Law & Order Special Victims Unit s10e05 Episode Script
Retro
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.
Phone alarm, box number 3354.
1629 Broadway.
Structural fire in a brownstone.
Dispatch, Engine 99 is en route.
Hold on! Get that cab out of here! What the hell? Are you trying to get yourself killed? The baby! The baby! What's wrong? She's sick.
Well, where did you find her? A lady left her in my taxi.
They say bring babies to the firehouse.
Kid's burning up with the fever, Lou.
Move the cab.
We'll take care of her.
Engine 99 to dispatch.
Medical emergency in front of quarters.
Please rush EMS.
Baby has severe oral candidiasis and a temp of 105.
I'd say, based on her size, she's about five months.
You lost me at "candidiasis.
" It's a fungal infection commonly known as thrush.
That's not an STD, Dr.
Massey.
Yeah, well, she wasn't sexually abused.
So why did you call us? ACS handles abandoned kids.
What's happened to her is a crime.
Kids only get this sick when they don't get treated.
Treated for what? HIV.
She has AIDS.
Advanced.
And her parents didn't do a damn thing about it.
If that's not a crime, what is? Where did you drop her off? Port Authority.
She left the bag on the back seat.
I noticed it a block away when the baby started to cry.
When I tried to calm her, I felt the fever.
Cab-cam takes 10 images, one per second, after a door opens or closes.
Here's the last photo.
Marong at the firehouse, huh? The baby's mother should be right before this.
Not unless she's a 65-year-old man.
He's the next face back in the camera's memory.
Mr.
Marong.
Come here.
Mr.
Marong, the baby's mother wasn't on that camera.
How could that be? Because there is no mother? Now, I want you to tell me what really happened.
I turned off the camera before the lady got in my car.
And you didn't run the meter because you wanted to put a few extra bucks in your pocket? Gas costs so much.
It's the only way to make ends meet.
I turn off the camera in case the Taxi Commission checks it.
El.
Stay right here.
That was Munch.
He ran Marong.
No record.
And no baby girls went missing in the last month in the tri-state area.
That's great.
He turned off the cab-cam.
No pictures of the baby's mother.
Okay.
Mr.
Marong, we're sending you over to our office, so you can describe the baby's mother to a sketch artist.
I'll do my best.
All right.
We'll be there.
Warner needs us at the morgue.
Did the baby die? No, but she's septic.
Dr.
Massey's loading her up with big-gun antibiotics.
So why are you involved with a kid who's still breathing? Massey and I worked together on an AIDS surveillance team.
She sent me an oral swab from your Baby Doe so I could run her DNA.
Why? She's not going to be in the system.
I thought her mother might be, and their mitochondrial DNA will match.
A lot of kids with HIV are born to women with criminal records.
Junkies and hookers.
So you got a hit? Mom is Joanne Suarez, a frequent guest of the Department of Corrections.
Joanne have a last known address? A charming little place.
Rikers.
You got the wrong convict.
I don't have a daughter.
Check my intake forms.
CO! Yeah, well, we checked your baby's DNA, and it matches yours.
So why don't you sit down? Why did you lie to Corrections and say that you didn't have a child? Because I didn't want Social Services to find out about her.
They take your baby when you're high.
So I had her at home.
Never got a birth certificate.
You tell the father? I don't know who he is.
She's a trick baby, but that doesn't mean that I don't love her.
Yeah, why are you here? Is Antonia okay? Well, she's in the hospital with AIDS.
Which means you're HIV-positive.
But I quit using when I was pregnant.
I did everything I could to keep her clean.
Except taking antiretrovirals before she was born, which could have prevented this from happening.
I never meant to hurt my little girl.
Who did you leave your child with when you got locked up? Ida Jallow, my downstairs neighbor.
She promised that she would take care of her for me.
Ida Jallow? Police? What's this about? They are here to see me, Ida.
Detectives, you have more questions? Our green cards have expired.
We were afraid we would be sent back to Gambia.
We didn't know what to do.
Antonia just got sicker and sicker.
So you lied about finding her in the cab to get rid of her.
No! We didn't want her to die.
We loved her like she was our own.
Everything was fine until she stopped eating.
We thought she missed her mother.
Then I saw the white spots in her mouth and I knew it was AIDS.
How? Many people have died in my country.
I raised my sister and she had the same sickness.
So you knew how sick Antonia was.
Why didn't you bring her to the hospital? Because the AIDS medicines are poison.
Who told you that? Our president.
But he has found a cure.
He rubs a green paste of herbs on his patients' chests.
Hold on.
The President of Gambia does this himself? Every Thursday.
And then he gives them the bitter yellow brew and two bananas, and they're cured.
Did you try to cure Antonia? No.
The President's recipe is secret.
So we went on the Internet and found a doctor who believes as we do.
He gave Antonia vitamins, but she just got worse.
Okay.
This doctor, what's his name? I also instructed the Marongs to give her yogurt.
Yogurt for AIDS? Are you out of your mind? Not every patient with HIV needs medication.
Antonia Suarez presented with a minor case of thrush, and I chose an alternative treatment, which has worked very well.
Well enough that she nearly died from it.
And then, as I instructed the Marongs, they should have come back for more therapy.
Like what? Pudding? No.
Anti-fungal medication, as any medical professional would prescribe.
A medical professional would have given the child that's HIV-positive medicine on the first visit.
You're a quack.
We're through.
How many people have you cured with vitamins and yogurt? I have patients waiting.
God help them.
Hutton's a walking malpractice suit.
Sic the state medical board on him.
While more of his patients die? Yogurt's not a murder weapon.
Holistic medicine has a place in the law, and patients have a right to choose their own treatment.
When it's based on science and not voodoo.
You want to see some hocus-pocus? Check out Dr.
Demento's website.
"The truth about HIV.
" "There is no proof that HIV causes AIDS.
"The anti-HIV medications Big Pharma makes will kill you.
" This guy is a fruitcake.
According to Hutton, AIDS is a global conspiracy funded by pharmaceutical companies to make big bucks.
And commit genocide.
My parents believed the government created HIV in a lab, and the CIA spread it in the prisons to kill blacks and gays.
How does a doctor believe this crap? He's an AIDS denier, part of a misguided minority who believes that HIV doesn't cause AIDS, and that AIDS itself doesn't exist.
Well, his denial nearly killed Antonia Suarez.
What's her prognosis? She's doing okay.
But Dr.
Massey doesn't think she's going to make it to high school.
Chances are she's not his first medical screw-up.
It's time we put Dr.
Do-Nothing out of business.
Well, Hutton's not talking, and privilege puts his files off-limits.
So how are we going to find his patients? I'll call some reporter friends.
Use the media to smoke them out.
This poor little baby is in stable condition at a local hospital.
We are appealing to the public to help us find her father.
If you have any information, please call SVU's confidential tip line at the number on your screen.
Ms.
Greylek, why is the baby in the hospital? She was rushed there after nearly dying from reckless treatment for a life-threatening illness.
Who's responsible for this reckless treatment? A licensed physician.
