adding a conspiracy
to commit rape charge.
You wanna pressure Berger?
That ought to do it.
♪
By all means.
Come in.
What is this?
Where's my lawyer?
I'm Steve Kaplan.
The judge in your
case appointed me to be
- your new defense attorney.
- What?
No, no, no, I didn't agree to that.
Because the district attorney's office
has an offer that you should hear.
You arrested my mother!
She didn't do anything wrong.
We've determined that of the
three defendants in this case,
you are the least culpable.
In exchange for your testimony
against Mr. Sutcliff and Mr. Paletta,
we can offer you rape two.
Sentencing is 2 1/3 to 5.
- Sex abuse three, time served.
- No.
He's useless to me as a witness
if I give him a misdemeanor.
It'll look like we
bought his testimony.
Plead to the felony, testify,
with good behavior, you're out in two.
And any legal issues that
your mother is facing, go away.
What you are doing is so messed up.
What I'm doing is saving you
from a potential 20-year sentence.
From what I understand,
more people thought
you were guilty than not.
This is a way to save yourself, Josh.
I recommend you take this deal.
Fine.
I'll testify, but my mom
- has to be out today.
- Great news.
We'll be in touch as
soon as my boss signs off.
[BUZZER BLARES]
What the hell was this, Liv, huh?
After all these years, you're
gonna go behind my back?
I didn't wanna put
you in a position
In what position?
Wrongly arresting an innocent
woman to get to her son?
- That one?
- Sonny, listen
No, you need to walk
away from me right now.
Okay, Carisi, I
- let's just talk, please.
- Liv,
you know what?
You think you're the only person
who cares about these victims.
And so you push, and
you push, and you push,
until you get what
you think is justice.
Yes, I do, because somebody has to.
[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]
I
I didn't mean
- I didn't mean it like that.
- Yeah, you did. Yeah, you did.
That's why you're sitting in
the courtroom every day, huh?
- No.
- Watching me,
to make sure I don't screw up?
Carisi, stop.
That's
That's not it.
I did what needed to be done.
Josh flipped.
He's gonna testify
against the other two.
This is good news.
This is the best outcome
that we could have hoped for.
You get a new trial
with Josh's testimony,
and I'm certain
that Emily will testify.
This is
This is a win.
♪
What is going on with you, Liv?
♪
[GATE SLAMS]
♪
Mr. Berger, when did you decide
to take Emily into the bedroom?
She was dizzy.
She said she wanted to lie down.
And at that point, was
she extremely intoxicated?
Yeah.
She could hardly stand up.
So what happened when
you got into the bedroom?
I, uh, laid down
next to her in the bed.
Did she say anything?
She kept asking where her phone was.
Did you give it to her?
No.
Why not?
Scott had it.
Why did Scott have it?
She was trying to get an Uber,
and he took it from
her so she couldn't.
Did either of the defendants
come into the bedroom at any point?
Yeah.
Both Scott and Danny came in.
And then what happened?
Mr. Berger, please tell the jury
what happened after the
defendants entered the bedroom.
Um
So by then, Emily was passed out,
and
♪
Scott took off her pants.
And he was like, come on, man,
you go first.
And at that point, you raped her.
♪
Yes.
What happened next?
Scott told Danny to go next.
And then he told me to stay and watch.
And
Then Scott took his turn.
Was Emily conscious during this?
She kept waking up and passing out.
So your testimony, to be clear,
is that there were times when Emily
was completely unconscious.
Yeah.
She had no idea what
was going on for most of it.
I'm sorry.
I'd been thinking about
her so much and
Fantasizing, and
I convinced myself that she wanted it.
♪
That if she was awake,
she would have wanted it.
♪
As to the charge of
rape in the first degree,
how do you find the
defendant, Daniel Sutcliff?
Guilty.
As to the charge of
rape in the first degree,
how do you find the
defendant, Scott Paletta?
Guilty.
Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf
of the People of the State
of New York, I thank you.
Great
Great work, Carisi.
Thank you.
♪
Okay.
♪
In the criminal justice system,
sexually based offenses
are considered especially heinous.
In New York City, the
dedicated detectives
who investigate these vicious felonies
are members of an elite squad
known as the Special Victims Unit.
These are their stories.
[SIREN WAILING]
[PANTING]
[TRAIN RUMBLING]
PA: The train is now approaching.
[WAILS]
[INDISTINCT PA ANNOUNCEMENT]
[DOOR CHIMES]
[TRAIN RUMBLING]
Ah!
[FRANTIC GROANS]
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
No, don't, don't, don't.
Is this yours?
♪
[SOBBING]
Are you all right?
[SOBBING]
I
I think I was raped.
[SOBBING]
♪
- Special Victims?
- Yeah, I'm Benson.
All right, Emily,
can we get you back to the bed?
- I threw up.
- That's okay.
That's okay. So, Emily, I'm Olivia.
And I'm a police captain.
And, uh, you up
You up for answering a few questions?
Can I have some water?
- Yeah.
- Here you go.
Here you go.
- We get a BAC?
- Double.
So, Emily, how much
did you have to drink?
- Two.
- Two drinks?
- Tequilas.
- Mm-hmm.
And, uh,
four White Claws.
Okay, so six drinks.
No, and then we went to Josh's
and had some more.
And then I don't remember.
I think they were
forcing her to drink.
Is that true, Emily?
Were they forcing you to drink?
Yeah, maybe.
Okay, so right now, how about
we stick to what you actually
do remember, okay, Emily?
So who is Josh?
He's my friend.
Uh, they, they all are,
except for that one guy.
Three men, took turns.
And you were passed out, right, Emily?
[WHISPERS] I don't remember.
No, remember, we talked about that.
Can you come outside and
talk to me, please, for a moment?
Excuse us.
Look, I appreciate that
you're trying to help, I really do.
But right now, I just
I need to hear the facts
as she remembers them,
not a story that's altered
to get a better outcome.
I'm just helping her remember.
Well, actually, you
were answering for her.
And I get it.
I really do.
But trust me, that will bite
us in the ass at the end.
The facts are that
she excessively drank
of her own volition.
- You know how this ends for her.
- I don't.
And quite frankly, neither do you.
You know, it's so weird.
You're in a position where
you can actually help her.
You just won't.
[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]
♪
[SCOFFS]
♪
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Usually I only have a
couple, but I had off today,
so I just figured, let loose, right?
I screwed up so bad.
I did this to myself.
Emily, was it the best
idea to drink that much?
It wasn't.
Does that mean that anyone is allowed
to touch you or do anything
to you without your consent?
I guess not.
So what happened after you realized
that you were alone with them?
Well, I started to get the spins.
Okay.
I remember I was
looking for
a glass of water in the kitchen,
and then, I was
Just walking up the stairs.
I was
I was in a bed.
And Josh was
like, on top of me,
trying to kiss me and
Daniel and Scott.
[SIGHS]
Somebody took my pants off, and
I kept
I kept asking for my phone.
Okay, that's good, Emily.
Did you did you say anything else?
Do you remember?
Uh, I kept asking Josh
if his mom was home
'cause I just kept hoping
she would come in.
Okay, so Emily, this
is really important.
I need you to try to remember.
Did you say anything else to them?
Did you say no or
try to push them off?
[SIGHS]
I don't remember.
I mean, it doesn't matter, does it?
Like, I was so drunk, it's obvious.
Like, who thinks I'd be down
for a gangbang with three guys?
And
I'm just trying to get
the full picture here.
[SIGHS]
Look, the nurse said to
just say that I passed out.
I could say that if it helps my case.
The only thing that I
want you to think about
is just telling the truth, okay?
You let me worry about this case.
So let's start with the
guys' names, okay?
