Law & Order Special Victims Unit s03e11 Episode Script
Monogamy
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, You're being ridiculous.
You're being ridiculous.
Excuse me? You practically got into a fistfight with the parking guys.
So I'm just supposed to let them rip us off? SUVs cost more to park.
Didn't you read the sign? It didn't say 45 bucks.
That's an entire dinner at Fort Lee, including parking.
Now there's gonna be traffic on the GW.
I hope you had fun tonight.
You obviously didn't.
Kevin.
What? The door is all wet.
Damn it, I just had it washed.
What did you get on my car? I don't know.
I got a leaky pipe up there.
I don't know.
What is this? Oh, God! That was quick from Queens.
I stayed in the city tonight.
What do we know? Parking attendant found her on the second level, naked from the waist down.
IDed from her purse.
Nicole Manning.
There's no robbery.
60 bucks cash left in her wallet.
How's she doing? She's alive, but it's a real mess.
She conscious? In and out.
Got bashed in her head pretty good.
We got a description on the perp? Nothing yet.
Better get one quick.
I'll ride.
Okay.
CSU says condition of her blood at the scene looks like she was attacked minutes before she was found.
How many stab wounds? She wasn't stabbed, Detective.
Pressure's dropping.
Come on, Nicole, stay with us.
Two large-bore IVs, 02, 15 liters, non-rebreather mask.
She's C-spined, sinus tach at 150.
Nicole, did you get a look at him? She's seizing.
Two of Ativan.
Trauma to the head, pupils equal, round and reactive.
Patient sustained massive abdominal trauma.
Looks like emergency C- section to me.
This woman was pregnant? No pulse.
Start CPR.
Any sign of the baby? Not yet.
What the hell did he do with it? Sick son of a bitch must have taken it with him.
Cut was made with a dull or serrated blade.
Head trauma, multiple contusions around the abdomen, like she'd been kicked.
Anything from the rape kit? Positive for fluids.
What are her chances? Not good.
Developed an amniotic embolism.
Clots in her lungs cut off oxygen to the brain.
Any word on the baby? Not yet.
Guy could have dumped that body anywhere.
Or kidnapped it.
Kidnapped? Well, at this age, it's viable.
Mother's at 28 weeks, baby was normal weight, no apparent complications.
You think it's possible this baby could be out there somewhere alive? It's possible, but not for long.
She was by herself.
I didn't even think to go with her.
This is a safe neighborhood.
Who else was up there? Usually nobody but me.
Then why was she? Well, Mrs.
Manning, she's a monthly.
She always gets her own car.
Okay, did you hear anything? Maybe you hear a woman screaming? No, no, no.
I would have checked on that.
What about someone leaving the building? Maybe carrying a bag or something wrapped up in a coat? No.
No, no.
But there's another way down from the second floor.
The stairs, they lead onto the back alley.
Hey, what's the latest? Still waiting to talk to the husband.
Any leads on the baby? Got every available cop out canvassing the neighborhood.
That's him.
Whoever did this, it was personal.
Can't rule him out.
We were supposed to meet for dinner at 7:00.
I waited at the restaurant.
She's usually late, so I didn't worry right away.
What about before that? I was in a session with a patient.
You're a doctor? Psychiatrist.
My practice is in midtown.
Dr.
Manning, there's no easy way to ask you this.
Were you intimate with your wife during the past 24 hours? No.
Why? We think that your wife may have been assaulted.
We'd like to ask for a blood sample from you.
Of course.
Anything you need.
What did you do when your wife didn't show up at the restaurant? I tried calling her.
And, after an hour, I went home.
Can you think of any reason that somebody would want to hurt Nicole? No.
Nicole was a good person.
She is.
Nicole is a good person.
The doctor said there's still a chance she'll recover.
Plenty of prints off her car.
After we rule out the parking staff, the victim's friends and family, and every valet in the city, who knows? We just might get lucky.
This car's for sale.
We're not gonna get too lucky if she had people test-driving it.
What about signs of the baby? Lot of blood.
Don't know whose yet.
No placenta or cord.
Took everything with him.
Looks like he got in and out through there.
Cleaned up before he left.
With those slimy antibacterial hand wipes.
He came prepared.
He gets rid of the blood, leaves out that door.
It's like nothing ever happened.
But why take the baby? Maybe that was the reason for the attack.
He didn't want the woman dead.
He wanted her to suffer.
Husband's credit card records confirm he was at the restaurant.
Cell phone records coincide with the calls he made looking for his wife.
Preliminary on the rape kit rules him out anyway.
Husband's AB-positive, perp's O-negative.
What did Latent turn up in the victim's car? Just got a solid hit from prints, interior and exterior.
Kyle Novacek.
Not a complete lunatic, but did time for assault three and heroin possession.
Don't really see that kind of violence with heroin users unless somebody slipped him a hotshot and mixed in some PCP, guy could've gone psycho.
Well, get on him.
That baby might still be alive.
The victim is an RN at a methadone clinic.
That can't be a coincidence.
But might be the connection between them.
Hey, Maureen.
Hey.
Dad? Sweetheart, what's wrong? Can I talk to you, please? Come on.
Go ahead.
Use my office.
So we'll hit the methadone clinic.
Novacek could have been a client.
We talk to area hospitals? No premature newborns admitted yet, but the hospitals are on alert.
Well, what did the search turn up? The neighborhood canvass was a complete bust.
Nothing at the airports, bus terminals.
Still waiting to hear on the PATH trains.
We'll have to widen the search.
I'll use another phone.
So how's school going, Maureen? It's fine.
Yeah? You get your college applications out yet? Pretty much.
You're gonna be late.
Okay.
Bye, Olivia.
Everything okay? Yeah.
You ready? Kyle Novacek? What, I'm on every cop's list now? Third time this year with you guys.
You wanna be left alone, don't stab your smack dealer in the forearm.
I'm working steady now.
I'm clean.
Got nothing to do with that life anymore.
That all you wanna know? Not even close.
Where were you last night? I take a class at Brooklyn College.
A man of intellect.
What time's the class start? What kind of car you drive? I don't.
Car died last week.
That's a shame.
Looking for a new one? Gold Ford parked in a garage a few blocks away, some interesting fingerprints.
That's the car I looked at.
I saw a sign in the window.
The woman let me take it for a drive last week.
What, did somebody steal it? How'd the program go? What program? The methadone treatment.
You know, sometimes they don't give you enough.
You need a little more to make it through the day.
What's this all about? Did she get hurt? Do you even remember last night or were you too loaded? Look, I already told you, I saw the car once.
I haven't been back since.
Where is it? What? The baby.
What the hell you talking about? It's alive, you can still get out of this without a broken neck.
You telling me somebody hurt that baby? Take the DNA test.
You didn't touch her, we leave you alone.
I don't have to do that.
Sound like a guilty man to me, Novacek.
I just know the way you guys operate.
If you had anything on me, my ass would be in the back of your car already, right? Anything else? Count on it.
You know methadone client lists are confidential.
We give their names out to police, they never come in for treatment.
How about I show you the ER photos they took of Nicole Manning? That change your mind? Her baby might still be alive, but we are running out of time.
I wish I could help.
Well, you do have armed guards and surveillance videos.
I'm sure not all of your clients are perfect angels.
Have any of your employees ever been harassed? On a daily basis, but nothing overtly violent.
What about in the neighborhood? I'd imagine this place attracts some real winners.
Actually, the only person we've had a problem with is another nurse, Erin Sena.
Nicole found out she'd been diverting methadone for herself.
What happened to Erin? I'm required to report all incidents to the police.
She was arrested.
She lost her job and her nursing license.
Nice place.
I cleaned up especially for you.