What's his name? Dr.
Gideon Hutton.
Are you investigating him? Not at this time.
But we encourage the public to please come forward with any information regarding any of Dr.
Hutton's other patients.
This libelous trash has been running all afternoon.
I am done with you people propagating lies about my client.
Ms.
Greylek is doing the propagating, Counselor.
Your beef is with the D.
A.
's office.
No, it's with your detectives.
They interrogated Dr.
Hutton in his office without me present.
That was a friendly chat.
When we interrogate Dr.
Hutton, he'll know it.
You're scaring my patients.
They should be scared.
That's it.
Let's go, Gideon.
We get a public apology within 24 hours, or you're at the wrong end of a very expensive lawsuit.
I guess a hug is out of the question.
What did you get from the tip line? Couple hundred people say that Hutton is the greatest doctor since Albert Schweitzer.
Talk to anyone who's not a member of the fan club? One anonymous caller.
Says that Hutton is treating a girl named Lisa Ross with HIV, but he's not doing anything.
Can I help you? Yeah, police.
Lisa Ross live here? She used to.
Did she move? No.
My sister's dead.
That's Lisa.
It was two months ago.
That's just before she died.
We are so sorry for your loss.
Mom? Tommy.
Homework.
Now.
How did your daughter die? An allergic reaction to penicillin.
She had a cough and a fever.
I took her to the family doctor.
Gideon Hutton? Yeah.
He prescribed amoxicillin.
I gave her a dose of it.
And all of a sudden, she was having trouble breathing, so I rushed her back.
He gave her a shot of adrenaline, he even shocked her heart, but it was too late.
She was gone.
Dr.
Hutton didn't know that she was allergic to penicillin? I didn't know she was allergic to penicillin.
She'd never taken an antibiotic before.
Lisa was very healthy.
She was very healthy until she had that cold.
Ms.
Ross, we received an anonymous call claiming that Lisa had HIV and Dr.
Hutton wasn't treating her for it.
It's not his fault that she died.
It was an accident.
Well, we need to be sure, so we'd like to ask you for your permission to see her medical records.
God, my husband died before I found out I was pregnant with Lisa.
Now I can barely get out of bed in the morning without her.
Just, please, would Leave me and Tommy alone.
If Hutton made a mistake, the M.
E.
Would have sent her case to you.
Lisa's body never made it to the M.
E.
Hutton signed the death certificate.
The M.
E.
Is supposed to investigate every sudden death of a child in the city.
Unless it happens in a hospital or in a doctor's office where life-saving efforts are fully documented.
Without an autopsy, we don't even know if Lisa was HIV-positive, and we don't have enough to convince a judge to subpoena her medical records.
Okay, so what do we need? Your anonymous tipster.
It would be a lot easier to find your guy if we could trace our tip lines.
As soon as the word got out, we'd never get another tip.
Munch get anything on Susan? Well, he just e- mailed me some files.
She taught English at a private school in Connecticut up until three years ago.
Then, out of the blue, she's a stay-at-home mom with a Manhattan condo and a big fat bank account.
Okay.
Here's your anonymous caller.
Special Victims Unit.
Confidential tip line.
I saw that news piece about Dr.
Hutton.
He takes care of a little girl named Lisa Ross.
She has HIV and he is not doing anything to help her.
Do you know where this girl lives? 602 East Sir? I heard a noise just before he hung up.
I heard it, too.
Can you isolate that sound? How's this? It's a bell, like at a school.
Susan Ross was a teacher.
Maybe one of her colleagues ratted her out.
Could be the same one who co-signed her car loan.
Jack Lufton.
Teaches chemistry.
Yeah, I called your tip line.
You didn't know Lisa was dead.
No.
But I'm not surprised.
Susan and I went out for about a year and a half after Lisa was born.
I was monogamous the whole time.
But then I came up HIV-positive on some insurance physical.
You tell Susan? Tell her? I went nuts.
You know what she said? "What's the big deal? HIV doesn't make you sick.
" She knew she had HIV.
She and her husband, Ed, and Tommy went on safari in Kenya back in '03.
Their jeep flipped over.
Ed was killed.
Tommy was fine.
But the blood transfusion that saved Susan's life infected her.
And then she infected me.
How are you doing? I'm on ARVs.
My viral load is near zero, and I feel great.
Did you tell the school? Yeah, right away.
And that's why Susan got fired.
And the administration decided to pay her seven figures so she wouldn't sue.
Why was she fired and not you? Well, she thinks HIV is harmless.
What if she cuts herself and one of her students gets exposed? Hell, she doesn't even take precautions with her own kids.
What do you mean? She breastfed Lisa for a year after she was born, because Dr.
Hutton told her it was okay.
Two-thirds of the world's HIV-positive kids get infected during pregnancy or at birth from the mother.
The rest acquire it during breastfeeding.
Okay.
So Susan could have passed the virus to Lisa either way.
It's a shame.
HIV-positive women in this country have a 98%% chance of having a healthy baby, if they take antiretrovirals during pregnancy and put the child on meds after birth.
Which Susan probably didn't do because she thinks HIV is harmless.
Yeah.
She put Lisa's life in danger by breastfeeding her and by withholding medication when Lisa got sick.
And since any reasonable person knows HIV causes AIDS, that's criminally negligent homicide.
Okay.
Well, Hutton is our real problem here.
How do we stop him before someone else dies? If Hutton knew Susan had HIV, he had a legal duty to make sure her kids were tested.
Even if he believes that HIV doesn't cause AIDS? Doctors have to offer patients treatments that are proven effective.
In Lisa's case, an HIV test and antiretrovirals if she tested positive.
Okay, but how do we prove she died of AIDS and not an allergic reaction to penicillin? Well, we have more than enough probable cause now.
I'll subpoena Hutton's files.
There's only one conclusive way to find out what killed Lisa.
Body is that of an embalmed four-year-old Caucasian female.
Deceased approximately two months.
Initially determined cause of death has now been called into question, requiring exhumation and full postmortem examination.
You dug up my daughter? How could you do such a horrible thing? How could you kill her? My client had an absolute right to breastfeed her child.
But she didn't have the right to infect her with HIV and to withhold medication.
I did not hurt my baby.
I loved Lisa.
I did not make her sick.
The skin shows no sign of abuse-related trauma.
There are needle punctures to the chest and arms consistent with efforts to resuscitate.
My client did everything he could to save Lisa.
Everything but treat the time bomb he knew was ticking inside her.
I have no idea what you are talking about, and neither do you.
No.
The only thing that we don't know is whether Lisa was your first mistake.
But you can bet your ass she's your last.
All organs are present and in their proper positions.
Both kidneys and liver appear enlarged.
An ulcerated lesion on the upper lip suggests a viral inclusion.
Dr.
Hutton said it was a canker sore.
It would go away by itself.
So you took her to see him before the day she died.
Yes, when she first started coughing.
But he didn't prescribe antibiotics until her last visit.
How long was Lisa sick? Three weeks.
She had a hell of a cold.
