Law & Order Special Victims Unit s04e22 Episode Script
Futility
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.
Okay.
All right, guys, we're playing Texas Hold 'em.
Again? This game's all about balls.
Who's got them and who's a skirt.
What if I don't want balls? Cheater.
Wives are allowed.
All right, Michael, make me proud.
In or out? Twenty.
Are those balls, or what? Call.
You guys suck.
There's the food, hon.
Raise 10.
I got nothing.
Oh.
Hey, hey.
Hello? I didn't hear you.
Who's there? Hon, I'm going down.
Something's wrong with the intercom.
Don't forget to tip him.
Yeah.
Police.
Let me see your hands.
What'd I do? Turn around and place your hands on the wall.
Up against the wall, now.
Michael Gardner, you're under arrest.
I didn't do anything.
Hands above your head.
Left hand.
Look, you got the wrong guy, whatever it is.
It's rape, Mr.
Gardner.
What? You okay? Yeah.
You just made a big mistake.
My God, what are you doing to him? Stop.
This is the police.
He's my husband.
Call Erin Russ.
She's a lawyer in my book.
Why are you arresting him? Your husband raped four women.
Your dinner's here.
It's on NYPD.
I'm so sorry for hitting her.
I I lost my temper.
I take full responsibility.
How did my client get hurt between his home and here? I don't know.
How? He fell.
Bull.
The only injuries I see are your client's torn knuckles from punching Detective Benson in the face.
So unless you want to add assault of a police officer to the tab, I say we move on.
I did not rape anyone.
You have the wrong person.
Well, we got a print at the scene matching one from your assault bust.
Yeah, from a college bar fight 10 years ago.
All you've got is one print on an exterior metal railing of an apartment building two blocks from where Mr.
Gardner lives.
I walk my dog all over that neighborhood.
You'll find my prints in front of 20 buildings.
One print at one scene doesn't add up to four rapes.
Your detectives are getting lazy.
Hardly.
Mr.
Gardner did us the favor of leaving his calling card at the scene.
You choke them till they pass out, then you rape them, then you cut their breasts.
It's called a pattern, Mikey.
A vague pattern that 100 guys at Attica have used.
You've got no DNA, no prints at any other scene.
We have your client's description from one of his victims.
She pretended to be unconscious, even after you cut her.
We're giving you a chance to cooperate, Mr.
Gardner.
You'd go a long way towards helping yourself if you would tell us everything that you know about the attacks.
There were no attacks.
We're done.
If they had a victim, you'd already be in a line-up.
She's right.
That's your next stop.
Carrie, if you're ready, I'd like to take you into the line-up now.
I don't think that I can do it.
You can't see him again, or you can't identify him? No, no, I didn't get a good look at him.
And I What if I don't pick the right person? Don't worry about that.
Your only responsibility is to say what you think is true.
Okay, but if I pick the wrong person, then Then he gets away, and I You told me at the rape crisis center that I don't have to do anything that I don't want to do.
That's right, you don't.
Okay, hold on.
Why don't we back up for a second? Let's forget about the line-up right now, all right? I just want to see how good your memory is.
Okay? I can't.
I I can't go through that again.
I haven't even told my fiancée.
Carrie, I just want to talk about what you saw, okay? You know what? Why don't we sit down for a second, all right? Let's sit down.
Come on.
You said that you passed out when somebody choked you from behind.
What's the first thing that you remember when you woke up? I was on the ground, I was on my back and he was on top of me.
Did he say anything? No.
What color was his hair? Brown.
Straight? Kind of wavy.
And did you see the color of his eyes? Dark.
Brown, I guess.
Okay.
What else? Can you remember anything else about his face? Anything at all? He had dark eyebrows.
He was clean-shaven.
He had a A scar over his right eye.
And I think that I saw his car.
After, he got into a white truck.
Carrie, you remember.
You know what he looks like.
Now all I need you to do is point him out.
Can Bethany come with me? Sure.
Now, I'm gonna talk to Bethany outside for a second.
Can I get you anything? No.
All right.
Listen, Bethany, this case lives or dies by her ID.
So no helping, just emotional support.
I'm a rape crisis counselor, Detective.
I've done this before.
Yeah, I know.
I just really want to get this guy.
She'll do it.
She's stronger than she thinks.
What if it's not him? It means he's still out there? Don't think about it.
Just do it.
Want me to leave the room so you can tell her who to pick? Oh, give it a rest.
Carrie, take your time.
Carrie, do you recognize anyone? And what number is he holding? Three.
And where do you recognize him from? He's the man who raped me.
Okay, we're done.
That's it.
I thought you had four victims.
I only need one ID.
Not if it's wrong.
My client lives in that woman's neighborhood.
She could've seen him anywhere and gotten confused.
It was a clean pick.
And victims' memories are always accurate? They are when they're right.
You've got three others.
Why not bring them in for the line-up too? Because you know they can't ID him.
Jury's going to hear that.
The suspect is being booked right now.
Thank God.
Okay, he will be arraigned, and then the case goes before the grand jury.
Now, you'll all need to testify.
Will he be there? No.
But if the grand jury indicts, then we move to the trial phase.
You'll all have to testify again, and in that case he will be in the courtroom.
Will he stay in jail the whole time? Well, that depends on if the judge decides to set bail and if he can afford it.
Why does he even get bail? He raped us.
The law only allows remand in murder cases.
He knows where I live.
Where? Upper West Side.
So do I.
What's his address? I'm not allowed to give that to you.
But he could have followed me.
Even if he did, it's not in his best interest to seek you out.
It wasn't in his best interest to rape us either, but that didn't stop him.
The Assistant District Attorney can ask the judge for an order of protection.
That means that if he harasses any one of you, he will face additional charges.
However, if we tell him to stay away from you, then I'll have to give him your home and your work addresses.
Even though you can't give us his? He has to know where he's not allowed to go.
I want an order of protection.
Yeah, okay, okay.
Mr.
Wonderful's a free man as of two hours ago.
Made bail courtesy of the wife.
On the positive side, the judge granted orders of protection for every victim.
Well, on the negative side, I checked with the DMV, Gardner never registered a car here.
Neither has his wife.
And nobody's seen him driving a white truck.
Now that we've got Carrie's positive ID, I want to take a closer look at the other three attacks.
Well, there's no apparent connection between the victims.
These two lived on the Upper West, she lived in Midtown, SoHo.
Gardner does like working outdoors.
He caught two of them coming home from work.
One getting off the N train, the other one getting out of a cab.
These are pretty public places to do that kind of damage and not be seen by a single person.
Maybe he did a little recon before the attacks.
He sits on a place, makes sure that there's not a lot of traffic.
All right, Carrie, I want you to calm down, I want you to stay there.
Do not say anything, do not approach him.
Do you understand me? We'll be right there.
That was Carrie Huitt.
Gardner just followed her into a coffee shop.
Hey.
Excuse me.
Where is he? He left.
I'll see if he's still around.
Did he say anything? He smiled, he said hello I don't even know how he knew that I was here.
I just walked in here, and he's standing there in line.
