Law & Order Special Victims Unit s08e15 Episode Script

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.
- Uh, you're, you're screaming.
- Dial M for murder? - Are you Edvard Munch? - No.
She said it was a movie.
Stop talking.
You're not allowed to talk.
Did you hear that? What? Did you just hear a sound from Kendall's room? No.
Uh, nightmare on Elm street.
I'm just gonna go check.
Garrett! Garrett! Kendall Kozlowski, 13 months.
Mom put him to bed at 6, missing when she checked on him at 10.
Window to the fire escape wide open.
Forced open? No.
No lock or window guards.
Dusted the frame and fire escape.
Negative for prints.
Surveillance cameras, witnesses on the street, neighbors with a view? Patrol's been canvassing, but nothing so far.
Find me something.
Quick.
Hi, Laura.
Laura? - Yeah.
- I'm detective Stabler.
Yeah.
Is there news? Not yet.
No.
Is that a photo? May I look at it? My mom made that sweater for him for Christmas.
I'm never gonna see my baby again.
We'll do everything we can to find out whoever took your son.
I know who took him.
Who? Dan Kozlowski.
My ex-husband.
Rap sheet came back on Kozlowski.
He's got priors for burglary, possession of stolen property.
How about the mother? Squeaky clean.
Want to help me with an interview? Yes, please.
No, no, no.
You don't leave that desk until you review every piece of paper on the Judkins appeal.
You know, captain, this is a, uh, missing child's case.
- I could use a hand.
- Well, then I'll help you.
I just think Laura would open up a little better with a female there.
I can get the case review done next week.
No problem.
Save it.
Elliot, go talk to Laura.
Your ex-husband isn't at home.
Any idea where he could be? You could check the nearest OTB.
- Okay, he's a gambler? - Compulsive.
Probably betting on the time it takes before Kendall needs his diaper changed.
How long were you and Dan together? One year, nine months, and three miserable days.
Marrying him was the worst mistake of my life.
- So why'd you do it? - I got pregnant.
I didn't want to raise a child myself.
I wasn't in love, but, um I thought Dan would make a good father.
- And for a while, he was.
- What happened? He started spending his time at the tracks, and pretty soon, he'd maxed out my credit cards and cashed out the bonds that my mom bought for Kendall.
Well, if he doesn't care about Kendall, why would he kidnap him? 'Cause last week he came to me, desperate for money.
I didn't have any.
So he wanted me to call my parents and borrow it.
And I told him to piss off.
And he told me I would be sorry.
Well, you don't think that he'd hurt Kendall to get back at me, do you? Had he been violent before? He used to, uh, lose big at the tracks, and he'd get drunk and come home, and take it out on the walls and the furniture.
And there was one time that I thought he was gonna hit me.
What happened? I threw him out.
I've been hit before.
It wasn't gonna happen again.
- Highway's got Kozlowski.
- Where? All over Manhattan.
High speed chase.
Hey, what? What, what is it? I'll be right back.
Daniel, stop right there! Kozlowski, stop! Set by the river! Okay, Dan, Dan, Dan, wait! All right, let's just be cool.
Okay? Let's just talk.
Let's just talk, all right? Okay? Let's be cool here.
Dan? No! Don't jump! Current'll drag you out to sea.
Call EMS and tell them we got a baby in the water! We need a bus.
Anything? - Do what? - Why'd you do it? He was your son! I didn't do nothing.
- Detective! - What did you say about my son? Easy, easy, easy.
Detective! Divers got something.
- Divers got something.
- Take it easy! Come on.
Let's go.
Open it.
Cocaine.
About eight kilos.
- Where's my son? - You tell me.
I told you.
I don't know.
Then tell me about the drugs.
What's that have to do with Kendall? You trade the baby for a bag of blow? Are you crazy? I would never hurt my kid.
So where were you last night? Why'd you have the coke? You know, pal, you know, you love your kid so much, you better stop worrying about your ass and start helping me find your boy.
Now, what were you doing last night and why? What were you doing? Yeah, you love your kid.
I got a habit of playing the ponies.
After Laura threw me out, my luck went stone cold.
I got in deep with this loan shark, Vinnie D.
He sold my debt to this dealer, Bernardo, who needed a mule.
So a drug dealer's gonna trust a man in debt with 50 grand worth of cocaine? He told me if I messed with his product, he'd kill my family.
Oh, God.
You've gotta give me back the coke.