Never thought it might be more serious? Not until Mom brought her back for the last time with cough and fever, for which I prescribed amoxicillin.
That's it? No blood test? Chest x-ray? Why subject her to needles and an unnecessary dose of radiation? I listened to her lungs.
They were clear.
Pre-autopsy x- rays show significant congestion in both lungs.
Pathology of the parenchyma of the lower lobes show white, patchy, fluffy masses.
Which means what? Lisa died of pneumocystis pneumonia.
I've never seen it in anyone other than an AIDS patient.
So, manner of death? I'm ruling it a homicide.
Please stand up, Susan.
You're arresting me? For murdering your daughter.
I delivered that child! I didn't murder her! And neither did her mother! Lisa was murdered? No.
Don't believe them, Tommy.
Come on.
Mom! You can't take her to jail! Tommy, stay strong! Don't go against your conscience.
You know the truth.
She would never hurt Lisa.
Why are you doing this to us? Tommy? HIV attacks the life-saving T cells that fight disease.
The virus genetically mutates the host cell, turning it into an HIV factory, which makes more copies of the virus.
Eventually, HIV kills T cells faster than the body can replenish them, destroying the immune system and causing AIDS.
Dr.
Warner, can you tell the jury how we know this? HIV has been isolated, photographed, cultured and grown outside the human body.
Its genetic structure is fully documented.
And it's killed more than Including Lisa Ross.
Thank you, Doctor.
True or false, Doctor.
Every disease allegedly caused by AIDS can also appear in people who don't have HIV.
True.
Was there HIV in Lisa Ross' blood? No, but she Then isn't it possible that her PCP pneumonia was caused by something other than HIV? Yes or no? It's not that simple.
Do you have a hearing problem, Doctor? Your Honor, is she going to let her finish a sentence? Ms.
Emmett, that's enough.
You may answer the question, Dr.
Warner.
I didn't find HIV in Lisa's bloodstream because she'd been embalmed.
And anything compromising the immune system can cause PCP pneumonia.
Cancer, malnutrition, poisoning from radiation or toxic chemicals.
Finding no evidence of those conditions, I concluded Lisa Ross died of AIDS caused by untreated HIV.
And Dr.
Hutton refused to treat it.
Well, it's nonsense.
HIV couldn't possibly cause AIDS, because HIV is a retrovirus.
Or, as we say, an RV.
As in recreational vehicle? Actually, they are similar.
Hundreds of RVs carry passenger organisms through our bodies every day.
Harmlessly so.
No RV has been proven to kill cells.
Then why did the medical examiner show us HIV doing exactly that? Well, cartoons have always been used to spread propaganda.
Propaganda? That AIDS is this country's biggest health threat and that we're all at risk.
Well, if that's not true, then why scare us into thinking that we're in danger? Because fear motivates.
How else could government researchers get billions in funding to cure a disease that kills mostly drug addicts and gays? Well, Dr.
Hutton, what does cause AIDS? Those diseases incorrectly attributed to AIDS are caused by blood toxicity from repeated recreational drug use, malnutrition and anti-HIV medications.
No further questions.
Doctor, have you ever done any research on HIV or AIDS? No.
Published any papers or articles in medical journals? Medical journals are interested in the status quo, not dissenting opinions.
So you have no hard evidence to back up any of your accusations.
There's plenty of evidence, collected from some of the greatest scientific minds in the world.
You mean like the San Francisco biologist who's become a pariah in the scientific community? Or the South African Health Minister who advised people with HIV to eat garlic and beetroot? You are missing the point.
There are millions of people being wrongly treated, wrongly diagnosed.
Like you misdiagnosed Lisa Ross.
She died of an allergic reaction to antibiotics.
No.
She died of AIDS.
According to your pet medical examiner, and we all know what bias she has.
Come on.
Ask her how many of her friends or family members have died of AIDS either here or in Africa.
Because she's black? How dare you? She has an agenda.
She's just like the rest of them, the doctors that perform unnecessary procedures just to pad their wallets That's enough, Doctor.
The drug companies who knowingly put flawed medicines on the market Dr.
Hutton that can hurt or kill.
Don't let them fool you.
Tell them they cannot keep getting Your Honor.
away with their lies.
Last time, Doctor, or you're in contempt.
I'm through.
We will recess for lunch.
City Health Department study says New Yorkers contract HIV three times the national rate.
That a lie, too? Wake up, Doctor.
We have immunized people against every viral disease for two centuries.
We know that people produce antibodies to HIV.
So why is there no anti-AIDS vaccine, and why hasn't one AIDS patient ever been cured? You son of a bitch.
We all want a cure for AIDS.
You're killing people with your outrageous beliefs.
My beliefs are scientific fact.
They're junk science.
You're a murderer and a false prophet.
That's what they called Jesus Christ.
Hope the jury doesn't think he's the Son of God.
Jurors love conspiracy theories.
I'm afraid they might buy the garbage Dr.
Strangelove's selling.
If we lose this case, it gives him credibility, and more people will die.
I found out I had HIV when I was pregnant with Lisa.
I thought my life was over.
Did your doctors put you on antiretrovirals? Yes.
I've never been sicker in my life.
Then a friend recommended Dr.
Hutton.
What did he do differently? Took me off the medication.
Dr.
Hutton saved my life.
Your witness.
So you believe Dr.
Hutton's gospel? Yes, I do.
I'm living proof he's right.
And you don't think Lisa's death is proof he's wrong? Lisa's death was a tragic accident.
It was tragic.
But it was hardly an accident.
Did Dr.
Hutton tell you not to test Lisa for HIV? No.
Did Dr.
Hutton suggest she take ARVs? ARVs almost killed me.
I was not about to give them to my little girl.
Right.
Do you know any of these people? No.
No, I've never met them.
Maybe you should.
Donald Ramirez is HIV-positive.
He was on death's door 20 years ago with Kaposi's sarcoma until antiretrovirals saved his life.
Objection.
She's testifying.
Fifteen years ago, Roberta Nolan tested HIV-positive.
Your Honor.
Ms.
Greylek She's still alive today because of ARVs.
Look at them, Susan.
They're alive and Lisa's dead, because you withheld treatment that would have saved her life.
Your Honor! Counselor.
She's having a seizure.
Let me go.
I am her doctor.
Somebody call an ambulance.
Where am I? You're in Mercy Hospital, Susan.
You collapsed.
What's wrong with me? You have toxoplasmosis.
It's a brain disease that people with AIDS get.
I had terrible migraines after Lisa died.
Doctor Dr.
Hutton said I was grieving.
That it would pass.
Susan, you knew you had HIV.
It was only a matter of time before you got sick.
I needed to believe him.
That I was going to be okay.
Well, Dr.
Hutton was wrong.
He was wrong about Lisa.
And he was wrong about you.
But he's the doctor.
Why would he Why would he lie to me? Susan Because if he admits the truth, then he has to take responsibility for what happened to your little girl.
And what's happening to you.
It's my fault Lisa's dead.
I killed my daughter.
Because Dr.
Hutton misled you.