Wait a minute.
He followed you in here, or he was here already? He was here.
How did he know? It's not enough.
Hold on, Alex.
You think this is a coincidence? Probably not.
But a judge won't call it a violation.
She entered the establishment, so in essence she followed him.
Gardner's got to know where Carrie lives.
He attacked her right in front of her own building.
If he's stalking her, he's got to know where she gets her coffee.
His lawyer will argue that they live in the same neighborhood.
It's not implausible they would frequent the same places.
Orders of protection are real helpful when you can't enforce them.
Look, he didn't try anything, and there is the chance it was a coincidence.
I doubt it.
Gardner's meticulous.
Everything he does is carefully planned.
He strikes me as a power-reassurance rapist.
Perfect job, good looks, access to sex with his wife.
But he rapes because he's insecure about his manhood.
Cutting the breast of his victim is like marking her.
In a sense, he owns her for the rest of her life.
So he slugs Olivia because she took that power away.
Right.
And now he wants it back, and the way to get it is to instill fear in his victims.
By intimidating them into not testifying.
That, and he gets off on it.
I don't suppose we can put the witnesses in protective custody.
There's no money.
City's laying off cops as it is.
We don't have the manpower to sit on him all day either.
All we can do is warn the victims and hope Gardner is feeling manly enough to stay away from them.
We can't be sure Gardner will do anything.
This is more of a precaution than trying to scare you.
Yeah, like terror alerts.
Mommy? Stay inside, Brendan.
I'm hungry now.
Yeah, I know, honey.
You know, we're gonna have dinner in just a second.
Why don't you go back inside? I'll be right there.
Karen, is there anyplace that you can go? Maybe a friend or a relative that you can stay with until the trial? What am I supposed to do, pull him out of school? Look, I don't have any family, and my friends can't put up me and a little boy.
Maybe I should just quit my job and lock myself in my house all day.
I know that this is difficult.
You know nothing.
Can't blame her for being angry.
Our job's to protect her.
We can't even do that.
Son of a bitch.
Police, Gardner.
Get up.
What's wrong? Let's see your hands.
What's wrong? Up against the car.
You are under arrest.
Why are you harassing me? I didn't do anything.
Violating an order of protection, you moron.
You just bought yourself a cell in Rikers.
Let's go.
"Docket ending 6221, People v.
Michael Gardner.
"Intimidating a victim in the Third Degree, "menacing in the Second Degree, "stalking in the Fourth Degree.
" Your lawyer running late, Mr.
Gardner? I fired my attorney, Your Honor.
I'm representing myself.
Oh, that's wonderful.
Approach.
Your Honor, Mr.
Gardner is currently under indictment for multiple rapes.
This is simply another way for him to torture his victims.
I have the right to defend myself.
Only if you understand the implications of your decision.
You'll be held to the same standards as any attorney.
I understand.
I'll grant your Pro Se request for these proceedings.
Now, as far as the rape indictment goes, you'll have to take it up with the trial judge.
All right, step back.
Now, as to the charges on the table, how does the defendant plead? Not guilty.
Let's hear arguments.
The defendant is under orders of protection against four women he's accused of raping.
He violated these orders by approaching one victim in a coffee shop and hiding out in front of another victim's home.
I wasn't hiding, I was walking my dog.
One coincidence I can buy, two are stalking.
I don't even know what she's talking about.
I was buying coffee.
If someone saw me in that shop, I didn't see them.
What contact did the defendant have with the second woman? None.
The detectives arrested him in order to prevent that.
So how did I violate any order? Unless the People have something else to give me, you didn't.
Your Honor, this is the defendant's MO.
He delights in continually victimizing women he's already raped.
The next time, bring me evidence that supports your theory.
I'm dismissing all complaints as facially insufficient.
Next case.
Gardner's repping himself at his rape trial too? Yes.
Judge Preston granted his request.
She appointed Russ as his standby counsel.
How can Preston allow that? There's not much she can do to prevent it.
Normally, I would consider this a win, but But Gardner just handed you your ass in arraignment? Yeah, I was hoping the judge would see that this was in no way a coincidence.
Gardner didn't attack Karen Leighton near her home.
He got her address from the order of protection.
I mean, we try to protect them, and then we end up giving the guy a map to find his victims.
I mean, next time we should just drive him there.
The judge granted the bastard bail.
Orders of protection were the best we could do.
We get anything useful from Gardner's associates? I spoke to his wife, his business partner, neighbors.
Same story, great guy, never a harsh word, couldn't have done it.
So who gets to tell the victims their rapist gets another crack at them in court? I will do it.
Alexandra Cabot? Yeah, that's me.
Your office said I'd find you here.
Now what? Gardner's hitting the ground running.
Motion to sever the charges.
In three of the four cases, police found no evidence implicating me.
Article 200.
20 of C.
P.
L.
States, that offenses are joinable when proof of one is material as evidence of the others.
I'm saying you have no proof.
A positive identification by Carrie Huitt and your fingerprint at the scene of the rape.
Do the People have any other evidence other than the pattern of the attacks to support the joinder of the indictments? We don't need any, Your Honor.
People v.
West, when the MO is sufficiently unique, multiple crimes can be charged under one indictment.
The pattern in all four rapes is identical.
Forgive me, Your Honor, I'm not as well-versed as Ms.
Cabot.
People v.
Sable.
When there is substantially more proof on one offense than the others, there is a substantial likelihood that the jury would be unable to consider separately the proof as it relates to each offense.
I believe that means the jury's decision on the first three victims would be unfairly influenced by the fourth.
That's right on the money, Mr.
Gardner.
It's called bootstrapping.
I'm severing all counts.
Your Honor, the particularly heinous nature of the crimes makes Would serve to only further prejudice the jury.
That's it, Ms.
Cabot.
Then I'd like to make a motion to dismiss all charges based on lack of evidence.
I think the evidence against Mr.
Gardner has been amply established.
For the fourth victim, it has.
For the others, not even close.
The indictments for victims one through three are hereby dismissed.
Any other business we need to deal with? Good.
Opening statements at 9:00 a.
m.
Tomorrow.
We're adjourned.
Unless this guy passed the board overnight, Erin Russ is giving him a lot of help.
Don't worry.
We'll still nail him with Carrie's testimony.
Well, not if she won't give it.
I just got a message from Bethany Taylor.
Carrie says she can't face her rapist again.
I'm really sorry.
Could you tell me why you changed your mind? You know why.
I don't want to talk to him, I don't want to hear him.
You know, I have to get on with my life.
I can't keep going back to this.
Carrie, how are you going to get on with your life knowing that Gardner got away with it? It's not my fault, it's not my responsibility.
That's right, you're only responsible for yourself.
Did you discuss some of the positive things that could come out of a victim testifying against her rapist? It's often empowering.
The attack was out of your control, but in court you have complete control.
And even though Gardner is doing the questioning, he is bound by the rules of the court.
All that you're bound by is the truth.
I just want I just want to get over it.
When am I going to get over it? Carrie, I have never known a single victim who regretted testifying against her rapist, no matter how hard it was.