- Hey, you've gotta give me Bernardo.
- Please.
I was supposed to make a delivery.
If I don't show with the coke, he's gonna hurt Kendall.
You're not getting these drugs.
You're gonna get my son killed! Tell me where Bernardo is.
Last chance.
Tell me where Bernardo is.
Good-bye.
At his stash house.
In the Bronx on the Grand Concourse.
- Police! Nobody move! - Search warrant! - Let me see your hands.
- Let's see those hands.
Hands up! Let's go! Come here.
You, come here.
- I want a lawyer.
- Really? - I want a lawyer.
- What? - I want a lawyer.
- Put your arms up.
You're gonna need one.
All this blow here, your parole officer hasn't even been born yet.
But I'll tell you what, I'll put a good word in with the judge for you if you talk to me about Dan Kozlowski.
- White Dan? - Huh? - So the little punk gave me up? - Boy's not here.
What boy? You holding white dan's son hostage while he makes the delivery for you? I don't know anything about any kid.
You know something? This is your lucky day.
'Cause I don't care about your coke, I don't care about you.
I just want to find this boy.
- I don't know nothing, man.
- Where is he? I don't know nothing about the kid.
White Dan here last night? Was Dan here last night? Are you gonna talk to the judge? You got my word on that.
Now, was he here last night? Yeah, he was here.
The count was off.
He had to re-do the package twice.
He was here till 10.
Apartment of Laura Kozlowski Brooklyn, New York Sunday, February 4 You're sure Dan didn't take Kendall? The timeline doesn't fit.
He was in the Bronx until after 10.
There's no way he could've made it here before you discovered Kendall missing.
That boy's my whole life, you know? I do know.
Now, look, I need you to be strong for me.
/ Yeah.
- I need you to help me out here.
- Yeah.
Now have you noticed anyone recently paying too much attention to you or Kendall? The last couple of weeks, I've felt like someone was watching me.
What does that mean? I would turn around, and no one would be there.
Or sometimes a car would take off, or I'd see someone disappear around a corner.
I thought I was being paranoid or that Dan was hassling me.
Tell me everything you did yesterday, starting from the moment you woke up.
We went to the park.
It started to rain.
So I took Kendall to the movies, and I picked up snacks for the party.
Write down all the places you went, everyone you talked to, anyone who might have seen you and Kendall.
There was a woman at the movie theater.
Oh, yeah, I remember her.
Well, you take a lot of tickets.
What was memorable about her? I warned her about our no-crying-baby policy, told her if her kid acted up, she'd have to leave, no refund.
Don't tell me you had to kick them out.
No, her kid slept through the whole picture.
I told her come back anytime.
You notice anybody following her, paying a lot of attention to the baby, saying, "what a cute boy"? No, you couldn't even see him.
She had him in one of those strollers with the plastic cover over it.
That's how I like babies, not seen or heard.
Kendall was always a quiet baby.
That is the only reason I agreed to babysit.
Why'd she need you to watch the kid? Uh, Laura went out to get food and wine for the party, but she couldn't carry it all herself, not with the stroller, so I came by to help.
Did you notice whether the window in Kendall's room was open? I never went in there.
Kendall was napping, and Laura didn't want me to wake him.
If you think of anything else, just give us a call.
Well, if someone was stalking Laura Kozlowski to steal her child, the guy's a ghost.
No one saw him.
No one saw the baby either.
The girl at the theater sees a stroller, mom says the kid is sleeping.
And again he's asleep six hours later when Garrett shows up.
When was the last verified sighting of this kid? Friday afternoon.
Laura picked him up from the babysitter at 5 P.
M.
So from Friday until when she calls 911 Saturday night, no one ever saw Kendall.
We've only got Laura's word that he was alive and well.
You're thinking Laura killed her child.
Your people already did this.
Why are you wasting time here? You should be out looking for Kendall.
Whatever happened started here.
Just want to make sure we didn't miss anything.
Hey! What are you doing to my carpet? Allow us to do our jobs, please.
I don't understand what destroying my house has to do with bringing my son home! That's not the question you should be asking.
Excuse me? A mother with a missing child asks what more she can do to help.
She doesn't impede the investigation.
I'll get out of your way.
What's your read? Barely took the gloves off.
She went ballistic.
I got something.
That's the same sweater Kendall's wearing in the photo.
That's not all.
You got clothes, toys, blanket.
She dumped everything.
- Is that blood? - Warner will tell us.
- Sonogram.