So help me stop him before another person dies.
Lisa's not the only one.
The only what? Children who died.
Tommy! Susan? Susan? She's coding.
Alice! Right behind you.
Where's my mom? I'm sorry, Tommy.
I'm sorry, Mom.
I love you.
I love you.
Susan Ross died last night of AIDS.
No, she didn't.
I was with her.
My client was referring to her cause of death, end-stage toxoplasmosis.
Which the M.
E.
Says is an AIDS-related disease.
But we know you'll deny it.
Then why drag us in here? Because Susan made a dying declaration.
She told me that Lisa wasn't the only child you killed.
The demented ramblings of a woman whose brain was Swiss cheese.
They won't be admissible.
Yeah, but the records from the pharmacy in your building will be.
We subpoenaed every one of your prescriptions filled at that drugstore.
We built a list of your patients and found the grieving parents of two children with HIV you willfully misdiagnosed.
Right now, we're exhuming their bodies.
Autopsies will prove they died of untreated HIV.
Three dead kids.
What do you want? He pleads guilty to criminally negligent homicide.
Surrenders his medical license and patient records.
I recommend five years.
I'm not going to make any deals.
Take it, Gideon.
It's over.
Okay, but you're not going to silence me.
I will speak the truth from my prison cell, and people will listen.
Here's another one.
Janet Hooper, 45, mother of three.
Died of Burkitt's lymphoma, which Hutton told her was caused by her exposure to toxins, not AIDS.
How many are we up to? Seven families we have to notify.
Oh, no.
What have you got? It's the lab report on Susan's file.
Susan was HIV-positive in 1993.
Tommy was born in '94.
Susan's ex said she got infected right before Lisa was born.
That's nine years after she had Tommy.
She lied to her ex-boyfriend to get him off her back.
Tommy could have HIV.
We've got to get a court order and have him tested.
Get away from me! Tommy, you're just going to feel a pinch.
You can't do this to me! The judge says we can.
Tommy? Get away from me! Calm down.
Hey, take it easy, kid.
Come on, now.
Get off.
Good kick.
That hurt? Yeah, a little bit.
Yeah.
Okay.
We're going to have to get you an x-ray.
Tommy, are you okay? Take it easy.
I didn't let them do it.
Good.
I'm taking him back to the shelter.
Wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
He's not your client.
He is now.
And Staying Strong hired me to represent him.
That's a restraining order preventing you from testing him for HIV.
He is a minor in ACS custody.
That gives them the rights to make medical decisions for him.
He has the right to refuse medical treatment if he's competent.
Competence in this case means Tommy understands the consequences of his decision.
Well, obviously, he doesn't.
So what's the next move? Punt.
Tommy's not charged with a crime, so we don't have legal standing to challenge the restraining order.
Then get ACS to fight it.
Detective? Your eighth and ninth right lateral ribs are broken.
Yeah.
Busted ribs.
This is perfect.
Excuse me? We can put them to good use.
Ms.
Emmett said you can't talk to me without her there.
Good.
I'm not here to talk.
Put your hands behind your back.
Why are you arresting me? Assaulting a police officer.
You're just doing this so you can make me have that test.
Well, if you're not going to help yourself, maybe a judge will.
Tommy, are you aware that most people believe that HIV causes AIDS? Yeah.
They taught us that in school.
But your mother and Dr.
Hutton taught you differently.
Isn't that true? They said HIV doesn't cause AIDS.
And you believed them.
Yes.
Because your mother and doctor told you, or because you think it's the truth? After we discussed AIDS in health class, I talked to my mom about it.
She explained why there was no proof for what they taught us, and it made sense.
Nothing further.
What did she tell you that made so much sense? That HIV is not the kind of virus that can make you sick, that drugs for AIDS can kill you, and that the doctors and the drug companies won't tell the truth, so that they can keep making money off of it.
The same nonsense we've heard over and over again, right out of the AIDS deniers' playbook.
Tommy, are you familiar with the Holocaust? Sure.
Who isn't? Do you believe it actually occurred? Of course.
Why wouldn't I? Because there are people who don't.
Does that surprise you? Yeah.
Just because they believe that doesn't make it the truth.
Then why, since we know HIV causes AIDS, would you believe people who say it doesn't? My mom wouldn't lie to me.
Sure she would.
Because if you decided to get tested for HIV and turned up positive, it would shatter her fantasy world.
I feel fine.
I'm not sick.
Now stop trying to scare me.
You should be scared.
Your mother sold you a bill of goods, Tommy.
She risked your life to feed her denial.
Stop saying bad things about my mother! She watched your sister die, and now she is dead, because she wouldn't face the truth.
Your Honor.
Do you have to be dying, too, before you see her lies? Please stop! Come on, Tommy! What's it going to take? Please stop it! Your Honor.
Ms.
Greylek? No further questions.
The question before us today is when does the State have the right to force someone to receive medical care? Had this court known about your sister's illness, I would have compelled her to be treated, because she was only four years old.
You, young man, are a different story.
Although you are a minor, you are sufficiently aware of the consequences of not being tested for HIV.
I disagree with your choice.
But to take it away deprives you of your right to make decisions about your own health.
I am, therefore, upholding the restraining order and ruling in favor of the defendant.
Your Honor, we move the defendant be remanded without bail.
What? He assaulted a police officer, and he's a known flight risk.
This is vindictive.
One moment, Your Honor.
What are you doing? Treating Tommy like the adult he wants to be.
Look, his only crime was being born to the wrong mother.
We're not sending a kid to jail.
You pressed the charges.
Because I wanted to force Tommy to get tested.
Look, we lost.
It's over.
Just The case is done.
Your Honor, the People withdraw the motion and dismiss the sole count of Assault in the Second Degree.
Motion withdrawn.
Charges are dismissed, and we're adjourned.
I hope you know what you're doing.
Thanks.
Yeah? You still owe me for the busted ribs.
I'm not getting tested.
I know.
Just do me one favor.
Why are we here? I want you to meet someone that Dr.
Massey introduced me to.
How are you? I'm okay.
I told you I'd come by.
Are you up for doing this? Yeah.
Tommy, I'd like for you to meet Kyle.
Hey.
Hey.
I'm not going to change my mind just because the kid has AIDS.
I don't have AIDS.
I have brain cancer.
I told my parents I didn't feel well.
But we're Christian Scientists, so we don't believe in doctors or medicine.
What did they tell you to do? Pray.
They said that they'd pray for me, too, and I knew I'd be okay.
Because I believed like they did.
Then I went blind.
You couldn't see? No.
I asked my friend to take me to the hospital.
And the doctors, they gave me chemo and radiation, and I already got my sight back.
Your folks must have been happy.
No.
They were pissed.
They thought I was dissing God.
What did you think? I just want to get better.
What about everything you believed in? My grandma says, "God created doctors, too, right? "Why would he give us all these cures and treatments for diseases "if he didn't want us to use them?" He okay? He wants to talk to you.
You don't have to tell me.
I want to.
The test came back positive.
I don't want to die.