- Mm-hmm.
- Josh.
- Josh.
- What's Josh's last name?
Joshua Berger, Daniel Sutcliff,
and a public record search turned up
Daniel's maternal
cousin, Scott Paletta.
Emily picked him out of a photo array.
He's our guy.
Oh, new partner gets coffee.
You never did that for me.
Well, that's 'cause I know
how to train my detectives.
It's a little sweet.
I'll let it slide this time.
Any priors?
Squeaky clean.
Well, it doesn't look
like she was drugged.
Preliminary tox screen
only shows alcohol, 0.17.
You can't give consent
when you're that drunk.
Legally drunk people can give consent.
0.17? Come on, man.
She was wasted.
Well, think about any girl
you had sex with in college.
Were they drunk?
Did you get consent?
This isn't some college hookup.
This is three men taking
turns on an inebriated person
But the law says that a victim
has to be physically helpless or,
given an intoxicating
substance without consent.
- Then the law is garbage.
- I couldn't agree with you more.
And legislature even tried
to change it this summer,
but the session ran out
before there was a vote,
so we're stuck with this garbage.
So, let's talk to these
three individually
before their lawyers get involved.
If we're lucky,
we flip one of them.
Do you know Emily Dawson?
Yeah.
Uh, we met last night at trivia.
Is she okay?
Did you do anything after trivia?
We went to one of the
guys' places for drinks,
Josh, I think.
I'm new to the group.
I don't know everyone yet.
What's this about?
So we got this weird allegation
that we are required to look into.
- Allegation?
- Yeah, yeah.
Right now, that's all
it is, just an allegation.
Okay, Emily told us a story.
She woke up maybe not feeling so
good about what happened last night.
All we wanna do is hear
your side of the story.
What, is she saying something happened
she didn't want to happen?
Why don't you just tell us
what you remember happening?
Look, uh, I mean,
you're not wrong, okay?
Things got weird, like
like, really weird.
But, it was great.
I mean,
we were all hanging out.
It was me, Emily, Josh, Daniel.
He's my cousin.
And, um, eventually, we
were in the bedroom.
And
I mean, I can safely say
I've never done anything like that.
Like what, exactly?
[SCOFFS]
Have sex with someone and then
watch other people
have sex with that person.
Okay, and Emily was
actively participating in this?
- Yes.
- Yeah?
She-she gave full consent?
She said yes?
Well, she didn't say no.
And I mean, she was
acting, like, very into it,
like
like, very.
Oh?
What does that look like?
Kissing
me, everyone.
Did she take off her own clothes?
I think someone took off her pants,
Josh, maybe.
Did she ever lose consciousness?
No. What?
Absolutely not.
If I thought for a single
second she was too out of it
or didn't want to,
I definitely would have stopped.
God, I feel
I mean, I feel terrible.
I was gonna call her
later and ask her out.
I guess not, huh?
[KNOCKING]
- Daniel Sutcliff?
- Yeah?
I need to talk to you.
Why don't we sit down inside?
What's this about?
Danny, is that Instacart?
Your girlfriend know what
you got into last night?
No, babe, it's
hey, just a sec.
She must not be into trivia.
What do you want?
- Emily Dawson.
- What about her?
You remember what
happened to her last night?
It wasn't planned.
It just happened.
So you raping her with two
of your boys just happened?
Whoa, whoa, what?
What?
- Is that what she's saying now?
- That's the story.
If you got a better one,
it's your time to tell it.
No. No way.
She doesn't get to wake
up and cry rape just because
she feels like a skank now.
Man, she was the one
making us do shots,
grabbing my crotch.
She's a tease.
So you decided to make her pay for it?
No
Josh had a crush on her.
I don't even like her that way.
And then she friendzoned
him, and and and
and she's flirting with him all night.
And you want me to
believe that she decided
to take on three guys at once?
Man, she was coming on to all of us.
If she regrets it
now, that's her fault.