Your boyfriend doesn't mind the mess? Who says I've got a boyfriend? Come on, a girl like you.
I'm sure you have a few.
You coming on to me? I'm into that.
Your friend can watch.
All right.
Why don't we start by having you sit down and answer a few of my questions? Okay? Nicole Manning.
You seen her lately? Yeah.
We hang out all the time and have tea.
She screwed you over, didn't she? Got arrested, lost your job.
She's the reason that your life sucks, right? So? This is what I'm thinking.
You and your boyfriend follow Nicole Manning into the parking garage.
You have a fight, it gets a little out of hand, your boyfriend goes crazy, not your fault.
I don't have a boyfriend.
You have to leave now.
What's that? None of your business.
Do you have a son, Erin? They took him away from me.
They who? Two cops and some bitch from Social Services think they know how to take care of my own son better than me.
Must have been jealous of Nicole.
The woman who took everything from you, and now she's having her own baby.
Get out.
You still using? Yeah, we are.
Look, I gotta tell you that no agency is gonna give a junky back her kid.
Yeah? Screw you.
That baby needs to be in a hospital, Erin.
Now, we can help you.
No, you can't.
Nicole pissed off the wrong person.
Look what happened to her.
Who'd she piss off? I don't know.
Yeah, I think you do.
Only thing I know is Nicole asked for it, and she got what she deserved.
I had nothing to do with it.
Now, get out.
Someone scared the hell out of her to shut her up.
Partner in crime.
We need to get back in there and search for signs of that baby.
Right.
Stabler.
We're on it.
Take him down to the shelter.
Get him something to eat.
Yeah, thank you very much.
Homeless guy reported it.
Says he didn't see anybody around.
Where? Dumpster.
We positive it's the Manning baby? Right size.
Decomposition fits the time frame.
Sorry, Detectives.
What was it? Little boy.
I should probably make some arrangements, I don't know.
Am I supposed to get a birth certificate issued first before You don't have to do anything right now.
Actually, the Medical Examiner is gonna need a little time to investigate.
Well, I'd like to take care of things before she wakes up.
We know this is a very difficult time for you, but we need to ask you about another nurse that your wife worked with.
Erin Sena.
Oh, yeah, I know the name.
She tried to get Nicole to testify on her behalf at some hearing.
I think the state was trying to take away her son.
Did she testify? No.
No, Nicole thought it was ludicrous of the girl to even ask.
So what happened? Well, she screamed at our answering machine a few times, and I wanted to call the police, but Nicole wouldn't hear of it.
She thought it was unnecessary.
She doing any better? They performed a hysterectomy.
How do I tell her that we'll never have a family? Depressed skull fractures along the right temporal lobe, extensive contusions.
Cause of death was a subdural hematoma resulting from blows to the head.
Whoever did it did not want this baby to live.
Perp kicked the mother before removing the baby.
Could the head trauma be from the beating? No way to tell if the injuries were sustained in- or ex-utero.
But once the fetus was aborted, no apparent effort was made to save it.
How long did he live? Still trying to determine that.
If there's a God, it wasn't long.
Kyle Novacek's alibi cleared him.
That leaves Erin Sena as our only suspect, assuming we can find the man who was her partner in crime.
I want options.
Now, how else can we get to her? Probation violation.
She was higher than a kite when we talked to her.
We haul her in for a drug test.
Judge made random testing a requirement for her probation.
She fails the test, we got leverage to make her talk.
Now all we got to do is find her.
She in methadone treatment? Her PO says she's a client at Tenth Avenue where she used to work.
Well, that's one appointment a heroin addict's always gonna keep.
You think we missed her? She needs her fix.
Could've gotten it this morning.
No, she's coming.
You want to leave, go ahead.
Or you could just stop being a jerk and tell me what the hell's going on with you.
This about Maureen? I screwed up.
I didn't send in a check for the Columbia application.
Is it too late? I don't know.
Elliot, what is this? I've been distracted.
That's her.
Where you off to? Oh, just let me go in.
Right after your drug test.
Oh, please, just let me Let me just go in! You tested positive for heroin.
Fine.
Arrest me.
There's no rush, really.
We got, what, 24 hours? Yeah, give or take.
I really, really need to get out of here, okay? Yeah, what happened to your face? I got hit.
Someone's fist, looks like.
Can I have a soda? Can you do that? Soon as you tell us who you've been hiding from, sure.
No, no.
No way.
Then you're going down for everything, Erin.
Cutting Nicole and killing her baby.
Trained nurse.
You knew exactly what you were doing.
It all points to you.
I told you, I didn't have anything to do with it! But you're a liar, Erin, and everybody knows it.
Nicole knew it.
She has everything, and she comes after me? Exactly.
She has everything you want, and you made her pay for it.
I didn't.
Yeah, but someone did.
Who was it? Come on, your boyfriend? Some junkie you met on the street? You're afraid that he's going to hurt you, just like he did Nicole.
Who're you hiding from? Who is he, Erin? Kyle.
Kyle Novacek's your boyfriend.
Hers.
Nicole's.
We got a communications problem, Kyle.
We keep asking you questions, and you keep Iying.
I didn't lie.
I told you where I was that night.
Half the guys in Sing Sing got alibis.
Come on, look.
Wait a second.
I'll tell you the truth.
We don't care about the truth.
We're gonna take you in for a little DNA test, prove you raped her.
That's all the truth we need.
The test's gonna be positive.
Nicole and I made love that afternoon.
You raped her, you cut her open.
Then you beat up another woman to keep her mouth shut.
I knew you'd think I was guilty.
Well, that's 'cause you are, you sick bastard.
You killed the baby.
It was mine.
The baby was mine.
Would I do that to my own child? Where is Novacek? Crying his eyes out in One.
CSU's looking for the weapon at his place.
Waiting on the semen match, and we threw in a paternity test on the baby.
Doesn't prove he's innocent.
She's seeing Novacek on the side, gets pregnant, won't leave her husband, Novacek decides to punish her.
Or maybe the husband did it.
Novacek says that Manning was probably catching on.
He never mentioned anything about it.
Which means he didn't know or he didn't want us to know.
Ask the wife.
She just woke up.
I remember something hitting me in the back of the head, that's all.
I didn't even see who did it.
I woke up here, and they told me what happened.
Tell us about Kyle Novacek.
I suppose you know already.
I've been seeing him almost a year.
Did you see him the night of your attack? No.
I saw him earlier that afternoon.
That's really the only time we can be together.
I know how bad this sounds.
Had you two argued recently? You can't think he did this.
Kyle wanted to get married.
Did you? I told him I would, but everything changes when you're having a baby.
It's about what's safest, not what's going to make you happy.
And you felt it was safest to stay with your husband.
Did he know about you and Kyle? I told him that I was leaving him and that the baby wasn't his.
How did he react to that? I thought he would be angry, but, at the time, he was really calm.
Your husband said that you were meeting for dinner at 7:00.
Did he know that you were running late? I was meeting him at 7:30.
Did Richard tell you 7:00? Why wasn't the husband a suspect to begin with? 'Cause none of the evidence pointed to him.
What do we know about this guy? Well, he's a shrink, so he knows how to mess with your head.
Not you.
No, you're exactly right.
What's more, psychiatrists go through four years of medical school and a one-year medical internship.
So he'd know how to do a crude C-section.
I want Dr.
Manning's alibi broken.
Timewise, it's tight, but there's room for maneuvering.
Restaurant receipt says that Manning had a drink at 6:59.
The bartender remembers him, but he didn't see him leave.
Two calls from his cell phone.
One at 7:50, the other at 7:52 to Nicole's cell and their home.
Now, Manning claims that he was still at the restaurant waiting.
Unless he was across town attacking his wife.
The cell phone company would have a better idea of where he was when he made those calls.