Well You've got your whole life ahead of you.
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.
Phone alarm, box number 3354.
1629 Broadway.
Structural fire in a brownstone.
Dispatch, Engine 99 is en route.
Hold on! Get that cab out of here! What the hell? Are you trying to get yourself killed? The baby! The baby! What's wrong? She's sick.
Well, where did you find her? A lady left her in my taxi.
They say bring babies to the firehouse.
Kid's burning up with the fever, Lou.
Move the cab.
We'll take care of her.
Engine 99 to dispatch.
Medical emergency in front of quarters.
Please rush EMS.
Baby has severe oral candidiasis and a temp of 105.
I'd say, based on her size, she's about five months.
You lost me at "candidiasis.
" It's a fungal infection commonly known as thrush.
That's not an STD, Dr.
Massey.
Yeah, well, she wasn't sexually abused.
So why did you call us? ACS handles abandoned kids.
What's happened to her is a crime.
Kids only get this sick when they don't get treated.
Treated for what? HIV.
She has AIDS.
Advanced.
And her parents didn't do a damn thing about it.
If that's not a crime, what is? Where did you drop her off? Port Authority.
She left the bag on the back seat.
I noticed it a block away when the baby started to cry.
When I tried to calm her, I felt the fever.
Cab-cam takes 10 images, one per second, after a door opens or closes.
Here's the last photo.
Marong at the firehouse, huh? The baby's mother should be right before this.
Not unless she's a 65-year-old man.
He's the next face back in the camera's memory.
Mr.
Marong.
Come here.
Mr.
Marong, the baby's mother wasn't on that camera.
How could that be? Because there is no mother? Now, I want you to tell me what really happened.
I turned off the camera before the lady got in my car.
And you didn't run the meter because you wanted to put a few extra bucks in your pocket? Gas costs so much.
It's the only way to make ends meet.
I turn off the camera in case the Taxi Commission checks it.
El.
Stay right here.
That was Munch.
He ran Marong.
No record.
And no baby girls went missing in the last month in the tri-state area.
That's great.
He turned off the cab-cam.
No pictures of the baby's mother.
Okay.
Mr.
Marong, we're sending you over to our office, so you can describe the baby's mother to a sketch artist.
I'll do my best.
All right.
We'll be there.
Warner needs us at the morgue.
Did the baby die? No, but she's septic.
Dr.
Massey's loading her up with big-gun antibiotics.
So why are you involved with a kid who's still breathing? Massey and I worked together on an AIDS surveillance team.
She sent me an oral swab from your Baby Doe so I could run her DNA.
Why? She's not going to be in the system.
I thought her mother might be, and their mitochondrial DNA will match.
A lot of kids with HIV are born to women with criminal records.
Junkies and hookers.
So you got a hit? Mom is Joanne Suarez, a frequent guest of the Department of Corrections.
Joanne have a last known address? A charming little place.
Rikers.
You got the wrong convict.
I don't have a daughter.
Check my intake forms.
CO! Yeah, well, we checked your baby's DNA, and it matches yours.
So why don't you sit down? Why did you lie to Corrections and say that you didn't have a child? Because I didn't want Social Services to find out about her.
They take your baby when you're high.
So I had her at home.
Never got a birth certificate.
You tell the father? I don't know who he is.
She's a trick baby, but that doesn't mean that I don't love her.
Yeah, why are you here? Is Antonia okay? Well, she's in the hospital with AIDS.
Which means you're HIV-positive.
But I quit using when I was pregnant.
I did everything I could to keep her clean.
Except taking antiretrovirals before she was born, which could have prevented this from happening.
I never meant to hurt my little girl.
Who did you leave your child with when you got locked up? Ida Jallow, my downstairs neighbor.
She promised that she would take care of her for me.
Ida Jallow? Police? What's this about? They are here to see me, Ida.
Detectives, you have more questions? Our green cards have expired.
We were afraid we would be sent back to Gambia.
We didn't know what to do.
Antonia just got sicker and sicker.
So you lied about finding her in the cab to get rid of her.
No! We didn't want her to die.
We loved her like she was our own.
Everything was fine until she stopped eating.
We thought she missed her mother.
Then I saw the white spots in her mouth and I knew it was AIDS.
How? Many people have died in my country.
I raised my sister and she had the same sickness.
So you knew how sick Antonia was.
Why didn't you bring her to the hospital? Because the AIDS medicines are poison.
Who told you that? Our president.
But he has found a cure.
He rubs a green paste of herbs on his patients' chests.
Hold on.
The President of Gambia does this himself? Every Thursday.
And then he gives them the bitter yellow brew and two bananas, and they're cured.
Did you try to cure Antonia? No.
The President's recipe is secret.
So we went on the Internet and found a doctor who believes as we do.
He gave Antonia vitamins, but she just got worse.
Okay.
This doctor, what's his name? I also instructed the Marongs to give her yogurt.
Yogurt for AIDS? Are you out of your mind? Not every patient with HIV needs medication.
Antonia Suarez presented with a minor case of thrush, and I chose an alternative treatment, which has worked very well.
Well enough that she nearly died from it.
And then, as I instructed the Marongs, they should have come back for more therapy.
Like what? Pudding? No.
Anti-fungal medication, as any medical professional would prescribe.
A medical professional would have given the child that's HIV-positive medicine on the first visit.
You're a quack.
We're through.
How many people have you cured with vitamins and yogurt? I have patients waiting.
God help them.
Hutton's a walking malpractice suit.
Sic the state medical board on him.
While more of his patients die? Yogurt's not a murder weapon.
Holistic medicine has a place in the law, and patients have a right to choose their own treatment.
When it's based on science and not voodoo.
You want to see some hocus-pocus? Check out Dr.
Demento's website.
"The truth about HIV.
" "There is no proof that HIV causes AIDS.
"The anti-HIV medications Big Pharma makes will kill you.
" This guy is a fruitcake.
According to Hutton, AIDS is a global conspiracy funded by pharmaceutical companies to make big bucks.
And commit genocide.
My parents believed the government created HIV in a lab, and the CIA spread it in the prisons to kill blacks and gays.
How does a doctor believe this crap? He's an AIDS denier, part of a misguided minority who believes that HIV doesn't cause AIDS, and that AIDS itself doesn't exist.
Well, his denial nearly killed Antonia Suarez.
What's her prognosis? She's doing okay.
But Dr.
Massey doesn't think she's going to make it to high school.
Chances are she's not his first medical screw-up.
It's time we put Dr.
Do-Nothing out of business.
Well, Hutton's not talking, and privilege puts his files off-limits.
So how are we going to find his patients? I'll call some reporter friends.
Use the media to smoke them out.
This poor little baby is in stable condition at a local hospital.
We are appealing to the public to help us find her father.
If you have any information, please call SVU's confidential tip line at the number on your screen.
Ms.
Greylek, why is the baby in the hospital? She was rushed there after nearly dying from reckless treatment for a life-threatening illness.
Who's responsible for this reckless treatment? A licensed physician.
What's his name? Dr.