But I have known plenty that wished that they had.
And by then, it was too late.
And he kept running his hand through my hair, almost gentle.
And That's when I opened my eyes a little.
And you saw his face? Yes.
Ms.
Huitt, do you see the man who attacked you in the courtroom here today? Yes.
There.
Let the record reflect the witness has identified the defendant, Michael Gardner.
Thank you, Carrie.
Ms.
Huitt, you testified that your attacker choked you until you passed out.
Yes.
You tied a cord around my neck.
But your attacker was standing behind you, so you didn't see him then.
I saw you later.
When you woke up.
And you testified that your attacker sexually assaulted you? You forced your penis into my vagina.
And when you opened your eyes, a little, did your attacker see that? You weren't paying attention.
How close was he to you? You were six inches away from my face.
And he didn't notice you were awake? Isn't that strange, if he was so close? Is it possible he was farther away? Objection.
He can ask the same question and her answer will be the same.
Move on, Mr.
Gardner.
The night you saw me at the police station, was anyone with you? Yes.
A counselor from the rape crisis center.
Bethany Taylor.
Did you talk to her that night? Yes.
What about? Objection.
Communications between a rape crisis counselor and a victim are privileged.
Sustained.
I have no other questions.
Once the fingerprint came back, we apprehended the defendant outside of his home.
I advised him of his Miranda rights.
Detectives Stabler and Tutuola questioned him with his attorney present, and Carrie Huitt positively identified him as the man who had raped her the night before.
Thank you, Detective.
Why didn't you question me, Detective Benson? I was preparing your victim for the line-up.
Oh.
So it wasn't because I punched you earlier that night? Objection.
Relevance.
I'm trying to ascertain whether the detective has a personal stake in my arrest and prosecution.
I'll allow it.
I have no personal stake in you.
You weren't mad at me? Or, embarrassed that I eluded your grasp in front of your colleagues? It's not uncommon for a perpetrator to lose control of himself.
And I have certainly been hit much harder.
When Detective Tutuola took me into the line-up room, I saw you in the corridor of your precinct.
Who were you talking to? Bethany Taylor.
The rape crisis counselor.
What were you talking about? Objection.
I think we've already established counselor communications are privileged.
Actually, only communications with the victim are privileged, not with law enforcement.
Your objection's overruled.
The witness may answer the question.
I was advising Ms.
Taylor not to interfere with the line-up so that it would be fair and impartial.
I saw you looking at me in that corridor, correct? Yes.
I also saw Ms.
Taylor look at me.
You'll have to ask her.
Where did she go after she finished talking to you? Into the interview room.
And who else was in that interview room? Carrie Huitt.
So the sequence of events goes like this.
Bethany Taylor talked to you, then saw me in handcuffs.
After that she talked to the victim alone.
And only then, after all this talking, did the victim identify me.
Objection.
That's okay.
I'm done.
This is crap, Alex.
Yeah? 'Cause it looks to me like Michael Gardner making a really good case for tainted identification.
I wish you'd told me about this, Olivia.
Hold on.
That line-up was not tainted.
How do you know? What could a rape counselor possibly gain from helping a victim make a false ID? It doesn't matter what happens, only what appears to have happened.
Oh, come If the judge tosses this ID, this case is screwed.
Bethany, what's up? I just got subpoenaed to testify on Michael Gardner's behalf.
This isn't up for debate, Your Honor.
The law clearly states a rape counselor cannot disclose unless the victim authorizes it or reveals intent to commit a harmful act.
Well, it's my understanding I have a right to due process.
How can I defend myself if I don't know all the evidence against me? The counselor's records and testimony were never in evidence.
Exactly.
So no one really knows what was said.
And you can't go on a fishing expedition to find out.
People v.
Pena held that the defendant cannot go on a roving tour through somebody's personal information without a stated purpose.
Well, I have a very specific purpose.
She saw me before the line-up, then had a private conversation with the victim.
I have a right to know if she told her what I looked like or what I was wearing.
All right.
I'll question Ms.
Taylor in chambers.
If I feel her testimony is material to Mr.
Gardner's defense, the jury will hear it.
How'd it go? Great.
Didn't say a thing.
What do you mean, you didn't say a thing? You're under subpoena.
You don't have a choice.
Yeah, I do.
Bethany, this isn't going to help anybody.
Detective Benson, I need you to take Ms.
Taylor into custody for contempt.
Wait, Judge, there's got to be another Either you do it, or I'll get someone else to.
Let's go.
Save it.
Nothing good is going to come from this, Bethany.
I won't break privilege.
Well, it's going to be broken with or without you.
Judge Preston has made her decision.
She wants to hear your testimony.
I won't give it.
End of story.
Well, did you tell Carrie what Gardner looked like before the line-up? You know I didn't.
Then what does it matter? Tell Preston what you talked about.
She'll find it immaterial to the defense, and then no one else has to hear about it.
Then the precedent is set.
And every subsequent rape survivor gets to wonder, can I talk about this or will everything I say be broadcast on Court TV? No one will trust us, and no one will report the crimes.
So what's your plan? To spend the rest of your life in here? I brought my toothbrush.
I'll do the bid.
Well, that's fine.
But in the meantime, this case goes down as a mistrial or an acquittal, and Michael Gardner walks.
What if the victim waives privilege? No.
I think Judge Preston'll go for it.
Then privilege is intact and no precedent is set.
You would put this on Carrie? Do you have any idea how damaging this could be? Bethany, what else do you want me to do? Not that.
I mean it.
She can't handle it.
You're supposed to help the victims.
Do your job.
You heard what happened with Bethany.
Mmm-hmm.
Carrie, I I'm asking you to waive your right to privacy so that Bethany can testify about her conversation with you.
You're not wearing your engagement ring.
Yeah, that was my decision.
I didn't want Eric to have to wait around for me to get back to normal.
I couldn't have sex without crying.
I love him, but I'm never going to be back to normal.
Carrie, I really don't think that this is the right time to be making these kind of decisions.
When is the right time? You're all sitting around waiting for me to shake this off and get back to normal.
You have no idea.
I can't sleep more than I hate to be alone.
But, God, I hate to be around people more.
And I am so afraid to walk outside or be in a crowded place, because, you know, I might see him.
And all I can think to myself is it would've been so much better if he'd just killed me.
So, that's what I talked to Bethany about, because she told me that I could say anything to her and no one would ever know.
Nothing that I do will ever change what happened to you.
I can only try to prevent it from happening again.
Except everything that I have done has failed.
I'm not going to pretend that this is a good thing or that this is a fair thing, but I have to ask you for your help because you are our last chance.
I hate to see you in here.
Don't worry about me.
This was my decision, not yours.
I waived my rights.
And I wish she didn't make you do that.
But it doesn't mean anything.
I still won't talk.
It's my decision, and it's already done.
You said that this is about control, right? Taking it back.
Well, I am.
I do not want there to be any chance that this guy can get away.
So please testify to the judge.
It's okay.
It's It can't get any worse.
After questioning Bethany Taylor, it is my ruling that her testimony is not relevant to the pre-trial identification and that the defendant's right to due process has not been violated.