Now, I know I don't
have to talk to you.
Listen, Josh, we could
arrest you right here
in front of all your colleagues,
but I'd really rather just talk.
Maybe we can clear
this whole thing up.
I didn't do anything wrong.
No harm in answering some questions.
Like, how long have you
been carrying a torch for Emily?
Who even said that?
That was forever ago.
We're friends.
So you used to have a
crush, but not anymore?
I'm not saying anything else.
Okay, but if
If she's
she's sending you mixed signals,
right, I mean, I can see
how you'd get confused.
I mean, she let you
take her clothes off.
She told me to lie down with her.
She had the spins.
She said she wanted
to hold on to something.
So you did get in the bed with her?
Seriously, I'm not
saying anything else.
What I understand is no
one was making her drink.
So the fact that she was out of it,
that's her fault, not yours.
- I'm not talking anymore.
- [MUTTERS]
I've seen these situations before,
and usually,
there's a ringleader.
There's an instigator.
I don't think that's you.
The fact that it
happened at your house
doesn't look good for you.
So you should tell us
before we find something
that could really hurt you.
It's my mom's house.
You don't have permission to search it.
Oh, buddy,
it's already happening.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
I am looking right at it.
- Oh.
- Hi.
That's the mother.
Yeah, I'm not sensing cooperation.
Are you sensing laundry day?
She put all the bed
linens in the wash,
vacuumed within an inch of her life.
- Still found hair and prints.
- Okay,
what about the doorbell cams?
She claims it isn't working.
We're subpoenaing
the company to see if
- they've archived any footage.
- All right, thanks.
I don't even know
what I'm paying you for
- if you can't help me.
- Mrs. Berger.
I'm Captain Benson from SVU.
Speak to my attorney.
Call her back.
You can't do that.
When he does call you
back, let him know that
you spent the morning
obstructing an investigation
and destroying evidence.
Look, I know that
you don't want to see
your son in trouble,
but covering for him,
is only gonna hurt
him in the long run.
I have nothing to say.
Nothing from the phone dump.
These guys might be clowns,
but they know not to text
anything incriminating.
Hey, you get anything from CSU?
Yeah, the mother wasn't lying
about the busted door cam.
There's no footage.
They got DNA.
But until we get the rape kit back,
we got nothing to compare it to.
And even if it matches,
they're claiming
the sex was consensual.
Hey.
Sorry I'm late.
I got held up with the new ADA mentee.
How's that going?
I doubt this guy's ever talked to
a police officer in his life.
He's a snazzy dresser, and
Sonny's feeling threatened.
Look, all I'm saying is this guy's tie
costs more than our car lease, Amanda.
- Yeah, it does.
- All right, these guys,
- they all sticking to this story?
- More or less.
If there's a weak link
in the bunch, it's Josh.
And if there's a
sociopath, it's Scott.
I mean, he said all the right things,
and I wasn't buying it for a minute.
And what about Daniel?
Dime store incel
begging for an ass-kicking.
He ratted out Josh for
having a crush on the victim.
I bet as soon as we bring
them in, they all lawyer up,
and they stop talking.
All right, we need one
of these guys to flip.
The mom knows.
The mom protected them
and tampered with evidence.
She wants to be a good mom.
And I, am gonna give
her another chance.
He's not here.
I actually came to speak with you.
Well, I told you, I
have nothing to say.
You know, I
I have a son.
And every day, I hope and I pray that
he will grow up
to be a good man.
But at the end of the day,
our children make their own choices.
And it doesn't mean that
we messed up as parents
if they make the wrong choice.
But if you teach your son
that he's not responsible
for his actions,
that is on you.
That is a mistake,
one that he will pay for
over and over,
long after you're gone.
[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]
♪
I wanted something for the back door,
so I just set up an old webcam.
And when I heard the
police were talking to Josh,
I gave it to a neighbor.
- She's so wasted.