- "Patient: Laura Kozlowski.
" Well, this case just hit the big time.
The whole city is watching.
Well, if it isn't Cindy Marino, the poor man's Geraldo.
Detectives, any news on the case of kidnapped Kendall? What's in the box? New evidence? Any comment? Miss Marino must be here for the obligatory grieving mother footage.
There's nothing better than a parent's worst nightmare for must-see TV.
I remember when the news was more important than the ratings.
Very funny.
Thanks, yeah.
Shut if off.
Guys, you gotta give me something, or I gotta report the cops are sitting around scratching their asses.
I wonder how the baby's sonogram wound up in the garbage.
Office of The Medical Examiner Sunday, February 4 Anything? I can't get DNA from the blanket.
Contaminated by the trash? It's not blood.
I'd say strained peaches.
You have a gizmo to test for baby food? Best gizmo there is.
I fed so much of this stuff to my kid, I could smell it in my sleep.
Why'd she kill him? Same old story.
Abuse, shaken baby, could've been an accident.
One time, Dickie busted his head open on the corner of a coffee table.
Okay, there was blood everywhere.
I I thought I was gonna lose him.
Now that's an accident.
But you don't dump a body and blame it on the other parent.
People would rather believe a story like that than admit mothers can kill their own children.
- I'm so sick of it.
- I know.
Go home, get some sleep.
I will.
Hey, I got something for you.
Figured you wouldn't want to wait until morning.
Well, give it up.
Several strands of hair on a screw from the fire escape ladder, like the perp banged his head on the way down.
- Could they be Laura's? - No, wrong color.
They're blond, not brown.
Someone else was definitely on the fire escape.
My guys are bringing the hairs down to Warner for DNA testing.
Ah, could be old.
Nah, not likely, with all the rain that we've been having? I think this may be our first solid lead on the taker.
Elliot.
Cindy Marino's got an interview with Laura.
I heard a noise, and when I went to check on Kendall, he was gone.
Had you been drinking? Um, a little bit, but I wasn't drunk.
Smoking pot? A neighbor says she smelled marijuana smoke coming from your place that night.
- And it wasn't the first time.
- We missed that one.
America wants the truth, Laura.
Yeah, I, I smoked a little.
So you admit to breaking the law.
What other crimes have you committed? Maybe we should hire Marino to run interrogations.
Sources close to the investigation tell me you're the prime suspect, Laura.
No! I would never hurt Kendall.
You threw his sonogram in the trash.
Why would you do that? You hated that child, didn't you? No, I loved Kendall.
No! Tell the truth.
You killed him.
No! No! You get out of my house right now! This is a train wreck.
For the latest in breaking news on the Kendall case, stay with channel ten.
I'm Cindy Marino.
Now back to you in the studio.
If we did that to Laura, we would have every victim rights group in the country picketing the stationhouse.
Well, who tipped Marino off about the sonogram? I did.
Laura, it's detective Stabler.
I'd like to talk with you.
Laura! Laura, it's detective Stabler.
M.
E says the death was instantaneous.
She didn't suffer.
I thought Laura had lied to me, so I sicced a reporter on her.
Laura still could've killed Kendall, then topped herself 'cause she couldn't live with the guilt.
Stabler.
Did Laura leave a note? A confession? Is the Kendall case closed now that the prime suspect is dead? You are the devil, you know that? Just doing my job.
Someone has to ask the tough questions when the cops don't have the balls.
Elliot.
Come on.
Let it go.
Let it go.
Come on.
Marino is sleazy and unethical, but you knew how she operated.
I didn't mean for her to go that far.
Yeah, it's morally inexcusable, but it's not a crime.
- Tell Laura that.
- Warner called.
The DNA from the hairs on the fire escape aren't the perp's.
They're Kendall's.
And that gives us nothing.
Well, maybe a little more than nothing.
She also ran Dan Kozlowski's DNA to compare to the hairs.
He's not the baby's father.
Why didn't Laura tell us that? Maybe she didn't know who the father was.
The babynapper must've known Kendall was his.
You don't snatch a baby on a hunch.
If the biological father took Kendall, we're back to square one.
Go see Dan Kozlowski, find out if he knew he was raising another man's child.
Apartment of Dan Kozlowski 423 West 44th Street Sunday, February 4 I can't believe Kendall's not mine.
Everybody always said he had my eyes.
Any idea who the father could be? When Laura and I hooked up, I was seeing other girls.