Therefore, the testimony will not be entered into record.
Objection! You can't object, Mr.
Gardner.
Take a seat.
No, that's not fair.
That is my ruling.
We're adjourned for today.
So what else can Gardner pull when he puts up his own defense? I expect he'll throw a couple of character witnesses on the stand, he'll take his own testimony.
We just have to be ready for anything that he does.
Detective! Bethany, I know you didn't want this, but thank you anyway.
I didn't do this for you.
I did it for Carrie.
Want to know what you did, Detective? This is a subpoena from a man who raped another client of mine.
He wants her records disclosed.
So I was thinking you'd be the perfect person to bully her into waiving her rights.
I did what I had to do to stop Michael Gardner from raping another woman.
Six of my clients already quit counseling.
They don't trust me anymore.
But you got your win.
Who cares if it's at everyone else's expense? Where is everybody? Kathy took the kids to La Boheme.
Pass.
So on your one night as a bachelor, you go to the grocery store? That's pretty pathetic.
Grocery store with strippers.
Liv, you've got to let it go.
You put a rapist on trial.
You did your job.
I think I made it worse.
You know that's not true.
I made Carrie relive the worst thing that's ever happened to her.
I screwed any number of victims who might have sought counseling from Bethany Taylor.
And a few less rapes may be reported because of it.
And if Michael Gardner is convicted, he'll never rape another woman.
It's not worth it.
It's not worth the cost.
To you or them? I'm not talking about me.
Yeah, you are.
For as long as I have known you, you've always identified with the victims.
Now, maybe that's because you're a woman.
I don't know.
I do know it's one of the things that makes you a great cop.
It's also one of the things that makes this job torture sometimes.
You can never go back and change things that have already happened, Olivia.
You can't.
You kill yourself to make something happen, or you do nothing.
And it doesn't matter.
There's always another child molester, there's always another rapist.
And it's like you have to sell a little piece of yourself to get the job done.
So what the hell's the point? I don't know.
Maybe there isn't a point.
Maybe the cost is too high.
Olivia, no one's making you do this.
The difference between you and all the victims is you can walk away.
No, I can't.
We've been waiting for over an hour, Ms.
Russ.
We have no proof that Mr.
Gardner has absconded, Your Honor.
If the defendant has knowingly forfeited his right to be present, then the trial should continue without him.
For all we know, he could have fallen ill or been in an accident.
Find out, Ms.
Russ.
Quickly.
Got it.
All airports are on alert.
So far, he hasn't shown up on any passenger manifests.
We're focusing on domestic flights.
His wife said that his passport's expired.
Which you don't need to drive into Canada, so Customs along the New York-Ontario borders are on alert.
Locals are putting Gardner's mug shot on the 11:00 news.
It'll be in the papers in the morning.
But there's still a possibility that he's staying in town despite the danger.
He's already shown a propensity for stalking, which means that any number of people could be a target.
That's why I want warnings out to the judge, the D.
A.
S, every witness, victim, juror.
Anybody who set foot in that courtroom that he could see as an enemy.
Stabler.
That includes you, Olivia.
This guy's got a hard-on for you.
Good.
I hope he tries something.
He did try something.
Another attack.
Neighbor found her when he was taking out the garbage, but he didn't hear a thing.
Victim get a look at him? Don't know.
She's dead.
Cut up her face, too, this time.
Three or four slashes.
Fingerprint bruising around the neck.
I think he's getting smarter.
This time, there's nobody to ID him.
Victim's Evelyn Sharpe from Staten Island.
You were right about the manual strangulation.
Found traces of talc, so I'm guessing he wore latex gloves.
So he's learning from his mistakes.
Her hands have some defensive wounds.
Bruises on her knuckles.
So I'm thinking she woke up at some point and fought back.
She get a piece of him? Nothing under her nails.
No fluids or foreign hairs on the body.
But I did find something interesting.
Excised the skin right down to the fascia.
He got a piece of her.
So now he's collecting trophies? I thought so at first, but look at the size and location of the wound.
She was fighting him off.
So he bit her.
Then he cuts away the skin to get rid of the evidence.
Guy's becoming a regular criminal genius.
Not quite.
He didn't cut deep enough.
There's still an impression in the muscle tissue.
Well, can you match it to Gardner's dental records? Already did.
No question.
We got the son of a bitch.
Still think your client's an innocent man? This is no longer a case of mistaken identities or false line-ups.
This man is guilty of rape and murder.
If I knew where he was I'd tell you.
People are in imminent danger here.
I told you, I don't know where he is.
If I hear from him, you're the first call I'll make.
If he's getting any help, it's not from a family member.
Gardner's got no relatives in New York.
We talked to his business partners and his staff.
Nobody's heard from him.
The wife seemed pretty devastated when he left.
I don't think she's hiding him.
Dump his phones, the last six months.
If it was a wrong number, I want to know what the conversation was.
Gardner's financials.
All of the money belongs to Mrs.
Gardner, but he's got access to everything.
Any recent transactions? Yep, a big one.
Five grand yesterday morning.
Check cashing place in the Bronx.
Yeah, that's the Richie Rich.
He wanted to cash 20 grand.
I told him five was my limit.
He wrote up a new check.
He alone? I guess so.
I didn't see anybody.
We're gonna need the paperwork on that.
The guy had the proper ID.
I didn't do nothing illegal.
Hey, are those recording? This kind of business? You better believe it, lady.
We're gonna need the tapes.
Right there.
That your guy? Yep.
It doesn't tell us much other than he's alone.
I digitized the tape from the other camera, too.
Here's the same timeframe.
That's him exiting and getting into that white SUV.
Like the one Carrie saw the night of her attack.
Did you get plates off that? Not the way the camera's positioned.
All the Accident Investigation Unit could tell me was it's a '99 Lexus RX 300.
Can you play that a little longer? Sure.
Now, he's getting into the passenger side.
Who's driving? Let's see if I can blow it up.
We'll go frame by frame.
Looks like he's kissing her.
His wife's got long hair.
Gardner's got himself a girlfriend.
Any ID on the mystery woman? We got six months of phone records.
There's nothing out of the ordinary yet.
The problem is, this guy is smart enough to never have called the girlfriend from his own phone.
And if he bought a pre-paid cell, well, we wouldn't know about that.
The majority of the calls this month went to his lawyer.
Big surprise.
Last month, too.
And four months ago.
Why would he need to talk to a criminal defense attorney before he was arrested? Because he's been having an affair with Erin Russ.
She registered a vehicle to the DMV four years ago.
1999 white Lexus.
Look at this.
Erin, it's Detectives Benson and Stabler.
Let us in.
It's open.
Erin, where is he? Where's Gardner, Erin? Where is he? He's here.
Let me see your hands.
Put up your hands.
Are you hurt? No.
I found the murder weapon in the car.
He denied it, even after I found everything.
If he attacked you, there's nothing you could have done.
That's right.
Justifiable homicide.
If he attacked me.
I need to know it's over.
I tried setting it up with the people in charge.
They said it was inappropriate.