- [LAUGHTER]
I'm gonna send her home.
- Bro! You're an idiot.
- Why?
'Cause I don't want her
puking all over my house?
I thought you were into her, man.
I
I mean, yeah, but not like this.
Bro, you're missing an opportunity.
You can do whatever you want to her.
She's not gonna
remember in the morning.
Come on, come on, come on.
I raised him to be better.
He knows this is wrong.
♪
Pick them up,
all of them.
Docket numbers 89, 90, 91,
People of the State of New York
versus Joshua Berger,
Daniel Sutcliff, Scott Paletta,
one count each rape
in the first degree.
Dominick Carisi for the People.
Andrea Vargas representing all three
of the defendants, Your Honor.
Waivers have been signed, I presume?
- Yes, Your Honor.
- The plea?
Not guilty.
Proceed.
This was a gang rape.
The defendants egged
each other on and then
took turns with the victim
over a protracted period of time.
It's a class B felony, and
the People request remand.
She was voluntary intox.
Your Honor knows the law on that.
Plus, the evidence is clear that this
was a consensual encounter.
Consensual?
She was barely conscious, Your Honor.
You expect us to believe,
that she wanted these
three men to do whatever
they felt like to her body?
Look, is it my cup of tea? No.
But believe it or not,
there are some people
who favor multiple partners.
I can assure you that the
victim is not one of them.
These young men have
never been arrested.
They deserve release
or a reasonable bail.
Remand is granted.
Next case.
Captain Olivia Benson,
meet Aidan Hawkins,
fresh out of criminal
court and Harvard Law.
Impressive.
Looking forward to working with you.
- Great.
- All right,
training starts with
jury selection, Hawkins.
You're doing the voir dire.
Who here has ever been drunk?
I know I have.
Oh, come on.
There's no judgment.
I'm not gonna ask you about
your drunken escapades.
Thank you.
Does intoxication affect
someone's judgment?
Yeah, for sure.
And if they're very intoxicated,
do you believe they
make good decisions?
Not usually.
He's good.
What is your beef with him,
aside from the tie?
He's a rich kid, and he's definitely
not sticking around SVU.
Do you believe
someone who has become
intoxicated voluntarily
automatically consents to
whatever happens to them?
I don't think so.
Why not?
You're not yourself.
You can be influenced to do things
you wouldn't normally do.
Mr. Hawkins, we're about to hit noon.
Let's break for lunch.
We're back in an hour.
See you.
Bounce 4 and 11.
What?
Trust me.
Hey, Carisi, who's that?
That's Gwen Sharpe.
She's a jury consultant,
expensive one too.
Usually my office can't
afford someone like her.
She gets hired by the
big firms, you know.
Okay, could she be
working for the defense?
I doubt it.
She's known to donate
her time exonerating people
who've been wrongfully convicted.
Well, she said to bounce 4 and 11.
Then we're bouncing 4 and 11.
I'm glad she said something.
- I would have empaneled four.
- Yeah, me too.
- All right, not bad up there.
- Thanks.
I do have some notes, though.
- We'll call you when we adjourn.
- Yeah.
Thanks for the assist.
[SIGHS] I hope that wasn't weird.
I-I just couldn't walk away
without saying something.
I'm Olivia Benson, SVU.
- Gwen Sharpe.
- Yeah.
My ADA was very impressed,
and very little impresses him.
Are you here working on a case?
Mine is still in pretrial motions.
- Uh-huh.
- I like to see what
the jury pool is looking like.
- It's good practice for me.
- Okay.
Well, um,
what about those
jurors flagged for you?
Well, 4 was uncomfortable
with any discussion around sex acts.
I think she'll blame the victim
when she hears the evidence.
And 11 was lying about alcohol.
She doesn't drink.
I'd worry she'd judge
anybody who does.
And you saw all of that
from across the room?
I've been doing this for
a long time. [CHUCKLES]
I'd be worried about any
woman put on this jury.