Gideon Hutton.
Are you investigating him? Not at this time.
But we encourage the public to please come forward with any information regarding any of Dr.
Hutton's other patients.
This libelous trash has been running all afternoon.
I am done with you people propagating lies about my client.
Ms.
Greylek is doing the propagating, Counselor.
Your beef is with the D.
A.
's office.
No, it's with your detectives.
They interrogated Dr.
Hutton in his office without me present.
That was a friendly chat.
When we interrogate Dr.
Hutton, he'll know it.
You're scaring my patients.
They should be scared.
That's it.
Let's go, Gideon.
We get a public apology within 24 hours, or you're at the wrong end of a very expensive lawsuit.
I guess a hug is out of the question.
What did you get from the tip line? Couple hundred people say that Hutton is the greatest doctor since Albert Schweitzer.
Talk to anyone who's not a member of the fan club? One anonymous caller.
Says that Hutton is treating a girl named Lisa Ross with HIV, but he's not doing anything.
Can I help you? Yeah, police.
Lisa Ross live here? She used to.
Did she move? No.
My sister's dead.
That's Lisa.
It was two months ago.
That's just before she died.
We are so sorry for your loss.
Mom? Tommy.
Homework.
Now.
How did your daughter die? An allergic reaction to penicillin.
She had a cough and a fever.
I took her to the family doctor.
Gideon Hutton? Yeah.
He prescribed amoxicillin.
I gave her a dose of it.
And all of a sudden, she was having trouble breathing, so I rushed her back.
He gave her a shot of adrenaline, he even shocked her heart, but it was too late.
She was gone.
Dr.
Hutton didn't know that she was allergic to penicillin? I didn't know she was allergic to penicillin.
She'd never taken an antibiotic before.
Lisa was very healthy.
She was very healthy until she had that cold.
Ms.
Ross, we received an anonymous call claiming that Lisa had HIV and Dr.
Hutton wasn't treating her for it.
It's not his fault that she died.
It was an accident.
Well, we need to be sure, so we'd like to ask you for your permission to see her medical records.
God, my husband died before I found out I was pregnant with Lisa.
Now I can barely get out of bed in the morning without her.
Just, please, would Leave me and Tommy alone.
If Hutton made a mistake, the M.
E.
Would have sent her case to you.
Lisa's body never made it to the M.
E.
Hutton signed the death certificate.
The M.
E.
Is supposed to investigate every sudden death of a child in the city.
Unless it happens in a hospital or in a doctor's office where life-saving efforts are fully documented.
Without an autopsy, we don't even know if Lisa was HIV-positive, and we don't have enough to convince a judge to subpoena her medical records.
Okay, so what do we need? Your anonymous tipster.
It would be a lot easier to find your guy if we could trace our tip lines.
As soon as the word got out, we'd never get another tip.
Munch get anything on Susan? Well, he just e- mailed me some files.
She taught English at a private school in Connecticut up until three years ago.
Then, out of the blue, she's a stay-at-home mom with a Manhattan condo and a big fat bank account.
Okay.
Here's your anonymous caller.
Special Victims Unit.
Confidential tip line.
I saw that news piece about Dr.
Hutton.
He takes care of a little girl named Lisa Ross.
She has HIV and he is not doing anything to help her.
Do you know where this girl lives? 602 East Sir? I heard a noise just before he hung up.
I heard it, too.
Can you isolate that sound? How's this? It's a bell, like at a school.
Susan Ross was a teacher.
Maybe one of her colleagues ratted her out.
Could be the same one who co-signed her car loan.
Jack Lufton.
Teaches chemistry.
Yeah, I called your tip line.
You didn't know Lisa was dead.
No.
But I'm not surprised.
Susan and I went out for about a year and a half after Lisa was born.
I was monogamous the whole time.
But then I came up HIV-positive on some insurance physical.
You tell Susan? Tell her? I went nuts.
You know what she said? "What's the big deal? HIV doesn't make you sick.
" She knew she had HIV.
She and her husband, Ed, and Tommy went on safari in Kenya back in '03.
Their jeep flipped over.
Ed was killed.
Tommy was fine.
But the blood transfusion that saved Susan's life infected her.
And then she infected me.
How are you doing? I'm on ARVs.
My viral load is near zero, and I feel great.
Did you tell the school? Yeah, right away.
And that's why Susan got fired.
And the administration decided to pay her seven figures so she wouldn't sue.
Why was she fired and not you? Well, she thinks HIV is harmless.
What if she cuts herself and one of her students gets exposed? Hell, she doesn't even take precautions with her own kids.
What do you mean? She breastfed Lisa for a year after she was born, because Dr.
Hutton told her it was okay.
Two-thirds of the world's HIV-positive kids get infected during pregnancy or at birth from the mother.
The rest acquire it during breastfeeding.
Okay.
So Susan could have passed the virus to Lisa either way.
It's a shame.
HIV-positive women in this country have a 98%% chance of having a healthy baby, if they take antiretrovirals during pregnancy and put the child on meds after birth.
Which Susan probably didn't do because she thinks HIV is harmless.
Yeah.
She put Lisa's life in danger by breastfeeding her and by withholding medication when Lisa got sick.
And since any reasonable person knows HIV causes AIDS, that's criminally negligent homicide.
Okay.
Well, Hutton is our real problem here.
How do we stop him before someone else dies? If Hutton knew Susan had HIV, he had a legal duty to make sure her kids were tested.
Even if he believes that HIV doesn't cause AIDS? Doctors have to offer patients treatments that are proven effective.
In Lisa's case, an HIV test and antiretrovirals if she tested positive.
Okay, but how do we prove she died of AIDS and not an allergic reaction to penicillin? Well, we have more than enough probable cause now.
I'll subpoena Hutton's files.
There's only one conclusive way to find out what killed Lisa.
Body is that of an embalmed four-year-old Caucasian female.
Deceased approximately two months.
Initially determined cause of death has now been called into question, requiring exhumation and full postmortem examination.
You dug up my daughter? How could you do such a horrible thing? How could you kill her? My client had an absolute right to breastfeed her child.
But she didn't have the right to infect her with HIV and to withhold medication.
I did not hurt my baby.
I loved Lisa.
I did not make her sick.
The skin shows no sign of abuse-related trauma.
There are needle punctures to the chest and arms consistent with efforts to resuscitate.
My client did everything he could to save Lisa.
Everything but treat the time bomb he knew was ticking inside her.
I have no idea what you are talking about, and neither do you.
No.
The only thing that we don't know is whether Lisa was your first mistake.
But you can bet your ass she's your last.
All organs are present and in their proper positions.
Both kidneys and liver appear enlarged.
An ulcerated lesion on the upper lip suggests a viral inclusion.
Dr.
Hutton said it was a canker sore.
It would go away by itself.
So you took her to see him before the day she died.
Yes, when she first started coughing.
But he didn't prescribe antibiotics until her last visit.
How long was Lisa sick? Three weeks.
She had a hell of a cold.