How did you convince them? They don't need to know.
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.
Okay.
All right, guys, we're playing Texas Hold 'em.
Again? This game's all about balls.
Who's got them and who's a skirt.
What if I don't want balls? Cheater.
Wives are allowed.
All right, Michael, make me proud.
In or out? Twenty.
Are those balls, or what? Call.
You guys suck.
There's the food, hon.
Raise 10.
I got nothing.
Oh.
Hey, hey.
Hello? I didn't hear you.
Who's there? Hon, I'm going down.
Something's wrong with the intercom.
Don't forget to tip him.
Yeah.
Police.
Let me see your hands.
What'd I do? Turn around and place your hands on the wall.
Up against the wall, now.
Michael Gardner, you're under arrest.
I didn't do anything.
Hands above your head.
Left hand.
Look, you got the wrong guy, whatever it is.
It's rape, Mr.
Gardner.
What? You okay? Yeah.
You just made a big mistake.
My God, what are you doing to him? Stop.
This is the police.
He's my husband.
Call Erin Russ.
She's a lawyer in my book.
Why are you arresting him? Your husband raped four women.
Your dinner's here.
It's on NYPD.
I'm so sorry for hitting her.
I I lost my temper.
I take full responsibility.
How did my client get hurt between his home and here? I don't know.
How? He fell.
Bull.
The only injuries I see are your client's torn knuckles from punching Detective Benson in the face.
So unless you want to add assault of a police officer to the tab, I say we move on.
I did not rape anyone.
You have the wrong person.
Well, we got a print at the scene matching one from your assault bust.
Yeah, from a college bar fight 10 years ago.
All you've got is one print on an exterior metal railing of an apartment building two blocks from where Mr.
Gardner lives.
I walk my dog all over that neighborhood.
You'll find my prints in front of 20 buildings.
One print at one scene doesn't add up to four rapes.
Your detectives are getting lazy.
Hardly.
Mr.
Gardner did us the favor of leaving his calling card at the scene.
You choke them till they pass out, then you rape them, then you cut their breasts.
It's called a pattern, Mikey.
A vague pattern that 100 guys at Attica have used.
You've got no DNA, no prints at any other scene.
We have your client's description from one of his victims.
She pretended to be unconscious, even after you cut her.
We're giving you a chance to cooperate, Mr.
Gardner.
You'd go a long way towards helping yourself if you would tell us everything that you know about the attacks.
There were no attacks.
We're done.
If they had a victim, you'd already be in a line-up.
She's right.
That's your next stop.
Carrie, if you're ready, I'd like to take you into the line-up now.
I don't think that I can do it.
You can't see him again, or you can't identify him? No, no, I didn't get a good look at him.
And I What if I don't pick the right person? Don't worry about that.
Your only responsibility is to say what you think is true.
Okay, but if I pick the wrong person, then Then he gets away, and I You told me at the rape crisis center that I don't have to do anything that I don't want to do.
That's right, you don't.
Okay, hold on.
Why don't we back up for a second? Let's forget about the line-up right now, all right? I just want to see how good your memory is.
Okay? I can't.
I I can't go through that again.
I haven't even told my fiancée.
Carrie, I just want to talk about what you saw, okay? You know what? Why don't we sit down for a second, all right? Let's sit down.
Come on.
You said that you passed out when somebody choked you from behind.
What's the first thing that you remember when you woke up? I was on the ground, I was on my back and he was on top of me.
Did he say anything? No.
What color was his hair? Brown.
Straight? Kind of wavy.
And did you see the color of his eyes? Dark.
Brown, I guess.
Okay.
What else? Can you remember anything else about his face? Anything at all? He had dark eyebrows.
He was clean-shaven.
He had a A scar over his right eye.
And I think that I saw his car.
After, he got into a white truck.
Carrie, you remember.
You know what he looks like.
Now all I need you to do is point him out.
Can Bethany come with me? Sure.
Now, I'm gonna talk to Bethany outside for a second.
Can I get you anything? No.
All right.
Listen, Bethany, this case lives or dies by her ID.
So no helping, just emotional support.
I'm a rape crisis counselor, Detective.
I've done this before.
Yeah, I know.
I just really want to get this guy.
She'll do it.
She's stronger than she thinks.
What if it's not him? It means he's still out there? Don't think about it.
Just do it.
Want me to leave the room so you can tell her who to pick? Oh, give it a rest.
Carrie, take your time.
Carrie, do you recognize anyone? And what number is he holding? Three.
And where do you recognize him from? He's the man who raped me.
Okay, we're done.
That's it.
I thought you had four victims.
I only need one ID.
Not if it's wrong.
My client lives in that woman's neighborhood.
She could've seen him anywhere and gotten confused.
It was a clean pick.
And victims' memories are always accurate? They are when they're right.
You've got three others.
Why not bring them in for the line-up too? Because you know they can't ID him.
Jury's going to hear that.
The suspect is being booked right now.
Thank God.
Okay, he will be arraigned, and then the case goes before the grand jury.
Now, you'll all need to testify.
Will he be there? No.
But if the grand jury indicts, then we move to the trial phase.
You'll all have to testify again, and in that case he will be in the courtroom.
Will he stay in jail the whole time? Well, that depends on if the judge decides to set bail and if he can afford it.
Why does he even get bail? He raped us.
The law only allows remand in murder cases.
He knows where I live.
Where? Upper West Side.
So do I.
What's his address? I'm not allowed to give that to you.
But he could have followed me.
Even if he did, it's not in his best interest to seek you out.
It wasn't in his best interest to rape us either, but that didn't stop him.
The Assistant District Attorney can ask the judge for an order of protection.
That means that if he harasses any one of you, he will face additional charges.
However, if we tell him to stay away from you, then I'll have to give him your home and your work addresses.
Even though you can't give us his? He has to know where he's not allowed to go.
I want an order of protection.
Yeah, okay, okay.
Mr.
Wonderful's a free man as of two hours ago.
Made bail courtesy of the wife.
On the positive side, the judge granted orders of protection for every victim.
Well, on the negative side, I checked with the DMV, Gardner never registered a car here.
Neither has his wife.
And nobody's seen him driving a white truck.
Now that we've got Carrie's positive ID, I want to take a closer look at the other three attacks.
Well, there's no apparent connection between the victims.
These two lived on the Upper West, she lived in Midtown, SoHo.
Gardner does like working outdoors.
He caught two of them coming home from work.
One getting off the N train, the other one getting out of a cab.
These are pretty public places to do that kind of damage and not be seen by a single person.
Maybe he did a little recon before the attacks.
He sits on a place, makes sure that there's not a lot of traffic.
All right, Carrie, I want you to calm down, I want you to stay there.
Do not say anything, do not approach him.
Do you understand me? We'll be right there.
That was Carrie Huitt.
Gardner just followed her into a coffee shop.
Hey.
Excuse me.
Where is he? He left.
I'll see if he's still around.
Did he say anything? He smiled, he said hello I don't even know how he knew that I was here.
I just walked in here, and he's standing there in line.
Wait a minute.
He followed you in here, or he was here already? He was here.