I know.
I know.
They judge other women more harshly.
They project themselves
onto the victim.
"I would never put
myself in that position."
"This could never happen to me."
"Therefore, the victim is to blame."
I wish that I could bring
you on for the duration.
I'd prepare yourself.
I think you're invested
in the outcome,
rightly so.
I just don't think this is gonna
go the way you want it to.
But you haven't heard the evidence.
I mean, look, we have these men
on video, plotting.
This is a very tricky case,
but I don't know how anybody sees
three men on one drunk woman
as anything other than rape.
You have faith in the system.
I hope you're right.
I just wouldn't have
gone to trial on this.
[TENSE MUSIC]
I thought they were my friends.
Josh and Daniel I have
known for ten years.
And so you had no reason
to be on guard with them?
None.
I thought they were safe.
Thank you, Emily.
Nothing further, Your Honor.
Ms. Vargas.
Now, is it fair to say that no one
made you drink that night, Emily?
No one made me drink.
And you had a lot to drink.
Objection, Your Honor.
Is she testifying?
I'll rephrase.
How many drinks did
you have that night?
Seven?
I really don't remember.
Oh, would you like me to
read your statement to SVU?
Um, I think seven or eight.
Now, you could have
stopped at any time, correct?
Yes.
And as a result, your
memory of that night
is spotty at best.
I remember enough.
I mean, you can't
honestly sit here right now
and say whether or not you consented.
I would never consent to that.
Oh, so you said no?
Did you push them away?
Did you do anything to make them stop?
Well, I was looking for my phone.
I-I was trying to leave.
Or were you encouraging them?
[TENSE MUSIC]
- No.
- So now you say no.
But isn't it true that
you told Captain Benson
you don't remember saying no?
[CRYING] I don't know.
You never said no, did you, Emily?
And then when you woke
up, you changed your mind.
Objection, Your Honor.
She's badgering.
Sustained.
Take it down a notch, Counsel.
[EMILY CRYING]
I have nothing else.
♪
Redirect, Mr. Carisi?
[SOBBING]
No, Your Honor.
Emily, you're free to go now.
You're free to go.
The People rest.
[SIGHS]
Put your game face on.
We'll take them apart in the cross.
♪
The defense rests, Your Honor.
♪
Verdict?
Vargas came to me with an offer.
What is it?
Forcible touching, time served.
Time served.
Is she kidding?
Look, we all knew this
was gonna be a tough case.
But at least this way,
they're on the sex offender registry.
Carisi.
You can't make this
deal, not after everything
that Emily has gone through.
I'm telling you,
we're gonna get buried here.
And then they're gonna
walk, and we will have nothing.
I agree with Captain Benson.
Oh, great.
Let's hear from the guy
who was cutting deals
with purse snatchers in
criminal court six months ago.
A deal makes us look bad.
It's bad for justice.
It makes us look bad?
Well, so does an acquittal.
That's what we're looking at here.
A misdemeanor?
Absolutely not.
Carisi, you can't settle for that.
You know what, Liv?
It would be nice if, for once,
you could give me
some credit for knowing
what the hell I'm talking about.
- [LIGHT KNOCKING]
- Anyway, I'm here as a courtesy.
I'm not asking for your permission.
Hey.
Sorry.
Sonny, your office called,
and, uh,
the judge wants everybody back.
♪
I have a note here
from our jury foreperson.
"Our deliberations have stalled,"
"and we are hopelessly deadlocked."
Pretty unequivocal.
Your Honor, we request that
you give the jury an Allen Charge.
Already done, Mr. Carisi.
Then give them a
modified Allen Charge.
Force them to restart deliberations
- until they reach a verdict.
- They're hung.
And I'm declaring a mistrial.
Your Honor, a motion
for the immediate release
- of my clients.
- Well, absolutely not.
The People fully
intend to retry this case
at the court's earliest convenience.
The bail condition
should remain the same.