I never asked if she was seeing other guys.
We were together for a month.
She got pregnant, said the kid was mine.
And you never doubted Kendall was yours? He is mine.
I was raising him.
When Laura and I split up, I fought like hell for visitation.
My life's a mess.
I don't have much to offer, but I love my son.
Did Laura ever talk about her exes? Yeah, one time she had this nightmare.
She was thrashing, screaming, "Paddy, Paddy.
Please don't hurt me, Paddy.
" She woke up sobbing.
I asked her who Paddy was.
She said one of her old boyfriends who used to beat her.
Tell me more about this Paddy.
She wouldn't talk about him.
I told her to get counseling.
She said she wasn't crazy, didn't need a shrink.
Anyone else she might've confided in? Yeah, she was always gabbing to Garrett.
Before Laura married Dan, she kinda hung out with a rough crowd, mostly at Attica.
She visited inmates? No, Attica, the bar.
On avenue A.
That's where she met Paddy, and he was kind of bad boy.
I think that's what turned her on.
Then he started becoming really possessive and then accusing her of cheating and kicking the crap out of any guy who even looked at her.
He abuse her? Yeah, I'd see her with bruises.
She'd give me the whole, "oh, I just walked into a door" excuse.
I told her to leave him, but she said he swore he'd kill her if she did.
So how'd it end? Well, Paddy vanished.
And Laura said that he was mixed up in a murder, that she was totally terrified he was gonna come back.
- But he never did.
- So Kendall could be Paddy's child? Do the math.
It's so obvious.
And I asked her about it.
She got so upset with me and told me never to mention it again.
- What's Paddy's last name? - I don't remember.
I only met him once 'cause Laura knew I could not stand him.
You know where I could find him? Temper like his, my money's on prison.
Did you check corrections for a white male, first name Paddy or Patrick? Over 5,000 hits.
Okay, well, you can't snatch a kid if you're incarcerated.
Checking recently released.
Can you narrow it down? Well, Kendall's 13 months old, so he had to be conceived around April of '05.
Paddy had to get locked up after that.
all those ex-cons.
Don't bother.
You're not gonna find your needle in that haystack.
How do you know? This is Kendall's Y chromosome.
Every boy inherits an identical copy of the Y from his father.
I ran this Y through CODIS to see if his father was in the DNA databank.
- He's not.
- Okay, so we got a dead end.
Well, not if we try something new.
I want to run a low stringency DNA test.
These are DNA alleles.
When I run for DNA, I look for that perfect, one-in-60-million match along all of these alleles.
But what if I were to look for a match of four or five alleles? You get a lot more hits, but not the perp.
It's likely he's related to him.
We'll dig up fathers, brothers, uncles, cousins.
You find family members by using the perp's DNA? Yes, but only if they're in the DNA databank.
So you can find any family member as long as they have a record? have a relative who's been locked up.
I guess some things really do run in the family.
So you want to throw out a DNA dragnet and see what you catch? That can't be legal.
Well, they use it in England all the time, but it's never been tried in New York.
So when Melinda came to me, I checked, and New York law says it's allowable.
Well, it shouldn't be.
- Why not? - 'cause it doesn't prove anything.
The DNA could turn up some long-lost great-grand uncle, or it could be some meaningless genetic coincidence.
Kinship DNA isn't proof, just an investigative tool.
It's a violation of civil liberties.
You go after me 'cause my dad's a perp? That's guilt by association.
Well, I'm more worried about a missing child than your civil liberties.
Can you make it hold up in court? I'll sure as hell try.
Let's shake the family tree, see what falls out.
This is Kendall's DNA.
I ran it through the DNA databank looking for matches on four alleles.
And we got nine hits.
John Heschalk, Dave Trobert, George Kendall.
That's gotta be it.
She named the baby after the boy's real father.
All right, so now we gotta figure out the relationship between George and Paddy Kendall.
If Paddy was abusive, why would Laura name her son after him? A batterer's control over his victim doesn't stop when the relationship ends.
George Kendall, career armed robber.
Currently doing 25 to life.
Sing Sing Prison Ossining, New York Monday, February 5 Why are you asking about my relatives? We're trying to locate the father of a boy whose mother just passed away.
- Cute little bugger.
- Yeah.
And you think someone in my family could be the dad? You ready to be a grandpa? I wish.
Can't be.
Never had kids.
Gave the best years of my life to the state.
Well, he's related to you somehow.