How did he know? It's not enough.
Hold on, Alex.
You think this is a coincidence? Probably not.
But a judge won't call it a violation.
She entered the establishment, so in essence she followed him.
Gardner's got to know where Carrie lives.
He attacked her right in front of her own building.
If he's stalking her, he's got to know where she gets her coffee.
His lawyer will argue that they live in the same neighborhood.
It's not implausible they would frequent the same places.
Orders of protection are real helpful when you can't enforce them.
Look, he didn't try anything, and there is the chance it was a coincidence.
I doubt it.
Gardner's meticulous.
Everything he does is carefully planned.
He strikes me as a power-reassurance rapist.
Perfect job, good looks, access to sex with his wife.
But he rapes because he's insecure about his manhood.
Cutting the breast of his victim is like marking her.
In a sense, he owns her for the rest of her life.
So he slugs Olivia because she took that power away.
Right.
And now he wants it back, and the way to get it is to instill fear in his victims.
By intimidating them into not testifying.
That, and he gets off on it.
I don't suppose we can put the witnesses in protective custody.
There's no money.
City's laying off cops as it is.
We don't have the manpower to sit on him all day either.
All we can do is warn the victims and hope Gardner is feeling manly enough to stay away from them.
We can't be sure Gardner will do anything.
This is more of a precaution than trying to scare you.
Yeah, like terror alerts.
Mommy? Stay inside, Brendan.
I'm hungry now.
Yeah, I know, honey.
You know, we're gonna have dinner in just a second.
Why don't you go back inside? I'll be right there.
Karen, is there anyplace that you can go? Maybe a friend or a relative that you can stay with until the trial? What am I supposed to do, pull him out of school? Look, I don't have any family, and my friends can't put up me and a little boy.
Maybe I should just quit my job and lock myself in my house all day.
I know that this is difficult.
You know nothing.
Can't blame her for being angry.
Our job's to protect her.
We can't even do that.
Son of a bitch.
Police, Gardner.
Get up.
What's wrong? Let's see your hands.
What's wrong? Up against the car.
You are under arrest.
Why are you harassing me? I didn't do anything.
Violating an order of protection, you moron.
You just bought yourself a cell in Rikers.
Let's go.
"Docket ending 6221, People v.
Michael Gardner.
"Intimidating a victim in the Third Degree, "menacing in the Second Degree, "stalking in the Fourth Degree.
" Your lawyer running late, Mr.
Gardner? I fired my attorney, Your Honor.
I'm representing myself.
Oh, that's wonderful.
Approach.
Your Honor, Mr.
Gardner is currently under indictment for multiple rapes.
This is simply another way for him to torture his victims.
I have the right to defend myself.
Only if you understand the implications of your decision.
You'll be held to the same standards as any attorney.
I understand.
I'll grant your Pro Se request for these proceedings.
Now, as far as the rape indictment goes, you'll have to take it up with the trial judge.
All right, step back.
Now, as to the charges on the table, how does the defendant plead? Not guilty.
Let's hear arguments.
The defendant is under orders of protection against four women he's accused of raping.
He violated these orders by approaching one victim in a coffee shop and hiding out in front of another victim's home.
I wasn't hiding, I was walking my dog.
One coincidence I can buy, two are stalking.
I don't even know what she's talking about.
I was buying coffee.
If someone saw me in that shop, I didn't see them.
What contact did the defendant have with the second woman? None.
The detectives arrested him in order to prevent that.
So how did I violate any order? Unless the People have something else to give me, you didn't.
Your Honor, this is the defendant's MO.
He delights in continually victimizing women he's already raped.
The next time, bring me evidence that supports your theory.
I'm dismissing all complaints as facially insufficient.
Next case.
Gardner's repping himself at his rape trial too? Yes.
Judge Preston granted his request.
She appointed Russ as his standby counsel.
How can Preston allow that? There's not much she can do to prevent it.
Normally, I would consider this a win, but But Gardner just handed you your ass in arraignment? Yeah, I was hoping the judge would see that this was in no way a coincidence.
Gardner didn't attack Karen Leighton near her home.
He got her address from the order of protection.
I mean, we try to protect them, and then we end up giving the guy a map to find his victims.
I mean, next time we should just drive him there.
The judge granted the bastard bail.
Orders of protection were the best we could do.
We get anything useful from Gardner's associates? I spoke to his wife, his business partner, neighbors.
Same story, great guy, never a harsh word, couldn't have done it.
So who gets to tell the victims their rapist gets another crack at them in court? I will do it.
Alexandra Cabot? Yeah, that's me.
Your office said I'd find you here.
Now what? Gardner's hitting the ground running.
Motion to sever the charges.
In three of the four cases, police found no evidence implicating me.
Article 200.
20 of C.
P.
L.
States, that offenses are joinable when proof of one is material as evidence of the others.
I'm saying you have no proof.
A positive identification by Carrie Huitt and your fingerprint at the scene of the rape.
Do the People have any other evidence other than the pattern of the attacks to support the joinder of the indictments? We don't need any, Your Honor.
People v.
West, when the MO is sufficiently unique, multiple crimes can be charged under one indictment.
The pattern in all four rapes is identical.
Forgive me, Your Honor, I'm not as well-versed as Ms.
Cabot.
People v.
Sable.
When there is substantially more proof on one offense than the others, there is a substantial likelihood that the jury would be unable to consider separately the proof as it relates to each offense.
I believe that means the jury's decision on the first three victims would be unfairly influenced by the fourth.
That's right on the money, Mr.
Gardner.
It's called bootstrapping.
I'm severing all counts.
Your Honor, the particularly heinous nature of the crimes makes Would serve to only further prejudice the jury.
That's it, Ms.
Cabot.
Then I'd like to make a motion to dismiss all charges based on lack of evidence.
I think the evidence against Mr.
Gardner has been amply established.
For the fourth victim, it has.
For the others, not even close.
The indictments for victims one through three are hereby dismissed.
Any other business we need to deal with? Good.
Opening statements at 9:00 a.
m.
Tomorrow.
We're adjourned.
Unless this guy passed the board overnight, Erin Russ is giving him a lot of help.
Don't worry.
We'll still nail him with Carrie's testimony.
Well, not if she won't give it.
I just got a message from Bethany Taylor.
Carrie says she can't face her rapist again.
I'm really sorry.
Could you tell me why you changed your mind? You know why.
I don't want to talk to him, I don't want to hear him.
You know, I have to get on with my life.
I can't keep going back to this.
Carrie, how are you going to get on with your life knowing that Gardner got away with it? It's not my fault, it's not my responsibility.
That's right, you're only responsible for yourself.
Did you discuss some of the positive things that could come out of a victim testifying against her rapist? It's often empowering.
The attack was out of your control, but in court you have complete control.
And even though Gardner is doing the questioning, he is bound by the rules of the court.
All that you're bound by is the truth.
I just want I just want to get over it.
When am I going to get over it? Carrie, I have never known a single victim who regretted testifying against her rapist, no matter how hard it was.
But I have known plenty that wished that they had.