We'll check on that.
Neighbor said Manning got in before 8:30.
Hour at the restaurant, plus walking time.
It's plausible.
Nicole didn't get to the garage until 7:20.
Because Richard told her that they were meeting at 7:30.
We're thinking that it's deliberate, so he'd know exactly where she'd be and still have time to set up his alibi.
One hour window, tops.
Crosses the park, attacks her, cleans up, goes back home.
All because his wife was carrying another man's child.
Well, you know, it could've been enough to push him over the edge.
He was cuckolded.
It's pretty common.
You see it in nature.
The female of the species seeks out the male who exhibits the most desirable traits.
You know, most species aren't naturally monogamous.
That explains my entire marital history.
Let's knock off the jokes, all right? We're talking about a dead baby here.
All right, his wife cheats on him.
Why not kill her? Because, you see, in his mind the problem was the baby, not his wife.
Get rid of the baby, get rid of the problem.
His world remains intact.
Well, let's tear it apart.
Start by getting a warrant for the cell phone company.
Hey.
You know, everybody in that room is on your side.
But we're not mind-readers, and if you're not going to say what's going on with you, that's fine, but there's not a whole hell of a lot we can do.
I know you're on my side.
Elliot, what is going on? Would you talk to me? Is there somebody else? No, it's nothing like that.
To be honest, it'd be easier if there was.
I I don't know what this is.
It's It just never goes away, you know.
Every case, a little bit more horrific than the last.
And I go home.
What am I supposed to do, talk about my day at work? "Honey, today a guy cut a baby out of his wife's stomach.
Pass the gravy, please.
" So you just don't talk at all.
That's no solution, Elliot.
Well, one of us has to be able to sleep at night.
She thinks I'm shutting her out.
You are.
That's exactly what you do.
You keep this up, you're going to ruin the best thing you ever had.
The phone wasn't GPS assisted, so we can't give you a precise location.
But the call detail record will tell us which cell site he used.
How close will it get us? With all the wireless companies operating there are anywhere from 400 to Depending on the angle and the time-distance arrival of the radio frequency, sometimes we can narrow it down to a couple of blocks.
This is it.
Cell site 24.
Lincoln Center.
Not far from where Nicole was attacked.
Manning said he made the calls from the restaurant in the Upper East Side.
So what's he doing on the other side of town? Changing his clothes most likely.
Manning belongs to a gym near Lincoln Center.
Signed in at 8:00.
What, he just walked in wearing bloody clothing? Cleaned up most of it at the scene.
The dump site where they found the baby was on the way.
Gym receptionist said that he was wearing a long coat and carrying a duffel bag.
Probably made the calls to establish he was looking for Nicole, showered, and went home.
What'd we find at the gym? Unfortunately, nothing there links to the crime scene.
The dumpster was empty, no regular locker, and CSU won't even bother checking the drain traps on public showers.
Can't blame them.
We canvassing the cab companies? He had less than half an hour to get home.
No.
I don't think he took a cab.
He's been fairly meticulous so far.
That would be one more witness he didn't need.
Could he have run? We clocked it.
Manning had plenty of time.
You both ran it? Walked it, and we still had a couple of minutes to spare.
He's got a motive.
He lied about his alibi.
The gym bag could be at his house.
He had to carry that baby in something.
Along with the murder weapon and blood evidence.
I'll call Cabot for a warrant.
Doc, I want you in on this search.
You know how shrinks operate.
Time to give up your trade secrets.
Okay.
What've you got? Well, there's no gym bag.
And aside from these manicure scissors, there's no cutting instrument.
But this guy is a piece of work.
You gotta check this out.
His laundry is nicer than my entire wardrobe.
Folds and labels them.
Whites, colors, dry cleaning.
Anything marked "bloody clothes"? He's got enough personal hygiene products in here to open his own salon.
All his.
So do I, but that doesn't make me a murderer.
Everything about him is all about appearances.
Working out, this gym equipment.
For some reason, he has feelings of being unattractive, unmanly.
His advantage is that he's extremely intelligent as evidenced by his careful planning.
Ironically, he's probably a pretty gifted psychiatrist.
I especially admire his gift for killing babies.
It's a symptom of the same problem.
He's preoccupied with order.
He thinks that if he can control every detail of his life, then he can become this man that he wants to be.
His wife wasn't so easy to control.
Look at this mess.
Well, when she threatened to destroy the order that he created then he went to extremes to get it back.
What's it look like? We're taking every knife from the kitchen back to the lab, but I'm not hoping for much.
I doubt he brought anything from the crime scene back here.
What the hell is this? It's a search, Dr.
Manning.
We'll be out of your way in a minute.
You can't march in here and destroy my home.
Yeah, it's a real bite in the ass, isn't it? All those new labels you'll have to make Those your only set of keys? Yeah.
Tough.
I need those.
Ramone.
Yeah? Luminol these for me, will you? See, the problem with blood is, it gets absorbed by plastic.
Can't wash it off.
What is that supposed to be? Exactly what we're looking for.
You remember Dr.
George Huang from our search today? He's a psychiatrist, too.
This is Dr.
Richard Manning.
They brought you in to shrink the shrink, huh? Does that make you feel important? It just seems unnecessary.
I didn't do anything wrong.
Your wife did though, right? No.
We were having marital problems, and we were working on solving them.
She left you.
I wouldn't say she was leaving me so much as going to the man who fathered her child.
She just thought that was the best solution to her problem.
But it was the wrong solution.
And now her problem doesn't exist because there is no child.
Well, yes.
Well, actually, Dr.
Manning, Nicole wasn't going to marry Kyle Novacek.
All she wanted was to get away from you.
Nicole doesn't know what she wants.
Apparently she wanted to have a relationship with another man.
Why? She probably felt our relationship was lacking.
Lacking is a real interesting word.
What is it you were lacking, Dick? Challenging my masculinity.
A little amateurish, don't you think? No.
I think he's challenging your masculinity because it's a pretty obvious weakness.
You're a smart guy.
Your problem is you think you're smarter than everyone else.
That's why you screw up.
You been to the gym lately? Yes.
I forgot to mention that.
I did go to the gym that night.
I was very worried about Nicole, so I left.
Oh, well, there you go, mystery solved.
See, that's why you're such a genius.
Can't fool you, not for a second.
So, genius, what I want to know is how in the hell Nicole fooled you into believing you were the father of her child.
Your wife made you look stupid, and you made her pay for it.
I love my wife.
You almost killed her.
No, he killed the baby.
He just wasn't smart enough to do the job right.
I don't even know what that means.
Nicole will never have children again, Dr.
Manning, and neither will you.
You screwed up, smart guy.
You couldn't be more wrong about me.
AII I care about is my wife and my family.
It ruined everything.
Your wife's child.
Yeah.
And so you got rid of it.
Wouldn't anyone? Arrest him.
We've got him for attempted murder and assault one for the attack on the mother, plus abortion one.
And murder.
He killed that baby.
Warner's certain of that? Baby was alive, now it's dead.
What's the problem? The problem is whether or not we can establish the baby was legally a person.
But how do we do that? Prove the baby was born alive according to New York State Law.
Something that indicates it took a breath, moved.
If it died while it was still in its mother's womb, it technically wasn't a person, so it's not murder.
If that baby had been born in a hospital, it would've lived.
Doesn't matter.
Neo-natacides are notoriously difficult to prosecute because the medical evidence is almost always inconclusive.
Without a witness stating unequivocally the baby was a live birth, I'm just not certain we'd get a murder conviction through.
Best we can do is illegal third-trimester abortion.
That's a D-felony.
We'll get more out of the assault charge.
At seven months, a baby moves inside of the mother.