Never thought it might be more serious? Not until Mom brought her back for the last time with cough and fever, for which I prescribed amoxicillin.
That's it? No blood test? Chest x-ray? Why subject her to needles and an unnecessary dose of radiation? I listened to her lungs.
They were clear.
Pre-autopsy x- rays show significant congestion in both lungs.
Pathology of the parenchyma of the lower lobes show white, patchy, fluffy masses.
Which means what? Lisa died of pneumocystis pneumonia.
I've never seen it in anyone other than an AIDS patient.
So, manner of death? I'm ruling it a homicide.
Please stand up, Susan.
You're arresting me? For murdering your daughter.
I delivered that child! I didn't murder her! And neither did her mother! Lisa was murdered? No.
Don't believe them, Tommy.
Come on.
Mom! You can't take her to jail! Tommy, stay strong! Don't go against your conscience.
You know the truth.
She would never hurt Lisa.
Why are you doing this to us? Tommy? HIV attacks the life-saving T cells that fight disease.
The virus genetically mutates the host cell, turning it into an HIV factory, which makes more copies of the virus.
Eventually, HIV kills T cells faster than the body can replenish them, destroying the immune system and causing AIDS.
Dr.
Warner, can you tell the jury how we know this? HIV has been isolated, photographed, cultured and grown outside the human body.
Its genetic structure is fully documented.
And it's killed more than Including Lisa Ross.
Thank you, Doctor.
True or false, Doctor.
Every disease allegedly caused by AIDS can also appear in people who don't have HIV.
True.
Was there HIV in Lisa Ross' blood? No, but she Then isn't it possible that her PCP pneumonia was caused by something other than HIV? Yes or no? It's not that simple.
Do you have a hearing problem, Doctor? Your Honor, is she going to let her finish a sentence? Ms.
Emmett, that's enough.
You may answer the question, Dr.
Warner.
I didn't find HIV in Lisa's bloodstream because she'd been embalmed.
And anything compromising the immune system can cause PCP pneumonia.
Cancer, malnutrition, poisoning from radiation or toxic chemicals.
Finding no evidence of those conditions, I concluded Lisa Ross died of AIDS caused by untreated HIV.
And Dr.
Hutton refused to treat it.
Well, it's nonsense.
HIV couldn't possibly cause AIDS, because HIV is a retrovirus.
Or, as we say, an RV.
As in recreational vehicle? Actually, they are similar.
Hundreds of RVs carry passenger organisms through our bodies every day.
Harmlessly so.
No RV has been proven to kill cells.
Then why did the medical examiner show us HIV doing exactly that? Well, cartoons have always been used to spread propaganda.
Propaganda? That AIDS is this country's biggest health threat and that we're all at risk.
Well, if that's not true, then why scare us into thinking that we're in danger? Because fear motivates.
How else could government researchers get billions in funding to cure a disease that kills mostly drug addicts and gays? Well, Dr.
Hutton, what does cause AIDS? Those diseases incorrectly attributed to AIDS are caused by blood toxicity from repeated recreational drug use, malnutrition and anti-HIV medications.
No further questions.
Doctor, have you ever done any research on HIV or AIDS? No.
Published any papers or articles in medical journals? Medical journals are interested in the status quo, not dissenting opinions.
So you have no hard evidence to back up any of your accusations.
There's plenty of evidence, collected from some of the greatest scientific minds in the world.
You mean like the San Francisco biologist who's become a pariah in the scientific community? Or the South African Health Minister who advised people with HIV to eat garlic and beetroot? You are missing the point.
There are millions of people being wrongly treated, wrongly diagnosed.
Like you misdiagnosed Lisa Ross.
She died of an allergic reaction to antibiotics.
No.
She died of AIDS.
According to your pet medical examiner, and we all know what bias she has.
Come on.
Ask her how many of her friends or family members have died of AIDS either here or in Africa.
Because she's black? How dare you? She has an agenda.
She's just like the rest of them, the doctors that perform unnecessary procedures just to pad their wallets That's enough, Doctor.
The drug companies who knowingly put flawed medicines on the market Dr.
Hutton that can hurt or kill.
Don't let them fool you.
Tell them they cannot keep getting Your Honor.
away with their lies.
Last time, Doctor, or you're in contempt.
I'm through.
We will recess for lunch.
City Health Department study says New Yorkers contract HIV three times the national rate.
That a lie, too? Wake up, Doctor.
We have immunized people against every viral disease for two centuries.
We know that people produce antibodies to HIV.
So why is there no anti-AIDS vaccine, and why hasn't one AIDS patient ever been cured? You son of a bitch.
We all want a cure for AIDS.
You're killing people with your outrageous beliefs.
My beliefs are scientific fact.
They're junk science.
You're a murderer and a false prophet.
That's what they called Jesus Christ.
Hope the jury doesn't think he's the Son of God.
Jurors love conspiracy theories.
I'm afraid they might buy the garbage Dr.
Strangelove's selling.
If we lose this case, it gives him credibility, and more people will die.
I found out I had HIV when I was pregnant with Lisa.
I thought my life was over.
Did your doctors put you on antiretrovirals? Yes.
I've never been sicker in my life.
Then a friend recommended Dr.
Hutton.
What did he do differently? Took me off the medication.
Dr.
Hutton saved my life.
Your witness.
So you believe Dr.
Hutton's gospel? Yes, I do.
I'm living proof he's right.
And you don't think Lisa's death is proof he's wrong? Lisa's death was a tragic accident.
It was tragic.
But it was hardly an accident.
Did Dr.
Hutton tell you not to test Lisa for HIV? No.
Did Dr.
Hutton suggest she take ARVs? ARVs almost killed me.
I was not about to give them to my little girl.
Right.
Do you know any of these people? No.
No, I've never met them.
Maybe you should.
Donald Ramirez is HIV-positive.
He was on death's door 20 years ago with Kaposi's sarcoma until antiretrovirals saved his life.
Objection.
She's testifying.
Fifteen years ago, Roberta Nolan tested HIV-positive.
Your Honor.
Ms.
Greylek She's still alive today because of ARVs.
Look at them, Susan.
They're alive and Lisa's dead, because you withheld treatment that would have saved her life.
Your Honor! Counselor.
She's having a seizure.
Let me go.
I am her doctor.
Somebody call an ambulance.
Where am I? You're in Mercy Hospital, Susan.
You collapsed.
What's wrong with me? You have toxoplasmosis.
It's a brain disease that people with AIDS get.
I had terrible migraines after Lisa died.
Doctor Dr.
Hutton said I was grieving.
That it would pass.
Susan, you knew you had HIV.
It was only a matter of time before you got sick.
I needed to believe him.
That I was going to be okay.
Well, Dr.
Hutton was wrong.
He was wrong about Lisa.
And he was wrong about you.
But he's the doctor.
Why would he Why would he lie to me? Susan Because if he admits the truth, then he has to take responsibility for what happened to your little girl.
And what's happening to you.
It's my fault Lisa's dead.
I killed my daughter.
Because Dr.
Hutton misled you.
So help me stop him before another person dies.