Anybody in your family called Paddy? We're Irish.
All the boys have been called Paddy at one time or another.
Do you have any brothers or sisters? Five.
Any of them have sons? Michael passed young.
Bridget and Kate are nuns.
Maeve had a couple of kids, all girls.
But my brother Sean, God rest his soul, his wife Peggy had a whole mess of boys.
You can't come in.
Not without a warrant.
I'm just trying to find the father of an orphaned child.
All right.
Would this be the child you're looking for? You come to my house, bold as brass.
You tell me some sad story about a motherless boy.
And all the time, you're planning to pin a kidnapping on one of my sons.
I'm just trying to find the father.
My brother-in-law may have fallen for that line.
But my mother never raised any fools.
Now you get off my property.
Melinda, it's Elliot.
I need you to pull the birth certificates on all children born to Peggy Kendall.
We pulled the DMV photos.
Meet the sons of Peggy Kendall.
We thought we were good Catholics.
- Any of them named Patrick? - Oh, it's not gonna be that easy.
All right, so Paddy is a nickname.
Or we're barking up the wrong family tree.
No, no.
The name Kendall, that's not coincidence.
This is the family.
Just got to figure out which one of your boys is my perp.
I subpoenaed every agency I could think of, and I can rule a few of these boys out.
John and Peter are both in the marines.
They've been deployed to Baghdad since 2002.
Simon's still in high school, so it's unlikely he's the father.
And Bart was killed in a DUl last year.
So that brings us down to lucky number seven.
Okay, so let's get a warrant for DNA on all of them.
Oh, sorry, no dice.
The low stringency analysis is too circumstantial.
Once I narrow it down to one suspect, then I can get a blood order.
Okay, so I'll get a history on the seven boys, see if I can link one of them to Laura Kozlowski.
Elliot, they just found Kendall.
Alive.
Firehouse Number 51 Brooklyn, New York Tuesday, February 6 Came back from a call, went upstairs to finish dinner, someone rings the bell.
I open the door.
There he is in a box, fast asleep.
That's when I recognized Kendall from the paper.
Any outdoor surveillance cameras? Sorry.
Hey, little man, we've been looking everywhere for you.
He seems fine.
We're just gonna run him over to mercy for a full check-up.
We'll meet you there.
Detective Stabler, is it true that Kendall Kozlowski has been found? - You want an exclusive? - You bet.
Contrary to channel ten reporter Cindy Marino's libelous accusations, Laura Kozlowski did not kill her son Kendall.
He's been found alive.
Kendall's fine.
Well-fed, no dehydration, not even diaper rash.
Someone took very good care of him.
I'm looking for baby Kendall.
Where is he? Excuse me, sir.
Are you a family member? Hi.
Can I help you? Who are you? I'm his father, James Kendall.
I bet your friends call you Paddy.
I don't have time for this.
It's late.
I need to take my son home.
Well, Kendall's not going anywhere with you until the DNA results get back.
Take one look at him.
He's my spitting image.
It's not your name on his birth certificate.
Laura didn't know she was pregnant when we broke up.
She married another guy on the rebound, but now that we were getting back together, she was gonna fix all that.
Funny, Laura never mentioned you.
She was keeping it quiet till the divorce was final.
How come you never came forward when you heard your child was missing? I didn't know.
I was in my cabin upstate, no phone, no TV.
Pretty convenient timing.
You come back a couple hours after your son reappears.
Any luck finding the guy who took him? I've got the guy.
Then why haven't you arrested him? No, uh proof? Not yet, but I'll get it.
Well, you let me know when you do.
I'd love to see the bastard brought to justice.
DNA is back.
He's the father.
Would that be the test results? Now if you'll excuse me, I need to take my boy home.
Do you have a car seat? Excuse me? I can't let you leave here without one.
State law.
Fine.
I'll have my mother bring one down.
Who is grandma's little angel? You know, I'm going to take you back to my house and I'm gonna tuck you in, yes, I am.
Any more stalling tactics? No? Then we'll be leaving now.
Come on, ma, let's go home.
/ Okay.
Kendall.
Hey, pal, daddy's here, huh? Get away from him.
That's my son.
Like hell he is.
Okay, who is this crazy bitch? She's my mother, and we got a problem, you talk to her like that again.
This is Paddy Kendall.
He's the biological father.
He's a psychopath.
And I hear you're a drug mule.
Why aren't you in jail, man? I got a deal for testifying against the drug dealers.