The only reason that baby is dead is because he bashed its skull in.
Now, I don't care if you call it a person or not, that's murder.
That argument could also be used to condemn legal abortion.
Do you want me to charge every doctor who performs an abortion with murder? Abortion is different.
It's the mother's choice.
We're not talking about the mother's rights.
You want to charge for homicide with the fetus as victim, you give the fetus rights.
Do you want to go down that road? It's not the same thing.
In the eyes of the law, it is.
Well, the law needs to change.
I don't know, Elliot.
You can't have it both ways.
A fetus is either a life or it's not.
You saw that baby.
Olivia, you saw that baby.
This guy's gonna walk.
And I don't like it any more than you do, but this is very dangerous territory.
And I am not prepared to dismantle reproductive rights on an inconclusive case.
We're going to let a murderer get away to preserve a political ideal.
I don't even know what I'm doing here! Take a break, Detective.
Your ME comes back with solid medical evidence the baby was born alive, we've got something to work with.
But I will not charge for murder on the death of an unborn child.
You and your partner park yourself in Warner's office until she hands over that autopsy.
Alex, unless you've got other plans, I want you there, too.
Why? You need solid medical evidence? Make sure Warner's got it.
Presence of gas in the stomach, contracted umbilical cord, subpleural and subepicardial petechiae, partially expanded pulmonary alveoli, fully-aerated, crepitant, salmon-pink lungs.
In English? He took a breath.
Probably more than one.
So, he was a live birth? That's what I'm saying in my report.
To be clear, if I'm going to charge Richard Manning with the murder of the baby, that means I drop the abortion charge and the attempted murder charge of Nicole.
We can only have one theory of the crime.
Either he was trying to kill his wife or his child.
Meaning we better be damn sure, he only goes down for assault.
Neonates decompose at a faster rate, so there's an inevitable margin of error.
Which doesn't do us any favors.
You need to be willing to testify to a reasonable degree of medical certainty this was a live birth.
I am.
I'll supersede the indictments.
I also performed a hydrostatic test on the lungs in order to determine if they had been inflated.
Dr.
Warner, you are looking at a guy who failed biology twice.
I'm a science idiot.
What is a hydrostatic test? The lungs are placed in water.
If a significant portion of the lungs float, it means they had been inflated, as was the case here.
So this means the fetus took a breath? Yes.
Dr.
Warner, will you define postmortem putrefaction for me? It describes the series of changes that occur to tissue after death.
Those changes include the formation of gases, such as mercaptans and hydrogen sulfide, right? Yes.
Let me ask this.
After your initial hydrostatic test, did you deflate the lungs, re-inflate them, and then repeat the test to expel any gasses that may have been present due to decomposition? Performing the test twice is often misleading.
So you probably didn't do it, then.
Objection.
I'm sure there are plenty of tests the doctor did not perform, none of which are relevant.
Overruled.
The witness may answer the question.
I did not perform the test a second time.
Okay.
You were probably busy that day, that's understandable Your Honor Let's keep up the pace, Mr.
Langan.
Is it possible the expansion of the lungs could be attributed to post-mortem putrefaction? It is possible, but there were other factors Assume you're right, though, and the fetus took a breath.
Dr.
Warner, tell me, for a baby to be considered born, it has to be completely expelled from the uterus, am I right? Yes.
Is it possible a fetus can take a breath while partially expelled but die before it is fully expelled? Yes, it is possible.
Is there any way to determine when the breath was taken, assuming it was taken to begin with? Short of eyewitness testimony, no.
But we don't have that.
Thank you, Dr.
Warner.
You've been very patient with my ignorance.
Tell me that looked worse than it actually was.
If you think it looks like we just lost our murder conviction, you're right.
Warner said exactly what you wanted her to say, and you let Manning's lawyer sandbag her.
Why didn't you stop him? Because he's right, Detective.
We can't prove how and when that baby died beyond a reasonable doubt, and if you want to blame me for that, go right ahead.
So we got nothing? Barring an outright confession the child was alive, he gets three-and-half to nine for the assault, out in two.
Unless he gets off entirely on extreme emotional distress.
I wish I could do more, Elliot.
Detective, what a surprise.
Don't say anything.
Please, start harassing my client.
I'd love a mistrial.
Trevor, leave us alone for a bit, please.
I'm going to waste my breath and strongly advise against it.
Anything you say is going right to the DA.
Just a few minutes.
Usually my time is worth $200 an hour.
Not worth much now, is it? It's a matter of opinion.
You must be pretty proud of yourself.
Getting everybody to buy your story.
It's the truth.
Tell me again how it happened, how you murdered that baby.
You don't actually think you're going to get me to confess something, do you? But that's not why you're really here, is it? You're gonna shrink me now? You want me to? You're married.
Eighteen years.
Children as well? Four of them.
Wouldn't you do anything to protect your family? Killing a child? No, I don't see myself doing that.
Maybe not, but you know what your problem is? You understand that impulse.
You know exactly why I did what I had to do.
Protect what you have by destroying it? No.
I didn't destroy anything.
Think about it.
I didn't destroy anything.
Nicole and I agreed to meet to try to salvage our marriage.
I was waiting at the restaurant, and all I could think was, "She's with him.
"She's with him, right now, and they're laughing at me.
" Not very rational thoughts.
Objection.
Put a question mark on it Mr.
Langan.
In your estimation, as a psychiatrist, were your thoughts those of a rational person? No.
I could only describe it as a textbook, total break with reality.
And then suddenly I was running across the park, finding her, and acting solely on these powerful emotions that I could not control.
Can you characterize your state of mind during that time? It was as if I was possessed or being controlled by someone else.
I look back now, and I can't believe what I've done to the woman I love.
I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry.
No further questions.
People are entering into evidence the People's Four.
Defense has no knowledge of this evidence Which my detectives only just brought to me.
Knock it off.
Bring that over here.
This evidence was not made available in discovery.
It can't be presented.
This is an extraneous matter not material to the charge.
The People had no duty to tender it upon discovery.
I'm letting it in, assuming Miss Cabot convinces me it's relevant.
Request a recess to confer with my client.
So, what, you can advise him to lie? He's on the stand, and he's staying there.
Step back.
Dr.
Manning, you testified that you snapped because your wife told you she was having an affair and that her unborn child was fathered by another man, causing you to attack her and cut the child from her body.
Is that correct? Yes.
How did you know she was telling you the truth? Why would she lie about that? Were you unable to have children, Dr.
Manning? I'm capable of having children.
And were you having sexual relations with your wife seven months prior to her attack? Yes.
But you took her word for it that she was having an affair? I knew about that before she told me.
For how long? From the beginning? Close to it.
Then it's fair to say you would know, probably, if your wife was having an affair with yet another man.
Objection.
That is totally irrelevant.
I think we both know it's not, Your Honor.
Speak for yourself, Miss Cabot.
Prove relevance quickly or move on.
Is it all possible your wife was having an affair that you didn't know about? No, absolutely not.
How do you know this? I am aware of what goes on in my own house.
So the only two people who could have possibly fathered Nicole Manning's child were yourself and Kyle Novacek? She told me it was him.
People's Four.
This is the paternity test against Nicole Manning's child and Kyle Novacek, proving that, in fact, Mr.
Novacek is not the father.
Objection.
So the logical deduction is that you were the father of your wife's child, Dr.
Manning.
Whether he was right or not about the paternity of the fetus has no bearing on his state of mind.
Overruled.
Isn't it probable, Dr.
Manning, that you were the father of your wife's child? I would've known.
How? How could you have known? You were so sure he couldn't have been your child.
But he had to be, Dr.
Manning.
There's no other explanation, is there? I don't know.
You held your own child in your hands, your own living child.