Yeah, I agree.
The defendants will remain in custody.
Oh, and let's bring the jury back in.
We'll thank them for their service,
and then we'll start all over again.
♪
I guess I just wanted
to tell you in person
after everything you've done.
Well, I just did my job,
and I am sorry that
That it wasn't enough.
No, I'm sorry.
I always thought of myself as, like,
this pretty strong person, but
I was sitting there in the courtroom,
and everybody's looking at
me like I'm some drunk whore.
That's not true.
It is.
I mean,
some of them thought so on the jury.
I
I just can't do it again.
And
I know I'm disappointing you.
Listen to me.
You're not disappointing me.
It's actually the opposite.
I'm amazed by you.
You are
You are an incredibly strong woman.
And I'm not gonna
sit here and lie to you
and tell you that another
trial would be easier because
Because it would probably be harder.
[SOFT MUSIC]
And you've been through
something incredibly difficult.
And you're still here.
♪
Maybe I should have
just said I passed out.
It's just, like, kind
of messed up that
the truth doesn't always matter.
♪
Hi.
Gwen, what are you
what are you doing here?
Oh, I had to meet a client downstairs.
- Listen, I heard about the mistrial.
- Oh, yeah.
I thought you might wanna
drown your sorrows a little.
I think the stay-at-home
mom was one of the holdouts
and the old guy with
the missing tooth.
He didn't like your ADA.
Well, all of this
information is super helpful
after the fact, so thank
you so much for that.
Listen, I was rooting for you.
I've been wrong before.
[SIGHS]
You always take your losses so hard?
No, I don't.
What's so special about this one?
I've been doing this
work for almost 30 years,
and, most of the time,
I convinced myself
that even when a case goes south
that it's the fight that matters.
That's
That's a nice way
of thinking about it.
Yeah.
We don't stop anything.
We don't prevent a
crime from happening.
We just pick up the pieces afterwards.
But that's always
been the case, hasn't it?
You didn't pick Anti-Crime.
You chose SVU.
That is true.
That is true.
So
What's changed?
That is the problem,
is that nothing has changed.
We're 30 years in,
and a jury gets to decide
that if a woman drinks too much,
then she deserves to be raped.
That is the problem.
Yeah.
That's hard.
How do you deal with that?
You know, the work used to be enough.
My old partner used
Violence to deal with it.
He used to get physical
with the suspects.
But that took a toll on him too.
I mean,
maybe there is no good way.
Um,
so I have a
A personal history with the
type of crimes you investigate.
It's a
It's a story
for another time.
But, what I can say is, you're right.
The world hasn't
changed much in 30 years,
and certainly, the perps haven't.
So what can you do about it?
Quit?
No.
No, I'm not
I'm not ready to quit.
Okay.
Then the only other
option is to fight.
Just fight different.
[ELTON JOHN'S "MONA
LISAS AND MAD HATTERS"]
They know not if it's
dark outside or light ♪
♪
They know not if it's
dark outside or light ♪
Late night visits gonna be
a regular thing from you, Captain?
Look, I
I need an arrest warrant.
For whom?
Josh Berger's mother, Stephanie.
On what charge?
Tampering and obstruction of justice.
Hold on.
Uh, uh.
Berger's mother cooperated.
She handed over evidence.
The charges will never stick.
And you can just arrest her yourself.
You don't need a warrant from me.
I'd like to go through
the proper channels.
You wanna use her,
to get her son to flip.
You wanna arrest someone
you know to be innocent
to pressure their child.
And you came to the new dumb ADA
because you know
Carisi wouldn't go for it.
I don't need an ethics
lecture from you.
I'm not lecturing.
It's a great idea, mob tactics.
If you can't get the guy,
go after the family.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
You surprise me, Hawkins.
I might suggest adding a conspiracy
to commit rape charge.
You wanna pressure Berger?
That ought to do it.
♪
By all means.