Lisa's not the only one.
The only what? Children who died.
Tommy! Susan? Susan? She's coding.
Alice! Right behind you.
Where's my mom? I'm sorry, Tommy.
I'm sorry, Mom.
I love you.
I love you.
Susan Ross died last night of AIDS.
No, she didn't.
I was with her.
My client was referring to her cause of death, end-stage toxoplasmosis.
Which the M.
E.
Says is an AIDS-related disease.
But we know you'll deny it.
Then why drag us in here? Because Susan made a dying declaration.
She told me that Lisa wasn't the only child you killed.
The demented ramblings of a woman whose brain was Swiss cheese.
They won't be admissible.
Yeah, but the records from the pharmacy in your building will be.
We subpoenaed every one of your prescriptions filled at that drugstore.
We built a list of your patients and found the grieving parents of two children with HIV you willfully misdiagnosed.
Right now, we're exhuming their bodies.
Autopsies will prove they died of untreated HIV.
Three dead kids.
What do you want? He pleads guilty to criminally negligent homicide.
Surrenders his medical license and patient records.
I recommend five years.
I'm not going to make any deals.
Take it, Gideon.
It's over.
Okay, but you're not going to silence me.
I will speak the truth from my prison cell, and people will listen.
Here's another one.
Janet Hooper, 45, mother of three.
Died of Burkitt's lymphoma, which Hutton told her was caused by her exposure to toxins, not AIDS.
How many are we up to? Seven families we have to notify.
Oh, no.
What have you got? It's the lab report on Susan's file.
Susan was HIV-positive in 1993.
Tommy was born in '94.
Susan's ex said she got infected right before Lisa was born.
That's nine years after she had Tommy.
She lied to her ex-boyfriend to get him off her back.
Tommy could have HIV.
We've got to get a court order and have him tested.
Get away from me! Tommy, you're just going to feel a pinch.
You can't do this to me! The judge says we can.
Tommy? Get away from me! Calm down.
Hey, take it easy, kid.
Come on, now.
Get off.
Good kick.
That hurt? Yeah, a little bit.
Yeah.
Okay.
We're going to have to get you an x-ray.
Tommy, are you okay? Take it easy.
I didn't let them do it.
Good.
I'm taking him back to the shelter.
Wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
He's not your client.
He is now.
And Staying Strong hired me to represent him.
That's a restraining order preventing you from testing him for HIV.
He is a minor in ACS custody.
That gives them the rights to make medical decisions for him.
He has the right to refuse medical treatment if he's competent.
Competence in this case means Tommy understands the consequences of his decision.
Well, obviously, he doesn't.
So what's the next move? Punt.
Tommy's not charged with a crime, so we don't have legal standing to challenge the restraining order.
Then get ACS to fight it.
Detective? Your eighth and ninth right lateral ribs are broken.
Yeah.
Busted ribs.
This is perfect.
Excuse me? We can put them to good use.
Ms.
Emmett said you can't talk to me without her there.
Good.
I'm not here to talk.
Put your hands behind your back.
Why are you arresting me? Assaulting a police officer.
You're just doing this so you can make me have that test.
Well, if you're not going to help yourself, maybe a judge will.
Tommy, are you aware that most people believe that HIV causes AIDS? Yeah.
They taught us that in school.
But your mother and Dr.
Hutton taught you differently.
Isn't that true? They said HIV doesn't cause AIDS.
And you believed them.
Yes.
Because your mother and doctor told you, or because you think it's the truth? After we discussed AIDS in health class, I talked to my mom about it.
She explained why there was no proof for what they taught us, and it made sense.
Nothing further.
What did she tell you that made so much sense? That HIV is not the kind of virus that can make you sick, that drugs for AIDS can kill you, and that the doctors and the drug companies won't tell the truth, so that they can keep making money off of it.
The same nonsense we've heard over and over again, right out of the AIDS deniers' playbook.
Tommy, are you familiar with the Holocaust? Sure.
Who isn't? Do you believe it actually occurred? Of course.
Why wouldn't I? Because there are people who don't.
Does that surprise you? Yeah.
Just because they believe that doesn't make it the truth.
Then why, since we know HIV causes AIDS, would you believe people who say it doesn't? My mom wouldn't lie to me.
Sure she would.
Because if you decided to get tested for HIV and turned up positive, it would shatter her fantasy world.
I feel fine.
I'm not sick.
Now stop trying to scare me.
You should be scared.
Your mother sold you a bill of goods, Tommy.
She risked your life to feed her denial.
Stop saying bad things about my mother! She watched your sister die, and now she is dead, because she wouldn't face the truth.
Your Honor.
Do you have to be dying, too, before you see her lies? Please stop! Come on, Tommy! What's it going to take? Please stop it! Your Honor.
Ms.
Greylek? No further questions.
The question before us today is when does the State have the right to force someone to receive medical care? Had this court known about your sister's illness, I would have compelled her to be treated, because she was only four years old.
You, young man, are a different story.
Although you are a minor, you are sufficiently aware of the consequences of not being tested for HIV.
I disagree with your choice.
But to take it away deprives you of your right to make decisions about your own health.
I am, therefore, upholding the restraining order and ruling in favor of the defendant.
Your Honor, we move the defendant be remanded without bail.
What? He assaulted a police officer, and he's a known flight risk.
This is vindictive.
One moment, Your Honor.
What are you doing? Treating Tommy like the adult he wants to be.
Look, his only crime was being born to the wrong mother.
We're not sending a kid to jail.
You pressed the charges.
Because I wanted to force Tommy to get tested.
Look, we lost.
It's over.
Just The case is done.
Your Honor, the People withdraw the motion and dismiss the sole count of Assault in the Second Degree.
Motion withdrawn.
Charges are dismissed, and we're adjourned.
I hope you know what you're doing.
Thanks.
Yeah? You still owe me for the busted ribs.
I'm not getting tested.
I know.
Just do me one favor.
Why are we here? I want you to meet someone that Dr.
Massey introduced me to.
How are you? I'm okay.
I told you I'd come by.
Are you up for doing this? Yeah.
Tommy, I'd like for you to meet Kyle.
Hey.
Hey.
I'm not going to change my mind just because the kid has AIDS.
I don't have AIDS.
I have brain cancer.
I told my parents I didn't feel well.
But we're Christian Scientists, so we don't believe in doctors or medicine.
What did they tell you to do? Pray.
They said that they'd pray for me, too, and I knew I'd be okay.
Because I believed like they did.
Then I went blind.
You couldn't see? No.
I asked my friend to take me to the hospital.
And the doctors, they gave me chemo and radiation, and I already got my sight back.
Your folks must have been happy.
No.
They were pissed.
They thought I was dissing God.
What did you think? I just want to get better.
What about everything you believed in? My grandma says, "God created doctors, too, right? "Why would he give us all these cures and treatments for diseases "if he didn't want us to use them?" He okay? He wants to talk to you.
You don't have to tell me.
I want to.
The test came back positive.
I don't want to die.
Well You've got your whole life ahead of you.