Did he cry? Did your son cry before you killed him? He only cried a little.
He only cried a little.
You're being ridiculous.
Excuse me? You practically got into a fistfight with the parking guys.
So I'm just supposed to let them rip us off? SUVs cost more to park.
Didn't you read the sign? It didn't say 45 bucks.
That's an entire dinner at Fort Lee, including parking.
Now there's gonna be traffic on the GW.
I hope you had fun tonight.
You obviously didn't.
Kevin.
What? The door is all wet.
Damn it, I just had it washed.
What did you get on my car? I don't know.
I got a leaky pipe up there.
I don't know.
What is this? Oh, God! That was quick from Queens.
I stayed in the city tonight.
What do we know? Parking attendant found her on the second level, naked from the waist down.
IDed from her purse.
Nicole Manning.
There's no robbery.
60 bucks cash left in her wallet.
How's she doing? She's alive, but it's a real mess.
She conscious? In and out.
Got bashed in her head pretty good.
We got a description on the perp? Nothing yet.
Better get one quick.
I'll ride.
Okay.
CSU says condition of her blood at the scene looks like she was attacked minutes before she was found.
How many stab wounds? She wasn't stabbed, Detective.
Pressure's dropping.
Come on, Nicole, stay with us.
Two large-bore IVs, 02, 15 liters, non-rebreather mask.
She's C-spined, sinus tach at 150.
Nicole, did you get a look at him? She's seizing.
Two of Ativan.
Trauma to the head, pupils equal, round and reactive.
Patient sustained massive abdominal trauma.
Looks like emergency C- section to me.
This woman was pregnant? No pulse.
Start CPR.
Any sign of the baby? Not yet.
What the hell did he do with it? Sick son of a bitch must have taken it with him.
Cut was made with a dull or serrated blade.
Head trauma, multiple contusions around the abdomen, like she'd been kicked.
Anything from the rape kit? Positive for fluids.
What are her chances? Not good.
Developed an amniotic embolism.
Clots in her lungs cut off oxygen to the brain.
Any word on the baby? Not yet.
Guy could have dumped that body anywhere.
Or kidnapped it.
Kidnapped? Well, at this age, it's viable.
Mother's at 28 weeks, baby was normal weight, no apparent complications.
You think it's possible this baby could be out there somewhere alive? It's possible, but not for long.
She was by herself.
I didn't even think to go with her.
This is a safe neighborhood.
Who else was up there? Usually nobody but me.
Then why was she? Well, Mrs.
Manning, she's a monthly.
She always gets her own car.
Okay, did you hear anything? Maybe you hear a woman screaming? No, no, no.
I would have checked on that.
What about someone leaving the building? Maybe carrying a bag or something wrapped up in a coat? No.
No, no.
But there's another way down from the second floor.
The stairs, they lead onto the back alley.
Hey, what's the latest? Still waiting to talk to the husband.
Any leads on the baby? Got every available cop out canvassing the neighborhood.
That's him.
Whoever did this, it was personal.
Can't rule him out.
We were supposed to meet for dinner at 7:00.
I waited at the restaurant.
She's usually late, so I didn't worry right away.
What about before that? I was in a session with a patient.
You're a doctor? Psychiatrist.
My practice is in midtown.
Dr.
Manning, there's no easy way to ask you this.
Were you intimate with your wife during the past 24 hours? No.
Why? We think that your wife may have been assaulted.
We'd like to ask for a blood sample from you.
Of course.
Anything you need.
What did you do when your wife didn't show up at the restaurant? I tried calling her.
And, after an hour, I went home.
Can you think of any reason that somebody would want to hurt Nicole? No.
Nicole was a good person.
She is.
Nicole is a good person.
The doctor said there's still a chance she'll recover.
Plenty of prints off her car.
After we rule out the parking staff, the victim's friends and family, and every valet in the city, who knows? We just might get lucky.
This car's for sale.
We're not gonna get too lucky if she had people test-driving it.
What about signs of the baby? Lot of blood.
Don't know whose yet.
No placenta or cord.
Took everything with him.
Looks like he got in and out through there.
Cleaned up before he left.
With those slimy antibacterial hand wipes.
He came prepared.
He gets rid of the blood, leaves out that door.
It's like nothing ever happened.
But why take the baby? Maybe that was the reason for the attack.
He didn't want the woman dead.
He wanted her to suffer.
Husband's credit card records confirm he was at the restaurant.
Cell phone records coincide with the calls he made looking for his wife.
Preliminary on the rape kit rules him out anyway.
Husband's AB-positive, perp's O-negative.
What did Latent turn up in the victim's car? Just got a solid hit from prints, interior and exterior.
Kyle Novacek.
Not a complete lunatic, but did time for assault three and heroin possession.
Don't really see that kind of violence with heroin users unless somebody slipped him a hotshot and mixed in some PCP, guy could've gone psycho.
Well, get on him.
That baby might still be alive.
The victim is an RN at a methadone clinic.
That can't be a coincidence.
But might be the connection between them.
Hey, Maureen.
Hey.
Dad? Sweetheart, what's wrong? Can I talk to you, please? Come on.
Go ahead.
Use my office.
So we'll hit the methadone clinic.
Novacek could have been a client.
We talk to area hospitals? No premature newborns admitted yet, but the hospitals are on alert.
Well, what did the search turn up? The neighborhood canvass was a complete bust.
Nothing at the airports, bus terminals.
Still waiting to hear on the PATH trains.
We'll have to widen the search.
I'll use another phone.
So how's school going, Maureen? It's fine.
Yeah? You get your college applications out yet? Pretty much.
You're gonna be late.
Okay.
Bye, Olivia.
Everything okay? Yeah.
You ready? Kyle Novacek? What, I'm on every cop's list now? Third time this year with you guys.
You wanna be left alone, don't stab your smack dealer in the forearm.
I'm working steady now.
I'm clean.
Got nothing to do with that life anymore.
That all you wanna know? Not even close.
Where were you last night? I take a class at Brooklyn College.
A man of intellect.
What time's the class start? What kind of car you drive? I don't.
Car died last week.
That's a shame.
Looking for a new one? Gold Ford parked in a garage a few blocks away, some interesting fingerprints.
That's the car I looked at.
I saw a sign in the window.
The woman let me take it for a drive last week.
What, did somebody steal it? How'd the program go? What program? The methadone treatment.
You know, sometimes they don't give you enough.
You need a little more to make it through the day.
What's this all about? Did she get hurt? Do you even remember last night or were you too loaded? Look, I already told you, I saw the car once.
I haven't been back since.
Where is it? What? The baby.
What the hell you talking about? It's alive, you can still get out of this without a broken neck.
You telling me somebody hurt that baby? Take the DNA test.
You didn't touch her, we leave you alone.
I don't have to do that.
Sound like a guilty man to me, Novacek.
I just know the way you guys operate.
If you had anything on me, my ass would be in the back of your car already, right? Anything else? Count on it.
You know methadone client lists are confidential.
We give their names out to police, they never come in for treatment.
How about I show you the ER photos they took of Nicole Manning? That change your mind? Her baby might still be alive, but we are running out of time.
I wish I could help.
Well, you do have armed guards and surveillance videos.
I'm sure not all of your clients are perfect angels.
Have any of your employees ever been harassed? On a daily basis, but nothing overtly violent.
What about in the neighborhood? I'd imagine this place attracts some real winners.
Actually, the only person we've had a problem with is another nurse, Erin Sena.
Nicole found out she'd been diverting methadone for herself.
What happened to Erin? I'm required to report all incidents to the police.
She was arrested.
She lost her job and her nursing license.
Nice place.
I cleaned up especially for you.
Your boyfriend doesn't mind the mess? Who says I've got a boyfriend? Come on, a girl like you.