Come in.
What is this?
Where's my lawyer?
I'm Steve Kaplan.
The judge in your
case appointed me to be
- your new defense attorney.
- What?
No, no, no, I didn't agree to that.
Because the district attorney's office
has an offer that you should hear.
You arrested my mother!
She didn't do anything wrong.
We've determined that of the
three defendants in this case,
you are the least culpable.
In exchange for your testimony
against Mr. Sutcliff and Mr. Paletta,
we can offer you rape two.
Sentencing is 2 1/3 to 5.
- Sex abuse three, time served.
- No.
He's useless to me as a witness
if I give him a misdemeanor.
It'll look like we
bought his testimony.
Plead to the felony, testify,
with good behavior, you're out in two.
And any legal issues that
your mother is facing, go away.
What you are doing is so messed up.
What I'm doing is saving you
from a potential 20-year sentence.
From what I understand,
more people thought
you were guilty than not.
This is a way to save yourself, Josh.
I recommend you take this deal.
Fine.
I'll testify, but my mom
- has to be out today.
- Great news.
We'll be in touch as
soon as my boss signs off.
[BUZZER BLARES]
What the hell was this, Liv, huh?
After all these years, you're
gonna go behind my back?
I didn't wanna put
you in a position
In what position?
Wrongly arresting an innocent
woman to get to her son?
- That one?
- Sonny, listen
No, you need to walk
away from me right now.
Okay, Carisi, I
- let's just talk, please.
- Liv,
you know what?
You think you're the only person
who cares about these victims.
And so you push, and
you push, and you push,
until you get what
you think is justice.
Yes, I do, because somebody has to.
[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]
I
I didn't mean
- I didn't mean it like that.
- Yeah, you did. Yeah, you did.
That's why you're sitting in
the courtroom every day, huh?
- No.
- Watching me,
to make sure I don't screw up?
Carisi, stop.
That's
That's not it.
I did what needed to be done.
Josh flipped.
He's gonna testify
against the other two.
This is good news.
This is the best outcome
that we could have hoped for.
You get a new trial
with Josh's testimony,
and I'm certain
that Emily will testify.
This is
This is a win.
♪
What is going on with you, Liv?
♪
[GATE SLAMS]
♪
Mr. Berger, when did you decide
to take Emily into the bedroom?
She was dizzy.
She said she wanted to lie down.
And at that point, was
she extremely intoxicated?
Yeah.
She could hardly stand up.
So what happened when
you got into the bedroom?
I, uh, laid down
next to her in the bed.
Did she say anything?
She kept asking where her phone was.
Did you give it to her?
No.
Why not?
Scott had it.
Why did Scott have it?
She was trying to get an Uber,
and he took it from
her so she couldn't.
Did either of the defendants
come into the bedroom at any point?
Yeah.
Both Scott and Danny came in.
And then what happened?
Mr. Berger, please tell the jury
what happened after the
defendants entered the bedroom.
Um
So by then, Emily was passed out,
and
♪
Scott took off her pants.
And he was like, come on, man,
you go first.
And at that point, you raped her.
♪
Yes.
What happened next?
Scott told Danny to go next.
And then he told me to stay and watch.
And
Then Scott took his turn.
Was Emily conscious during this?
She kept waking up and passing out.
So your testimony, to be clear,
is that there were times when Emily
was completely unconscious.
Yeah.
She had no idea what
was going on for most of it.
I'm sorry.
I'd been thinking about
her so much and
Fantasizing, and
I convinced myself that she wanted it.
♪
That if she was awake,
she would have wanted it.
♪
As to the charge of
rape in the first degree,
how do you find the
defendant, Daniel Sutcliff?
Guilty.
As to the charge of
rape in the first degree,
how do you find the
defendant, Scott Paletta?
Guilty.
Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf
of the People of the State
of New York, I thank you.
Great
Great work, Carisi.
Thank you.
♪
Okay.
♪