And by then, it was too late.
And he kept running his hand through my hair, almost gentle.
And That's when I opened my eyes a little.
And you saw his face? Yes.
Ms.
Huitt, do you see the man who attacked you in the courtroom here today? Yes.
There.
Let the record reflect the witness has identified the defendant, Michael Gardner.
Thank you, Carrie.
Ms.
Huitt, you testified that your attacker choked you until you passed out.
Yes.
You tied a cord around my neck.
But your attacker was standing behind you, so you didn't see him then.
I saw you later.
When you woke up.
And you testified that your attacker sexually assaulted you? You forced your penis into my vagina.
And when you opened your eyes, a little, did your attacker see that? You weren't paying attention.
How close was he to you? You were six inches away from my face.
And he didn't notice you were awake? Isn't that strange, if he was so close? Is it possible he was farther away? Objection.
He can ask the same question and her answer will be the same.
Move on, Mr.
Gardner.
The night you saw me at the police station, was anyone with you? Yes.
A counselor from the rape crisis center.
Bethany Taylor.
Did you talk to her that night? Yes.
What about? Objection.
Communications between a rape crisis counselor and a victim are privileged.
Sustained.
I have no other questions.
Once the fingerprint came back, we apprehended the defendant outside of his home.
I advised him of his Miranda rights.
Detectives Stabler and Tutuola questioned him with his attorney present, and Carrie Huitt positively identified him as the man who had raped her the night before.
Thank you, Detective.
Why didn't you question me, Detective Benson? I was preparing your victim for the line-up.
Oh.
So it wasn't because I punched you earlier that night? Objection.
Relevance.
I'm trying to ascertain whether the detective has a personal stake in my arrest and prosecution.
I'll allow it.
I have no personal stake in you.
You weren't mad at me? Or, embarrassed that I eluded your grasp in front of your colleagues? It's not uncommon for a perpetrator to lose control of himself.
And I have certainly been hit much harder.
When Detective Tutuola took me into the line-up room, I saw you in the corridor of your precinct.
Who were you talking to? Bethany Taylor.
The rape crisis counselor.
What were you talking about? Objection.
I think we've already established counselor communications are privileged.
Actually, only communications with the victim are privileged, not with law enforcement.
Your objection's overruled.
The witness may answer the question.
I was advising Ms.
Taylor not to interfere with the line-up so that it would be fair and impartial.
I saw you looking at me in that corridor, correct? Yes.
I also saw Ms.
Taylor look at me.
You'll have to ask her.
Where did she go after she finished talking to you? Into the interview room.
And who else was in that interview room? Carrie Huitt.
So the sequence of events goes like this.
Bethany Taylor talked to you, then saw me in handcuffs.
After that she talked to the victim alone.
And only then, after all this talking, did the victim identify me.
Objection.
That's okay.
I'm done.
This is crap, Alex.
Yeah? 'Cause it looks to me like Michael Gardner making a really good case for tainted identification.
I wish you'd told me about this, Olivia.
Hold on.
That line-up was not tainted.
How do you know? What could a rape counselor possibly gain from helping a victim make a false ID? It doesn't matter what happens, only what appears to have happened.
Oh, come If the judge tosses this ID, this case is screwed.
Bethany, what's up? I just got subpoenaed to testify on Michael Gardner's behalf.
This isn't up for debate, Your Honor.
The law clearly states a rape counselor cannot disclose unless the victim authorizes it or reveals intent to commit a harmful act.
Well, it's my understanding I have a right to due process.
How can I defend myself if I don't know all the evidence against me? The counselor's records and testimony were never in evidence.
Exactly.
So no one really knows what was said.
And you can't go on a fishing expedition to find out.
People v.
Pena held that the defendant cannot go on a roving tour through somebody's personal information without a stated purpose.
Well, I have a very specific purpose.
She saw me before the line-up, then had a private conversation with the victim.
I have a right to know if she told her what I looked like or what I was wearing.
All right.
I'll question Ms.
Taylor in chambers.
If I feel her testimony is material to Mr.
Gardner's defense, the jury will hear it.
How'd it go? Great.
Didn't say a thing.
What do you mean, you didn't say a thing? You're under subpoena.
You don't have a choice.
Yeah, I do.
Bethany, this isn't going to help anybody.
Detective Benson, I need you to take Ms.
Taylor into custody for contempt.
Wait, Judge, there's got to be another Either you do it, or I'll get someone else to.
Let's go.
Save it.
Nothing good is going to come from this, Bethany.
I won't break privilege.
Well, it's going to be broken with or without you.
Judge Preston has made her decision.
She wants to hear your testimony.
I won't give it.
End of story.
Well, did you tell Carrie what Gardner looked like before the line-up? You know I didn't.
Then what does it matter? Tell Preston what you talked about.
She'll find it immaterial to the defense, and then no one else has to hear about it.
Then the precedent is set.
And every subsequent rape survivor gets to wonder, can I talk about this or will everything I say be broadcast on Court TV? No one will trust us, and no one will report the crimes.
So what's your plan? To spend the rest of your life in here? I brought my toothbrush.
I'll do the bid.
Well, that's fine.
But in the meantime, this case goes down as a mistrial or an acquittal, and Michael Gardner walks.
What if the victim waives privilege? No.
I think Judge Preston'll go for it.
Then privilege is intact and no precedent is set.
You would put this on Carrie? Do you have any idea how damaging this could be? Bethany, what else do you want me to do? Not that.
I mean it.
She can't handle it.
You're supposed to help the victims.
Do your job.
You heard what happened with Bethany.
Mmm-hmm.
Carrie, I I'm asking you to waive your right to privacy so that Bethany can testify about her conversation with you.
You're not wearing your engagement ring.
Yeah, that was my decision.
I didn't want Eric to have to wait around for me to get back to normal.
I couldn't have sex without crying.
I love him, but I'm never going to be back to normal.
Carrie, I really don't think that this is the right time to be making these kind of decisions.
When is the right time? You're all sitting around waiting for me to shake this off and get back to normal.
You have no idea.
I can't sleep more than I hate to be alone.
But, God, I hate to be around people more.
And I am so afraid to walk outside or be in a crowded place, because, you know, I might see him.
And all I can think to myself is it would've been so much better if he'd just killed me.
So, that's what I talked to Bethany about, because she told me that I could say anything to her and no one would ever know.
Nothing that I do will ever change what happened to you.
I can only try to prevent it from happening again.
Except everything that I have done has failed.
I'm not going to pretend that this is a good thing or that this is a fair thing, but I have to ask you for your help because you are our last chance.
I hate to see you in here.
Don't worry about me.
This was my decision, not yours.
I waived my rights.
And I wish she didn't make you do that.
But it doesn't mean anything.
I still won't talk.
It's my decision, and it's already done.
You said that this is about control, right? Taking it back.
Well, I am.
I do not want there to be any chance that this guy can get away.
So please testify to the judge.
It's okay.
It's It can't get any worse.
After questioning Bethany Taylor, it is my ruling that her testimony is not relevant to the pre-trial identification and that the defendant's right to due process has not been violated.