I'm sure you have a few.
You coming on to me? I'm into that.
Your friend can watch.
All right.
Why don't we start by having you sit down and answer a few of my questions? Okay? Nicole Manning.
You seen her lately? Yeah.
We hang out all the time and have tea.
She screwed you over, didn't she? Got arrested, lost your job.
She's the reason that your life sucks, right? So? This is what I'm thinking.
You and your boyfriend follow Nicole Manning into the parking garage.
You have a fight, it gets a little out of hand, your boyfriend goes crazy, not your fault.
I don't have a boyfriend.
You have to leave now.
What's that? None of your business.
Do you have a son, Erin? They took him away from me.
They who? Two cops and some bitch from Social Services think they know how to take care of my own son better than me.
Must have been jealous of Nicole.
The woman who took everything from you, and now she's having her own baby.
Get out.
You still using? Yeah, we are.
Look, I gotta tell you that no agency is gonna give a junky back her kid.
Yeah? Screw you.
That baby needs to be in a hospital, Erin.
Now, we can help you.
No, you can't.
Nicole pissed off the wrong person.
Look what happened to her.
Who'd she piss off? I don't know.
Yeah, I think you do.
Only thing I know is Nicole asked for it, and she got what she deserved.
I had nothing to do with it.
Now, get out.
Someone scared the hell out of her to shut her up.
Partner in crime.
We need to get back in there and search for signs of that baby.
Right.
Stabler.
We're on it.
Take him down to the shelter.
Get him something to eat.
Yeah, thank you very much.
Homeless guy reported it.
Says he didn't see anybody around.
Where? Dumpster.
We positive it's the Manning baby? Right size.
Decomposition fits the time frame.
Sorry, Detectives.
What was it? Little boy.
I should probably make some arrangements, I don't know.
Am I supposed to get a birth certificate issued first before You don't have to do anything right now.
Actually, the Medical Examiner is gonna need a little time to investigate.
Well, I'd like to take care of things before she wakes up.
We know this is a very difficult time for you, but we need to ask you about another nurse that your wife worked with.
Erin Sena.
Oh, yeah, I know the name.
She tried to get Nicole to testify on her behalf at some hearing.
I think the state was trying to take away her son.
Did she testify? No.
No, Nicole thought it was ludicrous of the girl to even ask.
So what happened? Well, she screamed at our answering machine a few times, and I wanted to call the police, but Nicole wouldn't hear of it.
She thought it was unnecessary.
She doing any better? They performed a hysterectomy.
How do I tell her that we'll never have a family? Depressed skull fractures along the right temporal lobe, extensive contusions.
Cause of death was a subdural hematoma resulting from blows to the head.
Whoever did it did not want this baby to live.
Perp kicked the mother before removing the baby.
Could the head trauma be from the beating? No way to tell if the injuries were sustained in- or ex-utero.
But once the fetus was aborted, no apparent effort was made to save it.
How long did he live? Still trying to determine that.
If there's a God, it wasn't long.
Kyle Novacek's alibi cleared him.
That leaves Erin Sena as our only suspect, assuming we can find the man who was her partner in crime.
I want options.
Now, how else can we get to her? Probation violation.
She was higher than a kite when we talked to her.
We haul her in for a drug test.
Judge made random testing a requirement for her probation.
She fails the test, we got leverage to make her talk.
Now all we got to do is find her.
She in methadone treatment? Her PO says she's a client at Tenth Avenue where she used to work.
Well, that's one appointment a heroin addict's always gonna keep.
You think we missed her? She needs her fix.
Could've gotten it this morning.
No, she's coming.
You want to leave, go ahead.
Or you could just stop being a jerk and tell me what the hell's going on with you.
This about Maureen? I screwed up.
I didn't send in a check for the Columbia application.
Is it too late? I don't know.
Elliot, what is this? I've been distracted.
That's her.
Where you off to? Oh, just let me go in.
Right after your drug test.
Oh, please, just let me Let me just go in! You tested positive for heroin.
Fine.
Arrest me.
There's no rush, really.
We got, what, 24 hours? Yeah, give or take.
I really, really need to get out of here, okay? Yeah, what happened to your face? I got hit.
Someone's fist, looks like.
Can I have a soda? Can you do that? Soon as you tell us who you've been hiding from, sure.
No, no.
No way.
Then you're going down for everything, Erin.
Cutting Nicole and killing her baby.
Trained nurse.
You knew exactly what you were doing.
It all points to you.
I told you, I didn't have anything to do with it! But you're a liar, Erin, and everybody knows it.
Nicole knew it.
She has everything, and she comes after me? Exactly.
She has everything you want, and you made her pay for it.
I didn't.
Yeah, but someone did.
Who was it? Come on, your boyfriend? Some junkie you met on the street? You're afraid that he's going to hurt you, just like he did Nicole.
Who're you hiding from? Who is he, Erin? Kyle.
Kyle Novacek's your boyfriend.
Hers.
Nicole's.
We got a communications problem, Kyle.
We keep asking you questions, and you keep Iying.
I didn't lie.
I told you where I was that night.
Half the guys in Sing Sing got alibis.
Come on, look.
Wait a second.
I'll tell you the truth.
We don't care about the truth.
We're gonna take you in for a little DNA test, prove you raped her.
That's all the truth we need.
The test's gonna be positive.
Nicole and I made love that afternoon.
You raped her, you cut her open.
Then you beat up another woman to keep her mouth shut.
I knew you'd think I was guilty.
Well, that's 'cause you are, you sick bastard.
You killed the baby.
It was mine.
The baby was mine.
Would I do that to my own child? Where is Novacek? Crying his eyes out in One.
CSU's looking for the weapon at his place.
Waiting on the semen match, and we threw in a paternity test on the baby.
Doesn't prove he's innocent.
She's seeing Novacek on the side, gets pregnant, won't leave her husband, Novacek decides to punish her.
Or maybe the husband did it.
Novacek says that Manning was probably catching on.
He never mentioned anything about it.
Which means he didn't know or he didn't want us to know.
Ask the wife.
She just woke up.
I remember something hitting me in the back of the head, that's all.
I didn't even see who did it.
I woke up here, and they told me what happened.
Tell us about Kyle Novacek.
I suppose you know already.
I've been seeing him almost a year.
Did you see him the night of your attack? No.
I saw him earlier that afternoon.
That's really the only time we can be together.
I know how bad this sounds.
Had you two argued recently? You can't think he did this.
Kyle wanted to get married.
Did you? I told him I would, but everything changes when you're having a baby.
It's about what's safest, not what's going to make you happy.
And you felt it was safest to stay with your husband.
Did he know about you and Kyle? I told him that I was leaving him and that the baby wasn't his.
How did he react to that? I thought he would be angry, but, at the time, he was really calm.
Your husband said that you were meeting for dinner at 7:00.
Did he know that you were running late? I was meeting him at 7:30.
Did Richard tell you 7:00? Why wasn't the husband a suspect to begin with? 'Cause none of the evidence pointed to him.
What do we know about this guy? Well, he's a shrink, so he knows how to mess with your head.
Not you.
No, you're exactly right.
What's more, psychiatrists go through four years of medical school and a one-year medical internship.
So he'd know how to do a crude C-section.
I want Dr.
Manning's alibi broken.
Timewise, it's tight, but there's room for maneuvering.
Restaurant receipt says that Manning had a drink at 6:59.
The bartender remembers him, but he didn't see him leave.
Two calls from his cell phone.
One at 7:50, the other at 7:52 to Nicole's cell and their home.
Now, Manning claims that he was still at the restaurant waiting.
Unless he was across town attacking his wife.
The cell phone company would have a better idea of where he was when he made those calls.
We'll check on that.