Lucky for you.
And lucky for him that his real daddy's here to take him away from this very, very bad man.
Leave him alone! That's not right.
- He hit him first.
- Get out of here.
I'm the father, damn it.
Arrest that guy for assault! Don't push your luck.
Don't push your luck.
Get outta here.
- Get outta here.
- Ma, get the baby.
Come on, ma.
Let's go.
No one can get away with treating a son of mine like that.
This is wrong.
Can't you do something? We don't have anything on Paddy Kendall.
He's completely clean.
Hey, what about the rumor he was involved in a murder? Just that.
A rumor.
Paddy's never even been brought in for questioning.
This is crap.
Paddy was not getting back together with Laura.
She was terrified of him.
He kidnapped that baby, and we got close, mommy tipped him off, and that kid was returned.
But why leave the kid at the firehouse after going to all that trouble to steal him? 'cause Laura's suicide gave him custody.
He returned Kendall just so he could take him right back legally.
Laura did not want Paddy to have Kendall.
We gotta do something about this.
How can you be sure she wouldn't want him to have the kid? Look, Laura was in the middle of custody battle with Dan Kozlowski.
All she had to do was tell the court that he wasn't the father.
That's the end of that fight.
But she never told anybody Paddy was the father.
I can argue that theory in court, but there's still a hole.
Why didn't Laura tell us about Paddy when Kendall disappeared? 'cause he was out of the picture.
She didn't think he knew about the kid, and she definitely didn't want him finding out from us.
If we question him, he might file for custody.
Paddy beat Laura.
She didn't want him anywhere near that child.
Can we document the domestic violence? She told Dan about it, and one of her best friends, a guy named Garrett, saw the injuries.
That enough? I have an idea.
Home of Peggy Kendall Brooklyn, New York Wednesday, February 7 You're not putting my grandson in foster care.
The police and the district attorney made us aware of your son's history of domestic violence.
But that's a pack of lies.
Still, until we've done a psychological assessment and a home-study, children's services cannot allow Kendall to remain with your son.
Over my dead body.
ACS has the legal right to remove Kendall.
If you interfere, you can be arrested.
Thank you.
I've got a very good lawyer.
We'll get him back.
This isn't over.
I'd call that a good day for the people.
We've still gotta prove Paddy's the kidnapper.
Elliot? Yeah, can I help you? You've been served.
Can you believe this, Casey? - Casey Novak? - Yeah.
Cool, you just saved me a trip downtown.
Paddy's suing me for harassment and violation of his civil rights? Me too.
I thought prosecutors had unqualified immunity.
So did I.
ADA's immunity is limited if they step outside their role advising the police in the investigative phase of a criminal case.
In other words, Casey shouldn't have been playing cops and robbers with you, Elliot.
Well, does Paddy have a case against us? Well, according to the suit, you conspired with detective Stabler to deprive Paddy Kendall of his civil and constitutional rights, did you? No.
Pity.
The guy sounds like a douche bag.
But his suit has merit.
Oh, do what are we supposed to do, just sit back and let him take everything we've got? You get yourself a lawyer.
Today.
The city represents cops.
You trust a civil servant to save your house and your pension? Well, what choice do we have? Civil Court Part 44 Thursday, February 8 My client, Paddy Kendall, has committed no crime.
And yet these defendants have trampled his civil rights.
They have used science to infringe his privacy, interrogated his relatives, and manipulated children's services into taking custody of his only child.
These defendants believe Paddy Kendall is a bad man.
And yet they have no proof.
And that makes them mad.
And what do they do when they get mad? I don't know about defendant Novak, but defendant Stabler has a dangerous track record of beating up suspects.
Objection.
Mr.
Granger, are you going to introduce proof of this assertion at trial? We most certainly are, your honor.
We have five witnesses prepared to testify under oath that detective Stabler used excessive physical force against them.
Very well.
Continue.
We will prove defendant Stabler conspired with defendant Novak to violate Paddy Kendall's civil rights and those of his minor child, and we ask for a judgment of $10 million against each defendant.
Detective first grade Elliot Stabler has been a dedicated officer of the NYPD for the last 18 years.
He has an impressive case closure rate of 97%.
Senior assistant district attorney Casey Novak has been a prosecutor for the last six years.
She has a conviction rate of 71%, much better than the national average of 44.
They have commendations, awards, medals, letters from grateful victims who have received justice because of their hard work.