Therefore, the testimony will not be entered into record.
Objection! You can't object, Mr.
Gardner.
Take a seat.
No, that's not fair.
That is my ruling.
We're adjourned for today.
So what else can Gardner pull when he puts up his own defense? I expect he'll throw a couple of character witnesses on the stand, he'll take his own testimony.
We just have to be ready for anything that he does.
Detective! Bethany, I know you didn't want this, but thank you anyway.
I didn't do this for you.
I did it for Carrie.
Want to know what you did, Detective? This is a subpoena from a man who raped another client of mine.
He wants her records disclosed.
So I was thinking you'd be the perfect person to bully her into waiving her rights.
I did what I had to do to stop Michael Gardner from raping another woman.
Six of my clients already quit counseling.
They don't trust me anymore.
But you got your win.
Who cares if it's at everyone else's expense? Where is everybody? Kathy took the kids to La Boheme.
Pass.
So on your one night as a bachelor, you go to the grocery store? That's pretty pathetic.
Grocery store with strippers.
Liv, you've got to let it go.
You put a rapist on trial.
You did your job.
I think I made it worse.
You know that's not true.
I made Carrie relive the worst thing that's ever happened to her.
I screwed any number of victims who might have sought counseling from Bethany Taylor.
And a few less rapes may be reported because of it.
And if Michael Gardner is convicted, he'll never rape another woman.
It's not worth it.
It's not worth the cost.
To you or them? I'm not talking about me.
Yeah, you are.
For as long as I have known you, you've always identified with the victims.
Now, maybe that's because you're a woman.
I don't know.
I do know it's one of the things that makes you a great cop.
It's also one of the things that makes this job torture sometimes.
You can never go back and change things that have already happened, Olivia.
You can't.
You kill yourself to make something happen, or you do nothing.
And it doesn't matter.
There's always another child molester, there's always another rapist.
And it's like you have to sell a little piece of yourself to get the job done.
So what the hell's the point? I don't know.
Maybe there isn't a point.
Maybe the cost is too high.
Olivia, no one's making you do this.
The difference between you and all the victims is you can walk away.
No, I can't.
We've been waiting for over an hour, Ms.
Russ.
We have no proof that Mr.
Gardner has absconded, Your Honor.
If the defendant has knowingly forfeited his right to be present, then the trial should continue without him.
For all we know, he could have fallen ill or been in an accident.
Find out, Ms.
Russ.
Quickly.
Got it.
All airports are on alert.
So far, he hasn't shown up on any passenger manifests.
We're focusing on domestic flights.
His wife said that his passport's expired.
Which you don't need to drive into Canada, so Customs along the New York-Ontario borders are on alert.
Locals are putting Gardner's mug shot on the 11:00 news.
It'll be in the papers in the morning.
But there's still a possibility that he's staying in town despite the danger.
He's already shown a propensity for stalking, which means that any number of people could be a target.
That's why I want warnings out to the judge, the D.
A.
S, every witness, victim, juror.
Anybody who set foot in that courtroom that he could see as an enemy.
Stabler.
That includes you, Olivia.
This guy's got a hard-on for you.
Good.
I hope he tries something.
He did try something.
Another attack.
Neighbor found her when he was taking out the garbage, but he didn't hear a thing.
Victim get a look at him? Don't know.
She's dead.
Cut up her face, too, this time.
Three or four slashes.
Fingerprint bruising around the neck.
I think he's getting smarter.
This time, there's nobody to ID him.
Victim's Evelyn Sharpe from Staten Island.
You were right about the manual strangulation.
Found traces of talc, so I'm guessing he wore latex gloves.
So he's learning from his mistakes.
Her hands have some defensive wounds.
Bruises on her knuckles.
So I'm thinking she woke up at some point and fought back.
She get a piece of him? Nothing under her nails.
No fluids or foreign hairs on the body.
But I did find something interesting.
Excised the skin right down to the fascia.
He got a piece of her.
So now he's collecting trophies? I thought so at first, but look at the size and location of the wound.
She was fighting him off.
So he bit her.
Then he cuts away the skin to get rid of the evidence.
Guy's becoming a regular criminal genius.
Not quite.
He didn't cut deep enough.
There's still an impression in the muscle tissue.
Well, can you match it to Gardner's dental records? Already did.
No question.
We got the son of a bitch.
Still think your client's an innocent man? This is no longer a case of mistaken identities or false line-ups.
This man is guilty of rape and murder.
If I knew where he was I'd tell you.
People are in imminent danger here.
I told you, I don't know where he is.
If I hear from him, you're the first call I'll make.
If he's getting any help, it's not from a family member.
Gardner's got no relatives in New York.
We talked to his business partners and his staff.
Nobody's heard from him.
The wife seemed pretty devastated when he left.
I don't think she's hiding him.
Dump his phones, the last six months.
If it was a wrong number, I want to know what the conversation was.
Gardner's financials.
All of the money belongs to Mrs.
Gardner, but he's got access to everything.
Any recent transactions? Yep, a big one.
Five grand yesterday morning.
Check cashing place in the Bronx.
Yeah, that's the Richie Rich.
He wanted to cash 20 grand.
I told him five was my limit.
He wrote up a new check.
He alone? I guess so.
I didn't see anybody.
We're gonna need the paperwork on that.
The guy had the proper ID.
I didn't do nothing illegal.
Hey, are those recording? This kind of business? You better believe it, lady.
We're gonna need the tapes.
Right there.
That your guy? Yep.
It doesn't tell us much other than he's alone.
I digitized the tape from the other camera, too.
Here's the same timeframe.
That's him exiting and getting into that white SUV.
Like the one Carrie saw the night of her attack.
Did you get plates off that? Not the way the camera's positioned.
All the Accident Investigation Unit could tell me was it's a '99 Lexus RX 300.
Can you play that a little longer? Sure.
Now, he's getting into the passenger side.
Who's driving? Let's see if I can blow it up.
We'll go frame by frame.
Looks like he's kissing her.
His wife's got long hair.
Gardner's got himself a girlfriend.
Any ID on the mystery woman? We got six months of phone records.
There's nothing out of the ordinary yet.
The problem is, this guy is smart enough to never have called the girlfriend from his own phone.
And if he bought a pre-paid cell, well, we wouldn't know about that.
The majority of the calls this month went to his lawyer.
Big surprise.
Last month, too.
And four months ago.
Why would he need to talk to a criminal defense attorney before he was arrested? Because he's been having an affair with Erin Russ.
She registered a vehicle to the DMV four years ago.
1999 white Lexus.
Look at this.
Erin, it's Detectives Benson and Stabler.
Let us in.
It's open.
Erin, where is he? Where's Gardner, Erin? Where is he? He's here.
Let me see your hands.
Put up your hands.
Are you hurt? No.
I found the murder weapon in the car.
He denied it, even after I found everything.
If he attacked you, there's nothing you could have done.
That's right.
Justifiable homicide.
If he attacked me.
I need to know it's over.
I tried setting it up with the people in charge.
They said it was inappropriate.
How did you convince them? They don't need to know.