Neighbor said Manning got in before 8:30.
Hour at the restaurant, plus walking time.
It's plausible.
Nicole didn't get to the garage until 7:20.
Because Richard told her that they were meeting at 7:30.
We're thinking that it's deliberate, so he'd know exactly where she'd be and still have time to set up his alibi.
One hour window, tops.
Crosses the park, attacks her, cleans up, goes back home.
All because his wife was carrying another man's child.
Well, you know, it could've been enough to push him over the edge.
He was cuckolded.
It's pretty common.
You see it in nature.
The female of the species seeks out the male who exhibits the most desirable traits.
You know, most species aren't naturally monogamous.
That explains my entire marital history.
Let's knock off the jokes, all right? We're talking about a dead baby here.
All right, his wife cheats on him.
Why not kill her? Because, you see, in his mind the problem was the baby, not his wife.
Get rid of the baby, get rid of the problem.
His world remains intact.
Well, let's tear it apart.
Start by getting a warrant for the cell phone company.
Hey.
You know, everybody in that room is on your side.
But we're not mind-readers, and if you're not going to say what's going on with you, that's fine, but there's not a whole hell of a lot we can do.
I know you're on my side.
Elliot, what is going on? Would you talk to me? Is there somebody else? No, it's nothing like that.
To be honest, it'd be easier if there was.
I I don't know what this is.
It's It just never goes away, you know.
Every case, a little bit more horrific than the last.
And I go home.
What am I supposed to do, talk about my day at work? "Honey, today a guy cut a baby out of his wife's stomach.
Pass the gravy, please.
" So you just don't talk at all.
That's no solution, Elliot.
Well, one of us has to be able to sleep at night.
She thinks I'm shutting her out.
You are.
That's exactly what you do.
You keep this up, you're going to ruin the best thing you ever had.
The phone wasn't GPS assisted, so we can't give you a precise location.
But the call detail record will tell us which cell site he used.
How close will it get us? With all the wireless companies operating there are anywhere from 400 to Depending on the angle and the time-distance arrival of the radio frequency, sometimes we can narrow it down to a couple of blocks.
This is it.
Cell site 24.
Lincoln Center.
Not far from where Nicole was attacked.
Manning said he made the calls from the restaurant in the Upper East Side.
So what's he doing on the other side of town? Changing his clothes most likely.
Manning belongs to a gym near Lincoln Center.
Signed in at 8:00.
What, he just walked in wearing bloody clothing? Cleaned up most of it at the scene.
The dump site where they found the baby was on the way.
Gym receptionist said that he was wearing a long coat and carrying a duffel bag.
Probably made the calls to establish he was looking for Nicole, showered, and went home.
What'd we find at the gym? Unfortunately, nothing there links to the crime scene.
The dumpster was empty, no regular locker, and CSU won't even bother checking the drain traps on public showers.
Can't blame them.
We canvassing the cab companies? He had less than half an hour to get home.
No.
I don't think he took a cab.
He's been fairly meticulous so far.
That would be one more witness he didn't need.
Could he have run? We clocked it.
Manning had plenty of time.
You both ran it? Walked it, and we still had a couple of minutes to spare.
He's got a motive.
He lied about his alibi.
The gym bag could be at his house.
He had to carry that baby in something.
Along with the murder weapon and blood evidence.
I'll call Cabot for a warrant.
Doc, I want you in on this search.
You know how shrinks operate.
Time to give up your trade secrets.
Okay.
What've you got? Well, there's no gym bag.
And aside from these manicure scissors, there's no cutting instrument.
But this guy is a piece of work.
You gotta check this out.
His laundry is nicer than my entire wardrobe.
Folds and labels them.
Whites, colors, dry cleaning.
Anything marked "bloody clothes"? He's got enough personal hygiene products in here to open his own salon.
All his.
So do I, but that doesn't make me a murderer.
Everything about him is all about appearances.
Working out, this gym equipment.
For some reason, he has feelings of being unattractive, unmanly.
His advantage is that he's extremely intelligent as evidenced by his careful planning.
Ironically, he's probably a pretty gifted psychiatrist.
I especially admire his gift for killing babies.
It's a symptom of the same problem.
He's preoccupied with order.
He thinks that if he can control every detail of his life, then he can become this man that he wants to be.
His wife wasn't so easy to control.
Look at this mess.
Well, when she threatened to destroy the order that he created then he went to extremes to get it back.
What's it look like? We're taking every knife from the kitchen back to the lab, but I'm not hoping for much.
I doubt he brought anything from the crime scene back here.
What the hell is this? It's a search, Dr.
Manning.
We'll be out of your way in a minute.
You can't march in here and destroy my home.
Yeah, it's a real bite in the ass, isn't it? All those new labels you'll have to make Those your only set of keys? Yeah.
Tough.
I need those.
Ramone.
Yeah? Luminol these for me, will you? See, the problem with blood is, it gets absorbed by plastic.
Can't wash it off.
What is that supposed to be? Exactly what we're looking for.
You remember Dr.
George Huang from our search today? He's a psychiatrist, too.
This is Dr.
Richard Manning.
They brought you in to shrink the shrink, huh? Does that make you feel important? It just seems unnecessary.
I didn't do anything wrong.
Your wife did though, right? No.
We were having marital problems, and we were working on solving them.
She left you.
I wouldn't say she was leaving me so much as going to the man who fathered her child.
She just thought that was the best solution to her problem.
But it was the wrong solution.
And now her problem doesn't exist because there is no child.
Well, yes.
Well, actually, Dr.
Manning, Nicole wasn't going to marry Kyle Novacek.
All she wanted was to get away from you.
Nicole doesn't know what she wants.
Apparently she wanted to have a relationship with another man.
Why? She probably felt our relationship was lacking.
Lacking is a real interesting word.
What is it you were lacking, Dick? Challenging my masculinity.
A little amateurish, don't you think? No.
I think he's challenging your masculinity because it's a pretty obvious weakness.
You're a smart guy.
Your problem is you think you're smarter than everyone else.
That's why you screw up.
You been to the gym lately? Yes.
I forgot to mention that.
I did go to the gym that night.
I was very worried about Nicole, so I left.
Oh, well, there you go, mystery solved.
See, that's why you're such a genius.
Can't fool you, not for a second.
So, genius, what I want to know is how in the hell Nicole fooled you into believing you were the father of her child.
Your wife made you look stupid, and you made her pay for it.
I love my wife.
You almost killed her.
No, he killed the baby.
He just wasn't smart enough to do the job right.
I don't even know what that means.
Nicole will never have children again, Dr.
Manning, and neither will you.
You screwed up, smart guy.
You couldn't be more wrong about me.
AII I care about is my wife and my family.
It ruined everything.
Your wife's child.
Yeah.
And so you got rid of it.
Wouldn't anyone? Arrest him.
We've got him for attempted murder and assault one for the attack on the mother, plus abortion one.
And murder.
He killed that baby.
Warner's certain of that? Baby was alive, now it's dead.
What's the problem? The problem is whether or not we can establish the baby was legally a person.
But how do we do that? Prove the baby was born alive according to New York State Law.
Something that indicates it took a breath, moved.
If it died while it was still in its mother's womb, it technically wasn't a person, so it's not murder.
If that baby had been born in a hospital, it would've lived.
Doesn't matter.
Neo-natacides are notoriously difficult to prosecute because the medical evidence is almost always inconclusive.
Without a witness stating unequivocally the baby was a live birth, I'm just not certain we'd get a murder conviction through.
Best we can do is illegal third-trimester abortion.
That's a D-felony.
We'll get more out of the assault charge.
At seven months, a baby moves inside of the mother.
The only reason that baby is dead is because he bashed its skull in.