But none of that matters 'cause that man, Paddy Kendall, has come before you to tarnish their good name and their impeccable record of service to the people of this city.
He is a liar.
A violent man a batterer.
I don't believe a word he says.
And by the time we're through here neither will you.
You have no, uh, criminal record, do you? No.
I've never even been questioned by the police before this all happened.
Do you use, uh, drugs or alcohol? I'm not a drinking man.
My father was a drunk, and I promised my mother that I'd be a better man than he was.
So in contrast with Kendall's mother, who confessed to drinking and smoking pot on national TV and his stepfather who is a petty criminal, a gambler and a drunk, you are an upstanding citizen.
Objection, your honor.
- Sustained.
- Nothing further.
Congratulations on keeping your record clean.
I'm sure you'll agree that just means you haven't been caught.
Elizabeth, you know better.
Well, if you're such a perfect father, can you explain to this court why you have never paid child support? Laura didn't want me to.
You never visited your son.
She brought him by to see me, behind Dan's back.
Do you have proof of that? I didn't know I needed it.
You didn't even know you had a son.
Laura was so terrified, she hid Kendall from you.
The first time you held your son was when you stole him from his crib.
Yeah? What's this then? His sonogram.
I've been involved in my son's life since the day I made him.
And those two aren't gonna stand in my way.
This is a totally improper way to introduce evidence.
I'd like the opportunity to have that photo examined by my experts.
Hey, Paddy.
You've got a hell of a nerve coming here.
But not a lot of brains.
I'm calling my lawyer.
Good, 'cause you're gonna need him.
James Paddy Kendall, you're under arrest for kidnapping.
- Take your hands off my boy.
- Don't worry, ma.
I'll be home by breakfast.
You have the right to remain silent.
If you give up that right, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
This is harassment.
I'll have both your jobs.
I don't think so.
We found these things in the alley outside Laura's apartment.
I thought she threw them away after she killed Kendall.
In fact, I forgot all about them until you started waving that sonogram around in court.
We each had a copy.
It doesn't prove anything.
That's where you're wrong.
The night that you kidnapped Kendall, well, you grabbed some of his stuff.
But it's awful difficult to carry a kid and a bag down a fire escape in the dark, isn't it? So you dropped the bag, it broke, and you took what you could, and you left.
Pretty story, but where's the proof? Your client's fingerprints.
Here is a perfect thumbprint on this.
It's the second sonogram that he left behind in the alley.
No mother would ever throw that away.
- It's circumstantial.
- I've won cases with less.
That and the death of Laura Kozlowski will melt the jurors' hearts.
- You saying I killed her? - You might as well have.
If you hadn't kidnapped Kendall, she'd still be alive.
At least that's the way the jury'll see it.
What are you offering? You drop the civil suit and give up your parental rights, I'll drop down from kidnapping one to custodial interference.
That's an E felony, so you'll only get 11/2 to three years.
Beats the hell out of life.
Yeah, I'll take the deal.
Tell me one thing.
How did you find out about Kendall? My mother saw Laura on the street with the boy.
He looked just like me when I was a baby, so she knew he was mine.
She always wanted a grandson, so she wouldn't give me any peace until I told her I'd get Kendall for her.
She said she'd pay for everything he needed, buy me a new car.
Yeah, that was good work on the bluff with the fingerprints.
For a minute there, I didn't think they'd go for it.
Lucky Granger didn't ask to see proof.
Hey.
- I can really take him? - He's all yours.
Hey, buddy.
- You going to meetings? - Every day.
I haven't had a drink in a week.
No gambling either.
I gotta save all my money for diapers.
And your apartment? So clean you could eat off the floor.
There'll be a formal hearing, but if you stay straight, it looks good for you.
Paddy's out of Kendall's life forever.
I don't know how to thank you.
- Good luck.
- Thanks.
Sorry my DNA fishing expedition got you into hot water.
It was worth it.
Otherwise, we never would've broken the case.
Sooner or later, the courts are gonna resolve the issue of kinship analysis.
It may not be around for long.
Well, we'll use it while we can.
Your partner already has.
I got a hit on the sample she gave me.
- Would you give her the results? - Sure.
I heard you got Paddy Kendall.
- Congratulations.
- Thanks.
And, uh, Warner asked me to give this to you.
You had a kinship analysis done? Yeah, it's for a cold case.
You're not working on any cold cases right now.
What is it? Liv, whose DNA did you have tested? Mine.
I have a brother.