Now, I don't care if you call it a person or not, that's murder.
That argument could also be used to condemn legal abortion.
Do you want me to charge every doctor who performs an abortion with murder? Abortion is different.
It's the mother's choice.
We're not talking about the mother's rights.
You want to charge for homicide with the fetus as victim, you give the fetus rights.
Do you want to go down that road? It's not the same thing.
In the eyes of the law, it is.
Well, the law needs to change.
I don't know, Elliot.
You can't have it both ways.
A fetus is either a life or it's not.
You saw that baby.
Olivia, you saw that baby.
This guy's gonna walk.
And I don't like it any more than you do, but this is very dangerous territory.
And I am not prepared to dismantle reproductive rights on an inconclusive case.
We're going to let a murderer get away to preserve a political ideal.
I don't even know what I'm doing here! Take a break, Detective.
Your ME comes back with solid medical evidence the baby was born alive, we've got something to work with.
But I will not charge for murder on the death of an unborn child.
You and your partner park yourself in Warner's office until she hands over that autopsy.
Alex, unless you've got other plans, I want you there, too.
Why? You need solid medical evidence? Make sure Warner's got it.
Presence of gas in the stomach, contracted umbilical cord, subpleural and subepicardial petechiae, partially expanded pulmonary alveoli, fully-aerated, crepitant, salmon-pink lungs.
In English? He took a breath.
Probably more than one.
So, he was a live birth? That's what I'm saying in my report.
To be clear, if I'm going to charge Richard Manning with the murder of the baby, that means I drop the abortion charge and the attempted murder charge of Nicole.
We can only have one theory of the crime.
Either he was trying to kill his wife or his child.
Meaning we better be damn sure, he only goes down for assault.
Neonates decompose at a faster rate, so there's an inevitable margin of error.
Which doesn't do us any favors.
You need to be willing to testify to a reasonable degree of medical certainty this was a live birth.
I am.
I'll supersede the indictments.
I also performed a hydrostatic test on the lungs in order to determine if they had been inflated.
Dr.
Warner, you are looking at a guy who failed biology twice.
I'm a science idiot.
What is a hydrostatic test? The lungs are placed in water.
If a significant portion of the lungs float, it means they had been inflated, as was the case here.
So this means the fetus took a breath? Yes.
Dr.
Warner, will you define postmortem putrefaction for me? It describes the series of changes that occur to tissue after death.
Those changes include the formation of gases, such as mercaptans and hydrogen sulfide, right? Yes.
Let me ask this.
After your initial hydrostatic test, did you deflate the lungs, re-inflate them, and then repeat the test to expel any gasses that may have been present due to decomposition? Performing the test twice is often misleading.
So you probably didn't do it, then.
Objection.
I'm sure there are plenty of tests the doctor did not perform, none of which are relevant.
Overruled.
The witness may answer the question.
I did not perform the test a second time.
Okay.
You were probably busy that day, that's understandable Your Honor Let's keep up the pace, Mr.
Langan.
Is it possible the expansion of the lungs could be attributed to post-mortem putrefaction? It is possible, but there were other factors Assume you're right, though, and the fetus took a breath.
Dr.
Warner, tell me, for a baby to be considered born, it has to be completely expelled from the uterus, am I right? Yes.
Is it possible a fetus can take a breath while partially expelled but die before it is fully expelled? Yes, it is possible.
Is there any way to determine when the breath was taken, assuming it was taken to begin with? Short of eyewitness testimony, no.
But we don't have that.
Thank you, Dr.
Warner.
You've been very patient with my ignorance.
Tell me that looked worse than it actually was.
If you think it looks like we just lost our murder conviction, you're right.
Warner said exactly what you wanted her to say, and you let Manning's lawyer sandbag her.
Why didn't you stop him? Because he's right, Detective.
We can't prove how and when that baby died beyond a reasonable doubt, and if you want to blame me for that, go right ahead.
So we got nothing? Barring an outright confession the child was alive, he gets three-and-half to nine for the assault, out in two.
Unless he gets off entirely on extreme emotional distress.
I wish I could do more, Elliot.
Detective, what a surprise.
Don't say anything.
Please, start harassing my client.
I'd love a mistrial.
Trevor, leave us alone for a bit, please.
I'm going to waste my breath and strongly advise against it.
Anything you say is going right to the DA.
Just a few minutes.
Usually my time is worth $200 an hour.
Not worth much now, is it? It's a matter of opinion.
You must be pretty proud of yourself.
Getting everybody to buy your story.
It's the truth.
Tell me again how it happened, how you murdered that baby.
You don't actually think you're going to get me to confess something, do you? But that's not why you're really here, is it? You're gonna shrink me now? You want me to? You're married.
Eighteen years.
Children as well? Four of them.
Wouldn't you do anything to protect your family? Killing a child? No, I don't see myself doing that.
Maybe not, but you know what your problem is? You understand that impulse.
You know exactly why I did what I had to do.
Protect what you have by destroying it? No.
I didn't destroy anything.
Think about it.
I didn't destroy anything.
Nicole and I agreed to meet to try to salvage our marriage.
I was waiting at the restaurant, and all I could think was, "She's with him.
"She's with him, right now, and they're laughing at me.
" Not very rational thoughts.
Objection.
Put a question mark on it Mr.
Langan.
In your estimation, as a psychiatrist, were your thoughts those of a rational person? No.
I could only describe it as a textbook, total break with reality.
And then suddenly I was running across the park, finding her, and acting solely on these powerful emotions that I could not control.
Can you characterize your state of mind during that time? It was as if I was possessed or being controlled by someone else.
I look back now, and I can't believe what I've done to the woman I love.
I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry.
No further questions.
People are entering into evidence the People's Four.
Defense has no knowledge of this evidence Which my detectives only just brought to me.
Knock it off.
Bring that over here.
This evidence was not made available in discovery.
It can't be presented.
This is an extraneous matter not material to the charge.
The People had no duty to tender it upon discovery.
I'm letting it in, assuming Miss Cabot convinces me it's relevant.
Request a recess to confer with my client.
So, what, you can advise him to lie? He's on the stand, and he's staying there.
Step back.
Dr.
Manning, you testified that you snapped because your wife told you she was having an affair and that her unborn child was fathered by another man, causing you to attack her and cut the child from her body.
Is that correct? Yes.
How did you know she was telling you the truth? Why would she lie about that? Were you unable to have children, Dr.
Manning? I'm capable of having children.
And were you having sexual relations with your wife seven months prior to her attack? Yes.
But you took her word for it that she was having an affair? I knew about that before she told me.
For how long? From the beginning? Close to it.
Then it's fair to say you would know, probably, if your wife was having an affair with yet another man.
Objection.
That is totally irrelevant.
I think we both know it's not, Your Honor.
Speak for yourself, Miss Cabot.
Prove relevance quickly or move on.
Is it all possible your wife was having an affair that you didn't know about? No, absolutely not.
How do you know this? I am aware of what goes on in my own house.
So the only two people who could have possibly fathered Nicole Manning's child were yourself and Kyle Novacek? She told me it was him.
People's Four.
This is the paternity test against Nicole Manning's child and Kyle Novacek, proving that, in fact, Mr.
Novacek is not the father.
Objection.
So the logical deduction is that you were the father of your wife's child, Dr.
Manning.
Whether he was right or not about the paternity of the fetus has no bearing on his state of mind.
Overruled.
Isn't it probable, Dr.
Manning, that you were the father of your wife's child? I would've known.
How? How could you have known? You were so sure he couldn't have been your child.
But he had to be, Dr.
Manning.
There's no other explanation, is there? I don't know.
You held your own child in your hands, your own living child.
Did he cry? Did your son cry before you killed him? He only cried a little.
He only cried a little.